No Rest for the Wicked, less for the innocent

Tiah called me in tears for Taryn had discovered Jago’s little flutter with Lynx and shouted the big D word at him all day long. It was not that he was being unfaithful that angered her as much as he was flaunting it and she told him he was no better than Tony Sedero, was fast becoming the new town sleaze, and she was not about to become wife of the town sleaze. Jago for once paid attention and reacted when Taryn threw the D word about, even suggesting that her background was not so pure as to be throwing stones at his. She retaliated by saying whatever she did in life she did because he drove her to it and he told her the only thing she had been driven to lately was destroying the relationships of her children.

He was speaking of Braith and Jazz of course which was not really her fault at all for no matter how bad she acted Braith was the one who unzipped his pants. Jago and Taryn shouted accusations at each other until Tiah ran up and hid in her room for while she was used to Taryn exploding at Jago it was usually over some social imposition or someone usurping what she saw as her place in the world but today she was going for Jago and it was not pretty. I guess the stress of Braith and Jazz, Royce and Coco had got far too much for Taryn so this dalliance with had Lynx finally set her off.

Tiah tended not concern herself with the feelings of any of the other people in her family only how their behaviour affects her life as she liked to believe all her current failures to be taken seriously as an actress were due to the scandalous behaviour of her brothers and now her father, instead of her total lack of any attempt to obtain employment. For Tiah the word actress was just something to tell people when they asked what she did as Tiah did nothing and was content to remain doing nothing until she decided to marry. I listened to Tiah rave on about how hard done by she is by everyone for a while then distracted her by asking about Coco. She snapped that Coco was nothing but misery over Royce leaving her and she was so boring to be with because all she did was whine I replied really, in a very obvious voice but she was not listening to me as usual.

She moved onto Zizi’s contract with Osric with extreme bitterness, poor Tiah felt that her father had ignored her and went out of his way to support Zizi, his newer, other more talented daughter. The thought of Zizi left her ranting until she ran out of steam and part of me felt sorry for Tiah because her family was in a bit of a mess but another part of me thought she could use waking up to herself. Hearing Jago and Taryn start up again she begged me to meet her at Djini’s and against my better judgment I agreed. I didn’t want to go there for various reasons, Gervais being the biggest but also because I was worried if Jazz was there Tiah would make a scene and I would be stuck in the middle.

We met at Djini’s and to my relief the place was empty save for a few people chatting quietly in the corners. Tiah dropped herself down continuing to complain about every single person in her life, refusing to take any responsibility for herself and the more she talked the more I could see Taryn in her and I knew from the time I was a kid that Taryn Vanderhaven was not a very nice person. She was only mildly rude to me because Mother had married not into the richest but into the oldest family of Bishop Vale but to other people who she did not consider important she was dismissive and would often whine about their disrespect of her position.

I sat nodding and trying to look supportive while Tiah droned on and on until the colour draining from my face gave even her pause. She followed my eyes and there in doorway stood Gervais like the evil shadow he had become, again the invisible link that drew him wherever I was in evidence. I could not remove my eyes from him and waited for him to ooze on over and shred my heart into pieces for he probably knew about Simon and me going out and was no doubt planning his revenge. Distracted by her phone Tiah took a call that was so bizarre that she repeated each sentence said to her. This was how I discovered that Jojo and Royce had moved on, not only in business but in romance as well. Tiah's disbelief at their returning with new girlfriends was nothing compared to the dismay I was desperately trying to hide from the prying eyes of Gervais. Being there with Tiah, who would not have made a peep at him for joining us, would have been such a nice surprise for him for here I was on a platter, ready for his demolition. Gervais however was a man of leisure and he was in no hurry to destroy me so he nodded coolly and I nodded back at him praying he would stay away and was astounded when he did.

Previous Next