Probably looking for Olivia.
I flip the lock and twist the knob, opening the door.
“Hi,” I say stiltedly. I’m uneasy. I realize my instincts are spot on once Ginger speaks. The conversation does not start off well.
“I think we can both agree that you’ve treated Olivia like shit most of her life, but,” she says emphatically, “I’ll give you one last chance to make it up to her before I’m forced to kick your ass and steal your man.”
I’m essentially dumbstruck by her speech, so it’s no surprise that I find a response to only one small portion of it. “I don’t have a man.”
“Sure you do,” she says with a grin. “I’ve seen you watching that other brother. I don’t know how in the hell one uterus can spit out three boys that look like that, but I thank God every day for just such a phenomenon.”
I learn a couple of things during this very short introduction to Ginger. Number one, she has no idea about what’s going on with Cash and Nash. Obviously, she assumes Nash is actually a third brother.
The second thing I learn is that I like Ginger. I can totally see why Olivia enjoys her company so much.
“Well, you can’t very well steal what I don’t have.”
“Please,” she says with a roll of her eyes and a dismissive swipe of her hand. “Even if he was yours, if I wanted some o’ that, I could get it. Men are helpless to resist me when I turn on the charm.” The grin she gives me is devilish and teasing. Evidently she’s joking.
I think.
“The point is, you’re a beautiful girl and you can have him if you set your mind to it. But”—her look turns warning—“if you hurt Olivia, I’ll destroy you. Plain and simple. Fair enough?”
I feel the urge to laugh, but I don’t. I have a feeling Ginger could be quite feisty if she thought I wasn’t taking her seriously. “Fair enough,” I agree mildly. “So, what brings you here? Other than threats of bodily harm.”
Her eyes light up. “A surprise party. You interested?”
Despite the life of privilege I’ve enjoyed, I’ve never participated in a surprise party. I’ve never really wanted to. Until now. It sounds like lighthearted fun. And I need some lighthearted fun. Heck, I just need some lighthearted anything. Although I’m making some major changes that should have the opposite effect, it seems my life has gotten even more intense and complicated than it was before. Still yet, I’d take it over the blind, thinly disguised misery I was previously trapped within. Any day of the week.
Any.
Day.
“I’m sure I should ask more questions before I agree to anything, but I’m gonna throw caution to the wind and say yes right away. What did you have in mind?”
“Can I come in? Or are you gonna make me stand outside all day?”
“Oh. Sorry,” I say, stepping aside so she can come inside. Ginger walks into the living room as I shut the door. She stops right in front of the coffee table and turns toward me. Her eyes are narrowed like she’s assessing me. I stop and look left and right. “What?”
“You know, I think you really have changed. You don’t strike me as a wicked bitch-on-two-sticks at all.”
I grin, not sure how to take that. “Um, thank you?”
Ginger smiles and drops down onto one end of the sofa. “You’re welcome. But your legs are pretty skinny.”
Ahhh, so that’s what the “two sticks” meant.
I look down at my legs, poking out from beneath my skirt, and then I look at Ginger’s as she crosses them toward me. “They’re not much thinner than yours.”
“I didn’t say it was a bad thing. They’re better to wrap around prey, don’t you think?”
I grin again. Yes, this woman is a character. “I’ve never really thought about it like that, but I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right. That’s something you should get used to. There’s no sense in arguing. Just ask Olivia. She’ll tell you. I’m full of raging hormones and wisdom. And, on the weekends, vodka,” she adds with a wink.
“Don’t you work on the weekends?”
I thought Olivia had told me she was a bartender where she used to work.
Ginger looks at me with a blank expression. “What’s your point?” As I stammer for something to say, she starts laughing. “I’m kidding. What kind of an employee would I be if I turned up pickled every weekend?”
“A bad one?”
“Damn straight. And I’m a great employee. And you can pass that along to Cash, since I’m seriously thinking about moving to the city and I’ll be needing a job. And, you know, any job where there’s a chance I’ll run into one or a dozen hot young men is the job for me.”
“I’ll be sure to mention it.”
“Great. Now, down to business. Olivia’s birthday is tomorrow and I’d like to throw her a little surprise party.”
“Olivia’s birthday is tomorrow?” I think to myself that I really am a terrible person. Not only is she related to me, but we live together and I had no idea. And of course she’d never mention it. Because she’s decent. And that’s what decent people do. “Ohmigod, I really am a wicked bitch-on-two-sticks, aren’t I?”
“Let’s call you an ex wicked bitch-on-two-sticks. And ‘ex’ doesn’t mean shit, right? Like ex-boyfriends. Who gives a damn about them? The past is the past. Let it go and move on. The point is to learn from our mistakes and do better the next go-round. And now’s your chance. You in?”
I feel Ginger rubbing off on me already. “Hell yeah, I’m in!” I agree enthusiastically, laughing as I say words that sound so out of character for me.
“That’s more like it,” she says excitedly, leaning in toward me conspiratorially. “Okay, so I got Tad to agree to it, so we can have the party there. Olivia’s dad’s in and I’ve already told all of her old friends, so that takes care of my end. The problem is, I didn’t have any of you Atlanta people’s phone numbers, which is why I had to drive my ass all the way up here to get in touch with you.” Ginger reaches into her bright red purse and pulls out her cell phone. “I’m taking care of that right now, though. Here,” she says handing me her iPhone. “Put your number in there. And Cash’s, if you know it. We’re all one big, happy family,” she says with a smile. Her expression sobers a bit. “I just wish we shared everything. Damn, those twins are hot! And that third brother, too. And even the foreigner. Good gawd!” She fans her face and crosses her legs in the other direction. “I love a man with an accent.”