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Chapter 5
Sometimes all it took was moment for the world to come crashing down. The present which you had been sure was going to last a lifetime was broken by that one moment.
That moment took place in Sydney Smith's life as she saw her daughter slip on the slick mud and tumble into the lake. Jessica didn't know how to swim. Sydney didn't either so she had been unable to teach her.
Sydney cry of terror got lost somewhere between her brain and mouth as her daughter fell. She ran towards the lake. They had come to lake often enough to know that the water was deep. Sydney didn't think what she was going to do once she reached there as she didn't know how to swim but the only thing important at that moment was to reach her daughter.
She was about to jump when a figure raced past her and dived into the lake towards her drowning Jessica. Ashton grabbed hold of her and carried her back towards the shore. Sydney was stunned, looking at Jessica's pale face.
"Why isn't she she opening her eyes?" Sydney could hear the panic in her own voice. She bent over her frail body feeling helpless. Her mind was blank; she was unable to think. Sydney felt as though there two parts of herself. The hysterical one bent over her daughter and another serene part looking at the scene played out as if from a far distance.
Ashton quickly got Jessica out of the water and laid her down on the grass. Sydney was obviously not going to be of any help as she stared with wide glassy eyes. He turned Jessica on her back and pumped water out of her lungs. After a considerable amout of water was released, he turned her back and performed CPR.
Ashton cried a little when he at last heard Jessica's gasping breath but to anyone who had noticed, the tears were just stray drops of lake water.
Jessica coughed and Ashton helped her sit up. His hands felt limp but he couldn't let her go.
"Jess," Sydney's voice was almost a prayer and she carefully hugged Jess.
"Mommy? Ashton?"
"Yeah we are here, kiddo," Ashton replied, storking her wet hair.
"Oh my god, you are Ashton Kingman!" Someone yelled from the crowd.
Holy shit, he had removed his glares when they sat down for lunch and his wig was now somewhere at the bottom of the lake.
Suddenly there was chaos all around as everyone tried to touch him. His anger which had been absent while he spent the day with Jess and Sydney came back with a vengence.
He growled and pushed though the crowd protecting Sydney and Jess as he dragged them towards the car. It was difficult but he managed and soon they were on the road with Ashton trying to tame his anger and the two girls huddled in the passenger seat.
"Are you all right?" He asked Jess. "Can you breath properly? Do you need to go to the hospital?" He struggled to keep his voice calm so he didn't scared them.
He didn't do a very good job it seemed from Jessica's slightly frightened look, "I am fine."
Sydney held her close, a million expressions flitting across a face- relief, anger, fright.
Oh god, this is what Ashton hated. Now by tomorrow, it would be on the news. He just hoped Sydney's reputation didn't get destroyed.
"Bye, Ashton," Jessica gave him a warm hug while Sydney sat tight lipped. Shit! She was angry with him.
Without another word Sydney lead Jessica to the apartment leaving Ashton alone in the car. He waited for Sydney to turn back but never did. Jess did and he waved goodbye.
Taking a deep breath, Ashton drove to his hotel. As he had expected, the reporters were already lined up at the entrance. Mike opened the door for Ashton and lead him towards the entrance blocking out the reporters. Ashton wished that Mike could also block out their questions but that was wishful thinking.
"Ashton, who is that woman?"
"Are you dating her?"
"Is she married?"
"Are you dating a married woman?"
"Was that your child?"
Finally, he reached the lobby and headed straight to his room where Angela was waiting for him there. Oh boy, this was just getting better and better.
"How do expect me to cover this up?" Angela asked. She was livid with anger but Ashton respected her for keeping her voice calm. "You do not need anymore complications, Ashton; god knows you have enough of them. And that's what the mother and daughter are- a complication! And you are complicating things for them as well."
All of Ashton's anger bled out at the last sentence. He sat down on his bed with head in his hands. "How do I fix this?" He shocked himself by how hollow his voice sounded.
"Give a press conference. I'll tell you what to say," Angel said.
"How do you even cover this up? I mean people saw me roaming with them the whole day!"
"You say that you met them at a day care and took them for a picnic; you know like charity?" Angela said.
"They are not charity!" Ashton snapped. Ashton didn’t know why it was such a big deal for him but he couldn’t have them dismissed so easily. In a way they were a part of his life now. "I am never going to make such a comment that will just humiliate them more."
"No Ashton, it will save them. No one will care about your charity but if you have an affair it will be the talk of town for months."
"But I will not demean them this way. I am sure when I explain they will understand." Yeah, Sydney and Jess were nice people; they would understand the situation.
"If you believe so." Angela's voice was thick with skeptism.
Ashton ignored her. They would understand.
Sydney couldn't believe it. In thirty minutes she had over fifty reporters calling to ask about her relationship with Ashton. Oh god! This was worst than she had imagined. She left the phone ringing when it rang the 100th time.
"Mommy, who is calling? Did something happen to Ashton?"
"No sweety, everything is fine. And Ashton's more than fine," Sydney managed a tight smile. "Come, sleep with me today."
"Okay." Jess quickly fetched her pillow and blankets then padded to Sydney's room.
They snuggled together.
"I had lots of fun, Mommy. Ashton's great, right?"
"Yeah, he saved you," for that Sydney would be forever greatful to him.
"And even he likes hippos."
"That's great."
"Mommy?" Jess asked, hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"Was daddy just like Ashton?"
Sydney's heart stopped. "No sweety, he was nothing like him."
"Oh. Ashton will make a great daddy."
Was Jessica trying to give her a heart attack? It sure seemed that way when her words stopped Sydney's heart the second time.
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Mommy. Sweet dreams."
Sydney woke up in the morning feeling happy that her daughter was still alive and breathing in her arms.
"Good morning, sugar pie. Wake up, you have school," Sydney tied her hair in a bun and went in the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
Twenty minutes later, Jessica was ready and padded into the kitchen. Sydney presented her with the usual breakfast of toast and eggs- pancakes were only for Sundays.
After breakfast she helped Jess into her school shoes and went to drop her at the bus stand. What greeted her outside the door were a hoard of reporters, their cameras flashing crazily, blinding her temporarily.
"Are you dating Ashton Kingman?"
"Is he the child's father?"
She slammed the door shut and leaned against it, "Well, no school for you, I guess? “ she managed a tight smile. “I need to make a call."
"Mommy, are you dating Ashton?" Jess asked.
"No! Look, the only reason we are hanging out with him is because you like him," Sydney beat back the urge to scream out the explaination. There were new-hungry reporters outside and the apartment walls were thin. “I am sorry, homey. But this is just not a good time. I’ll explain later, okay?” Sydney softened her voice at Jessica’s hurt expression.
"Hello? Mr. Kingman?"
"Yes, Ms. Smith"
"Maybe you are interested to know that there are a throng of reporters outside my door asking me if I am dating you and whether Jess is your child," Sydney kept her voice calm.
"Oh really? They sure work fast, Ms. Smith. They are really talented," Ashton's voice was also calm and Sydney could detect a bit of humour behind his words and that annoyed her to no end.
"They sure are, Mr. Kingman. Maybe I need to tell them that Jess is in fact your daughter and you left us when you came to know I was pregnant because you didn't want the responsibility of a child!" Her voice rose with each word and by the end of she had gripped the tabled tightly so that she didn't end up screaming.
"That would be futile, Ms. Smith," Ashton continued with his calm, slightly amused tone. "They are convinced that we are very much in love after they saw us at the zoo yesterday. If you could please open today's paper you would find the detailed article."
Sydney skidded towards the coffee table where the newpapers were there before Ashton finished his sentence. Sure enough, they had made to the front page. She had been labeled as the mysterious woman in Ashton's life. There was a photo of them getting in the car after the big reveal and on the next page there was one at the hippo attraction with Jessica on Ashton's shoulder. There was an interview of the people who were at the zoo with them and they described them as "the perfect family."
"Mommy, we are in the papers!" Jess squeeled. Sydney couldn't even find the energy in her to smile at Jessica.
"Read the article?" Ashton's voice was muffled over the phone seeing that Sydney had cleched it to her chest.
"What do we do now?" She cried.
"Hey, hey, relax. We'll just have a press conference and tell them that nothing of that sort is going on between us. Yeah, they won't necessarily believe that but I am going back to Chicago next week so when we stop meeting, the rumours will stop circulating," Ashton's voice held a melanchony note as he mentioned Chicago but it was so slight that Sydney thought she imagined it.
"You think that will solve everything?"
"I am sure it will solve everything."
Ashton sounded so sure that Sydney relaxed a fraction, "But what about this week? There are reporters outside and Jess and I need to go to school."
"Don't worry about that. I have sent Gary over ther. He will drop you off where ever you need to be." Ashton thought of everything.
"Okay, thank you, Mr. Kingman," Sydney really meant it. "I have to go get ready. I'll call you later."
"Yeah. Talk to you later, Ms. Smith. Give Jess my love. Bye."
"Bye."
"What did Ashton say? Is he coming to pick us up?" Jess asked, eagerly.
"No, but he is sending someone to drop us to school. I should go get ready." Sydney got dressed in record time.
As she entered the living room, there was a knock on the door. Checking through the eyehole, Sydney saw a muscled man dressed in black. There was no sign of the reporters.
Sydney opened the door wide, the man sure needed that much space to walk in.
"Hellow, I am Sydney. You must be Gary." They shook hands.
"I am Jessica," Jess also held out her hand.
Gary bent down and shook it warmly.
"I am supposed to drop you at Sunshine Elementary school and St. Pattrick High School, right?"
"Yeah."
The reporters had simply been shifted from Sydney's apartment to the building entrance where another muscled guy in black was holding them back. There was an onslaught of questions as Syndey came in view but Gary and the other man guided her safely into a sleek, black car which Ashton seemed to have a fleet of.
"We could have just taken my Beatle, you know," Sydney said.
Gary and the other guard who was driving glanced at eachother but didn't comment. Sydney knew that they were mocking her car. Stupid shiny cars. Her Beatle worked just fine, thank you very much.
They made it to the elementary school in record time so Jess wasn't late. Sydney was relieved to see that the entrance was devoid of reporters. After a swift kiss, Sydney left Jessica to go to class.
Sydney was not so lucky. The gates of St. Pattrick High School were blocked by people holding a mic and camera. Gary carefully escorted her inside.
"I would suggest that you don't leave the school premises during the day. You leave at four, right? I'll come to pick you up," Gary instructed.
Usually Sydney didn't take instructions well but this time she saw the sense in them. 9 'o' clock and she was exhausted. Yeah, she would stay in school.
"Sydney! I thought we were best friends! Why didn't you tell me that you are dating Ashton Kingman!" Evelyn yelled as Sydney entered the staff room.
All the teachers turned to look at Sydney.
"We are not dating, Ev," Sydney glared at her very soon to be ex- best friend.
"I saw the pictures. You were most certainly cosy together," John, the Biology teacher commented with a wink.
"Look, that was all for Jessica, alright? She loves that guy and he is a really nice person so he agreed to go for a picnic with her. That's it," Sydney didn't know what was coming out from her mouth but everyone in the room looked thoughtful so she assumed it must have been something smart.
"How did you even contact him?" Joe, the P.E. Teacher asked.
"Umm...oh yeah! His agent is a good friend of mine so we arranged a da...day to be...spent together by Jess and Ashton." Shit! She had almost said date and didn't know why. It wasn't a date by a long shot. Sydney just hoped that her quick recovery had made sense.
“What’s his agent’s name?” Evelyn smirked. Thankfully she had lowered her voice so only Sydney could hear what she said.
Sydney glared at her friend. "Oh here's the bell. Gotto go to class!" Saved by the bell. Again.
In the classroom things weren't much better. The students too wanted to know what was going on. The girls were pretty much a shade of green throughtout her classes. You could almost see vitriol spewing fron their mouths.
By the time lunch came around, Sydney had decided to skip the rest of the day and go home. She removed her phone to call Gary and realized that she had neglected taking his number. Damn it! Her only option now was to call Ashton and arrange for it. She again wished that they had brought Wanda along so she could go home alone; the school was far from her house and she didn't want to wait for a bus with the reporters around.
"Hello, Ms. Smith. Is everything alright?" Ashton's warm voice greeted her, he sounded happy. She thought that he must have bashed up some reporter since he didn't like controversies.
"Hello, Mr. Kingman. And yeah, everything is fine. I just wanted to take the rest of the day off. I mean its okay if Gary's busy. I'll wait in school," Sydney now realized how demanding she must have sounding while making the request. Gary wasn't her personal chauffer! "I shouldn't have called. I'll go to class now."
Ashton chuckled, "its okay, Ms. Smith. Gary isn't busy. In fact he is waiting in the school's parking lot."
"Oh, he's been waiting there all along, doesn't get bored?" Sydney asked, surprised.
"It's his job Ms. Smith and he is paid well for it."
In Sydney's opinion, it was beyond cruel to keep someone waiting for such a long time. She herself hated waiting for anyone when they had been given the appointed time and still were late but she didn't comment. "Okay, thank you, Mr. Kingman."
"You're welcome, Ms. Smith."
Sydney cut the call and went to parking lot. Sure enough Gary was waiting for her. The other guard had disappeared. Gary got out and opened the backseat simultaneously as Sydney opened the passenger seat. They paused.
"You don't mind me sitting in the front do you? There are only two of us and...if you want I'll sit at the back." Sydney tried to move to the backseat but Gary stopped her.
"Its okay. I don't mind you sitting in the front of you're more comfortable that way."
"Thank you."
"So Gary, how long have you been working for Ashton?" Sydney asked as they got in the car. He carefully maneuvered the car around the reporters who seemed to have taken permanent residence outside any building that Sydney entered.
"Five years."
"That long? Wow!" After a few minutes of silence Sydney asked, "Can you stop at the super market? I need to buy stuff for tonight's dinner."
"Sure." It sure was going to be difficult getting conversation out of this one.
As it was just noon, the super market was almost empty.
"You like lasagne?" Sydney asked Gary, getting spinach. "Oh, you are staying for dinner right? I mean you drove me around so much. Let me pay you back."
"Its not necessary. I get my salary,"
"But I don't give it to you!" Sydney cut him off. "Look, you really helped me a lot today and want to do something for you. And Jess says that I make a mean lasagne." She added with a wink.
Gary smiled and that gave his face a whole new glow. He should smile more often.
"In that case, I'll stay for dinner," Gary consented.
Sydney grinned and got all the ingredients and started carrying them to the car.
When Gary attempted to take them from her she said, "chill, I have carried a much heavier load, you know. I didn't have a bodyguard to do all the work for me all these years."
When they reached her apartment, Gary carried all the bags up despite Sydney's protests.
"Have you had lunch today? Cause I am starving," Sydney said.
Gary hesitated for a moment then shook his head.
"Awsome, I hate eating alone. I'll make stir fry."
"What can I do to help?" Gary asked.
"If you can just cut the vegetables, I'll dice the meat." Sydney said.
Gary nodded and set about his task. He didn't at all seem uncomfortable with the task.
"You are not married, are you?" Sydney asked.
"How did you guess?"
"You obviously know your way around the kitchen." That earned her a smile.
"My mother taught me how to cook. She said that a guy should be able to fend for himself or else he'll end up living in a pigsty when he left his parent's house."
"Haha, that's true. You close to your parents?"
"A lot," Gary said, wistfully. "I live in a big family and you can't seem to get out of the house soon enough when you stay there. But you realize how attached you are to all of them when you leave."
"True enough. My parents kicked me out of the house when I they came to know I was pregnent with Jess." That earned her an alarmed look. Sydney didn't know why she was telling Gary all this but she couldn't stop. "Even after they left me all alone to fend for myself, I couldn't hate them. I tried and believed that I did but it was just an illusion. Even if they were about to come now and accept me, I would go." Sydney carefully hid her face from Gary as tears threatened to fall.
They finished the rest of the cooking in silence and sat down to eat.
"You are a strong woman, Ms. Smith."
Sydney replied with a watery smile. She was glad that he didn't ask her about Jessica's dad. In fact he hadn't asked her anything and she had dumped her sad life history on him.
"I am really sorry I bothered you with all this. I shouldn't have said anything."
“It’s okay, I am glad that you got it off your chest,” Gary said.
“Thank you,” Sydney said gratefully. It did feel good to talk about it.
They chatted about lots of things during the meal. Gary actually was in love with his neighbor back home in Texas. Molly, his love interest, dominated most of the conversation but Sydney was happy. She encouraged him to ask her out when he got a chance to go back in his vacations. He was easy to talk to once he got out of his bodyguard shell. In no time it was four and they had to pick Jess from school.
“Mommy! Gary!” jess gave both of them warm hugs and they got in car. As expected there were reporters all around but Sydney was finding it easier to ignore them.
Jessica filled them up on her day. It had gone much better than Sydney's. The credit went to ten year olds who were too young to give too much attention to the outside world. The parents on the other hand had tried to use Sydney as a source of gossip but she had cleverly sidestepped the land mine.
When they reached home, Jess ran towards the phone, “Helllooo, Ashton!” and that was it. She would be busy for hours.
Sydney started preparing for dinner and she convinced Gary to call Molly. Even though her love life hadn’t gotten a happy ending, she loved to play match-maker. Gary actually blushed when she mentioned the phone call but gave in to her demand in the end. Judging by the way he was smiling while talking on the phone, Sydney felt that it was going really well. She smiled as she continued with the dinner preparation, a small voice in her head wishing that she too would have someone to talk on the phone.
Dinner was done so Sydney sat down to correct some papers. She used the kitchen table as that was the only one big enough to fit all the mess that she created.
“Mommy, Ashton wants to talk to you,” Jess handed her the phone and sniffed at the lasagna stuffing, sampling some.
“Hello, Ms. Smith.”
“Hello Mr. Kingman.”
“How was your day today?”
“I have had better but Gary is amazing,” Sydney commented.
“Yeah, he seemed quite smitten with you as well,” Ashton didn’t sound too happy about it.
“You spoke to him?”
“Yeah, when you had gone to get Jess,” Ashton said.
“Hmmm”
“You know I am still waiting,” Ashton said after a moment’s pause.
“Waiting for what?”
“For you to invite me to dinner! You invited Gary because he helped you. What about me? I sent him to your house, you know!” Ashton sounded mad. Sydney was surprised by his outburst. He seemed hurt.
“I just thought that maybe you shouldn't be seen with us. You know with the media and rumours..."
"Have I ever let the media rule my life? I'll be there in fifteen." Ashton cut the call.
Okay...did someone just throw a tantrum right now. Sydney doubted even Jessica had made such a fuss.
"Ashton's coming for dinner," Sydney announced.
"Yay!" Jessica jumped while Gary nodded, still on the phone.
Sydney cleared the table and got out fresh dishes. Exactly 15 minutes later, there was knock on the door and Ashton walked in.
"What's for dinner?" Ashton asked, sweetly. The tone didn't quite reach his eyes and they were icy.
"Lasagne. You like it Ashton?" Jess asked, as usual oblivious to his icy demeanor.
Ashton nodded and smiled at her, "Where is Gary?"
"Over here sir." Gary had kept down the phone and entered the kitchen.
"Why don't you'll sit down? Dinner's almost ready." She heated the lasagne again and served.
Ashton was continuosly glaring at Gary who looked uncomfortable. Sydney too looked at him with a stay-where-you-are expression. Gary looked as though he would happily sunk into the ground if it was generous enough to swallow him. Jess continued chatting happily.
Despite the tension in the room, it felt good to have dinner with the table full. Sydney had never gotten the opportunity to fully utilise the four chair table.
"I am staying here tonight," Ashton announced.
Sydney raised her eyebrow while Jess jumped in joy. Sydney didn't have any problem with him staying the night but he could have asked for permission; she wasn't going to say no.
"Let's watch a movie," Jess suggested.
"I should be going now," Gary said. "I'll come tomorrow to take you to school."
"Come on Gary, watch a movie with us. You can even crash here. That way you don't have to come here early in the morning," Sydney reasoned.
"Thanks for the offer but I should really leave," Gary said with a nervous glance in Ashton's direction.
"Please, Gary, stay! We will have lots of fun!" Jess said with a best puppy-dog face.
"I am sure he needs to go home now," Ashton said cooly.
"Yeah that's right," Gary said hastily leaving before Sydney could protest anymore.
"What is wrong with you?" Sydney bellowed at Ashton. "You have been treating him like shit from the moment you walked in!"
"Maybe if he just stuck to his job as a bodyguard I wouldn't need to treat him like shit!" Ashton yelled back.
"What's the problem if he stays the night?"
Ashton gritted his teeth, "which movie are we watching?" He asked Jessica who was looking at them with wide eyes.
Sydney couldn't believe that he just changed the topic like that. She was not done talking with him. But now there was little she could do as the two of them were pouring over the DVD collection.
Jessica chose 27 dresses. Hah, now let's watch Mr. Macho watch a girly movie. It wasn't such a big deal as he acted in girly movies as well. Oh well, let him get his own popcorn.
"Mommy, popcorn!" Jess said on cue.
"I am sure Ashton would love to make them for you," Sydney said, sweetly.
Ashton scowled at her, "Come on, kiddo. Let's get our own popcorn."
They went to kitchen while Sydney enjoyed the movie.
Suddenly there was a loud bang followed by Ashton cursing and Jessica squeeling. Sydney ran to the kitchen to see popcorn flying all around.
"What. Are. You. Doing?" Sydney choked out.
"We were making popcorn but they started flying around!" Jess explained.
"You're supposed to keep the lid on," Sydney said, looking in despair at her ruined kitchen.
"Alright, there's nothing you can do about it now. Where are you going?" Sydney asked Ashton.
"To see the movie," he answered in a duh! Tone. Someone was acting like a child today...
"And who is going to clean up the mess?" Sydney folded her arms in front of her chest.
"The maid." Again with that tone.
"We don't have a maid," Jess said cautiously stealing a glance at Sydney. "We are going to clean it, Ashton."
"Good girl," Sydney commented and walked back to the living room.
Who did she think she was? Ashton picked up the stray popcorns. She can't treat him like that; Ashton thought picking up the popcorn from the floor. No one talks to him like that. And it was her fault! Gary was a bodyguard! She could ask him for dinner but not Ashton!
"Awsome, we picked up all the popcorn!" Jess announced. "Now we need to scrub the butter off the tiles!"
"What?" This was so not happening to him. He was a movie star for heaven's sake. He wasn't supposed to scrub the floor. Sure, sometimes he wanted a normal life without the glamour but this was not one of the times. Right now he just wanted to call a house cleaning team and get the job done. But for reasons that escaped him, he quietly scrubbed the floor himself.
Ashton could hear Sydney's laughter as she enjoyed the movie.
"Mommy's really enjoying the movie without us, huh?" Jess commented.
"Yeah. Don't worry, we'll watch it later," Ashton pulled her into a hug. He felt like they had gone back in time where slaves were kept. Ashton and Jess were obviously the slaves and Sydney was the evil Mistress.
Ashton sighed. If he was thinking such pansy thoughts, he really needed a good night's sleep- preferably after hitting the bar.
Finally, they were done. They trudged back in front of the TV where the evil Mistress was perched on the sofa. Ashton shook his head, "I am going to sleep." His back was paining from bending over the floor.
"Same here," Jess said, yawning.
"Good night," Sydney smiled softly. Her expression troubled Ashton- she looked proud for some reason.
Oh well, he would think about it tomorrow. He really needed his beauty sleep right now. He fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.
Sydney went to Jessica's room to check on them. Both were fast asleep. She adjusted the comforters since Ashton hadn't bothered pulling one. She removed his shoes, made sure both were comfortable, gave Jess a good goodnight kiss and went to her own bedroom.