Across the Pond Ch. 04

I moved back when she sat up abruptly, running her fingers through her dark strands as she practically trembled where she was. "Nah, I think that's enough heaviness for one day. Your friend's thing is in an hour, I'm going to start getting ready."

"Alright." She flashed me a tense look before rising and heading off to the restroom, closing the door behind her. I wasn't sure of what to do: she didn't seem as if she needed comforting but whatever she was keeping close to her chest clearly still affected her. As there was no time to get into it I left it be for the moment, sliding off the bed to ready myself as well.

***

XIII: Blood on the Ground.

Sydney was uncharacteristically quiet on the drive over to the Sinclair's. I attempted to engage her in conversation during the first half of the trip before giving up and leaving her to stare out of the window silently. When we found parking on the street she was out before I could open my door and hers. I stepped out of my Mercedes and rounded the boot to where she was standing, enveloping her stiff upper body in my arms as soon as I reached her. She made no motion to return the gesture. "We only have sixteen more hours, I don't want to spend it shut off from you. Please," I begged her in a whisper. "Please."

It was then she relented and relaxed, wrapping her arms around my back with a gentle squeeze. Satisfied for the time being I took her hand and led her up the steps to the front door that swung open before I could turn the knob. Samantha, my sister-in-law for all intents and purposes, greeted us with cerulean hair and an infectious smile. "Yay! You came!"

"Of course we did." I kissed her on both cheeks as she ruffled my loose hair affectionately. "Samantha, this is my girl Sydney. Sydney, my sister Samantha."

She observed Sydney's appearance and tilted her head to the side briefly before her own face twisted into an irritated one. "Max, what did you do?"

I furrowed my brows in confusion. "What? Nothing."

Sammy rolled her eyes and took Sydney's hand, dragging her through the house and up the stairs faster than I could keep up with them. About thirty seconds later I heard some rather aggressive rock music blasting from the floor above. I brushed it off and made my way to the kitchen to secure a beer from the refrigerator. Tossing the cap into the bin I took a long drink and thought of our earlier conversation. I felt I hit a very serious nerve with Sydney and I was trying to figure out how, and why.

Unfortunately for me McKenzie stalked into the kitchen and approached me, setting his hand on my shoulder and looking me dead in the eye before smacking me sharply on the back of my head. "What the fuck did you do!"

"Oww! The fuck are you on about!" I snapped, slamming my ale onto the countertop before striking him in the shoulder with my fist.

We got into a bit of a shoving match, couldn't be helped. "Poppet is upstairs blasting the "Someone Fucked Up" playlist and all I've done today is do her bidding and shag her into a nap - so again, what the fuck did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" We held up our palms to each other in truce, taking a moment to calm down. It wasn't anything violent - Kenzie and I have gotten into quite a few physical altercations with each other over the last 27 years to know the difference - it was more of a bit to get the other's attention. It was childish yet effective. "At least, I don't think I did."

He searched for his own beverage as I explained the conversation Sydney and I had earlier that afternoon, by the time I was finished he'd drained most of his bottle of water. "Did you tell her who Simone strayed with?"

"No. There's no point," I confessed before sipping from my bottle once more. I wasn't much of a drinker but it had been an odd day. "Anyhow, she mentioned several times before she was involved in a bad relationship. I want to talk it over with her but she seems determined to keep it hidden."

"Well, she'll divulge in her own time," he offered.

"Kenzie, I told her everything...almost everything. I don't wish to make her uncomfortable but I can't imagine what she could possibly be hiding. That she won't talk to me makes me concerned that perhaps I am mistaken in the level of affection she has for me."

Though I stared down at my trainers I felt him nudge my elbow. "Maxie, a bird wouldn't fly thousands of miles to yell at a man she wasn't completely in love with."

I wasn't sure if I believed him or not. "I only want to fix what's broken, there is a fierce need to take all of her pain away."

"Of course, because you love her - but you cannot push someone to expose themselves before they're ready. It took Poppet months to tell me about losing her child. It took you sixteen years to tell us about your relationship with Simone."

"Exactly my point. I let it eat at me from the inside until I was to the point I almost..." I shook the violent thought from my head. "I don't want her to feel as if there's anything she could divulge that would drive me away."

He was to say something else before we heard the front door open and slam shut, alerting us to an arrival. Charles stormed into the kitchen with his attention firmly fixed on me. "You. We need to talk."

Kenzie and I groaned, already knowing where this was heading. In the weeks since Clarissa passed he'd become downright obsessive with settling cases in their firm's favor, mine being no different. I had wondered if he was still sore over me settling the divorce the way I did since he hadn't shown up to assist with signing the papers. Turns out he was. "Christ, Charlie. It's over and done with, you need to drop it."

"I most certainly will not 'drop it,'" he spat out, snatching his spectacles off his face and pointing them at me. "I want to know why. I want a concrete answer as to why you wasted my time - both of our time - with months of litigation and having to deal with your shrew of an ex-wife to just roll over and give her almost thrice of what she demanded. I want a reason. Now!"

"Yo, what's with all the yelling?" Our savior Samantha interrupted his tirade when she appeared behind him with my girl in tow. Charlie's face softened as he embraced her with a kiss on the temple. I held my hand out to Sydney and watched Charlie's face shift from puzzlement to clarity when she walked into my arm, resting her cheek on my shoulder as I kissed her forehead. "Sydney, this is Charlie."

The crabby bastard only nodded in her direction as if that were an acceptable way to say hello. "Well, well. Inquiry answered." He turned and made his way toward the dining room, the rest of us begrudgingly following behind.

The dinner was awkward to say the least.

Our hosts attempted to make polite conversation and occasionally my girl and I would join in, but Charles ate silently while staring at Sydney. It was making all of us very uncomfortable. "So, Sydney. Where exactly did you and Maxwell meet?"

Her fork clattered on her plate in disbelief he was addressing her. "I work behind the bar he bought in Connecticut."

"Ah. Did you attend university?"

She looked at him oddly. I believe we all did. "Uh, yeah. I was pre-law at Yale."

"Did you complete your law degree?"

Her face tightened and I found myself forcefully gripping the handle of my steak knife. "No. That's why I'm bartending."

"Is that so? You were pre-law at an Ivy League university, now you're in food service," he mused as if it found it fascinating, taking pause to have a sip of his third gin and tonic since he arrived. "Had you heard of Maxwell before you met him?"

I kicked him in the shin underneath the table and he didn't so much as stir. Sydney set her hands in her napkin and I could tell she was trying to remain pleasant. "Was I supposed to?"

"It wouldn't be unheard of. Wealthy man travels to a new country and meets a woman in a...service position. You wouldn't be the first woman to take advantage of such an opportunity, especially as young and supple as you are."

That was when Sydney severely cut her eyes at him as he had so completely crossed the line. "If you think I'm only with Max for his money, why don't you cut the bullshit and say so." Charles opened his mouth to no doubt spew more unkind words at her and thankfully her phone rang before he could do so. "It's my dad, excuse me."

She rose and answered as she left the room, the moment the pocket doors shut the three of us jumped on his arse. Sammy starting off with "Dude, what the hell is wrong with you? You're being so rude -"

"Especially when she reached out while you were grieving," McKenzie cut in, "Why are you being so impolite -"

"I don't give a fuck what your problem is, you stop it and you stop it now!" I snapped and brought my fist down on the table so hard the dishes clattered loudly. Charles' dark eyes widened at my brash words, but I wasn't done. "I swear on my life if you so much as utter another syllable to Sydney tonight I will come across this table and beat you until you're blind and incontinent."

Sydney returned then and we all attempted to put on sociable faces, but her own was crestfallen. I was out of my seat and in front of her before I could register my legs moving. "Sydney, what's the matter?"

"I, um," She was staring at her iPhone, her entire body shaking as she addressed the Sinclair's. "I'm sorry. Thank you for a lovely dinner, I'm suddenly not feeling very well.

I began pulling my keys from my front pocket when she grabbed my wrist. "You stay, Max. I'll call a cab."

"No. It's time for us to leave." I took her hand in mine and thanked our hosts, smacked the back of Charlie's head and took my girl home.

***

IX: Losin' Control.

"Sydney?" I knocked on my bedroom door where she had hidden for two hours after our return from that disaster of a dinner. I attempted to give her space but grew concerned with each passing minute of silence. I heard a muffled response and hesitantly opened the door to step inside where she was throwing clothes into her recently purchased carry-on. "Oh. You're packing."

She didn't look at me as she threw in several pairs of socks. "Yeah. My plane leaves in the morning but I'm going to the airport to see if I can catch an earlier flight."

Rising panic felt like an acidic burn in my throat. Our final day until God knew when was a catastrophe and I didn't know if I could salvage it. "Little one, I've apologized for Charlie. I promise he is usually a very pleasant man, but he was completely out of line."

"No shit," she snipped, still refusing to look at me. "It doesn't matter, he's not the first guy to call me a gold-digging whore and I'm sure he won't be the last. I don't care."

"You are not...then what is it? Did it have anything to do with your call with your father?" She shook her head and I began to feel a bit angry at how flippant she was acting. "Sydney, don't lie to me."

"Does it really fucking matter, Maxwell?"

"Yes Asydneya, it does." I cleared the space until I was near her, grabbing her forearm to turn her to face me but she snatched it back down to her side. "Tell me what's wrong. There is nothing you can say...I told you everything, damnit. Why won't you confide in me?"

"Just forget it!" She responded loudly, blowing out a harsh breath and crossing her arms tightly across her chest. "It doesn't matter."

"Don't lie to me!" I shouted as she had. I never meant to, I detested yelling at anyone but I refused to allow her to shut down right in front of me. "It matters, it clearly matters."

"Then what the fuck do you want me to do Max!"

"I want you to fucking talk to me!"

Sydney threw her hands up in the air. "Fine! You want me to talk? You want me to tell you how my ex-boyfriend lied and fucked around and kept me so drugged up I almost flunked out of school? You want to hear about how he kicked the ever-loving shit out of me when I broke up with him? Or do you want to hear about how he raped me on my living room floor?"

My heart stopped. Oh, God.

"Yeah, you want to know about it? How he dragged me by my hair, ripped my clothes off and raped me until I bled? How he called me a disgusting bitch, a nigger whore while he punched me? Or maybe you want to hear about the six-hour police interrogation that started when I was getting a fucking rape kit done and there was so much trauma the doctor didn't think I'd ever carry a child. There's the fun story on how my dad found me unconscious with eight empty pill bottles and had me committed to a psychiatric hospital for three months, does that sound like a conversation starter? Or the fucking cherry on top, he got a laughable three-year sentence and has now been let out after twenty-one months! You want to hear that your friend is right, that I'm not good enough, that I'm damaged?! You got it, I'm fucking damaged!! Are you...fucking happy now..."

Tears were spilling down her cheeks and she collapsed, I caught her right before her knees hit the ground. I wrapped my arms around her securely and she half-heartedly tried to shove me away. "No. I don't want your goddamn pity."

"Shhh." I refused to let her go and she eventually stopped struggling, exhaustedly slumping into my arms. "I don't pity you, my heart breaks for you."

Her sobbing turned into a soft sniffle when she finally replied "I have my own broken heart. I don't need yours too."

***

X: Grey.

Standing on the stoop of my front door to say goodbye to Sydney was not my ideal way to spend a Sunday morning. For her part she was attempting to keep a smile on her face. "Come on Dimples, stop pouting."

"You will let me wallow in my shit mood." A more genuine expression in her eyes still didn't help me feel better. "If I asked you to stay, would you?"

"Yeah, probably," she admitted while stroking my fingers with her thumb, "But you're right. Yesterday was a lot, for both of us. Some space will do us some good."

"You can't take anything I say seriously, I'm an idiot." She embraced me tightly, making it that much harder to let her leave. Everything we divulged to each other over the last twelve hours was almost unbearable to deal with alone, much less with each other. I'd suggested we take our time apart to reassess and collect ourselves separately.

I didn't realize how impossible that would be and I hadn't even said goodbye to her yet.

There were so many things I wanted to say to her, yet my tongue wasn't working properly because my heart wasn't either. "Please don't leave," I whispered into her hair.

Sydney pulled back just enough to caress my cheek in her hand, holding my gaze with those lovely eyes that were starting to water. "I'm not leaving you, Max. I'm just leaving."

"You are a thief of words, little one." Mr. Sodhi waited patiently by the back door of the limousine and I knew it was time to let her go. I asked her in a wavering voice, "Will you let me know when you're home safely?"

"Yeah. I'll text you." She wiped the back of her hand across her wet cheek and lifted just enough to kiss my chin as I kissed her nose. "Bye, Max."

"Goodbye, Sydney." One last kiss and she left my arms, bounding down the steps and climbing into the awaiting vehicle. I heard the pained cry come from her right before Sodhi closed the door, and that is how she left me.