As was the case every winter in Ohio, slick roads were not the main problem, Ohio drivers were. For some reason, Sydney swore they went brain-dead during the first snowfall. It was as if they had never seen or driven on snow their entire life.

The emergency lanes as well as the ditches on both sides of the highway were littered with cars. She was not surprised to see the majority of them facing the wrong direction. She noticed the tip of four tires sticking up in the air. She couldn't tell what type of car it was but it was apparent that the driver had somehow lost control and the car had flipped over onto its roof.

Based on the amount of snow covering the vehicles, she reasoned that their owner's had abandoned them long ago, and the local towing company's would have a very profitable week.

A trip that normally took her thirty minutes to get home had now reached the hour and a half mark. She turned off Mad River Road onto Hempridge Drive. Her house was the last on the block and sat at the end of the street. At least her driveway did.

Frankie would be getting an extra nice Christmas bonus this year, Sydney thought as she easily wove her way up and around the winding lane. Frankie had plowed the drive so clean that all you could see was blacktop. If it were not for the six-foot high snowdrifts on both sides of the road, a person would have no idea that it had been covered in snow just a short time ago.

As Sydney made her way around the circular drive, she recognized Meredith's green Jaguar parked near the front of the house. What she did not recognize was the red car sitting next to it. From the looks of both cars and the amount of snow covering them, they had been there for quite awhile. She circled the large fountain that sat in the middle of the drive, pulled her truck up next to the Jaguar, and shut off the engine. She would take her things in first, unpack, and then put the truck in the garage.

With her briefcase in one hand and a suitcase in the other, she walked over to the red car. She might not know whom it belonged to but she knew d.a.m.n well what kind of car it was. It was the new German made Mercedes Maybach. She also knew there were only twenty in existence. She had come within a hairs inch of buying one for herself but the price tag stopped her. She didn't care how much money she had, she could not justify spending $350,000.00 on a car that looked more like a Buick sedan than a Mercedes. She glanced at her truck and smiled. She could buy eight new Ford trucks for the cost of one Maybach and be happy as h.e.l.l.

She fished her keys out of her coat pocket and headed up the steps with her luggage. She glanced back at the cars, finding it slightly odd that Frankie had not cleaned them off when she plowed the driveway. She wedged her briefcase under the same arm that was holding her luggage and unlocked the front door, then pushed it open with her knee.

She let out a sigh of relief as she stepped into the brightly lit two-story foyer. It felt good to be home. She looked down at the freshly polished travertine marble floor. She kicked off her shoes and set them off to the side. Edna would not be too happy with her if she tracked snow and salt everywhere. Sydney might own the house, but anything cleanable, Edna took personal owners.h.i.+p of, and that included the floors.

She slid across the slick marble in her socks, stopping just before her toes. .h.i.t the bottom step on the left side of a spiraling duel staircase that framed the entry into the expansive family room. She dropped her luggage on the carpeted step and slid back across the floor to the entryway table. She caught her reflection in the twelve-foot, ornately decorated mirror that hung on the wall above the table. Her cheeks were still a little flushed from the biting cold.

She ran her fingers through her hair, brus.h.i.+ng the black tresses back from her face. She laid the briefcase along with her keys on the table and pulled open the top drawer. She glanced toward the family room and wondered where Meredith was. The house was too quiet. There was always someone around, yet the house felt and sounded empty.

Thinking that Meredith was probably in her office, she turned her attention back to the huge stack of mail lying in the drawer. She picked up the tightly bound bundle and removed the rubber band. Bills, bills, junk mail, and more bills she thought as she thumbed through the stack of envelopes. She stopped at the sound of laughter.

She laid the mail on the table and slowly made her way toward the staircase that led to the second floor bedrooms. She hesitated for a second and then climbed the stairs. She stopped approximately ten steps from the top. She felt her heart pound in her chest as her brain registered what her eyes were seeing. She bent down and picked up a lacey hot-pink bra. She took several more steps and found the matching panties. She knew immediately that neither one belonged to Meredith. Meredith hated pink. Sydney looked at the lingerie as she continued up the steps. When she reached the landing, she had to wait a few seconds to gain control of herself.

For some reason she was finding it terribly difficult to contain her emotions. She covered her mouth with her hand to keep from busting out laughing. What is wrong with me, she thought as she made her way toward the second floor master bedroom, the room she shared with Meredith.

She stopped in front of the closed door and took a deep breath. Okay, here goes, she thought as she placed her hand on the doork.n.o.b. "Hi, honey, I'm home," she yelled, flinging the door open with a bang.

"Sydney! What the h.e.l.l are you doing here?" Meredith shrieked and grabbed the sheet. She quickly pulled it over the head of the naked woman crouched down between her legs.

Sydney smiled as she walked over to the bed. "I finished my meetings a little earlier than expected sweetheart and thought I would surprise you. I can see that I was successful by the look on your face." Before Meredith could reply, Sydney reached down, grabbed the edge of the sheet and flung it back.

Sydney immediately recognized the close-cropped blonde head. The woman between Meredith's legs slowly turned her head to look up at Sydney.

"I think these belong to you," Sydney said, tossing the lingerie on top of Meredith's stomach. "It's good to see you, Anne. You come here often?" Sydney laughed at the irony in her question.

"I ... I um, don't know what to say, Sydney. Um, it's not what it looks like," Anne muttered, grabbing her bra and panties. She quickly slipped them on and climbed off the bed.

"Not what it looks like? You are joking, right?" Sydney's look was incredulous. She watched with enjoyment as Anne nervously fumbled around for the rest of her clothing.

Meredith leaned back against the headboard and crossed her arms over her breast. She opened her mouth to speak but the warning look from Sydney made her reconsider.

"I think you can show yourself out," Sydney said, after Anne finished dressing.

Anne picked her purse up off the dresser. She ran a trembling hand through her hair. She started through the doorway and stopped. She turned to face Sydney. "I'm sorry, Sydney."

Sydney shook her head in disbelief. "Actually Anne, what I believe is that you are just like everyone else who gets caught with their proverbial panties down. You aren't sorry you were sleeping with my lover, you're sorry I caught you."

Sydney looked first at Meredith and then at Anne. "How long has this little fling been going on? Never mind, don't answer that because I really don't give a d.a.m.n."

Anne opened her mouth to speak but Sydney held her hand up to stop her. "Out of curiosity Anne, how much do you make in a year?"

Anne's brow furrowed into a frown. "What?" she asked.

"Come on, it's not a hard question. How much is your yearly salary?"

The color of Meredith's cheeks was nearly the same flaming red color of her hair. "Sydney, what the h.e.l.l are you doing?" she asked, her voice shaking with annoyance.

Sydney turned and looked at Meredith. "I don't think I was talking to you and if you have any sense whatsoever, you will sit there and keep your mouth shut."

"Around $250,000.00," Anne said, pulling her car keys from her purse.

"If memory serves me correctly, I think your bonus last year was somewhere around a hundred grand." Sydney smiled at Anne. "I guess what I really want to know is, was she worth it? Was f.u.c.king my girlfriend's ears off worth more than a quarter million dollars a year?"

Meredith slid off the bed and wrapped the sheet tightly around her body. "Come on babe, don't do this," she said, coming around the side of the bed to stand next to Sydney. She laid her hand on Sydney's arm.

"Don't touch me!" Sydney hissed, shrugging Meredith's hand away. She looked at Anne. "As for you, you're fired! Don't bother going to work tomorrow. I will have Maureen pack your stuff and send it by courier. Now get the h.e.l.l out of my house!"

Without a backward glance, Anne left the room.

Meredith was livid. She stomped her foot on the floor. "You can't do this, Sydney!" she yelled.

Sydney whirled around to face Meredith. Her light brown eyes were now black as she glared at the woman who had shared a bed with her for the last ten years. Meredith, seeing just how angry Sydney was, took a nervous step back.

Sydney jabbed her finger at Meredith's face. "Now it's your turn, you, you cold calculating ungrateful b.i.t.c.h! You're fired too and I want you out of my house, out of my sight, and out of my life."

Meredith began to sob. "Where am I supposed to go?" she asked, her voice cracking with emotion.

Sydney wasn't buying it. "I don't give a s.h.i.+t where you go and you can knock off the fake tears. You forget that I know you better than you know yourself. You have one hour Meredith, to get your s.h.i.+t packed and get out."

Meredith's whole demeanor changed. Not a single tear ran down her cheek. She looked at Sydney with pure contempt. "I need at least three weeks to find another job. Can you at least give me that?"

"You have one week, Meredith and that's final."

"Can I stay here tonight? I promise to make other arrangements tomorrow?"

"I want you out of my house today. There are plenty of hotels you can choose from or better yet, why don't you have one of your gal pals put you up for the night."

"Fine," Meredith said, grabbing a pair of slacks from the closet. "Would you mind giving me a little privacy?" she asked sarcastically.

"Why? It's not like you have anything I haven't seen before."

"If you paid more attention to me, I wouldn't have to spread my legs for other women."

Sydney couldn't help but laugh. "How stupid do you think I am? Do you think that I don't know you've been spreading your legs for every Tom, d.i.c.k, and Harriet that comes along? I know exactly whom you've been sleeping with. I also know when you slept with them and how many times. I didn't get to where I am by sticking my head in the sand."

"If you knew, why didn't you say or do anything about it?"

Sydney shrugged. "Because you just weren't worth the ha.s.sle and as long as someone else was servicing you that meant that I no longer had too."

"I can't believe you just said that," Meredith said, shaking her head.

"Do you know what the difference between a wh.o.r.e and a prost.i.tute is, Meredith?" When Meredith didn't answer, Sydney said, "A prost.i.tute is at least smart enough to charge for her p.u.s.s.y. Just think about it, if you charged, you'd be a millionaire by now."

"You are one heartless b.i.t.c.h," Meredith said through clenched teeth.

Sydney laughed. "Maybe I am but I'm not your b.i.t.c.h anymore." She stopped in the doorway and turned to look at Meredith. "You have one hour to get your things packed. I want you gone as soon as possible and if you think I'm joking, try me. I won't hesitate to call the police and have you physically removed."

"I'm surprised you don't have your goons do it for you."

"That's something you don't need to worry your pretty little head about. What I do or don't do is no longer any of your concern," Sydney said, slamming the door shut so hard that the chandelier hanging in the foyer rocked back and forth.

Sydney stood outside the door for several few minutes while she gained some semblance of control over her frayed nerves.

She was relieved that it was finally over between her and Meredith and she was grateful to Anne for giving her an excuse to do what she had wanted to do for a long, long time, what she should have done years ago.

Her thoughts turned to Frankie, Maureen, and Caitlyn. They were the only ones who knew she would be coming home a day early. She also knew Frankie well enough to know that the big bear of a woman had intentionally left the snow on the two cars for Sydney to see.

Sydney took the steps two at a time in an almost giddy sort of manner. She practically floated over the family room floor. She went behind the wet bar, grabbed a beer from the fridge, and then retrieved the stack of mail from the foyer table. A glance at her watch told her it was almost 2:30. Jackie wasn't due for another hour and Sydney hoped that Meredith would be gone by the time she arrived. She was eager to see what new information Jackie had for her and whatever it was, it had to be good, otherwise Jackie would have waited until their usual appointment on Friday to come over.

She dropped into an oversized recliner and kicked the footrest up. She tossed the stack of mail on the coffee table, took a long swig from the bottle, and glanced up at the ceiling. The sound of slamming drawers and stomping feet made her smile. Meredith was thoroughly p.i.s.sed and Sydney couldn't be happier.

Meredith glanced at her reflection in the mirror. I'm an attractive woman. I have a fantastic body for a woman in her forties she thought as she tucked several, long strands of red hair behind her ears. Her green eyes flashed with anger.

"Who the h.e.l.l does she think she is?" she asked herself. She grabbed a handful of clothes and slung them into the suitcase sitting on the edge of the bed.

It took everything inside of her to fight back the tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks. She would not give Sydney the satisfaction by shedding one tear.

"No one dumps me and gets away with it," she muttered under her breath. She stomped over to the closet and yanked several suits from their hangers. She looked around the room. Sydney was crazy if she thought she could take everything she owned right now. She would have to send someone to fetch the rest of her things and Sydney would just have to deal with it. There was just no way to pack ten years worth of stuff in less than an hour.

I can't believe she's doing this to me, she thought as she flung several pairs of panties and a handful of silk bras into the case. So what if she had a fling or two or three or four over the course of their relations.h.i.+p.

Personally, she thought it helped to keep things fresh, at least on her part and if Sydney had tried to spruce things up a little more, maybe she would not have been so apt to look at anything wearing a skirt. Ah, who the h.e.l.l am I kidding, Meredith laughed at her own thoughts. Of all the relations.h.i.+ps she has been in, not one single woman had been able to keep her eyes and most importantly, her hands from wandering.

Meredith tossed the smaller of two jewelry boxes into the suitcase and zipped the lid shut. She grabbed the luggage handle and turned toward the door. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and smiled. If Sydney thought she could just kick her to the curb with no repercussions, she had another think coming. No one dumps Meredith Lansing and gets away with it. Not even the great, Sydney Welsh.

Sydney looked up at the sound of the door opening. She watched Meredith come down the stairs.

Meredith sat the suitcase on the floor next to the couch. "Are you sure about this, Sydney?" Meredith she asked. "Once I walk out of here, I'm not coming back."

"Yes, Meredith, I'm sure. You and I have known for awhile that this was coming."

"How can you just end it like this? Do all the years we spent together mean nothing to you?"

"You have got to be kidding me. I just caught you in bed with one of my executives and you have the nerve to turn this around on me," Sidney said calmly.

"Well, I'm not giving up that easily. If you think you can just toss me out like yesterday's garbage I've got news for you and-"

"That's why I'm giving you this," Sydney interrupted. She reached down and picked her checkbook up off the coffee table. "I want you out of my life for good, Meredith. No more games." She ripped off the check and shoved it in Meredith's hand.

Meredith looked at the check and frowned. "$500,000.00? What the h.e.l.l am I supposed to do with this? How can you expect me to live on such a measly amount?" she asked sarcastically.

"If you don't want it, I'll take it back," Sydney said, reaching for the check.

Meredith crammed the check in her pocket. "I guess I'll just have to make do. I wouldn't want to put you out or anything."

Sydney resisted the urge to shoot another dinger at Meredith regarding who's doing all the putting out. She felt her temper flare again. "You're lucky I'm giving you that much. If you remember correctly, the good citizens of Ohio voted down the gay marriage proposal, so by law, I don't have to give you a penny and-" Sydney stopped in mid-sentence and stood up from the chair. She threw her hands up in the air. "You know what Meredith? I am so over this. I just want you gone."

"Come on, Sydney. Please don't do this," Meredith practically begged as she followed Sydney into the foyer.

Sydney jerked the front door open and stood off to the side.

Meredith, dragging her luggage behind her, stomped unceremoniously through the doorway. She turned to look at Sydney, her eyes full of contempt. "I meant what I said. If you think I'm just going to go away quietly without a fight, you're sadly mistaken, Sydney."

"Goodbye Meredith."

"I'll send someone over tomorrow to collect the rest of my things," Meredith yelled over her shoulder just before Sydney slammed the door shut in her face.

Sydney closed her eyes and fell back against the door. Feeling the coolness of the wood permeate through her blouse, she took a deep breath, and forced herself to relax. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes. She glanced at her watch. Jackie would be- The doorbell rang before she had a chance to finish her thought. "d.a.m.n it Meredith," she swore under her breath and jerked the door open.

Jackie Christopher, a behemoth of a woman with short sandy brown hair, smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Syd, it's just me."

"I'm sorry, Jackie, please come in," Sydney said, stepping back to allow her through the doorway.

Jackie walked into the family room and took a seat on the couch. She took off her sungla.s.ses and laid them on the coffee table next to the file folder she had brought with her. She was silent as she watched Sydney go over to the wet bar and grab each of them a bottle of beer from the fridge. She took the beer Sydney offered and twisted off the cap. She took a long swig from the bottle. "So, you wanna tell me what's going on or do you want me to guess?" she asked.

"Meredith and I broke up," Sydney sighed.

"There's a real shocker."

"You aren't the least bit surprised," Sydney asked, her eyebrows rising.

"As far as I'm concerned the two of you should have split a long time ago."

"You aren't the first person in my life to point that out."

Jackie looked down at the bottle of beer in her hands. She tore a piece of the label off the bottle. She studied Sydney for several seconds. "Are you okay, Syd?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Yeah, actually I am," Sydney said, answering honestly.

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened?"

"I just caught her in bed with Anne."