Chapter4
Lydia Amos walked through the door, looking like her usual snobby self. She hadn’t been in that conference room before, and she wasn’t necessarily thrilled to be there, but she had to do what she had to do to get her man back. She had flown all the way from New York to Greece just to get a meeting with her husband. He had refused to see her face to face in some time because the thought of them together again made him sick. That was even before he started falling for Tessa.
She walked across the room and sat down at a table next to her lawyer. She pulled out a compact and reapplied her lipstick over her thin lips. She had to show Oscar what exactly he was missing. There was no amount of makeup that would ever make Oscar want to get back together with Lydia.
She had a pretty ideal look, at least for some commercial companies. She had a plain face and fit body that could be easily manipulated to sell whatever product she was hired to advertise at the time. She had long blonde hair that was only half real, the other being the most expensive extensions she could afford. Her body was natural, and she didn’t believe in plastic surgery. She definitely believed in Botox, however. She spent a good portion of Oscar’s money on the fillers in the past.
Lydia certainly had a fortune of her own and didn’t need Oscar’s money to still be wealthy. She did, however, need Oscar to be satisfied. She wasn’t used to not getting what she wanted, and men rarely turned her down. She might have been beautiful on the outside, but Oscar knew how ugly she was on the inside.
When the two first met, they were both fairly young. He felt that she would be a beautiful wife and together, they’d be a beautiful power couple. At first, she was sweet and understanding, always looking out for Oscar and being a supportive wife. His father had always put pressure on him to find a wife, stating that he wanted him married when he graduated college. Oscar had different plans.
He attended The Collegiate School in New York, a prestigious all-boys academy. His mother got breast cancer when he was only 10, and he had to watch her slowly die over the course of two years. After she passed, his father wasn’t able to take care of him and decided to send him away to school. Once he graduated he went to Columbia University to study literary arts. It was never an issue where he would get into, but his father made quite the fuss over his degree.
His father threatened to take away his awaiting trust fund if he didn’t study business, or at least, fashion, to help him fit in at the up-and-coming CEO of their company. His grandfather had started Legros in the 1920s, and it quickly became an American staple, with outlets popping up all over the country. Oscar’s father, Oscar Senior, was able to turn the company global, with stores appearing all over the world in the 1980s.
Oscar didn’t care about his father’s threats and continued his literary studies, focusing on creative writing. In his senior year of college, he got the call that his father had passed away. He quickly had to decide if he was going to step up and take over his father’s business or sell it to someone else. The immense guilt he had about his relationship with his father took a toll, and he decided to take over the business as a way to mend their relationship, though he had already passed.
He decided he should get married as well, and that’s when he met Lydia. He jumped into their relationship and decided she would look great as his wife. Inside, he knew he was making a terrible mistake. He just wanted to stop feeling guilty for disappointing his father up until he died.
Once they married, things started to quickly change. She started spending money like crazy, buying thousand-dollar bags that she left collecting dust in her giant closet. She loved taking long and luxurious vacations, always flying privately and staying in the nicest resorts. She could probably spend money like this for her entire life and Oscar would still be one of the wealthiest men on the planet, but he couldn’t stand her spending habits.
Even though his bank account wasn’t hurting from the purchases, he felt that the money could be spent better. Every new shopping bag she brought home, he just thought about how many families her meaningless purchase could have fed. How many people had to go to work with shoes that had holes in them while she had a thousand-dollar pair of shoes just to walk around the pool in? It was this kind of behavior that seriously turned him off and made him decide to seek out a separation.
She was also always interested in keeping their relationship public. She would do interviews about what it was like to marry a billionaire, painting their life like a tragic story of loss and love. She would always call the paparazzi to follow them, even if they were just going to the grocery store to grab a drink. She never gave Oscar a moment for them to have with each other, a sign he took as them not being right for each other. Separation was certainly the best option.
That was a difficult decision, as it’s not easy for a man like Oscar to do much in private. Of course, she started releasing, rather, selling, rumors to the media as soon as he mentioned the “D” word. If she could paint him as a partier and womanizer, she wouldn’t be the one to look bad to the media. No matter how much Oscar despised Lydia, he still couldn’t bring himself to stoop to her level and refused to share any bad information about her. Instead, he had just hoped for the cleanest and easiest divorce possible. That’s why he had refused to meet her in person.
Every time they got together even after their separation, she still called the paparazzi. Of course, she would never admit that she was the one to tip off the posse with the cameras, but who else knew their intimate details and constant whereabouts? He had hoped that not as many people would follow them to Athens. However, she was likely to cause a stir as she always did.
Oscar was a good person, so it wasn’t easy for him to treat Lydia badly. It was even harder for him to be mean to her in person, remembering the woman that he knew when they first met. He just had to constantly remind himself that it was all just an act.
Oscar walked into the room with his lawyer, causing Lydia to sit up straight and fix her see-through black blouse. She loved showing as much skin as possible while still attempting to maintain a level of class. He hardly noticed what she was wearing.
“Oscar dear, so nice of you to finally show up.” Lydia tried her best to sound nice but no matter how hard she tried, she always came off evil to Oscar.
“Sorry I’m late. It’s not easy being in charge of the opening of an entire department store.” Oscar was in Athens because he was opening an Athens location of Legros, one of the largest retail outlets in the world. “What is so important that you had to fly all the way out here, Lydia?”
“Well, I was just tired of talking to your answering machine. I miss you, Oscar.” Lydia was only known as being a model, but she sure was good at acting.
“I’m sorry, Lydia, but that’s just the way things have to be. I’ve been trying to reach a settlement with you for months now. Getting back together is not an option.” Oscar was stern in the way he was talking to her.
“Miss Amos—” Oscar’s lawyer, Peter, started.
“Legros. I’m keeping the last name. Legally at least.” Lydia had changed her name, but the media still referred to her with her maiden name.
“Ms. Legros, Oscar is willing to give you whatever you want to just get this thing over with,” Peter said a little less sternly than Oscar had.
“I don’t need you to tell me what Oscar wants. I’ve come up with some different terms. Tell him Harry.” Lydia’s lawyer was celebrity attorney Harry Hugo, a rumored love interest of Lydia’s.
“In addition to the terms we’ve already discussed, Ms. Legros requests $1 million a month in alimony,” Harry said as if he was talking on an infomercial.
“Fine,” Oscar said with his eyes closed.
“She would also like the New York penthouse,” Harry continued, reading off some papers in front of him.
“Sure.” Oscar could have been a robot. “Like I said, anything you want.”
“Can you think of anything else, Ms. Legros?” Peter said almost sarcastically. “Since the San Francisco condo and the yacht weren’t enough.”
Lydia pretended to start crying and grabbed a tissue from her purse. “We’ll send you over the paperwork as soon as possible, then,” Harry told Peter. Lydia stood up and quickly left the room. Playing the innocent divorcee was her strategy to guilt Oscar into taking her back. Meryl Streep could play that role and still not make Oscar blink an eye.
Oscar and his lawyer left the room as well. When they started walking down the hallway, Lydia was standing next to a drinking fountain, still weeping. They passed her without saying anything. She quickly turned around and cried out for Oscar.
“Oscar, wait!” She was acting pathetic. He still gave her the courtesy of turning around and walking back towards her. He didn’t say anything and stood in front of her.
“What happened to us, Oscar?” Lydia was really playing up the role. You would have thought her husband died.
“I realized this isn’t what I wanted anymore, Lydia. It’s over. We’ve talked about this.” Oscar wished she would just vanish.
“You’ve met someone haven’t you? You’ll barely look me in the eye.” Lydia was trying to get closer to Oscar, but he kept edging back.
“Actually, I have.” Oscar instantly thought of Tessa. He thought about her dewy skin and radiant glow. He remembered how soft her skin was when he held her close the first night, and how he couldn’t help but catch a whiff of her hair every time they got close. He thought about how he felt more for Tessa when he first laid eyes on her than he did for him and Lydia’s entire 2-year marriage.
“I knew it. Is she prettier than me?” Lydia leaned against the wall. Oscar sighed and turned around, walking back to his car. He wasn’t going to put up with Lydia today. “Oscar wait, I’m sorry. Can we just get a drink or something tonight? I flew all the way here to see you.”
“I can’t, I’m busy.” For once, Oscar didn’t actually have anything to do that night. He wished it was the next day when he had the charity event with Tessa, however, the next day seemed years away. Lydia looked down and started crying harder. Oscar walked away, realizing he felt absolutely nothing else for her.
*****
JoAnn and Jade walked into Tessa’s apartment, still in shock that they were actually in a foreign country at last.
“Tessa this is beautiful!” JoAnn was in shock at the apartment. It really wasn’t all that interesting. You could probably find a hundred places that looked exactly the same in New York, but the fact that it was in a foreign country made it all the more interesting.
“Yo this is actually pretty dope. Not too bad, little sis.” Jade set her stuff down and pulled out her phone. “I have to call Dom and see how my baby’s doing.”
“Isn’t it a little late, or”—Tessa looked at her phone—“too early to call him?” Tessa was confused.
“I don’t care, I miss my baby!” Jade walked down the hallway and into the bathroom, already acting as if she owned the place. Tessa blew it off and helped her mom get settled in.
“Honey, this is seriously amazing. I’m so proud of you, baby! You really know how to take care of yourself, huh?” JoAnn would be proud of Tessa if she sneezed, but Tessa still felt good knowing her mom thought so highly of her.
“Thanks, Mom. I’m not doing so bad. How was your flight?” Tessa said.
“Oh, it was fine. But I don’t want to talk about my plane! Let’s talk about your date tonight!” JoAnn was excited to see her daughter but still nervous knowing the truth about the man she was seeing.
“Well, he’ll be here around seven to pick me up. Maria will be home around 8 and then she’s going to take you to Duka’s and show you around a bit, so you guys aren’t stuck in this apartment all day.” Tessa had asked Maria to take over her spot while she went out with Oscar.
“Oh, honey, she doesn’t have to do that, I’m happy just to see you.” JoAnn was being completely honest.
“Speak for yourself, Mom! I’m down to eat some tasty Greek food and meet some cute Greek boys. You aren’t the only one who can land an Athens boyfriend, sis.” Jade walked out from the bathroom just in time to put her two cents in. Jade had gone on a few dates since separating from Dominic, but she was mostly just teasing when it came to her relationship status. “Got anything to drink?”
“What do you think?” Tessa walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of wine.
“All right sis, you know what’s up!” Jade took off her jacket and grabbed some wine glasses.
“So, honey, have you learned anymore about this mystery man?” JoAnn was hoping she wouldn’t have to be the one to reveal the truth to Tessa.
“We text every so often, but he’s busy.” Tessa mainly just flirted with Oscar. She wanted to learn more about him, but things were going fine on the surface level and she didn’t want to mess anything up. She’d rather have the serious conversations in person anyway. She wasn’t stupid. She knew there was something he was hiding from her, but she wasn’t in any rush to find out what it was. She wasn’t ready to get her heart broken.
She was still fine just knowing the first name of this man. “You know what, I have to show you what he got me! You can help me decide what to wear tonight!” Tessa had ended up finding two dresses for her date and bought them both. She didn’t know which one looked better and wanted their opinion. She was also hopeful that she would need a second dress for a third date. She ran down the hallway and into her room.
“Oh, I don’t feel good about this.” JoAnn was starting to feel guilty about keeping something from her daughter. She grabbed her stomach and looked around nervously. “If he hurts her, I’ll just die.”
“Mom, it’s not your place to tell her. She doesn’t want you meddling in her life.” Jade was like her sister in that she’d rather play into the fantasy of the situation than have to see her sister go through something that might cause her a lot of pain. Tessa walked back into the room holding the necklace, ending the quick conversation between her mother and sister.
“Oh my, sweetie! That’s stunning!” JoAnn was shocked at the necklace. No one had ever given her anything that nice in her life.
“Sis this cost more than my rent! What the hell!” Jade wasn’t trying to hide her envy right now. Tessa didn’t want to make her sister jealous, but she couldn’t help but bask in the bliss of the relationship. “You should wear your hair up tonight. I’ll help you!” Jade was a hairstylist and knew how to do the cutest styles on anyone’s hair. Jade was always self-conscious of her tight curls, afraid that her hair was too big. Jade always knew how to make her look and feel beautiful no matter what style she had on.
“Please do!” Tessa knew she should probably start getting ready.
*****
Tessa sat in front of her vanity mirror. She was feeling confident when she had first woken up, but as the day had dragged on, she felt more and more anxious about her appearance and what Oscar might really be thinking about her. Was he just interested in her body? She’d given herself away so easily the first night that she was afraid he looked at her like a quick score. She knew that was just the paranoia talking. She just wished there was a switch that could turn off all her self-doubt.
Tessa had a pretty large chest, so it was always attracting unwanted attention. Even in shirts that covered skin, her figure couldn’t help but shine through, always making her womanly shape attract anyone interested in the female body. As she got older, she became more comfortable with herself, but it was still hard for her to feel beautiful every day.
Most girls would kill to look like Tessa, with her plump heart-shaped mouth and moon-sized chestnut eyes. She had been blessed with naturally clear skin, though she still loved to wear a full face of makeup. Jade walked in holding a brush and some other tools. She started to pull Tessa’s hair back into a sleek bun on top of her head.
“We have to show that stunning necklace off, so I think all up and slicked back is the way to go,” Jade said.
“I don’t know, you don’t think that’s a little much? I usually like to hide my face.” Tessa hated wearing her hair up. It made her feel exposed, like everyone could see her. It did make her eyes really pop when she had it all pulled back, and she had a neck that looked like it was carved in marble. She had nothing to hide but she couldn’t help but feel paralyzed with thoughts of what other people might think of her.
“Sis, how many times do I got to say it. If you got it FLAUNT IT!” Jade certainly had some issues with jealousy when it came to her and her sister’s relationship, but the last thing she would want to do is make Tessa feel bad for any reason. She felt like it was her job to gas her sister up and make her feel like the beautiful woman she actually was. “So, tell me, what’s he like? Like, really like? You know what I mean?”
Tessa knew what she meant. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Come on, sis! Give me the juicy deets!” Jade was of course talking about sex.
“Well I’m going on another date, aren’t I?” The girls both laughed. “Okay, now you answer my question.”
“That was hardly an answer. But fine, what do you want to ask?” Jade loved talking about herself, so she was always down for a quick interview.
“How’s Mom doing? Like really doing?” Tessa couldn’t help but worry about her mother.
“Oh, you know how she is. Barely ever talks about anything at all besides work and her grandson.” Jade didn’t actually have much to report on. She and her mother had a great relationship but didn’t talk much about their personal feelings or day-to-day emotions. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Duh sis, who do you think I am?” Tessa could keep a secret better than anyone Jade knew. That’s what sisters were for.
“I was going through stuff in the basement looking for old clothes for Mavi and I found Mom’s ring,” Jade said. “And I kept it.”
“What!” Tessa screamed. She figured her mother had pawned her wedding ring or at least thrown it away.
“I mean, it was just sitting in a box. It’s a beautiful ring. And lord knows I’ll probably never get another one for myself.” Though Jade and Dominic were married, he had failed to get her a wedding ring that she actually wanted. They could hear their mother’s footsteps coming down the hallway. “Say anything and you’re dead!”
Tessa mimicked zipping her mouth and throwing away the key.
JoAnn walked into the room holding a charcuterie she had just whipped up in the kitchen. “Who wants some meats and cheeses!”
“Bring me that plate, quick!” Tessa loved to nervous eat.
“Who can resist cheese when we’re drinking like this!” Jade finished pulling up Tessa’s hair, turned around, and threw a piece of cheese into her mouth. She turned back around towards Tessa and grabbed her face. “Now what on Earth are we going to do with this face?” she said jokingly, squeezing Tessa’s cheeks as if she were a little baby. All three of the girls laughed.
*****
Oscar looked in the mirror and adjusted his tie. He couldn’t help but feel nervous about meeting up with Tessa. He had already changed his tie three times, as if Tessa would ever care what he was wearing. She would be attracted to him if he wore a potato sack. Oscar heard a knock on his bedroom door.
“Mr. Legros, the flowers I bought you.” Josiah, Oscar’s cousin, walked in the door holding a bouquet of white roses.
“I told you to stop with the Mr. Legros crap. Just call me Oscar. Or hey, dude. No sir, no mister. Just relax, Josiah!” Josiah was only 19 and Oscar had hired him to be a personal assistant. His aunt had asked him to help Josiah out as he was having some behavioral issues towards the end of high school and didn’t know what he wanted for his future. He had gotten into trouble for skipping some classes and underage drinking, nothing too foolish. This worried Oscar’s aunt, his mother’s sister, and she turned towards her nephew for help.
Oscar decided to act as a mentor, disguising their relationship with that of a boss-assistant so as to help him feel dignified. He would often just have Josiah run errands for him. Though not everyone knew who Oscar was, he definitely ran into some people he wanted to avoid more often than not, causing him to spend a lot of time inside.
“How do I look? Please say good because I’m already running extremely late.” Oscar had cut himself shaving and ended up getting blood on one of his white shirts after he had gotten dressed, causing him to have to change again as well.
“Amazing as always, sir. I mean, um, Oscar. Is there anything else I can get you tonight?” Josiah could be a pretty nervous guy, especially in the presence of a billionaire.
“No way Josiah, it’s Friday night, go have some fun!” Oscar grabbed the flowers and signaled Josiah to leave. He opened the card that was in the bouquet and scribbled a message on it that said, “Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl.” It was a simple phrase, but what girl wouldn’t love to get a message that said something like that?
Oscar looked in the mirror again and gathered himself once more, almost feeling like he might throw up from nerves. He could get whatever he wanted in the world. Girls threw themselves at him when they realized who he was and how much money he had. Tessa was different. When Oscar first laid eyes on her, he knew that she didn’t know who he was.
She treated him like a person, teasing him and picking on him, something most girls didn’t do. He liked to have a playful relationship, but most women he dated were too subservient, always agreeing with what he said and pretending to like things they didn’t just to impress him.
Tessa was completely authentic. She wasn’t afraid to be herself and never seemed to be embarrassed about what she said. If only he knew what was going on in her head! Just when he thought he was finally ready to go, another person knocked on his door. He walked towards the elevator, still holding the flowers. Once the doors slid open, Lydia was standing right there. She was wearing an incredibly low-cut and tight dress with heels that made her legs look miles longer than they already were.
She looked like she did the first time Oscar saw her. She was nice looking, but he viewed her as a good match when they got together rather than someone he was actually attracted to or interested in getting to know. She looked like any other girl who wanted to be a model in New York.
“How on Earth did you get in here?” She had managed to get in through the elevator and past the front doorman.
“You know Josiah. He’s so easy! These for me? Oscar you shouldn’t have!” Once she started talking, Oscar could tell she had been drinking. She grabbed the flowers and walked away, him following her out the bedroom door and into the kitchen.
“No, not for you. I have a date tonight. You should go. You shouldn’t be here! We settled that the other day.” Oscar grabbed the flowers back. She ignored him and walked to the wine cabinet, grabbing a glass and pouring herself a generous amount.
“Oh that? Honey, there’s no amount of money you could give me that would make me stop loving you.” She sipped her wine and looked at him devilishly.
“I’m running late. I don’t have time for this. Where’s my phone?” he asked, mostly talking to himself. He started to panic, walking around the apartment looking for his cell phone. He should have already texted Tessa by now to let her know he was running late, but the thought had slipped his mind in the panic of getting ready.
Unfortunately, Lydia spotted the phone first, sitting underneath some unopened mail on the counter. She grabbed it, seeing a message from Tessa on the home screen asking where he was. Lydia checked to see where Oscar had gone and made sure the coast was clear.
In one swift motion, she was able to unlock his phone and go to his messages with Tessa. He hadn’t changed his passcode once since they got married. Josiah hadn’t let her up, she just knew the password to get into the building. Slipping the doorman a hundred-dollar bill always helped as well. She read a few of their flirty exchanges and became overwhelmed with rage. Oscar was still frantically searching the apartment, now elbow deep in the couch cushions hoping that the phone had been lost there.
She used his distraction as an attempt to sabotage their relationship. She went to Tessa’s contact information and snapped a picture of Tessa’s number with her own phone. She wanted to send a text message that broke things off, but Oscar was walking back towards her now. Instead, she quickly blocked Tessa’s number and deleted all of her information.
“Lydia can you please call my phone and at least help me out with one thing?” Oscar didn’t want to ask for her help, but he desperately needed to leave. He was almost a half an hour late at this point.
“Actually, it’s right here. It was under some papers.” Just as she went to hand Oscar his phone, she decided to take a detour and knock over her wine glass on the way, spilling it all over Oscar’s clean clothes—the second outfit he had already put on that day.
“Are you kidding me, Lydia? You need to go, now.” It was cute when Tessa had first spilled wine on him the night they met at the gallery. When Lydia did it, it made him want to scream. He kept his cool and calmly walked into his bedroom, frantically on the hunt for his third suit that night.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have come. Enjoy your date, Oscar.” He wasn’t paying attention to her at this point. She acted sad but had an evil smile stretched across her stiff face. She was already planning her next move.