“… yea just off Mulholland. Please hurry.” She dropped her phone in her bag and dropped down the street curb. She was hungover like a bitch, and her only thought was trying to hold back the urge to throw up all over her boss’s driveway. She couldn’t remember much the day… or the night for that matter, which lead her to this curb but she knew sticking around to find out was not in her plans at all.
Her best friend was a life savor, bringing her a change of clothing and dropping her off at the office. She knew she had plenty of time to shower in the office gym and get to work, pretend that everything was fine before he was show up.
But everything wasn’t fine. The room was spinning out of control; her stomach was taking every leap and bounds to make her uncomfortable. She dug through her bag looking for crackers or tums, or really anything that could settle her stomach a little. However the only thing she found was a credit card receipt from last night. Three hundred twelve dollars and thirty two cents. Her stomach did another summersault. This would be the very reason she felt like hell.
She was glad for the awkward silence that lingered in the office once Justin finally made it in because she didn’t know what to say. How unprofessional of her to get hammered drunk with her boss, and end up in the spare bedroom of his house? I guess it was great that she was in the spare bedroom and not elsewhere. Somewhere in the silence she managed to arrange the promotional schedule for the week that followed his Christmas holiday without a peep from him. By mid-afternoon they were both coming back to a state of normalness. The banter had picked up, a smile or two was planted on their faces and life was better.
“I’ve seen you ignore at least three of your mother’s phone calls today alone. You should probably call her back.” He smiles at her and walks back into his office, closing the door.
She unlocks her phone and presses the function to call return the phone call.
“Charli … I was about to send out a search party for you. The least you could do is answer your damn phone and tell me you’re busy. You don’t have to be…”
“MOTHER” she blurted out interrupting her. “Stop.”
“I am your mother. Do not speak to me like that.”
“I am at work… I can’t just answer the phone every time one of you calls.” The line was quiet. The words Courtney wanted to say was not appropriate for a conversation with one’s own mother.
She sighed with such disgust. “I wanted to call you and let you know that Christmas dinner is at six sharp. Jack is going to be late, but that’s okay. You’re flight comes in 3:12 on Tuesday, right? So you’re not going to be late.”
Her jaw dropped, her chest tightened, and the tears welled up in her eyes. “You invited Jack, to Christmas dinner?” The lump in her throat built up closing off her airway.
“Yes, I thought it was silly to not invite him to a family function. After all he has been part of this family for nearly a decade.”
Tears streamed down her face, which she wiped away quickly, trying to hide her emotions. “He cheated on me… with my best friend since childhood. How is that silly?”
Her mother huffed through the line; clearly she was annoyed by her daughter’s reaction.
“Have a great Christmas mom.” She clicked the end call option and buried her face into her hands. Crying harder than she probably had her entire life.
She knew deep in her heart that her marriage was over long before it actually ended but it didn’t make ended a relationship of a decade any easier to simply walk away from. But when the last and final straw was pulled, she moved three thousand miles away. The damage he caused her was something she would get over in time, but the destruction of her relationship with her mother would never be repaired. Despite knowing the facts her mother sided with Jack. She blamed the divorce on Charli. Saying if she would have been a better wife, a better partner, then things wouldn’t have ended the way they did.
“I didn’t know… I’m sorry.” Justin admitted. His heart hurt for her. He sat down on the corner of her desk. “Is there anything I can do?”
Charli wiped away her tears, trying to come back into the moment. “I’m fine.”
“Last night was fun…” Justin attempted to make small talk but was failing. “…What’s your holiday plans?”
“I don’t have any.” She responded quickly.
“None… I’m sure your family would love to have you home. I could book you a flight. I will even pay for it!”
“You seriously want to get rid of me that much?” She laughed, “The last people I wanna spend time with this holiday is my overbearing mother, my antagonizing father, and my selfish sister...”
Justin felt bad, but more than anything he felt sad for her. A family should only support someone, not tear them down in the process.
“Last year, I came home from spending Christmas with my family in such a depressed state, that I can’t bear to put myself through that once again. Especially since I know who will also be in attendance. And if they feel that they need my ex-husband there more than me, then that’s what they can have.”
“Did you tell them I am forcing you to work?” He chuckled.
She cautiously nodded her head, laughing. “I blame whatever I can on you.”
“I’m good with that.” Justin fiddled with the hem of his shirt.
She swallowed hard. “This is all my mother’s doing…”
“Come home to Memphis with me. You know my mother would love to have you there. She loves you.”
“I couldn’t intrude on your holiday. I will get some takeout and watch the twenty four hours of A Christmas Story. I will be fine.” She shuffled through a couple emails, avoiding eye contact with him. “Plus, I wanna spend just about as much time with your wife, that I do my family. No thanks.”
“My wife is spending the holiday and the New Year in Colorado.”
Charli didn’t question the statement he made. She didn’t even want to know why. The less she knew the better.
