CAPTURE THIS (Updating regularly)

Chapter 29

Sylvia was her usual sweet hospitable self, greeting Amber with a tight hug and a warm smile. 

"I am so glad you called, Amber!" 

Amber couldn't help but smile back at the woman in front of her, who looked healthier than the last time she had seen her. "I'm glad too. You look so great, Sylvia." 

A delicate blush rose to her cheeks but she grinned radiantly. "Thank you. It's been a good couple of months since I last saw you." 

She led Amber into the house. Amber sat at the kitchen table whilst she flitted around, making them a cup of tea. 

They began with small talk and general pleasantries. Sylvia told her about her recent promotion and doted about her boyfriend. Amber was glad that after she had sorted everything with Alex, she would be able to report back that Sylvia was thriving. A piece of her wondered if it would hurt Alex that she was doing so well now that she had moved on but for the sake of their relationship, she hoped that he would be nothing but happy for his ex. Amber shared details about her new job with Matthew, neglecting to mention his name right away. Sylvia naturally asked about Alex, and immediately noticed when Amber's face fell. 

"Is everything okay?" She asked gently, watching Amber's face intently. 

"Well, actually that's why I'm here," Amber replied, trying to broach the subject delicately. 

"What is it, Amber? You can tell me." Her face contorted with concern and the placed her slender hand on Amber's. 

"Alex and I are fighting. It's about the ad agency I'm working for. He thinks I'm selling out." 

"Well that's ridiculous, you're still young. You've got plenty of time to delve head first into making art your career." 

Amber stared at the woman in front of her, feeling so grateful for the years that parted them. 

"Well yes, but that's only part of the fight. It's more about the man I'm working with." 

Sylvia's face shifted slightly, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Is he jealous? I mean, he could be a little jealous when we were together but I was little possessive over him too, I suppose." 

Amber shook her head. "It's not that." 

Sylvia frowned at her. "You're going to have to tell me what it is then, because I'm all out of guesses." 

Amber sighed. "I'm sorry, I just... The man, his name is Matthew Farrington. And I know that Alex and he have some kind of history. But I didn't want you to think that I've come to visit you just because I need to know about their past." 

She swallowed her guilt as she lied about the reason for her visit. She resented herself for it, especially since Sylvia had been so happy to see her. 

To her surprise, Sylvia smiled understandingly. "It's okay, Amber. Look, we don't know each other that well yet. I wouldn't expect you to come visit me without some kind of reason. Besides, I would have done the same thing."

Amber gazed at her in awe, feeling her throat close up a little as she became choked with emotion. "You're a better person than I am, Sylvia. I don't know how you can be so nice to me." 

Sylvia's laughed lightly, brushing away her compliments. "You're a better person for Alex than I was. We all deserve to have our best shot."

She let go of Amber's hand as she became lost in her own thoughts. 

"Now, about Matthew Farrington."

Amber put down her cup of tea, listening keenly to what Sylvia had to say about their shared past. 

"The three of us went to university together, as I'm sure you know. Alex and Matthew were roommates for the full three years. I moved into their apartment by the third year and they were basically brothers by that point. We went to university hundreds of miles away from Alex's aunt and uncle's house and Alex's cousins went to different universities so he didn't really see his family that much. Matthew and I became his family. Things were really great between us. We did everything together. We'd even go on double dates with Matthew and his girlfriend. But it was in our final weeks at university that things started to change between Alex and Matthew."

Sylvia's delicate brows furrowed as she recalled what had happened. 

"In the last few months, I started to get sick," she said, softly referring to her anorexia, "and it was really hard on Alex. He turned to Matthew quite a bit whilst it was happening. They were both studying Fine Arts and they spent a lot of time studying together, so I guess he started confiding in Matthew. He started using art to cope as well. I guess all of that pain had to be channeled somewhere. He started getting praised by all of his professors. All of the emotions he was bottling up when he was around me, he poured into his paintings and it raised his grades pretty dramatically in their final exams." 

Amber detected a note of bitterness in Sylvia's voice but her tone quickly lightened to conceal it. 

"They used to have all the same grades but suddenly Alex was excelling. It was hard for Matthew, considering how they studied together. So it was Matthew's idea to sign up for this big prestigious painting competition because he wanted something in his portfolio for after university to make up for his grades. But Alex signed up too. He wasn't too pleased about that but he never said anything. So after their final deadlines for university, they both set to work on the competition. They used to tease each other about winning at first but things sort of shifted into real competition towards the end. Now, I'm not really sure what happened in the end but Alex swears that Matthew stole some of his ideas and that made Matthew win in the end."

Amber's stomach sank as she thought of the man whom she had worked with for almost two months as a thief. The betrayal struck a nerve inside of her and she felt hatred course through her veins on behalf of Alex. 

Sylvia noticed the change in her expression and hastily emphasized, "Look, I don't know what happened. I only heard Alex's side of the story. But the judges received both of their submissions, don't you think they would have noticed if Matthew had copied Alex's submission?"

 Amber nodded grudgingly. "I guess so." 

"You need to make your own mind up about what happened. But in order to do that, you need both sides of the story and you need to see both of their submissions," Sylvia advised her. "Personally, I couldn't see a strong enough resemblance but I was Alex's girlfriend and I was caught up in everything I was going through, so it was just easier to side with Alex and cut ties with Matthew." 

She glanced down at her cup of tea. "I always did wonder what happened to him. An ad agency seems fitting." 

Her voice was devoid of all the judgement and resentment that Alex's had voiced when he had heard of what his former friend was doing. 

"After Matthew was announced the winner, Alex moved out of the apartment whilst Matthew was out and he never responded to any of Matthew's efforts to contact him."

Amber was slightly taken aback that Alex could have so coldly cut ties with someone who had meant so much to him. It was a betrayal, sure, but the fact that he ran from the problem rather than confronting it, made Amber uncomfortable. A small part of her wondered if he could ever do that to her but she consoled herself with the fact that he came back to her when they fought. 

Sylvia rose from her seat and began to clear their cups from the table, pulling Amber out of her thoughts. She instinctively clutched Sylvia's free hand.  

"Thank you, Sylvia." 

***

Whose side are you on? Let me know in the comments!

-FChy97