My head felt like it would explode. She knew Aiden would want to help? She somehow knew Aiden was annoyed with me? How could she possibly know that? Aiden hadn’t seen her or Mark for almost four years, had he? What the hell did she mean by use the Amex card? I was so angry that I felt hot all over, like my blood was boiling. I was too shocked and confused to even try to hide it. Cecile flashed another of her fake smiles as she walked over to one of the chairs and sat down in it, as if she had a right.
“Aiden didn’t tell you that we’d been in contact, did he?” She tried to look sympathetic when she said it but again, she wasn’t pulling it off.
My husband didn’t tell me they’d been in contact. He didn’t tell me he’d given her a credit card to use…I was livid, but the last person I was going to admit that to was this bitch. I continued to just stare at her with my arms across my chest. I kept them there to keep from grabbing her by the hair and shaking her. I was so horrified by her behavior that I didn’t even know what to say.
“Please don’t worry, Holly. This isn’t about you, or even me. Aiden missed his son, that’s all.”
I couldn’t stop myself this time since the boy was no longer in the room. As if spitting venom, I said, “I seem to recall that Mark’s father was a man named Jake. What happened? Did he leave you and now you’re trying to take back my husband?”
Cecile laughed and said, “Insecure much are you? No dear, this is about my son. I know it may be hard for you to understand, but some mothers do put their children first.”
“You bitch! You don’t know anything about my parenting skills. At least I didn’t use an innocent child as a pawn in my games between two men.” I didn’t raise my voice, I didn’t want Mark to hear, but I did have my teeth gritted so she knew how angry I was.
“Touché,” was all Cecile said to that. She seemed to delight in the fact that I was angry. It made me want to scratch her eyes out that much more.
She continued to sit there, so I continued to go about my business with my son like she wasn’t there. I had a mind to call security and have her removed; nothing would make me happier than to see them carry her out kicking and screaming. The only thing that kept me from it was the innocent little boy in the next room. I put Eric in his playpen after I got his toys picked up from the floor and went into the kitchen to fix his supper. We only fed him organic fruits and vegetables, I had been told by the pediatrician that would help him later on in life to not develop so many food allergies. Aiden had done a lot of research on it too and thought it was a great idea. I chopped up his vegetables and put them in the processor and turned it on for the thirty seconds it took to puree them. When I turned it off, I heard Eric crying. I went to him right away and I stopped dead in my tracks when I came around the corner to see Cecile holding my son.
“That noise scared him,” she said. “He fell backwards in the playpen. You really shouldn’t leave him sitting up like that. He could have hurt his neck.” She was just full of lectures when it came to my parenting skills. I held my arms out for him and as she handed him to me it was all I could do to keep myself from slapping her. I hugged Eric to my chest.
“I really think you should go now.”
“I’d rather wait for Aiden,” she said. “I’m truly sorry. I imagined Aiden marrying a strong woman who wouldn’t feel so threatened by me.”
That was it. That flipped the crazy switch in me. I sat my son back down in his playpen and I stepped up into her face.
“You need to get out of my house, now!” Aiden walked in the door just then.
Looking shocked and dismayed he said, “What’s going on?”
Cecile pasted a smile on and turned towards him.
“Hi Aiden,” she said, sweetly. “I’m so sorry, I think I may have upset your wife by stopping by.” She turned back to me then and in an even more sickeningly sweet voice she said, “Holly, dear. I’m only here because my son so desperately wanted to see Aiden. I told him no, I didn’t want to disturb you. The very last thing I want to do is cause you grief. I did need to ask you a little favor too,” she said, turning back to Aiden. “That can wait though.”
I laughed. It wasn’t a happy laugh, or even a pretty one. It was just a sound I was making at that very moment to keep from screaming. I literally wanted to beat my own head against the wall. I couldn’t believe any of this was happening. I looked at Aiden.