Theresa sat in the outdoor café in Scottsdale, sipping her coffee and enjoying the breeze in the sunny day as the shoppers rushed by. She was in no hurry to be anywhere, instead more interested in killing time to avoid her tedious husband and returning home to Smithson. Flipping idly through a fashion magazine, her hand stopped in mid-turn. There before her, in a secluded corner, a couple caught her eye.
Theresa peered intently at the couple, sure enough it was her younger brother Jack with a much older woman sitting across from him. Jack was eighteen years younger than Theresa and the siblings weren’t close. He was clearly eating up the attention the older woman was bestowing on him. Theresa shivered in disgust and turned away. The last thing she wanted to witness was some old biddy throwing herself at the waste of humanity that was Jack.
Theresa blocked the two from her mind and resumed flipping through her magazine. However, despite her best intentions her eyes keep wandering back to Jack and his companion. Jack appeared to be bored but interested. Theresa thought to herself, “If only I could find a willing, gullible boy toy with which to amuse myself. Someone as simple and idiotic as Jack would be ideal.”
She shook her head, as if trying to clear the though. The canary yellow diamond gracing her left ring finger catching the light as she shook her head, as if to remind her she was married to the fabulously wealthy ball player Ben Johnson. She smirked, the ring might sparkle in the sunlight but the sparkle and shine had definitely evaporated from her marriage long ago. Theresa knew that now she had to bilk as much cash from their joint accounts before Ben filed for divorce. Theresa knew it was only a matter of time before Ben left her and she knew that without his money, her lifestyle would come to an abrupt end.
“Look Beth, I need to book. I have classes to attend in Tempe and so have fun. Go shopping or whatever on me.” Jack tossed a black American Express at Beth and headed out.
Theresa heard the exchange and watched Jack carelessly toss the credit card at the woman. She slipped the magazine into her tote and walked over to the seat Jack had just abandoned. She slipped into the seat, saying “Hi I’m Theresa Stone, how do you know my little brother?”
The woman called Beth glanced across the table at the woman and smiled. Something in her eyes was familiar to Beth. She sized up the woman before answering. Theresa was about five-foot-six, lilac eyes, crow’s feet beginning to form, and a deep tan that could only be attained with chemical help. Beth immediately noted the number of diamonds gracing Theresa’s person, literally the expression dripping in diamonds came to mind immediately. Glancing at her surroundings Beth laughed out loud, the diamonds were so out of place even in ritzy, snotty Scottsdale, Arizona.
“Well, Theresa how I know your brother is my business don’t you think?” Beth’s voice was dripping in sarcasm.
Theresa’s eyes flicked downward and rested on the credit card Beth had made no attempt to retrieve from the table. “Well, Beth it appears from the outside you are a gold digger taking advantage of a young man too dumb to know the difference.”
“Wait, are you jealous or do you want to know my secrets?” Beth’s husky laugh grated on Theresa’s ears.
“Why would you think that?”
“Because from the look of you, you are trying too hard to flaunt your wealth and you are beginning to show your age. My guess is that you are on the verge of being dumped by the current fool that you suckered into placing that canary on your finger. It’s what an eight carat stone? Nicely done, by the way.”
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