Icing on the Cake

SEVEN

“Tell me what happened last night.”

Darn!

So she didn’t forget about the question. Well, he could just refuse, couldn’t he?

“Nothing much Sylvie, just take your drink.”

To his utmost surprise, she did just that. Well, almost. She picked up her cup but did not drink from it. Instead, she just stared at it.

“The juice is for drinking and not to be stared at,” Jaden said.

Suddenly, tears rolled down her cheeks and she dropped the glass. “I’ve been the i***t all along, Jaden. I’ve just been stupid. Dave was fooling me all along. Sheesh! Is there anyone as naïve as me? Maybe he was never loyal.”

Jaden held her hand and squeezed it lightly. “C’mon, it’s already in the past now. You have to go on with your life.”

“But can’t you see that I’m...” She burst into tears again.

This time, Jaden did not stop himself. He took her in his arms and patted her back. She buried her head in his chest with his chin was on top of her head.

“C’mon, it’s okay. Everything will be alright,” Jaden said soothingly as he always told his sisters when things similar to this happened.

After a while, Sylvia sat up and wiped her face. She hated being vulnerable, especially with Jaden around.

“I thought I’d never have to deal with this again,” Jaden said.

Sylvia’s head shot up. “What? You’ve dealt with women crying before?”

“Not women actually, girls. They’re my sisters.”

She was about to tell him to continue his story when they were interrupted.

“Hey Sylvie,” Sandra Smith called.

Sylvia turned to see her two friends, Sandra and Sally.

“We came as soon as you called. Hope we’re not late,” Sally Peters said.

Then, as if they had just seen Jaden, they paused in their tracks and looked from Sylvia to Jaden and back.

“Oh!” Sandra exclaimed. “Did we interrupt anything?”

“Or did we miss anything?” Sally asked.

“No. No, you didn’t,” Sylvia replied quickly, knowing how fast her friends’ minds ran.

“So?” Sally asked.

Standing up, Sylvia said, “Mr. Ludascott, meet my best friends, Sandra Smith and Sally Peter,” ignoring Jaden’s facial expression as she omitted his first name. And turning to Sandra and Sally, she continued, “Sandra, Sally, meet my... personal driver, Mr. Ludascott.”

“No first name?” Sandra asked.

Sylvia shrugged.

“Just Mr. Ludascott?” Sally asked, unbelievably.

Sylvia shrugged again.

“Hmm. He looks younger than that,” Sandra said.

“He’s here. You can ask him,” Sylvia gave in.

Sandra rolled her eyes while Sally sighed.

Jaden stood up, extended his hands towards them, and said, “It’s Jaden Ludascott. It’s a pleasure to meet the both of you.”

“Yeah, me too,” Sandra said, accepting his handshake with a wide grin on her face.

Then, Jaden shook Sally who was also grinning. If her friends were like this, Jaden thought, then why did she not smile like this?

“Wow! I never knew Miss Browne had such beautiful friends like the both of you,” Jaden teased, smiling.

“Thanks,” Sandra and Sally replied, still grinning.

“You’re not bad yourself,” Sally said.

“Yeah, you’re not bad at all,” Sandra said.

Sylvia just stood, uninterested.

“Sylvie, are you sure you’re okay?” Sandra asked her.

Sylvia looked at her and nodded. “A little.”

“Uh... I think I need to do something inside,” Jaden said wanting to leave them alone.

“Oh! I hope we’re not pushing you away?” Sally asked.

“No. I would have loved to spend more time here anyway but I’m a worker here so I don’t have all the time.”

“Okay. So we’ll meet another time?” Sandra asked, not letting him off the hook easily.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Okay. Later,” Sally said as she went round the table to sit beside Sylvia who was already seated.

“Yeah, later,” Jaden replied and walked to the pool before entering the house through the French doors.

Sandra sat down on the other side of Sylvia, looking back at Sylvia only when Jaden was not in sight anymore.

“Why didn’t you say your new driver was so handsome?” Sandra asked accusingly.

“Yes. And you didn’t even talk about his body build? Can’t you see how tall he is?” Sally chipped in.

“And can you remember his charming smile? Gosh! He’s so handsome,” Sandra said.

“How many days have you known him?”

“Yeah, he looks like he already...”

“Enough!” Sylvia interrupted and looked from Sandra to Sally. “Are those questions you guys ask someone who just had a break–up?”

Their eyes shone both in shock and surprise.

“Whoa!” Sandra exclaimed.

“You had a what?!” Sally asked.

Sylvia closed her eyes and sighed heavily. She had not meant to blurt it out that way. “I had a break–up today.”

“Was it with that Dave of a guy?” Sally asked, her voice laced with sarcasm.

Sylvia winced slightly at her tone. They had never liked him. “Yeah.”

“I knew it!” Sally said. “Jeesh! Just what kind of devil is he?”

Sylvia didn’t reply.

Sandra held her hands and squeezed them lightly.

“C’mon Sylvie, it is okay. He didn’t even deserve you,” Sandra said. “But what led to the break–up?”

“Yeah, what caused it?”

Sylvia took a deep breath and told them everything. When she was through, Sally blew out an exasperated breath.

“Just try and forget about him, okay?” Sandra told Sylvia and patted her back.

“He’s a cheap and worthless i***t. You should forget him totally,” Sally said.

“Especially when someone like Jaden is right next to your bedroom,” Sandra said.

“Sandra!”

“Yeah, you should tell Dave you weren’t into him and he didn’t mean anything to you. That’ll make him realize he’s not the only guy around,” Sally said.

“After all, he’s not even half as cute as Jaden,” Sandra said. “And others too,” she added when she saw the look on Sylvia’s face.

“Are you actually telling me to date Jaden?” Sylvia asked, bewildered.

“Ah... it’s not bad,” Sandra said.

“Yeah, I don’t see anything wrong with it,” Sally added. Seeing the disbelief on Sylvia’s face, she added, “He could turn out to be your Prince Charming.”

Sylvia scowled and Sally added, “Really he could,” just to convince her more.

Sylvia looked from Sally to Sandra before shaking her head, with more vigour than usual.

“No. You guys are just saying what you don’t mean. Please, don’t confuse me,” Sylvia said but they just looked at her like she was speaking Latin. “We should just forget about this.”

“Well, I have an idea,” Sally said.

“I hope it’s not about Jaden again,” Sylvia asked.

“Nah. I think we should have a picnic, a small one. Just to forget about this bad experience and have fun.”

“Um... don’t you think it’s too much of a short notice?” Sandra asked.

“I don’t get.”

“Like we haven’t cooked for it, or bought any wine, or even had any preparation.”

“Okay. I see your point. So... let’s schedule it for Saturday.” She looked from Sandra to Sylvia. “So, what do you think?”

“Uh... I have a meeting that day,” Sandra said, “with a client.”

“Okay, so what about the next two Saturdays?”

“It sounds cool, but...”

“No buts’,” Sally interrupted Sylvia. “It is cool.”

“And nice too,” Sandra added. “Can Jaden come along?” She smiled sweetly at both of her friends.

“No!” Sylvia answered almost immediately.

“No,” Sally answered more coolly, bringing a frown to Sandra’s beautiful face. “This is going to be an all–girls’ party.”

“OK! Sounds like fun,” Sandra said, nodding and smiling.

“So, we’re on right?” Sally asked.

Sylvia hesitated a little but it sounded inviting. Just the three of them together, outing and she would be out of the house alone. Not really alone but logically alone.

“Yeah, I’m on,” Sylvia said.

“I’m game too,” Sandra said.

Sally smiled. “So, what time?”

“I think one in the afternoon is okay.”

They all nodded.

After spending some more time together and getting Sylvia to talk more, Sandra and Sally left, promising to be back to visit.

THAT SAME DAY, Ashley Browne returned from her trip in the evening. Sylvia had brightened up so her mum wouldn’t worry much. Jaden was introduced to her and Ashley had told the whole household that Wayne was arriving the next day.

Then following day, Wayne had arrived as expected. After resting, he called Jaden to his office and asked how things had been with Sylvia. Jaden had briefed him on the things that had happened but he left out Dave’s part.

The remaining days quietly rolled by and soon a week was gone, with Wayne and Ashley returning to their businesses. Sidney was to come back from the States soon to be a part of Wayne’s business before finally taking over. Jaden had learnt of it and was prepared to meet yet another member of the household. On the Friday of the following week, Sylvia had gone for her usual brunch with her friends before going with Ashley to assist with the business so she could become familiar with the way it ran.

Jaden had been given the day off after dropping Sylvia and Ashley. Jaden was glad he had chosen to work in Sylvia’s home. Wayne and Ashley treated every worker like a member of the household. He drove back home and went straight to his room.

Then Saturday came with a little vigour. The weather was not that promising but they hoped for fair weather. Sylvia had gotten up early, bathed, and joined her parents for breakfast. Then after breakfast, her parents went off to work while Sylvia stayed back to wait for Sandra and Sally.

Sylvia went up to her room and tried to read a novel. After trying hard and realizing she was reading the same paragraph for five minutes, she gave up. When was the last time she’d talked to Jaden? She thought. Even though he had driven her mum and herself to work the previous day, she hadn’t talked to him. She didn’t know when it started but she was attracted to her personal driver. Crap. She hadn’t wanted this to happen anyway. She sighed. It didn’t matter if he was her driver or not, he was still a male, a good–looking one at that. Getting up from her bed, she wore her flip–flops and went out of her room. She got to Jaden’s room and was about to knock on his door when she caught herself. Now, what was wrong with her? What was she doing? Going to have a chat with her personal driver? Since when did that start?

She guessed her head was muddy with thoughts. She needed to clear it with fresh air. Or better still; a cool swim was what she needed. She inwardly nodded and turned to go back into her room. She had to change into a bikini. She opened her wardrobe, brought out one of her bikinis and changed into it. She took out a robe, slipped into it, and then left the room. She went downstairs, took the French doors, and went outside. Moving towards the pool’s edge, she stopped and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Her head would be clearer now, she thought.