Holiday Magic (Second Chance)

by Matthews, Susanne

  She walked into her studio, picked up a piece of charcoal and a drawing pad, and sketched out a design for a broach. The drawing showed the bare branch she had seen with one last leaf dangling precariously from the tip. She had watched it for almost an hour, but it clung tenaciously to its exposed position, as if daring the wind to knock it down. It was still there when she had walked away. It was the answer she had needed.

  Some people might admire the leaf for clinging to the branch, but in reality, the leaf was dead, and it was the tree that refused to let it go. Just like that tree, she had clung to her pain, her humiliation, her heartache. It was time to let them go. Life was too precious to spend all of it in regret. She would move on, and maybe, someday, her heart would heal.

  She put down her sketch pad, packed away her materials, and flipped the switch, plunging the room into darkness. She went into the bedroom, opened the top drawer of her dresser, and removed the picture frame inside. It was a classic black and white photograph of her and Mark taken by one of Philadelphia’s best photographers. It had been their engagement picture for the society page. She looked at the image of the handsome man beside her, and reached out her finger to trace his face. A single tear slipped down her cheek. She hoped that she had made the right choice. She was certain that seeing Mark again would be sheer hell.

  ***

  Mark Anderson stared at the letter in his hand, a message from Howard, his lawyer, concerning Eleni’s latest venture. Mysterious millionaire and casino owner Garth Simmons had requested an exclusive contract for Eleni’s services, stating that Holiday Magic could complete any contracted events while she worked for him provided that they were not in similar venues. In addition, he had stipulated that Eleni herself live at the casino for the duration of the contract. He was offering an outrageous fee for her services, and her penthouse and meals would all be complimentary. According to Howard, while the stipulations of the contract were unusual, it was a great deal.

  The phone desk rang. He saw it was his administrative assistant, so he pressed speaker button.

  “Yes, Ruth. What is it?”

  “”Eleni Baxter is here to see you.”

  “Send her in.” He hung up and walked towards the door that was opening.

  Eleni had almost become his sister-in-law. The tall, leggy blonde with a figure most models envied, came over and kissed him on each cheek as she always did. Her green eyes sparkled.

  “What did your lawyer say? Can I sign the contract? I’m so excited!”

  “Hello to you too.” He laughed. No matter how down in the dumps you were, you could never be unhappy around Eleni when she was in a good mood. Most of the time, she saw the world as bright and beautiful. He would kill the person who ever took away those rose-colored glasses she wore. He had come close to doing it himself once, but she had forgiven him. If only her sister were that kind.

  “Howard, my lawyer, says the contract is iron clad. If he fires you or chooses to end it before February 28th, it’ll cost him three times the fee he has offered. Plus, the suite is yours for the duration, all meals and casino expenses included. When Howard asked Simmons’ lawyer what that meant, he said, and I quote, ‘Ms. Baxter can leave her purse in Philadelphia. Every cent she spends is on us.’

  “Does that mean that I can gamble with his money too?” The mischievous look on her face that did not bode well for Garth Simmons.

  “Eleni, use your head. This contract will make or break you. If you got it extended, you’d never have to do another job again. No more dealing with Bridezilla or pushy mothers. The world would be your oyster. He owns six casinos world-wide Vegas, Monte Carlo, Darwin, Lisbon, and England, as well as the one in Atlantic City. If you were to do the décor for all of them, you’d be set for life.”

  Mark turned and looked out the office window. Sometimes working with her was exasperating. Holiday Magic was her dream. He was a not-so-silent partner, but in reality, she could get along fine without him. He was the one who didn’t want to let go, because to do so would cut his last tie to Georgia.

  “Did you read the fine print?” He knew she would probably lie and say yes when she had done no such thing.

  “Of course I did. I saw that twenty-four seven part, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “Are you ready to sign it then?”

  “Yes, ready, willing, and able.” She selected a pen from the cup on his desk and signed where the stick-on arrows indicated. “Done. I am now Ocean Front Casino’s official winter season decorator.”

  He took the signed contract out into the bull pen to make copies. He was back in less than a minute. Eleni stood in front of the window looking out at the world below.

  “I wish it would snow.” She turned around to face him once more. “Everything always looks so nice and clean when it does.” She walked over to the desk and picked up the envelope that held the original contract.

  “I’m leaving for Atlantic City in the morning. I’ll take this with me. He’s expecting me there by noon. I want to get a feel for the place before I put up my Thanksgiving displays. I’ll be back on Monday to finalize things.”

  “Which of your brilliant protégés will run our business into the ground during your absence? You know I can’t take that much time away from Anderson Security.”

  Eleni laughed. “Be nice! Sam could have done the job, but she’s still in school. I’ve brought in a temporary manager during my absence.”

  She looked away as if she were afraid to meet his eyes. Alarm bells went off in his head.

  “I needed someone artistic who could think on her feet. In time, Sam will make an excellent manager, but right now, she lacks the time and the creative spark I need.”

  A bad feeling started in the pit of his stomach and grew as she avoided giving him a straight answer to his question.

  “What have you done, Eleni? Who is going to manage Holiday Magic while you’re in Atlantic City?

  “Georgia.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

  “When were you going to tell me this?” he asked, forcing himself to remain calm when he wanted to rant, rave, and curse fate, and beg its forgiveness all at the same time.

  “Well, I wasn’t sure she was going to do it until Friday night, so I was going to tell you now.”

  “Did you tell her that I would be there as well?”

  “Of course I told her. You’re my partner. You come in for a few hours a week to help with the books and the payroll. You help out with the weddings, since it’s hard to be in two places at once. I’m not an idiot; you know darn well that I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”

  “You conveniently forgot that it is your year-end, and I’ll be there just about every day for the first two weeks of December at least?”

  “You’re joking, right? It can’t be that time of year. You always did that after Christmas; that’s why I didn’t book anything for January.”

  “When we expanded the business and opened the showroom, we moved the year-end up I’ve scheduled it for early December, and I’ll be in there a lot longer than an afternoon. The accountant is expecting me there.”

  Eleni dropped into a chair in front of the desk. Tears filled her eyes.

  “Oh Lord, Mark, she’ll never believe that I forgot about this. What am I going to do? She’s moving back, and if she thinks I tried to set you guys up, she may change her mind. I can’t back out of this contract. Surely you can tell the accountant to come back in January?” she pleaded.

  Mark was stunned. Georgia was moving back to Philadelphia? She hadn’t set foot in the city for three years. Why had she decided to come back now?

  “I’m sorry, Eleni, but I can’t. It isn’t only my time involved. I’ll try to stay out of her way, but you have to tell her.”

  “I’ll tell her as soon as she arrives. I’ve waited too long for her to come home. I won’t take a chance on her changing her mind. I’ll take her to Angelo’s, that little Italian restaurant she used to love.”

  “While
you’re breaking the bad news, make sure you remind her that she has to run all the event quotes by me before she signs any contracts.”

  Eleni smiled. “I already told her that. I’m not really a bubble head, you know. Now, I’d better get going or I’ll be late.” She turned to leave.

  “Eleni,” he called to her as she reached the door, “what about the Christmas Eve Snow Ball. Did you think of that?”

  “It’s on my calendar, silly. I’m sure the mighty Mr. Simmons will let me come back for that. After all, I’m entitled to some time off, and it is Christmas.”

  “Did you bother to read the contract?” He was annoyed with her. “It stipulates twenty-four seven, with no exceptions, for the period extending from November 21st to February 28th. There is no mention of any free time allowed away from the casino.”

  “You’re serious!” she screeched. “I have to stay there all the time. Who does he think he is, Simon Legree? I’m not his slave. It’s illegal. It’s unconstitutional!”

  “It’s in the private contract you willingly signed.” He put an end to her rant.

  “Damn! Are you sure?”

  He nodded and opened the copy to show her the stipulation.

  “Can you find another date for the dance?” She was subdued. “Georgia knows about it, since it is one of my all-inclusive events, but if she discovers that she has to be your official escort for the evening, she’ll kill me.”

  Mark groaned inwardly as Eleni allowed a tear to roll unheeded down her cheek.

  Damn her. That woman can turn on the waterworks at will. He shook his head, admiration and frustration in his eyes. Is there ever anything she wants that she doesn’t get?

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  He had not dated since the fiasco with Georgia. There had been too much pain there. He would never get involved with a woman again.

  Once Eleni left his office, Mark sank into his desk chair and stared at the photograph of Georgia on his desk. Beautiful, loving, funny Georgia, the woman who should have been his bride, and the only woman he would ever love. What would it be like to see her again, talk to her, and yet not be able to touch her?

  Chapter Three

  Georgia was so angry with Eleni she could spit nails. How could she have been so stupid as to sign that contract without reading the fine print? She had warned her to do so, but it was so like her twin to ignore advice that would be commonsense to anyone else.

  Discovering it was year-end time, and Mark would be underfoot every day was a low blow, but finding out that she had to be his escort at the Christmas Eve Snow Ball? Well, she was still reeling from that!

  Eleni tried her best to placate her, but she was way beyond calming now. She had not been this furious in years.

  “Georgia, I told you that the ball was one of my all-inclusive gigs, so don’t get bent out of shape about it. Mark would have been there anyway. The organizing committee insisted on it. I told you before, he’s my partner, and the people who are covering the cost of our services want him there. They’re quite annoyed with me that I can’t attend, but they’ve agreed to let you stand in my stead. There is no way that Mark can give them the slip too. Look, you’ll probably be so busy hobnobbing with the elite, you’ll hardly spend any time with him. I’m sure some of your old friends will be there. It’ll be a great opportunity to reconnect now that you’ve decided to move back and join the living, and you can push your jewelry too. Who knows? If the Governor’s wife likes it, she might want some, and you could have a whole new client base in Washington.”

  Georgia shook her head.

  “Forget it! As Grandma used to say, ‘Whitewashing the pump won’t make the water clean.’ If you’d told me about all this, I would never have agreed to help you out. I’m sure that’s why you’re springing this crap on me now. You knew I wouldn’t come if you’d been honest about it. I find it hard to believe that you just conveniently forgot to mention this. Seriously, you expect me to be his date for the night? That night of all nights? I’m sorry, Eleni, but you are out of your cotton-picking mind!” Her voice had risen, attracting the attention of some of the diners, so she lowered it immediately.

  Eleni’s lower lip trembled, and Georgia knew that the waterworks were next. It wasn’t fair. Her sister could read her like a book—a first grade primer, at that!

  “Eleni Jean Baxter, don’t you dare cry!” Maybe it’s good I’m angry, she thought, at least when I’m angry I’m not feeling sorry for myself!

  “Nobody gives you more trouble than you do yourself, honey. You just don’t think things through. You’ve created this mess, and you really didn’t think about the way it would affect others. You have to stop jumping in with both feet before you test the water. One of these days, you’re going to get hurt. This will be hard for Mark—well, maybe not hard, but uncomfortable at best.”

  Eleni giggled. Georgia realized what she had said, and the double meaning easily attached to it.

  “Seriously? You’ve got your mind in the gutter now? You know what I mean!”

  Disgusted with herself, Georgia couldn’t stop the blush suffusing her cheeks as her imagination brought that image of him vividly to mind. Heat spread through her body. The one thing they had always had was chemistry, lots and lots of reactive chemistry.

  “Mark and I haven’t even spoken since that morning. Seeing him again will be very difficult for me, and now you tell me that I’ll have to see him almost every day?”

  She pushed her hair behind her ears and reached for her wine glass. Her hand trembled.

  “It still hurts to remember what we had. I don’t know about him, but I wish it had never happened—that we had never met.” She took a sip of her wine, and Eleni had the common sense to stay quiet.

  Eleni reached across the table and took her free hand, offering a familiar comfort. Although fraternal rather than identical twins, the girls had always been inseparable – that is until the Mark disaster, and she had missed her sister dreadfully. It was one of the reasons that she had decided to come back to Philly in the first place.

  Eleni was tall, topping five foot ten, with their mother’s fair skin, blonde hair, and green eyes, while she, at five foot six, favored their father’s Mediterranean roots, and had naturally curly, light brown hair, filled with golden highlights, and light blue eyes.

  Georgia knew that Eleni wasn’t being cruel purposely. She had moved to New York specifically to get away from him, and all the painful memories Philadelphia held for her, especially at this time of year. Her decision to come home now had been based on Eleni’s need, but she would never have willingly put herself in this position.

  “I really don’t think I can do it. I want to help you, but you’re asking too much,” she said, tears running down her cheeks unnoticed. Every time she thought of Mark, her heart broke all over again. She wanted to hate him, despise him for what he had done, but despite everything, she still cared deeply for him—she always would.

  “Georgia, it’s been three years. You’ve decided to move on, and this is just part of it. Like it or not, he’s my friend and my business partner. When everything fell apart, I supported you, and I’m glad I did, but he’s been there for me too. He’s put up a huge chunk of change to help me open the showroom, and I owe it to him to give it my best shot.” Eleni handed her a tissue.

  “I know you were hurt, but it’s time to let it go. The way you see things, think of them, determines what you do, and you can’t keep thinking this way. Look at you. I love you, but I’m worried about you. You’ve hidden yourself away from life. You don’t smile or laugh anymore, you’ve lost so much weight, you’re fading away, and I need you with me. I miss my sister. Have you even dated since then?”

  Georgia shook her head. “I have no desire to put myself through that again.”

  “That’s not a healthy attitude. Neither one of us wants to end up on the shelf. You have too much love to give for that. It’s time to bury the hatchet, preferably not in his back.”

&nb
sp; She smiled weakly at her sister’s lame joke. To do that, she’d have to pull the hatchet out of her own heart first. She would probably bleed to death if she did!

  Eleni continued.

  “Mark made a terrible mistake, and he’s regretted it every day since. You’d know that if you were willing to listen to him. You weren’t just in love. You were soul mates and friends. Friendship is too precious to throw away. You may think that the love isn’t there anymore, but the opposite of love isn’t hate. It’s indifference. If you didn’t feel something, you wouldn’t still be suffering so badly.”

  Georgia’s face hardened as she pulled her hand away. This was a fine time for her sister to become perceptive, more insightful than she would have preferred.

  “Friends don’t do what he did. There is nothing he can say to undo what happened. He cheated on me, Eleni, three weeks before our wedding! She was my friend and she got pregnant. That’s not a small thing. You can’t just say ‘oops, sorry,’ and move on. At least, I can’t.”

  “Georgia,” said Eleni trying to be conciliatory. “Honey, I know you can’t, and I know that you don’t want to hear this, but I’m sorry. Lucy was equally responsible. In fact, I’ve always said she should have taken most of the blame, and as for the pregnancy, it was a false alarm. I never liked her. She used you and your contacts to get accepted by our crowd, but she was a viper, a poisonous one at that, and you just wouldn’t see it. What was she doing letting him into her apartment in the first place? Why wasn’t she with the rest of us?”

  “You know the answer to that better than I do. I refused to speak to her as well. I was shocked when she had the nerve to send me that wedding invitation.”