Unstuck (28 page)

“Yes, I think so. He said it wasn’t a big deal that his parents were coming and Stacy wanted to be with him for the holidays but I really think he planned the whole thing. I think Nick is in love and that is something I never thought I would witness,” I smiled a bitter smile.  “I guess even Nick can find love,” I said. Patrick turned to look at me.

“Why don’t you have dinner with me and my family?” he said “Oh, Patrick, no. You don’t have to do that,” I said putting my feet back on the floor.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Lucinda, you are part of my family now. I WANT you there so,” there wouldn’t be discussion about it. I just nodded.

“Thank you,” I said. I wasn’t a person that liked to celebrate the holidays but it was nice knowing you had somewhere to be with people that want you to be there.

“Don’t thank me for caring, Lucinda,” he said as he turned his eyes to the fire.

“Where’s the dinner then?” I asked.

“Well it usually is at my parents’ home but this year it seems my brothers,” he faked a gasp “are coming and my mother wants to change venues,” he shrugged. “I think she is tired of hosting holidays every year.”

“So, it’s going to be here?” I drank a sip of coffee.

“I guess. They asked I haven’t said yes. I don’t know the first thing about planning that shit and I definitely don’t want my staff working on that day so…,”

“We can ask Tracy to recommend a catering service and they should be able to decorate the house and provide with food and servers. Shouldn’t be too difficult to make it happen,” I said nodding and making mental notes. Truth was that first, I wanted it to be in Patrick’s house because in that way I wouldn’t feel too out of place. Second, it made me feel that I had work to do and I wasn’t just a guest intruding in a family moment.

“That sounds great,” he finally put his legs down and looked at me. He smiled “we can do that. I’m going to go and call my mom and you should talk to Tracy. We only have two week left for planning,” he said going for his cell phone.

And so the plans for my first traditional Thanksgiving in 10 years began. That very week was hectic because the MBU project (we’d gone with Maynard Business University) was up and running. The deal with Stinson for buying the E-course academic content happened really quickly and Brian was quickly recruiting great professors for the school. We had planned that by January a pilot course could be launched among May, Inc. employees and by March we could open up for applications. It was all happening so fast but I was glad that I was part of it all.

Me and Brian recovered quickly from the blow of our failed quasi relationship; the first couple of days were awkward as hell but once we talked and said that this shouldn’t be so awkward we managed to go on like it had never happened. I could even say that it was all better than before. Me and Patrick, on a personal level, were same as always. Patrick was in a great mood and me… I thought about the kiss(es) every now and then telling myself that there would be time to think about that later. Patrick hadn’t asked about the whole thing and he said that he would wait for my answer. Maybe I could drag this on to the point where he forgot it ever happened.

Planning Thanksgiving also took a lot of my time. I had a bunch of numbers for a bunch of catering companies but I had no idea what the Maynard family had during the holidays so I had to go to the only person in the family that I was comfortable asking about it: Regina.

Regina was so excited that I was going to her for advice on decorations and food. She even pulled out a couple of pictures from previous years so I could see what her mother loved for Thanksgiving. I managed to have the companies at the house with a couple of samples so Patrick could decide on which one to hire. It wasn’t too difficult we both agreed on the same one and I was left alone to the whole planning from that point.

So here I was, Thanksgiving morning, and from the moment I opened my eyes I felt nervous. I was so damn nervous, Patrick’s entire family was coming over and everything, from the decorations to the food and beverages, was my responsibility. I wanted it to be perfect.

I had gone with the wicker pumpkin theme. It wasn’t a real theme. I didn’t even know that wicker pumpkins were a thing but when the catering service brought along their catalogue of decorations I thought they were kind of cute and elegant if used in a very tasteful way. So, at 7 in the morning I found a group of 10 people BUILDING the damn pumpkins right outside the pool house. I guess they thought that they should be far from the main house. I immediately had the impulse of finding Tracy but I forgot she was not planning this mini event so I went out to see what was going on.

“Hi, excuse me,” I said putting my hands in the pockets of my winter jacket that I had worn over my pjs.

“Oh Miss Stuart,” Of course… I was Miss Stuart. “I’m glad you are here,” said Jane the woman in charge of this particular event. “I wanted to ask you how many pumpkins for the name holders are we making,” she was too happy.

“Yeah, about that. You are making them NOW?” I asked in disbelief. I could clearly see 10 people weaving and knitting wicker sticks in all sizes and colors.

“Of course, Miss Stuart, we guarantee the quality of our products,” she was all smiles. There was no point in arguing she knew her times and shit. I nodded. “So,” she continued, “how many name holders?”

“Seven,” I said yawning.

“Perfect,” Jane skipped towards the people in charge of the pumpkins.

I was up. I wasn’t about to go back to sleep and I wasn’t going to shower right then because I would be running around the house. I would take a long bath when the moment to get ready for dinner came. I decided to go to the kitchen and have some coffee.

“Good Morning,” I heard Patrick’s voice and I jumped I turned to find him sitting in a bar stool. He was still on his pj pants and white t-shirt. I was pretty sure he had been there for a while waiting for someone to make his coffee. Miranda was gone for the day so that could only be me.

“You scared me. Didn’t know you were up,” I said realizing I wasn’t in a good mood.

“Your friends with the sticks,” he said motioning outside “woke me up. You are in a really bad mood,” he said smiling

“Why are you in a good mood?” I asked as I turned on the coffee machine. He shrugged.

“I don’t know… I just am,” I nodded “You look gorgeous,” I didn’t detect a hint of sarcasm “You are scaring me,” I said as I poured the coffee on two cups and took to the breakfast bar.

“Why? Because I stated the obvious?” I shook my head, too early for this shit.

“What’s the plan for today?”I asked as I drank my coffee.

“Not much really, I hate working on Thanksgiving so I usually relax, watch a movie, sleep and then go to my parents’ house,” he drank his coffee.

“Ok, then, nothing in particular,” he nodded “what do you want for breakfast?” I asked and he had a huge smile.

“How about some IHOP since Miranda isn’t here to make your pancakes?” he wiggled his eyebrows and I had to laugh out loud at that.

“Sounds like a plan. Let me change and we’ll go,” I got up and went to the pool house. I just put some yoga pants, sweatshirt and sneakers and went to find him in the foyer dressed in his sweats.

“Let’s go,” he said and we walked out the door and he grabbed the keys to his SUV from a little wooden box that had the keys to the cars and some doors.

“Wait,” I said grabbing his hand. He took this opportunity to close his fingers around my hand. He smiled. Black caramel apples.

“Why don’t we go in my car? You can drive it if you want. It’s just that it’s been there without moving for almost 6 months,” I said and he nodded. I grabbed my keys from the little box and gave them to him. It wasn’t until that moment that he’d let go of my hand and I realized that I had let him because I liked the feeling of us holding hands. I wanted to freak out over that but decided that I was going to let that go to the kiss (es) pile and think about it when I felt like I had the capacity and time to.

We went to IHOP where I clearly saw paparazzi taking our picture. I reminded Patrick that we should send a statement or something but he just shook his head. Who I was to go against his will? We walked around the city for a little while because he wanted to go shopping for a sweater to wear that night. He had hundreds of sweaters but he wanted a new one. So, we went and after that we had lunch in a place where Patrick’s favorite spaghetti was made.  We got home around 2 in the afternoon and I went directly to the kitchen where a huge staff of cooks and chefs were already working. I could smell all types of things on the air: Squash, bacon, tomato. I was excited because it smelled like happiness although I didn’t know for sure if I had ever smelled happiness. Ever.

The wicker pumpkins were looking amazing and the bigger ones were already finished. Jane was very pleased when she showed me how they’d light up from the inside where white lights were strategically placed. They did look beautiful and I was sure the house would look amazing.

By 4 in the afternoon I checked on Patrick in the T.V. Room where he was going through sports channels and watching the football game. He wasn’t a big sports fan but he liked to watch a game from time to time. After I knew he didn’t need anything I went to take a quick bath and relax. I know I’d predicted that I would be taking a long bath today but I didn’t count on being out all morning with Patrick. Although, that was especial.

I wore my straight and down, very natural make up, just gloss and no lipstick. A simple navy skater dress with grey wool tights and navy pumps. It was not a time to be stunning, it was a time to be conservative and impress Patrick’s family. I wanted to be perfect. I looked at myself in the mirror and I looked like a good girl in Thanksgiving and I gave myself a pat on the back. I went to the house to find the foyer completely decorated. It was beautiful. There were wicker pumpkins of all sizes but not too many.  The stairs banister was covered with tiny brown maple leaves, at the bottom of the stairs there were two wicker pumpkins with string lights on the inside and they gave away a very delicate light that truly made you feel at home. In the tiny table where we put the keys or bags there were two clear vases with a large white candle grounded with nuts. It was beautiful. I was so proud of myself.

I went out to the front door only to find at least 30 wicker pumpkins in all sizes light up throughout the main entrance and by the door. I wanted to scream YES because I’d made the right decisions about the decorations.

I went to the kitchen and checked on the food we were having a cheese platter to nibble on before dinner was ready and for dinner an entrée that consisted on a tomato, pumpkin and bacon soup, a main course of Roast Pork Loin with Bacon-Cider gravy with a side of Roasted Green Beans and, to top the whole thing, a beautiful chocolate cake covered in white fondant and decorated with edible painted red, orange and brown leaves.

Of course, I tasted everything and I had to say that everything seemed heavenly. Well I didn’t get to taste the cake but I had sampled it before with Patrick. I, finally, went out to the table to see the décor. It was beautiful, the linen was white and there were runners in dark brown that instead of going from head to head of the table they went across each place. Everything else was in white except the silverware and in the middle of the table right on top of the middle of each runner there were 4 vases with nuts and candles like the ones in the foyer. On top of every plate there were a brown napkin and a dark brown miniature wicker pumpkin that worked as a name holder. I sighed as satisfaction filled me. First part of the night went perfect.

“This is amazing,” I heard Patrick voice and I turned to look at him standing in the steps that went from the foyer to the dining room. He was wearing black trousers and the sweater he had bought earlier. It was a burgundy v-neck sweater.

“You like?” I asked looking back at the table. He went down the steps and stood next to me “I love it,” he whispered. I looked up to see him.

“Thank you,” I smiled. He put an arm around and smiled back.

“You look great “he said and I said Thank you again. I heard voices at the front of the house and I panicked.

“You go greet your guests, I’ll check everything in the kitchen,” I said escaping through the door that connected the kitchen and the dining room.

“Ok, everybody,” I said taking a big breath “I need to give a great first impression with some of the guest and a great impression on some others so please,” I said with a pleading tone to all the people in the kitchen that were looking at me with what I thought was pity “let’s make this the best Thanksgiving dinner ever,” Everyone nodded or said a faint yes and went back to work. In that moment I saw a waiter leave the kitchen to place the cheese platter and to offer beverages, I assumed. I rested my head on the breakfast bar and took several deep breaths. I wasn’t ready to go out.

“We are waiting for you,” II heard Patrick’s voice at the same time I felt his hand on my waist. I shook my head.

“I can’t. I’m too nervous,” I said still with my head on the bar.

“About what? This is not a social event, nothing depends on this. You need to relax and let everyone in here do their jobs,” I looked up and he was still smiling. He had been smiling all day long. It was weird.

“Give me a minute. I’ll be there in a minute,” I said standing straight up and with my hands on my waist.