CHAPTER 16:

A few days later Wilhelmina walked into the kitchen for breakfast while reading the newspaper.

'God, I almost forgot how annoying pregnancy is, almost forgot. Today I crave this, the next day I crave that and the day after that I crave something else. Not to mention that I can't seem to keep anything down. Then next I'll be doing my favorite thing in the world, going to the bathroom every five minutes. I can't fucking wait. If I don't want to burst I better give Renee some rent money and tell her to go and look for an apartment because she's driving me crazy.' Her train of thought was interrupted by the open refrigerator

"Don't touch the yoghurt, Renee. I don't usually eat breakfast but I'm having a b-…" The figure she assumed was her sister quickly turned around.

"Good morning. Sorry, I already ate the yoghurt. You can lick the spoon if you like."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Your sister. That's right, we're back together. And we did it on your couch, too. And on your table. And one more place that I'm not going to tell you about."

"Are you trying to make me jealous?"

"You think it's too early to start planning family vacations?"

"If you're doing this to get back at me for dumping you, then you're much more pathetic than I previously thought."

"Don't flatter yourself, Willie. I've moved on. Renee and I are very happy." He said the last sentence with a fake smile

"If you're so happy, why do you look like you just chewed on lemon?"

"Wilhelm-"

"You're a fool, Daniel. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into. But I promise you you'll regret it."

"You know Renee told me you might do this. She said you might try and say things like…"

"Let me warn you about Renee. She has a history with men. She becomes needy, erratic, obsessive…it probably has something to do with Daddy withholding affection while we were growing up. I mean I've dealt with it well, but Renee on the other hand…"

"Just stop, okay?" She took her cup of coffee and made her way out of the kitchen but stopped before leaving then room and turned to Daniel.

"Stony Brook."

"What?"

"Ask my sister about Stony Brook, if you really want to get to know her."

That afternoon:

"You bitch!" Renee yelled as she stormed into Wilhelmina's kitchen

"Well, hello to you too."

"Why are you trying to break up me and Daniel?"

"Renee, we both know what happens to you when things get too serious with men. I don't think Daniel is ready to get serious after 4 days."

"This is nothing like Stony Brook."

"Good. It took a lot of work to clean up that mess."

"I'm warning you. Leave us alone or you'll regret it, Wilhelmina. I'm sure I'm not the only one here with secrets." Her eyes travelled to Willie's stomach

"Renee, do you really think that Daniel is in love with you or something? 4 days after you met?" When Renee remained silent "Oh, my God you do, which is why you were looking at apartments near his place."

"How do you know about that?"

"I know everything." Wilhelmina looked deep into her younger sister's eyes with great concern "It's starting already."

"What's starting already?"

"The obsession. Otherwise how would you explain looking for an apartment in his neighborhood? Renee, you need to stop this before you get hurt."

"Now why would you say that? Is it hard to believe that I found someone that I wanna commit…"

"This is a pointless conversation because I know how hard headed you are. I'm going to be late for an appointment. But please talk to Daniel before you 'commit' to him and if he has any heart he'll tell you that it's way too early to be planning vacations."

"Nothing you say is gonna break us up."

"Okay" The way that came out from Wilhelmina scared Renee because it was the 'okay' that her sister used when she was trying to say 'Don't say I didn't warn you.'

When Mark returned from shopping, he found Renee in the kitchen.

"Hi"

"Hey, Will said you'll be stopping by. She sure is working you with this baby stuff."

"I know, but it's nothing compared to what she must be going through. Morning sickness, cravings, planning for motherhood and all. Where is she anyway?"

"Doctor's appointment. So, it is happy hour. I was just about to make myself a drink. You like Chocolatetinis?"

"Liquor and chocolate? Oh, gee, I don't know…Bring it!"

Marc drank enough glasses for Renee to assume that he was drunk enough to a point where he'll tell her anything. In the past hour they've been talking, she still didn't have anything useful to use against her sister and stop her for meddling in her and Daniel's 'relationship'. So she decided to dig a little deeper.

"So, who's the baby daddy?"

"There are two possible baby daddies."

"What? Slut! She told me it was an anonymous donor."

"No, it's between Bradford Meade and Daniel."

"Daniel? My Daniel?"

"Oh, totally. She was doing Daniel since she and Bradford broke up. She broke up with Daniel three weeks ago."

"She slept with both of them? She slept with Daniel?"

"It was more than that with Daniel though, they were so in love with each other. They were so cute, you should have seen it."

"So Daniel might be the father of Wilhelmina's baby?"

"Yeah, but she's hoping that the father is Bradford, so she can get her claws on a third of the Meade empire."

"I…I have to go."

"Where are you going?"

"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS."

When Willie returned home she was met by the sight of Marc sitting on her sofa, looking uncomfortable.

"You know, Marc the bathroom is right down the hall."

"Willie, I have to tell you something. I screwed up."

"What?"

"I…I may have accidentally told Renee that…the baby's father is Bradford or Daniel."

"What?"

"I also may have mentioned that you and Daniel were a couple."

"Marc, how do you accidentally tell someone those things?"

"She…she got me drunk, Willie. I thought she was trying to be friendly and…"

"Where is she?"

"I don't know."

"How did she react? Was she really mad?"

"She yelled at me and stormed out of the apartment."

"Shit"

"Willie what's going on?"

"We have to warn Daniel. I've been trying to call him all afternoon and his phone seems to be off."

"Is this about earlier?"

"What happened earlier?"

"Well, while I was out shopping, Mandy called and told me that Renee showed up at Mode and accused Daniel of cheating right in the middle of the conference room during the Christian Siriano meeting."

"What?"

"And she threw his cell phone against the wall and it shattered into pieces."

"When were you going to tell me all of this?"

"Willie, is something wrong with Renee?"

"Yes! And now who knows what she'll do."

"I guess I should probably have told you about the fire place."

"What about the fire place?"

"Yesterday I turned on the fire place and then when she came in the living room she totally flipped out."

"Oh dear God. We gotta get to her before she gets to Daniel."

"How do you know that she went to Daniel's?"

"If Renee was as mad as you say she was then she's on her way to do exactly what I think."

"Willie? What's going on?"

"There's no time to explain, Marc. We have to stop her."

In the car, Marc held on for dear life as Willie drove through the streets of New York City going 160 mph in her Porsche. He was afraid of the woman's wrath if he dared tell her to slow down. As he sat there with his fingers crossed he heard a soft sniffle.

"Willie? Are you…crying?"

"No, it's just allergies."

"Allergies?"

"Hormones, allergies, I don't know. Stop bothering me." Marc knew better than to argue with the woman. Willie wiped away her tears that she tried so hard not to let fall. It was quiet for a few moments in the car.

"Renee is a pyromaniac." She began. "Our dad was always busy for us. It was always business trips and political affairs over us. When I returned from boarding school one spring, I noticed scars on her wrists and she confessed that she's been cutting herself to release tension and get our father's attention but he couldn't care less. Cleary slitting her wrists wasn't working so she started using fire to release tension and all the anger and before we knew it, she was a child pyromaniac."

"So that's why she flipped out with the fire place."

"Exactly. There are things in Renee's past, Marc, terrible things. You have no idea what she's done or what she's capable of."

"Terrible things?"

"In college she began a love affair with her Professor, Gregory Larson. She suspected that he was cheating on her with his secretary so she started a fire hoping to trap the secretary. She was hospitalized for six years."

"The secretary?"

"No, Renee. Larson was caught in that fire by accident, she meant to harm the secretary that she believed was in love with him and thought of as an obstacle."

"So…uh…what happened to them? professor and the…secretary lady?"

"I know you think I'm the evil sister, Marc…"

"Oh Willie I don't..."

"But at least I stop short of murder."

"Mur-… Murder?"