"Because you don't have to compound your mistakes," Tessa argued in exasperation. "Besides, we'll all get into trouble with Dad if he finds out any of us went drinking because we're not legally allowed yet."
Anna thrust her chin up stubbornly. "I'm already in trouble with him. I might as well earn all my colors and be the black sheep among his children. One of us has to do it. We're all too darn perfect."
I watched the sisters' exchange in silent interest.
Obviously, there was a lot of tension going on between the two. Tessa was being a lot more outspoken than usual and Anna was as cranky as a girl with a period on steroids. Reading between the lines, I figured it had something to do with Anna's illicit love affair but this wasn't the place to wash her linen in public.
"Hey, Tess. Felicity wanted your opinion on the thesis draft she outlined," I blurted out, putting an arm around the younger sister and steering her toward the food bar where Felicity was talking with Macy. Both girls were sporting bikinis—Macy in a blue and white striped number and Felicity in a yellow and pink bandeau set.
Both girls looked up at our arrival and I beamed at my assistant. "Fel, tell Tessa about your thesis. She's majoring in sociology. You mentioned something about women's movement or something like that. I'm sure Tessa can talk to you about it."
And before any of them could protest, I turned on my heel and headed for Anna who was scowling at her cellphone.
"Anna, come on. I'll show you the change room." I grabbed her by the elbow with no warning and dragged her to the small hall that led to the shower and change room. "I want to see what you're wearing. I need swimsuit ideas for my honeymoon trip with Brandon."
Anna eyed me warily. "I don't think you need help in that department. That set you have on will have his blood running hot."
I turned to the wall-sized mirror to check myself out.
It was quite a sexy number.
The halter top was red with white polka dots and small ruffles outlining the inner edges of the triangles that covered my sizeable cups.
The tiny bottom was bright red and cut high enough to show a good lower half of my bum, only subtly made decent by the small, lightly ruffled skirt that wrapped around it from the waistband down.
The design definitely played up my curves and the cut of the waistband was kind to my not so flat abdomen that for a moment, I could actually believe I worked out quite a lot. I'd gotten into the routine of running and dancing but I wore down Felicity on her insistence that I go to the gym. Still, what work out I did paid off by the look of my toned legs and tight butt. They didn't look like they were made of steel but at least they didn't jiggle, probably more in thanks to being on my feet all day, waiting tables at Marlow's.
"I can't believe you're still a virgin." Anna's bemused comment drew my attention back to her. She was sitting on a plush armchair, unstrapping her high-heeled sandals. "Who comes out of high school nowadays without having lost it?"
I gave her a meaningful look. "Those who didn't feel like giving it away. Many of the guys in high school were selfish, immature jerks who would screw a post if it had the appropriate receptacle. I just couldn't deal with that."
Anna laughed although it sounded hollow and pained. "I have a feeling the restraint was all on your side now. I'm just amazed that brother is marrying a girl he couldn't sleep with first considering he's slept with dozens of women all these years without taking any of them to the altar."
Oh, we're a special case. You have no idea.
I made a face. "Do you really want to discuss your older brother's sex life with me?"
Anna wrinkled her nose. "Not really. I'm just... surprised, that's all, considering things looked hot and heavy between you two in the backseat of his car when you showed up at brunch."
I grinned although I could feel my cheeks warm up. "The hot part was just the summer heat. The heavy part was me crushing the life out of your brother by sitting on him."
Anna smiled and shook her head before rising to her now-bare feet and picking up her beach tote. "Hmm. Well, I hope you get to do more... sitting on him on your honeymoon. I'll go change. I'll see you outside in a few minutes."
The party was actually a real blast throughout the barbecue dinner, the pool-side karaoke and some of the games we played like Pin The Cherry On Top where we all took turns placing the paper cut-out of a cherry on certain body parts of a nearly-nude, life-sized Ryan Gosling covered up in printed swirls of whipped cream in strategic locations.
After the games, we all sat down around the pool ledge and unwrapped the presents the girls brought me. Since they were all decidedly naughty, I was slightly horrified especially when the girls started giving me tips on how to best use the toys and other kinky items which I decided not to name out loud.
The only not-so-fun part of our night was the obvious elephant sitting between the two Maxfield sisters who avoided looking or speaking at each other. Anna was getting wasted despite my attempts to water down her drinks when she wasn't looking and Tessa was starting to look like she was plotting an assassination.
Jake rang my phone so I stepped inside the lounge, trying to get away from the noise.
"I know I shouldn't call and ask but how's your bachelorette party so far?" he asked and I could hear the grin on his voice. "Have any of the girls made out? Will you take a video and send it to me?"
I laughed as I tiptoed toward the change room. I'd already gotten out of my wet swimsuit and was now wearing denim cut-offs, a halter top and flip-flops. "Whether they have or not, I'm not sending you a video. Don't be a cad. It's all innocent fun."
He snorted. "I doubt it. Otherwise, why would women ban men from their bachelorette party? It's because they all want to get freaky with each other and they don't want us to watch. It's a psychological form of torture."
"Then write a paper on it," I said with a smirk. "Meanwhile, you're just going to have to continue wondering about it because that's all—"
I stopped talking when I heard the raised voices coming out of the change room. They couldn't be by anyone else but the sisters.
"Hey, Jake. I'll call you later, okay? Bye." I turned off my phone and hurried to the change room, walking right into the progressing screaming match between Anna and Tessa.
"—if you want him to think you're so pathetic that you'll do—"
"—don't pretend to understand... I have to know! I can't just—"
"Hey, hey!" I loudly chimed in and put myself between them.
Anna was swaying slightly and Tessa was already dressed and clutching her bag.
"What's going on here, ladies?" I demanded. "And don't say nothing because you resemble a pair of kittens trying to scratch each other's eyes out. Spill."
Neither of them spoke—just kept glaring at each other.
I sighed loudly and held up my phone. "Let me just find Martin's number here—"
"Charlotte!" Anna lunged for my phone and snatched it away, staggering straight for the floor if I hadn't caught her and pushed her back so she found her footing, as wobbly as it was.
"Jason's celebrating his fifth wedding anniversary with his wife tonight and Anna lost it," Tessa finally said, shaking her head. "She keeps forgetting she's the other woman."
"That's enough, Tess!" Anna hissed at her sister. "Don't judge me and Jason because you, of all people, have no idea what it's like to be in love! You don't understand! He loves me! Not her."
"What does that matter? It's not your name on the marriage certificate," Tessa retorted. "Until he actually mans up and puts your name on it instead of hers, I won't believe that whole love-crap he's selling you."
Anna's expression contorted into a mask of anger and hurt and I did my best to hold her back so she didn't decapitate her sister. "Of course you won't because no man has ever loved you! You know why, Tess? It's because you're a freaking saint! No one's good enough for you! No one can do anything right! And you know what? You're going to become your own prediction because you will have no one! You
're going to wake up one day and you'll find yourself old and lonely and when you do, remember that you did it to yourself!"
Whoa! Where's the third sister? Isn't this the Kardashians' reality show? No?
My humor fled though when I got a good look at Tessa and saw the pain flash in her eyes as her lips trembled with the effort not to burst into tears.
"Tessa..." I said slowly, wondering how I was going to get to her without letting go of Anna who would most likely make out with the floor without my support.
"I'm fine, Charlotte," she said stiffly as she squared her shoulders and sniffed back her tears. "Don't worry about me. If there's anyone who needs worrying, it's my hot mess of a sister who can't even see that she deserves so much more than the scraps she's settling for with a guy who will never love her like she loves him."
I winced and glanced at Anna who was furiously dabbing the tears from her eyes. "Why don't we just maybe sit and—"
"I'm sorry but I have to go," Tessa said in a small voice hardened with finality. "I hope you enjoy the rest of your party."
"Tessa, wait!"
But she was gone in seconds, leaving me with a gasping and muttering Anna who didn't look a bit like her usual glamorous self with her hair matted on her forehead and her eyes glazed with a drunken look.
"What the hell is wrong witih you, Anna?" I said with a sigh as I settled her into the armchair where she'd sat earlier unstrapping her shoe. "Where is the cool and confident Anna Maxfield everyone in Worthington Prep knew?"
Her face crumpled into tears and I swore under my breath. Apparently it was the wrong thing to say to a woman having an emotional breakdown.
"Just leave me alone, Charlotte," she said, sniffling loudly. "You don't have to pretend you care about me. Whether I like you or not has no influence on Brandon's decision to marry you. He and Tessa are like that—as cold and unaffected as a statue."
I opened my mouth to say something but she let out a brittle and ironic laugh that grated at my ears.
"And to think Tessa would preach to me about love, of all people!" Anna continued. "She won't know what it is if it hit her in the face."
"And you know better," I said simply.
It wasn't really a question but Anna frowned and regarded it as if it were one and I was impertinent to ask it.
"If you know better, then why are sitting here, crying your eyes out?" I asked. "If you know better, then why are you not happy? Or is it because you don't actually know better and you're just crossing your fingers, hoping that you are, so there's some justification to your suffering other than plain stupidity?"
Anna narrowed her eyes at me. "Don't preach to me as if you know better."
I shook my head. "I'm not because I don't know better and you know what? That's alright because I don't want to be so convinced in my philosophy that I wouldn't look at what's right there for me to see. Sometimes you so desperately want to see that it's love, you'll insist on labeling what's in front of you as that even when it's not."
Anna bit her lip and looked away, both of us falling into silence.
"Not everyone understands what's between me and Jason," she finally said in a small voice. "I know it looks bad but things couldn't be more right when we're together. We just met too late but it doesn't mean we can't make it right. We will make it right."
"And you might be right and we could be all dead wrong," I agreed with a solemn nod. "But until that happens, you're going to have to figure something out for yourself because you're hurting too much."
She said nothing, her misery clear on her face, and I took pity on her. "Anna, do you have any security we can call tonight?"
She shook her head, snorting, "No. I haven't had anyone tailing me around since I was sixteen. It's my hard-won victory from Dad."
"Okay, then stay here and let me just tell the other girls we're heading out," I told her gently, touching her knee. "I think we should get you home so you can rest and sleep it off."
She barely nodded and I wasted no time in heading right back out to the pool to talk to Felicity. I assigned to wrap up the party and make sure everyone got driven home safely.
I slipped on an oversized, light gray sweatshirt, pulled my hair up into a messy top-knot and was just heading for the change room when I saw Becca coming out.
I tensed, worried that she ran into Anna who, given her current mood, might have mouthed off at her rudely. "Is Anna still there, holding up in one piece?"
"Anna?" she asked. "She stormed off a few minutes ago saying something about going to the bar. I thought she meant out here. Isn't she around?"
My heart sank. "No. Crap! She bailed on me."
"Char, what's wrong?" Becca called out as I dashed toward the door.
"Nothing! Thanks for coming, Becs!" I hollered back at her before slamming the door shut behind me.
I jumped into the elevator and practically punched the button for the lobby into the panel, praying with all my might that Anna just went downstairs to the bar where they would hopefully be more discerning and ID her and refuse her more alcohol. She had enough drinks she could power a small engine.
The host manning the door gingerly stepped in front of me just as I was about to bolt through the entrance of the swanky hotel bar, his eyes appraising my unkempt appearance.
Oh, right. You look like you've been scrubbing the toilet.
I spotted a flash of dark pink beyond his shoulder and my gaze zeroed in on Anna draped over the bar, practically sitting on a guy's lap, her sun dress about to unravel with a sneeze from either of them.
"I just need to get to my friend over there so I can get her home," I told the host, trying my best to wave at Anna who wasn't even looking my way. "I'll just be thirty seconds, I promise."
"Are you a hotel guest, ma'am?" he asked in a bored tone, not budging one bit from his spot.
"Yes! We just rented the rooftop pool lounge for my bachelorette party tonight," I said impatiently. "It's booked under Aimee Compton."
He made a ceremony out of going over his logs on the computer without one hint of urgency while I watched Anna pour herself over the guy like a cocktail drink.
"And are you Aimee Compton?" the host asked, looking up from his computer.
I blinked and returned my attention to him. "No, no. My name is Charlotte Samuels. Aimee's my best friend."
He didn't look like he believed me either way and he just cleared his throat. "Well, Ms. Samuels, see, we have a dress code for guests coming into the bar and it doesn't allow for—"
"I am Mr. Brandon Maxfield's fiancee and that girl with her tongue down some guy's throat over at the bar is his sister and if you don't let me in so I can take her home before she throws up all over your fancy counter, we will all be in serious trouble," I finally snapped. I hated bandying Brandon's name about but desperate times called for desperate measures. "Capish?"
The man's brows shot up in surprise but his eyes immediately narrowed. "Five minutes ago someone tried to come in claiming to be Paris Hilton's sister."
I groaned and stepped around his little desk and shoving his hands away from the keyboard.
"Hey, hey! What do you think you're doing?"
"Just a sec!" I chided loudly, exiting out of their booking system and clicking on a browser until I could get to a search engine. I typed mine and Brandon's name in it and clicked on the first image that showed up in the results. It was a photo of us arriving at the engagement party, smiling at the camera. Given I was a little bit more done up in the photo than I currently looked but the face was the same.
"There! Is that good enough?" I stepped aside so the man could crane his head at the screen. Before he could answer, I jumped around him and ran into the bar, heading straight for Anna.
I ignored the mutterings of the people I passed and grabbed Anna by the wrist, trying to wrench her away from this oily-faced guy who was frisking her like he worked for TSA.
"Anna, let's go!"
She turned to me and giggled, wrapping her
arms around the guy's neck. "Charlotte! Look! This is Ted!"
Ted glanced at me, appreciation lighting up his eyes as he looked me up and down. I suddenly wished I did have those two horns I mentioned earlier.
"Hey, baby," he said in a nauseatingly smooth voice as slick as the grease on his nose. "Why don't you join me and your friend for a little private party at my suite upstairs? I have the best view in this hotel, you know? You may not notice it though because I'll blow your minds away."
I gave him a tight smile, gripping Anna's arm more tightly. For a staggering drunk, she was suprisingly strong.
"If you're the standard to judge the results by, I'll take a pass," I said pertly. "I like my brain where it is. You've clearly splattered yours into oblivion some time ago."
Anna burst into more giggles. "Charlotte, you're so funny! Ted, isn't Charlotte funny?"
Ted's brains must have really been blown up into pieces because my sarcasm didn't register on him. He just grinned and licked his flabby lower lip. "She's funny but I bet she's a screamer."
I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'll scream like a banshee and twist your balls off. Then you'll be a soprano."
I turned to Anna and tugged at her arm again. "Come on, Anna. Let's go."
She stubbornly stomped her feet. "No! I'll stay here with Ted. Everyone will be happy now. He's my one true love."
I took a deep breath and summoned all my restraint as I turned to Ted who was smiling smugly. "Listen. While I'm sure you're some unfortunate girl's one true love, this, sadly, isn't her."
"Says who?"
"Says the gods of fate and the only sober and rational person in this conversation they could entrust that wisdom with!" I retorted, clenching my free fist. "Now, if you'll excuse us, Romeo, we've got something better to do like get the hell away from you as fast as we can. Goodnight."
And before Anna could protest, I yanked her away until she stumbled off his lap. She didn't offer more resistance as I started dragging her with me.
The host I snuck from suddenly came up in front of me and I glowered at him. "What? Did my ID pass or what?"
The Mischievous Mrs. Maxfield Page 19
