Southern Belles 4 Blissmas (10 page)

"Did I hear Tommy leave, or was I
dreaming?"

Annie jumped as Marti stumbled into the
kitchen. "You just scared the shit outta me! How's' your head? Need
some Tylenol? Water? Whiskey?" she laughed. She wanted to make
Marti pay today. What were friends for?

Leaning against the door jamb, she started
taking the bobby pins out of her hair, grimacing as the pins pulled
her curls. She was still in her party dress and looked like a hot
mess. "Y'all got any coffee in here? God, my head hurts."

Annie grabbed a cup and poured the fresh
coffee. "It should after last night. Hope you had fun. You have
traumatized me about having kids for the rest of my life." She
giggled, setting the cup on the table.

She went over to the table and pulled out a
chair, scraping it across the floor as she sat down and took a sip
of the hot brew. "Thanks." Shaking her head, feeling for more
hairpins. "Shit, when's Christmas? Is it today?"

"No silly girl, still a couple more days.
Why? Did ya buy me something?" She placed the last dish in the
cupboard and sat down across from Marti.

"My head is pounding. I must've drunk some
serious alcohol last night. I don't even remember coming home."

"Yeah you were pretty wasted. Take some
Tylenol; go back to sleep and definitely get outta that dress. You
look like a drugged up drag queen."

Marti laughed, "Thanks for the honesty,
friend. Glad you don't hold anything back."

"Friends don't let friends look like
hookers." she laughed. "Tommy is gone for a while, why don't you go
jump in the shower and get comfy. I'll put on another fresh
pot?"

Marti stood up, "Yeah, that'll probably help
me feel better. Any plans for today?"

"I was gonna do a bit of last minute
shopping, you wanna come with or are you too hung over?"

"I'll be alright, lemme go get cleaned up. I
might need some breakfast too." She hinted but Annie wasn't buying
it. "Sure glad you know how to cook."

"Thanks," as she stumbled up the stairs.
Today was gonna be a great day. No matter where Nick was or who he
was doing.

She turned on the water, waiting for it to
heat up and slid out of her dress, That's gonna have to go to the
cleaners, she thought.

As she stepped into the steaming shower, she
thought about Nick and why he hadn't called. Maybe he was just
another asshole she let into her life.
Why are the men I choose
to spend time with such assholes?
She really didn't want to
answer that. Maybe she was the problem and they weren't? Or that
they were okay and she was just too selfish? Or better yet, they
could just slap her around and treat her like shit like her Daddy
did when he was drunk? She didn’t know, but it was starting to hit
real close to home.

Stepping out of the shower, she looked at the
person in the mirror. Yep, asshole. Things gotta change real
quick.

She slid on some jeans and a sweater and
dragged her aching body downstairs and into the kitchen. Annie was
at the table, stirring her coffee, in a daze. Marti sat down across
from her and stirred her coffee as well. "So I guess Nick is over,
huh? He never did call me. Or show up last night."

"I'm sure he has his reasons. He doesn't seem
like the type of guy that would just bail and not tell you about
it."

"I know," she exhaled. "I just wish he would
have called." She sighed. "You know Annie, am I really that bad?
You know ass-hole-ish?"

She lifted an eyebrow, "What do you mean
'ass-hole-y? What are you referring to? You're just hung over and
emo. We saved you last night, I thought you were gonna jump on the
bar and start screwing the bartender."

Marti lowered her head, picking at a loose
thread on her sweater. "I know, that was not one of my best
moments. I'm real sorry about that. I just…" looking up at Annie,
"it's just, sometimes I feel so alone. You know, like I meet
someone and after a few months they are gone. They run away from
me. Like I have a disease or something. Am I really that bad?"

"Oh honey, I haven't left you. We been
friends for twenty something years." Her eyes went soft, "You
aren't bad. You just have a mind of your own. A very outspoken
mind. But that's you and I love you, girl, just the way you
are."

Marti smirked, "I know, I love you too. But -
I mean, look at Tommy, he left me, and I don't want you thinkin' I
still want him, 'cause I don't. And my dad, he left when I was
young, thank God." She added sarcastically, "Great guy." She
hesitated, sucking in a deep breath and exhaled, "Then you went to
L.A., I was here with my mom, trying to figure out my way, you
know, my life, my future." Annie nodded. "Then she married that
asshole and got so wrapped up in him, she forgot she has a
kid."

Annie shook her head. "You're not a kid
anymore. You can't act like one. You're an adult."

"Okay, so just how does an adult act? Get
drunk like my daddy? Screw around like Tommy? Set people up and
ruin their lives like you did? How?" She glared into Annie's eyes.
"I mean seriously, how do adults act?"

"Well,” she inhaled, gathering her thoughts.
“You got me there. I know I have done some childish things, but
honey, you have to be responsible. That's what I know. Be
responsible and pick your battles. Quit running away from things.
Handle your stuff in the most responsible way possible, and then
handle the next thing."

Her voice rose a little. "Handle what? I
don't understand what you mean. What are you talking about?"

She took a deep breath and started, "I mean
like this Nick deal. You got drunk, irresponsible - wait let me
back up…you ran away from here because you were hurt.
Irresponsible. You could have talked to me and we could have got
things squared away, we're friends, right? Like for a bazillion
fuckin' years, but you didn't, you left." She inhaled, clearing her
thoughts.

"I left 'cause you were killing me. Annie, do
you know how I felt last year when we were together? "

"See? That's the thing, we weren't
'together'. We are friends, Marti, best friends… not lovers, not
partners, I'm not even gay. After last night on the bar, I can
assume you aren't gay, either."

"But - "

"No buts, we had fun, that was it, fun. You
knew I was in love with Tommy. You even tried to break us up. But
what you failed to do was to tell me about your relationship with
him and I had to find out for myself. Now that was not fun. That
hurt, a lot."

Tears welled up in her eyes and she
continued, "Do you know how fuckin' bad I needed my friend to talk
to? Or my mom, or even my grandpa? No! Because you were too busy
thinking about yourself."

She inhaled sharply, grabbing a napkin to
wipe her tears. "Do you know I sat here for days by myself while
Tommy went out looking for you? Do you even care? No, probably not
'cause if you did, you would have asked."

"I told you, I'm a jerk and that's why people
always leave me. If you are that pissed off, I'll go pack up my
stuff and get out of your hair. I thought we could have a
conversation, guess not.” As she stood up and turned to walk
away.

"See? You are doing it again. One problem and
you are ready to run away. Stop. Sit your ass down and hear me out.
I'm not telling you to leave; I'm telling you how I feel. Okay?
Feelings. You get that stuff all mixed up. Feelings don't mean run
away, it means you're alive. Okay, Marti? You are fucking alive.
You have to stop running away from them!"

She stopped to catch her breath. This was not
supposed to happen, not today anyway. Today was supposed to be a
day of Christmas cheer and last minute shopping. Not Tommy at the
station or hung-over emo friends. "Put some clothes on and lets go
shopping, it's Christmas."

Marti wiped her face on her sleeve and stood
up. "I'll stay here. I wanna go back to sleep."

"Okay. Fine. But don't do anything stupid. I
don't want to have to go looking for your ass again. I've had
enough stupid for today."

"Oh, so now you're calling me stupid? That's
nice." She scoffed.

"No, arguing with you is stupid. Tommy
working today is stupid. The snow outside is beautiful, but the
fact that it hasn't snowed here in years is stupid. I just want to
have a nice lunch, go do some shopping in town and come home and
enjoy the holiday. No more, no less. Are you coming?"

Marti stood up and stretched out her arms.
"Yeah, but stop yelling at me. I feel bad enough as it is."

"Okay, I'll stop if you stop acting like a
baby…now go do something with that hair. You look like medusa."

She ran her fingers through her disheveled
hair and got up to shower. But as soon as she got up, there was a
loud commotion outside. Not expecting anyone, she went toward the
door to see what was going on. She could hear car doors slamming
and an unknown voice shouted out "finally!" Then laughter.

Wondering who it could be, she slowly opened
the door and saw Nick's limo. Jimmy, Nick, Lupita and a tall,
blonde, handsome stranger were by the car, stretching and
talking.

"Oh my goodness! Where have y'all been? I've
been so worried!" Her head and stomach still felt the after effects
of her crazy drunkenness from the night before, but she managed a
huge smile and ran over to hug her husband.

The cold weather bit through her sweater, but
when she embraced him, the weather wasn't the only thing that gave
her the chills.

He held her tight, feeling her shivering in
his arms. "
Aye
,
Princesa
,
Dios Mio
! That
mountain pass was a bitch! God, the traffic, no cell service, no
bathroom, freakin' unreal! What should have taken a couple hours
took the whole frickin' night!" He shivered. "I called you the
minute we had a signal, I'm so sorry,
hija
. I missed the
party." He bent down to kiss her, "But, what I really missed was
you."

Her body melted into his arms as she looked
up at him, raising her eyebrow, "I missed you too, honey. I didn't
even get a missed call. I thought maybe you forgot about the
party." She pouted, "But, I'm so happy you are finally here, I was
worried about you. Come on inside, are you sure you're okay?" He
looked at her and smiled, "Yes,
mi amor
, I'm really okay now
that we are finally here."

Lupita wrapped her coat around her to try to
keep out the cold. "Si,
hija
, we've been driving since
yesterday afternoon. Poor Jimmy, he's barely had any sleep!"

Jimmy smiled and shook his head, "I'm
alright, Mrs. Vargas."

Annie was standing by the door, "Come on in,
y'all get warmed up and get some food. I'll get y'all some
breakfast on. Come on now, it's too cold out here."

Marti looked at Nick and then glanced at the
handsome blonde. "Who's that? I don't think I know him."

Nick turned to him, "Oh excuse my manners.
Luke, meet my wife, Marti, her best friend, Annie, and ladies…this
is my brand new assistant, straight out of Harvard School of
Business, Lucas MacDonald."

Luke smiled and tipped his hat. "Nice to meet
you both."

Marti gazed at her husband, needing to know
if what she was thinking was true. "New assistant," she asked.
"Does this mean…" she trailed off.

Nick grinned at her, and whispered against
her hair, "You'll have to wait and see." He gave her a quick
kiss.

"Hi Lucas, come on in and sit a spell. Y'all
must be tired and freezing."

“Thank you ma'am and you can call me Luke."
He nodded.

Marti smiled "Then Luke it is!"

They gathered up their things from the car
and Lupita went into the kitchen to help Annie with some
breakfast.

Marti followed along; not wanting to leave
Nick, but also not wanting to have the ladies do all the work. Her
head was pounding and she thought about her night, flirting with
the bartender and fighting with Annie. Thank goodness she didn't
fuck up and go home with some stranger.

God, Marti, those days are over, you are a
married woman!

*****

After everyone had eaten, Annie helped them
get their belongings to the guest rooms. Luke and Nick stayed
downstairs drinking hot toddies with Marti. Hair of the dog and
all.

Nick turned to Marti and started, "My love,
Preciosa
, I have a surprise for you and I hope you like
it."

"A surprise for me? For Christmas?" she
asked.

"Not just Christmas, but it did tend to fall
at this time of the year. See that handsome young man over there?"
He pointed to Luke.

"Uh, yeah?" she answered, confused.

"I would like to formally present to you,
although I wish it were under different circumstances and not after
a long night of no texts, calls or freezing ass cold….Mr. Lucas
MacDonald, our new assistant." A broad grin spread across his face.
"Luke, this beautiful lady is Marti, your new boss."

Marti sat frozen for a second, confused.
"Assistant? Boss? What's up with Ellie?"

Nick turned to her and put his hand on her
thigh, "Ellie, my dear, no longer works with us."

"Oh no, you didn't! You fired her?"

"Not fired, just moved her to the Vegas
office with Jesse. She no longer will be a thorn in your side,
hija
."

Marti turned to Luke, gesturing her hand
toward him. "He’s gonna be my thorn?" She asked, nodding her head.
"Glad to meet you. I noticed a 007 accent. Where are you from?
England?"

"'Ay now. Do I really sound like that old
bloke?" He let out a slight chuckle. "No one has ever told me that.
Yes, I am from England, London actually. Came out here to study and
Mr. Vargas proposed an incredible offer I just couldn't refuse. Now
that bloody car trip from hell….I could have done without
that."

"Blood?" she quickly looked at Nick, "There
was blood? Y'all were bleeding?"