Read Online She Left Me Breathless by Trin Denise - Free Book Online Page B

breakfast buffet in the main conference room at EMCOR prior to the meeting?”
    “You got it.”
    “I’m taking the rest of the day off but if you need to get ahold of me, call me at home.”
    “I think I’m gonna take off a little early too if you don’t mind.”
    “Not at all, you are coming to my party tonight, right?” Sydney asked although it was more of a statement.
    “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
    “See you tonight then.”
     

Chapter 4

    When Sydney left Welsh, she had decided to do some Christmas shopping. She usually spent the holiday at her mother’s house and enjoyed the day playing around with her twin twelve-year-old niece and nephew, Sara and Seth. For hours, they would sit and test out the latest and greatest new toys on the market because that is what Sydney usually bought them. The two kids had everything, her sister saw to that, so it was a challenge at Christmas and birthdays to find something they did not have. Last year, she had bought them the Wii game system along with twenty to thirty games and all the external gadgets that went along with the system. Seth loved the Wii skateboard while Sara was partial to the boxing gloves. Her sister, Liz was none too happy when Sara announced that she wanted to be a boxer like Mohammed Ali’s daughter, Alia.
    After several trips up and down the aisles of Toys “R” Us, Sydney had settled on two electric rocket motorcycles. The twins would love them; she wasn’t so sure about Liz. Aunts were supposed to buy a toy that the parents hated, that was one of the fun things about being an aunt. It was almost like a golden rule with Sydney. 
    The one thing she was not looking forward to on Christmas day was spending six continuous hours with her mother, Deidre. It wasn’t that she disliked her mother or anything like that. It had to do with the endless badgering and constant barrage of negative comments that came from her mother. No matter what Sydney did, it never seemed to be good enough in her mother’s eyes. If her hair was short, her mother claimed it needed to be longer. If her hair was long then her mother said she needed a haircut.
    Over the years, Sydney had become accustomed to her mother’s criticisms. The baffling part was that her mother treated Liz as if the sun rose and set in Sydney’s baby sister and because of that, Liz usually ended up becoming the referee when the discussions became a little too heated. Sydney swore to Liz that her mother hated her because she looked just like her father whereas Liz, with blonde hair and blue eyes looked like their mother. Liz told her she was imagining things but later changed her mind when she overheard their mother tell Sydney that she was stubborn as a mule and took after her father unlike Liz who was levelheaded and laid back like her. From that day on Liz always came to Sydney’s defense whenever Deidre started in on her eldest daughter.    
     

     
    Sydney had just finished wrapping gifts when the first slew of guests began to arrive. By the time she took a shower and changed her clothes, the party was already in full swing. She stepped into the family room and glanced around. The live band that Edna hired was singing the chorus line of Jingle Bells . Her stomach twisted in knots as she scanned the crowd for Caitlyn and her parents and when she didn’t see them, she was somewhat relieved, yet disappointed at the same time.
    She grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. She scanned the crowd again looking for her staff. One of her rules was that if she had any type of party, the staff was to hire temporary replacements and the staff was to join in the festivities. At first, some of them had protested but when they saw that she would not budge on the rule, they had finally caved in. It was now to the point that her staff looked forward to the parties more than she did.
    Edna came racing across the floor. She threw her arms around Sydney’s neck and