Chapter 2

 

Chapter 2

 

 

            The shopping trip for the party wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared it would be when Flan dragged me to the restaurant supply store to get items in some serious bulk. We got little gas burning candles to set up on the tables, plastic cups that looked like glass pounders, tons of meat, drink mixes, snacks, serving trays, plates, plastic ware and anything else needed to actually prepare the food.

            She was planning to have 2 kinds of leafy salad along with macaroni and potato, 4 different kinds of meats to grill, fresh corn on the cob, endless kinds of hors de oeuvres, cheese and meat platters, make-your-own sandwich platters and 3 different desserts.

            “Jesus Flan how many people are you inviting?” I asked as we headed toward the register with our cart piled high.

            “Well everybody from Port Harbor and any extra friends they might bring, then most of the football team and the cheerleaders, they’re still your friends too.” She said with a pointed look in my direction, again I grudgingly nodded that she was right and realized that she was easily inviting over 100 people.

            “We’re going to have to let them in the side gate, there’s no way I’m having that many people traipsing through the house.” I told her firmly.

            “Fine, we’ll decorate the side gate in a way to direct their attention in that direction. Where do you want them all to park though?” That question took me by surprise. We had a decently long driveway behind a private gate but was it going to be enough room for that many cars? Some of them would probably end up having to park on the street; I’d deal with my neighbors later if they complained.

            Houses in the neighborhood were very spaced out to provide privacy but it was also a development full of wealthy people who maintained a strict code of conduct and appearance. Having people park on the street, even if it was just for one night, wasn’t going to go over well and the fact that I was having a huge party would go over even worse. I’d probably get a letter from the Homeowners Association and then I’d tell them where they could stick it.

            As I answered her question out loud and then explained the hassle it could cause with the neighbors I was actually proud that I sounded more like myself again. A small smile crossed my face as I finished telling her that, “If they send a letter I’ll just tell them where they can shove it, it’s not like they can force me to move.”       

            “That’s my girl.” She smiled at me as she put the last item on the counter. I was reaching into my purse to pull out my credit card when she surprised me by pulling out her own. “This one’s on me, you deserve it.” I was so touched by the offer that my mouth dropped open to form a silent “O”. It was a whole lot of money she was spending and I didn’t feel right letting her spend it all on me.

            “Lucky stock tip.” I heard suddenly and noticed that her lips hadn’t moved but she was looking directly into my face. I nodded my comprehension; I’d wondered if she’d ever use her visions to her financial benefit, I now had my answer.

            The party was the next day so we left out what we could on the counters and stored everything else in containers to be marinated and/or refrigerated. Once the food was put away we went through all of the lights on the back porch checking for any that were burned out and making sure that they were replaced. We set up the candles and decorations along with the burners to go under the warming pans. Macaroons filled 4 large cookie sheets and were covered in plastic wrap; Flans friend Julie was a chef and had offered to make a chocolate cake and bring it just before the party to keep it from drying out.

            Her third dessert idea ended up being spiked Jell-o but instead of putting it into cups she made it in deep pans and was going to cut them into squares around the time Julie showed up with the cake.

            It was nearly three in the morning when we finally stopped decorating and preparing. I had to admit that all the work had completely taken my mind off of my problems and I had really enjoyed the mindless busy work. Everything looked perfect and I found that I was genuinely excited for the party tomorrow.

            For the first time in a very long time, when I went to bed that night I dreamt of nothing, or if I did, I didn’t remember. I finally had a normal and peaceful night’s sleep; there would be no screaming when I woke up the next day.

 

            The sun was shining bright behind the curtains when I finally woke up around noon; I wandered downstairs to find Flan in her usual spot where she stood to wait impatiently for the coffee to finish.

            “Morning.” I mumbled and she mumbled back something that I didn’t understand. I couldn’t help smiling at her. I felt much more like myself today, like this was the beginning of something new, something good was going to happen, I could feel it.

            Then I heard Flan’s cell phone ring from upstairs, we both glanced up at the ceiling before she held out her hand and in the next instant the phone was sitting in her palm, she flipped it open and put it to her ear.

            “Hey Hadley.” She yawned into the mouthpiece. I signaled to her to tell Hadley that I said hello and she nodded. I took advantage of her momentary lapse in attention and snagged the coffee pot from the machine the second the last drip was done. I poured some into my favorite mug, added some hazelnut creamer and went to sit on the back patio to drink it.

            I was lost in thought trying to decide which swimsuit to wear, when Flan came out and sat next to me.

            “Hadley is going to be here in a few hours to help with the rest of the setup, she’s bringing her cousin Jessie with her.” I nodded; I’d met Jessie at a fundraiser that Hadley and her friends had kindly helped out with for a Halloween ball. I hadn’t talked to her much but she’d seemed nice enough.

            Many of their group had enthusiastically put themselves on the auction block, offering a date with themselves to the highest bidder in order to raise money for orphans and foster children. It had been a spectacular and very successful night, Rhys had looked amazing in his tux, as Dracula and I had been dressed to kill in a devil costume- an inside joke between Flan and I- that had brought in the highest bids of the night for a date with me. We’d raised over twenty five million dollars that night and the charity workers had been beyond grateful for our efforts.

            I stopped in mid thought for a second, realizing that I’d gone through my entire thought without flinching once at the thought of Rhys. Once again, I was pretty proud of myself and a smile came across my face. Flan had been right, it really was going to be okay.

            “Did you hear me?” Flan was looking at me and I blushed.

            “Yeah, Hadley and Jessie, here in a few hours, I heard you.”

            “When do you want to put the decorations on the gate?” she asked, taking me by surprise with her sudden change of subject.

            I shrugged, “When we finish our coffee I guess, I definitely want that part taken care of before anyone starts parking in the driveway and trying to come through the front door.”

            Minutes later, we were untangling strands of white and colored Christmas lights and it was all a mess. I found myself frustrated all of a sudden and said harshly, “Just stop!” throwing the lights to the ground. Flan stared at me in shock with no idea what had come over me.

            “Sorry I’m just frustrated, I hate tangled lights. Give me a second.” I asked and she nodded, stepping back a bit. The good part about all the privacy our yard provided was that I could do what I planned to do next without worrying about being seen. I closed my eyes and concentrated for a moment, visualizing the lights on the fence and the walkway leading up to it.

            When I heard Flan gasp in shock I knew that I’d succeeded. I opened my eyes to see the lights strung perfectly on the fence and a line of rope light going down either side of the walkway.

            “You know all of this would have been a lot easier if you’d just done that to begin with.” She grumbled and I smiled.

            “You know as well as I do that we should be careful about this sort of thing Flan.” I chastised her teasingly. She knew that it tipped the balance I maintained between human and demon if I used my powers too exceedingly.

            “Any chance you could finish the rest real quick? It would take you much less time to use your power than if I did.” She looked hopeful and I gave in. Keeping my eyes open this time I visualized the rest of the decorations and anything else that could be out before guests arrived, as my gaze swept across the patio the items disappeared from the kitchen counter and the dining room table before reappearing and coming to rest in various places around the patio and pool.

            “You’re so awesome Saydie.” She said happily, slinging her arm over my shoulder and I couldn’t help smiling.

            “You get to clean up all the wrappers though.” I told her and with a wave of her hand the pile of plastic and boxes disappeared.

            “There, safe in the darkest corner of the city dump.” She said satisfactorily.

            I nodded, “I’m impressed.”

            “Now we have time to relax before people get here.”

From the time we’d finished our coffee until now had taken about 20 minutes. The first 15 being the time spent trying to untangle the lights.

            A thought came to me, “What should I wear?” Flan was just starting to come out of her shell and wear clothes that were flattering to her figure but boy could she pick out an outfit for me in a heartbeat.

            “How about that black one-piece with the cutouts and laces?” She suggested, speaking of a beautiful swimsuit that was ridiculously sexy but still covered more than enough. At the top it tied around my neck and back as the suit came down to cover most of my chest before the neckline plunged to my waist with wide-spread laces cris-crossing over the exposed skin and tied in a bow just under my breasts. There were no sides or back to it and the bottom was almost two pieces, only held together by the fabric between my legs and ties on each hip.

            “It’s bold but not a bad idea.” I agreed.

            “It covers more than your other bikinis and we know what happens to men when they drink around you in a swimsuit.” She teased referring to one of Rhys’s friends who had been drunk and was easily influenced by Malcolm when we had gone on a trip to the river.

            “Speaking of drinking, who is bringing booze? We sure didn’t get any.” I wondered aloud.

            “Some of the guys on the team said they’d take care of the beer and Hadley and her friends are bringing the hard stuff.” I nodded.

This was going to be some party.

            “I guess I’ll go take a shower and get dressed then, if you don’t need help with anything else?”

            “Nope the decorations were pretty much it until it’s time to start the meat and put out the rest of the food.” She assured me, so I turned and headed into the house, putting my coffee cup in the dishwasher before going upstairs.

            Once I was showered, I decided to wait on getting myself into the swimsuit until the party started; it probably wouldn’t be comfortable while we were setting the rest of the stuff up.

            Hadley and Jessie showed up right on time with a trunk full of liquor, Flan and I went out to help and let out a low whistle at the same time when we saw how much alcohol was in the car.

            “How many people do you think we’re going to have?” I asked in disbelief.

            “Well a lot of this is going to go into the cooler for the fruit cocktail.” Hadley replied.

            “You’re making a cocktail with all of this?”

            “Not exactly, you take a bunch of fruit chunks and fill up a giant cooler with them, then you pour the alcohol over it and let them marinate for a while, instant fruit cocktail get it?”

I got it now and had to admit that it was an impressive idea; it also explained why Flan had gotten so much fruit.

            Once the trunk was unloaded, Hadley pulled a giant cooler out of the backseat and kissed Flan lightly before they carried it into the house. It was a little uncomfortable being around a happy couple but not enough to bother me too much.

            Finally, when the fruit cocktail was marinating and Julie had showed up with the cakes, we started setting food out. Flan had cleverly cast a spell to keep bugs away so we didn’t have to worry about anyone finding a fly in their food or drink. Everything was done around three leaving us with nothing to do besides getting our swimsuits on, and waiting for people to arrive. I went to the front door and pressed the keys on a pad in the wall, setting the gate to remain open before heading upstairs to change.

            I was walking into the kitchen in only my suit with a cover-up thrown over my arm when I spotted Aaron and his buddy Garret coming into the backyard each rolling a keg in front of them. Forgetting that I hadn’t put my cover-up on yet I walked out onto the patio to tell them where to put the beer.

            “Hey Say…” Aaron nearly choked on his words as he got a good look at me and my swimsuit, I adjusted my Charisma a bit and he eventually managed to close his mouth but remained silent.

            Garret seemed to have a better grip on himself and let out a low whistle, “Looking good girl! I haven’t seen you looking so hot since the Halloween ball.”

            “You’ve barely seen me since that ball Garret.” I pointed out.

            “Only because you’ve been in hiding.” He shot back and I smiled.

            “Yeah, yeah I know.” I admitted and he grinned back before setting the keg right side up and coming over to give me a hug.

            “He misses you too you know.” He said quietly in my ear, I didn’t want to think about him right now.

            “I appreciate you letting me know but today isn’t about me or him it’s about having a good time.” I said stoically, proud of myself for keeping my wits about me and not going to pieces.

            Garret shrugged and headed back out to grab another keg. “How many of these did you bring anyway?” I asked.

            Aaron replied this time, “Only 5, I heard there was going to be a lot of hard alcohol, don’t want people mixing too much ya know?” I couldn’t help laughing, only 5?

            “Just put them all together I guess.” Was all I could think to say before walking back inside to talk to Flan who was coming in from the garage, helping Hadley with another cooler.

            “What’s in that one?” I asked, not really caring.

They set it down in front of me and opened the lid, inside was nothing but ice and can upon can of Red Bull. I couldn’t help the smile that genuinely lit up my face for the first time in months, I was touched that she’d think to make sure my favorite drink was available for me.

            “Where do you want this?” I heard Garret ask and looked up to see that they were carrying a Jagermeister tap machine, my jaw dropped and I was speechless as Flan pointed to the table it could go on, close to a socket so it could be plugged in.

            “Jager on tap and a cooler of Red Bull? You did this for me?” I asked in shock, turning to face her.

            “Well you needed a distraction, what’s better than your favorite drink, ice cold the way you like it?” I threw my arms around her and kissed her cheek, fighting back tears.

            “Thank you Flan, you’re the best friend anyone has ever had.” Despite the fact that there was no way I could drink all of the energy drinks and liquor she’d provided for me, I was going to drink enough to have a great time and forget my problems. Not the most rational way to deal with my issues, I’ll admit, but come on, we were having a party!

            Once the Jager tap was set up with three bottles pouring into the top of the machine we turned it on, tapped 2 of the kegs and finally went to welcome our guests as they arrived.

            Less than an hour after people started showing up, the party was in full swing, a couple guys on the football team were manning the grill for us and Flan and I had nothing to do but walk around and socialize. I was on my 3^rd drink after 2 jell-o cubes and a few pieces of fruit cocktail from the cooler, and I was feeling fantastic.

            I was dancing with Josh, one of Hadley’s friends and having the time of my life, Flan had picked the absolute best party music and put together a huge playlist on her iPod, more than enough to last us the entire night and maybe even the next day. I vaguely wondered how she’d managed to accomplish so much in such a short amount of time.

            I turned my attention to Josh as the song changed to something with a Latin beat; I wasn’t the least bit uncomfortable as he pulled me close and wrapped his arms seductively around my waist, moving with me to the sensual sound of the music. He was an amazing dancer and we moved together like we’d been dancing together all of our lives. Moving with him to the beat was as easy as dancing alone

            I was in a warm, fuzzy, happy place, more than a little drunk and utterly content in the arms of a gay man who danced like a salsa god. This was close to being the best night of my life, It would only be better if he was here. I thought but realized that I wasn’t sad about it, wistful maybe, but definitely not sad. I felt like I had so much to be happy about, which was probably the alcohol talking but I didn’t care.

            Had I been more sober I might have given a second thought as to why I was so blissfully happy, even alcohol didn’t help this much. I felt like something was wonderfully right as I made my way back over to the Jager tap, realizing in the back of my head that I felt a lot more like myself tonight. I filled up a shot glass with the liquor, grabbed a can of Red Bull and poured it into a pounder glass. I dropped the shot into the Red Bull and chugged it down before slamming my glass down on the table and turning around to find myself staring into the only golden-brown eyes I knew.