I didn’t move, though I did want cupcakes.
“You need chocolate. And wine. Beck has a wine fridge,” I reminded myself. More wine would definitely be needed with my cupcakes.
I dragged myself into the hallway. Loud music came from Enola’s room when I passed.
They had eaten the food I had left for them. I made a mental note to throw away the trash after I had had dessert, because you had to have dessert before you cleaned. I rummaged around in the wine fridge.
“Red or white,” I mumbled, trying to focus on the bottles. “Probably red.”
I fumbled for a corkscrew and opened it then took a swig.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Daddy’s home!” I called, then snort laughed and took another slug of wine.
“Are you drinking a five-thousand-dollar bottle of wine like you’re a drunken sailor?” Beck asked sharply.
I looked at the bottle of very expensive wine.
“Oh shit!” I said and promptly dropped the bottle on the floor.
Crap, crap!I was too drunk for this.
“I think all the food’s gone,” I told Beck. “But I will totally order you some more after your hard day at work of firing people.”
His brow furrowed. He set his bag down on the counter then immediately snatched it back up when he noticed the stacks of empty take-out containers.
“S’not mine. My take-out containers are piled in my room.” I pointed in the general direction of my bedroom.
“I was doing a little online shopping,” I stage-whispered.
“Yes, I heard,” he said. “The credit card company called me and thought someone had stolen the card and was using it to launder money, seeing as how several thousand dollars’ worth of nineties nostalgia had been purchased from eBay.”
I took a bite of my cupcake. “Vintage Polly Pockets are surprisingly expensive. You know,” I added, “you look really hot in a suit. Did anyone tell you that?”
Drunk me had basically no filter. That was why I preferred to drink alone.
Beck clenched his jaw. “That is not professional behavior,” he said. “Though from you, that’s to be expected, I suppose.”
“I aim to fail to meet your low expectations,” I retorted.
“Annie? Enola?” Beck called.
“Good luck trying to get them out of their cave. They haven’t spoken to me all day,” I said. “I think they’re mad.” I leaned against the counter and finished my cupcake. Then I almost choked on it as Beck’s sisters walked into the kitchen.
Enola came around the counter to bang me on the back.
“Wine, wine!” I gasped.
She pulled a bottle at random out of the wine fridge. Beck didn’t say anything because he was still in shock at the fact that Enola and Annie had cut off all their hair.
“Did you allow this?” Beck spat, finally turning on me. “You were supposed to be supervising them, and you let them chop off all their hair. You didn’t even ask me.”
“Now wait a dang minute!” I said, waving the bottle at him. “It’s their hair; if they want to chop it off, that’s fine.”
“So you authorized this? You told them it was okay?” he yelled at me.
“No,” I said loudly. “I haven’t seen them all day.”
