Chapter 22

            Regina was enjoying a cup of cappuccino in her kitchen in Livingston. She had to get out of Orlando for a while. The media attention was crazy. At least three or four photographers were camping on the sidewalk in front of her home every day. She had called the police, but they had said as long as they stayed on the sidewalk it was freedom of the press.

            She wanted her privacy back. She packed up some of her clothes and called Rachel. Regina loaded up her car and had Rachel drive as she lain down on the back seat with a blanket over her. The photographers didn’t have a clue. They snapped a few photographs of Rachel driving her BMW and kept hanging around the outside of the house. Rachel had driven Regina to the airport and drove the BMW back to her house.

            Regina took a cab from the airport. There was an SUV in the garage she and Sidney shared. Regina used it to get around. During the past week, she had visited her salons in Jersey City, Elizabeth, and New York City. Other than that, she just relaxed and watched TV. She had only cut her cell back on last night. She was sorry that she had. Scott had left at least thirty messages, begging her to hear him out. She didn’t want to listen to his bullshit excuse. Regina was surprised that he was still trying to contact her. She didn’t understand why. Compared to him, she was nothing. Just another peasant among the billionaires. Granted, she and Sidney were millionaires in their own right, but she had found that the more money a person had, the more entitled they acted. No ones’ feelings or lives mattered but theirs. She even saw the change in her own husband. Granted, he wasn’t poor when she met him, but he wasn’t as wealthy as he was now. Regina had vowed not to become a shallow snob who looked down on others.

            Her cell phone chimed. She had received an email from Mika. Regina opened her inbox and read the message.

            I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing or not sending this, but I thought you might want to know since you met his father. Mika

            As she wondered what Mika meant, Regina clicked on the attached link. Her eyes widened as her lips parted from shock. It was to an online gossip site. There was a picture above the article of Scott on the ground holding his father as he had his phone to his ear. It looked like Clayton’s eyes were closed. She read the small report.

            Scott Kelly’s father, Clayton Kelly, collapsed while lounging with his son in the backyard. He was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center. According to our sources, Clayton Kelly was released a few hours after he was admitted. We couldn’t get any details on his current condition.

            Regina was horrified at the news and the additional two pictures of Scott looking frantic and worried. Whoever took the pictures was pure scum. And whoever bought the pictures was the ultimate leech. Her heart went out to Scott. She adored his father. Her thoughts immediately shot to Clay. She missed the little sweetheart. He was so polite and nice. She missed his daddy too, in spite of herself. She wasn’t sure if she would ever forgive Scott for tricking her, making a fool out of her, and – making her feel special and cared for. He had given her hope that there was love after divorce.

            Damn him. She clicked her phone into sleep mode and finished her cappuccino. She was thinking about getting another cup when the doorbell rang.

            Regina started walking to the door. She couldn’t imagine who it could be since she didn’t tell anyone in Livingston that she was back, and she hadn’t ordered anything. When she approached the door, she got her second shock of the day. She stopped in her tracks as she stared at Sidney. He was wearing a short-sleeved polo shirt and beige slacks. He was holding a small bouquet of daisies and baby’s breath and a take-out bag from one of her favorite restaurants. Regina moved in slow motion to the door and cracked it open. “Sidney,” she whispered.

            “Hi,” he said with a soft smile. “I needed to speak to you.”

            “Sidney, I don’t think we should talk directly. We should leave the talking to our attorneys,” she said softly.

            He swayed his head to the right side as he said, “We have been married for thirteen years. We owe each other one last conversation before all is said and done.”

            “I don’t know,” she said with hesitancy. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear what Sidney had to say.

            “I got your favorite sub here with waffle fries,” he bribed.

            Well, the least I can do is eat the sandwich. “All right, it’s a nice afternoon. Let’s sit on the patio.” She opened the door wider to let him in.

            Sidney smiled, showing his pristine teeth. “These are for you,” he said as he presented her the flowers.

            Regina opened a bottle of wine and put the flowers in a vase. She carried the wine and two glasses out on the patio. Sidney was setting the food out on the glass-top table. The lilac umbrella that shielded them from the sun also matched the cushions on the chairs.

              She took a bite of her meatball and cheese sandwich. They ate quietly for a moment until Regina couldn’t take the silence anymore. “Sidney, why did you come over here? Surely it wasn’t to bring me my favorite food and flowers. We’re separated.”

            Sidney put his sub down on the wrapping paper. “I . . . Regina . . . I think I made a mistake leaving you.”

            Her eyebrows arched up. She was stunned for the third time that day. When Sidney first left her, she was sure he would come back – until she got legal separation papers. He had been so sure that he wasn’t going to return to her that he had moved his things out of the house. “What?”

            “Regina, I . . . being with Vicki isn’t what I thought it would be. I never realized how materialistic she was until a month ago. My god, I know women like to shop, but not that much. There isn’t a day that goes by that she isn’t walking through the door with a bag or four in her hand. And . . . she can’t cook. We have to eat out all the time,” he complained.

            “You want to come back to me because your girlfriend can’t cook?” she asked with disbelief.

            “It’s not just your cooking. I want to come back because you are a good person. You’re empathetic, and you actually cared about what I had to say.”

            “Oh, I thought I made you feel emasculated,” Regina mimicked in a male tone.

            He exhaled. “Okay, I deserve that. I admit that I didn’t appreciate you – that I didn’t know what I had until it was gone.”

            Wow. Sidney never admitted when he was wrong. He was sincere. “Why did you cheat on me — again?”

            Sidney looked down. “I was overwhelmed by Vicki’s zest for life. She’s in her twenties. She made me feel like I was back in college again. I mistook my feelings of lust and nostalgia for love, I believe.”

            Regina didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t said anything this sweet to her in four years.

            “Please forgive me, Regina. I’ll do anything. We’ll go to counseling. We’ll have date night once a week. Name your terms.”

            A helicopter could be heard from a distance.

Regina wasn’t sure if she wanted him back. He left her without warning. He cheated on her – and it wasn’t the first time. During the past four months, she wondered if she should have left him years ago when he cheated on her the first time. Granted, they were both grieving at the time, but he still cheated. “Sidney, do you still love me?”

            “Yes. Our relationship just got a little stale. That happens with married couples after a while. I know that we can get that spark back if we work on it.”

            Regina wasn’t sure how to take his comment. Yes, he loved her, but there was a but in his proposition.

            “Is it that guy? Is that why you are hesitating?”

            “What guy?”

            “Regina, I saw online last week that you were dating a billionaire in Florida. I know I don’t have that kind of money, but at least my profession doesn’t put you on a gossip blog,” he said with a smirk.

            Regina tried to smile back, but she couldn’t. It was Scott. She was crazy about him. She had started to fall for him. However, was the man that she had spent over three months with real or a façade?

            “How long have you’ve been seeing him?”

            “A little over two months.”

            “Is it serious?”

            “I . . . that’s a long story.” As far as she was concerned, her tryst with Scott was over, but she didn’t want to tell Sidney that because a part of her felt that it was none of his business.

            The helicopter sounded like it was getting closer.

            “Regina, I’m serious about this. I called my attorney two days ago to tell him that I wanted to see if we could reconcile. He called your attorney, and he had told him that you went to New Jersey for a while. I figured you would be at the house, so I thought I would try to talk to you myself,” he explained. “Considering all the trouble I’ve gone through, I think I deserve to know what is going on with you and Scott Kelly.”

            The helicopter noise was louder. At first, Regina thought it was just going to fly over them, but it was coming too close for comfort.

            “What the hell?” Sidney yelled over the noise.

            The black chopper with the white stripes started to land in the backyard.

            “What the hell does this guy think he’s doing? This isn’t an airport,” Sidney yelled with annoyance.

            The breeze from the blades whipped Regina’s hair and rippled her and Sidney’s clothes. The pilot cut the engine. As the blades slowed, the side door opened.

            Regina’s heart stopped when she saw Scott hop out of the chopper wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a green and gold striped tie.