The Beast

by Shantea Gauthier

  I invited him to join us for dinner, hoping that Sandra wouldn't mind when I told her. He'd saved my life twice so far, it was the least I could do.

  Sandra was already a flurry of activity when I walked in the door.

  "You can have your little friend over if you go pick up wine. Now!" She shoved money at me and gave me vague instructions to pick up two bottles of the white one with the fish on it from the health food store. She cursed the name for being so hard to remember and told me to get "real drinks" as well. When I tried to ask what that meant, she threw her hands up at me and shouted something about yellow bean casserole.

  I found the wine at the health store with a picture of a fish on the label. I hoped that it was the right brand, because it wasn't hard to remember at all. It said "FISH" in huge letters across the front. I grabbed two bottles and went to the liquor aisle. Sandra normally drank wine and margaritas, so she was almost guaranteed to have tequila. I bought a bottle of vodka, some cranberry juice, and some soda. I paid for half, since I didn't know what she actually wanted.

  The house smelled amazing. The table was set for six, the pale pine covered in a dark red table cloth. On the table were a pair of covered casserole dishes, a large covered bowl and several smaller covered bowls. A bread basket sat in the middle next to a large salad bowl.

  "What's the occasion?" I asked, setting the paper bags on the couch.

  "It's my end of summer feast," she declared. "It's a full moon, the end of summer and the beginning of a lot of great new things. It's time to eat, drink, and get laid!"

  "Wow."

  Her golden hair trailed behind her as she rushed to open the bags. "You're a saint!"

  I smiled and looked around while she popped the wine bottles open. Big stickers of leaves and flowers mixed in with bird silhouettes and acorns decorated the walls. "You did all this while I was at the store?"

  She grunted while she pulled the last cork from a wine bottle. "No, I did all that last night. You were out late and I was bored so I just kind of started putting the decals up and preparing food."

  "Anything else I can do to help?" I asked.

  "Table's set, wine's breathing, foods prepared, house is clean," she muttered, looking around. "Oh yeah, you can hold both of my hands and jump up and down and squeal with me excitedly."

  "What happened?"

  Her entire body flailed as she punched at the air in excitement. "I got a job! Not just any job, I got a job working with the curator of the museum!"

  We held hands and bounced around in a circle, cheering and laughing.

  "That's amazing," I said breathlessly. "Well, not really, you worked your ass off for it. But that's great! When do you start?"

  "Monday," she said, face pink with pure joy. "I already got to see some of the artifacts they're prepping for display. I'll be touching these things soon. Thousand year old stuff and my grubby little hands will be all over it!"

  "Wow," I felt the glow of happiness wash over me. "I guess hard work does pay off, huh?"

  She grinned and danced around, then flicked me with a hand towel. "Sure does! Now go get dressed! Oh, I hope your guest is your date, by the way. Jack's brother is bringing a date."

  "You finally gave up trying to hook us up?" I asked.

  "Only until I scare her off. Unless you really do have a date. Then I guess I'm done until that's over. You two are meant for each other."

  I laughed and thought about Cole. I had never paid him too much attention, much to Sandra's dismay. He was good looking, but he was a little… boring. He was into football and beer and sometimes played basketball on the weekends. It’s not that those are bad things, but he was so normal it had made me dismiss him.

  Simon was so far from normal that shivers ran up my spine just thinking about him. I thought of our first kiss and our kiss under the streetlamp after our attackers were all tied up in a row. His soft lips on mine, his strong arms wrapped tight around my waist. I touched a finger to my lips. It was like a distant dream.

  "Jade!" Sandra yelled, banging on the bedroom door suddenly. I jumped.

  "What?"

  "They're here, they're here! And holy crap, your man is hot!"

  "His name's Simon."

  We opened the door together. Everyone arrived at once and each of them brought a gift. Jack carried a bouquet of flowers arranged in a vase. Cole had a Tupperware container under his arm and his date, a young redhead, carried a bottle of champagne. Simon also had a bottle of champagne.

  "We already talked about how we brought the same thing," the redhead laughed, an irritating sound. I already didn't like her. "It's almost as bad as showing up in the same dress!"

  Jack rolled his eyes and kissed Sandra's cheek, then mine.

  "It would have been more interesting if you two were wearing the same dress," I said. I meant it to be friendly, but it didn’t quite come out that way.

  Simon grinned.

  Sandra snatched one of the bottles of champagne and uncorked it over the sink. Normally she drank everything out of the highball glass that an ex-boyfriend had etched her name and a flowery heart on while everyone else got mugs, but she poured the champagne into actual champagne flutes. Wine glasses for the wine and water glasses for water were already set out on the table.

  "Who else is coming?" Jack asked, eyeing the spread.

  "No one," Sandra answered. "This is it."

  "All that is just for us?" Cole asked.

  "I don't think I could eat all that," the redhead bleated.

  "Good thing there's six of us, then," I muttered.

  Sandra shot me a look that was equal parts amused and irritated as she uncovered the dishes on the table. There was salad and rolls, a yellow and green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, roast beef, baked squash and cooked spinach. In true Sandra fashion, it was more than a feast for six people.

  "Save some room for dessert," she said. "I might have gone a little overboard with that too."

  I laughed.

  "It's your fault, Jade. I just wanted to tell you about the new job but you were out so late." She narrowed her eyes at me. "Where were you?"

  Simon and I glanced at each other.

  Sandra looked from me to him and back. She covered her mouth with both hands. Her wide eyes meant that she’d figured it out. I could only hope that she thought we were holed up somewhere having sex. Anything but the truth. "No way."

  "What?" The other three asked almost in unison.

  I gave a nod that I wasn't sure even Sandra would notice. She bolted her glass of champagne and poured another, then laid out the serving utensils like nothing had happened.

  I was seated across from the redhead. Simon sat next to me, across the table from Cole. Sandra and Jack occupied the ends like they were king and queen.

  Silverware clinked against plates while Sandra boasted about all of the things her new job would require of her. We all smiled and asked questions and drank. Across the table, the pale redhead pushed a few tiny bites into her tiny heart shaped mouth while Simon demolished half of an acorn squash followed by a plate loaded with beef, potatoes and veggies. The redhead’s yellow dress plunged low in front to suggest the cleavage she didn't have, with a daring hem cut high to revealed an expanse of creamy thigh that I was glad I couldn't see over the table. I looked at Cole to see him judging Simon just as harshly.

  "So Cole," Sandra said. "How did you meet, um-?"

  The redhead opened her perfect mouth, covered it with perfect manicured nails and said. "Oh my god I'm so rude! My name's Jessica!"

  Of course it is, I thought, half expecting her to add "like Jessica Rabbit!"

  Sandra nodded. "So how did you two meet?"

  "I'm a paralegal," Jessica said.

  That explained nothing, except that I probably should have been in a much higher paying job than data entry.

  "We used to work at the same place," Cole said. "Then we ran into each other at the gym a few days ago."

  I gave a bland smile.

 
"That's cool," Sandra said. "What about you and Simon, Jade?"

  I smiled for a second, debating whether to tell the truth or not. I wasn't in court, I could tell the truth without telling the whole truth. "We met at a gas station."

  Sandra eyed me suspiciously. "Really?"

  "Yup. I spilled soda all over the place and he offered me a ride."

  "Why were you at a gas station without your car?" Jessica asked, sparkling green eyes wide with concern.

  "My car was there," I said. "It just wouldn’t start. I got a ticket for leaving it, too."

  “A hero complex, huh?” Cole muttered into his spoon. Then, louder, “so he took you home, then? That’s cool.”

  “Not exactly,” Simon smirked. I shook my head, but I couldn’t keep a matching smirk off of my own face.

  "Where did you go?" Jack asked, helping himself to another roll.

  I shrugged. "Nowhere."

  We sat around, drinking, eating and chatting until Sandra announced that it was time for dessert. I helped her carry the still loaded dished of food back into the kitchen.

  "Jessica? Really?" she muttered, as soon as we were out of earshot. I giggled.

  Jessica threw in a few empty headed comments, but was otherwise useless in conversation. Maybe it was as simple as that, or maybe it was that she was prettier than me, but I didn't like her.

  We brought back a short cake that Sandra had written congratulations to herself on with a steady hand. I could never write on a cake like that. In addition to the cake there were lemon bars, oatmeal cookies, and melon balls.

  "The watermelon is vodka watermelon," she said.

  "How do you do it?" Jessica asked, picking up a piece and eating it. "Ooh, ew, it tastes like vodka!"

  "You just make a hole and keep pouring it in," Sandra said. “Or use an apple corer and stick the neck of the bottle in it and just leave it there. It soaks up the whole bottle."

  Jessica stared in astonishment and ate another ball.

  "I'm so full," Jack moaned, holding his stomach.

  "Oh," Sandra said, looking down at the table cloth. "I guess we won't bring out the rest then."

  "There's more?"

  Her laugh filled the house with the big, loving sound. "No, that's all of it."

  I could only manage a few bites of cake before I gave up.

  “Hot tub?” Sandra said, already balancing the bowl of melon balls, the last bottle of wine, and her glass.

  “Hot tub.” I agreed.

  “Oh, I don’t have a bathing suit!” Jessica said. “I didn’t know there would be a hot tub!”

  “That’s okay,” I said. “You can use one of mine.” I had to wear a tank top to conceal the lacerations during their slow evolving into scars across my torso. My bruises were mostly healed and my leg finally almost looked normal, but the thick stripes across my midsection were still visible. Jessica was smaller than me, so she borrowed a halter top and tied it as small as it would go. I tried to hide my drunken superior smirk at the way the cups sagged against her flat chest. The bikini bottom wouldn’t stay up, so she borrowed a pair of shorts that were “sexy booty shorts” on me, but looked like normal comfy shorts on her. Red was my color, but it was definitely not hers. It accentuated the pink splotches that flushed her face and stretched down to her neck. She nearly tripped at the threshold and I caught her arm to steady her.

  “Thanks,” she breathed.

  “Are you guys wearing the same bikini?” Cole asked.

  “No.” I said, releasing Jessica and slipping into the water beside Simon.

  “Hey.”

  I reached for a melon ball and after what felt like only seconds of chatting and smiling, the bowl was empty. The bottle of wine was empty. Our glasses were empty.

  “I’m a little overheated,” Jessica said. “I’m going to sit inside for a minute.”

  Cole nodded. “I’ll be right in and we can go if you want. Two minutes.”

  Jack grinned. “Yeah, he’s got to hear the end of this story!”

  When Jessica said that she wasn't feeling well and started for the house, I felt a little bad. I shouldn't be so petty. She was cute and air headed, and what was I? Some kind of prematurely bitter old hag?

  She slipped and screamed before she hit the water.

  Everyone rose but I had already launched myself toward the pool, arcing toward the water before the others cleared their seats. In the dim light of the sunset I found her under water, drifting almost peacefully, fighting in slow motion. I pulled her up, spluttering and coughing, and handed her to Simon, who pulled her out and handed her off to Jack and Cole. He pulled me up by one arm as easily as if I was an errant pool toy that finally drifted close to the edge.

  Jessica coughed and threw herself forward to kneel in the grass, retching. We all gathered around until she waved us away. Cole wrapped her in a towel, but she tried to wave him away before she threw up on the lawn.

  “Oh, God,” she said. “Please just, just go.”

  “I’m not leaving your side,” Cole said, patting her back.

  The rest of us didn’t have such reservations and we drifted back to the hot tub, where Sandra poured another round of champagne.

  “Remember the last time someone got drunk and fell in the pool?” She asked me, laughing.

  “Yeah, didn’t they have to get their stomach pumped after that?”

  “And stitches!” Sandra kept laughing. “I had to have the pool drained so we could actually get all the glass out.”

  Jack looked at her, concerned.

  “Oh he wasn’t ever allowed here after that.”

  Jack shook his head. Simon laughed.

  “I think I’m going to take her home, guys,” Cole called. “Sorry about the… grass.”

  “Don’t worry about it!” Sandra waved the mess away with her drink. “It’s biodegradable.”

  “Sorry,” Jessica mumbled. Her hair was a disheveled red mess, and the pink towel was wrapped tight around her body. “I’ll get your bathing suit back to you, sometime.”

  “Don’t even worry about it,” I said. “Just get some coffee or something. Feel better.”

  Jack and Sandra were already on the way to her bedroom before Cole and Jessica were through the door.

  "I should go, too," Simon said. "Thank you for inviting me. I had a great time."

  He started for the walkway but I grabbed his wrist before he got past the threshold.

  "No," I said quietly. "Stay."

  chapter 8

  Simon looked down at my hand clamped around his wrist, then up to my face.

  "We shouldn't do this again," he said. "I think your friend knows it was us in that video."

  I pulled his wrist down so he had to lean toward me and I kissed him.

  I closed the door.

  "It doesn't matter," I said. "Come on, let's go back outside."

  The sun hadn’t quite made its way to the other side of the world, and the world was glowing orange and red when we got back into the steaming water. It was still so early. I picked up my forgotten glass and Simon lifted his.

  "Here's to-."

  "Your recklessness?" he interrupted.

  "I was going to say new friends."

  We clinked glasses and sipped.

  "So we're friends now?" he asked. "Or were you talking about Jessica?"

  I gave a short snort of amusement. "She's not so bad," I admitted. "But I was talking about you. Or do you go around getting in cars with just any old stranger?"

  He gave a returning snort of laughter and we leaned back in our concrete seats, looking up at the darkening sky.

  "I can't stay long," he said.

  I nodded. "You have to go bay at the moon?"

  "Mm. Something like that."

  I nodded. "I want you to look at something first."

  "Sure, what is it?"

  "It's in my room."

  I got out of the hot tub, at once cool and heavy and elated and nervous. I took Simon’s hand and led him drippin
g, into the room of the house that was mine. The sounds of Sandra and Jack romping in her room drifted into mine. I picked up the little white gift box and pulled out the macaron.

  "Eat me," Simon read. His breath tickled my cheek. We hadn’t even bothered to put towels on. I was clearly drunk. I would never subject Sandra’s frilly bedding and her tiny shag rug to hot chlorine water otherwise. I kicked the rug out of the way.

  “What is this?” Simon asked.

  "It came with the vial of b-." I stopped, staring at the pale scar on his cheek. "With that stuff."

  He gave it a more interested look. "I don't think that there's anything special about it. Other than that it looks like one of those stupid six dollar cookies from the mall. I don't smell anything strange. I hope you’re not thinking of eating it, though. I wouldn't trust anything they give you."

  I nodded and put it back in the box. "I wouldn’t. Thanks."

  "So you asked me here just to show me a cookie?"

  "Can you blame me, considering where it came from?"

  "I guess not."

  "Thanks," I said again. Suddenly we were nervous teenagers seated on my bed, side by side. At least he had the foresight to bring a towel in. The bedding might be salvageable after this.

  I looked up at him, heartbeat swishing in my ears. I felt my skin prickle under his gaze.

  "I should go," he said. He didn’t move.

  "Yeah," I said, reaching for his hand.

  He kissed me. It was a long, deep, hot kiss. His tongue searched for mine and they met and parted, dancing in the space that wasn't his mouth or mine. He pulled me closer until I climbed onto his lap. My wet hair clung to my face in some places and reached upward in others. He tensed when my breasts brushed against him and when it seemed like he would break away I wrapped my fingers in his hair and pulled him close.

  I straddled him, still kissing him, reaching my fingers under his shirt to pull it off and only let our lips part to pull it off over his head. He grabbed me and turned so that my back was on the blanket and he started to peel the wet shirt from my body. I wiggled and writhed to help it off and locked my legs around his thighs. The shirt made a satisfying plop when it hit the floor, but I noticed that Simon's eyes were fixed on the bruises that were still visible across my ribs. He opened his mouth to say something. Like I was some kind of delicate flower that he didn’t want to crush. Like I didn’t know my own mind and body enough to know that I had to have him.