A Beautiful Mess

Chapter 8

Sydney and Cole's mother spent the next hour looking at the garden. They were on their stomachs under a bush laughing when Cole found them to escort them back to the patio where he introduced Sydney to his father, who was precisely like Cole. All she had to do was look at him to know what Cole would be like in thirty years. He was pleasant, but distracted, as he asked Viola to join him in the study.

"Why don't you take Sydney around the house. We'll have lunch in about an hour," Maddie suggested as she picked up Viola's tray of lemonade and carried it through the door closest to the table.

After Cole and Sydney were alone, the silence was overwhelming.

"I like your family Cole," Sydney said, more because she felt the need to break the silence than because she thought he would care.

He just grunted as he took her arm and turned her towards the house.

"Where are we going?" she asked, confused.

"Mother said to show you the house, so I'll show you the house." He sounded put out.

Sydney could feel his hand gripping her bare arm as he pulled her into the house. "Stop!" she said as she dug her heels into nothing. "Please!"

He stopped and looked down at her flushed face.

"I can walk, and I will follow you, but please stop pulling me around as if I'm a child you're trying to drag to the dentist. I promise, I won't kick or scream."

She saw his lip twitch as he held up his hands. "I apologize."

Sydney nodded as she rubbed her arm, not because he had hurt her, but to try and erase his touch.

They spent the next hour going through the house which was massive and almost like a time capsule. It was beautiful and well-loved, and she said as much to Cole as he led her into a smaller bedroom that had trophies everywhere.

"This was my room when I was a kid," he said, looking around as if he hadn't seen it in a while.

Sydney walked around slowly, looking at all of the photos and awards. She noticed a framed picture of him holding a high school diploma and noted how young he looked. She read the blurb below it and it said he was sixteen.

"How old are you in this photo?" she asked as she picked it up and showed it to him.

"Sixteen, I had just graduated high school, I got my undergrad when I was nineteen and my doctorate when I was twenty-four." He took the photo from her and sat it back in its place.

"Impressive." She moved on to a few other photos, and after a few minutes more of his silence she turned to find him watching her, and she gave a heavy sigh, "What did I do now?"

"Why, why did you act the way you did that night of your parent's anniversary party?"

Sydney shrugged. "I told you, I was young, I thought it would be fun to test my boundaries. I apologized, what more do you want?"

"I want to know the real reason why. It's not like you, at least I don't think it is. I'm having a hard time figuring you out. There are times when I think I've got you pegged, and then you turn around and do something that completely changes my opinion." Cole frowned.

She nodded. "And it makes you mad."

"Yes, and frustrated," he agreed.

"Does it matter though? It's just a job, I'm only an employee, and I'll be gone shortly." Sydney turned away from him, sad at the thought that there would be no more chances of seeing him, even from afar. The thought made her panic and before she knew it, she was explaining. "I froze in fright, then I saw you were undressing and I was...mesmerized, then by the time you had jumped in the water it was too late, or so I thought. I said before, I hadn't planned it. I had wanted to be alone and that was the truth."