After he became engrossed in the subject matter, he rose and began to pace, reading and falling into the male lead. Martin loved the character Rory, and knew he could get into this character with ease.
Pacing and reading, over and over, he read the lines. Getting into character, he could feel the anger of the scene. He reached in deep to become a husband walking in on his wife as she was in the arms of another man on the dance floor.
Closing his eyes, he could picture the scene. He was about to reach the couple as they danced and when he pulled them apart, the woman raised her eyes to look at him.
Quickly, he came out of the scene, shocked at how his concentration had been interrupted. A smile came to his lips. Randi was invading every part of his life, it seemed.
He glanced at the clock and noticed he’d been working on the script for over an hour. Tossing it on the table he stripped and went to the shower. He took his time, enjoying the hot water, trying to get back into the scene, but all he could do was think about being the man holding Randi on the dance floor.
He washed his hair, a smile playing on his lips. Randi had been flirting with him. When it came to the physical side of things she was holding back, but he didn’t mind.
He wanted to take this slow and make sure he got to know her. Randi seemed old-fashioned and this reminded him of the fact that his mother would be coming any day.
Martin knew his mother would approve of Randi, but that she would not approve of his lying to Randi or of his living with Celia. He rinsed the soap off, climbed from the shower, and began to dry.
As Martin picked out what he would wear he also tossed several items onto the bed. He’d asked Emma to have his things moved to the room downstairs. Taking out a pen and paper he jotted down several other things he wanted moved to his new room. He was thinking about leaving a note for Celia, too, but he didn’t.
Martin knew he didn’t have to worry about running into Celia before his clothes were removed. There was no way she would show up before he left. He slipped into his dress slacks, white shirt and matching jacket, but no tie, and added some cologne before walking out.
He picked up the script and made his way to the stairs. Pausing for a moment, he heard voices. From the sound of things he knew someone was working on the tree in the great room. He guessed it was Randi. He walked down the stairs, hoping not to be noticed, and thankfully he slipped out the front door without being seen.
Once out the door, in the car, and down the driveway, Martin paused before turning onto the highway, texting to Emma that she could now move his clothes. He sat waiting to make his turn when he received her text back. He picked up his iPhone and glanced at the text. Will do.
Martin smiled as an idea came to him. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it sooner. What better way to tell Celia of his plans than a text message?
He wouldn’t have to hear her objections or argue with her about it. A smile played on his lips as he typed out the words that would partially explain why, from this point, they’d be staying in separate rooms.
Chapter 19
All Men Can Cheat
“Oh no, he’s not doing this!” Celia shook her head and glanced up to her good friend, Sue. “You will not believe the text I just got. Martin’s moving out of our room.”
Sue glanced up. “He’s breaking up with you in a text?”
“No, it’s not a break-up. He says his mother’s old-fashioned and that while she’s in the house we’ll need to have separate sleeping quarters. What kind of crap is that?”
Sue nodded. “Hey, you know men and their mothers, and really I’d do the same thing. My mum’s like that, from the old school. I would never sleep with anyone except a teddy bear under her roof.”
Celia laughed, “Not my mother. And I don’t think that's the real reason. He’s putting distance between us, and I have no idea why.”
“When did this start? I thought you were getting married soon.” Sue closed the lid on her laptop and looked at Celia.
“I don’t know. It’s coming from left field. One minute we’re fine and the next he’s acting strange, not sharing our bed, and tossing out hints that I may not be what he wants.”
“Wow, this sounds serious. What are you going to do?”
“Dig in, and try to figure out what’s going on.” Celia reached for her iced tea but stopped when Sue started shaking her head. “What?"
Sue pushed back her computer and leaned on the table. “I’ll bet he has another woman. This reeks of 'he’s moving on' with someone else.”
“I don’t think so. He hasn’t been anywhere. He’s not the type to cheat. I’m not sure what it is.”
“All men can cheat. You need to watch him and see what he’s been up to. And for not being anywhere, he’s always going out for meetings. And what about the other night when he was gone?”
“About the only place he goes without me is to see his agent.”
“So he says. And why don’t you go with him? Does he ask you to go?”
“Most of the time. We’ve even had fights about my not going, and how it makes him look bad.” Celia didn’t like the way that Sue was nodding, and she could guess what was coming next.
“It sounds to me like he is making a great cover. You don’t want to go, he knows it, and so all he has to do in order to meet this other women is to say he’s meeting his agent. Am I right?”
Celia crossed her arms and considered her friend's comments. “He has a meeting tonight, in a couple of hours. He asked me to go, but this time when I said I couldn’t make it, he didn’t argue. Matter of fact, he didn’t say a thing.”
“Could be there was a reason for that. Do you know where this meeting is supposed to take place? Could you drop by and make sure that he’s telling you the truth?”
Celia knew it was crazy to be sitting in this restaurant, in the back, waiting for Martin. She had to wonder, is he worth all of this drama? As she glanced up and, from across the room, watched him walk in, she smiled and thought, Yes, he is gorgeous, rich, all mine, and very worth it.
She scanned the room slowly. She moved the large menu up and in front of her face. Martin walked in, and into the back. As she had feared, he had a private table waiting. She was just working out in her mind how to learn who his guest was, when the door to the restaurant opened again.
A smile came to her lips. Sue is wrong. Martin wasn’t cheating on her. Well, at least he wasn’t tonight. The menu was a good way to hide, so as Martin’s agent walked by, she was sure to hold it high so he wouldn’t notice her.
“Can I get you something, miss?” A handsome young waiter asked seconds later. Celia smiled, lowered the menu and rose to her feet, picking up her purse.
“Thanks, but no thanks. For now I have everything I need.”
*****
The first tree was up and finished, and though she was worn out, Randi was in love with Christmas and all of the beauty that came with it.
She sat down, exhausted, looking at the tree. The fact that she and Mike had picked it out made it special, and she hoped he got the chance to look at it, with the hundreds of lights, golden tinsel, and colorful glass balls.
A cup of hot chocolate would go down great about now. Randi glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost eleven, Celia was already tucked away upstairs, Mr. Taylor was still out of the house, and no one was awake but her.
She rose, went to the kitchen, and fixed a tall cup of hot chocolate. It would be nice if she could glance out the window and see some snow. That and Mike waltzing in would make this a perfect night.
She didn’t know where he lived and decided she’d try and ask him that the next time she saw him. The place was huge. There could be a guesthouse, or some such thing on the grounds, that she didn’t know about. She dimmed the lights as she came back to the great room and sat down, looking at her handiwork.
The kids would love it, or at least they should. Who could tell with kids these days? Christmas used to be special. It was the
time of year that you got that one gift you couldn’t manage to pull out of your parents all year long. It was a time to write Santa, or ask your parents for something, reminding them how good you’d been all year, even if you hadn’t.
Randi’s brow furrowed at the thoughts of the way kids lived these days. Every day or weekend was Christmas. People bought lavish gifts for their kids for the wrong reasons. Parents worked too long and too hard and felt guilty, so they would get gifts and hand them out to their kids.
Some kids were spoiled and would bug their parents, saying, Get this for me. I need it. Everyone else has one. The parents would give in, for lack of discipline, or the time to do the right thing.
Then there were the parents who declared, my kids will have everything they want. When I was a child I didn’t get anything from my parents. Randi shook the many excuses out of her mind.
She took a long sip of her drink, set it down on a table, and rose, looking at the tree. Kids didn’t need to get everything, every time they asked. That just wasn’t the way the world worked. Sometimes it was a battle to get the good stuff, and a person needed to learn the fortitude to have patience and wait on the thing that was worth fighting for.
Randi smiled. Mike is one of those things. She could just feel it. She wouldn’t mind waiting, and she planned on doing a bit of fighting to see if she couldn’t get him under her tree come the next Christmas Eve.
She needed to make sure that he was done with Celia, and not just on the rebound. Being a side item wasn’t what she had in mind. She hoped, though she’d been flirting, that Mike would understand she wasn’t looking for a fling, but a more permanent relationship. But what is he looking for?
She straightened a limb on the tree, stepped back, checking for anything out of place, found nothing, and moved back to her seat. She curled back into the large lounge chair and reached for her chocolate. After drinking about half of it down, she took out her phone and sent her mom a few messages.
She paused as she was about to put up the phone, glanced over her shoulder and to the empty hall and quickly took a snap of the tree. She knew it was against policy, but what could it hurt? Her mother had no clue how to forward any of her emails, and it was just a tree. There weren’t even any gifts under it.
Randi rose, picked up her glass, and went to the kitchen. She stood at the sink, drinking the last of her chocolate. She’d checked to make sure it was the 99.9-percent caffeine-free kind. No use in getting the old heart rate up this time of night. She washed her cup, rinsed out the sink, turned out the lights and went to her room.
Ann had spoken with her earlier in the day. She was spending the night at a friend's house and would be going to the caterer the next morning to make sure the orders were in place for the party. Tonight, Randi had the room to herself. She went to the bathroom, took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, and slipped into green sweats and a matching top.
The last couple of nights it had been in the fifties and tonight it was supposed to dip down to forty-five so she decided to dress warmer. Celia liked the house to be kept close to seventy-four and for Randi’s body that was just a bit on the cold side.
She was just about to slip into bed when she thought about the tree. Would they want to keep it burning all night? She doubted it would be a fire hazard. Still, she thought she should unplug it. When she walked out of her room she immediately heard voices.
Slowly she walked toward the great room. There stood a man and woman, and they weren’t talking very loud. She guessed that maybe she would finally get a glimpse of the famous Mr. Taylor. Who else would be up at this time of night?
With the kitchen lights out she could stand in the doorway and not be seen easily. She could look across the entryway into the great room and see the shoulder of a woman standing in front of the tree. After a moment she moved and Randi bit her lip. It was Celia. She hoped she wouldn’t get chastised for leaving the tree plugged in.
Randi eased back against the wall, watching, hoping to see who she was talking to. After a few moments she gave up. As she started to turn and go two things happened: the refrigerator kicked off, and Celia raised her voice.
Now that she could understand the woman she decided to stay. She strained her hearing and made out what Celia was saying with ease.
“I don’t understand. You need to give me a better explanation. You're pulling back, but why?”
When the man spoke, Randi froze and she strained to hear what he was saying. But his voice wasn’t raised. He was speaking in a calm tone. Though she could barely hear the man she was sure it was Mike, and seconds later, as he stepped out and around Celia, she didn’t have to wonder anymore.
Her heart melted a bit at the sight of him. He was dressed in a white shirt, brown slacks and was carrying a brown jacket. He started to walk out, but Celia placed her hand on his arm. Mike turned, looking at her. Randi couldn’t understand what he said, but as Mike pulled away from Celia and shook his head no, Randi had seen all she needed to.
She slipped back a few steps and before anyone could see her she went to her room. As she slipped into her bed she wondered if Mike would be leaving Celia if she hadn’t come into his life.
There would be no answer to that question, but she did have to wonder if she was doing the right thing. Mike was leaving another woman, maybe for her.
A part of her was relieved that he was telling the truth and a little excited because, right or wrong, she was beginning to have feelings for him. Only time would tell if anything would ever come of it or not. She hoped that when all was said and done that she didn’t end up alone and broken-hearted come Christmas morning.
Chapter 20
Supplies
“Don’t tell me you’ve given up on your contacts already?” Ann asked as she set a large box down on the kitchen table in front of Emma. The box was filled with special needs items for Celia’s family. Time was closing in on getting things ready for the party, so Emma rose and began to go through the box.
“I don’t have time to adjust to anything new right now, so yes, the contacts are back in their cute little box and I’m wearing my old faithful glasses. Is this everything? I don’t see the—”
“No it’s not everything. There are two more boxes in the back of my car. I just couldn’t carry it all, but I got everything on the list.”
“Good. I want to have everything in its place first thing in the morning. The family will start coming in tomorrow night. I’m really dreading this and I’m getting too old for this kind of stress.”
“Oh, Emma, don’t let it get you down. You’ve covered all the bases, you’ve filled the list, now just sit back and let the rest of us take care of the details.”
Emma began placing the items in the cabinets, shaking her head. “I wish I could. But I’m a hands-on kind of girl, and I just can’t turn over the control. Just ask my husband.” Emma laughed. “On second thought, don’t ask him.”
“I know what he’d say. I’ve lived with you all my life.” Ann moved around the kitchen and pulled the box closer to the edge where she could reach it better. She started setting the items on the table, and Emma reached and put them in the correct cabinet.
“Ah yes, my poor husband puts up with a lot, but he’s not perfect either.”
“Speaking of husbands or close to it,” Ann began, “Miss Celia didn’t look very happy when she slammed out the front door this morning.”
“Did she really slam the door?” Emma asked.
“Yes, she did. I’d been here about an hour when it happened.”
“She’s not good at hiding her emotions. This could be a very interesting dinner.” Emma smiled as she placed the rest of the dietary foods into the cabinet by the sink.
A few seconds later Ann spoke. “I know you won’t gossip, but can you give me a clue of what to say or not to say? I know with the family coming in, things are going to get . . . strained, to say the least.”
Emma took out the regular sugar, filled up the bowl, and reached it
to Ann. She did the same thing for the sugar substitute. “Here, place this one next to it, please.” Ann took the new yellow sugar bowl and waited.
Martin was gone and so was Celia, so it was safe to talk. “I will say something is going on. I don’t know what for certain. Martin and Celia are having issues but it seems the party is still on.”
“All couples have problems, but I couldn’t help but notice he’s sleeping downstairs, and you did ask me to move his things.”
“I know. I hated to do that, but I was just too busy.” Emma shrugged. “And as far as gossip goes, the help always knows when something is going on.”
“Right we just know better than to mention it.” Ann and Emma laughed.
“You got that one right, and only time will tell what will come of it. I must add, it could only be the fact his mother is coming.”
“That’s right. She’s really old-fashioned, isn’t she?”
“That she is, and Martin has great respect for his mother and would never sleep with a woman, any woman, while his mother is under the same roof. That could have something to do with the move.”
“Wow, he’s a real gentleman.”
“So it would appear.” Emma recalled what she’d heard and seen. If he were a gentleman would he be putting the moves on his live-in maid while still having a fling with Celia? It also looked like he was keeping his identity hidden from Randi. That wasn’t like her employer at all.
Emma let her mind wander over the facts as Ann went to get the other boxes. When she came back they picked up where they had left off. “I’ve not worked for anyone else in two years. I can say Martin may not be perfect, but he will respect his mother’s wishes and he’ll be a perfect gentleman while she’s here.”
“That makes me admire him. Where do I put the diet sodas?” Ann turned, pointing to the cans.
“Go ahead and put about four of each in the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, and the rest in the pantry.” Emma stepped back. “And when you’re done, will you put these in the upstairs bathrooms where the guests can easily find them? Place a card on each bed also.” Emma pushed the box of antibacterial soap and a stack of envelopes toward Ann.
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