From Ice to Flames

by Hargrove, A. M.

  After Glenn left, with a promise to keep us updated, we all sat around the conference table. Then Ava spoke up.

  “Hey everyone. Milly is slammed and Glenn pretty much handed her Linda’s job too. We need to pitch in and give her a hand.”

  I mouthed the words thank you to her.

  Jeremy was the first to say, “Absolutely. Just name it and I’m there.”

  “Thanks. I’m thinking you can help Ava in the coordination of the Bid for Bachelors. Is that okay?”

  “Sure. I can do that.”

  “Thank you, Jeremy,” I said.

  Then Courtney stepped up to the plate. “I can work with Clinton if you’d like.”

  “Courtney, personally I’d love that, but right now he’s gun shy. Unfortunately, I’m the only one he wants to work with. However, I’d love it if you could handle all the coordination with the Met as far as the catering is concerned. Can you be the go-between for Clinton?” I asked.

  “Sure. I’m working on the seating arrangements with everything and setting up the auction tables anyway, so that won’t be a problem at all.”

  “Perfect. And then Ava, can you help me finalize the program brochures. I’m almost there. All we need to do is add your bachelors, a hint of Clinton’s menu, plus include the high-end auction items. We’ll be there after that.”

  “Yes. The graphic artist has the proofs. All we need are the additions, right?”

  “Yep. We’re getting close, people.”

  Jeremy piped in. “I heard from the orchestra and they confirmed on the time.”

  “You guys are so amazing. This event is really going to rock.”

  “No, Milly, you’re the one who’s amazing. We’ve sold twice as many tickets as last year. You’ve done a phenomenal job. Thank you.” It was Ava who said that, but the rest of them agreed.

  “Let me just say that I couldn’t have done it without all your help. I’m proud to be a member of this team.”

  They also wanted to know if I needed extra help because of my shoulder too. It was all very sweet of them. Afterward, I called Clinton to let him know everything had been handled and we were set to go.

  Right before I left the office, a call came in from Glenn.

  “It’s been handled, Milly. Linda will officially receive her letter of termination today, if she hasn't already. If she tries anything with anyone from the office, please keep me informed.”

  “Thank you, Glenn.” That was one problem we didn’t have to deal with any longer.

  With April fast approaching, we had everything in order for this event to go off without a hitch.

  A few days later at work, Ava walked into my office. “Check this out. Does he look familiar?”

  She handed me her list of bachelors and pointed to one in particular. “No way. You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “I thought he looked familiar. He was one of the bachelors last year too.”

  I read the list of bachelors and their descriptions. “Hudson West, DVM, owner of The Critter Clinic. Wait, is he a veterinarian?”

  “Yes!”

  “Oh, my God. No wonder he’s so good with Dick. I should’ve known!”

  “I should’ve remembered him from last year. I drooled all over the place, but some chick bought him for high dollars.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. I’m not sure if they were together and it was a setup or not.”

  “Hmm. Do you think I should mention this to him?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t think it matters either way. It’s weird you haven’t spoken about what you do for work.”

  “It just hasn’t come up, but to be fair, we really haven’t spent a whole lot of time together.”

  “True. So, yeah, I thought you’d get a kick out of this.”

  “McFoxy is a vet. How about that.”

  Ava started laughing and then clapped her hands. “I love that. McFoxy. Much better than McLuscious. Very original.”

  “I think so too. Ooooh!”

  “What?”

  “I wonder who will bid on him this year?”

  Ava did a little jump and practically yelled, “You should. Yes, that’s perfect. You should do it!”

  “I don’t have that kind of money. I could spend a couple hundred and that’s it.”

  “Wait. You mentioned something about selling that car of your ex’s. Why don’t you just use that?”

  “That car has to be worth several thousand and I’d rather use that to go on a badly needed vacation. Like to Rome or maybe Prague or something. Not buying a silly date.”

  Her brows drew together as she stared at me. “This isn’t silly. It’s a fundraiser, Milly. Your money would be helping innocent children.”

  Aw, man. Now I felt terrible. “I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant was I didn’t want to pay for a date. My finances could use a boost and that extra money would help. If I sold that car, I could use some of the money for bills and then take a vacation. I guess I’m being selfish.”

  “No, you aren’t. I was being horrible to make you feel guilty like that. But this is a great cause.”

  “Of course it is. I wish I could donate an entire paycheck or two. I’m just not in the position though.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, neither am I.”

  Shutting down my computer, I said, “I’m calling it a day.” My shoulder still ached, and I rubbed the offender.

  “Hey, you okay? I should be a little more sensitive about that.” She pointed to my arm. “Does it still bother you?”

  “I’ll be honest. It’s better but not completely healed. The doctor said it could take six weeks. But it’s definitely a ton better.”

  She grabbed her proofs off my desk and said, “Well, thank God for that. It would be hell working this thing with a bum shoulder.”

  “Yeah, and I still have the dog walker handling Dick, so I’m covered there.”

  She quirked a brow. “Oh, that’s good. You don’t want to take a chance reinjuring it.”

  We left the office together and I walked home. It was getting warmer now that it was March, thank the weather gods, and it only took me ten minutes to get home. It was one of the reasons I chose my apartment.

  Chad was leaving, and we passed each other. “Your fella was a good boy today.”

  “Oh, thank you. I think after tomorrow, I’ll be fine.”

  “Great. Just text me when to stop and we’re good.”

  “Chad, you’ve been a lifesaver.”

  “My pleasure.”

  After petting my boy, I fed him his dinner and opened my laptop to spy on Hudson. He was indeed a successful veterinarian, running a highly popular practice, it seemed. He was the sole proprietor of The Critter Clinic. There was an adorable picture of him on the website and a cute quote that said, “We’ll cuddle your kitten and canoodle your poodle.” I cracked up. I could see women flocking to his practice. Why wouldn’t they with the hot Dr. West, smiling, petting their favorite puppy, and snuggling it? Just the thought of it made my lady bits tingle. Aww, it made me want a puppy to take to him just to see him do it.

  My belly growled, reminding me it was late and I had barely touched my lunch. I dug around in the fridge and came up with some leftover pizza. After I chowed down two pieces, I was sitting and watching TV when my doorbell rang. It had to be Hudson.

  When I opened the door, he was standing there with Wiley.

  “I hope you don’t mind. The Wild Man here kept bugging me to see Dick so I thought we’d come over for a little visit.”

  “Sure. Come on in.”

  Wiley charged straight for Dick, who was mighty happy to see him. Tail wagging like a bullwhip, he and Wiley made a great team.

  “Ew, Big Dick spit all over me.” Wiley ran back to us, Dick on his heels.

  “Here.” I grabbed a paper towel and wiped Dick’s drool off his cheek. “Dick can’t contain his slobber.”

  “How come?”

  “His lips are saggy. See?” I showed him how Di
ck’s mouth came together, which wasn’t very well.

  “That’s icky.”

  “Yeah, well, he can’t help it. Just carry that paper towel with you in case it happens again.”

  Hudson laughed at Wiley. “He has this thing about getting stuff on his face.”

  “I don’t blame him. I don’t like it either. It’s gross.”

  “Yeah, about that. Did you not know that about the breed?”

  “I didn’t have a clue. And when he started growing older, it was awful. He would drink water and it would gush out of his mouth. I still don’t know how he keeps any of it inside. He loses more than he drinks.”

  “Yeah, they are messy for sure.” Then he sniffed.

  I groaned, “Uhhh, I know. This place smells like a kennel. I don’t know what to do.”

  “I’m used to it. I’m a veterinarian.”

  “Yeah, I was going to mention that. I see you’re one of the Bid for Bachelors this year.” If I wasn’t mistaken, his cheeks actually turned slightly pink.

  “Wait. How did you know?”

  I winked. “I have inside information.”

  “Hmm. I got roped into doing it. My dad’s on the board of directors for the charity that’s running the stupid thing.”

  “Actually, I’m the event coordinator for the stupid thing.” I wanted to die laughing because now his entire face had turned a delicious shade of scarlet. “I should clarify. The Bid for Bachelors isn’t in my area of responsibilities. I’m in charge of bringing in donations and ticket sales. I work for the charity itself.”

  “So you’re the one.”

  My brows lifted sky high. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “My dad has been singing your praises. He’s been involved with various charities for years now, but you’ve really sparked his interest. He claims you have a real passion for this.”

  I waved my good arm. “Oh, it’s just that I have a clear knack for getting people to part with their money.”

  “Should that scare me?”

  I lifted my good shoulder. “Maybe. Just don’t leave your wallet lying around here. You never know. My friend, Ava, that you met over here. She’s in charge of the Bid for Bachelors. She thought she recognized you but couldn’t figure out from where. Then our brochures came in and your picture was in it. I guess when she sent everything into the graphic artist, she didn’t pay attention to the jpg files that included your photo.”

  “Don’t hate me for this, but I tried my best to get out of it.”

  “You did?”

  “Yeah. Last year was a disaster. The woman who bought me was … let’s say she didn’t want to just have one date.”

  “Oh, I’m really sorry.”

  He held up his hands, palms facing me. “Hey, it’s not your problem she was a psycho. She even came to my office, hunting me down.”

  “Jeez, that’s totally overboard. What did you do?”

  “I had to get pretty forceful with her and let her know there would never be an us.”

  Wiley yells out, “Wook, Daddy, Big Dick can shake.”

  I glanced over at the two of them and Wiley was holding Dick’s paw. It was bigger than Wiley’s arm. Then to my horror, I watched in slow motion as Wiley threw the ball he’d been holding and yelled, “Go get it.”

  Dick took off and lunged for it, crashing into a side table, knocking over a lamp, and breaking everything in his path.

  But that didn’t stop him. He kept on going until he had that damn ball in his slobbery mouth, and brought it back to Wiley.

  We all froze. Eventually, Wiley said, “Wow. That was crazy.”

  “Wiley, you know you’re not supposed to throw balls in the house.”

  “I didn’t think he would run wike that, Daddy.”

  “Actually, I didn’t either,” I said. “Most of the time he’s really lazy.”

  I got up to go pick up the mess, but Hudson stopped me.

  “I think this is a job for the boys. Don’t you, Wiley?”

  “Yeah.” Although by the expression on Wiley’s face, I’m sure he didn’t agree.

  The table was damaged beyond repair. One of the legs was cracked in two. That must have been where Dick crashed into it. The lamp … well, let’s say it had lived a good life. A short one, but one nonetheless. And my cute little ceramic pig that Ellerie gave me as a going away gift from her store, was broken into a hundred pieces. There wasn’t a chance I could even super glue that thing back together.

  “You’ve really done it this time, Dick.” As soon as I said it, that tail whipped back and forth as his excitement grew. “Poor guy, he just needs a yard to play in. My idiot ex. What was he thinking leaving him with me?” Frustration gushed out of every one of my pores. If that stupid Harry were here right now, I would punch the motherfucker straight in the nose.

  “Maybe we could take him over to Aunt Marewin and Uncle Grey’s house. They have a reawwy big backyard with wots and wots of room. Don’t they Daddy? And they have a Marshmawwow too.”

  “Uh, er, yes, Wiley they do. But I’m not sure about that. We’d have to talk to them first.”

  “Or Gammie and Bebop’s.”

  “I take it Gammie and Bebop are your parents. And don’t worry. I would never ask you to take him over to your family’s backyard. Okay, maybe if he were a tiny poodle or something, but not a mastiff. So don’t worry about it. I’ll just have to take him for more walks in the park.”

  They got everything cleaned up, but now I needed another table and lamp. “Guess a shopping trip is in order. And you don’t know anyone who needs to buy a car, do you?”

  “A car?”

  “Yeah, my ex moved to London. You know, that’s how I ended up with Dick. But anyway, he gave me his car. I actually have a car of my own that I left at my sister’s in Atlanta and I really don’t need another. I’d like to sell it.”

  “Ah. What kind?”

  “It’s a nice 2016 Honda SUV. Not much mileage either. I have the title. I need to look up an asking price online.”

  “Let me check around.”

  “Thanks.”

  He and Wiley left, and I kept thinking about stalker woman. No wonder she did that. Ava was right. He was the complete smoke show when it came to men. From his ice blue eyes to his chiseled cheeks, to his perfect smile. I had to wonder how he looked naked. I mean, Harry was nice looking in a benign, nerdy sort of way. I’d been attracted to him but nothing like this. This was raw animal magnetism to the core. My ovaries nearly leaped out of me every time I so much as looked his way. How did he not have women banging down his door? Maybe he did, but he just wasn’t interested. Maybe he was a latent homosexual. I’d heard of that happening before. It had happened to a woman I’d worked with. Her husband had been sneaking around for years behind her back, having affairs with men, and he didn’t want to come out because his family would disown him. So he married her as a front. It was awful, actually.

  Grabbing my phone, I called Ava.

  “Milly, is everything all right?”

  “You don’t think Hudson West is gay, do you? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I was just wondering.”

  “What the hell!”

  “I mean, why aren’t women clamoring to get to him?”

  “Maybe they are.”

  “Huh?”

  “How do you know they aren’t hounding him to death?”

  “Hmmph. I don’t.”

  “Where is all this coming from?” she asked.

  “My overactive imagination.”

  “Have you been sitting there thinking about him?”

  I laughed and then told her about him coming over.

  “Oh, thank God. I thought you’d lost your freakin’ mind for a minute.”

  “So your gaydar says no then.”

  “My gaydar says hell to the fucking no.”

  “Okay then, good. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Now we had that resolved, I hunted down my favorite vibrator so I could ease
the tension my overactive ovaries had created in my nether regions. Just when I was getting settled in for a nice little masturbatory session, my phone fired with Facetime lighting up.

  “Oh, for the love of …” It was my sister calling. You couldn’t even get your rocks off these days without an interruption.

  “Hey, Ellerie.” I grinned at her.

  “Mills. What’s up?”

  “You called at a really bad time.”

  “Why? What’s going on?” Her brow was all crinkled. “Everything okay?”

  “I would be if my rabbit session wouldn’t have gotten interrupted.”

  “Huh?”

  “I was trying to entertain my old and neglected vagina.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake. I can’t believe you told me that.”

  “Why not? You’re my sister.”

  “Yeah, but isn’t anything sacred anymore?”

  “It’s not that big of a deal.”

  “It is to me. Do you want to call me back?”

  “Nah, it’s okay. What’s up?”

  “I wanted to give you more scoop.”

  “More scoop?”

  “On Harry, you big goon.”

  “Oh.” My cheerful mood quickly dissolved.

  “He’s getting married. And that woman he’s marrying was here working with him for a while.”

  “And you know this how?”

  “I have my sneaky ways.”

  “Oh, Ells. This just makes me so fucking mad at the cheating bastard. I’m going to call him up and give him a piece of my mind. I can’t believe he did this. I should’ve gotten more in the divorce.”

  “Yeah, you should have for the way he treated you in the end. And all this time we all, including Mom and Dad, felt sorry for him. And he let us believe that crap.”

  “Speaking of … do Mom and Dad know?”

  “Not yet. I haven’t decided if I’m going to tell them.”

  “Don’t. What’s done is done. If they ever sing his praises though, I’ll be sure to burst that bubble.”

  We ended our call and I tossed my phone on the bed. My playful mood gone, I stuck my favorite vibe back in the drawer and hunted a book to read instead. But the next thing I knew I was waking up to my alarm. My neck was aching because I’d fallen asleep all scrunched up. This was not going to be my day. At least we didn’t have Linda to deal with.