by Mells, J. C.
Thatch
We managed to spend a couple of hours at the pool before the media sharks caught up to us again. It took a text from my dad to alert us though. Tabloid reporters are sneaky like that. Blurry photos of the three of us taken through the fence and from a distance were already up on the Internet before we even got back upstairs to the apartment. I guess when they saw Thad and I leaving Vegas last night, it hadn’t taken them long to work out where we were headed.
“How are you staying so calm?” California asked as she paced up and down her living room.
Thaddeus was taking a nap, completely worn out from the pool activity.
I grabbed her by the hand as she passed me and pulled her down next to me on the couch.
“I’m about to meet your parents in a few hours, babe. I’m anything but calm.”
“Well, you look calm. Stop looking so damn calm,” she snapped, punching me in the arm.
I laughed and hugged her in tight to my side.
“They got a photo of Thaddeus doing a back flip into the pool. Do you know how stoked he’s going to be when he sees it?”
This made her smile.
My God, she was beautiful when she smiled.
Putting a finger under her chin, I tilted her face up and kissed her softly.
“I’m going to give you two choices,” I said once her lips were swollen and her face flushed. “One, we discuss the strategy for meeting your dad here, or two, we take it to the bedroom.”
“Oh, definitely the bedroom,” she replied breathlessly.
I stood up quickly, reached down, and then threw her over my shoulder, fireman style.
“Just so you’re aware, Miss Huntington, option two involves absolutely no discussion whatsoever of your parents.”
“I figured as much,” she giggled, grabbing hold of my ass as I carried her down the hall. “Why do you think I chose it?”
“Well, I was hoping for the potential mind-blowing sex.”
“Oh, Mr. Reston, that’s just the expected bonus,” she laughed in reply as I threw her on the bed.
{24}
Thatch
At around six-thirty that evening, we pulled up in front of the ornate wrought-iron gates of Brock Huntington’s estate.
“Nice to see you again, Miss Huntington,” the security guard said as he opened the gates to let us through.
“Thanks, Henry. My dad’s not back yet, is he?”
“George just called, Miss. They should be here in about thirty minutes or so.”
“Thanks, Henry,” California replied, before pulling the car forward onto the drive and toward the house.
“Wow,” Thaddeus exclaimed from the back seat once the house came into view. “Your Pops has a big house!”
“That he does,” I muttered under my breath.
“Nervous?” California teased.
“Scared shi…shirtless,” I replied, glancing at my awed son behind her.
“That makes two of us,” she laughed, parking the car.
A plump, friendly-looking woman hurried down the steps to greet us. There was no way this was her stepmother.
“Rosy!” California cried out, hugging the woman tightly.
“I’ve missed you so much, Cali,” the woman said with a huge grin on her face. “And who are these two handsome young men you have escorting you tonight?”
“Rose, this is Thatch and his son Thaddeus.”
“Very nice to meet you both,” she smiled warmly.
“You too, Rose,” I replied.
“Hello, Wose,” Thaddeus said shyly.
“Now aren’t you the cutest little thing I ever saw,” Rose exclaimed. “How about I take you and show you my kitchen. We might even find a cupcake in there, if we’re lucky.”
“Rose does make the best cupcakes,” California added.
Picking up on the vibes from both women, they were obviously hinting that it was best Thaddeus wasn’t present for my first meeting with Tallulah.
“Go with Rose, little man. I’ll come find you in a few minutes, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
“If it’s okay with you,” Rose asked me, “if the little cherub is hungry, I might feed him. Mrs. Huntington is not overly fond of children at the dinner table.”
“Thank you, Rose,” I answered. “I appreciate that.”
Yep, California’s stepmom sounded delightful.
“George and I are so proud of you, chicken,” Rose whispered to California as we made our way up to the front doors. “But be prepared for the fact she’s been in a foul mood ever since she saw the video.”
“So, business as usual then. Thatch and I expected as much, Rosy, and thank you.”
We walked into the main foyer and I couldn’t help but look around in amazement. Marble floors, intricate chandeliers, floating double staircase – this place was unbelievable.
“It’s something, isn’t it?” California whispered to me as Rose led Thaddeus off in the direction of where I assumed the kitchen was. “Imagine growing up in this.”
“I can’t. It would be like growing up in a museum. Are you going to miss it?”
“Oh, hell no. You’re about to meet the main reason why,” she chuckled. “God, I’m so happy you came with me. I didn’t realize how much until just now.”
“California? Is that you?” An icy voice called out from somewhere to our left.
“Okay, Thatch… here we go.”
“I’m all suited up and ready to get into the game,” I said giving her a quick kiss on the neck.
“To battle stations!” California whispered fiercely as she laced her fingers through mine and led me into the living room.
Her stepmother stood over near the bay windows, one hand resting on a grand piano while the other gripped a glass of white wine. She seemed posed, like she’d been waiting for us to enter before she could move from her position. The light hit her in just the right way – a fact she was no doubt completely aware of – and I had to admit, begrudgingly, she was an extremely beautiful woman. Tall and elegant, her dress was tailored beautifully to her body and there wasn’t a strand of hair out of place. She personified the words ‘sophisticated’ and ‘polished.’ She also embodied others like ‘Ice Queen’ and ‘fake.’
“Well, come closer, California, so I can get a good look at you then,” the woman commanded in a haughty voice.
Of course she wanted California to come to her. Power play 101.
“Hello, Tallulah.”
“I must say… I’m not too sure about this new look you’re sporting these days. When was the last time you saw a professional hairdresser? I see all hope is not to be completely abandoned by the fact your dress is not off the rack. But, I must say, given all the recent and public… unburdening… you’ve been doing, I did expect you to look a little less—”
“Heavy?” California interjected before her stepmother could finish.
“I was going to say, bohemian, but heavy works just as well.”
It hit me right then what a significant part my dad had played in changing the meaning of that word for California. I watched her smile at Tallulah and was overwhelmed with a sense of… pride for her. If she could handle this bitch, she could take on the rest of the world, no problem.
“I think you look gorgeous, California,” I spoke out for the first time.
Her smile widened and finally reached her eyes as she looked back at me.
“Ah, yes. The tattooist. Delighted to meet you,” Tallulah said in a tone that hinted at exactly the opposite. “I’m glad you got here early. I was hoping to take care of things before my husband arrived.”
“Take care of what things?” California asked.
“My dear, naïve girl. You don’t actually think he’s interested in anything more than your bank account, do you? Let me get my checkbook, and let’s see how much it’s going to cost for him to just walk away.”
“Wow,” I said coming up behind California and slipping my arms around her. “I see
what you mean. You know, you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met, Cali. If it had been me, I wouldn’t have even bothered coming to say goodbye to this bitch.”
Cali
“Oh, Thatch,” I replied, lightly grazing my fingertips across the stubble on his jawline. “I’m not here to say goodbye to her. I just came to see my dad.”
“I have a good mind to call security and have you thrown out,” Tallulah said to Thatch angrily. “I will not stand by and be insulted in my own house.”
“Keep your hair on, Tallulah,” I interjected, amazed at my audacity. “I don’t want to get technical as to whom this house actually belongs, but if you can just suck it up for an hour or so, we’ll both be out of your life for a long time.”
My dad had bought this house with my mother. On their divorce, she’d signed her half of it over to me. It was her way of compensating for leaving me. Thanks, Mom.
“Don’t think your father isn’t going to hear about this,” Tallulah countered, knowing she’d lost this round.
“And I’m sure he’ll be as ambivalent toward it as he is with everything else,” I answered.
Damn, all these snappy comebacks were new for me. I loved it!
Giving me a hug, Thatch faced my stepmother again.
“I apologize,” he said to her. “I should never have said that out loud. It was very rude of me. In my defense, offering to pay me to leave was extremely rude of you, too. Let’s call it even, shall we?”
Before Tallulah could answer, there was the sound of some commotion out in the hallway.
“I’m home!” My father’s voice called out. “Look what I found hiding out in the kitchen,” he added.
I’d forgotten my father preferred George to head straight into the garages, allowing him to come into the house through the kitchen instead of the more formal front door.
Brock Huntington, in all his glory, came around the corner and into the living room carrying a wide-eyed Thaddeus in his arms.
“Does this belong to someone in here?” he laughed.
“I belong to my daddy!” Thaddeus giggled, pointing to Thatch.
I don’t think I’d ever seen my dad hold a child outside of a movie.
“Hi Dad,” I said, giving him a little wave. “This is Thatch, and I see you’ve already met Thaddeus.”
My dad put Thaddeus down so he could run to his father, and then swooped me in for a bear hug. “It’s so good to see you, Cali-girl. It’s been way too long! Nice to meet you, Thatch,” he addressed Thatch over my shoulder.
“Great to meet you, too, sir.”
The ‘sir’ more than hinted at how nervous Thatch was right now.
“Daddy,” Thaddeus whispered loud enough for us all to hear, “Cali’s dad has a funny name too! Broccoli,” he giggled.
This brought a smile to everyone’s face – except Tallulah, of course.
“It’s just Brock, little man,” Thatch chuckled.
“I’ve been called worse,” my dad said, letting go of me so he could give Thatch the up-and-down properly. “So, you’re the guy kicking some serious ass on Ultimate Ninja Athlete, are you?”
“That would be me.”
“The finals are next weekend, aren’t they?”
I don’t know why I was surprised my dad seemed to have all the facts handy. Bernie is the world’s best personal assistant. Speak of the devil…
“Cali!”
“Bernie!”
With all this meet-and-greet going on, I couldn’t help but notice how not included my stepmother was. She stood separated from the rest of our group and continued to sip her wine with a look of distaste on her face.
Right as I was introducing Thatch and Thaddeus to Bernie, there was the sound of more commotion coming from the direction of the front door this time. Thirty seconds later, and Max Rivers made his entrance into the room.
I’d also forgotten that my dad’s best friend had a penchant for ‘gate-crashing’ my father’s homecomings if he was in town.
“Hope I’m not too late for dinner, Tally,” Max said as he greeted my dad with a bro-hug. “We’ve been working on the new album and I don’t think I’ve eaten since last Tuesday,” he laughed, winking at me. “Fuck me!” he added as soon as he noticed Thatch. “You’re the last person I expected to see here. But, then again,” he said nudging me in the ribs playfully, “it was me that gave him your phone number, eh?”
“And we all thank you for that,” Tallulah said snidely, as Max did the bro-hug thing with Thatch.
“Oh, come on now, Tally. Pull that stick out of your ass and feed me woman. Rosy!” he called over his shoulder into the hall. “If it’s that bird food crap you’re serving tonight, you best be throwing a steak on the grill right about now!”
“Make that two!” my dad added, laughing. Then, he looked at Thatch. “Actually, make that three. This boy needs to fuel up for his competition.”
“Anyone else want to add any changes to the menu I’ve been planning all day?” Rose asked from the doorway, hand on hip.
“What about you, Cali?” Max asked. “You’re the one with the food… problems.” I guess he’d seen the video. Yay.
The entire room turned as one to look at me.
Trust Max to be the only member of my ‘family’ brazen enough to not only address the elephant in the room, but also tie a big pink bow around its neck and shine a spotlight on it.
“Oh, I’ll eat anything, Rosy. It’s what I do with it afterwards that’s the dodgy part.”
Put on the spot like that I went for a little bulimia-related humor.
The room went still for a few seconds and then Max burst out laughing.
“You’ve got yourself a firecracker there, Thatcher. Best hold on tight to that one.”
“I intend to,” Thatch smiled at him, pulling me in close to his side. Showing this level of affection towards me in front of my family took balls. I loved him for it.
“When can we expect dinner to be ready, Rose?” Tallulah asked, making a last-ditch effort to take control of her dinner ‘party.’
“That depends, Mrs. Huntington. Are we expecting anyone else? Will Miss Lake be joining us perhaps?”
“Nope, she won’t, Rosy,” Max interjected. “I slapped her sorry ass straight into rehab the second her plane touched down this morning.”
“You did what?” Tallulah exclaimed.
“Maybe you missed her performance outside Thatch’s place of business yesterday? High as a kite and barely able to stand on her own two feet. What she said about Cali was a damn embarrassment, Tally. The fact you encourage her is deplorable. You too, Brock.”
I think I just fell in love with Max. From the way Thatch just squeezed my hand, I think he just did, too.
“What did I do?” my dad asked indignantly.
“You did nothing. You always do nothing,” Max replied. Only Max could get away with talking to Brock Huntington like that.
You could tell by the look on his face, my dad was completely unprepared for his script to go in this direction. He opened his mouth a few times – a well-practiced move to show shock – all the while looking about the room for Bernie. It seemed Bernie had snuck out of the room when no one was looking. Go, go, Bernie.
I also noticed that Rosy had disappeared as well and had taken Thaddeus with her – thank God.
“Of course, I’m not exactly without fault myself, am I Cali?” Max continued. “Like everyone else in this room, I thought it was just a wild phase you were going through. I had no idea about your eating disorder.”
“It’s all good, Max. I feel so much better now that it’s all out in the open and I don’t have to hide it anymore.”
“I’m proud of you, girl,” Max continued. “Your dad will be too, once he processes the whole thing. I think he might still be on European time right now, so give him a little while to catch up,” he added in a stage whisper. “Now, Tally-girl, stop being such a sourpuss and let’s you and I go into the other room and get me a drink
so we can give Cali and Brock a little alone time, eh?”
“But—” was all she could say before Max had swept her into the hall and toward the dining room.
“I’m going to go check up on Thaddeus, okay?” Thatch said.
“Okay,” I answered with a nod. I wanted him to stay, but I also knew my dad struggled with being genuine in front of an ‘audience.’ Myself and Bernie didn’t count.
Talking of Bernie, he’d suddenly appeared in the room again out of nowhere.
“Follow me, Thatch,” Bernie smiled. “I’ll show you where the kitchen is and pretend I’m not checking you out at the same time.” As they both left I could hear him asking Thatch if he could touch his biceps.
With the room cleared, my father and I stood looking at each other for a few seconds before he finally motioned for us to sit down together on the couch.
“That video shocked the bejesus out of me, California,” he finally said in a quiet voice, tucking a loose strand of my hair behind my ear.
“I know it did, Dad. Sorry.”
“I feel so stupid to have missed all the signs.”
“How could you? You were away most of last year.”
“That’s really no excuse though, is it? Tallulah was here. She should’ve said something.”
“Is that why you barely said two words to her since you walked in the room?” I asked, lacing my hand through his.
“Yes, sort of. As soon as Bernie showed me the clip, I called here immediately. I was expecting Tally to be as shocked and upset as I was. She was upset all right, but upset that you hadn’t used our publicist. Can you imagine that? She was angrier about that than the fact you had been going through this thing alone. I’ve been such an idiot, Cali. I’ve been married to that woman for fifteen years and today she felt like a complete stranger.”
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
“And there I go doing it again,” he said, pulling me in for a hug. “Making it all about me and my marital problems. You’ve nothing to be sorry about, Cali-girl. What you did yesterday was brave, and wonderful, and eye-opening, and selfless, and a whole heap of other things I can’t voice right now without bursting into tears.”