by Gina Messina
Gary glared at her, so much so that it unnerved her. No doubt he was thinking that his son had found himself another airhead for a girlfriend. Sean didn’t seem to take notice. Clearly, he was so desensitized to his father’s abusive behavior that it was par for the course. Just another normal day. He continued to peruse his menu and then casually looked up and revealed to the table that he would be having the eggs Florentine with Dauphinoise potatoes.
After everyone placed their order, a salad with the dressing on the side for Trish and a four egg omelet with a double order of sausage for Gary, Sean’s mother peered up at Charlie and put on one of those silly vacant smiles that really wasn’t meant to be a smile at all.
“So, Charlotte, Sean tells us you are from Philadelphia. Did you know that Sean went to boarding school in Haverford?”
“Please, call me Charlie,” she responded then nodded her head up and down about boarding school. Trish then proceeded to go into a long drawn out declaration about the reputation of Haverford Prep.
“It’s the number one school on the Main Line.”
Charlie had to resist telling her that the Main Line was about the size of the Bronx, so that wasn’t saying much. Trish certainly didn’t need Charlie criticizing her as well. The men in Trish’s life had that department buttoned up.
Gary sat broadly beside her, his chest all puffed up, while seizing any opportunity he could to make sure that she was aware of the cost of the exclusive prep school tuition.
“That’s one very expensive boarding school, Charlotte,” he squawked like a peacock. “Not many people can afford to send their children to Haverford and then on to Wharton School of Business!” he further boasted while shoving another blueberry scone into his already amazingly full mouth.
“I’m very aware. My father had three of us girls in private school from the time we could walk,” she shot back. “As a matter of fact, we’re all in College or Grad school right now, my sister Carrie at Wharton herself!”
“And her sister, Stacey, is a first year law student at Harvard,” Sean chimed in with a gleam in his eye. It was the only thing he had contributed to the conversation all morning.
As much as Charlie had wanted to trump Sean’s father, she hadn’t planned on telling him about Stacey. In all honesty, she had vowed never to bring up Stacey’s name in front of Sean again. She still cringed whenever she thought about the way Sean had drooled over her sister’s cleavage at Nobu.
That will show this pompous asshole! she thought to herself while simultaneously thanking her lucky stars that Carrie hadn’t started her freshman year at Wharton until after Sean had graduated and seriously questioning how Gary and Trish could possibly be the two people who raised Sean.
“You should be very proud of yourselves! Oh, and I really prefer to be called Charlie, not Charlotte,” she repeated again, this time with a hint of sarcasm she hoped Sean’s father would pick up on. But he didn’t have a clue and just disregarded her, shifting his oversized bug eyes to Sean as if he were declaring, ‘Just wait and see how I’m going to put this little peon in her place.’
“So, Charlotte, Sean mentioned you’re studying Fashion Design at Fashion Institute of Technology,” Gary said, enunciating her name with an exaggerated swagger and then letting his gaze slide back over to Sean. “I’m curious, Charlotte, how much is the tuition at F.I.T.? That’s a state school, isn’t it?”
Charlie knew exactly what he was hinting at and anger bubbled up inside of her. She was prepared to go head-to-head with him but then thought better of it. Men like Gary always thought they knew it all. She instead noticed a smooshed blueberry on the side of his mouth that looked like an angry boil and seized on the opportunity. “Mr. Murphy,” she said, pointing toward his cheek, “I think you have a nasty zit or a boil on your face that looks like it’s about to erupt.”
Gary squinted his eyes at Charlie. If looks could kill, she would have been struck dead mid-sentence. But he didn’t say a word. He quickly excused himself to use the men’s room. He was gone for nearly fifteen minutes so when the bill arrived and it was clear Trish had no intention of taking care of it, Sean was forced to reach into his pocket. Trish pulled out a compact instead of her wallet and inspected her large teeth which strangely reminded Charlie of the horses hitched to the carriages outside the restaurant. When Gary returned from the men’s room he announced that it had just been a crumb from the blueberry scone and he knew it couldn’t have been a pimple because he just had a facial and besides, he hadn’t had a pimple since high school.
Trish looked over at him, reached her hand out and patted his cheek in a motherly way. She then stood up and nearly neighed, “What a divine lunch, Gary. Thank you.”
Charlie averted her eyes and loudly thanked Sean. “It was very generous of you, Sean, to treat us all to such a lovely meal,” she proclaimed, exaggerating his name the same way Gary had hers a few moments earlier.
Sean didn’t even acknowledge Charlie as his head was once again buried in his cell phone.
“That was quite a first meeting,” Dr. Harrison observed in a monotone voice.
Charlie wondered if the good doctor was ever allowed to say what she truly felt. No doubt, no, since she was bound by her oath to the profession. But if she could, Charlie knew with certainty that Dr. Harrison would tell off many patients, including herself. Charlie wished for once that her shrink would tell her off. She would have respected her a lot more for it.
“If you think that was a doozy, the next time we met was even worse. There’s no such thing as second time is the charm!”
And what a night it had been! Such an uncomfortable evening that she’d broken out with an itchy rash half-way through her linguini and clam sauce. At first, she thought she was having an allergic reaction to the shellfish but later realized it was a reaction to Sean’s father. Just thinking about him made her itchy all over again. It was shortly after their engagement that her parents had invited them and Sean’s parents for dinner at Angelo’s in Little Italy. It was her dad’s favorite Italian restaurant in the city.
“It was a hot summer Saturday night and the city was virtually empty. When we got to Angelo’s, Gary immediately started to complain about the smell of garlic while making-off color jokes. It was in very poor taste, especially since both my parents are Italian and very proud of it! He didn’t give a damn though. He always had to be the center of everything.” It made Charlie uncomfortable every time she thought about that night.
“Why are most Italian men named Tony?” he had asked, then chuckled to himself. Everyone except Sean’s parents sat there embarrassed. Sean didn’t react as his head was buried in his phone again and his fingers were flying furiously over the screen, responding to a text.
Trish put her hand to her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laughter (or maybe cover her large teeth,) and mumbled, “This is one of the funniest jokes I’ve ever heard.”
“When they got off the boat to America they were stamped TO NY on their foreheads! Get it?” Gary laughed so enthusiastically, tiny flecks of wet bread and saliva sprayed out of his mouth and onto the red and white checked tablecloth. “TO New York, the initials spell Tony!”
Charlie’s mother glared over at her father with an ‘I told you our daughter was marrying into a family of Neanderthals’ look on her face.
“Charlie’s grandfather was named Anthony,” her father angrily retorted. “He came over from Naples on the Principe di Piemonte through Ellis Island in 1907,” he further proclaimed, then glowered into Gary’s bulging eyes. Her mother signaled for an additional bottle of Chianti and proceeded to drink herself into a stupor. Gary just waved Charlie and her parents off as if they were flies irritably buzzing around his ear.
“So your mother didn’t say a word,” Dr. Harrison noted.
“No, but I’m sure both my parents were speculating as to what kind of bigots their future grandchildren were going to be exposed to.”
For the rest of the night Charlie watched her parents
’ faces freezing every time Gary opened his big mouth. Sean paid little attention to the conversation since he was focused on the cute Italian waitress with the firm little ass that kept leaning over his left shoulder to fill his water glass. Her pants were so tight her crotch looked like an upside down heart. She apparently was the only thing that got Sean to put away his damn phone. Charlie would have preferred if his eyes had remained glued to the screen. Instead, they followed every move that the waitress made. Charlie could see that her hip kept grazing Sean’s elbow and that he seemed to be relishing in the attention. Her parents observed it, too. They also noticed the way Sean beamed up at her when she went over the nightly specials, vivaciously suggesting the veal osso bucco and linguini with clam sauce.
“My nam-ah is Lucia and I’ll be your waitress this night-ah,” she had announced with a very heavy Italian accent. “Tonight we have a fresh-ah linguini with da mollusco which is very nice and a veal osso bucco dish is very-ah deliziosa too.”
“Your accent is very authentic, Lucia,” Sean told her while she batted her eyelashes. He then asked further about the veal osso bucco, which she’d just finished telling him was “Just-ah too tempting to resista” and “So delectabla that it’s almost sinful to pass it-ah up-pah.”
“Then that’s what I’ll have!” he announced with a wink, as if they were sharing a secret. “I’ve never been one to resist such temptation!”
Lucia giggled while flipping her long, red hair back seductively and then proceeded to take everyone’s order. But her eyes remained set firmly on Sean. Charlie could tell that she wasn’t wearing a bra by the way her nipples protruded through the thin fabric of her white button down blouse. She was pretty sure that Sean noticed it, too, because when he placed his order, his eyes swept from her tits to her face then back to her tits again.
Charlie didn’t want to tell Dr. Harrison about the morning, a few days after that dinner, when she’d found a red pubic hair in Sean’s boxer shorts while sorting the laundry. It seemed that Sean must have gone back for dessert.
Although Charlie was enraged at Sean’s infidelity, she also knew Lucia never posed a threat to her because she was so far down the food chain, it made little difference. Sean would’ve never considered a meaningful relationship with a waitress. It was beneath him. She could only imagine what his dear old dad might have to said about Sean’s little Italian puttana. Lucia was what she came to refer to as “a one-hit wonder,” much like a band that released a catchy song that quickly climbed the charts and then just as quickly disappeared, never to be heard from again.
Regardless, Charlie picked the pubic hair up with a pair of tweezers and inspected it. She walked over to the bathroom window and held it up to the light and was momentarily overcome by the vivid brightness of the curly strand. So red and shiny, it reminded her of the stamen of a Crocus flower. She right away decided to ask Izzy to make her famous Seco de Pollo, a Peruvian stew served with saffron rice that had become one of Sean’s favorites. Somehow, if she played her cards right, she would find a way to hide it under his golden yellow rice. It gave her some comfort when she envisioned Sean choking on it.
“I’m really tired. Can we end our session early today?” Charlie asked Dr. Harrison.
“It’s your session to do with what you want.”
“What I want is a massage,” she wearily told her before standing up and gathering her things.
“By the way, Charlie, what size shoe do you wear?”
Charlie froze in place then slowly turned around. The question certainly caused her to stop and take notice.
Is it possible she’s planning on giving me a gift? she asked herself while raising an eyebrow. After all, next week was her thirty-third birthday and she was sure Dr. Harrison must have known this as it was most likely noted in her very thick medical chart, filed under personal details. While she was impressed that her doctor paid attention to her personal details, Charlie, at the same time, hoped that she was wrong. What if she’s attracted to me? She couldn’t risk that. She didn’t have the energy to break in another psychiatrist. Like a puppy, she had no patience to housebreak another shrink!
God, how awkward would that be?
Not to mention, Charlie absolutely loathed birthdays. Ever since Sean came into her life every birthday had gotten progressively worse. She got queasy just thinking about the big three zero. So queasy in fact, she hoped that she didn’t throw up all over Dr. Harrison’s Balenciaga shoes which she’d never seen her wearing before and assumed were brand new.
What a fucked up night that turned out to be! Charlie sat back down on the sofa and put her head between her legs, resisting the very real urge to puke. It would be criminal to get burrito, which was what she’d had for lunch, all over her doctors’ beautiful Balenciaga’s. After all, the shoes were innocent victims in all of this. Shoes never did anything to Charlie except bring her happiness. Sean, on the other hand…
Charlie hadn’t planned on telling Dr. Harrison about that fucked up night. She hadn’t planned on ever telling anyone! But now, she had no choice. She groaned, upset about being forced to miss her much-needed massage but also that she was being forced to remember that horrible day.
It gave her the most debilitating anxiety attack whenever she thought about the night Sean had taken her to that filthy sex club.
She’d been so excited about her thirtieth birthday. Sean kept hinting that he had a big surprise in store for her. “This is going to be so much fun, Charlotte!” he kept saying as the day drew nearer. She couldn’t imagine what he was planning but she was excited to find out! When the morning finally arrived, he brought her breakfast in bed. There was a jewelry box from Van Cleef & Arpels on the tray next to the one egg white omelet and single strawberry, which he made clear was a garnish and not meant to be eaten. When Charlie opened the lid, she was stunned. Inside was the Alhambra necklace she’d always admired.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe you got this for me!” she said, throwing both arms around his neck and kissing him with such enthusiasm it made them both laugh. She leaned her neck forward and asked him to do up the clasp while fingering the long white gold chain and mother of pearl medallions that were rimmed with tiny white diamonds. It was one of the sexiest pieces of jewelry she’d ever seen.
“I have to get to work now, Charlotte, but I want you to be ready to leave tonight by seven sharp!” She still didn’t know where they were going and had no idea what to wear.
“Just give me a tiny hint,” she pleaded. “I need to know how to dress!” But Sean wouldn’t budge.
“You don’t have to worry about a thing. I already bought a new outfit for you. It’s hanging on the back of the door in your closet,” he told her. “And no peeking! I don’t want you to look at it until you’re ready to put it on,” he then ordered with a wink and naughty grin.
“You want me to wait an entire day? I don’t think I can do that,” Charlie playfully remarked. Patience was something she’d never had enough of. “What if it doesn’t fit?”
“Oh, it will fit…as snug as O.J Simpson’s glove in that courtroom,” he teased back, causing her to flush with pleasure, then he leaned over and gave her a long passionate kiss. She tried her best to pull him back into bed, after all, it was her birthday and morning sex was just what the birthday girl wanted; sex with her man wearing nothing but that beautiful necklace.
Sean, however, resisted all of Charlie’s advances. He closed the door behind him, leaving her pulsating in bed. It took all of her will-power not to play with herself and even more to not peek in the garment bag. But she somehow managed to wait for both.
Later that afternoon, she took a long steam shower and dried her hair then eagerly unzipped the bag. She pulled the dress out of the black plastic bag and held it up to her naked body, first confused and then mystified. It wasn’t exactly what she’d been expecting. What she found was nothing like anything she could’ve imagined! There was a white body-con dress that was so tiny and short, it should h
ave been outlawed. It reminded her of the little black dress she’d worn on New Year’s Eve in Palm Springs, only sluttier. Sean hadn’t been exaggerating when he told her it would fit just like a glove. Now she suddenly wished she hadn’t eaten the strawberry garnish he’d served with breakfast that morning.
Maybe it won’t be as bad as it seems once I put it on, she tried to convince herself as she took it off the hanger and attempted to wrestle her body into the size double zero mini-dress. There was no way she could wear a bra and she was sure Sean must have known that when he picked it out. She grabbed for her phone and called him at the office, hoping to hear that it had all been an innocent mistake. That, somehow the salesperson had given him the wrong garment bag and somewhere in the city, a slutty woman was hanging up a very elegant, classy cocktail dress that had been meant for Charlie.
“Sean, this dress borders on obscene! I can’t possibly wear a bra with it and it’s so short my crotch is partially visible.” Sean didn’t answer her back. “Sean? Did you hear what I just said? Are you there?”
“Charlotte, you aren’t meant to wear a bra with it and you shouldn’t wear panties, either! I want you to go commando!” he finally declared as if this should have been as obvious to her as the strawberry being a garnish.
“But everyone will see my privates!”
“You mean your pussy, Charlotte?”
“You’re so fucking vulgar!”
“Just do what I ask and trust me for once. I’m right about this. You’re going to be the sexiest woman in the room tonight. I promise. You’re not going to believe how stunning you will look, especially with that gorgeous necklace dangling around your neck!”
No one is going to be looking at my Alhambra necklace when something far more interesting is on display, she wanted to tell him, but instead, kept quiet and wrestled the dress over her hips. But her heart really wasn’t in it. When she closely inspected her reflection she knew she looked cheap, like a two-bit hussy. She went into the kitchen and poured herself a stiff drink; and then she poured herself two more. By the time Sean arrived home from work she was feeling much better. She was even feeling a little frisky!
