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“Lucinda Tara what are you doing?” Natalie asked, as she watched her sister scourging around the small kitchen bench of the room. “Just looking for something..” Lucy replied as she continued to move the papers around continuing her search. “When I asked you to come and stay with me for a night in the hotel suite to catch up, I didn’t mean so you can mess up all the paperwork. You do remember that I have been in meetings and negotiations all week for this deal, and if you lose any of the documents Micheal won’t be happy.” Natalie exclaimed, walking over to stop her sister from touching more of her work. “If you tell me over dinner that you bought with you to Hawaii some of those Texan Cowboy Cookies and then not give me any when you let me into your room what do you think I’m going to hunt for?” Lucy grumbled as she felt her sister try to pull her away. “And, if you wanted me to sit and listen to you moan about how much work Michael is giving you to do while Mother and Father are doing their trek up Everest, then you NEED to give me those cookies!” Natalie had to let out a laugh, after all of this time, her sister’s love for food was not going away. “Awww, and I thought that you really just wanted to see me as I am your favourite sister.” Lucy stopped her rummaging, gave her sister a smile and pulled her in for a tight hug. “You’re my only sister silly!” Then in the corner of her eye she saw a container which might be holding her prized treasurer and made a leap, accidently pushing a few documents to the floor. “Lucy!!” Natalie shouted as memories of the many hurricane Lucy messes were left in the rooms of the Tara mansion throughout the years floated through her mind. “Sorry, sorry.” Lucy apologised, ducking down to pick up the files. As she picked up an A4 envelope her eyes grew wide as she would recognise the handwriting anywhere. “What is this?” she asked, holding the envelope up for her sister to see. Natalie gave her a quick glance and hurriedly ducked down to pick up some more of the papers. “Nothing, just some of the contracts to review” Lucy narrowed her eyes and tapped her fingers on the bench, “My girlfriend is not part of your business deal is she? Unless you are working on a case with the FBI?” Natalie opened and shut her mouth, trying to think of how to reply. Taking another look at her sister, who’s brown eyes were full of curiosity and suspicion, “You are not doing anything illegal are you?” Lucy asked again, waving her hands around at the number of files littering the table. “What? No, of course not.It’s nothing to do with work.” Natalie exclaimed, annoyed that her sister would question her work ethic. “Ummhmmm, so then what would this be then?” Lucy asked, pointing to the envelope addressed to her sister in her girlfriends neat handwriting. “I can’t see Kate and you being pen pals.” Natalie let out a sigh, reached over the bench and picked up the container of cookies and handed one to her sister, knowing that if there was a time, this was a time that Lucy would need the Texan treats. “Don’t get upset,” Natalie started, which immediately made Lucy narrow her eyes again at her sister. “Any sentence that starts like that usually means that someone did something wrong.”
Natalie unconsciously starts to tap her neck with her left hand, as she nervously looks around the room to see if she could find an escape from the conversation she did not want to have. “You know Lucy, the Tara tradition when it comes to serious relationships?” Natalie started, taking in a deep breath. Lucy scrunched her eyebrows togehter, trying to think what her sister was referring to. “What tradition?” “You know, like what Micheal and Peter did with Samuel when we got engaged, and what we did with Victoria? And Amy?” Lucy let out a loud scoff and shook her head at the mention of that woman, “Peter was an idiot to think Amy had any interest in him. She was just there for the money. As soon as we offered her the money to leave, all of those loud proclamations of love and devotion and values went out the window.” Natalie gave a laugh and nodded her head in agreement, “It was so obvious what she wanted and we didn’t even have to offer her too much and she was bolting for the door.” Suddenly Lucy started to choke on the cookie that she was munching on, starting a coughing fit with Natalie running to give her a pat on the back to stop the coughing “You OK Lucy?” Natalie asked, as her sister slowly managed to regain her breath “Are you saying that you offered Kate money to leave me?” she squeaked, realisation of the Tara tradition her sister was referring to hitting her heart. Natalie gave her sister a quizzical look, raising an eyebrow, “You know Lucy, we always do it we don’t trust the reason why the person is getting close to one of the family, or more importantly, like for Samuel and Christine, when they are close to joining the family we wanted to make sure. It’s not personal.” Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the thoughts on the reasons why she distanced herself from her family flooding her mind. She loved her family, but the money and how that drove them was one of the key things she wanted to move as far away from as possible. “How much did you offer her?” Lucy asked, unsure if she wanted to know and small fears creeping into her mind of how Kate would answer. She loved Kate, wholly and completed, but after Cara in her bleakest moments, or during the times when she reached the peak of her self-doubt the small sliver of insecurity of Kate’s love for her would somehow slither it’s way into her thoughts. “Enough to test her.” Natalie answered matter of factually and started to move away. “How much Nat?” Lucy asked again, louder and more accusatory this time. Natalie sighed, realising that she wouldn’t be able to just close the conversation down. We started with five, and then doubled it.” Lucy slowly rubbed her head in her hands as she tried to stop imagining the scene and how it all come about. “Ten thousand, you offered her that to leave me? When did you do this?” A small smile of pride played at the corners of Natalie’s mouth as she remembered how she managed to get Kate alone. “Remember when I accidently spilled that wine on you at dinner the other night and you had to clean yourself up in the bathroom? Perfect opportunity then to speak to Kate and offer her the millions. I was quite proud that I managed to pull it off. Samuel didn’t think it would work.” Lucy’s eyes widened in disbelief at her sister’s words. “You offered her ten million dollars!” Lucy squeaked, her feelings switching between shock, disbelief and anger on repeat. “And what did she say?” Lucy asked slowly, trying to calm her nerves. She knew that Kate loved her, but ten million dollars, there to be taken, was a lot of money to just push away. Natalie subconsciously went to pick up the envelope that started the whole conversation, clicking her tongue as she considered how to respond. “Well, she didn’t say no. Instead she drops off this contract and…” Lucy’s heart skips a beat and the words her sister started saying after the she didn’t say no all began to blur. Kate didn’t reject the offer, she was willing to take the money and leave her. How had she gotten it all so wrong, how did she let herself be tricked again in falling so madly in love with someone who was only there for her family’s name and the money. Marcella’s face drifted across her mind as the anger started to boil inside. Stamping her feet in anger that washed across her body, she rushed to grab her keys and sped out the hotel room, leaving her sister in complete shock. “Lucy! Wait!” Natalie shouted but Lucy had lost the ability to listen as she ran to confront who she had thought would be the woman she would spend the rest of her life with.
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Tears streamed down her face as she sped back to the apartment, visions of Marcella’s guilty looking face, Marcella giving her a soft kiss on the cheek goodbye, Marcella strutting across the mall in her new Gucci dress, seeing the louboutin shoes disappear into the new Porsche that swept the woman who had said she was her first and forever love away. The pain in her chest grew as the memories continued to invade her mind, mixed with the memories of the time Kate broke her heart into million tiny shreds of confetti. Kate being embarrassed by her, hiding her away as a secret, not willing to even look at her when they were in the same room. Kate giving her the biggest dumbass award as Cara walked back into her life in Hawaii. Lucy shook her head, taking a deep breath as she tried to remind herself that those were things in the past, Kate loved her. Kate told her in her words, in her actions, in the way she looked at her. But Lucy had seen it happen too many times, to her sister, to her brothers..to her! So often the love people proclaimed is washed away like the waves washing back from the shore as soon as the money is put in front of them. “She didn’t say No…” As soon as Lucy parked the car in front of the apartment block and stepped out she saw the woman who each time took her breath away by just being. Kate looked dazzling in a perfectly cut, figure hugging suit walking out of the doors. Lucy stopped to stare and still couldn’t believe how beautiful Kate always looked. “Lucy!” Kate exclaimed, noticing her girlfriend by the car and walked quickly towards her. “I thought you were staying with your sister tonight. Did you forget something?” Kate stopped suddenly, seeing Lucy’s tear-stained face, “Luce, what’s wrong? What happened? She reached out to place her hand on Lucy’s arm to comfort her but was surprised when Lucy stepped quickly away, glints of anger building in her eyes. “Nice suit Kate, is it new?” Lucy spat out, motioning her hands at the clothes Kate was wearing. Kate gave Lucy a confused look not understanding what was happening. “Umm, yes. I got it from work, for an assignment.” ‘Right. Work. That’s what I am to you aren’t I? You put in the hours, put in the time and as per your plans you will get the rewards at the end.” Lucy said, spitting out every word with more and more rage. Kate eyes grew wide with shock, not understanding the reason for the barrage of words. “What are you talking about Luce? What happened? Why are you acting like this?” “Acting like what Kate? Like I found out that the woman who I thought loved me, for me was just using me to get to the Tara family fortune? I’m not just your side-piece, I’m your golden ticket. You’re just like the rest of them aren’t you? You would just throw me away for the money.” Lucy exploded, her feelings of pain and the years of fear of being worthless and nothing but the daughter of the affluent Tara tycoon coming to the surface. Kate took a step back, hurt and disbelief forming across her face, “You think I took the money?” she whispered, shocked by the accusation. Lucy let out a bitter laugh, her pain and anger clouding her thoughts. “I know you did. Look at you in your new suit and heels. Did you splash out at the mall this afternoon when you deposited the cheque? And here I was thinking that all those words of love you said to me were real.” Kate took a step back, not sure what she was hearing, “Luce, you don’t believe that I love you?” Kate whispered, the pain seeping across her whole body, “What about us? All the memories that we have and all the things that we have done together. Don’t they mean anything to you? I love you, not the money. You know that, right?” Lucy shook her head, the dark thoughts of Kate taking the money from her sister blocking out anything that Kate was saying. “You lied to me in the past. You led me on as if I was the only one and Cara was always there. Is Cara waiting for you now?” Lucy spat out, the pain of the past still haunted her in the back of her mind and it was all beginning to spill out now. “This was your whole plan wasn’t it? Use me, take the money and then run off with your girlfriend in DC? Well you do that. Take the money and get out of my life!” Kate looked at Lucy in shock and disbelief at what Lucy just asked her to do. Tears started to form in her eyes as the words cut through her heart. “You don’t mean that Luce? Please, just listen to me, it’s not what you think.” Lucy let out a bitter laugh, her self-protection instinct taking control as she tried to cut out the pain. “Get out of my life. Take the money and I don’t ever see me again.” Suddenly Kate’s phone rang, Kate quickly had a look at the number and the Whistler façade began to take over as her hands continued to tremble. “I think you have said all you needed to say. Nothing I say to you right now you will be hear. I need to go.” Without another word Kate spun around and started walking to a waiting car, leaving Lucy watching her go with tears streaming down, how did it end up this way?