Broken Pasts (12 page)

CHAPTER 13

The
day came and went as it's wont to do, and soon I found myself peeping
out the blinds in my bedroom, just to see if I could grab a sneak
peek of Nathaniel pulling into the driveway. I was already dressed
in my best “girls' night out” look which consisted of the
very classic little black dress with a scooped neckline, a pair of
emerald pumps, and Rhea's Kukui nut necklace. My eyes were smoky and
mysterious (at least when I squinted), and I had a slash of “Slut
Red” lipstick on my mouth (courtesy of Jamie), so I was feeling
pretty good.

Until
Nathaniel called and said he couldn't make it.

“
What?”
I asked, feeling sorely disappointed. “Why?”

“
Well,”
Cedric began as his brow crinkled and he lifted the phone away from
his ear. “Something came up at the office. One of our
employees killed a man during a job.” I clamped a hand over my
mouth and didn't know what to say. Cedric smiled weakly. “It
happens more often than you'd think. Still, Nathaniel needs to be
there to make sure that justice is served so to speak. Self-defense
is a hard one to prove in court.”

“
I
… ” I had no idea how to respond to that.

“
Do
you mind if I make a personal call? I need to call my date and
cancel.”

“
Your
date?” I said. It had never occurred to me that Cedric might
have a special someone. Why, I don't know, but I blinked at him in
surprise. “Oh, you can't cancel your date,” I said as a
minivan pulled into the driveway. Joel was here to pick up Rhea. I
started down the hallway with Cedric at my heels and tried to figure
out a way to help the poor guy. He was obviously disappointed,
whether he was showing it or not. “I refuse to let you tag
along with me when you've got a lady friend waiting,” I said as
I peeped my head into Rhea's bedroom and found her engulfed in a
Pokemon game of some sort. “Grab your things. Joel's here.”

“
Are
you going to have sex on a beach?” Rhea asked me, and I had to
pause and stare at her for a moment before it sunk in.

“
You
mean the drink?” I said, tugging at my emerald earrings and
wondering if they clashed too much with the necklace. “You
mean, am I going to drink a Sex on the Beach?” Rhea nodded
emphatically as she stuffed some books into her backpack and hopped
off the bed. “Maybe. Why? Where did you hear that from?”
She shrugged and moved past me, grabbing a notepad filled with penis
drawings on her way past.
Am I a terrible mother?

“
Perhaps,”
Cedric said, trying desperately to grab my attention as I moved back
down the hall and followed Rhea into the kitchen. His face was red
and he was actually
sputtering.
“Perhaps I could call
someone else in. Normally, I wouldn't do this, but I … ”

“
Have
a super hot date?” I joked as I reached for the door and paused
when Cedric put out a big meaty hand and stopped me in the nick of
time.

“
Am
going to propose,” he blurted, and I had to pause and stare at
him with my mouth agape.

“
Mom,
”
Rhea said as she elbowed me in the side. “Say,
Congrats.
That's polite.”

“
Congratulations,”
I blurted as Cedric checked the peephole, swept Rhea and I to the
side with a gentle sweep of his arm and opened the door to Joel. He
stared at the Viking-like man with wide eyes, and I leapt in to
explain.

“
This
is Nathaniel's … brother, Cedric.” The big man boomed
with laughter as he reached out and grabbed Joel's hand for a shake.

“
What
she means is, I'm his business partner. Not a lick of shared blood
between us!”

“
Cedric's
getting married,” Rhea said proudly, as if she'd known all
along. Joel blinked and tried to smile. Apparently Jamie hadn't
briefed him on the situation. I slid between them and grabbed Rhea's
bag from her hands, transferring it to Joel's.

“
I'll
pick you up in the morning, okay?” I said, pressing a kiss to
her cheek. Rhea stuck out her tongue.

“
Because
you'll be drunk?” she asked, and I had to ignore her. What the
hell was I supposed to say to that?
Yes. Mommy is going to get
plastered with some women she doesn't know and get her mind off all
of the shit that's going on in her life. It's a grown-up thing.

“
Thank
you again, Joel,” I said, but he shrugged off his own good
nature with a wink.

“
No
problem,” he told me with a smile. “I owe you one to
make up for Stuart anyhow.” He grabbed my hand and kissed it
before putting an arm around Rhea and guiding her to the car. “Come
on, kid. Let's see if you can kick those boys' butts at air hockey.”

I
smiled as I closed the door and turned to Cedric who was thumbing
through his phone with purpose. Thing is, I didn't want a new
bodyguard to drag around on my girls' night. I reached out and put a
hand over his Cedric's screen. He glanced up at me.

“
You
know what,” I said, hoping this would go over smoothly. “I
don't need a bodyguard tonight.” Cedric's mouth was open and
his booming voice was raising in protest when I continued, hoping to
make my case before he talked me out of it. “I'll be out with
the girls, in clubs, restaurants, wherever. There'll be people
around, lots of them. Afterward, I'll go home with Jamie, sleep on
her couch.” Cedric was not convinced. “She has three
pit bulls,” I added. Cedric shook his head. “Mean
ones.”

“
I
don't think it's safe, Ms. McMaster, I really don't. If you don't
want a new bodyguard, I'll stay.”

“
Cedric,”
I said, using my best mom voice. “You are not skipping your
proposal dinner for little old me. Look, why don't you send
Nathaniel over to pick me up in the morning? I'll give you Jamie's
address.” My heart fluttered a bit at the thought of the dark
haired man with the emerald eyes and the world's most well pressed
suit.
I have got it bad. I need this night.

“
Nathaniel
would kill me if – ” I narrowed my eyes on Cedric's. He
was desperate to get out of here, I could see that. I didn't blame
him one bit. I mean, how much more important can a date be?

“
When
Jamie picks me up, you can sweep the house and lock up, and I'll see
Nathaniel in the morning. It works out for everyone.” Cedric
was caving. I was so close … And then his phone rang and
whatever it was that he saw on the screen sealed the deal. “Take
it,” I said with a smile and watched as his need for
professionalism warred with his desperation to speak to his
girlfriend. Love won out and he answered the call. The future Mrs.
Bair was one lucky girl.

***

“
I'm
going to fire their asses,” Jamie said, already half-drunk. I
had no way of knowing how much she'd drank. The woman downed shots
in mere seconds, punctuated them with neon colored drinks, and
drowned it all with dark beers and honey colored ales. I couldn't
keep up. “You are unprotected,” she slurred. “You
are an unprotected woman.”

“
You
think Gary's going to sneak up on me in here?” I asked as I
tried my best to shout over the pulsing thump of the music. I
adjusted my skirt and tried to pretend that I was not
way
overdressed. And ten years too old. “Besides, they don't
control what I do. I'm the client, Jamie. I make the decisions.”

“
Seriously,”
she said as she watched the group of friends we'd come with bump and
grind with men half their ages. “I am pissed. I am going to
call that Nathaniel Sutherland tomorrow and file a formal complaint.”

“
You'll
do no such thing,” I said as I slid her drink away from her and
looked down at it. It was flaming. Wow. Since when did drinks
flame? I was so out of my element. I looked around for an escape
route and landed on the women's bathroom. Would it be any better in
there? I doubted it. Probably just a bunch of drunk college girls
puking their guts out. Gross. “Let's talk about something
else, shall we?” I asked as I tried to loosen up my shoulders
and figure out how to drink the damned thing. Jamie leaned over and
blew it out, pushing the drink closer to my elbow with her brows
raised defiantly.

“
Can't
we go out to dinner at an Italian restaurant or something?” I
asked with a sigh. “Somewhere more appropriate for women our
age?”

“
Our
age?” Jamie gasped as she sat back and hiccuped. She winked at
the shirtless bartender and licked her lips. “Speak for
yourself there, darling. Grow-down a little.”

“
Grow-down?”
I asked.

“
Yeah,
grow-down. You know how people are always telling everyone around
them to grow-up? Well, fuck them. Grow-down a little. Have some
fun. You've been through way too much shit in your life, Theresa.
Drink the drink, dance with me, and don't care that anybody's
looking. You owe yourself that.” I stared at her and picked
up the shot glass, lifted it to my lips and drank.

***

Sometime
later (I don't know how long because I was slightly intoxicated), the
girls and I stumbled out of the club in a giggling, sweaty heap,
melding into the throng of twenty-somethings like we belonged there.
We made our way down the street, heels clutched in our hands and the
world at our fingertips. It felt
good.

“
This
is fun,” I told the blonde woman in the neon green dress. She
was at least ten years older than me and her outfit had half as much
fabric. For a brief moment, I was envious. She was actually
managing to pull it off.

“
I
told you,” Jamie said as we crossed the street without looking.
Didn't matter anyway. There was a throng of people around us,
enjoying the night and the street signs that glimmered like some kind
of dystopian skyline, winking color from every window, every awning.
“You need to get out more.”

“
Let's
go see a movie,” one of the other women said. “The new
one with that skinny bitch in the leather, the one that fights
fairies.”

“
The
Creature Killer?
” I asked with a laugh and a hiccup.

“
Yeah,”
she said as I blinked at her and struggled to remember her name.
Mina? Mira? Mya? “That chick is totally hot.”

“
Oh
my god,” Jamie drawled as we stumbled towards the movie
theater. “You like girls?”

“
God
yes,” Mina-Mira-Mya said. “Don't you?” The group
burst into spontaneous laughter that I found myself surprised to be a
part of. I was one part ecstatic and one part ashamed.
I'm
stumbling down the street drunk. With no shoes. I'm thirty-two
years old. What the hell is wrong with me?

I
didn't care.

“
Pit
stop,” one of the women called out. “Pit stop! Just
before the theater! I need another drink if I'm going to stay buzzed
for the movie.”

“
How
about this one?” Mina-Mira-Mya asked as she pointed at a
massive line beside the brown building next to us. The people in
line looked like Gods, beautiful, chiseled, perfect. No way we were
getting in anytime soon. Still, I was in no shape to argue. I
stumbled after my friends and paused at the velvet ropes feeling like
an extra in a movie. Only difference was that the bodyguard was a
woman with a face full of piercings instead of a big, bulky man who
could probably take on the Hulk.

“
Hey
there,” Jamie said and without another word, she leaned over
and
kissed
the chick on the lips. I gasped, but the bouncer
smiled. Even more so when Jamie pulled down her dress and flashed
her …
breasts.

“
Oh
my god!” I exclaimed which got everyone giggling again. “What
about Joel?” Nobody was listening to me. The velvet ropes
were already being lifted and we were being ushered into a throbbing
throng of young people that swept us up and knocked us around with
their thrusting hips. At first, I was horrified, but then I found my
way over to the bar and downed some kind of blue colored drink that
tasted like kiwi. That was it for me. After that, I might as well
have been floating in space for all that it mattered. I was grinding
and shaking my thing with a boy that I was ashamed to say that I
found attractive. At least he had a stamp on his hand telling me he
was no younger than twenty-one. It was just enough of a relief that
I managed to relax, put my hands on his hips and close my eyes,
moving to the music in a way I hadn't thought possible.
What
about Gary?
my mind asked me while I sweated and breathed and
lived.
It was exhilarating, really, although I had a feeling
that this was going to be my last girls' night for a good long while.
It was as exhausting as it was exciting, and I already feel myself
tiring, dreaming of goose down pillows and fluffy comforters.