I used my trust fund to pay for my donations, so I guess it was my parents who were donating, but as long as the money went to a good cause, who cared where it came from. We each gave one hundred thousand dollars to each other’s charities. My charity was always a local kids’ camp for children with behavioral problems. For Sinclair it was to Veterans of America and Reyna’s charity was a charity to help single mothers in poor neighborhoods.
My mother and father always donated to the Ronald McDonald House, which provides housing for families with seriously ill children. Giving these gifts always made us feel good, and the charities needed and welcomed our money. After that exchange, we could really feel the spirit of Christmas. After all the presents were opened it was time to eat and slow down the paper ripping and the craziness for the two smallest members of our family. Well, Junior just chewed on stuff, but Arianna was quite the ripper.
“What do you say we get some mimosas, homemade cinnamon buns, and Mexican chocolate,” Sinclair announced.
“Sounds amazing,” Melody chimed in. “I’m starving.”
I laughed. “For a little thing, you sure love to eat.”
“Oh yes, I do.” She smiled and grabbed my hand.
As the family filed into the dining room, I pulled Melody aside. “I feel kind of embarrassed. I don’t have anything for you to open today. I’m giving you your gift tomorrow because it’s a surprise.” I felt like a little shit, I hadn’t really gotten her anything, but I did have an idea I was working on.
“That’s fine. I don’t expect anything from you.”
Either she was a really good actor, or truly didn’t expect a gift. Seeing the look on her face made me even more determined to do something amazing, I just had to figure out what.
“So,” my mother said as we were eating breakfast. “I saw that video you made on YouTube, Sage. It went viral, shocking.” She did seem truly shocked. I was equally as shocked; I had no idea she knew what going viral meant.
Chapter 10
Melody
Sage was right about his family; they were very pretentious and hard to read. When his mom mentioned the YouTube video and said she liked it, I was encouraged; however, she asked the two of us to do the traditional version after breakfast. I could feel my stomach coiling into knots. We sang it differently expressly because we didn’t want to sing it the traditional way. We did sing it, but not quite traditionally, it was a bit of mix our way and the traditional. She was quite complimentary, which alleviated a lot of my fears and helped me warm to her, but still, she was strange. Lydia and Seymore Harris were odd people who were too rich, in my opinion.
“Sage,” she said. “I don’t think you’ve ever sounded so good. This young lady must be a tremendous influence on you.
I smiled and cocked my head. “Oh, you have no idea.” I looked over to Sage, who seemed irritated.
“She and I definitely are finding our groove,” he said in such a way one wouldn’t assume we were talking about music.
I’m sure I blushed.
Sage’s brother Shelton entered the room, and everyone went quiet.
“Merry Christmas,” he said to everyone in a fake voice that was cold and distant.
That’s one thing that could be said for this family. They had cold, fake, and distant, down to a tee.
“Merry Christmas, Uncle Shelton,” Arianna said, waving her arms.
She was definitely the sweetest child alive. None of the rest of us were able to give him that much grace. We could learn a lot from her.
Sage’s mother finally stood from her chair and opened her arms. “It’s so good to see you, Shelton.” She hugged him, and Sinclair got up and pulled out a chair for him to sit at the table.
“Glad you could make it.” He sounded very sincere; it was probably because he spent most of his life around actors.
Shelton took a seat next to his mom and dad.
“Can I get you some cinnamon rolls, fruit, espresso?” Sinclair asked as his hand spread across the offerings at the table.
“I’ll help myself,” Shelton answered with the same plastic kindness. “So, Mother? Father? How are you?” he asked casually filling his plate with pastries.
“We can’t complain. We’re busy, but you know, living abroad is exciting stuff. You have to acclimate to a new culture and find a way to fit in. Mostly we’re just enjoying retirement and seeing the world. Isn’t that right, Seymore?” Sage’s mother asked her husband, making conversation that seemed strained but “pleasant.”
“Getting a lot of fishing done. Mom and I bought a yacht, and we spend time out on the ocean, with a captain who knows the area well,” Sage’s dad said, loading a cinnamon roll into his mouth.
“Sounds lovely. Well,” Shelton abruptly changed gears, “I brought presents for everyone.” He stood up and grabbed a handful of bags from expensive stores.
It was weird to do this right during brunch, but I was coming to understand there was very little about the Harris family that wasn’t just a little weird.
“Let’s put them under the tree,” Sinclair suggested, standing up and helping Shelton by taking some of the bags from him.
The rest of the breakfast was awkward and painful at best. After Shelton arrived, the boring small talk commenced, and most of us rushed to finish our meal. Luckily, Arianna was excited about opening more presents, and so we used that as our motivation to return to the main room.
I cradled my vodka cranberry and Reyna hugged her Chardonnay. I found myself staying by the door waiting for Charlynn to show up and add some life to the morning. She was a late sleeper and wasn’t the kind to pretend she wasn’t. It was still pretty early for her, even though it was already eleven. I realized how early we started drinking and got over it … it was an awkward Christmas morning. At least they had a bar.
Everyone exchanged lovely gifts. We played Cards Against Humanity while the children napped, which was probably the most fun we’d had all day. It was a game where one tried to find the wittiest answer to a question among pre-made answers they had been dealt with. Some of the cards were horribly scandalous and yet, the plastic family glazed over insults and innuendos and pretended they didn’t know exactly what was going on. That was the funniest part of the game, watching them all pretend not to be insulting each other. I tried not to laugh at inappropriate times, but it was an effort.
Charlynn finally made her appearance after the card game, so she, Reyna, and I snuck away to the den to play with the kids. It felt good to get out of the tension and feigned perfection.
“Ugh, I sure remember Christmas at your place being way more fun last year,” I said flopping on the overstuffed couch.
“Yes, well the black sheep didn’t come last year, remember? I wonder why Lydia insisted that Shelton be at Christmas this year? It’s not like anyone is really enjoying his company,” Reyna commented, perplexed.
“I can’t believe you can even look that man in the face after what he did to you over the Christopher Regent sexual harassment thing. How dare he be the defense lawyer against you … I’d rip his face clean off. You are such a good woman, Reyna,” Charlynn said, taking a sip of her drink.
“He claims he took the case to help Chris lose it for me. It’s not like I needed help winning, the man was a scum bag and got what he deserved. Plus there were so many of us. Chris is behind bars, hopefully for the rest of his life and well … it’s just one day, right?” Reyna seemed to be trying to convince herself.
“Yeah, and he’s at least being decent, even though I didn’t hear about him apologizing to you,” Charlynn said, still judging.
“He didn’t,” Reyna confessed, her mood darkening. “Can we talk about something more Christmasy? What’s done is done.” Reyna gave her own version of a plastic smile.
I covered my mouth. “Oh my God, the plastic smile thing is contagious,” I teased.
Reyna rolled her eyes at me. “And how about we ride the elephant in the room, shall we? I’ve seen more of you in the last
few days than I ever did when we were living together. You and Sage are having a lot of slumber parties lately.” She gave me a sly smile.
“No, I saw you more when we were living together,” I rebuffed, puffing up my chest, getting ready for the grilling.
Actually, I needed to talk to them. I was feeling weird about Sage. I knew we were just exploring all of this, but somehow, I expected something different. I enjoyed having sex, and boy was he an intense lover, but I thought hanging out would be a little more fun. We were going at it pretty hot and furious, but some downtime to get to know each other would have been nice.
“Yeah, it’s time to spill it; what’s going on with you and Sage?” Charlynn asked point-blank.
“Well, we just … we were both so attracted to one another we just decided to go for it. The problem is, I don’t really know what “it” is. So far it’s just been really … great, but mostly it’s just intense sex and music. He’s gotten under my skin, though, and I wrote this song for him, for Christmas and it was just … it said it all. I’m falling so hard for the guy, but I can’t say the same for him. I think he likes what we’re doing, but I’m not sure he’s in as deep as I am.” Ugh, there it was out on the table. “Any words of advice?
“Run …” Charlynn teased.
“I get it, Mel. The Harris men are a strange breed. They’re dominant and sexy in bed but getting into their hearts is a challenge. Look at their mom and dad, I mean this is their family Christmas and see how stuffy and cold everyone is? Sinclair and I really try to raise the kids in a much more loving way,” Reyna segued for her own self-assurance, but I understood what she was saying.
How could anyone be warm and loving with emotional depth and fortitude after being raised by two “plastic” parents?
“Which you are so doing. Arianna and Sinclair Jr. are going to be such well-rounded people one day,” Charlynn affirmed.
“Here’s hoping.” Reyna raised her glass and smiled. “But Mel, just go with the flow. Sage is a smart, fun guy, but be careful. He knows how cute he is, and he takes advantage at times.” Reyna’s voice fell.
“Yeah, that’s what I worry about. I mean, I didn’t get into this for marriage and all of that, but ...” I took a big sigh, “he’s kind of snagged me.” I felt like shit saying it.
“How exactly?” Charlynn was rightfully skeptical.
“We just seem to fit. We understand each other, and more importantly, can’t get enough of one another. I’ve never had so much sex in my whole life … at least not in such a short amount of time. I just … he’s like a drug,” I confessed, immediately feeling ashamed after saying it.
“Well, enjoy the spell for now, but don’t expect forever unless the both of you want it and work for it,” Reyna said before Sinclair walked in.
“Dinner is served.” He used a silly British accent and we all laughed.
“Four o’clock?” Charlynn asked, her face screwing into a perplexing twist.
“Sure, why not? Since we’re all having so much fun!” Sinclair crossed his eyes, and we laughed.
It was nice to just laugh and let off a little steam. Reyna had changed Sinclair some. He was much more playful and kind since becoming a husband and father; maybe Sage would follow suit. Who knew, I just had to do as Reyna suggested and let life unfold as it was meant to.
We joined everyone at the table and ate from fine china with servers attending our every need. It would have been a completely wonderful day had everyone not been on edge, pretending to be people they weren’t. Even Sage had put on a persona I didn’t recognize. The dinner conversation was about future Harris events, offers to meet Lydia and Seymore on their travels and comments about the food. Finally, when it was all over, I was never happier to see a holiday end.
“Well, thanks for a lovely day. Reyna, you and I have a nail appointment next week, and Mel, we’re all getting tickets to your New Year’s Eve show, so let’s do something after or before or whatever works for you,” Charlynn said, excited to be leaving the Christmas House of Horrible People.
“Sounds good. I’ll call and let you know.” I hugged Charlynn, and she left.
As soon as she was gone, the rest started filing out. We said goodbye to Sage’s parents and Shelton in the “everyone is so happy” manner we’d been upholding all day. As soon as Sinclair closed the door, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“Thank God, it’s finally over. We’re going to put the kids to bed, and Reyna and I are going to have some us time. You two are welcome to stay, but we’re done for the evening,” Sinclair announced.
“Thanks for a lovely day,” I commented in my best “plastic partygoer” voice.
Sinclair rolled his eyes as Sage came up and gave me a squeeze from behind.
“That was miserable,” Sage added his two cents.
I turned to Sage and smiled. “I have something fun I wanna do. Are you game for a surprise?”
“I am if you are,” he said, sounding happier than he had all day.
“Okay, we’re going upstairs. Have a fun night.” Sinclair took Reyna’s hand and walked up the stairs.
“Night you two, don’t have too much fun,” Reyna warned playfully.
“Why not?” Sinclair slapped Reyna’s ass. “You know we are.”
They headed up the stairs, and I turned to Sage, rolling my neck to relieve the stress. “Okay. Get in the car. I’m driving.” I grabbed my purse and keys from the table in the foyer and dragged Sage out the door.
“The Jeep?” he asked surprised.
“Yep.” We walked out the front door and over to my Jeep. It was the shittiest car on the block, but so cool.
Chapter 11
Sage
After such an awkward Christmas I was ready to go anywhere. It was sweet Melody had a surprise. It would be like her to have something up her sleeve. I had a surprise for her too. I was able to sneak away and arrange everything, so I was feeling energized and ready to spend some quiet time with her.
She parked and cut the engine at a Whole Foods market. “I just need to make one stop. You stay here,” she ordered.
She came back out ten minutes later with a bag of things she put in the back seat.
“Okay, we’re good to go.” She smiled as she backed the car out of the parking spot.
“And where would that be exactly?” I was getting very curious.
“Surprise,” she said, “but it’s not far.”
She hit the gas and revved the engine and took the Jeep up the Hollywood Hills. I could see the Hollywood sign and felt very nostalgic for when my mom and dad would take my brothers and me up there when we were young and not so well off as we are now.
“Ah-ha, I know where we’re going,” I pretended to have bested her surprise.
“Ah-ha, you probably do,” she said as she pulled around the corner and drove off onto a private road. “A friend of mine has a place up here. They’re gone for the holidays, but they have a wicked view from their property.”
She drove the car up to what felt like the top of the mountain, and she was right. It did have an incredible view.
She cut the engine and jumped out of the car. “You stay there for a minute.”
She opened the back and pulled down the back seat and made a cute little sitting area in the back of her Jeep Wrangler. She had a blanket and pillows already in the car and she opened a fruit platter and a veggie platter for us to nosh on. She also had a nice bottle of champagne.
“Okay, come on back,” she said jumping in the back of the car and kicking off her shoes.
“This is fun,” I commented as I climbed over the seats and joined her.
“Strawberry?” She held a ripe piece of fruit to my lips, and I bit it from her fingers. “Yum, it’s so sweet and ripe.” I leaned forward and kissed her lips, tasting strawberries on them. “What an awesome surprise.”
“I thought it would be nice to get you out of the house. So, have your mom and dad always been so … distant?” she asked, pryi
ng, but not too much.
“Pretty much. I think they had kids because it was the thing to do. They had so much money, they didn’t really have to take care of them, and so they just kept having kids. I think after me, they realized they weren’t going to have a girl, so they stopped.” I took another piece of fruit and looked out at the gorgeous Los Angeles skyline.
“Why would they want a girl that badly?” she asked, genuinely curious.
“Ah, you know, my mom wanted someone to dress up and stuff. Now she has Arianna and that poor kid won’t wear most of what my mom buys, ’cause it’s ridiculous. Reyna’s good with her and Arianna will wear it for like an hour or so … it’s dangerous. My mom should never be left alone shopping for granddaughters. Sinclair Jr. is going to be much better off.
“She didn’t seem that horrible.”
“You don’t know her. I don’t really want to get into it, though. I don’t think I’m brave enough to face my issues with her yet. So,” I changed the subject, “I have a surprise for you too, but I don’t want to give it to you until tomorrow. I just want to make sure your rehearsals for the show don’t start until December thirtieth, right?” It would be horrible if I’d mistaken the dates.
“Yes, they start at ten o’clock in the morning on the thirtieth and then the show is the night of the thirty-first. Since we’re singing her covers she just wants to be there for them. We have a soundcheck the next day, and the show is that night,” she said, trying to conceal the raw excitement in her voice.
“You don’t have work or anything else before that?” I was starting to panic.
“Nope, I’m good.” She looked at me suspiciously. “What’s the secret?” She batted her eyes, attempting to charm the information out of me.
“I’m not going to tell you until tomorrow,” I said with a smirk.
She slapped me on the arm.
“Careful, or I’ll commit a lewd public act on your friend’s property.
“That’s what I was hoping you’d do.” She threw her arms around me, and we made out.
It felt nice to kiss her and be carefree. We moved the food aside and had sex in the back of the Jeep. It was pretty uncomfortable in such a small space, so we went for a half-naked doggy style. It was kind of sexy being so raunchy. I slid her dress up her body and ripped her panties down to her ankles, then freed my cock and had my way with her. It was fun. We watched the stars, and she bit back her orgasm as I shot load after load into her. Something about her just made me cum so fucking hard.
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