A giant banner saying 'Happy 50th Birthday' in those colours hung over the DJ booth at the end of the dance floor. A round table with a large bouquet of flowers was set up right beside the door. The bouquet was filled with blue and gold flowers. I leaned in closer to examine the gold ones, and sure enough, they have been spray-painted. There's a small crystal bowl of blue and golden breath mints. My stomach grumbled as a waitress made her way through a crowd holding a tray filled with deep fried shrimp. I patted my disgruntled stomach as my mind wondered to when I last ate.
Last night after we left the club...
My mind regurgitated a moment lost in the fog I'd been struggling to get through since this morning's rush of activities. Spots of images resurfaced in one swift motion, and I saw myself stumbling next to a well-mannered Xander on our way out of 'LETHE'.
"I um veryyyy ungry, I ungry, Xander," I'd blubbered, wiping my sweaty hair out of my face, blinking twenty times, trying to clear my eyes of the lasers and smoke from inside Lethe that had followed me out. Xander grabbed my arm and led us out into a hidden hallway, at the end was a door.
"Where we...uh...goin'?" I asked, trying to keep up with his long strides. I glanced at him; he was still wearing his black sunglasses, and he was scowling.
"What's your problammm?" I slurred.
Xander stopped us right in front of the door and turned to face me. "There's nothing wrong. I'm just concerned."
"Concerned 'bout what?"
He comes a little closer and caresses the side of my face. "Darling, you haven't eaten since, since I don't even know. Even on the train you didn't eat anything, and tonight you've been drinking on an empty stomach. That's why I'm concerned."
Xander touchin' me funny again...I smiled lazily at him and bent my face into his palms.
"I'm a hungry, hungry, Xander, need food, need food now," I muttered into his palm, then broke into a fit of giggles.
"You're hungry. Well don't you worry, because Uncle Xander is going to feed you," Xander soothed teasingly.
Uncle?
"You're not mah untle, you're too younguh!" I mumbled, my face still in his palm. I closed my eyes for a second. "How old you, Xander, I'm a big girl. I'm twenty-two?"
"I'm a big boy too; I'm twenty-nine," Xander answered in a soft chuckle. He let out a long sigh and I heard his phone beep. "Come on, big girl, our ride's here."
He put his palm down and I fell down with it, but he caught me midway to the ground.
Saved me again...so sweet...so, so sweet. He grabbed my arm and opened the door, letting in a cold breeze that my body gratefully relished.
"Ahhhhh, some fresh air will do you some good!" Xander exclaimed happily, taking me outside to a taxi sitting idle in the alleyway. He'd put me inside the car and had crawled in after.
"Let's get you some food, shall we?" he said, then turned to the driver...
A waitress with a fried shrimp platter stopped in front of me.
"Would you like one?" she asked with a welcoming smile.
I wanted to take one.... hell, I wanted to take ALL OF THEM.
But I needed to find my family first, and I didn't want the first words spoken between us in over five months to be with shrimp-breath.
"No, thanks." I declined.
The waitress smiled and moved on to the next person who grabbed three. I grabbed two mints instead, one gold and one blue, popping the gold one into my mouth.
At least now my mouth would be minty fresh when I'd talk with the people here. Total class play and... so considerate of me for thinking of other people. I tucked the blue one into my clutch for later and trudged through the crowd in search for the twins or Dad. I walked by a few groups of people I recognized as my parents' work friends, well my dad's work friends, because my mom didn't work.
I said a quick hello to each of them and moved along to the next group, and that's where I found Dad, walking away from the bar with a drink in hand.
"Dad!" I yelled over the music, halting him for a few seconds before turning and facing... me.
"Marisa!" he exclaimed, surprised. He placed his drink down and came to me with open arms. "Marisa, I can't believe it. You're here, in the flesh!"
I walked into his open arms and hugged him. Dad's cologne instantly calmed me, making me feel like I could breathe again.
Weirdly.
"I told Darcy I was coming. Didn't she tell you?" I asked him, stepping out of his embrace.
"She did, right away. But we didn't believe you'd come, considering how everything's gone down lately." Dad grinned. "Wow, Marisa, it's so good see you. I'm so happy you came."
"I'm happy you're happy, Dad. There's no way I'd miss your party. By the way, Happy Birthday. Fifty years old...you're getting old, Dad!" I joked.
"Hey! Your old man has still got some years in him. I'm not old, I'm just not that young anymore!" Dad exclaimed, faking his pain.
I laughed at his mannerism. I loved seeing him in a happy mood.
Dad took a moment and looked my hair, my makeup, my dress, my shoes. "I've never seen you look this nice, not even for prom. I'm touched. Did you do this for me?"
"I wanted to look nice for your birthday, Dad." I gave a shy smile.
He raised an eyebrow and looked at me in disbelief. "Yeah, are you sure about that? Is it just for me, or is it for a certain someone your own age that you haven't seen or talked to in over five months?"
He thought I did this for Ben.
I didn't.... Xander's team did this.... for me.
My eyes rolled. "I didn't do this for Ben. He doesn't deserve the effort, and as we all know, I don't do things like this for just anyone or anything."
"That's true. Your mother will be disappointed. She's been in constant denial about your relationship, saying you guys have just hit a rough patch and just needed some time apart before you got back together." Dad explained, looking exhausted all of a sudden.
Having to deal with 'her' on your own would do that to you for sure. It kind of made me feel guilty, leaving him alone to go against her temper-canons, but then again when I lived with them it's not like he was there every second to ward her off when she got crazy with me.
It was Dad's turn.... unfortunately.
And anyways, he's the one who married her. She was his problem for life, not mine.
"She knows it's over between us." I sighed, shaking my head in disbelief.
"I know that, but she still hopes. I think she just wants the wedding. She and Gwen want to plan one so badly." Dad laughed.
Why couldn't he be like this all the time? There was no way Dad would talk like this in front of Mom.
I heard heels clack against the floor behind me.
Uh oh...speaking of the devil.
I closed my eyes for a second, and when I opened them, Mom walked around me and stood next to Dad. She was wearing a purple, one-shoulder shift dress that stopped just below the knee, showcasing her gym-sculpted legs. She was shorter than I was, but her five-inch heels brought her height up. Normally, that would have casted her over me, but tonight, I was wearing high heels too. Mom looked me up and down, her eyes doing nothing to hide the shock that her daughter actually showed up to one of her events looking beyond polished. Maybe even more polished than the majority of the guests.
I wasn't going to say hello first.
"Hello, Marisa." Mom said calmly and without a trace of venom, surprisingly. Well actually, not surprising. We were at a party. She wasn't going to go crazy and show her true colours in front of her beloved friends, and the kids of those friends, who she apparently favoured over her own flesh and blood.
Moi.
"Hello, Mom," I replied, mimicking her calm faade.
"You look nice. I'm surprised you actually showed up after being away for so long. I'm so surprised, you actually look... nice. Who knew you had it in you?" Mom exclaimed, taking another scan of my look.
And so it began....
"It's not a big deal. It's just a dress and some shoes." I responded, nonchalantly. I peeked through the corner of my eye, and Dad kept sipping his drink, a bit on edge if you asked me.
"Marisa, I thought that was you!" Gwen, Mom's best, best, best friend exclaimed happily, gliding towards us in her flowy, peachcoloured, spaghetti-strapped cocktail dress.
"In the flesh," I said to her as she joined Mom's hip. Mom smiled at her best friend and then turned back to me as a different look transformed her happy, genuine expression.
Forced tolerance?
"So Marisa...we haven't seen you for a long time. What have you been up to? Where have you been?" Gwen asked.
"Oh, I've been around the neighbourhood, here and there. You know, nothing really that special going on," I replied nonchalantly.
Mom looked back and forth between Gwen and myself, looking confused as to what was going on. For one, why were we even having this conversation?
Why the hell was Gwen bothering to talk to me? I mean, didn't I break up with her shining-star, prince of a son. Shouldn't I have been hated on, yelled at, told how it really was, that I was so lucky, and that I didn't deserve the five years I ruthlessly stole from her precious pookie bear.
If that ever came up, I'd just tell her why her special little man stayed with me for so long. The extra little bit that he could never deny.
I had great lips.
"You don't work at the ice cream store anymore, do you?" Gwen asked.
"No, I quit five months ago." I told her.
"So where do you work now?" Gwen asked next.
"At a place near my house." I answered while using every ounce of control I had not to laugh. They were getting no info from me.
"Libby, you must love all the extra room you've got now, don't you?" Gwen turned to Mom, changing her line of questioning, realizing I wasn't about to give a clear answer. Perhaps asking Mom questions that involved me would be a better tactic in exposing me for who I really was. Discreetly, of course, neither of them would actually want to show what kind of people they really were.
Mean bitches.
"Yes, it was dreadful before. The basement was too cramped, especially since the twins wanted a few game tables. So we just cleared some things and put them in Marisa's old room." Mom responded, wide-eyed.
"That's great, good use of space." I told them, pretending to agree. I knew what they were trying to do, and it wasn't going to work.
"Ladies, I'm off. Back to the guys," Dad said out of nowhere.
"Of course, darling, go enjoy yourself," Mom gushed, a little out of her normal character. Probably putting on a front for her dearest friend, pulling a stupid faade that screamed.... 'I take care of my husband, and I don't belittle him when it comes to our children. And no, he doesn't act like a bitch when it's just us, because after all, he's the man of the house, and has the balls in our family'.
Something like that.
Dad turned to me before making his way back to his rowdy friends. "Marisa, we'll have a talk later, okay?"
"Alright. Don't worry, Dad. I'm not going to run anywhere anytime soon." I told him, totally ignoring the other two.
Dad nodded, and I chuckled as he quickly headed back to the open bar to get a new drink. He should have some fun; this was his party. He should be having lots and lots of fun.
The spot I was in was the no-fun zone. Even at a party where it's a requirement to be constantly laughing and soaking in good vibes, I was stuck in a horribly hidden interrogation with the terrible twosome.
A.K.A. The Piranha Squad.
I reluctantly returned my gaze back to the discerning eyes of my inquisitors to find Gwen eyeballing my entire body a bit too long and a bit too obviously. When her eyes finally settled back on to my face, she seemed confused. I could tell by the way her eyes narrowed, she was unconvinced for some reason.
Like there had to be a reason as to why I looked nice, for once.
"That is a lovely dress, Marisa. And the shoes are spectacular!" Gwen gushed, her eyes widening in mock excitement. Gwen turned to Mom. "Libby, you must have bought them for her to wear, this has your taste written all over it!"
And there's the total switch shift. It's so amazing, that Marisa couldn't have possibly been responsible for putting this ensemble together. It must have been someone who knew what they were doing....which wasn't untrue....but still....I was offended to say the LEAST.
I cut in before Mom could answer...or lie. "Actually, no. I bought them."
Gwen's eyebrows rose again. "Wow, I guess wherever you work now must pay you well. A big difference from before, right?"
She began to giggle knowingly. More stupidly, if you asked me.
Mom's eyebrows rose, but I think it was meant for me, even though her friend was acting like me wearing nice clothing was such a novelty, there must be something more to the story.
The disbelief made my eye twitch... filling me with the courage to give them the low down, the dirty, the dish.
I cleared my throat. "Actually, I'm not being completely honest with you guys about the dress and the shoes. I didn't buy them."
Mom looked slightly confused. On the other hand, Gwen's expression quickly morphed from confused to pure delight. Discreetly, of course, but I could see joy twinkle in her clear, aqua blue eyes. Gwen nodded in slow motion, as if it all made sense now in her 'ah-ha' moment.
Or would it?
I was about to spread that magic juice....
I grinned and let the chaos break free. "Yeah, MY PIMP actually bought it for me yesterday."
"Marisa!" Mom hissed....sounding not so happy.
I was trying to be honest.