"Vincent, sweetheart, I know that Sydney is a pretty girl. You're just like your father with that, always being attracted to the pretty faces, but she's no Sienna. You know that, I know that, everyone I know knows that, so you can understand why it's so hard for me to see you doing this to your future."
"Mom, would you just relax? I'm not 'doing' anything. What happened, happened and I get that it was screwed up, but can you just stop talking about it for five minutes?"
"Do we even know if Sydney wants to have kids? You know I need grand kids, Vincent, and Cynthia and I already discussed names and everything!" Colette continued on as if she hadn't even heard her son's plea, and it was quite possible that she didn't. She had been so wrapped up in trying to get more out of him about Sienna that it was impossible for him to get more than a few words in over the course of their fifteen minute conversation.
"Why don't you focus on un-gaying your other son, and maybe you'll get a grand kid or two out of him?" Vincent was so lucky that his quiet murmur was drowned out by his mother thanking the waiter who had just set another glass of Pinot Grigio was set in front of her. It would have turned his melodramatic mother into an equally melodramatic one, but with far more rage.
"And think of the wedding! Oh God, Vincent, how is it that I'm the only one at this table who sees how bad this is?" She took a large gulp of her wine in an attempt to wash the sorrows away. Vincent, sitting opposite of her, only rolled his eyes as he took the last bite of his club sandwich. He understood that she loved Sienna like a daughter and probably would never accept her not becoming her daughter-in-law. Colette was an emotional woman, but she was a good mom. She almost always sided with Vincent and his sometimes stupid or reckless actions, and liked to call herself his "biggest fan". The Sienna situation was one of the very few times that she criticized her first born's choices and it was apparent that nothing he could say to his mother was going to get her off his back. He needed to make things right by Sienna if he wanted to ever have a peaceful lunch again.
"We'll take the check, now," he said, catching the eye of their waiter passing by. His mother had finished her salad minutes ago, he was finished with his meal, and god only knew that she did not need anymore win in her petite body when it wasn't even two o'clock. His mother, again, didn't seem to notice him opening his mouth and continued on.
"Even your father agreed with me that this is just unacceptable, Vince. We raised you better than this!" Vincent was sure that that was either a lie, or that his father had just nodded along during his mother's rant like Vincent was close to doing now. His dad didn't care. His eyes were probably glued to his phone as she went on and on about how their future grandchildren were never going to be born now. He wanted to roll his eyes again, but now that Colette's wine glass was empty, her eyes seemed to be glued to his face. She was probably looking for a reaction from him, for his blank expression to crack and him to agree that she was so right and he needed to run back to Sienna this instant. He wasn't going to do that, though. He wasn't set on not talking to her and hearing her side of the story, but she had ignored his calls yesterday when he thought he was being the bigger person by calling in the first place. If she wanted to talk, she could reach out to him now.
Speak of the devil...
His phone was on vibrate mode and as his mother continued on about Sienna, he pulled the now-buzzing device out of his pocket to find Sienna's contact photo lighting up on the screen.
"The lacrosse coach from Yale is calling, so I'm going to go out and take it, alright?"
A small smile appeared on Colette's face. Apparently, a big name school calling her son was the only thing to get her to let go of the Sienna controversy for the moment. She shooed him off without another word, and Vincent made a beeline for the restaurant's front door as he answered the call. And just as soon as the call started, it ended. Sienna had spoken quickly and didn't give him a chance to say a single word as she explained that she was at an event, which Vincent assumed was Charlotte's, and that she was free to talk if he wanted to. Vincent had no intentions of going to the event. In fact, that had been what his mother had complained to him about for the first fifteen minutes of their conversation. She and Phil had come into the city for the event, expecting to take Vincent with them, but after he refused, the patriarch of the family went solo while Colette interrogated Vincent over lunch. She didn't buy his excuse of "not feeling well" and had instantly launched into her suspicion that he wasn't going because he wanted to avoid Sienna. Far too much liquor the night before left him genuinely feeling ill, but she was right that avoiding Sienna might have had something to do with it too.
To: Sienna
I had to take care of something with my mom so I'm not going to the event. I'm on the other side of town. Sorry. Want to get dinner or something later?
Over the past two days, his mood was constantly fluctuating between wanting to show up at Sienna's door with a hundred roses and a box of chocolates and tell her that he was so stupid for sleeping with Sydney and for even having to think about who he wanted. He wanted her and that was how it had always been, and would always be. Hearing her voice for the first time in a day or so had him close to that place again, but he also still felt like she had done wrong by completely ruining his relationship with Sydney in the process of outing their relationship. It was well deserved and he didn't have much ground to stand on in being mad, but he was confused and didn't know what to do.
In a move that even he was surprised at, he didn't slip his phone back into his pocket and instead, called Jane. If anyone knew Sienna and Sydney best, it was that girl. She was the best friend to each of them, separately and by now, he was sure that she had to have heard from both girls. She would know how they were really reacting and what the safest move would be. On the second ring, his mother appeared, but he waved her off, claiming that the conversation with the coach was important and that he would catch a cab on his own when it was finished.