by Shelia Goss
“Happy birthday, birthday girl.”
She recognized the voice and eventually was able to get out of their grip and turned around. “Lance. What are you doing here?”
With his playboy smile, Lance said, “You know I wasn’t going to let your birthday go by without acknowledging it.”
She frowned. “A simple phone call would have worked.”
“Well maybe you’ll change your mind when you open up your present.”
“I doubt it. Now, excuse me. I have other guests to attend to.”
He bowed and watched her as she left to greet other guests.
She continued to mingle and when someone placed two hands around her eyes, she knew immediately who it was. “Violet, you made it.” They hugged.
“Yes. Sorry we’re late, but you know how LA traffic is.”
“I know sweetie. Now that you’re here, we can serve dinner. Most of the guests are probably full on the hors d’oeuvres.”
Violet laughed. “Let’s eat. Although I ate lunch, I’m starved.”
Rose looked Violet up and down. “You look marvelous. That violet looks great on you. I could swear I’m looking at a reflection of myself.”
“Thank you. The dress was a gift from Marcus.”
Rose faked enthusiasm. “Where is Marcus by the way?”
“He’s here somewhere. I left him talking to some comedienne. He has the name like Mister T.”
“You mean, George T?”
“Yes, that’s him.”
“Oh, they’ll be there awhile. He is so funny, and you hate to leave while he’s telling one of his jokes. Let’s go mingle.”
They looped their arms around each other and headed toward the dining room. Tina came out to inform everyone that dinner was being served. The people who had reserved seating sat in the official dining room and everyone else was seated at the additional tables set up in the backyard.
Rose watched Marcus and her stomach almost churned at the sight of him wrapping his arms around Violet’s chair. Marcus looked up and caught her staring at him. He showed all of his pearly white teeth as he smiled. When it didn’t seem like anyone else was looking, he winked at her. Rose looked away suddenly before her emotions caused her to react. The last thing she wanted to do was cause a scene.
She took a quick gulp of her champagne.
Violet whispered, “Are you alright?”
Rose reassured Violet that she was fine. As the caterers started serving the guests, Rose had her champagne glass refilled. Everyone around her seemed to enjoy the meal. The menu consisted of a choice of beef Angus sirloin steak, baked Cornish hen, and baked potatoes and rice pilaf. Rose only ate enough to put something in her stomach to counteract the drinks she had already consumed and she wanted to make sure her stomach could withstand any more drinking she was sure to do through out the night.
“Violet dear, we need to plan a weekend getaway.” Rose took another bite of her food before she continued to say, “I’ll be in New York in a few weeks. Why don’t you meet me there; we can hang out and do some major shopping?”
“It sounds like fun, but I don’t know about the shopping part. I can’t think of anything I really need.”
Rose didn’t want to argue about her favorite pastime. “Well meet me there anyway and we’ll paint the town red.”
Marcus interrupted. “Only if I can be there.”
Rose made a snide remark. “I don’t think so.”
Violet looked at them both. “Hey you guys, there is enough of me to go around. Rose, I’ll meet you there and we can do the shopping or whatever else you want to do, but on one condition.”
“And what’s that?” Rose asked as she sipped the rest of her drink.
“It’s your treat,” Violet said to ease the tension.
Rose said, “Of course dear, I’ll have my assistant make the plans.” She gave Marcus a fake smile and commented, “This trip is for ladies only.”
Marcus raised his glass in the air. Violet had a clueless expression on her face and Rose continued to eat the rest of her food.
While everyone was busy with small talk, Tina announced the cutting of the cake, and those who were through eating followed Tina as they all walked out to the patio. A table had been setup for the cake and punch. A beautiful dolphin ice sculpture and champagne water fountain sat in the center of a table. The cake was three-tier with white creamy icing trimmed in gold. Each section was covered with a bouquet of yellow roses and violets.
As everyone sang happy birthday, Rose and Violet blew out the candles and gave each other a tight sisterly hug. They each took turns cutting the cake. They cut a few pieces before the caterers took over.
While they stuffed themselves with cake, someone announced an area had been cleared for a dance floor. John asked Rose to dance and she excused herself from the others.
“Thank you John. The sight of Marcus just makes me sick.”
“I figured you needed rescuing,” John said.
Rose danced closer to him, so no one could overhear the conversation. “If you keep rescuing me like this, I might have to wrap a cape around you.”
He twirled her around. “It’s long enough for you to wrap whatever you want to around it.”
“John. You need to stop.”
The dance floor quickly filled up after the DJ played a popular old school R & B song. Rose and John ended up dancing by Marcus and Violet. Marcus accidentally bumped into her. “Sorry.”
She rolled her eyes at him. Violet didn’t appear to notice the little exchange between the two of them. After the song ended, Rose escaped inside and made her way to one of the downstairs bathrooms. She was so mad she wanted to scream. Rose checked her make-up and turned the water off. When she opened the door, Marcus stood in front of her and pushed her back in.
“What are you doing?”
Marcus grabbed her by the arm. “I wanted to check on you and make sure you were alright. You’ve been acting funny with me all night. Violet is worried that you’re not having a good time.”
Rose yanked her arm from his hand. “As long as you’re not in my view, I’m having a great time.”
“Rose, such a sweet name.”
“Move out of my way please.”
Marcus bent down as if he wanted to kiss her. “What’s wrong? Maybe you really do have the hots for me?”
“You bastard. My sister is only a few feet away and you’re making a pass at me. You’re walking a thin line.”
“No. You’re on a thin line and I know you won’t break our agreement.”
She swung the bathroom door open and walked madly out of the room. She almost knocked over one of the servers. She grabbed a glass off one of the trays and swished down some champagne. She returned to the party as if nothing happened.
35
VIOLET
“Violet do you want a refill on your drink?”
Violet looked startled. “Marcus where did you come from. I thought you were with Terrence?”
“I went to use the rest room.”
“Oh okay. I think I have had enough to drink tonight. You have been downing a lot of those.”
Marcus placed his glass on a tray as a server walked by. “In that case, I won’t drink any more either.”
“Don’t stop on my account.”
A slow song came on; he took her hand and glided her to the dance floor. They both were in their own little world. “Violet you are so beautiful; inside and out. I feel lucky to have you in my life. I have something for you, but I’ll wait until after you’ve opened everyone else’s presents.”
Violet looked up and batted her eyes. “You could give me a little hint on what it is.”
“Let’s just say, it’s something that you don’t already have and you’ll be surprised to get.”
Violet looked puzzled. “That could be a number of things. Give me another one.”
He wrapped his arms back around her. “No. You have to wait like a good little girl.”
An hou
r later, people gathered around Rose and Violet as they prepared to open up their gifts. Rose opened up her gifts first. The first gift happened to be from Violet. Violet had found an antique cherry wood musical jewelry box with a matching miniature ring box. Rose eyes looked watery as she thanked her.
Violet was handed her gifts to open. . When Violet got to the final gift, she looked up at Rose. Although it didn’t have a card, the wrapping paper gave it away, because as kids, their parents would always wrap their gifts in floral paper with their namesakes. She slowly tore the paper off the gift. Inside was a sterling silver photo album trimmed in violets. She opened it to pictures of her and Rose. She looked up at her sister with tears of joy. They embraced and all you could hear were “Ooh and Ahh” from the people in the room.
They both thanked everyone for coming as everyone went back to mingling. Violet spotted some members of the Community Center’s board and she shook each one’s hand. “Thank you all for coming. Under the circumstances, I wasn’t sure I would see you guys here.”
Andre was the spokesman for them all. “We wouldn’t have missed celebrating with you.”
Violet shook their hands. On her way to the patio, she heard the doorbell rang. None of the people Rose hired to help were around, so she answered it. A courier from one of the mail services stood on the other end of the door.
“I have a package for Violet Purdue,” he said.
“I’m Violet,” she responded.
She took the envelope he handed to her and put under her arm. Violet signed the receipt and closed the door. She took the gift with her as she walked outside to the patio where Rose, Janice, Marcus, and Terrence were waiting.
Rose looked down at the gift in her hand. “What’s that?”
“Someone sent a courier here with one of my gifts. I’ll open it in a minute. I wanted to tell you again how much I’ve enjoyed this birthday.”
Rose hugged her. Tonight they could not seem to get enough hugs. “You are the best sister, and no offense Carmen, and best friend, a woman could ask for.”
Carmen looked at the exchange. “No offense taken. I’m glad to witness this.”
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
Marcus pulled Violet to the side. “Dear. It’s time. I know you’ve waited all night for this, so I’ll be right back.”
“Okay. While you’re gone, I’ll go ahead and open up this last gift.”
Janice came over to see what she had. “Girl, hurry up. You’ve gotten some nice gifts tonight. Remember what you don’t want, you can send them my way.”
Violet laughed and carefully opened the gift.
“I tell you. We’re going to be here until your next birthday before you get that open.”
Violet continued to open it and after she briefly viewed the contents of the envelope, she fainted.
36
ROSE
Rose heard Janice yell, “Somebody help me. Somebody help!”
Rose rushed over to where Violet had fainted. Tina brought out a wet cloth and they placed it on her forehead. Marcus picked her up. Rose followed him and Janice inside. She yelled, “Take her up to my bedroom.”
Marcus placed her on the bed as they waited for the paramedics to come. “Janice, what was she doing before she fainted? Was it something she was drinking?”
Janice recalled the evening’s events. “She was fine until she opened the envelope. We were laughing, but after she opened it, a blank expression went across her face and the next thing I knew she was falling to the ground.”
“Can you go get it? Maybe someone sent something poisonous. I hear the paramedics now.”
While Janice was retrieving the envelope and its contents from a downstairs table near where Violet fainted, Rose met the paramedics at the door and guided them to where Violet was located.
“I’ll move out of your way. I’ll be right over here if you need anything. Please tell me she’ll be okay,” Rose said.
The paramedics examined her and were able to wake her. She didn’t say anything when she first woke up. They looked her over thoroughly and found all of her vital signs in order. They diagnosed her systems as stress related. They asked her a couple of questions and confirmed that she would be fine. It was determined she needed rest. During the whole ordeal, Marcus and Rose both were on the sidelines watching.
The lead paramedic pulled Rose to the side and delivered a message from Violet. “She asked to be left alone and she’s also ready to go home.”
Rose responded, “I’ll make sure she gets home safe and sound.”
The paramedic continued to say, “She’s asked that someone named Janice take her. Can you call her and make sure she does?”
“Janice is downstairs.” Rose addressed the paramedic. “You said she was okay, so why does she look like she’s still out of it?”
“She’s just exhausted. She should take it easy for the next couple of days.”
Rose signaled for Tina to show the paramedics out. “Ask Janice to come upstairs and please get rid of the guests, reporters first.”
Tina responded, “Yes Madame Rose.”
The paramedics left and the only people still in the room were Violet, who was laying on Rose’s bed; Marcus, who sat on the edge of the bed looking down at Violet; and Rose, who was standing with her arms wrapped around herself worried.
Rose whispered, “Marcus, she should stay here for the night. I’ll make sure she gets home in the morning. I’ll tell Janice she can stay overnight too if she wishes.”
“I’m not leaving her like this.”
Rose still talking low, so she wouldn’t disturb Violet, said, “Marcus. Under the circumstances, I think you should go ahead and leave now.”
They both were startled when Violet spoke up. “Yes I think its best that you leave.”
Marcus moved closer and tried to hold her hand. “Baby. You had us both so worried. We were trying not to disturb you.”
Violet let out a fake laugh and said, “I’m sure you were.”
Marcus with a confused look on his face responded, “If you wish I’ll leave, but I’ll be back in the morning to see you home.”
Rose added, “I can go find you something to sleep in and you can stay here in my bed. Don’t move.”
Violet sat up. “Rose, it’s not necessary. I’ll be sleeping in my own bed tonight.”
Rose went near her. “The paramedics said you needed to take it easy and not get yourself upset. Just stay the night and we can get you home in the morning.”
Violet laughed again.
Rose was really concerned now. “Violet what is wrong with you? How much did you have to drink?”
Violet got up out of the bed and started looking for something. “Where are my shoes?”
Marcus volunteered a response. “They are over in the corner. Let me get them for you.”
She responded, “No. I think you’ve done enough.”
Rose walked up to her and tried to calm her down. “Violet, you are acting strange. I don’t know what has gotten into you. Just sit down. You don’t need any shoes. You’re not going anywhere tonight.”
Marcus chimed in and said, “Yes baby. It must be the champagne talking. Just sit down and relax.”
Violet stood in front of Rose. She took her finger and shook it back and forth in Rose’s face. Her words came out slurred as if she was drunk from too much champagne. “You know I’m the luckiest woman in the world. I have two people who care so much about me, that they would do anything to keep me happy.”
Rose took her hand. “Baby, you are exhausted. Come sit down by me. Marcus, go downstairs and get us some tea please.”
Violet yelled, “Marcus, when you go downstairs don’t bother to come back up.”
Rose was getting upset. “What is your problem girl? We’re only trying to help.”
Violet reached over and slapped her and Rose didn’t retaliate, because she was shocked. The next words out of Rose’s mouth were, “What the hell?”
Marc
us turned towards the sound of the slap.
Janice walked in the moment Violet slapped Rose. Janice handed something to Rose. “This will explain everything.”
Rose only glimpsed at what Janice handed her. It’s a tabloid with a picture that showed her and Marcus arguing at the hotel in Mexico with a caption: Hot and Spicy: Another Thorn in Sister’s Side-Reported Sighting of Hollywood Actress Rose Purdue in lover’s quarrel with twin sister’s boyfriend; professional basketball player Marcus Jameson.
Rose rubbed her left cheek, which still stung from the effects of Violet’s slap. She looked directly into Violet’s eyes and said, “I can explain.”
37
VIOLET
Violet spoke in a calm voice. “Explain what? The two people I’ve trusted have betrayed me. You of all people.” She shook her head in disgust.
Rose tried to explain. “It’s not what you think. Let me tell you the whole story.”
Marcus intervened and said, “Violet we bumped into each other. The picture is all distorted.”
“Deny to the end. Why? Bet you both had some good laughs at my expense. What was it Rose? You stole my husband and you couldn’t stand for me to be happy with another man. Is that what it was?”
Rose wiped the tears as they streamed down her face. “No. You have it all wrong. Please, let me explain.”
Violet bent down and retrieved her shoes. “It’s in your best interest to stay clear of me. I am two seconds away from knocking you the hell out.”
Marcus tried to explain himself, but Rose stepped in and started cussing Marcus out. “I told you, you were trash. Get the hell out of my house. You’ve done enough damage for one night.”
Marcus looked over at Violet and started walking in her direction. Violet held up her hand. He stopped in mid-step. “Violet, I’ll let you calm down and I’ll call you in a few days.” He laid something on the bed. “This is your birthday present. I love you.”
