(Lydia)I took a deep breath to steady myself and took a look at myself in the mirror. My face was pale and beads of sweat were forming on my forehead. My stomach lurched horribly. This was going to be tough. But I opened the car door and walked towards the office.I was meeting with both Jonathan Nilson as well as Aaron Abrams. The latter was the director of the film and I was pretty sure that he, having seen how good I was in front of the camera, would consider still keeping me on the film.As I walked inside, I spotted at least twenty young women seated in the waiting area.These must be my potential replacements, I thought. I swallowed hard.“Come in,” said Abrams when the secretary told him that I was at the door.“Hello,” I said nervously, stepping in through the door.“Well?” said Abrams, looking up with his brows raised expectantly.“Sir, I’m terribly sorry about what happened yesterday,” I said, “And I assure you that nothing of this sort will ever happen again. Being a part
(Lydia)He was sitting in the living room. “Ruby!” I called out, “Could you come here please?”. But before Ruby could come outside, I heard the sound of Thomas’s boots thud over the marble floor as he approached in my direction.“Uncle Thomas!” the children exclaimed. They ran up to him. Thomas immediately bent down and picked up both of the twins in either arm.Ruby walked up slowly and hesitantly behind him. Her eyes were wild and worried.“I’m just here to get the kids,” Thomas said gruffly.“Hang on a second,” I said to him.Just then, my phone began to ring. It was production. I answered the call.“Hello Miss Lydia,” said Abrams himself, “How are you?”“Uh,” I said, stepping over to the side.“Is this a bad time?” he asked.“No, no,” I said, “Absolutely not.”I glanced over nervously at Thomas, the twins, and Ruby.Then I looked down at the floor. “I can speak,” I said, “Sure.”“Great,” he replied, “Well, I just wanted to call to let you know that I’ve gone over everything that y
(Lydia)“It’s not just about the tabloids either,” I said to Mama, “It’s also that – I genuinely feel as though … as though … Thomas thinks that I’m lesser than him, somehow.”“Oh, honey,” Mama said, “Whatever makes you think that way?” She put the palm of her hand gently on my cheek and looked at me.“Because Margaret thinks that way!” I said, “And if Thomas could agree to marry Sarah because Margaret asked him to do so, then I need to work on becoming someone worthy and of note. That’s the only way that I’ll be able to fully integrate into their world!”“Thomas got engaged to Sarah,” Ruby countered, “Because she’s a spoiled rich kid!”. She tossed a peanut in her mouth from the tray in front of her.“That’s exactly my point!” I exclaimed, “Sarah would have never been able to snatch Thomas away from me if I had had any social standing in front of her. Margaret would have backed me, not her!”“For someone who claims to hate Thomas right now,” Ruby said, “You certainly sound like you w
(Lydia)“You’ve planned an entire itinerary?!” Ruby exclaimed. I showed her the list at the breakfast table. “Mhm,” I nodded, “Yes, I have.”“Lyddie!” Ruby laughed, “This is really cool. But don’t you think this would be exhausting?”. Ruby scanned through the list. “Theme park … theater show … movie night … dinner … scavenger hunt … How in God’s name are you planning to pull off all of this within forty-eight hours?”I took the list from her and smiled slightly. “You’ll understand when you have children,” I said. I cupped my face in my palms.“Well,” she said, “Jack should be back from dropping them off at school any minute now. So, maybe he can help you set all of this up.”“Yeah, I know,” I said, “I did tell him to let the teacher know that the twins wouldn’t be coming to school tomorrow.”Ruby gave me a quizzical look.“It’s not easy being both a mother as well as a career woman, Ruby!” I exclaimed defensively, gripping the table, “I’m just trying to squeeze in as many joyful memor
(Lydia)The twins squealed in delight when I came to pick them up at the school. I met the principal at her office before I went to the children’s classroom.“Mabel and Miles are progressing wonderfully,” she said to me, “I've never failed to be amazed at how well they’re doing.”I beamed with pride. “Thank you so much,” I said.“It seems as though you’ve worked exceptionally hard on them,” she remarked, her eyes gleaming with admiration.I chuckled. “I try,” I said.Hearing the principal say this made me feel a little less horrible about how little time I’d been spending with the children lately.***“So,” I said, “Who’s up for a fun trip to the theme park?”. Mabel and Miles practically jumped up and down in their seats as they cheered. I got them McDonald’s through a drive-through and played their favorite nursery rhymes all the way to the park.***“Look, Mommy!” Mabel laughed at a Despicable Me! minion mascot. Miles began emulating a Buzz Lightyear robot. “Buzz Lightyear to the re
(Thomas)In the first few days of being at the mansion, the twins had been delighted to be there. But after the first three weeks had gone by, neither Mabel nor Miles could live without their mother.I enjoyed having the children around. I watched with pleasure and joy as Miles played with the train set that he had gotten for him, the twins rode tricycles outside, and chased each other around the house.Miles had been particularly fond of my collection of cars. “Would you like for me to teach you how to drive?” I asked him, my heart swelling up with love for his bright blue eyes and intent stare. Miles nodded, so I picked up my son and took him to the driver’s seat.“Vroom, vroom!” exclaimed Miles, turning around the steering wheel of a stationary car.So, the next day, I had shown up with a mini-Ferrari for Miles to drive. I had also gotten one for Mabel – a white one – but she had told me that it wasn’t very ladylike to drive a racecar.“Whatever do you mean?” I had laughed.Mabel h
(Lydia)Things had been a bit awkward between Nathan and I for the first couple of weeks after I resumed working with him. As soon as the shots were cut, we would go our own separate ways. In all truth, I hadn’t been expecting this from Nathan. I had thought that, being the joyous, bubbly, and carefree person that he was, he would probably come up to me and tell me that the way that I had responded in that situation with Clara was hilarious.But he looked down and walked away. I startled a little but then shook my head and went my own separate way.“I’m sorry about how brutal the tabloids were at you about this whole thing,” Jane said.“It’s okay,” I sipped my coffee. We were sitting outside in the main area outside the studio.The grass was bright green and the sky shone and happy blue above us. But I didn’t feel that way. I missed my children. I missed … Thomas.***“Hey,” Nathan said when I approached the yoga room. A bunch of people were practicing inside it.“Hi,” I said, surpris
(Lydia)The children’s birthday party was being held at the mansion. This was the first time in a long time that the whole family would be gathered together: the twins, Ruby, Jack, Mama, Margaret, Thomas, and I.I had also invited Adam over to the party, seeing as how he had practically raised the children for the first three years of their lives.“Are you excited about turning four?” I asked Miles through the FaceTime screen.“Yes!” he exclaimed, “And because I am four, I will have four cars!”“Four cars?” I raised my brows in surprise.“Yes,” he said, showing me a grin.“Hey,” said Nathan as he walked past, “Did I hear something about a birthday?”I nodded. “Yeah, we’re holding the twins’ birthday party tonight.”“Really?” he said.“Yeah,” I nodded, ‘Would you like to come?”“Of course!” Nathan said.“Mommy,” Miles said through the phone, “Is that Uncle Nathan?”“Yes, love,” I said to him. Behind him, I felt Thomas shift uncomfortably, shaking the camera that he was holding.“Hey, b