It is none of your business.
Reyona reminded herself for the umpteenth time that evening as she got ready to go home.
Home.
Not a rented place, she had been sleeping to get out of the way of her asshole hus... ex-husband.
She had just gotten off the phone with Toria.
Toria was apologetic that she had to stay over at Sydey due to a complication.
When Reyona asked Toria what the complication was about, the latter merely said she would tell her everything when she got back the next day.
"Now tell me everything," Toria said, turning the conversation back to the reason why she had called.
Reyona told her everything.
Everything Gibson had told her happened in court and would happen if Thomas decided not to cooperate.
Her sister was overly joyous at the fact that Thomas was given a restraining order.
She congratulated Reyona and promised that they would drink all the champagne they could lay their hands on when she got back.
Reyona stared at the phone as it disconnected and wondered why she had not told Toria.
She had not said anything about the fact that she went to the court herself.
She told her sister nothing about seeing Thomas.
Nor did she inform her about the sickly Leah and the fact that she couldn't get the girl out of her head all day.
Even when she was having a phone meeting with one of her returning clients that afternoon, she couldn't help but wonder if the girl was dying.
Then she got angry all over again at the thought of why those two idiots had not kept that baby in the hospital instead of lugging her around the courthouse.
"Asshole," she had muttered in the middle of the call.
The man on the other end had paused in the middle of his speech and asked in an offended tone, "Excuse me?"
"Oh, I am so sorry," Reyona had answered in horror when she realised what had happened.
She had to rattle off a series of reasons for what she just said before she could convince the man that he was not the one she was talking to.
Even though the man accepted her explanation, the mood had already been spoiled.
The meeting ended soon after and Reyona was still not totally sure that the man was really convinced.
She had to send an apology message again after that.
In exasperation, she declined the other meetings that Charlotte had already set up for the day.
She simply waited for when she could go home.
A home free of Thomas.
When Maxwell's number thrilled on her phone towards that evening, she only looked at it till it stopped ringing.
Hadn't he said that Mitchell would get back to her?
Why would he be calling her again?
Reyona got off work earlier than normal that evening.
She could see Charlotte looking at her in surprise when she told the latter that she was closing for the day.
She was in the car when her phone rang again.
Thinking that it was Maxwell who had decided to be a pest, she looked at the phone with the intention of giving it the same treatment as the first time.
But then she saw who it was. Definitely not Maxwell.
Reyona picked up the call automatically before it was disconnected.
"Beatrice," the woman on the other end said excitedly.
Reyona injected some liveliness into her voice as she said, "Celia, how are you doing? How is the baby?"
"We are doing fine. I must say I am disappointed, though."
"Oh? Why?" Reyona asked innocently.
"I have a feeling you know why. Do you know that my baby has been asking after the woman who helped bring her to this world? I had to let her know that you had disappeared on us all. But then she wouldn't take no for an answer about you coming to her christening. "
"Christening?" Reyona asked like she had never heard the word before.
"Yes, you know that silly ceremony where people mainly gather to eat but then give a name to the baby as an afterthought?"
Reyona had her first genuine smile that evening. "Yes, I know what a christening is. I just feel it is a gathering meant for family and friends. You barely know me, Celia."
"Knowing is not about the duration, Beatrice. Also, you are my friend."
Friend. Reyona mused.
She still couldn't understand how the woman could just use that word about her so easily.
She knew that that despite how easygoing Celia looked, the woman could be quite tenacious.
So she decided to make it easy on herself.. "When will the christening be?" she asked.
"You are coming!" Celia said excitedly, as if she had been expecting something else.
Reyona shook her head in amusement.
"The christening is tomorrow. Of course, we are going to church first for the christening and baptism. You see, I am Catholic, and my dear mother, bless her heart, will roll over in her grave if I do not stick to some traditions. So, we are going to church first, and then we will have a small get-together for her at our place. I won't stress you by asking you to come to the church but you will come after, right? The whole church deal should be over in an hour or so."
"Okay, I will be there," said Reyona.
Her reservations about seeing the baby again aside, it was the perfect kind of distraction she needed.
"Great! I can't wait to see you tomorrow!"
When Celia disconnected the call without bothering to tell Reyona the address, she mused at the thought that the woman must have assumed that she knew the place already.
Her mood was way better as she drove home, mingling with the slight traffic of homegoers like her.
In no time, she was home.
Thomas's car was no longer at the end of the driveway.
Realizing that she had been half expecting him to defy the court after all, Reyona let out the breath she had not realised she had held as she drove to the house.
She parked and walked hesitantly to the front door.
Steeling herself for whatever might be waiting for her on the other side, Reyona unlocked the door and entered.
A pig sty would be insulted if compared to what Reyona's home looked like at the moment.
"Petty bastard," she muttered when she saw that he had left all the lights on.
Rushing sounds made Reyona quickly run towards the bathroom.
The water was running in all available sinks and showers.
By the time Reyona ran from one end of the house to the other, switching off faucets and saving rugs, she was thoroughly pissed.
Sweating a bit and a bit dishevelled, she finally stood on the landing to take in the full measure of the damage done to her home.
Everything was scattered.
The smashed TV gaped back at her from where it still sat with the hole in it.
Debris were almost everywhere.
Some of the residue of the filming crew set-up in the bedrooms and all were still there.
It didn't take long for Reyona to realise that he had taken some of the things that belonged to her as well.
Her beautiful art collections were no longer around.
Her pictures were ripped.
The walls were smeared.
Everywhere was a mess.
Suddenly drained, Reyona sat there on the landing, soaking in all that her stupidity had caused her.
Her mother's call came through when she was sitting there.
She asked Reyona how she was feeling after today's ordeal.
Reyona responded that she was feeling fine.
Gladys seemed not to believe her.
Her father joined the call as well.
Carlisle said they would like to come check on Reyona soon.
"Though you stopped us from coming there during the scandal, we are really worried about you, you know," he said with worry in his tone.
"Yes, baby." Gladys said. "Let's be there for you, please. This is never a good time for a woman. Let's come over. Though the twins have something this weekend, I can still..."
"It is fine," Reyona said with conviction in her tone. "I am fine, really. You don't need to worry about me. Moreover, Toria will be back tomorrow. I would be fine. You two don't need to leave all you are doing to come check on me, you know. I am fine. I can handle this. This has been a long time coming, you know."
After she disconnected the call with her parents that night, Reyona stood from where she sat.
Without looking much at the damage around her, she went to the sheet closet, took out a new blanket and bedspread.
She knew she couldn't sleep in what used to be their bedroom that night, not until she had stripped off everything that could remind her of what used to be.
So, she went to the guest room.
The first thing she saw as she entered was the ball she had seen with Junior the other day.
She ignored it and noted the fact that this place was not as messed up as the others.
"This must be where the kids slept," she thought automatically as she went to strip off the rumpled sheet and replace it.
The house was suddenly too quiet for her.
So she switched on the TV set in the room.
She didn't care about whatever was on the TV; she just needed the sound.
With the TV droning on in the background, Reyona curled up and decidedly emptied her mind as she closed her eyes to induce sleep.
As she slept off to the sound of a detergent commercial, one thought was unconsciously on Reyona's mind.
At least her costly mistake was finally undone.
If only.