Round Three: Davies

James Davies may have been married to one woman and in love with another, but that didn't stop his taste for the ladies. He was out on a clandestine date with Jill but he still introduced himself to every pretty woman who walked past, even the... slightly weird ones.


Still, he was definitely in love with Jill, and she was in love with him. Their affair was now both a physical and emotional infidelity, and James couldn't bring himself to feel even a little guilty. His marriage to Sabrina had been a sham from the start, and as long as he kept his relationship with Jill out of sight he didn't see anything wrong with it.


Sabrina was still oblivious, and had found a new hobby to keep her occupied during the brief moments she had a break from raising the kids and doing the housework. She had discovered a love of science and astronomy, and could often be found in the garden looking at the stars once she'd put Jacinta and Amanda to bed. She knew they weren't exactly well off, but she really wanted a more high-tech telescope. Maybe she could get a job when Amanda started school.


Amanda was only tiny but she was already an enigma. Despite her shy and difficult nature, she had a certain magnetism. Every one of Sabrina's acquaintances loved to pick her up and cuddle her, and she played up her cuteness as much as possible.


But she definitely wasn't all sweetness and light. Alone with Sabrina she would throw tantrums over every little thing. It was most perplexing.


James had gotten a gig as a party DJ, which suited him down to the ground. He spent his nights at the weekend at various hot spots down town, and slept through most of the day.


He spent most days wandering around in his pyjamas. Despite his infidelity and endless slacking, he wasn't an entirely awful father. He would spend time with Jacinta whenever she asked, usually before school while he was still riding the adrenalin high from DJing. Once she was gone he would collapse into bed, leaving Sabrina to look after the ever more demanding Amanda.


Of course, DJing was very much a weekend sort of job, which left James with a lot of free nights. He decided to risk it and invite Jill over. He hadn't seen her for days and really missed her, and Sabrina was asleep so he couldn't see any way he could get caught. James was never blessed with much in the way of smarts.


Amanda woke Sabrina up with her anxious cries. Sabrina sighed. She thought Amanda had gotten better about sleeping through the night, but obviously not. As she leaned over the crib, she heard noises coming from the living room and realised with horror that it was James and a woman that sounded a lot like Jill. A lump rose in her throat. She must be hearing things! She let Amanda out and walked into the living room, almost shaking. In her fear and anger she didn't realise she'd left the door open and that Amanda had followed her.


She caught James and Jill mid-embrace. They saw her and leapt apart, and Sabrina wasted no time laying into James.

"You filthy cheat! How could you do this to me?!"


"And YOU!" she yelled at Jill. "I thought you were my friend but you're nothing but a lying, cheating - "

"Shut the hell up," snapped Jill. "It's not my fault that you're a frigid old cow who can't keep her man happy."


To her horror, James didn't even bother trying to console her. He just walked over to Jill and stroked her face. "It's okay, baby. I'll sort this out." Sabrina felt angrier than she ever had in her life, and realised that Amanda was crying from behind the sofa. Jill left and James disappeared into the bedroom without a word, and Sabrina collapsed on the sofa wondering how on earth could she have been so stupid as to not see what was going on right under her nose.


The next few weeks were fraught, to say the least. James and Sabrina attempted to be civil for Amanda and Jacinta's sake, but it was no good. Whenever they struck up an awkward conversation it would descend into an argument.

"I've tried, and tried, and TRIED, and now you've turned this house into a war-zone!" shouted Sabrina, hands on hips and face screwed up in anger.

James just looked bored. "Oh come on, Sabs. This marriage was a joke from the start and it's time for you to face the music and admit it."


Amanda was getting even more difficult. She'd seen everything, the cheating, the fights, and she was far too young to understand it properly. She cried whenever James tried to play with her, and demanded Sabrina's attention more than ever.


Jacinta and Amanda both had birthdays. Jacinta tried to get along with her little sister but it was difficult. The things she'd seen had made her even more prickly and she didn't know how to articulate what was wrong because she was still so young. She didn't talk to James or Jacinta if she could help it but was very clingy with Sabrina, and spent a long time every morning making sure she looked perfect. It was a bit of a coping mechanism. Sabrina worried that staying together for the kids had been the wrong idea all along.

Note: Sigh. It was inevitable, really. Toddler-Amanda kept spinning up wants to see James and Jill's ghosts after all of that, it was kind of disturbing. Jacinta is entirely oblivious but we'll see how long that lasts - considering James's lack of tact and Sabrina's chemistry with Jasper, I'm guessing it won't be long. Jacinta rolled Knowledge. Nerd girl love!