Without my normal ability to sidestep his excited greeting prance, nor the continuous ability to even walk in a straight line, I got tangled up in his body and went down with a tumble. He, being a young dog, thought that meant it was playtime, and pounced on my back, growling and nipping and having a great time. I was not looking awesome.
By the time I righted myself I had hair everywhere and my dress was clinging to damp legs. I risked a glance at William, hoping he was in the limo and gone by the time I did my unsexy dive, but instead, he was standing by the open limo door, watching my fray with a small, sad smile on his face.
The guy was sentimental or something, because spending the night with me in the shape I was in wasn’t the stuff of legends. But whatever, I’d take it.
I held my head up high and put on the jets back to my cottage, fighting with Fred every ten feet to stop freaking bumping my legs. By the time I made the gate, finally, the limo and William were gone.
I took a long, ragged breath. I was hurt and pissed that he forgot me, but I also hated that he wasn’t with me. It was a no-win situation.
When I got to my cottage I opened the door and let Fred check it out. I leaned on the door jam, feeling sorry for myself, waiting for the doggy all-clear.
“JESSICA?”
It was impossible to tell who was yelling at me. A girl. A friend. A drunk. All I could tell.
I hollered back something that sounded like, “EEEEaaaaaRRRR.”
It’s tough when not even the person speaking knows what the hell she is saying.
"'S William with you?" That was Lump.
"No. Why?"
"We're coming swim. To swim. Naked!" I could hear giggling.
All four girls came running, falling, stumbling and laughing through the grass to get to the pool. I switched the light on and uncovered the hot tub. I could see another shape coming as well.
"Gladis?" I called.
"Yes, dear. I'm here to make sure no one drowns.”
Fred bounded to the girls and took off running. He loved to prowl at night. He also loved a party. The dog was meant for me.
By the time the first girl entered the light, Jane, she was half naked, followed by three more half na**d gals. Half became full two seconds before Claire fell in.
“Can Irish swim?” Gladis asked with a wry smile.
“That old biddie can give some abuse!” Claire yelled.
Jane did a lopsided cannonball, covering Claire in a spray of pool water.
Gladis went into my cottage, giving me a slight push toward the pool as she passed, and turned on a small outside reading light I didn’t know existed. She settled in to read her book while everyone else jumped in, including me.
I woke up on my bed na**d with dried drool down the side of my face. My head was pounding and I had a half-eaten burrito on my night stand. My skin was dry from the chlorine in the pool, but hard from last night’s crusty make-up. I was positive I did not look my best.
I got up with one hand firmly on my head, trying to keep the pounding from cracking my skull. I stood still, wondering if I would need to sprint to the toilet.
Steady on.
No. I would not be throwing up. Thank you to William for stocking the bar with quality alcohol.
My heart wrenched. William.
I was heartbroken that he forgot me last night. That other things were more important than making sure I was okay. Or at least in the car. I was also mad at my drunk friends for leaving me. Although, admittedly, each of them had done it before, and I had done it to them—when you get too drunk, sometimes you just gotta get out of there, phone tree be damned.
But I had never forgotten a date. Let alone a boyfriend. Especially if I would be staying at the dude’s house. Seriously, it was a sign of how low I was on his list that he left without me.
Worrying about it wouldn’t help matters. Plus, I had a bunch of friends in misery that needed a hostess. Or at least someone to share their pain.
I looked at the clock. Noon. I wondered how much sleep I got. We got home about two, maybe a little before. Swam around for some time. Apparently raided my fridge for a midnight snack. Passed out.
How long could all that have taken?
I put on some loose fitting clothes and stepped outside. Someone was picking up about a case of beer bottles. Looked like a mad gardener.
He looked up and hit me with a brown eyed scowl.
Yeah, the gardener.
I hurried away thinking; a case would’ve taken a while to get through, since we were already loaded. And swimming.
I really hoped Gladis wouldn’t be kicking me out. The fact that we were naked, screaming, and randomly throwing beer bottles around the yard meant weren’t being all that respectful. We probably woke the whole neighborhood, forget about the house.
I groggily made my way to said house.
Wait. Where was Fred?
“Fred?” I called. “Freeeeddddddd.”
I heard a bark from inside the cottage. I opened the door and found the Doberman wearing my underwear and a choker. Apparently we thought it would be funny to dress the dog last night. He was good-humored enough to let us. Poor bugger.
I got him out of his drag costume and let him by. He immediately went to pee in the nearest bush.
I hopped we didn’t try to make him drink beer.
I walked around to the front door of the Big House. The air was doing me good, and Fred needed to stretch his legs. Upon walking into the lounge I saw the place littered with Fire and Ice roses. My favorite kind. There must have been twelve dozen spread around in beautiful vases.
Gladis looked up from her knitting needles as I came in. “What did he do?”
“These are from William?”
“Of course. You didn’t think these would be from an admirer did you? You gals aren’t that good!” Gladis’s eyes twinkled.
Lady walked up stiff backed and handed me a Bloody Mary.
“Lady, you are a gem.”
“You shouldn’t have kept Gladis out so late,” she muttered.
“Oh Lady, hush!” Gladis waved her hand in the air.
“Gladis, you didn’t stay the whole time, did you?” I asked, astonished.
“You girls are a hoot! I even had a couple beers. Good thing I was there, too, or this place would have been littered with na**d girls. Though the cooks won’t forgive me anytime soon.”
“Oh Gladis, I am so sorry! You should have told us to go to bed. I am sorry we kept you up!”
“Nonsense! It was fun. It was like I was young again! Without the effects of the next morning, of course.”
I moaned.
Lump stumbled in with an oversized shirt on and make-up all over her face.
“Lump, you look rough,” I remarked.
She looked at me out of one eye. “I feel rougher. You look hideous.”
Lump accepted a Bloody Mary with a groan.
Flem and Claire stumbled out next, followed slowly by Jane. I now knew what I must look like. The fifth musketeer to this lot.
“I need the cure,” Claire croaked.
“Bloody Mary or beer?” I asked.
“Bloody Mary. I’ve got used to them at this stage.”
Lady was right on cue.
Flem took hers and said, “Gladis, give that woman a raise. She is a Godsend!”
Gladis laughed. “There is breakfast out. Help yourselves. Plenty of grease to coat your stomachs.”
We all started to move.
“Jessica, can I talk to you a second?” Gladis asked pleasantly.
Crap. Here we go. Time to get kicked out.
“I notice there is no sign of William. I also notice all these beautiful roses. What did that boy do to you?”
I sighed, “It wasn’t as bad as this makes it seem. He left me at the club. Drove off in the limo without me then had to come back for me.”
She tsked. “Not that bad? Denise would wring that boy’s neck! You were right to put your foot down. Make sure he knows that when he messes up you won’t just take it in stride. Teach him a lesson now, or he’ll never learn!”
I wasn’t in the mood for relationship retribution, but Gladis had a point. A lot of bad things could have happened last night with me standing in a parking lot in next to nothing. Especially since the guys that caused the fight could have easily been roaming around. I didn’t have to have the past experience with Dusty to teach me that lesson.
“Now,” Gladis continued, “he’s made the first move with the flowers. A very good move. He must have been very sorry. That’s good. He really is a good boy. He just forgets himself some of the time. But he should never forget you!”
“This isn’t a good enough apology?” I gestured at all the flowers.
“Oh no! Honey, you are in the money ring now. A poor boy getting you all these flowers—absolutely forgive him. This might be a month’s wages. A boy with means? Oh no, no. This is just a half a thought to him. Nothing.”
I nodded and took a swig of my drink, grimacing when I tasted the vodka. Gladis was plotting this out like a war, and I was happy to let her do all the work.
She looked me over. “Look at you.” She said with a smile. “A love sick little lamb. This is for the best, though. Trust me. Handle it correctly now, and you won’t have to handle it near as often in the future when it is much more important!”
We discussed the situation for a while, and decided that I would keep my date with him and Adam and whoever else that evening, but wouldn’t call him or return his calls all day. I would show up and give him the cold shoulder. I would gradually break down little by little until I let him apologize. I would then be reluctant, but forgiving. Then make up sex.
I added the last bit, but you know Gladis was thinking it!
As the evening came, everyone was in my cottage getting ready. Tonight, however, there was much less zeal. Everyone couldn’t believe all the flowers I got, but agreed that Gladis was probably right. Anyone married that long was probably always right.
Ami had called and said she was really, really sorry, but she couldn’t get in until Sunday morning. She was able to stay through Monday night, though, so that was some consolation.
It was a jeans night tonight. I wore my new ones, which seriously looked good. We all switched around tops like we did the night before because some that were old to us were new to others, and visa versa. We had flats or runners or boots on tonight so walking would be easier. Not so high fashion, either, but in this state of hangover, who gave a shit? We wouldn’t be able to pull it off if we tried.
William had called a couple times in the morning but must have realized I wasn’t going to talk to him and stopped. He text that he was sorry, and that he hoped I would be going tonight. I also saw that with each dozen roses there was a different love poem. Very sweet, and Gladis said he must have looked each one up, so he definitely got points for that. I was able to break down a little faster than Gladis originally said.
The business of fighting was a business indeed. I wasn’t even mad anymore—more love sick. But I understood that it was important to set precedence so the behavior wasn’t repeated, so I would have to stick this out like Gladis said. After all, he would do the same thing to me, Gladis was sure of it.
We girls arrived at the bar in absolute misery! What happened to the days when we could drink all night, wake up tired but alive, and head out the next day? Early twenties rocked for that! We weren't even thirty and hangovers were already getting worse.
We walked into the bar with a sort of zombie shuffle. I was filled with trepidation about William, but was more concerned with my raging headache and slightly queasy stomach. The bar was about a quarter filled, which was great for low noise volume. It was a good sized place with a long bar to the right of the door, and a bunch of tables and booths spread out. There was a small dance floor and a juke box off to the side. No room for bands unless there was something I wasn't seeing. Which was good news, because a noisy country band would be torture I was not up for.
I saw William in the corner dressed casual with extremely flattering clothes. His muscles were not bare, but were certainly not hidden. It looked like he was trying to get laid. If I didn't already know it was for me, I would have been nervous at the competition. As it was I was extremely turned on. Which was his intention.
He was fighting a war of his own.
"Do I look as good as William does?" I asked quietly, leading the way to the bar.
Everyone was a pro in this group; no one had to turn and look, and if they did, they were subtle enough not to be noticed.
"Could you possibly ever look that good?" Flem asked.
"Not helping Flem. Your stupid ass left me last night, too."
"Yeah, but you always do that to me, so I claim tit-for-tat."
True.
"Okay, well then let me rephrase. Do I look good for me?"
"You look hot, yes. Many a man would want to take you home. And those jeans make your butt and legs look amazing. Cleavage is not all bad, either, but you could stand to adjust a titch," Jane said, ever helpful.
I secretly adjusted the cle**age, which meant William's table couldn't see, but the bartender got some eye candy. And judging by the ogle, he took a good look.
Since he was focused on us anyway, we ordered beers. I threw out money for the round and leaned heavily on the bar. I still wasn’t confident I could swallow a beer without immediately throwing it back up.
The bartender came back and shook his head at the money. "You’re Jessica, right?"
I nodded in confusion.
"Yeah, you n' your friends don't pay. I was told there would be one more."
"Uh...she couldn't come. And I will pay for this round, thanks."
He shook his head again. "Nope, you don't pay tonight. You pay, I get a shitty tip. So, you don't pay. Sorry darlin."