9. Deception

Genre: Paranormal romance, drama

Type: Series
Characters: Tamsyn, Cheryl
Prompt:042. Deception

Word Count: 532

Warning: none

Rating:  M- (coarse language, sexual situations, nudity. Applies to the whole series)

Summary: Tamsyn drives Cheryl to drink...

042. Deception 

__________

Bridgeport, present day

 “I thought the wedding is off?” Cheryl mumbled when she tottered into the room and found her only child poring over bridal magazines.

She was still hung over from last night’s drinking spree, but she went straight for the bar and began mixing a stiff drink. It was just after 8 am, still lots of hours ahead. By midday she’d be floating airily, in a drunken stupor. A blissful state, all things considered.  Having Tamsyn back in the house was…reason enough to start drinking again.

Tamsyn lowered the volume on her MP3 player, and glared at her before returning to the glossy pages without uttering a word. No doubt she's thinking of a nasty come back! Cheryl thought, but didn't voice it out. Better keep the peace!

Tamsyn was an impossible child, always searching for more, setting her sights higher than she should, but not willing to put in the hard work. The problem with her was her sense of entitlement. She wanted loads of money and to live in luxury, yet she didn’t want to lift a finger.

When she showed up, the previous week, with her suitcases, Cheryl wanted to die. She didn’t even ask what had happened. She was just surprised the engagement had lasted that long. She knew her daughter very well, and no man would have put up with her shit for the rest of his life.

“You thought wrong, mother,” Tamsyn finally replied, fixating on yet another fluffy creation. She gasped and gushed over the dress. It wasn’t a Vera Wang, but it would have to do, considering she didn’t have Leigh’s money to bank on anymore. But the wedding was still on. Devon just didn’t know it yet…

She’d agreed to time apart, knowing absence will make his heart grow fonder, and he’d come to his senses and realize he needed her. 

She knew Devon better than he knew himself, and she knew if she’d put up a fight, stonewalled him on the breakup, it would have pushed him further away from her, made him more determined to end things.

Since their breakup was ‘amicable’, he would remember that, and he would remember what a great person she was, and how well she’d handled things. He would also remember how great things between them used to be. He’d miss her… She had no doubt in her mind. And he’d be back.

So while he took ‘time apart’, she was hard at work, carefully planning their wedding. Everything was still on track, but she had had to cut back on a few things, and find lots of ‘work arounds’. 
She was convinced any day now he’d call her, and beg her to come home. And when he did, she’d be ready. She hadn’t even bothered unpacking her suitcases, because her stay at her mother’s house was just temporary…

“Sweetie, do yourself a favor, and let the man go! He said it’s over. It’s not healthy what you’re doing. You’re deluding yourself,” Cheryl broke through her daydream.

“No. Dev’s just going through pre-wedding jitters, that’s all, he’ll call me and beg me to come home, you’ll see.” Tamsyn replied, moving on to a brochure on flowers and wedding cakes, before scribbling numbers in their designated columns on her notepad. She had to work with a budget now, no more splurging someone else's money. Something she hated, but was forced to live with.

Cheryl took a long sip from her glass, shaking her head sadly. Her daughter was seriously deceiving herself. When a man sends you packing, he means it. There’s no changing his mind. She’d learned that harsh lesson from Tamsyn’s father.