Taking Shots (Assassins)

by Aleo, Toni

  “Better, sunshine?”

  “Fuck off!” she yelled, but not even a second later she threw the blankets back and looked up at him, “I didn’t mean that, I’m sorry.”

  He smiled, leaning down to kiss her cheek, “Its fine, you’re an angry day after kind of chick. Grace is the same way.”

  She tried to smile, but shot up, running to the bathroom. When he heard her puking, he went in there to see her hugging the toilet. He went up behind her, moving her hair back. He looked over at the counter and saw a hair tie, so he grabbed it and pulled her hair up in a messy ponytail on the top of her head. When she started crying, he sat down beside her, rubbing her back.

  “Oh, my god, what man does this?” she cried as she continued to puke. He smiled, running his hand up and down her back. When she stopped throwing up, he stood up to get her some water from the sink. She washed her mouth out, but went right back to throwing up. “Ugh, just leave me here to die, Shea.”

  He laughed as he went to the bathtub, filling it up. “Maybe a bath would help?”

  “Maybe,” she said, lying down so that her face was on the cold tile. “I need to call Harper, what time is it? I have a nine o’clock appointment.”

  “I already called her; she’s fine, apparently. She going to go in with Alice.”

  “Thank you so much. Yeah, she always is, it makes me sick, cause I never am.”

  “I see that.” She opened her eyes, glaring at him but closed them quickly because he guessed it hurt. “Wanna jump in?”

  “I will not be jumping, but climbing might happen,” she said as she started crawling over towards the bath, he helped her take her bra off, then she slid out of her panties before falling into the water, splashing water onto the floor. He shook his head as he went to get towels to clean up as she apologized. After cleaning up, he made sure she was okay and left her to soak as he went into the bedroom to wash the bedding.

  He had an amused grin on his face as he moved through the condo, picking up her mess. Yeah, she drove him crazy, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. After last night, he knew why she wouldn’t move in with him. It wasn’t because she didn’t care for him, but because that asshole didn’t treat her right.

  How he could kick Elli out of her home, when she was raw with hurt and scared with all the medical problems she was having at the time was beyond him, and he hated the guy for it, but he wanted to murder the guy for putting his hands on her. No women deserved to have a man put his hands on her, but especially not his Elli. She was too sweet, too perfect.

  It all made perfect sense now, and he knew that it was going to take a lot to get Elli past that, but he didn’t care. Shea would be there, he would be patient, he would love her, and one day, he just knew she would love him back.

  Elli thought men like Shea Adler didn’t exist, but they did. Shea had laid beside her in bed watching movies all day, as she tried to recover from the awful hangover she had.

  Damn tequila.

  She was never drinking again, she swore.

  The night before was a blur. She remembered everything up to singing Carrie Underwood, after that it was a blur. Shea said that she was puking all over the sidewalk of West End Ave, which was lovely, considering that was the classier side of Nashville. She remembered seeing Justin, but not wanting to fight him like Harper had said she wanted to.

  That was another reason she was never drinking again, she didn’t remember anything after a certain point!

  Shea was so good to her, though, bringing her crackers and rubbing her back when she would get nauseous. He was genuinely a great guy and Elli didn’t know how she got so lucky to have met him.

  The next day, they went to see Grace and the kids at the Adventure Science Center after Shea’s practice. They had such a great time, even though Elli was still a little sick from the day before. Afterwards, they went to Publix to go grocery shopping for the next day before Shea needed to go home for a nap. Elli decided she wanted to make a Christmas dinner with all the fixings, since she wouldn’t see her friends until after the holidays, so she got the biggest ham they had since Shea, Jakob, Derrick, and Walter would be there, and they ate like an army.

  After unloading the groceries, Elli started to clean while Shea washed his clothes from his suitcase. It was so domestic. They would move around each other with ease. He would ask if she knew where something was and most of the time she did. Living there for the past month had been so easy. She knew his condo inside and out and now that he was home with her, moving around the house with her, she really didn’t seem as scared as she was before about moving in with him.

  She wasn’t sure what had changed in the last two weeks, but something had, so maybe she would consider it, or maybe she would just keep things like they are, because God knew her daddy and Papa would freak when they found out. The thought sent chills through her body. She couldn’t even imagine it because when she moved in with Justin, they flipped, but her mother took care of them and Elli didn’t even have to deal with it. But now, she’s pretty sure ‘the shit would hit the fan,’ as it was said.

  Elli was in the kitchen getting the ham ready by soaking it in water when Shea came up behind her, wrapping her arms around her waist. She smiled as he ran his lips up her neck, nipping at her ear lobe.

  “So my dining room looks like something out of Country Living, the Christmas Edition,” he said, causing her to giggle.

  “I know, you don’t mind do you?”

  “No, I like it, it’s just new. So are the Christmas candles you have everywhere.”

  “I know, but I want it to be pretty when everyone comes tomorrow. I love Christmas,” she gushed as she leaned into him.

  “I know, but we’re missing something.” She turned in his arms, looking up at him.

  “What?”

  “A Christmas tree,” he said, “go look in the living room.” She beamed up at him before heading into the living room, to see a good size tree sitting in the corner by the TV with bags and boxes of stuff sitting beside it. It was her stuff from her house, she had wanted to go get them, but she had been busy.

  “I usually don’t set up for Christmas, since I’m never home anyway, but Harper had said the other day that it was a big deal for you, so I had her go get your stuff for me, she just dropped it off.”

  “Oh, Shea,” she gushed covering her mouth as she turned to look at him, “You’re spectacular.”

  “Spectacular, huh?”

  She nodded before wrapping her arms around him and kissing him hard. When she parted from him, she clapped her hands together with a little hop, “I can’t wait to get started after the game!”

  Elli stood in the middle of Shea’s living room, basking in the winter wonderland they had created the night before. All her stuff fit perfectly in his living room and if it didn’t, he made sure to make it. Shea had filled the windows with white lights, covered the bases of the windows with her fake snow puff, placing the candles in the middle of it, with glitter, of course. They placed every single one of her snowmen out and there were a lot of them since that was her favorite Christmas thing.

  When they decorated the tree, Elli’s heart just filled with such love at the act. She had never decorated a tree with a man and Shea was the perfect man for her first time. He asked a question about every ornament she had. Elli had been collecting Primitive ornaments since she was fourteen. Growing up she had always had a Christmas tree in her room, so she had a lot of old ornaments and it was nice to reminisce about each ornament. Elli was convinced he enjoyed it because afterwards he said they should go to the store to pick out some for him. She couldn’t agree quicker, which made him smile.

  They had hung some of her Christmas photos she had done when he was in college, too. There was one of candy canes made to look like a heart, “love” written in the snow, and then one of her making a snow angel. She was admiring the one of her when Shea came into the living dressed for her friends that were coming over. He was wearing a pair of nice khaki dr
ess pants with a dark red button up dress shirt. The first two buttons weren’t buttoned, his hair was done spiky, and he had his glasses on, something that still made her heart skip a beat. Even though the guys had lost the night before, he had a smile on his face.

  “Is this okay?” he asked, running his hands down his shirt. She nodded as she came over, moving herself into his arms; he took her eagerly. “What?”

  “The living room looks so beautiful,” she stated as she leaned her head down on his shoulder, he nodded. “It makes me happy.”

  “Good, I love the pictures.”

  “Me, too. I was thinking, the first snow fall, we should do a picture together of us making snow angels. Harper would take it.”

  “Sounds good to me,” he said with a grin, as he looked down at her, “Looking good, baby, real good.”

  She looked down at her vintage green with white polka dots dress. The dress was lined with black along the collar and a big black bow around the fitted top; it then puffed out with black netting underneath. She had paired it with stunning Jimmy Choo suede black peep toe heels that had matching crystals all over them. She had bought the shoes the first week Shea was gone, it was her pity gift to herself, and she loved them.

  “Why thank you, the lady at the store says my eyes sparkle in this dress.”

  “They do,” he said before kissing her softly on her bright red lips. The dinging of the oven broke up their kiss; Elli gave him a small smile before running off to the kitchen to take out her ham and stuffing. Everything was already laid out, so she added the ham and stuffing to the island, leaning back to inspect her work.

  She had done good.

  Shea walked behind her, heading back to the bedroom, so she yelled at him, “Hey, darlin’, can you grab the iHome and plug it up in the living room with my iPod?”

  “Sure,” he said with a laugh. She glared towards the door cause she knew he was making fun of her accent, and continued to move around the kitchen, making sure everything was ready when he came back through with the iHome in hand. “This one right Darlin’?” he said in a horrible country accent.

  Boston men cannot be country.

  “Oh, hush!”

  Shea laughed as he continued back into the living room, just as the doorbell rang. She assumed he would get it, and went to make sure the dining room was perfect just as she heard Harper’s voice rang through the condo. “Jeez! I thought you said you were just gonna set up the tree? It looks like Santa shit Christmas in here!”

  Elli rolled her eyes, coming from the dining room to the kitchen. Harper was wearing a tight little red number, with gorgeous peep toe black boots. She looked beautiful like always, and Jakob stood proudly beside her, wearing a nice little dress suit, with a red shirt and his brace on his leg. “Now you hush! I love my Winter Wonderland!”

  Harper laughed, handing Elli the red velvet cake her mother had made, “You’re lucky I got out the house with that. Piper and Reese almost got a hold of it.”

  “Oh! You should have invited them!” Elli complained as she carried the cake into the kitchen, “Shea hasn’t met them yet.”

  “Yeah, they were being brats. Plus, they always laugh at us when we play our games.”

  Elli giggled, nervously. She had been nervous all day about Shea laughing at her when he saw how they played their game. “True.”

  “Wow, everything looks yummy,” Harper said scoping out the food, she ate just like a dude, which made Elli sick with how she could eat and not gain an ounce. “So this is a really nice place.”

  “It is,” Elli agreed as Shea and Jakob made their way into the kitchen.

  “Wow, nice spread Elli,” Jakob said, hugging Harper into his side.

  “Thanks, Jakob.”

  “I was just telling Elli, this is a nice place, Shea. I really like it,” Harper said, Shea nodded thanks as he poured wine for everyone.

  “I like it for just us,” Harper cut a look over at Elli, grinning ear to ear, but Elli just ignored her as Shea continued, “but I would like to get something bigger one day. I love Elli’s house, but it’s a little out there.”

  “Yeah,” Harper agreed, “Jakob and I are actually looking into houses.”

  Elli dropped the spoon she had in her hand, “Seriously?”

  “Yeah, my condo is so stinkin’ small, and he lives in an even smaller apartment, so we are looking into getting house,” Harper gushed with a grin.

  “Wow, that’s amazing!” Elli exclaimed just as the doorbell rang, “Someone’s here!”

  Shea was wicked nervous.

  He was more nervous about meeting Elli’s friends than he was about meeting her family. She actually loved these people! So it meant something if they didn’t like him. Elli was fine; she grabbed a hold of his hand, dragging him to the door to greet their guest. He loved when she was excited like this, and after setting up the Winter Wonderland in his living room, she was the biggest ball of sunshine he had ever seen.

  Elli threw the door open to a huge black man, and little bitty blonde haired woman. The girls let out a little squeal, wrapping each other up in a hug. “Come in, it’s freezin’ out!”

  They came inside, grinning ear to ear, “Jodi, Derrick, this is Shea,” Elli said as the pair beamed up at him, “Shea, this is my best friend Jodi, we used to sing together back in school and some on Broadway,” Jodi held out her hand, shaking Shea’s eagerly.

  “So nice to meet you! I’ve heard some much,” Jodi gushed.

  “It’s great to finally meet you,” Shea said, as Elli just stood by grinning.

  “And this is her husband Derrick. He looks mean, but he’s a teddy bear,” Elli said rubbing the man’s large belly. When he broke out in a huge smile, Shea could breathe. The dude was huge!

  They shook hands, just as the doorbell rang again.

  “Walter and Trice are here, y’all can head into the kitchen, Harper and Jakob are in there.” Elli said going to the door, as Jodi beamed back at her.

  “Two boyfriends in one day, it’s my Christmas wish come true.” Jodi gushed. Shea chuckled as the couple made their way into the kitchen. Elli then opened the door to two blonde haired men, one was wearing a pink jacket (no joke) while the other wore a nice tailored black one.

  “Hey guys, come on in.”

  The guys came in, grinning over at Elli. “I mean, goodness, Elli, you look fantastical! Radiant!” one of the guys said, while the heavier one nodded his head. “You do, darlin’!”

  “Thanks guys! Shea,” both men turned to look at Shea, looking him over as Elli went on with her spill, “This is Trice and Walter. Trice runs the makeup department at the TPAC, while Walter is the backstage director. Guys, this is Shea,” she said, before the guys took turns taking Shea’s hand in theirs.

  “Well, aren’t you perfect for our Elli, just the way she described you. It’s nice to meet you,” Trice said, Shea nodded as he smiled broadly.

  “Same here, thank you,” he said, as Elli took his hand in hers.

  “Y’all ready to eat? I’ve been cooking all night!”

  Everyone made their way into the dining as Shea and Elli carried all the food in, placing it in the middle of the table that Elli had made into a wonderland. She had actually dusted fake snow down the middle, with little Santas, snowmen, reindeer, and stars everywhere. The girl loved Christmas, something else he never knew. After placing all the food for everyone to dig in, Elli and Shea sat down and dinner started. The food was amazing but what Shea found surprising was how easy he fit in with Elli’s friends.

  He was nervous about Trice and Walter, since he didn’t really know any homosexuals, but the guys were funny as all hell and Shea enjoyed their stories of the terrible actress they were currently dealing with. Jodi and Derrick were so different that they worked; Jodi was a firecracker that loved the dramatics. Shea was certain the girl would break out in song at any minute. Derrick talked a lot about his job as a teacher at one of the prestigious private high schools in the city and since Shea’s paren
ts were also educators, they had a lot to talk about. So wonder Elli loved them so much, they were all great people.

  When Jodi stood, clanking the side of her glass, everyone stopped talking, bringing their attention to the cute little blonde. “I just want to make a toast to Elli, the food is divine honey, and I don’t think any of us could disagree on the fact that Shea is amazing.” Elli turned deep red as she smiled at Shea, while everyone agreed holding their glasses up. “Also, I would like to say that I never thought I would see the day when Harper Allen would have a boyfriend, or be moving in with the boyfriend, so here’s to you, Jakob, for taming the crazy bitch!”

  Everyone stated laughing as Jakob kissed Harper’s glaring face, but Jodi didn’t sit down, and when the tears welled up in her eyes, Elli stood, but Jodi shook her head, stopping Elli in her tracks. “We’re all in such good places right now, and this is the best time to tell everyone, don’t you think Derrick?” Jodi looked down at Derrick and he smiled, taking her hand in his, “We’re pregnant, guys!”

  Shea, Jakob, and Derrick were then left at the table as everyone hugged, gushed, and shrieked over Jodi, congratulating her as they rubbed her belly. Derrick shook his head, smiling over at the guys, “They act like I didn’t do anything.”

  Jakob and Shea had to laugh at that.

  After dinner and Elli yelling at everyone to leave the dishes alone, that she would do them later, they all gathered in the living room. Elli had Shea move the coffee table into the bedroom, since she said they had needed more room. Shea didn’t know what for but he did what she asked anyways.

  “Is Jakob gonna be able to play?” Jodi asked. Jakob looked up from his cake to Jodi then Harper.

  “Probably not, I don’t know, we can try. I’m the best here anyways so I’ll carry him if I need too,” Harper said with a smug grin. Elli rolled her eyes.

  “We all know I’m the best, so shut it!” Elli said laughing.