Blurry Vision

The waitress chose that exact moment to return, but her expression didn't change. Still, Vincent felt like slime. He was furious with the girl from last night, furious with himself, furious with Otto. He didn't know what to do with all that angst and the best way seemed to attack others.

Otto waited for the waitress to leave and then leaned across the table, his brown eyes wide as he assessed Vincent. "You slept with Jasmine?"

Vincent angrily tore at the egg's yoke and nodded. "Yes."

"Wow." Otto sat back in his seat. He was stunned. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I obviously wasn't thinking, was I?"

Otto watched Vincent polish off his breakfast with silent awe. He apparently didn't know what to say, and Vincent appreciated the quiet.

"What are you going to do?" Otto asked once they were done with breakfast.

Vincent wouldn't meet his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean. Are you going to tell Scarlett?"

"No," Vincent said fervently. "Hell no. What she doesn't know can't hurt her."

"Are you sure, man? Seems like you should..."

"I said no."

Otto shook his head with a pitying smile. "And Jasmine? What about her? Collateral damage?"

"Jasmine? That's her name? Well, Jasmine is a big girl and I think she knew what she was getting into."

"If you say so," Otto said.

A shift happened in their friendship from that day forward. Vincent told himself all the time that he didn't care, that it didn't hurt, that Otto could be an idiot if he wanted to be, but it did bother him. Otto distanced himself from Vincent; they only saw each other at work. Otto also began dating Lena and spent all of his free time with her.

Vincent always resented Otto's relationship with Lena. He felt that Otto should have dropped her because of her connection to Jasmine. Otto disagreed.

Things were never the same.

*****

PRESENT

A week later, Jasmine was still Tara's swim coach. There didn't seem to be anything Vincent could do about it. He would just have to be patient and wait it out. Eventually she would come to her senses and leave, or she'd finally face him and demand whatever she wanted.

One morning, Scarlett brought up a new girl from one of her classes during breakfast.

"She is so cute and innocent. I love her!"

Vincent half-listened to her as he scanned the newspaper.

"Vin? You hearing me?"

He looked up and saw Scarlett watching him, her fists on her waist. "Uh, yeah."

"What was I talking about, then?"

Vincent smiled and put the paper down. "Okay, you caught me. I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

She shook her head but she was amused. "I made friends with a new girl in my class and I want to invite her over for dinner tonight, okay?"

"Sounds good to me."

She kissed the top of his head and then left for the day.

Vincent looked through the window and saw it was pouring. He felt like crap. He even considered taking a sick day, which he never did, but George wouldn't like it. In spite of Jasmine's stalking, the world still turned. Vincent continued to pursue the position.

When he got to work, he noticed Lena dropping Otto off at work. She spotted him through the rain and gave him a ferocious glare. She hated him for breaking it off with Jasmine all those years ago and apparently told Otto he wasn't allowed to hang with him, anymore.

Then Vincent had a thought: wouldn't Otto have suggested something, like let's ask Lena why Jasmine is doing this? He watched the pair say goodbye to each other with growing unease. Then he walked over to Lena's car; she appeared to be waiting for him.

"Hi, Lena. How are you?"

Lena toyed with her blonde hair as she stared at her reflection. "Spare me, Vincent. What do you want?"

"Do you, um, still talk to Jasmine?"

Lena gave him a look. "Why?"

Vincent tried to wipe some rain from his face. "She's stalking me."

"Stalking you, huh?"

He rolled his eyes and told himself he wouldn't get anywhere with her if he screamed at her. "Could you please tell her that I need to know what she wants if I'm going to make things better?"

Lena turned in her seat and an odd smile spread across her face. "Oh, yeah? Make things better?"

"Yes. You have to tell her to stop with the childish games and come face me like an adult."

"And how do you propose to make things better for her?" She was still looking at him with that strange smile and it made him uneasy.

"That's between Jasmine and me. Just promise that you'll tell her, okay?"

Then Lena laughed. "Let's get something straight, Vincent. I don't do your dirty work. I'm not your messenger. I don't promise shit to you. Now back up before I run over your feet."

He backed up, more out of surprise than anything else, and watched her speed out of the parking lot.

Hot, uncontrollable, violent rage bubbled inside of him. He ran upstairs and went straight for Otto's office. He burst in without knocking and rushed up to his old friend.

"You need to tell Lena to do what I said."

Otto must have been in the middle of a call, but he calmly put the phone down and looked Vincent up and down. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I have had enough of this whole thing. Enough. Lena is her friend, she should be able to tell that bitch to stop."

"Vin. You need to calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down! Do you hear me? I want this bullshit to stop. Immediately! Your fucking girlfriend is her friend. Help me out with this."

The door to the office opened. Both men turned around and saw George staring at them. "Everything okay in here? I heard shouting."

Shame slithered its way into Vincent's gut. He tried to force a smile, but he could tell by George's expression that he hadn't succeeded.

"We're fine, George," Otto said quietly.

George looked them over one last time and then left, closing the door behind him.

"Get this through your fucking head," Otto murmured angrily, "neither Lena nor myself want to be involved in your bullshit. Do you hear me?"

"Jasmine is trying to ruin my life!"

"No! You're doing a swell job of that on your own. Now get the hell out of my office."

The rest of the day was surreal. George hardly spoke to Vincent, spending more of his time in Otto's office. Vincent heard them laughing together and had to stifle the urge to run inside and beat the shit out of Otto. The whole thing was incredibly provoking, and Vincent sensed the telltale sign of envy tickling his spine.

He went home with a headache and a vague sickening feeling that he had screwed up in a bigger way than he could imagine. It felt like everything that had been within reach just a week before was floating away from him faster than he could keep up. He didn't want to think too much about it.

Another car was parked in front of the house when he got home, which was unusual. Maybe one of the kids' friends was over. This soured Vincent's mood further; he just wanted to eat dinner and crawl into bed.

He opened the door and smelled the delicious scent of his wife's cooking. And he heard laughter coming from the kitchen.

"That you, babe?"

Vincent put down his briefcase and sighed. "Yeah."

"Come in the kitchen! Meet Maddie!"

Then he remembered Scarlett invited a friend over for dinner. He was close to completely flipping out, but he talked himself down. He walked into the kitchen and kissed his wife's cheek. Then he looked at the woman sitting at their dining room table and nearly fainted.

Jasmine. Here.

Jasmine. In his home.

Jasmine. Wrapping her arm around his wife.

The two women shared a private smile and then Scarlett looked at him. "This is Maddie. She started class a little late but she's so brilliant it doesn't matter."

Jasmine bumped into Scarlett affectionately and met Vincent's eyes. "Your wife is the brilliant one."

The women said a few more things to each other, but Vincent couldn't hear over the roaring in his ears.

Scarlett poured everyone a glass of red wine and then announced that dinner was ready. The kids were at their friends' houses for the night, so it was just the three of them. Vincent sat there, dreaming up all kinds of threats in his head. He envisioned clawing her eyes out, strangling her until she was dead, all kinds of violence.

Scarlett and Jasmine had a lot to laugh over. It became annoying fast and wore on his already massive headache. When Scarlett went into the kitchen to get dessert, he followed her.

"Doesn't your friend look a lot like Coach Price?" he asked.

Scarlett shrugged as she scooped some ice cream onto apple pie. "Never saw her, so I wouldn't know. Why are you being so rude tonight?"

"I'm not being rude, Scar. I have a headache."

"Okay, whatever you say. I'm not going to get into it with you, but you've been glaring at Maddie since you got home."

"Ha. 'Maddie'."

She put down the ice cream and cocked her head while she studied him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he sighed. The wine was getting to him and loosening his tongue. "I just have a headache, like I said. I think I need to lie down."

Scarlett watched him closely. He tried to act normal as he said goodnight to Maddie and climbed the stairs, but he knew he was shaking.

He heard them laugh for a few hours after until he heard the blissful sounds of them saying bye and Jasmine's car driving away.

Scarlett stomped upstairs and entered the bedroom, glaring at him. "What the hell is your problem? I entertain all of your friends. I want to invite someone over for one night and you lose your shit?"

"I'm sorry. I'm not feeling well."

"Oh, that's total garbage." She pulled off her clothes. "Oh, and by the way, I told Maddie she was welcome to stay here while her landlord fixes her hot water problem."

He sat straight up in bed. "What?"

She tossed him an annoyed glance. "Is that going to a problem? Come on, Vinny!"

He started to laugh hysterically. Tears streamed down his face. She was winning. Jasmine was winning her stupid little game. He was becoming unhinged. There was no way, no way, he could bear having her under his roof, close to his wife.

Scarlett sat down on the edge of the bed and watched Vincent with concern. "Vincent. What is going on?"

"My life is over," he said between laughter. "Over."

She put a hand on his shoulder and shook him. "Vincent! What the hell is going on?"

Laughter turned to sobs. Scarlett was growing more and more frightened. He held her close to him because he knew he would likely never be able to again. Tears fell from his eyes onto his body, onto hers. He took one last look of his wife's face before opening his mouth.

"Remember. You promised," he began weakly.

And then he told her everything.

*****

Somehow he managed to fall asleep. When he woke the next morning, he sat up on the sofa and looked around. He could hear Finn talking to someone, but Scarlett was nowhere to be found.

She had thrown up most of the night. She told him he was a monster. She said she hated him. She vowed to destroy him.

He deserved all of that, but Scarlett wouldn't be able to destroy him. Jasmine already had.

Vincent heard Finn's rough footsteps on the stairs and then the crash of a few heavy objects on the floor. He stood and spotted luggage.

"What is this?"

Finn didn't respond. He wouldn't even look at his father. Scarlett must have told him.

"Where is your mother?"

Finn's gaze lifted. Such hatred burned in his eyes. "Mom is packing. We are all packing."

Vincent moved past him and climbed the stairs. He entered the bedroom and saw Scarlett weeping as she packed. When she spotted him, a cruel smile twisted across her face.

"Come to watch?"

"Scarlett, baby, I'm sorry."

"Leave me alone. I don't want your apology. It's over a decade too late."

Vincent watched helplessly as his wife and son packed up everything they needed. Tara eventually emerged from her bedroom, her eyes red and puffy. She stared accusingly at her father but said nothing. Vincent couldn't deal with it any longer and went back downstairs.

He begged for Scarlett's forgiveness the night before. He told her how much he loved her, how much he regretted the stupid mistake he would never be able to take back. She wouldn't listen to him and he couldn't blame her.

When everyone was done packing, they came downstairs. Finn had his arm around his mother. Vincent tried one more time.

"Scarlett, it's not safe. She's a crazy person."

Scarlett looked him over. "No. I'm not safe from you. I had no idea I was married to a sociopath. You're dangerous, and selfish." She put Samson's leash on and huddled their kids close to her. "My lawyer will be in touch."

*****

Vincent showed up to work late the next morning. He figured George wouldn't mind, considering that was very unusual for him, but he also found himself not particularly caring if George minded. All of his energy was gone. He could only think about Scarlett's eyes, his kids' brokenhearted and furious stares.

When he got upstairs, one of the secretaries stared at him with wide eyes. "You look terrible."

"Thanks. Any messages for me?"

She just shook her head.

When Vincent walked into the office, he saw everyone gathered around George. He got closer and caught George in the middle of what he was saying.

"...and I absolutely am a control freak. There comes a time when you need to let go, however, and I'm confident I am leaving all of this in the hands of someone who will never make me worry or second-guess my decision. This person is the perfect example of the morals and work ethic I want everyone in this company to have. This is why I am happy to announce that your new CEO is Otto Muller!"

Everyone cheered and George handed little flutes of champagne around. He spotted Vincent a few minutes later and the smile froze on his face. Then his expression shifted into something Vincent couldn't describe. He patted Otto on the back and demanded a speech.

Otto laughed and looked into the crowd. He, too, spotted Vincent, but he didn't seem to be surprised he was standing there. He also wasn't embarrassed or sad or... anything. It was like he always expected this to happen.

Vincent felt betrayed beyond belief.

"I'm honored that George felt like I was the right choice for the job. I know how important this is to him, and it's just as important to me." He lifted his glass. "Thank you."

Everyone cheered and clinked each other's glasses. No one seemed to notice Vincent standing there, but if they did, they didn't care. Vincent was completely stuck; no words would come. He could barely move.

When Vincent saw George headed for his office, he followed. He demanded some sort of explanation. He had worked his ass off for the company for years. How could it all be for nothing?

It was almost as if George expected Vincent to follow him inside. He left the door open, and when he looked up from his desk, his grim expression did not change.

Vincent closed the door behind him. "Why?"

"You have been completely unbalanced for the last two weeks. I had to go with a choice that would make me feel confident. Otto has been doing an outstanding job for a long time."

"And I haven't?"

George looked down at his folded hands. "Otto doesn't have any skeletons in his closet. He also does his work with a kind of passion and attention to detail you've never had. You wanted to be thanked and congratulated on every single thing you do here. You're immature and weak. I'm not sure I've ever thanked Otto for a job well done, and it's never mattered."

"You promised," Vincent said, cringing at the desperate tone in his voice.

"So? We all make promises we can't keep sometimes. You, of all people, should know that."

"So I'm being punished and not being given this position because of a mistake I made in my personal life?"

George shuffled the papers on his desk and seemed bored with the conversation. "If you think that's all this is, then you haven't been paying attention."

Vincent felt hot, enraged, hurt. He grabbed George's large crystal paperweight and threw it against the wall. Thousands of little crystals erupted and scattered on the floor.

George calmly picked up the phone and requested security. Vincent threw back his head and laughed. "What's the matter, George? Can't take me yourself?"

Security came fast and dragged Vincent out, ignoring his punches and curses. He saw Otto smiling at him on his way out and seethed. He almost became loose from the security, and ached to tear Otto's smug smile from his face.

"This isn't over!" he screamed at Otto.

But from Otto's placid stare, Vincent feared it was.

*****

The house was empty. No wife, no kids, no dog. No job. He poured himself a glass of scotch and collapsed on the sofa.

He actually wished Jasmine would make an appearance so he could congratulate her on her ruthless and effective job of destroying his life. It was actually impressive how she managed to unnerve him and ruin everything, just by showing back up again. He ended up doing her work for her.

The psychological approach was a nice touch, he decided.

He heard the front door open. He wondered briefly if he wanted his kids, or even Scarlett, to see him this way, but he didn't have the energy to move. He rested his head against the back of the sofa and shut his eyes, hoping he would pass out.

"Bad time?"

His eyes fluttered open and he took in the red dress Jasmine wore. Her perfect cleavage was pushed up; her gorgeous hair was down and flowing.

"I didn't have a chance, did I?" he asked.

"You were given the same chance you gave Jasmine."

He snickered and rubbed his eyes. "Are you still pretending to be someone else?"

She smiled and sauntered over, spreading herself so that each knee pressed into the sofa on either side of him. She settled down over him, and in spite of everything, he could sense himself becoming aroused. She must have been able to tell, too, for her eyes glowed with wicked satisfaction. Her long, glossy black hair rested on his chest. He could smell her perfume.

"Get off of me."

"Why? You don't like feeling like the pig that you are?"

He pushed at her but was ineffective. She took a sip from his glass of scotch. He watched, fascinated, as her throat worked to swallow it.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something," he heard someone say.

He looked over Jasmine's shoulder and there was... Jasmine.

Vincent shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. The scotch must have gone to his head faster than he thought.

"You're not," the Jasmine on his lap said. "Come join us."

She came to sit beside them with a tiny smile on her face. She ran her hand across Vincent's chest.

"What's going on?" Vincent asked with a hitch in his voice. He was frightened.

Another Jasmine appeared over them. "That's a good question. I'm sure you're very curious."

He shook his head hard. "I'm losing my mind," he whispered.

The Jasmine on top of him giggled. "Maybe just a little."

Then she hopped off of him. Three Jasmines stood together and stared at him. He finished the rest of his scotch and coughed.

"I'm Brooke," the one on the left said.

"Sunny," the middle one, the one who had been seducing Vincent, said with a dirty smile.

"And I'm Maddie."

Vincent looked at the three of them and was ill. He didn't know what to say, so he remained silent.

"So, you see, Vincent. We were all telling the truth when we said we weren't Jasmine," Sunny breathed. She ran a hand down her body, her lips curving up when she saw his eyes following.

"Jasmine was our sister," Brooke said. "You're soulless, so you can't appreciate the bond sisters feel. Or quadruplets. We have been broken since you broke Jasmine."

"Would you like to know what happened to her after you deserted her?" Maddie asked. Her eyes were sad and filled with tears. "She was pregnant with your child. She tried to tell you that the last time you saw her. She wanted to keep the baby, even though she realized what a worthless, cruel human being you are, so she carried your baby to full-term. There was a... a complication. Both the baby and Jasmine died in the delivery room."