Chapter 3
2004
Sydnie and Carlton got married and then moved away to Scarborough. Their homely little pub, The Sand and Sea, was a roaring success.
Slowly but surely, Carlton gave her the confidence to join the gym. She got herself a personal trainer, and before you knew it, she was in excellent shape. She even started changing her look.
She decided that an entirely new Sydnie was in order. She started with her wardrobe. She even started wearing makeup and a new hairstyle, removing her old ponytail. Carlton saw how she lit up a room when she walked in. All the locals loved her, especially the men. Oh yes, they had begun to notice her alright; she looked fantastic, no more Miss Dowdy, hello beautiful. She felt like a million dollars.
2010 was going great until, out of the blue, Carlton told Sydnie he wanted a divorce, no warning, no explanation. Sydney was devastated. She didn’t know what she had done to make him fall out of love with her. It didn’t make any sense. They had talked about starting a family, they sold the pub, and Sydnie got half in the divorce settlement. After her ordeal of losing the man she adored, she headed back home to Leeds. She stayed with her parents until she could find herself a flat. She had a business plan in her head and started to put it into action. She had seen an ideal place and made an appointment with her bank; they saw the potential with her facts and figures.
She finally got her fun pub and started the changes. As you walked in, the bar was directly in front of you t. The stage and tables to the right would be all the live entertainment, three times in the evening at different intervals, and to the left would be the dance floor and DJ box. The Perez was finally ready for its opening night; as you walked in, you got a glass of champagne welcoming you to Perez. It was buzzing, and everyone wanted to get into The Perez. They were queuing around the block to get in.
The following weekend, Sydnie was behind the bar, and this voice shouted
“Hay darling… service?” Tapping his finger on the counter
She knew that voice, and sure enough. It was Elliot’s same arrogant shit that she knew when she was sixteen. Yes, the same cruel bastard that broke her heart and humiliated her in front of everyone in that office. She turned around and smiled “what can I get you, sir?”
Elliot looked at her closely.
“…can I get two pints of bitter, one Bacardi and coke, one gin and tonic, and four pints of larger?”
Sydnie knew precisely who he was, but he didn’t seem to recognise her.
She gave him his order while all the guys went over to grab a table and sat; Elliot sat starring at Sydnie, Sydnie knew he was watching her.
“What you looking at?” Wade asked
“Her, she’s so hot,
“She is hot, and maybe you shagged her.”
“No, I would have remembered her; I’m going over.”
Elliot made his way over. She was sat at the end of the bar sipping on her vodka and coke.
“Hi… Darling…?”
Sydnie looked at Elliot, unimpressed, “What can I get you?”
“Your number…? I’m Elliot”
“Sydnie…?”
“Beautiful. Where you have been all my life, and how the hell did you become so freaking hot?”
“I’ve always been like this; I just didn’t know it.”
“Oh, baby, you do now” as he moved closer.
“Yep, I do.”
“I’ve got to see you again.”
“Well, I’m in here most nights.”
“You must get a night off?”
“Oh, you mean a date?”
“Yeah”
The poor Zap didn’t have a clue who she was. Even the name didn’t ring any bells. The arrogant bastard, she thought to herself as she smiled sweetly. She declined his invitation at first. But he was persistent, if nothing else. He begged her all evening to go on a date with him. This was fun, but she didn’t want to make it easy for him, so she refused several times during the evening.
When she finally accepted his dinner invitation, she knew this would be like taking candy from a baby. She could wait for him to realise who she was. She just hoped that Wade wouldn’t recognise her.
Elliot pulled out all the stops to impress her. He took her to a beautiful little restaurant on the high street. As the weeks rolled by, their dates increased more and more. Sydnie had managed to keep him at Elliot’s arm’s length, too.
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