The Mischievous Mrs. Maxfield (21 page)

Anna narrowed her eyes at me. "Don't preach to me as if you know better."

I shook my head. "I'm not because I don't know better and you know what? That's alright because I don't want to be so convinced in my philosophy that I wouldn't look at what's right there for me to see.   Sometimes you so desperately want to see that it's love, you'll insist on labeling what's in front of you as that even when it's not."

Anna bit her lip and looked away, both of us falling into silence.

"Not everyone understands what's between me and Jason," she finally said in a small voice. "I know it looks bad but things couldn't be more right when we're together. We just met too late but it doesn't mean we can't make it right. We will make it right."

"And you might be right and we could be all dead wrong," I agreed with a solemn nod. "But until that happens, you're going to have to figure something out for yourself  because you're hurting too much."

She said nothing, her misery clear on her face, and I took pity on her. "Anna, do you have any security we can call tonight?"

She shook her head, snorting, "No. I haven't had anyone tailing me around since I was sixteen. It's my hard-won victory from Dad."

"Okay, then stay here and let me just tell the other girls we're heading out," I told her gently, touching her knee. "I think we should get you home so you can rest and sleep it off."

She barely nodded and I wasted no time in heading right back out to the pool to talk to Felicity. I assigned to wrap up the party and make sure everyone got driven home safely.

I slipped on an oversized, light gray sweatshirt, pulled my hair up into a messy top-knot and was just heading for the change room when I saw Becca coming out.

I tensed, worried that she ran into Anna who, given her current mood, might have mouthed off at her rudely. "Is Anna still there, holding up in one piece?"

"Anna?" she asked. "She stormed off a few minutes ago saying something about going to the bar. I thought she meant out here. Isn't she around?"

My heart sank. "No. Crap! She bailed on me."

"Char, what's wrong?" Becca called out as I dashed toward the door.

"Nothing! Thanks for coming, Becs!" I hollered back at her before slamming the door shut behind me.

I jumped into the elevator and practically punched the button for the lobby into the panel, praying with all my might that Anna just went downstairs to the bar where they would hopefully be more discerning and ID her and refuse her more alcohol. She had enough drinks she could power a small engine.

The host manning the door gingerly stepped in front of me just as I was about to bolt through the entrance of the swanky hotel bar, his eyes appraising my unkempt appearance.

Oh, right. You look like you've been scrubbing the toilet.

I spotted a flash of dark pink beyond his shoulder and my gaze zeroed in on Anna draped over the bar, practically sitting on a guy's lap, her sun dress about to unravel with a sneeze from either of them.

"I just need to get to my friend over there so I can get her home," I told the host, trying my best to wave at Anna who wasn't even looking my way. "I'll just be thirty seconds, I promise."

"Are you a hotel guest, ma'am?" he asked in a bored tone, not budging one bit from his spot. 

"Yes! We just rented the rooftop pool lounge for my bachelorette party tonight," I said impatiently. "It's booked under Aimee Compton."

He made a ceremony out of going over his logs on the computer without one hint of urgency while I watched Anna pour herself over the guy like a cocktail drink.

"And are you Aimee Compton?" the host asked, looking up from his computer. 

I blinked and returned my attention to him. "No, no. My name is Charlotte Samuels. Aimee's my best friend."

He didn't look like he believed me either way and he just cleared his throat. "Well, Ms. Samuels, see, we have a dress code for guests coming into the bar and it doesn't allow for—"

"I am Mr. Brandon Maxfield's fiancee and that girl with her tongue down some guy's throat over at the  bar is his sister and if you don't let me in so I can take her home before she throws up all over your fancy counter, we will all be in serious trouble," I finally snapped. I hated bandying Brandon's name about but desperate times called for desperate measures. "Capish?"

The man's brows shot up in surprise but his eyes immediately narrowed. "Five minutes ago someone tried to come in claiming to be Paris Hilton's sister."

I groaned and stepped around his little desk and shoving his hands away from the keyboard.

"Hey, hey! What do you think you're doing?"

"Just a sec!" I chided loudly, exiting out of their booking system and clicking on a browser until I could get to a search engine. I typed mine and Brandon's name in it and clicked on the first image that showed up in the results. It was a photo of us arriving at the engagement party, smiling at the camera. Given I was a little bit more done up in the photo than I currently looked but the face was the same.

"There! Is that good enough?" I stepped aside so the man could crane his head at the screen. Before he could answer, I jumped around him and ran into the bar, heading straight for Anna.

I ignored the mutterings of the people I passed and grabbed Anna by the wrist, trying to wrench her away from this oily-faced guy who was frisking her like he worked for TSA. 

"Anna, let's go!" 

She turned to me and giggled, wrapping her arms around the guy's neck. "Charlotte! Look! This is Ted!"

Ted glanced at me, appreciation lighting up his eyes as he looked me up and down. I suddenly wished I did have those two horns I mentioned earlier. 

"Hey, baby," he said in a nauseatingly smooth voice as slick as the grease on his nose. "Why don't you join me and your friend for a little private party at my suite upstairs? I have the best view in this hotel, you know? You may not notice it though because I'll blow your minds away."

I gave him a tight smile, gripping Anna's arm more tightly. For a staggering drunk, she was suprisingly strong. 

"If you're the standard to judge the results by, I'll take a pass," I said pertly. "I like my brain where it is. You've clearly splattered yours into oblivion some time ago."

Anna burst into more giggles. "Charlotte, you're so funny! Ted, isn't Charlotte funny?"

Ted's brains must have really been blown up into pieces because my sarcasm didn't register on him. He just grinned and licked his flabby lower lip. "She's funny but I bet she's a screamer."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'll scream like a banshee and twist your balls off. Then you'll be a soprano."

I turned to Anna and tugged at her arm again. "Come on, Anna. Let's go."

She stubbornly stomped her feet. "No! I'll stay here with Ted. Everyone will be happy now. He's my one true love."

I took a deep breath and summoned all my restraint as I turned to Ted who was smiling smugly. "Listen. While I'm sure you're some unfortunate girl's one true love, this, sadly, isn't her."

"Says who?"

"Says the gods of fate and the only sober and rational person in this conversation they could entrust that wisdom with!" I retorted, clenching my free fist. "Now, if you'll excuse us, Romeo, we've got something better to do like get the hell away from you as fast as we can. Goodnight."

And before Anna could protest, I yanked her away until she stumbled off his lap. She didn't offer more resistance as I started dragging her with me.

The host I snuck from suddenly came up in front of me and I glowered at him. "What? Did my ID pass or what?"

I could tell he didn't seem happy but that he nodded stiffly anyway. "I apologize, Ms. Samuels—"

"It's all good," I said with a sigh, waving my hand dismissively. "You were doing your job. I'm sorry to have been so rude about it but as you can see, I've got a crisis on my hands—literally. Thank you for understanding but we've got to go now."

He wordlessly stepped aside and let us continue on our way out. 

"Charlooootte. Can't go home yet," Anna wailed behind me as we stepped out into the lobby. "Can't be aloooone."

I sighed. "If you'd like you can stay with me tonight. It's nothing luxurious, mind you, but I doubt that in your condition, you'd care. You're clearly wasted."

"I'm not wasted!" Anna argued just as we came out to the front steps of the hotel entrance. "I am broken-hearted! There's a difference."

I raised my brow at her, fighting my irritation just as my own memories started to surface. "Of course there is. Getting wasted is usually the idiot's solution to being broken-hearted or just being simply broken. People shouldn't get drunk. They should take their heads out of their cups and do something about their situation whether it's to try to fix things or get on with their lives."

Anna grunted, about to reply, when the doorman approached us. "Can I assist you in some way, Ms. Samuels? Ms. Maxfield?"

Ah, thank God. Here's someone who wouldn't yell at you to get your grubby self off their doorway.

"Yes, please," I said, flashing him a grateful smile. "If you don't mind, we need a cab—"

I nearly stumbled forward when Anna suddenly bolted from me and scrambled down the front steps, her heels clicking unsteadily as she reached for the cab that just pulled up on the curb to let its passengers out.

"Anna!" 

I dashed after her as she practically elbowed her way into the backseat of the cab. I gave the woman Anna just brushed past an apologetic smile as I jumped into the backseat. Anna was shaking the head rest of the driver's seat, spurring him on.

"Where are we going?" I demanded at Anna as the taxi pulled out into the street, the sudden motion throwing us back into our seats. I groped for my seatbelt and strapped in on before reaching over Anna's lap to do the same for her.

"Nowhere—"

"21 Cooke St., ma'am. Paragon Towers."

I glanced at Anna, recognizing the address as an upscale high-rise condo. "Is that your place? Anna?"

She didn't answer. She turned away instead and curled into herself. I could see her pale complexion in the low light filtering through the window on her side of the taxi. Her skin was shiny with perspiration and when I reached out to to her arm, her skin was breaking out in cold sweat.

"Anna, hey," I said softly, brushing her damp hair off her forehead and touching her cheek. "You okay? You're suddenly quiet. What is it?"

"I don't feel so well," she mumbled, crossing her arms over her belly and closing her eyes. "The motion of the cab... Charlotte. I don't—"

And with little warning, she lurched forward and tossed her cookies all over her feet and the taxi floor. 

The strong, rancid smell of alcohol and stomach acids filled the taxi and I groaned in disbelief just as the driver shrieked in fury.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? You can't just throw up in my cab! You lousy drunk—"

I kept one hand rubbing circles on Anna's back as she continued to empty her gut and reached into the pocket of my shorts where I kept my small wallet. "I'm so sorry but just get us to the address and I'll pay you to get it all cleaned up."

The driver was still muttering as he pulled up in front of the twenty-story building and grumpily took the small wad of about six-hundred dollars I handed him. It was cash Felicity had handed me almost two weeks ago when we went over my sudden financial access to the generous allowance Brandon provided me. I barely touched it and just carried it with me for emergency because it didn't really feel like it was my money. I figured spending it as compensation for cleaning up after Brandon's sister was reasonable. The guy needed to get this cleaned and he would probably be out of commission for the rest of the night.

I just got Anna out on the sidewalk before the taxi sped away. I looked at her soiled feet and shook off my sweatshirt. Despite it being a summer night, the hour was late and there was a nip in the air that made me shiver slightly but I ignored it.

"Hold still, will you?" I said impatiently as I crouched on my knees and started wiping her feet down with the sweatshirt. I never thought that the skillset I developed looking after my alcoholic father would ever come handy again but I stopped myself from saying so. Anna was in no shape for my grim philosophies about drinking in excess.

"Jason!" She started screaming, swaying toward the entrance of the building. "Jason, come out here!"

"You've got to be kidding me," I groaned at the realization of where we were as I dropped the sweatshirt and shot up to my feet, grabbing Anna by the arm before she could alert the building security. "Really, Anna? Of all friggin' places, you brought us here? Have you lost your mind?"

If I didn't lower my voice, I'd be the one alerting building security. I took a deep breath and dragged her away from the entrance as she twisted and tried to break free from me. 

"Charlotte, I have to see him!" Anna wailed. Thank God the streets were mostly empty now. This was a nice part of town but it didn't mean it was safe. Thugs knew where to prowl for their prey. 

"Not like this, you can bet your ass on it!" I snapped, growing increasingly frustrated with her. "I'm not going to let you scandalize everyone in the building at one in the morning and get us both thrown into jail!"