“I’m more of a purple kind of girl.” Bringing the bottle of Jack back up to my lips, I smiled at the thought of how this was going to turn out. The old Molly was coming back into the lime light, and it made me giddier then a high school senior who was losing her virginity on prom night.
“There, done. Now, we wait.” Ripping the gloves off her hand, Danielle tossed the evidence in the garbage and sank herself into a chair next to me.
We had purple color everywhere, and I didn’t even care. The bottle of Jack was almost gone, and tomorrow I would probably be hurting, but it seemed like a good idea for the time being. Tonight was the last night of my single girl freedom, and instead of going out and getting hammered in some dive bar, I was sitting in some classy hotel, drinking booze straight from the bottle, and dying my hair purple. If that didn’t scream high class society, then I really wasn’t southern royalty after all.
“I wonder what my mother would say if she knew what was going on.” Tossing the bottle back, I gulped down the remaining amount, and wiped my face off with the back of my hand. The burn was no longer evident as the liquid slid down my throat, and that probably should have signified that my tolerance amount had been meet. But, I was getting married, and, that was, a like a day away, or something along those lines.
“Well, luckily for you my purple headed goddess, you don’t have to know.” Danielle laughed while kicking off her heels. Grabbing another bottle from the sack, she chewed on the cap till the plastic wrapping came off. “Titties!”
Rolling my eyes, I tossed the empty bottle in my hand into the trash and carefully stood. Glancing in the large mirror to the left, I cringed when I noticed the purple along my hairline. “Did you manage to get any on my hair?” Grabbing a tissue, I started to wipe away the dye on my face.
“Well, if we would have stared before drinking, I’m sure it would have turned out better.” Dismissing my comment away with her hand, Danielle laughed before fixing the bottle up to her eager lips.
“Tonight was going to end badly,” Megan rambled while rocking her body gently back and forth on the large desk.
“Probably,” I replied. Stumbling over to the garbage can, I tossed the used tissues into it and staggered my way back to the bathroom. “I’m getting naked.”
“Stripper song time!” Danielle exclaimed as she bolted from the desk chair.
Yep, there was no saving the morality of the evening, and tomorrow morning was really going to suck.
“Wait for me!” I heard Megan yell, followed by a loud crash and uncontrollable laughter.
“No more booze.” Giving Danielle a pointed look, she smiled while handing over the bottle. Grabbing it, I snickered and brought it quickly up to my lips. “No more booze……….after this bottle.”
“You’re a fucking genius, Molly.”
Ah, that I am.
***
“I don’t know which one of you ass clowns decided that it was a good idea to buy that much booze last night, but I am going to kill you both.” Seething, I closed my eyes tightly to avoid the horrible glare of the sunshine streaming through the windows. “It’s fucking Seattle! Where in the hell was the clouds?”
I heard someone groaning from the other side of the bed, and then realized that Rain was crying in the next room. “Ah, two headed dick poodles, I’m coming, baby.” Forcing myself up right, a wave of nausea rqn through my body and I jumped out of the bed looking for a trashcan.
“Here.” Thrusting a small black bin in my face, Tiny took a step back as I hurled the contents of last night into the reciprocal. “Rough night?”
“Can you grab the baby?” I muttered with my face still planted in the garbage can.
“Megan’s grandma has her. You owe that woman a luxury cruise after last night.”
“Huh?” I asked, lifting my head slightly. The last thing I recalled was having Megan dry my now purple and blonde hair, and draining the last bottle in the brown paper sack.
“Well, after Danielle stumbled complete wasted into my bedroom, I had to make sure the rest of you dumbasses were still alive. Thankfully, you were passed out in that bed, and Megan had made a nice bed for herself in the bathroom tub. Megan’s grandma was out there cleaning up the mess you three had made, from now, what I see was your hair, and all the bottles scattered around the room.”
Groaning, I set the garbage can down on an end table and forcefully rubbed my face. Why I thought last night was a good idea baffled the hell out of me. Talk about being responsible for my daughter, since I had left her with someone else for the entire night.
“I’m going to die.” Sinking down in the desk chair, I dropped my head onto the cool glass of the desk and silently prayed the room would stop spinning.
“Well, I ordered some greasy food and lots of water to be sent up. You’re going to eat it and then get in the shower. I can smell the booze seeping out of your pours.”
Lifting me head off the desk, Tiny just stood over me shaking his head. Sure, I screwed up last night, but it wasn’t anything those fools had never done. Okay, maybe not before their wedding, but they’ve screwed up plenty of times, too.
“The beauty people will be here in like an hour. You might want to start praying for miracle workers.” Tiny let out a small chuckle as he wandered out of the room.
“I hate you, Megan,” I shouted loudly across the room, cringing as my own voice stung my stupid head.
“There was no genie,” Danielle muttered from the other side of the bed. I watched as she bolted up in bed, with a panicked look her face, she spun around looking for a clock.
“Cocksucker!” she shrieked while tumbling out of bed. Bracing herself on the bed quickly, she narrowed her eyes at me and mouthed a few words I couldn’t understand. “Whose great idea was it last night to drink?”
Pointing my finger at the bathroom, I grumbled Megan’s name before laying my head back down on the desk.
“Well, suck it up, Bitch. We might be hung over as hell, but you’re getting married.” It was like the moment she remembered the wedding, damn super crazy wedding planning Danielle emerged again. No longer was she trying to steady herself with the bed, she was raring to go and attack the day.
“One second,” Danielle muttered as she brought her hand up to cover her mouth while sprinting to the bathroom.
A smile erupted on my face knowing that she was going to hurl, too. It wouldn’t be fair if she didn’t get to share in the misery on my big day. Fucking alcohol.
“Take these,” Danielle instructed holding out her hand.
Opening my palm, I narrowed my eyes at the two little white pills, then scrunched my nose at her. “I’m fine.”
“No, you look like shit and are getting married in a couple hours. Take those and down another gallon of water.” Walking away, I heard Danielle as she muttered a few other things before barking out orders on her cell phone.
Letting out a sigh, I tossed the pills into my mouth and finished them off with a large drink. Looking over at Megan sitting in the chair next to me, she carefully bounced Rain in her arms while keeping her eyes closed. Thankfully, the baby was being good this morning while Megan’s grandmother got a nap in before the main event. That blessed woman offered to watch her during the ceremony and reception, basically taking a massive amount of worry off my shoulders as what I would have been doing with her during that time. Most bride and grooms didn’t have to worry about their children, since they probably hadn’t spawned anything yet, but in situations like mine, where I was still new to the whole motherhood thing, details like that didn’t exactly cross my mind.
“I need you to look up,” Tara, the makeup guru instructed me as my shoulders slumped and my head dropped slightly. Luckily, this woman worked wonders in the world of makeup, thus being able to hide the stupid binder we went on last night from being written all over my face. There would have been nothing worse than looking like absolute shit from too much Jack Daniels on your wedding day, and knowing that it was being splashed
across the pages of a magazine in less than a week wasn’t exactly an easy thought for my meddled mind to digest. I didn’t care how many layers it took of the crap, I was going to look damn good walking down that freaking aisle.
I didn’t know if it was my nerves that had my stomach turning, or the copious amounts of alcohol I had consumed last night that made me break out into a massive panic attack when Sadie, our hair dresser, attached the veil to my half up do.
“Don’t you dare pass out on me, Molly.” Danielle threatened, looking me straight in the eyes while grabbing either sides of my shoulders.
I hadn’t even put on the dress yet, but the thought of the whole thing actually happening had sent me into a tailspin of panic. I needed to call this whole thing off. It was a stupid idea to even entertain the thought of marriage, let along go along with the whole thing this long. Who in the hell was I to marry Reid Chambers, let along raise a child? I was Molly Anne McGlenister. The girl who had no friends in school, wore Chuck Taylors to formal events, and played guitar for hours upon end. I fell upstairs, spilled things when I drank, carelessly toss back the booze when the event presents itself, and had no connection with my family what-so-ever. Why was I trying to fool myself and start this own weird, little demented, version of my own family?
I couldn’t marry a rock start, let alone one of the most sought after men on this planet. He had a freaking kid for gosh sakes, which my assistant’s grandmother was taking care of for me while I’m pretending to get all glamorous for the wedding I never even wanted. Of all the stupid ideas I had ever thought of, this one had to take the cake. I couldn’t go along………….
“Molly Anne Chambers, knock it the fuck off!” Danielle smacked me across the face, and it startled me back to reality.
“Great, Danielle. Now I’m going to have to add more concealer,” Tara muttered behind me.
“You need to turn that damn brain of yours off right now. This is your wedding. Your fucking once in a lifetime fairy tale ending, to your damn prince charming who swept you off your feet the moment you laid eyes upon each other. You have a beautiful daughter, and one hell of a future together, so stop over analyzing the situation and get your shit together.”
Still completely stunned that Danielle had actually smacked me, I tried to even out my breathing as Tara brushed some powder across my heated cheek.
“You good?”
Nodding my head slightly, I forced a gulp down and stood there in silence. This was what I wanted. I wanted to marry Reid, and I loved that little girl more than life itself. Maybe, it wasn’t the most conventional relationship, but it worked for the three of us. I was going to be Molly Anne Chambers in a few hours, and everything would fall into place.
“I’m sorry I smacked you, but I just couldn’t deal with that kind of bullshit today,” Danielle sighed while adjusting her bright red dress in the mirror.
Looking over my shoulder, I watched as Megan’s grandmother walked out of the small kitchen area, cradling a sleeping Rain. Smiling, I realized that everything I did since the day she was placed in my arms was for her. We were officially starting our family today, and my damn nerves needed to calm the fuck down.
A knock on the door broke my attention away from Rain, as I watched Megan scurry over to answer it.
“Um……Molly,” she called out with hesitation.
Giving her a puzzled look, I watched as her posture started to tense and panic washed over her face.
“It’s your mom.”
My heart dropped and the world began to spin; this was not happening today.
“Somebody grab her,” was all I heard before the darkness pulled me under.
Chapter 28
Adding lipstick won’t cover up the crazy.
“Molly. Molly, wake up. Molly I swear to god if you wrinkle that veil.”
I could hear Danielle’s voice as I slowly opened my eyes and got reacquainted with the room. I was sitting on the chair I had my hair and makeup done in, and everyone in the room was crowded around me, staring like I was a caged animal at the zoo.
“Drink,” Megan instructed as she handed me a glass of orange juice. “We need to get your sugars up.”
“Did I faint?” I asked while reaching out for the glass. It all happened so fast, Megan said something to me, and the next thing I remembered was the world going black.
“Yep, but thankfully Sadie caught you before hitting the floor and breaking something else in your body.” Danielle chuckled as she nervously looked over her shoulder.
“Sorry. For some reason I thought Megan had said my mom was here.” Letting out a small laugh, I carefully brought the glass to my lips and took small sips of the liquid.
It was if you could cut the tension with a knife, and all the insides would spill out, in this obviously stressful glory, on the floor in front of me. Not a single person standing around me could hide their nerves that riddled their faces. I was looking over at Danielle, whose skin was normally beautifully tanned, now whiter than my skin in the winter, when I realized the bitch as actually in my hotel room.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I seethed. From panic, to worry, to sheer anger, I couldn’t focus on the right emotion as it all pulsed through my body. Pushing the glass off on Megan, I gripped the arms of the chair and stood up quickly.
“Molly, just give yourself a second,” Megan said in a rushed tone, reaching her hand out and catching my elbow slightly.
I ripped myself out of her grasp and pushed past Danielle and Tara who were conveniently blocking the sight of my mother.
“Molly,” Tiny’s voice rang out.
My eyes shot over in his direction, but my gaze was instantly pulled back to my mother standing next to him.
Holding my hand out for him not to make another sound, my insides burned at the thought of her showing up today and ruining everything. She was like a poison that spread its evil at the mere sight of the woman; nothing good had ever came of her just showing up unannounced, anywhere.
“What are you doing here?” I frothed, stopping just inches in front of her. Giving her a quick glance over, she was perfectly polished, as I expected her to be. Her well-tailored pant suite, covered her cream point shoes perfectly, skimming the floor at just the right height. The collar on her jacket was neatly pressed, and those stupid pearls hung delicately from her neck, mocking me in some weird southern fashion. There wasn’t a single hair out of place, and a soft pale lip was painted flawlessly on her botoxed face. She was textbook southern royalty, everything I strived so hard not to be now that I was an adult.
“You’re getting married,” she spoke confidently. Even in this stressful time, where she knew without a doubt I was pissed beyond belief that she had shown up, my mother would show no fear. “It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t come and give you my blessing.”
“Your blessing? Are you fucking bat shit crazy, Mother? For starters, how in the hell did you find out that I was getting married? Oh, wait, it probably was in some gossip magazine that one of your little buzzard friends picked up at the salon, and couldn’t wait to ruin your day by spilling the gossip on your failure of a child.”
“Actually, I was sent an invitation a few weeks ago. I apologize for not letting you know directly that I would be attending, but I didn’t have any contact information for you at the time.” Her cool blue eyes tore through mine, as I fought hard to keep my composure.
Looking over my shoulder, I shot a murderous stare at Danielle and Megan, who both shook their head, indicating the leaked invitation wasn’t their doing.
“I’ve had the same number forever, Mother.” My insides screamed to make a run for it, but my feet were firmly planted on the stupid tile entry way.
“I didn’t know that, my apologies once again. Can you give us a minute to talk?” My mother looked over at Tiny with a smile.
Tiny’s posture wavered as if he didn’t know what to do. My mother was so calm and collected, that even though they knew leaving me alone with her
would only lead to destruction, her perfect demeanor had everyone questioning who the crazy one was in the room.
“Do not move, Tiny,” I barked, locking eyes with him, then quickly turning back to my mother.
“I’m not doing this with you, Mother. Not on my wedding day, not in front of everyone that has been here for me, and certainly not in front of my daughter. I’m sorry that you came all this way for nothing, but I have to kindly ask you to leave.” Clenching my teeth, I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep my mouth shut. My mind was spinning with things I wanted to shout at the woman, but giving her the satisfaction of flipping out would only solidify the thought in her mind that she had done nothing wrong.
“Molly Anne, I’m only here to offer my apologies for the last few months. Today, you are getting married and I would very much like to be a part of it.” My mother’s hand reached out to touch my arm, but I managed to step back before she connected.
“No. I don’t care who sent you the invite, I don’t want you here. I can’t even begin to deal with this bullshit today.” My body began to shake and I knew the tears were going to be hard to stop from falling if I didn’t get away from this uber bitch. I wasn’t about to ruin the makeup Sadie spent hours doing, on someone like my mother. She wasn’t worth the mascara lines that threatened to run down my cheeks.
Shaking my head in disgust, I turned quickly and stormed over to Megan’s grandma. Carefully, I grabbed my sleeping daughter and made a beeline for the bedroom. Refusing to give my mother another glance, I kept my head held high as I stopped in the doorway.
“Please let my mother know my deepest sympathies on not being able to share this day with her. But, today was about family. I am marrying a man who had accepted me from the very beginning, and together we are going to raise our daughter with love, compassion, and understanding that everyone in the world is different, and that’s something to celebrate.” Shutting the door behind me, I slowly sank to the floor, still clutching Rain carefully to my chest.
Invisible Crown Page 19
