"Anything interesting going on at work today?" Amanda asked as she sat down at the breakfast table with Ben.
"I'm planning to go out on the boat and collect some water samples for chemical testing and make some general observations so I can start planning a more widespread population survey. I'm really hoping the weather cooperates for me to be able to go for a dive soon so that I can collect some initial data for my analysis."
As Ben started to talk about his work, Amanda's attention drifted away almost as soon as she asked the question. He had barely paused in his reply before Amanda changed the subject. "Did I tell you that Vanessa invited us over for Christmas Eve dinner? It sounds like there was a lot of drama going on around the neighborhood when I went to pick up Meghan."
"Oh, there's always some kind of drama," Meghan said as she skipped into the kitchen.
As Meghan started gossiping about the latest rumors she had picked up about her friends and neighbors, Amanda listened with rapt attention and began chatting happily with her daughter.
Ben sighed as he cleared away the rest of the breakfast. His presence in the room and part in the conversation had been forgotten completely.
When he picked up his phone, he saw a text message from Zara. He had sent her a meme he had thought she would enjoy and she had texted back with a laughing emoji and another joke as a reply. He smiled to himself as he decided what to reply.
* * * * *
"Miss Parker, can I speak with you in my office when you have a moment?" Lawrence asked as the nanny was getting the children ready for school.
"Of course," Paige said with a forced smile to cover her nerves. Her mind was racing with possible reasons that Lawrence might want to talk with her and none of them were good. She cast a glance at Lance wondering if he had finally decided to rat her out, but she couldn't tell if his smirk was a sign that he had revealed her secret or if he was just reveling in the prospect that she was in trouble.
Once the kids were out the door to meet their carpool, Paige peeked her head into Lawrence's open office door and tapped on the door frame.
"Come in," he welcomed her. "Miss Parker, I wanted to talk to you about your plans for the upcoming holidays. I've seen how hard you've been working with the children and I thought you might like some extra time off."
"Extra as in permanent?" she asked warily.
"No," he said confused. "I mean as in a few weeks of paid time off for the holidays."
Paige shook off the embarrassment of her mistake. "Oh, yes. That would be great. Thank you so much."
"I just want you to know how much I appreciate all you have done for the children and you deserve some time to spend with your own family."
"I don't really have any family to speak of, but I will definitely appreciate some time off," she added quickly before he could take back his offer or ask questions about her family.
"I hope you enjoy it," Lawrence said.
When the conversation ended without any hint of her being in trouble, Paige breathed a sigh of relief as she walked out of the office.
She had been working for the Arrendales for months and was still no closer to achieving what she had come here to do. With Lance and the real Jolene on to her, she knew her time here was running out. Maybe a few weeks off could give her a chance to strategize and regroup or at the very least it would give her a break from Lance and his incessant demands.
As she headed to the dining room to clear away the breakfast dishes, she was interrupted by a knock on the door. She answered it to find Lucy on the other side.
"Is Lawrence in?"
"He's in his office."
"How about Shayna?"
"She's not here."
"Perfect."
Before Paige could invite Lucy in, Lawrence stepped into the hallway.
"I need to talk with you," Lucy said.
Lawrence nodded and invited Lucy into his office.
Once they were alone, Lucy spoke her mind. "I heard a rumor that Shayna put in an application to purchase one of the new lots. Is that true?"
"I don't know. Shayna is the one who handles the application process. She hasn't said anything to me about wanting the lot."
"If she does, I want you to deny her application."
He frowned. He didn't like where this was going. "And what reason should I tell her?"
Lucy could think of a lot of things she would like him to tell Shayna, but she decided to hold back on the name calling. "If you don't, I will see that her application is blocked at the neighborhood meeting. Chloe and Vanessa will vote with me. I haven't talked with the other households about it yet."
When he seemed conflicted, she added, "You came to me to apologize for how I was treated at the last neighborhood meeting. If you were sincere in your apology, this is the first step you can take to earn my forgiveness."
As much as he wanted to remain neutral and prevent things from escalating, it was too late for him to stay out of it now. "If she puts forward her application I will turn it down," he reluctantly agreed.
"Thank you. I also want her out as neighborhood manager."
Lawrence shook his head. "I'm not going to fire her. She is incredibly organized and competent and very good at her job. I can't justify letting her go."
"Competent?" Lucy scoffed. "She abused her position to unfairly target me. She needs to go."
"I will deny the housing application, but if you want her out of the manager position you'll have to bring it up at the next neighborhood meeting. If you have the votes, I won't stand in your way."
Lucy accepted his compromise and turned to leave. "Fair enough. I will do that."
* * * * *
"What is all this?" Andrew asked Shayna as he waved the papers he had found on the kitchen island in front of her. At first he hadn't thought much about the house plans and contracts, thinking that they were part of Shayna's job to manage the new construction, but when he noticed her name on one of the documents, he realized the papers were not for new residents, but for her. "You're moving into the new lot?"
"I'm considering it," Shayna said without looking up from what she was doing.
"Without talking with me about it? How could you do this behind my back?"
"You made it clear that this is your house not mine. I don't want to impose."
"Seriously?" Andrew scoffed. "Shayna, I didn't mean anything when I said that. You know I have always thought of this as our house together. The only reason that it's not is becaue you didn't want to get married and make it official. In every other way, this has always been your home as much as mine."
"Maybe that's not enough anymore," Shyana declared.
"So your response is to just leave? You just decided it was over, just like that? You don't even want to try to work through this or discuss it with me?"
Shayna sighed. "It's become very obvious to me that we are too different in ways that I cannot compromise on. We can't even talk to each other lately without you sniping at me and I refuse to stay in a relationship that has become so toxic. I don't want Julian to live in such a negative environment and to think that this behavior is acceptable."
Andrew sat down, absolutely stunned at what he was hearing.
"I don't want to disrupt Julian's life any more than necessary, so I would appreciate it if we could stay here and try to be civil to each other until my house is ready to move into, but if you want me to go before then, I understand."
Andrew stood up slowly. He couldn't believe this was happening. "Is there anything I can say to make you reconsider?"
Shayna shook her head. "I can't see any way for us to make this work."
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