Uncorked (33 page)

 Chella was excited and nervous
on the ride up the elevator. As they stepped into her penthouse and turned on
the lights, their friends shouted, “Surprise!”

Mitch was stunned speechless.
“What are you all doing here?” he asked, looking around the room.

As Chella looked across the room,
she saw a few faces of women she didn’t recognize—beautiful women—at least six
of them and all gorgeous. As a matter-of–fact, they all looked like models. Her
attention was refocused on Mitch when he spoke to her, “You’re good. I had no
idea,” he said, kissing her lightly on the lips and pulling her in a warm
embrace.

Six more people than she had
asked the caterers to plan for. She started to panic. Dinner was to be served
in less than half an hour, and she hoped and prayed she wouldn’t run out of
food.

Chella pulled Jade aside, “Who
are these six women on the patio?”

“I don’t know. They came with
Liz. She said you told her she could bring guests.”

“I told her she could bring
a
guest, not
six
guests.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s not your fault. I hope the
caterer has enough food.”

Chella ran into the kitchen. Jade
followed quickly behind her.

The French chef was putting the
crème brûlée into the oven when she walked in.

“Mademoiselle Noon, it is so nice
to finally see you in person,” he said in a heavy French accent.

“Chef Didier, how are you?”

“I’m wonderful. All ready to go.
I’ll be ready to serve dinner when you are.”

“Chef, I apologize, and I hate to
do this to you, but I have a major problem. Someone showed up here with six
additional people. I only asked you to cater for twelve. Now I have eighteen
people to feed.”

“Oh, merde! Ms. Noon, this is a
formal dinner. Everything is plated and ready to go. You have place cards on le
tables. I have two extras of everything but not six.”

“How can we fix this?”

“I will need more ingredients,
Mademoiselle. We must go to le supermarché, but I cannot leave. I am finishing
the desserts, and I have two servers covering the floor.”

“I’ll be happy to go,” Jade
injected from behind Chella. “Tell me what you need.”

“Oh thank you, Jade. I don’t know
how to repay you for this. Didier, put everything on the bill. I’m so sorry about
this.”

“Mademoiselle Noon, I will still
need extra time to prepare the food.”

“The supermarket is across the
street. Jade can be back here in twenty minutes. The guests will have to wait
in the meantime. I’ll take care of everything else. The other six will have to
go on the patio.”

Chella hurriedly got the extra
table ready. Her eyes caught a glimpse of Liz laughing with Mitch, Craig and
Maggie, and she was reminded that this woman was the cause of all her problems.
She knew very well that this was a formal dinner. She had responded back to
Chella with her menu options.

Mitch was now freshly showered
and smartly dressed, and Chella stood on her patio, hustling in a peasant
skirt, severed panties and tank top. She could not believe the stunt this woman
pulled. She was either trying to embarrass her or distract her so she wouldn’t
get to spend time at the party with Mitch and their guests. Or both. At this
point, Chella didn’t have time to get angry.

As she set the table, Kacy came
up to her and said, “What are you doing? I thought that was the point of
brining in caterers to handle all this. You shouldn’t be doing any work.”

“That was the plan before Mitch’s
mother decided to invite the six fashionistas you see over there.”

“They came with
her?
I
thought they were with Mitch’s friend, Rusty.”

“Maybe he’s trying to hit on
them, but they certainly didn’t come with him. I can’t believe she put me in
this position. She knew I planned this to the T.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Oh God, Kacy,” Chella said,
rubbing her forehead. “There’s so much I have to tell you guys, but we’ll have
to reserve that for a special day. Short story is, she hates me.”

“Are you sure it’s not a
misunderstanding?”

“I’m sure. She said to me, ‘I
DON’T LIKE YOU.’”

“Wow.”

“Tell me about it. Look, I can’t
talk about it now. I need to finish setting this table then help the chef in
the kitchen. Jade went across to the supermarket to pick up some extra stuff.”

“This is why you have friends.
I’ll get Vicky to help me out here. You go help in the kitchen.”

“Goodness, you’re a lifesaver.
Thank you,” Chella replied, kissing Kacy on her cheek then quickly heading into
the kitchen. By the time she got there, Jade had returned.

“That was fast.”

“I ran through the aisles,” Jade
replied, laughing.

“I don’t know how to thank either
of you for this…”

“Mademoiselle, we have everything
under control. You go slip into a beautiful dress and by the time you return
everything will be ready.”

“Are you sure? Does everyone have
enough to drink? Are there enough hors d’oeuvres?”

“Mademoiselle, not to worry. We
have it under control.”

Chella took a quick shower,
brushed her teeth, and quickly applied a little make up. She pinned her hair up
elegantly behind her head. Initially, she had planned to wear a simple black cocktail
dress but realized she’d have to up the ante with the stunt Liz had pulled. If
Mitch was going to be distracted by beautiful women that night, she intended to
enter the mix. She slipped into a sexy Herve Leger silver bandage dress, threw
on pair of stiletto slippers and minutes later she was out the door.

The first person she saw when she
walked out the door was Liz, laughing heartily with Rusty and one of the
models. Rusty turned and smiled at Chella and Liz followed his gaze. Chella
took absolute pleasure as she saw the smirk completely disappear off Liz’s
face.

Even better, Mitch came over to
her and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her softly on the lips. Chella did
not intend to turn this into a competition, but she had to find a way to subtly
put Liz in her place.

After making her rounds to check
on everyone, she went to see Liz who was occupying herself in the kitchen.

“Hey you,” Chella said,
sarcastically. “What are you doing in here? The caterers can handle all this.”

“I know. I was testing the goods.
Making sure everything is perfect before they go out to your guests,” she
replied.

“Really, Liz. I think you’ve done
enough already, thank you. The Chef and his staff can handle it all from here.”

“One day, Mitch will open his
eyes and see your true colors.”

“This may surprise you, but Mitch
knows me better than anyone else on this planet.”

“Well, not well enough.”

“Liz, all I wanted was for us to
get together and celebrate a happy occasion. Can we please do that for the next
couple hours?”

Liz glared at her with some
measure of disgust on her face.

“Perhaps you might want to
consider doing it because it would make your son happy.”

“I don’t think so,” she replied
curtly then walked off, leaving Chella alone in the kitchen.

Chella followed and was about to
ask everyone to be seated for dinner when Mitch came up to her and held her
hand. “Come on. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

“Who is it?” she asked, as he led
the way to the bevy of beautiful women that graced her sofa.

“Chella, I’d like you to meet
Francesca. Francesca this is my girlfriend, Chella.”

“Francesca, it’s a great pleasure
to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“You, too. I love your dress.”

“Yours, too. You all look
fabulous,” Chella said to the beauties.

“These are my friends, Tanya,
Chelsea, Yola, Denise, Rachel and Sandy.”

“Hi,” they all chorused.

“Thanks for having us over. You
have an awesome place,” Sandy said.

“It’s a pleasure to have you.
We’re about to have dinner shortly. The chef has set you up at the table on the
patio. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to accommodate everyone inside.”

“Before we go to our respective
tables, though, I’d like to say something,” Mitch said, clinking his champagne
glass with a spoon. “Can I have everyone’s attention please? I want to thank
you all for coming here to celebrate with me. Especially you, Mom, and Alec and
Jeannie for flying out here to spend this time with me. To the rest of you,
thank you for taking the time out of your day to spend with me. It means so
much to me that you are all here. And a special thanks to you, Chell. I’m so
happy that you brought the people who mean the most to me to celebrate today. I
love you, Sweetheart. Now, I have it on good authority that the food is
fantastic, so let’s eat.” He pulled her into a warm embrace and kissed her.
Everyone settled into their tables.

“You neglected to tell me that
Francesca was striking,” Chella whispered in Mitch’s ear.

“Really? I didn’t notice.”

Chella giggled. “Smart answer.”

“Wait, how did she get here?
You’ve never met her.”

“We’ll save that conversation for
another time. I want you to enjoy the night with your friends.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Most definitely. Now sit. Chef
Didier has fixed you something special.”

A continuous stream of
conversation, jokes and laughter filled the room. The table was exquisitely
set, Chef Didier had done an excellent job, the food was delicious and everyone
complemented him as the night went by.

She smiled to herself as she
thought about how pleasantly the night had turned out, despite Liz’s efforts.
Jade had really stepped up and helped her when she needed it the most. She’d
have to find some way to repay her.

After the caterers had cleaned up
and most of their guests departed, Mitch and Chella sat on the couch in front
of the fireplace near his mom, Alec and Jeannie. They were catching up on the
latest news in Santa Monica. The warm afternoon had turned into a slightly
chilly night.

“I’m going to get a refill.
Anyone want more coffee?” Chella asked.

“I’ll have some,” Mitch replied.
“As a matter of fact, I’ll come with you.”

He followed her into the kitchen,
pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

“Thank you for tonight. It was a
fantastic surprise. You did a wonderful job.”

If only you knew.

“I wanted you to be happy and to
be around friends who love you. I wanted to make today special.”

“You succeeded in doing that.
Come home. Stay the night with me.”

“As much as I want to, I’m not
sure that would be a good idea.”

“Why?”

“You know why.”

“She told me she was very
impressed with how you handled tonight.”

Did she? She’s surprised that it
didn’t turn into a complete disaster…

“Is that so?” Chella replied
sarcastically and chuckled at his words.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Let’s enjoy the rest of
the night,” she replied, taking his mug and pouring him another cup of coffee.

Standing behind her, kissing her
neck, and caressing her hips he said, “How can I convince you to spend the
night with me? I’d love to pick up where we left off earlier before that cop so
rudely disturbed us.”

Chella giggled at his words.
“I’ll think about it. I promise.”

“I’m going to the bathroom, I’ll
be right back.”

“Sure,” she replied. “Do you want
anything else? More dessert?”

“No thanks, the coffee is
enough.”

As he disappeared from view,
Chella heard someone walk up behind her. By the scent of the cloying perfume,
she knew instantly who it was.

“What can I help you with, Liz?”

“You know Mitch and Francesca
will eventually end up together. Have your fun while it lasts.”

“Really? Is that why he kissed me
and told me he loves me in front of her and everyone else?”

“He loves her… he doesn’t realize
it yet.”

“You’re delusional.”

“I’ll get you out of his life if
it’s the last thing I do.”

“Are you threatening me? Because
I don’t take too kindly to threats.”

“It’s not a threat, it’s a
promise.”

“Mom, what the hell do you think
you’re doing?” Mitch asked, walking in behind his mother.

“Oh Mitch, we were kidding
around.”

“I heard what you said to her.”

“Sweetie, you misunderstood,” Liz
said, walking toward him and rubbing his shoulders.

“I don’t think I misunderstood
anything at all,” he replied, moving away from her and standing next to Chella.
“The driver is arriving soon to take Alec and Jeannie to their hotel. I think
it would be best if you left. I’ll have him drop you off at the penthouse.”