by Kiki Leach
"Sheila. Shit." Nathan turned back to the door, recalling for a split second who was on the other side of it.
"What is it?" she asked, concerned.
"Nothing." He rattled his head and pressed his fingers down hard against his eye sockets. "It's just that if we show up together, it might make things uncomfortable for her."
"You mean she's been invited? How the hell did that happen?"
"Christmas miracle, I'm not sure. Look, I'll see what I can do with Vanessa. I can't make any promises, but I'll ask her if it'd be alright for you to come, even if it's not with me."
"Okay," she replied in a sullen tone. "Thanks."
"Yeah. Look, I've gotta go. I've got some shit that I need to take care of here before turning in, so--"
"Yeah, yeah, I understand," she said. "Night."
"Night."
As soon as the line went dead, Nathan wrapped his hand around the knob, opened the door and reentered Sheila's room. He eased it shut, threw his phone on the chair and dropped back.
With just a single phone call from a woman he had hoped like hell would understand her place in his life and bed, he could feel everything he had worked so hard to earn up until that point slip right between his fingers and to the floor. For the first time in his entire adult life, he was actually regretting ever dipping his pen into a pool of ink in which never truly belonged in the first place.
Part Six
When the day of the dinner finally arrived, no one had been more ready for the guests to show than Vanessa; if only so she could finally show off her one of a kind engagement ring to those who mattered the most, and the least.
After fixing her hair and slipping on her favorite red dress and matching heels, she rushed downstairs and headed for the dining room to finish the place settings, but was stopped by the sound of the doorbell.
"Huh?" She looked down at her Dior watch, then at the clock in the living room and scrunched her brows. She was eager as hell for people to see that ring, no doubt, but it was nowhere near time for anyone to start showing up.
Maurice walked out of the kitchen, wiping his hands with a towel. "Is that somebody here already?"
"Yeah, but I don't know who the hell it is." She went over to the door, lifted to her toes and peeked out of the peephole. When she got a clear vision of the person on the other side, she stood back and frowned.
"Who is it, V?"
"Nathan," she mumbled.
"What?" Maurice dropped the towel on a nearby table and rushed forward to look out for himself. "What the hell is this son of a bitch doing here?"
"I don't know!" Vanessa shrieked, waving her arms. "Maybe he's lost."
"Or maybe if one of you actually decide to open the door, we can talk about it on the inside," said Nathan.
Maurice yanked the door back and glared at him. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked.
Vanessa slyly ripped off her ring and shoved it inside her bra to keep Nathan from being the first person to see it.
He grinned. "Happy holidays and a very Merry Christmas to you too, Mo." He pat him on the shoulder and attempted to bypass him, but Maurice threw a hand into his chest and shoved him back. It was only because he grabbed onto the frame of the door that he didn't completely fall down the stairs.
Vanessa moved in front of Maurice and folded her arms. "Nathan, what the hell are you doing here?"
"You two are like a couple of parrots--"
"What are you doing here?!" she snapped back.
He opened his hands. "You mind if I come in first?"
Vanessa looked back at Maurice and rolled her eyes before stepping aside.
"Thanks." Nathan stomped hit feet on the rug at the foot of the door and removed his coat, placing it on the rack.
"Un-uh." Vanessa raised her hand to him and stood back. "Nobody said you were staying."
"You might just change your mind on that when you find out why I'm here." He moved past them and into the living room. He admired the Christmas setting, inhaled the smell of mint floating throughout and looked up at their newly decorated tree, examining it from every angle. "Looks like the one I helped you decorate back in high school," he said. "Does Alexis still have that tree?"
"It looks nothing like the one you helped me decorate, Nathan, and my mother gets a new tree every year, you know that. Stop being an ass on God's day or I'm going to have Maurice really toss you out into the street this time."
"I'm always ready to toss him out on his ass," replied Maurice, coming up behind her.
Vanessa spun around and pressed her hands into his chest. "Mo, why don't you go back into the kitchen and make sure everything is okay with the food."
Maurice kept his eyes on Nathan and puffed out his chest. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I can handle him out here, it's fine. Besides, the less time you two spend together in the same room inside my house, the better."
He briefly glanced down at her before turning his eyes back to Nathan and glaring. "Alright." He bent down to kiss her forehead, then took his time while easing out of the room.
As soon as he was gone, Vanessa hurried over to Nathan and threw her hand into his arm. "What the hell are you doing here today of all days? Even Satan takes a rest every now and then!"
"I'm here on behalf of a friend. Or someone who thinks she's a friend."
"She? Who the hell is this person?"
"Melanie."
"Melanie who?"
"Oscar's wife."
She leaned away from him and lifted a brow. "Since when the hell are you two friends?"
"I took her home the night of Nik's party after you and Mo skipped out, and before I left her there, she told me a lot of things that made me understand her better."
"Yeah, she tried pulling that shit on him too."
"I don't think she's tried to pull anything with me. Look, I'm here because she asked me a few nights ago to ask you if it'd be alright for her to come for the dinner tonight since her kids are headed out to Florida in a few hours with Oscar's parent's."
"This sure is a fine time to ask."
"I thought maybe catching you off guard would make you flustered enough to say yes."
"Well, you were wrong, as usual. Nathan, the woman tried more than once to get in Mo's pants during the time we spent apart. I don't want her inside my house. Besides, what would make her think that you asking me would get her an invite when you weren't invited yourself?"
"I tried telling her that, but she thought since we were cool now--"
"'Cool' is you being here via invite, not unannounced and threatened upon sight. How does she even know about the dinner tonight anyway?"
He thought for a second about telling her the truth, but realized there would be no benefit for him in doing so. "I don't know, V," he said, "maybe Oscar mentioned it." He sighed and dropped his hands in his pockets. "Look, she doesn't wanna be alone on Christmas, alright? Her kids are gone, her husband's with Nik... This used to be your favorite time of year."
"It still is. And I'd like to keep it that way, so I'm sorry, but no."
"No, what?" Maurice said upon reentrance.
Vanessa folded her arms and glanced over at him. "Nathan's here on behalf of Melanie--"
He shoved his brows together. "What?"
"Yeah, I know. Apparently they're... friends, or something -- Anyway, she wants to come to the dinner tonight and I don't think it's a good idea."
"You don't want her here," replied Maurice.
"No, I don't, but now there's also a chance that Nikki might bring Oscar after all, and I was hoping not to start World War III inside my home, again."
"I didn't come here looking to start that up again, V," said Nathan. He grinned. "Tis the season and all that is what you used to say, right?"
"Shut up."
"Come on, V, have a heart."
"I've got one," she told him. "It's just encased behind a bunch of other shit." She turned to Maurice and groaned. "I don't want her here. I really don't want th
at woman inside of my house or anywhere near you again after what she tried to pull before, but..." She took in a breath and paused. "I remember not long after Terrence left, seeing Alexis sitting in the living room with a bottle of wine and just crying night after night so damn hard her entire face would swell up. No kid should ever have to walk in on one of their parent's like that just because the other one is a selfish jackass." She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I don't wanto to admit that Nathan is right, but tis the season and all that crap."
Mo smiled down at her and pulled her into a deep kiss. Nathan cleared his throat and grunted upon seeing their affection.
Vanessa pulled back and pressed herself against him as his hands lowered on her back. "I'll fix another place," she said. "But if she even thinks to look in your direction, I'm wrapping her hair around my fist and tossing her out bare ass in the snow." She smacked Maurice on the side of his waist, then whirled back around to Nathan. "Are you looking for a hand out too?"
He raised his arms and tilted his head. "I know that you invited Sheila."
"I invited her out of pity."
"If you want Melanie to stay away from your boy, you'll need me here to help do that."
"And just why is that?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Nathan looked over Vanessa at a confused Maurice and shook his head. "I just think it's a good idea for me to be here. Help keep her in check in case Oscar steps out of line."
Vanessa and Maurice both looked at each other strangely, but didn't say a word of what they had been thinking.
"I'm going to fix an extra place at the table," she said. "Please try not to kill each other while I'm gone, because this house can't afford anymore damage."
Once they were left alone, Maurice stepped further into the living room. "You and Melanie are friends now?" he asked in a peculiar tone.
"I took her home the night of Nik's party. We've been, um... keeping in touch ever since."
Maurice nodded. "Why the hell would she go through you for an invite here?"
"Maybe she thought going through you would piss off Vanessa," he shot back.
"What kind of friendship do you two have?"
"One that I don't think should be any of your business, my man," said Nathan.
"You're coming into my house. You're going to be eating my food and drinking my wine, all while having a seat at my woman's table."
He chuckled. "Your woman--"
"Yeah, mine," he emphasized. "With all that said, I'll make everything about you my business." He moved further into Nathan's personal space as a form of intimidation, but Nathan never moved from place.
When Vanessa came back into the room, she quickly took Maurice by the hand and dragged him out into the foyer. Nathan watched them talking and chuckled when Maurice trodded off into the kitchen. The moment he saw Vanessa coming back, he raised his hands in a defensive manner and shook his head.
"He started coming for me."
"It doesn't matter who started what, I'm ending it. I want this night to be without any form of fury, that means, staying the hell away from each other. Don't even look at each other, don't even pass food to each other. I've got some really important news that I'd like to share tonight and I don't need anything unexpected going down to take away from that. You understand me?"
"Are you pregnant again?" he asked.
"No! You'll find out later tonight with everybody else. Just sit the hell down someplace and shut the hell up in the meantime."
She stomped off into the other room as Nathan laughed aloud and pulled his cell from his pocket to dial Melanie and tell her the news.
Part Seven
Hours later, Alexis, Alexander and Gina arrived, stunned as all get out to see Nathan of all people answering Vanessa's front door.
Gina stuck her head between Alexis and Alexander's shoulders and looked him up and down as if he were some kind of marble statue covered in gold. "Wow," she breathed. "You look even better now than when you did back in the Hamptons."
"Get back, girl," said Alexis.
Alexander yanked his daughter by the arm and pulled her close to him.
Alexis turned her eyes back to Nathan and wrapped her thick, burgundy scarf around herself as if he had been eyeing her neck like a meal. She peeked inside the house a few times, and then completely shoved him aside while moving in. "Are you moonlighting as Benson?" she asked.
Nathan bit his tongue before speaking out of turn. "Merry Christmas to you too, Alexis--"
"Why are you here?" she snapped, spinning on her heels.
He closed the door behind them and rested back against it. "Last minute invite."
"And yet, I see no cliffs."
"What?" he asked, confused.
"No cliffs for you to fall from once this is all over." Alexis shook her head. "I can't believe that girl actually let you back into her life and her home after all the damage you've caused to both. Over the years, I've never thought of you as more than just a simple waste of space and now it's finally good to know that I was actually right."
"Mother," Vanessa interjected in a stern tone as she entered the foyer from the kitchen and greeted both her parents and sister.
"Vanessa, if you were in need of hired help, honey, you didn't have to reach so far down the barrel for it."
Nathan rolled his eyes into the ceiling and walked off.
Vanessa cleared her throat. "Where's Felicia and the girls?"
"Each one of them caught some kind of contagious, 48 hour bug last night. And you know I can't deal with that, so we shipped them off to the Waldorf with a doctor on hand early this morning."
"I'll have to call her."
"V, is your bedroom still off limits?" asked Gina.
"For the most part, but Mo's finally moved his stuff out of his bedroom, so you can take up with the TV that we left behind in there."
"Thank you!" Gina replied, an echo traveling behind her as she bounced up the stairs and into the bedroom.
Alexis turned to her daughter and plastered a wide smile on her face. "You and Mo are officially in the same room now? When was this decided?"
"A few months ago." She dragged her parent's into the living room and headed straight for the bar. "You want anything to drink?"
"Yes, I'd like a nice warm glass of tea," replied Alexis.
Vanessa snorted. "What?"
She removed her scarf and coat and simultaneously tossed them on the couch. She rested her hands on her hips and stared directly into Vanessa's eyes. "What's going on here tonight, girl? I know you far too well, something is up."
"Mother, why don't you swallow back some gin and just sit tight. I need to go and check on Mo in the kitchen."
The moment she left the room and returned to the foyer, the doorbell rang again. She went over and peeked out the hole and after a full deep breath, pulled the door back.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" shouted Sheila, opening her arms wide. Melanie stood beside her and smiled.
"Christmas," said Vanessa. "The Merry part of this entire thing is still up for debate. Speaking of which, did the two of you come together?"
"No," said Melanie, stepping up first and shaking out her blond hair. "I saw her walking up here and tagged along." She pulled a small box from her pocket and held it up for Vanessa. "Merry Christmas, V." Sheila peeked over her shoulder and snarled. "It's just a thanks for allowing me to come tonight when I know that you didn't have to."
Cautiously, Vanessa took the gift from Melanie and moved aside. "Thanks," she told her. "Come on in. We're still waiting on Nik, and then when she gets here, we'll get started with the food."
Melanie turned to her and winced. "I promise not to cause a scene with her being here."
"Well, technically, it's still her home to, so I'd be grateful if you didn't."
She smiled again while removing her coat and after placing it on the rack, roamed into the living room where she found a surprised but thrilled Alexis and a skeptical Alexander.
&n
bsp; After closing the door, Vanessa placed the gift, unopened on a small table in the living room.
"You're not going to open it?" asked Sheila.
"It's not ticking, so no, I don't have much of a desire to open it at the moment. Why the hell are you so eager?"
"Because I got you something too and I wanted to make sure that whatever the hell she got wasn't better than what I've got in here." Sheila pulled a small Tiffany box from her purse and handed it to her. "I did some retail therapy the other day and the money spent was worth it. At least I hope it was. Merry Christmas."
"You didn't have to get me anything--"
"I know. But just open it."
Vanessa carefully raised lifted the lid on the box, placing it aside, and was stunned at the necklace that lay inside. "A silver chan with a MoNessa charm?" She laughed. "You actually had this made?"
"Yeah. I always wanted to make one for me and Nathan that I had planned to wear for the wedding, but... anyway, I still had a deal with the store, so I used it."
"For me."
She shrugged. "Yeah. I know we'll never be what we were before, but it doesn't mean that I can't still keep trying." She bent forward and wrapped her arms around Vanessa, and though she wasn't initially receptive, Vanessa placed an arm around her back and gave her a light squeeze.
"Thanks," she replied, pulling back. They smiled at each other, never noticing Nathan as he entered the room.
"It's not Christmas," he said. Sheila frowned. "It's the apocalypse."
Sheila leaned into Vanessa and made a face. "What is he doing here?"
Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Ask him. I don't really have the energy to go into it right now. Just, try and keep it civil or you'll both be gone." She grabbed both presents and headed back into the living room.
Nathan tried easing back out of the room, but Sheila grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back to her. He grinned and threw a piece of meat into his mouth. "Merry Christmas," he said.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought you said that you weren't invited?"
"I wasn't, at first. I guess Vanessa had a last minute change of heart."
