The Bad Twin (16 page)

As they dined on her favorite Italian cuisine and drank a bottle of wine, the singing group, Jaded serenaded her.  They sang one of their famous ballads. “
This is just the beginning of what to expect from me. As long as we are together, you will get the best of me.
”

Violet’s eyes had a glazed look as she glanced over at Marcus and said, “You don’t have to worry about me going anywhere.”

Marcus took her hand and although there wasn’t an official dance floor, they danced to the smooth ballads being song.  Afterwards, the members of Jaded all wished Violet a happy birthday. Marcus walked them to the door and handed their manager a white envelope. He returned to the table and although he had already paid for the meal and the romantic setup, he left a generous tip.  “Baby. I think we should be going. I don’t want to tire you out before tonight’s party.”

“I’m far from being tired. I can’t remember a time when I was more relaxed. First this morning’s pampering and now this lovely lunch. I feel like I’m on cloud nine. Could this day get any better?”

They sat in silence during the limousine ride back to her place. Violet rested her head on his chest as he played with the curls in her hair. “You know. I like your hair like this. It’s fun to play in.”

She smiled. “You would say something like that.”

“It’s true. I love playing in your hair. I better stop, before I have the driver drive the long way home.”

“Oh no mister. Maybe later on tonight, but I can’t do anything to mess up my hair. I had to spend over an hour under the dryer, and you are not going to mess it up.”

He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “Ten hours from now, you won’t care about your hair being messed up. All you’ll be saying is don’t stop big daddy.”

She playfully tapped him. “Whatever.”

He walked her to the door and decided to end their date for now. “I hope I was able to make your day a special one.”

“Yes, you have. Thank you. I’ve really enjoyed everything.”

“I’m glad. I’ll pick you up around eight tonight.” 

“I can meet you over there if you like.”

He looked at her. “Now you know I’m not going to have my woman driving herself anywhere on her birthday. Actually, the limousine driver will be at your disposal for the entire weekend.”

He reached into his pocket and gave her a card.

“Marcus you don’t have to do this. Thanks.”
He interrupted her. “You’re welcome. No, you can’t give the gift back. Bye love.”

She gave him a tight hug and watched him walk back toward the limousine. She waved as he turned around to blow her a kiss.

ROSE

Rose held her stomach in, while Tina attempted to zip up her short tight silver sequin dress. “I know I should have had him adjust the dress, but no, he said, it’s supposed to fit this way.”

Tina had a skeptical look on her face. “You look great. It’s as if the dress was made perfectly for your figure.”

Rose looked in the mirror and viewed the dress from different angles. “Yes. I guess you’re right. The fabric does allow me breathing room.” She attempted to bend her legs. “I can even sit down, without busting a seam.”

“If there is nothing else, I’ll let you finish getting ready.”

“No. There’s nothing else.  Just make sure the guests are taken care of, in case they start coming before I can make it down,” Rose stated.

Rose touched up her make-up and put on a pair of spiked heels. She took a final look in the mirror and admired her total ensemble.  “Looking good girl. I love these curls. Nina out did herself today.”

She received a phone call from Janice. “Rose. Just wanted you to know we’re stuck in a traffic jam on I-110.  The driver still has to go pick up Violet. Marcus is supposed to meet us at your place. We’ll be at the party as soon as we can. I told you I was going to make sure she got there and that’s a promise.”

“Cool. I’m glad you called. I’ll look for you guys in about an hour.”

“See you later. We’ll be there.”

Rose stayed in her room as long as she could and after an hour passed, she decided it was time for her to make her entrance.  If she weren’t hosting the party at her house, she would have shown up later. When she made it downstairs, she was bombarded with birthday wishes from her guests. She enjoyed the attention and thanked everyone for coming. She noticed the other guest of honor hadn’t made it there yet.

The party was growing and it looked like it was going to be a success. She had invited a small group of people, but didn’t mind the big turn out. She periodically watched the door for signs of Violet.  While her attention was diverted at the door, someone walked up to her from behind and scooped her in their arms.

“Happy birthday, birthday girl.”

She recognized the voice and eventually was able to get out of their grip and turned around. “Lance. What are you doing here?”

With his playboy smile, Lance said, “You know I wasn’t going to let your birthday go by without acknowledging it.”

She frowned. “A simple phone call would have worked.”

“Well maybe you’ll change your mind when you open up your present.”

“I doubt it. Now, excuse me. I have other guests to attend to.”

He bowed and watched her as she left to greet other guests.

She continued to mingle and when someone placed two hands around her eyes, she knew immediately who it was. “Violet, you made it.” They hugged.

“Yes. Sorry we’re late, but you know how LA traffic is.”

“I know sweetie. Now that you’re here, we can serve dinner. Most of the guests are probably full on the hors d’oeuvres.”

Violet laughed. “Let’s eat.  Although I ate lunch, I’m starved.”

Rose looked Violet up and down. “You look marvelous.  That violet looks great on you. I could swear I’m looking at a reflection of myself.”

“Thank you. The dress was a gift from Marcus.”

Rose faked enthusiasm. “Where is Marcus by the way?”

“He’s here somewhere. I left him talking to some comedienne. He has the name like Mister T.”

“You mean, George T?”

“Yes, that’s him.”

“Oh, they’ll be there awhile. He is so funny, and you hate to leave while he’s telling one of his jokes. Let’s go mingle.”

They looped their arms around each other and headed toward the dining room. Tina came out to inform everyone that dinner was being served. The people who had reserved seating sat in the official dining room and everyone else was seated at the additional tables set up in the backyard.

Rose watched Marcus and her stomach almost churned at the sight of him wrapping his arms around Violet’s chair. Marcus looked up and caught her staring at him. He showed all of his pearly white teeth as he smiled.  When it didn’t seem like anyone else was looking, he winked at her. Rose looked away suddenly before her emotions caused her to react. The last thing she wanted to do was cause a scene.

 She took a quick gulp of her champagne.

Violet whispered, “Are you alright?”

Rose reassured Violet that she was fine.  As the caterers started serving the guests, Rose had her champagne glass refilled. Everyone around her seemed to enjoy the meal. The menu consisted of a choice of beef Angus sirloin steak, baked Cornish hen, and baked potatoes and rice pilaf. Rose only ate enough to put something in her stomach to counteract the drinks she had already consumed and she wanted to make sure her stomach could withstand any more drinking she was sure to do through out the night.

“Violet dear, we need to plan a weekend getaway.” Rose took another bite of her food before she continued to say, “I’ll be in New York in a few weeks. Why don’t you meet me there; we can hang out and do some major shopping?”

“It sounds like fun, but I don’t know about the shopping part. I can’t think of anything I really need.”

Rose didn’t want to argue about her favorite pastime. “Well meet me there anyway and we’ll paint the town red.”

Marcus interrupted. “Only if I can be there.”

Rose made a snide remark. “I don’t think so.”

Violet looked at them both. “Hey you guys, there is enough of me to go around. Rose, I’ll meet you there and we can do the shopping or whatever else you want to do, but on one condition.”

“And what’s that?” Rose asked as she sipped the rest of her drink.

“It’s your treat,” Violet said to ease the tension.

Rose said, “Of course dear, I’ll have my assistant make the plans.” She gave Marcus a fake smile and commented, “This trip is for ladies only.”

Marcus raised his glass in the air. Violet had a clueless expression on her face and Rose continued to eat the rest of her food. 

While everyone was busy with small talk, Tina announced the cutting of the cake, and those who were through eating followed Tina as they all walked out to the patio. A table had been setup for the cake and punch.  A beautiful dolphin ice sculpture and champagne water fountain sat in the center of a table.  The cake was three-tier with white creamy icing trimmed in gold. Each section was covered with a bouquet of yellow roses and violets.

As everyone sang happy birthday, Rose and Violet blew out the candles and gave each other a tight sisterly hug.  They each took turns cutting the cake.  They cut a few pieces before the caterers took over.

While they stuffed themselves with cake, someone announced an area had been cleared for a dance floor. John asked Rose to dance and she excused herself from the others.

“Thank you John. The sight of Marcus just makes me sick.”

“I figured you needed rescuing,” John said.

Rose danced closer to him, so no one could overhear the conversation.  “If you keep rescuing me like this, I might have to wrap a cape around you.”

He twirled her around. “It’s long enough for you to wrap whatever you want to around it.”

“John. You need to stop.”

The dance floor quickly filled up after the DJ played a popular old school R & B song. Rose and John ended up dancing by Marcus and Violet.  Marcus accidentally bumped into her. “Sorry.”

She rolled her eyes at him. Violet didn’t appear to notice the little exchange between the two of them.  After the song ended, Rose escaped inside and made her way to one of the downstairs bathrooms.  She was so mad she wanted to scream. Rose checked her make-up and turned the water off. When she opened the door, Marcus stood in front of her and pushed her back in.

“What are you doing?”

Marcus grabbed her by the arm. “I wanted to check on you and make sure you were alright. You’ve been acting funny with me all night. Violet is worried that you’re not having a good time.”

Rose yanked her arm from his hand. “As long as you’re not in my view, I’m having a great time.”

“Rose, such a sweet name.”

“Move out of my way please.”

Marcus bent down as if he wanted to kiss her. “What’s wrong? Maybe you really do have the hots for me?”

“You bastard. My sister is only a few feet away and you’re making a pass at me. You’re walking a thin line.”

“No. You’re on a thin line and I know you won’t break our agreement.”

She swung the bathroom door open and walked madly out of the room. She almost knocked over one of the servers.  She grabbed a glass off one of the trays and swished down some champagne. She returned to the party as if nothing happened.

VIOLET

“Violet do you want a refill on your drink?”

Violet looked startled. “Marcus where did you come from. I thought you were with Terrence?”

“I went to use the rest room.”

“Oh okay. I think I have had enough to drink tonight. You have been downing a lot of those.”

Marcus placed his glass on a tray as a server walked by. “In that case, I won’t drink any more either.”

“Don’t stop on my account.”

A slow song came on; he took her hand and glided her to the dance floor. They both were in their own little world. “Violet you are so beautiful; inside and out. I feel lucky to have you in my life. I have something for you, but I’ll wait until after you’ve opened everyone else’s presents.”

Violet looked up and batted her eyes. “You could give me a little hint on what it is.”

“Let’s just say, it’s something that you don’t already have and you’ll be surprised to get.”

Violet looked puzzled. “That could be a number of things. Give me another one.”

He wrapped his arms back around her. “No. You have to wait like a good little girl.”

An hour later, people gathered around Rose and Violet as they prepared to open up their gifts. Rose opened up her gifts first. The first gift happened to be from Violet. Violet had found an antique cherry wood musical jewelry box with a matching miniature ring box. Rose eyes looked watery as she thanked her. 

  Violet was handed her gifts to open.  . When Violet got to the final gift, she looked up at Rose. Although it didn’t have a card, the wrapping paper gave it away, because as kids, their parents would always wrap their gifts in floral paper with their namesakes. She slowly tore the paper off the gift.  Inside was a sterling silver photo album trimmed in violets. She opened it to pictures of her and Rose.  She looked up at her sister with tears of joy. They embraced and all you could hear were “Ooh and Ahh” from the people in the room.