Chapter 4 His Story

• One Year Ago-
• “Have you gone over the contract they sent over?” Theodore Warren spoke into the phone with his business partner Eric.
• “I told you, these people are trying to do us dirty. You have to come back before we can decide,” Eric grumbled.
• Theo’s footsteps gained speed as he caught sight of Sandra’s glass-enclosed lobby down the block, a few years ahead of the steel staircase. He looked at the flourishing surroundings and remembered the articles Sandra had shared. A colleague of hers had written pieces that brought in tons of attention and that writer sat in the adjacent building, writing great pieces of literature as he made his way to his sister’s apartment.
• He remembered sharing his views on the articles written by Nadia. He had commented about the awe-inspiring talent possessed by the woman and only realized that his sister’s reason for sharing the articles had been to have him stroke her ego. Sandra wanted reassurance that she was a better writer than Nadia.
• “Not everything is as it seems. But we can’t hold the negotiation until I come back,” Theo commented as a woman appeared on the staircase, just a few yards away. She sprinted and then jumped down the last few steps and rushed in his direction. The pair of heels she wore made him fear that she would twist her ankle or break a leg.
• It did little to slow her down, though. She was fast.
• “What?” Eric prompted.
• “I said—”
• Long hair cascaded around her shoulder, her rapid pace making it villow around her lean fram like a threatening cloud.
• “I think the connection is breaking up. I can’t catch the end of that.”
• Theodore was silent. The woman was fiercely mumbling words he couldn’t heard but the fury was evident on her beautiful features. She was ethereal in her obvious wrath. After a quick second, his steps faltered at the vision because while he was sure he had never seen her before, there was a connection.
• As he tore his eyes away from her, someone yelled from above. “Someone stop that woman!” It was a woman standing at the top of the building, leaning over the railing. “She verbally abused my son and destroyed his phone. Stop her!”
• He noted that the beautiful angel was singularly focused on the lobby.
• “Eric, I have to go. I will be on the first flight back, I promise.” He ended the call, his eyes fized on her. They simultaneously reached the lobby. The doorman anticipated her approach and watched her warily as he held the door open. When she shoved Theodore aside, the alarm bells in his head started to ring.
• The woman ignored his words as the elevator door opened and the occupants spilled out. Theodore felt dread as his sister, Sandra Warren scrambled out while straightening her clothes. She had missed a few buttons on her blouse, making it impossible for her to look put together. The man beside her had panicked eyes as he tried to tuck in his unbuttoned shirt.
• Theodore could guess the story immediately. The seven year old him had done it ages ago.
• “Nadia, calm down.”
• The articles, she had written all of them.
• Theodore’s hackles rose as the husband screamed at Nadia.
• “Nadia,” Sandra’s voice shook, but Theo knew his sister. It wasn’t fear or shame. It was the way that her eyes flickered to the onlookers that took him back to when he was seven.
• ‘Damn in, Teddy, tell him to look away. He is staring at me and I am trying to get my clothes back on.’
• ‘Beth, he is just shocked. Theo, please son… turn around.’
• “And you,” Nadia hissed sharply, pulling him back to reality. “you whore!”
• Theo took another step forward, hoping to pull the woman away from the prying eyes and the dark abyss she was falling into. But she sensed nothing apart from the two people in front of her.
• The magical language in her articles made no appearance. But she painted a vivid picture of how her best friend and husband had betrayed and cheated on her. In case there was doubt amongst the people watching the show in the lobby, she let none remain.
• “Nadia, stop,” Sandra spat. “This is my apartment building and you are embarrassing me.”
• ‘I’m trying to button up and he is embarrassing me!’
• ‘Theodore, son, please. I promise I will explain everything. Please… we have to get dressed.’
• ‘Damn it, Teddy, why didn’t he knock before he walked in? He should have knocked!’
• Yes, Sandra’s sense of self-righteous indignation would only rise and it would anger Nadia even more.
• “You were sitting naked—”
• Another memory flashed through his head. This was the only time he had stopped by the apartment building on request of his mother, who hoped he would reconcile with his half-sister.
• He arrived late and Sandra’s apartment door was partially open.
• “Can’t you stay a bit longer?” Sandra asked.
• A musical voice came from within the elevator. “No, I just stopped by. I love the apartment, Sandy. I will see you tomorrow!”
• Curiously, Theo peeked into the other elevator but it had already shut.
• Now, in the present, the woman retrieving her mail dropped it in shock. The sound of whispered exclamations broke the momentary silence. Meanwhile, Theo tried to recall that he had first spotted the woman as she rushed down from the staircase. So, it would appear his sister didn’t close her blinds again.
• The bastard husband gripped the back of his neck and whimpered.
• ‘I don’t know what do to, Theo,’ his father had said decades ago with the same expression. ‘Just please step out.’
• Sandra’s nostrils flared. “You damn…” she sneered and shook her head. “We couldn’t do this like adults, could we?”
• Theodore took another step forward and reached for Nadia, lifting a hand towards one of her stiff shoulders.
• “This is your own damn fault, Nadia,” Sandra snapped. “You were a nag and he got sick of you.”
• The woman’s shoulder fell and his hand sank back to his side. “Damn it, Sandra,” he hissed.
• Sandra and Theodore were never close as siblings. He was seven years her senior and had little in common with her. She was rebellious and did the most outlandish things for attention. And she had never grown out of it. The real reason Theo wasn’t close to her was the manner of her creation. While his father cheating was not Sandra’s fault, it was permanently etched into his subconscious mind.
• Sandra’s worrying behavior was a product of their father, her mother, and his mother’s actions. But at that moment, he didn’t give a fuck whose fault it was. But he had some choice words for the asshole husband who was more defensive than remorseful for his options. He finally opened his mouth.
• “Nadia… we’ve been having issues for a while.” He sang the same tune as every other cheated… just like Teddy, Theodore’s father.
• “Hannah, you have been so busy with the start-up, and…”
• ‘So you slept with the neighbor, Teddy? Because I wasn’t around? Because I had a last-minute meeting? When you knew our son would be home at any moment?’
• “Nadia, when was the last time we spoke?”
• ‘Hannah, when was the last time you gave me your undivided attention?’
• ‘Lately, you have been too tired to even…’
• The same words came out of Quinn’s mouth. The asshole’s face burned in embarrassment and Theo withheld the bitter chuckle. It was obvious what the next words would be. It was a ridiculous thing to say after he was caught cheating on his wife.
• Theo watched as the eerily familiar scene unfolded in front of him. He wondered if his father had turned red when he delivered his ridiculous excuses, too. By then, Theo had been in his room, listening to a conversation he wasn’t supposed to hear after seeing something he wasn’t supposed to witness.
• Based on Nadia’s acidic chuckle, she found her husband’s reasoning ridiculous as well.
• “It’s because he loves me, Nadia,” Sandra shouted. “Not you.”
• Ignoring Sandra’s provocation, Nadia bravely wore on, though it was obvious her bastard husband didn’t deserve her courage or willingness to fight for him. He didn’t have the courage to set aside the mortification of the situation to help his wife or see the demons she was fighting to get him back and get an answer from him.
• “Is it true?” she asked, struggling to maintain her steadiness. “Do you love her?”
• The husband didn’t respond.
• She was forgiving enough to give him an out, if like Theo’s father, he asked for one.
• ‘It was all the stress and it was a mistake, Hannah. I swear it, and it only happened once.’
• “We can work through it if that is the case.”
• Quinn kept staring at her silently. Theo noticed his sister’s growing panic at his indecision.
• “He doesn’t want to work through it, Nadia. He doesn’t want you anymore. He wants me. He loves me.”
• “Nadia, what have you done?” Theo spat. Quinn didn’t deserve his wife’s forgiveness, but Nadia didn’t deserve Sandra’s venom in addition to his silence.
• “Mind your own business, Theo,” Sandra snapped without glancing at him.
• “I would say this is my business, Sandra.”
• “Quinn, talk to me,” Nadia continued.
• Quinn opened his mouth but it was Sandra who spoke. The words about children and Nadia being unable to conceive were like poison. The moment Sandra lashed out with the worst of her poison, Theo rushed forward. But it was too late.
• “Someone call the cops!”