“Well, look who it is. It looked like you had a rough night, or maybe morning? At least that’s what I heard."
“Mind your business, Lochness,” Mary said.
I thought about the nickname, trying to figure out her sense of humor, and then it clicked. Lochness monster. Bess. Ness.
It rhymed.
I giggled, and Mary shot me a wink.
“Did Chris’ fancy marketing manager tell you that the only reason she came here was that her ex−boyfriend is a conman? Way to drag Chris in the dirt, too, and ruin him. I bet she was behind the entire art deal fiasco, weren’t you, Melinda?” she sounded out my name in syllables before she sipped her mimosa. Why was she even here? Didn’t she have a life outside of stalking me?
Mary slid my drink to me and grabbed the baseball bat from behind the bar, jumped over the counter until her boots landed right in front of Bess. Mary was taller, more muscular, and if I were a bettin' woman, I'd bet on her. She swung the bat in her hand, watching it in the air before laying her eyes on the wicked witch of the West.
“Listen,” Mary said, hitting her palm with the body of the bat before she started to wipe it down with a duster, pretending to clean it. Well, she was cleaning it, but I supposed she was doing that to freak out Bess without, for that matter having charges laid against her. “Did it ever for one-minute cross your mind stop to ponder the women Chris’ has dated in the past? Do you think she is the only one with baggage who has dated someone with an IQ below zero? Do I need to mention the playboy bunny? Melinda here has brains. And if you didn’t notice, the events at the resort have been smashing successes. I bet you have noticed that. I bet that’s why you’re trying to put her down. So, ask yourself why? Why do you need to put another woman down, Bess? Ponder that for a while because Melinda has never done anything to you apart from accidentally smacking you in the face. And if you can’t handle that…” Mary tapped the bat on the stool.
Ben stared at Mary with awe, and for some reason, I felt more confident with Mary having my back. How could I not? The woman was ready to fight. She was the person to have your corner. Bess scoffed, stuttered, and slammed her coffee down, leaving while stomping her feet.
“You are amazing!” I said, jumping up to hug Mary.
“No, don’t hug me.”
“Sorry,” I jumped back and sat down in my chair as she jumped over the bar again.
“She doesn’t like to be embraced in a tight squeeze. It’s one of her quirks,” Ben whispered.
“Oh,” I said, nodding, even though I didn’t understand why.
I sipped a very heavily Bailey’s infused coffee and thought about some of the things I needed to change about myself. The speech to Bess sort of hit home with me as well. For one, why did I even care about Bess’s attitude toward me? I knew there was a lot I needed to work on as a person. No one was perfect.
“You know, Melinda, if you were honest with yourself, this wouldn't be so hard,” Mary said. “You have to start standing up for yourself, even to people like Bess who seemingly don’t matter, but particularly to the press. If you don't take a stand, no one will know your opinion. And I think Bess is right. You did come here to hide away.” She leaned against the bar and flipped a coin in the air a few times. “People talk in this bar. And you were big news when you arrived. The ditsy socialite with a rich daddy and no talents of her own. But that’s not true, is it? From what Chris has said, you were an A student who fought ferociously for charity projects. And look at him—a smart, down to earth guy that everyone thinks is a playboy because he dated some playboy bunnies. But he’s a straight shooter that one. He never fooled any of those girls. He was never serious. They never thought he was serious. I've seen how he looks at you, though. I'd say you’re someone he’d get serious about.”
I'd never heard her talk to so much. She had a raspy voice like she smoked a pack a day, but I’d never seen her smoke either.
Was he serious about me? Or was I just another person he wasn’t serious about? After all, he’d said things like, “tonight is all that matters.” He’d never spoken about the future. Never given any promises beyond great sex. Maybe he was emotionally unavailable? Considering his background, the arrogant edge to keep people at bay …
It was funny, running from one person in my past (my conman ex) I’d walked straight into another (Chris). And now I wanted to run again. If things didn’t work out with myself and Chris…I didn’t want to stay here. But wasn’t that what Mary had just said? Didn’t I need to stand up for myself?
I didn't know how to face my past, though. It would mean facing my father, facing the press in NYC, and admitting that Trent was never my boyfriend even though we dated, and it would mean facing Chris, and then facing myself…
I needed to face my insecurities before dealing with anyone else’s, or I wouldn’t have the patience to deal with theirs. I couldn’t expect people to change for me when I couldn’t even change for myself.
“I need another,” I motioned Mary over.
“You got it, babe.”
At least that was a constant in my life, right? Good booze seemed to be everywhere.Zing.
