Holiday: Annihilate Them, #2

by Christina Ross

  “I’m still processing it.”

  “Have you two spoken?”

  “No.”

  “Do you want to speak to her?”

  “A part of me wants to take her by the shoulders and shake her—if only so she can see what we have together. But I don’t think she’s capable of seeing that right now. So, no—I don’t want to talk to her just yet. I’d rather that we take a bit of time and reflect on what happened. Then, when we’re ready to talk, we’ll decide where we go from there.”

  “Blackwell said that you haven’t spoken in a week. Isn’t that enough time to at least start a conversation?”

  “I don’t know—I think I might need a few more days. She keeps texting me and calling me, but I haven’t answered her.”

  “What has she said?”

  “That she’s sorry.”

  “Isn’t that what you want to hear?”

  “Of course it is, but does she even mean it? When I told you that we had an argument, Jennifer, I’m not sure you understand just how big that argument was. She said some pretty hateful things to me, which I’m still trying to work through.”

  “Alright,” I said. “But if she has apologized—which is a pretty big step for Daniella—she probably means it, so please take that into consideration. All I’m hoping for is that you don’t string her along for too long, OK? Because that would be cruel.”

  “I just need to wrap my head around this,” he said. “But I get it. I’ll reach out to her soon.”

  “Have you mentioned any of this to Tank?” I asked.

  “Hell, no.”

  “To anyone else?”

  He shook his head. “Talking openly about stuff like this isn’t me. But because I trust you—you know, kind of like a sister, if that doesn’t freak you out—you got me to open up. Generally, I keep quiet about these types of things.”

  “Then thank you for trusting in me enough to talk with me,” I said. “Think of me as your surrogate sister, just as Blackwell is my surrogate womb. I hope talking helped.”

  “It did.”

  “Listen, Cutter. Here’s what I want you to know going forward—what you just said to me will remain between us. I will never betray you. I also want you to know that if you ever need someone to listen to you in the future, I hope that you’ll reach out to me because—unless I’m in labor—I promise that I’ll never be too busy to lend an ear. Deal?”

  “You’ve always been kind to me, Jennifer.”

  “That’s because after everything we went through together on that island, we are beyond employer and employee at this point. We’re also beyond friends, and I don’t take my friends lightly. If you need me, call me. We’ll can sit down somewhere in private, talk, and try to make sense of the world again. Are you with me on that?”

  His gaze flicked up to the rearview mirror and fixed on mine.

  “I’m with you,” he said. “And thanks, Jennifer. That means a lot to me.”

  “You mean a lot to me.”

  “Ditto,” he said. “And guess what?”

  “What?”

  “I don’t think we’re going to be late, because we just got a green light—and traffic is moving.”

  “Thank God,” I said. “Because despite the fact that I look like a float in a Thanksgiving parade, believe it or not—I’m starving.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE to haul me out of the car, Cutter,” I said to him when we arrived at the Comfort Diner, which had the sleek retro look of a diner straight out of the forties. “But, please, take a deep breath before you do so, because you’re going to need it. I’ve officially become the ninth planet—and three of its moons.”

  “Stop it,” he said with a smile as he took me by the hands. “You are not the ninth planet or any of its moons. You’re just pregnant, that’s all.”

  “Said the man who isn’t.”

  “Is it that bad?” he asked.

  “You don’t even want to know—but it’s worth it. That I can tell you. Now pull!”

  He pulled, I stepped out of the car, and then I breathed a sigh of relief when I was on my feet.

  “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asked.

  “On you or on me?”

  “On you!”

  “I guess we’ll have to wait and see if you’re walking straight tomorrow,” I said.

  He laughed when I said that, which made me smile because a laugh is what I wanted to hear from him right now. After our talk, I could tell that Cutter was feeling better because he was behaving more like himself—the twinkle was back in his eyes, if only for a moment.

  “Epifania must already be inside,” I said as I looked around the narrow exterior of the restaurant, above which was a cheerful neon sign in bright red and blue letters that said: “Comfort Diner. Time to eat! Good food!”

  “When should I text you to pick me up?” I asked him.

  “The traffic will ease up in an hour. How long do you think you’ll be?”

  “With Epifania? Longer than that.”

  “Then ten minutes will do. I’ll just drive around until you’re ready. Now, come on—let me take your arm and lead you to the front door, so you can tell Alex that’s exactly what you insisted upon.”

  “You’re savvy,” I said.

  “And you have a good lunch with your friend.”

  “YENNIFER!” EPIFANIA called when I stepped into the diner. “Over here—I got us booth!”

  A booth? Would I even fit behind a booth? Time will tell, I thought as I walked towards her as she stood to greet me. And if I can’t, I see an empty table right over there...

  Otherwise, the place was packed.

  “How are you, the hotness?” she said as she hugged me.

  “Bigger than ever, but it’s all good. Help me out of my coat, lovey? Otherwise, I’ll never get out of it myself.”

  “Of course!”

  When we were seated, I was surprised that I actually fit inside the booth, though it was close—my belly came within inches of the edge of the table. Still, I fit, so I considered that a win.

  I lifted my hair up and over my shoulders and looked across the table at the woman who had become one of my best friends. People kept saying that I was the one who had the glow, but that prize really should have gone to Epifania. Ever since she’d been dating Rudman Cross, who owned Cross Communications and with whom Wenn had joined forces several months ago in an effort to expand the reach of our SlimPhone, Epifania had never looked happier—or sexier. She was wearing a chic black suit that complemented her olive complexion and a suite of daytime diamonds that looked stunning on her—though oddly out of place in a diner as low key as this.

  “Epifania, you look amazing,” I said.

  “It the Rudsy,” she said, leaning forward and exposing enough cleavage to make me wonder if I should start off the meal with a couple of cantaloupes. “He doing things to me that making my world go right round, baby, right round. I think he a sexaholic, because that man have his way with me every night. Not that Epifania is the complaining, mind you. That man hung like a mule and he know how to use it. I mean, just last night, he surprise me.”

  “With what?”

  “With a leather sling!”

  Oh, God...

  “Well,” I said. “That should keep things interesting.”

  “Let me tell you this—getting into that sheet was interesting, that for the sure. But Epifania is game for anything! With Rudsy’s help, before I knew it, I was flat on my back—and suspended in mid-air! And when he start the fucking? It was amazing. Have you and Alex ever tried the sling? No? Well, honey, after that baby arrives, Epifania gonna buy you one, OK? Because you two deserve it! I’m telling you this, Yennifer—when I came, I wasn’t sure whether I was here on Earth, or floating somewhere in the heavens! I thought I saw the face of God last night.”

  “Was it Rudman’s?”

  “I don’t remember. I just remember this big, bright, shining light pouring down on me until R
udsy start all over again.” She placed her hand on mine. “I think I might have found the one, the cookie, because Rudsy isn’t after me for the dead Chuckie’s money—he have enough of his own, and I think he just like me for me. And he so romantic, I can’t stand it.” She wiggled the fingers of her right hand at me. “Check out the rock he gave me a couple of days ago.”

  There were so many diamonds on her fingers, I didn’t know which one she was referring to. “Epifania, you have so many diamonds, I’m afraid I don’t know which is the newest.”

  “It the biggest one!”

  “Oh,” I said, admiring the huge beveled stone on her right index finger, which caught the light and tossed it back at me as she continued to turn her hand this way and that. “It’s amazing. And the stone is so clear. Do you think he’ll put one on your left hand?”

  “Time will tell!”

  “Well, it’s lovely, Epifania. I’m so happy for you.”

  “You wanna know what I’m having made for him?”

  Actually, I’m not so sure that I do want to know, but what the hell? Let’s just go for it.

  “Tell me,” I said.

  “A diamond-studded cock ring! Ten carats worth—and for Christmas! It’s this beeg, thick, black piece of leather that will snap around his verga y bolas—and it gonna sparkle! I also got him a couple of gold nipple clamps, because, you know, why not?”

  At that moment, a young, good-looking waiter with a chiseled jaw and thick dark hair came up to us. “Good afternoon, ladies,” he said.

  Ladies? I thought. Really? After that conversation? Neither of us are ladies, sir—and I’d like to extend my apologies to you now for all that’s to come...

  “Good afternoon,” I said cheerfully.

  “Hello, handsome,” Epifania said with a flick of her dark hair. “Look like we won the lottery when it come to you, the cookie.”

  “Epifania...”

  “Well, it true—look at him. And I mean it as compliment.” She put the palm of her hand down on the table. “You the good looking,” she said. “You should know that, and that’s the all.”

  “Thank you,” he said with a smile. And without missing a beat, he somehow managed to move forward as if nothing awkward had just transpired between us—which suggested to me that this young man was a pro. “Can I start you ladies off with something to drink?”

  “Martini for me,” Epifania said. “Belvedere. Three olives—and make it filthy.”

  “Unfortunately, we don’t carry Belvedere.”

  “What you carry?”

  “Absolut?”

  “Not my favorite, but what the hell? I can handle the Absolut.”

  “Done.” He turned to me. “And how about you, Miss?”

  “Maybe some hot tea? With honey and lemon? And sparkling water, if you have it?”

  “Tea and sparkling water?” Epifania said. “When you become so the boring?”

  “When I became the eight months the pregnant,” I said.

  “We have sparkling water,” the waiter said. “And here are the lunch menus. Have a look. In the meantime, I’ll get you your drinks.”

  “Are there any specials?” Epifania asked.

  “Not today,” the man answered.

  “Well, then it you who is the special!”

  The man blushed as he walked away from us, and I just leveled my friend with a look. “What are you doing?”

  “The flirting.”

  “But you’re with Rudman.”

  “Please—that boy have nothing on my Rudsy. And when I go home tonight, I plan on telling Rudsy about all of this. He not threatened by any man—but he be amused by this. He get a kick out of me when I’m just being me—which is why Epifania adore him.”

  “If that’s the case, I’m thinking that you two just might tie the knot.”

  “Let’s the hope! Because if the Rudsy get down on his knee for his Epifania, she gonna say yes so fast, it gonna make his head pop.”

  “I hope it happens!” I said.

  “You and me both! So, how the you, the cookie? You looked stressed out as hell. What happening in your life?”

  I told her about meeting with Lisa and Blackwell this morning and the drama that swirled around my baby shower.

  “Why all the fuss?” Epifania said.

  “Exactly!”

  “I mean, I get it—this your first baby and all, and we all super-excited for you. But don’t they know you? Even I know that you don’t like drama in your life.”

  “Then would you please consider giving me my baby shower? Because if it has to happen, I’d rather it come from someone who understands me at this point in my life.”

  “I would if I could, the sugar—but if I did, those two would put out a hit on me. They all cut throat and territorial right now.”

  “I appreciate their efforts—and I think I got them in line after our talk this morning—so let’s see how it goes. Expect an invitation in the mail soon. And you must come!”

  “As if Epifania wouldn’t. But what you want for gift?”

  “I don’t know—diapers?”

  “Here what Epifania think Alex and you need—a house in the Hamptons!”

  “In the what?”

  “The Hamptons! Let me buy you one—you know, close to the Rudsy and me. I spent most of the summer at Rudsy’s house, and it fabulous there. It would be my treat!”

  “You can’t be serious...”

  “Look, the cookie, Chuckie’s money has to do some good, doesn’t it? So! I buy you house near us! Then we have some summer fun when it too hot in the city!”

  “No!” I said, realizing that she was serious. “I could never let you do that. Please don’t do that.”

  “Now, you’re just being the buzzkill.”

  “When I give birth, I’m pretty much sure that that’s going to define me.” I looked at her for a moment. “I’m about to become a mother, Epifania,” I said. “Everything is about to change. To be honest, it’s kind of freaking me out. Not in a bad way, because I can’t wait to be the mother that I never had. And thank God for that, because my mother was a horror show. But, still. My life is about to change fairly radically, especially since I plan to be there for my child.”

  “What you mean about the mother you never had?”

  I told her about the mother I never had.

  “Well, sheet,” she said. “You never told me about any of that. I so sorry, Yennifer. Was she that bad?”

  “It wasn’t just her,” I said. “It also was my father, who was even worse than her. Both of them are alcoholics, enablers, and soulless crooks. My mother may or may not still be in prison now, but it makes me sick that she even went to prison. Not that it matters much. I haven’t spoken to either of them since Lisa and I left Maine to come here for a fresh start.”

  “Lisa have problem with her parents too?”

  “No, not at all. Her parents are great. When we first moved here, we were just two girls who wanted more than Maine could offer. Lisa and I love our home state, but since there are few good jobs there, both of us knew that if we were going to make anything of our lives we should move here.”

  “And here you met Alex!”

  “Exactly.”

  “And he become your husband!”

  “He did. And I love him more than anyone could know.”

  “You see, that where I disagree. Anyone who has seen how you look at him—and at how he look at you—they know how much each of you love each other. One day, I hope that people think the same of the Rudsy and me. You know, if we can keep it together this time.”

  “Do you fear that you won’t?”

  “That the thing about love, isn’t it?” she said with the humor suddenly stripped from her voice. “No one knows what will happen when it comes to love. But what I know about my Rudsy? I know that I in love with him, Yennifer. And I know that he in love with me. But one need to be realistic, no? Love is love, and love is like bird—it can make a beautiful noise, sure, but it also can b
e fleeting and fast. It can be here one day and gone the next. Things change. People change. Sheet happens. I’ve seen it too many time to count. As for the Rudsy and me? It hasn’t even been a year since we become the official. Sure, it good now, but will it be good forever? I don’t know. But life has told me to pray for the best, which Epifania will.”

  “I’m rooting for both of you,” I said to her. “Because you deserve to be happy and in love, Epifania. Especially you.”

  “Why especially me?”

  “Because of your big heart,” I said to her. “And because of the positive energy that you put out into the world and share with your friends. You not only light up rooms, but you also light up hearts and lives. I think that’s what I love about you most.”

  “Now you’re just trying to make me cry, the cookie...”

  “But all of it’s true,” I said. “And that’s not my hormones talking. I only wish that I possessed a heart as free as yours.”

  “But why don’t you? Is it because of your parents?”

  “Probably,” I said as I shrugged at her. “In fact, likely.”

  “Then look, the cookie, maybe one day you get there, right? You know, with new baby coming into your life, maybe you look at life differently. And just imagine how Alex and you will come together over your child. Maybe you get to where I am from that pure shot of love alone.”

  “I hope that I can.”

  “I know that you can, love cat—Epifania feel it. She know you, and she also appreciate the hell out of you.”

  After our drinks came and we ordered, our discussion moved on.

  “You know what I don’t know about you?” I asked her.

  “What that?”

  “How many siblings do you have? I don’t think I’ve ever asked.”

  “Are you talking about today or yesterday?”

  Confused, I just looked at her. “I guess, today...”

  “OK, then—today. I don’t know. Maybe the forty-two?”

  “Forty-two?”

  “Yes, and guess what? That number could grow by the end of the week. To his friends, mi papi was a proud Catholic—but behind their backs, he also was a beeg whore. What I know for sure through blood tests is that I have eight siblings who are my full brothers and sisters. And then through other blood tests there are all of these other people who are my half-brothers and sisters, all because mi papi have a wandering eye. Or cock. Or whatever.”