Hearing that question made Sello choke on her coffee, she expected everything but not questions about her dead brother, not alone questions regarding his morality.
"What?!", she exclaimed, "My brother?! Cheat?! That's absurd..."
Linda smiled the awkwardness away, seeing the puzzled look on her aunt's face made her rethink what she knew, "I am sorry Aunt...just that news about him and a woman called Glenda Stevens suddenly came to light and I was wondering how much of it is true...",
Suddenly, her aunt's eyes widened, unknowingly confessing a dark secret she kept hidden, and Linda caught on to it, "What is it aunt?", she asked anxiously, "You know something and I can see it...tell me",
Sello cleared her throat, "Uhm, I don't know what you are talking about, I-",
Linda grabbed her hand with eyes pleading to her, "Aunt.... your eyes are telling a different story,", she then sighed heavily, accepting the unforgivable truth with a heavy heart, "So my father really cheated on my mother?"
Sello's heart broke seeing her niece look so defeated and most importantly, disappointed in her father, "Linda, dear I-"
"The truth aunt", she said in a low and authoritative voice
"Okay fine. But is not what you think..", she explained, "Your father fell in love with Glenda before your mother. I don't know the whole story and how it happened, but what I know is, that he loved Glenda but somehow winded up with your mother."
Linda's heart shattered into a million pieces, somehow the fact that her father used her mother as a substitution for another woman hurt more than the possibility of his infidelity. At that moment, her world came crumbling down, everything she thought she knew, the fact that her parents' fairytale love was an illusion. She stared at her aunt, eyes welling up with tears, "Aunt, are you saying my-my father didn't love my mother? Was I a mistake? Now it makes sense, how could a person be engaged to someone they loved for such a long time? Did he even love me?", her hands were trembling and she looked visibly shaken.
Sello reached her hand to comfort the heart of her niece which was slowly crushing in front of her, in fact, she could only imagine the pain and betrayal Linda could be feeling, "Linda, listen...as much as your father didn't see her that way at the beginning, but towards the end of his short life, you and your mother became the only thing that mattered in his life. And to answer your question, he never cheated on your mother when they were together."
Linda was flustered and she tried so hard to contain the raging cocktail of emotions within her but in the end, she couldn't, all she knew was that she had to get away. As much as she had a lot to say, her brain was too scrambled and scattered to even put together a single sentence, "Sorry Aunt, I have to go.". Upon saying that, she ran out the door, and with Jackson partially working as her assistant, she was forced to drive herself to the hotel. However, being in the state she was in, getting a taxi was the safest option, and with that in mind, she blindly got into the first taxi that stopped in front of her.
She contemplated a few times about where to go, but somehow the gallery became her stop,
"We are here miss", said the cab driver expecting money. She snapped out of her trance state and realized that her purse was in her car,
With a soft voice, she stammered, "U-uhm, sorry sir, do you mind if I transfer the taxi fare",
"No ma'am, I only take cash", he said politely, and she nodded respectfully and began to make some calls, she couldn't get ahold of Sharon so Jeremy became her second option.
Without wasting a second, Jeremy appeared in front of her as if he'd been waiting for this moment his entire life, "Here is your money sir, thank you for everything". He said as he sent the cab driver away before turning to Linda, or the spot where she was supposed to be. He was about to frantically search around the gallery for her when he noticed that her office door was not closed. He let out a deep breath of relief before gently tip-toeing inside, he already knew she was not okay because of the gloomy aura that hovered around her when he saw her earlier, but nothing could have prepared him for what was in front of him.
He was greeted by a sight he never thought he'd see...a distraught Linda coiled up on the floor, hyperventilating and panting for her life, he worriedly rushed to her and took off his jacket to cover her trembling body, "Linda, Linda, breathe slowly...what happened? breath", he said brushing her body in efforts to nurse her back to her calm self, "Breath,"
Linda tried to speak but it was too hard, her breath was caught up in her throat and her heart was beating excessively, one thing was for certain, there was so much about her parents she didn't know.
He picked her up bridal style to lead her to the couch then shortly grabbed her a glass of water, "Here...drink, this will help you calm down..."
She chugged the water slowly, and although her heart was now beating normally, she still appeared visibly shaken, "Tha-thank you Jeremy, I didn't mean to disturb you. I am real-",
He took away the glass of water from her shaking hands to remove the obstacle that was in the way of hugging her. He buried her in his arms while softly caressing her hair and with a gentle voice, "Do you want to talk about it?
She softly shook her head, "No, no, just found out something that shook me up a bit. But I am okay, and thank you.", she said with a shaky voice.
He never thought he'd see her so beat down, he wondered what could break the strong-willed woman he knew, the invincible woman who had the whole world on her shoulders. However, as much as he wanted to push, he understood why Linda was guarded around him, so he did the only thing he could that was within his powers, he pulled her even closer and held her even tighter, "I am here for you Linda, I understand I have a lot to prove, especially after Maggie, but please know I am here for you. Do you hear me? I am here."
She stayed silently in his chest taking in his calming scent while basking in the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat. She found her mind becoming clearer and her next point of action clearly mapped out in front of her, she was finally ready for what needed to be done. She sighed and pulled away from Jeremy, "I am okay now. How much do I owe you for the cab?"