It was the weekend again, and Matt and Olivia were visiting with the Kanes. For Candy, their arrival brought mixed feelings – the sheer joy of seeing Matt again, combined with the pain of seeing him with another woman. She was surprised and to be honest, more than a little pleased to find out that Matt and his fiancée did not share a room. Matt had his old room back from when he had lived at the Kane mansion, and Olivia was a few doors away from him. Privately, she wondered why this was the case, because she and Matt had always shared a room when they had visited after moving out.
Candy was wary about meeting Olivia again after the initial hostility she had faced from the beautiful brunette, but she was surprised to find that Matt's lovely fiancée was extremely friendly towards her.
"We should get to know each other better, Sarah," she said, smiling sweetly. "After all, once Matt and I are married we will be seeing a lot more of each other. And of course, darling Joshua will spend a lot of time with us too."
"Maybe I was just prejudiced," Candy thought, relieved that Olivia intended to include Josh in her future with Matt, even if the thought of her being married to Matt was painful. She felt a pang of guilt too, seeing Olivia's happy face. Was it really fair to try and take Matt away from her? Candy wondered. After all, Olivia had been his choice in this life. And it was not like the other woman had knowingly taken Matt away from her. It was all okay, in theory, to say that she would try and win Matt's love back, but what about the heartbreak she would cause if that actually happened? Candy felt conflicted, her heart and conscience at war with each other.
It was Saturday afternoon and she had just settled Joshua for his nap when Olivia came along to meet her. "Matt is busy with Rich, what with the merger and everything," she said with a little pout. "Why don't we get some girl time, Sarah? I'm meeting with a couple of my friends for some retail therapy, so why don't you join us?"
"Uh…" Candy was taken aback by the invitation. "Josh will be waking in a bit, so I really need to be here," she said at last. "But thank you for inviting me."
"Oh, I'm sure Melinda will be happy to keep an eye on Josh till we're back." Olivia dismissed her objection with an airy wave of her hand. "We'll be back quite soon, anyway. You know how Matt doesn't like me out of his sight for very long." She giggled coyly, making Candy feel vaguely nauseous. "Come on, I'll speak to Melinda."
Candy cast about desperately for some reason to refuse, but Olivia had already swept off to speak to her future mother-in-law. Of course, Melinda was only too happy to give her blessing, so Candy was left with little choice but to go along.
They drove to a nearby mall where Olivia's friends were waiting. Both women were very similar to Olivia, perfectly attired in expensive designer outfits.
"Lora, Payton!" Olivia exclaimed, air-kissing her friends. "Meet Sarah, Joshua's nanny. Melinda hired her just recently."
"How precious!" Payton, a tall, snooty-looking blonde exclaimed, looking Candy up and down. "I've never met a nanny before!"
"If she's good you can hire her for your kids, Olivia," Lora, a waif-like brunette, added with a malicious smile at Candy. "After all, you'll be too busy for all that, what with parties, and committees, and your spa and gym and salon routines and everything, not to mention your sexy HUSBAND!"
Candy's face flushed but she said nothing, not wanting to start a fight.
Olivia giggled. "That's a good idea, actually. Come on, now, I'm dying to get some new clothes."
Candy trailed behind them quietly as they went from shop to shop, trying on an endless selection of clothes before ultimately settling on what they wanted.
"Here, you can help carry these," Olivia said, thrusting their purchases into her hands. The bags were heavy, and Candy's arms ached as Olivia and her friends continued their shopping spree. At last, Olivia declared herself tired and in need of coffee. They went to a coffee shop and settled down at a table.
"Sarah, go and get our skinny lattes for us," Olivia ordered, tossing some bills in her direction. "Oh, and get something for yourself too, if you want."
"Thanks, Olivia, but I prefer to pay for my coffee myself." Candy said, quelling her desire to tell Olivia off.
"-and you should have seen the poor little thing," she heard Olivia's malicious laugh ring out as she returned to the table with their order. "Staring at Matt like he was her last meal! I felt quite sorry for her, really – after all, a man like Matt would never look at her, even if she wasn't a servant!"
Candy set their lattes before them and sat down quietly. She sipped her espresso, wondering how in the world she had ever believed Olivia would be nice to her. She wanted nothing more than to get back home to her son, away from the spiteful comments of Olivia and her friends.
"You can't blame Sarah for eyeing up Matt, though," Payton said with a mean smile. "After all, he's serious eye-candy! Right, Sarah?"
Olivia smiled complacently. "My Matty has eyes only for me," she replied. "He can't wait for us to get married, you know."
"Ooh!" Lora wiggled her eyebrows at Olivia. "How's he in bed, Livvy? I bet he's a real tiger!"
"Yeah – if his cock is as big as the rest of him then he must be a real sex-machine!" added Payton with a wink.
Candy felt the espresso churn in her stomach as Olivia and her friends discussed Matt and his attributes. The very thought of Matt in bed with any other woman filled her with such despair and jealousy that she felt she would throw up.
"Oh, Matt's a real beast in bed, he can go on for HOURS!" Olivia giggled again. "But seriously, I'm not going to discuss his dick with you girls!"
"Uh…is it okay if I leave?" Candy spoke up, unable to listen to them anymore. "I really need to get back to Josh, so if you're going to be much longer, I can take a cab."
"Oh, no, that won't be necessary." Olivia looked apologetically at her friends. "I'm so sorry, girls, but I'll have to go – after all, I brought her along and I don't want any servant to get in trouble because of me." She turned to Candy with a malicious look. "Take those bags to the car, Sarah, and don't drop any, do you hear?"
The drive back home was quiet, Olivia sitting in triumphant silence while Candy's emotions ranged from misery, to jealousy, to utter, complete despair. At the Kane mansion, Olivia turned to Candy.
"Bring those bags to my room, Sarah," she ordered. "Come on, hurry up."
She breezed off, leaving Candy struggling with the heavy bags in her wake.
"Ms. Kent! What do you think you're doing?" Matt's deep voice startled her so much she nearly dropped the bags she was carrying. "Here, give them to me."
"Uh…Mr. Kane, Ms. Meyers had -" Before Candy could say anything more he had taken the heavy shopping bags from her.
"Matt, darling!" Olivia hurried back at the sound of his voice. "Are you done with your meetings?"
"We finished some time back. Where were you?"
"Missing me already?" Olivia giggled coyly, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "Sarah and I felt like doing a bit of shopping, so we just went down to the mall. Come on, now, darling, I really need a drink. Sarah can bring the bags."
"She can't carry all these heavy bags by herself, Olivia," Matt said immediately.
"Oh, come on, Matt, she may be a little bit of a thing but she's quite strong, really – after all, she's used to carrying Joshua, isn't she? Just leave her to it, Matt – you'll spoil all the servants at this rate."
Matt frowned. "Ms. Kent is Josh's nanny, not a servant," he said, sounding irritated. "Besides, her job is to take care of Josh, not fetch and carry for us. Ms. Kent, I think you should probably go to Josh. I'll bring these bags up."
"Matt! Really, showing me up like that in front of -" Candy heard Olivia begin to rant as she hurried off, glad to get away from there.