Holiday Escort (11 page)

"I have their presents ready to go," I said. "Would you donate a bottle of wine? She's making a ham."

"I'll pick out a couple," she said.

I leaned against the doorway, watching her. She had her back to me. I could see her face in the mirror as she worked on her makeup. I pointedly checked out her entire body from behind.

"You just totally checked me out!" she said. She sounded amused.

"Yes, I did."

She laughed. "Do you like what you see?" She paused. "You've put four pounds on me in a month."

"Yes, I like what I see." I paused. "I had the strangest conversation with Mom. She asked if you were coming as my girlfriend."

Karen turned around. "What did you say?"

"That I wasn't sure." I relayed the conversation. She looked a little disappointed in the first part but impressed with my parents for the second part.

"So what was with checking me out?"

"I was thinking about something," I said. "I smiled at her. I was thinking that if I were going to have a girlfriend, I don't think I could do better." I retreated from her before she could respond,
then
said over my shoulder, "I'd like to leave by ten, if that's okay."

I didn't hear her response.

* * *

We both ended up wearing a blouse and skirt with black boots. "We match,"
Karen
said when I came downstairs. I had taken my new necklace off to shower. I walked over to her and handed it to her, then turned around and held my hair out of the way. She wrapped it around my neck for me, giving the bare skin of my neck and extra caress. Shivers ran down my back at her touch.

She was smiling when I turned around. I'm not sure she noticed my reaction, but I thought perhaps she had.

"I don't know anything about your family," she said. "How many will be there?"

"My parents.
My brother, Jon.
Jon may have a girlfriend in tow."

"Older or younger brother?"

"Younger. He's twenty-eight, three years younger than I am. My aunt and uncle, Mary and George, will be there. She's my mom's older sister. Their kids are married
with three kids between the two of them. The kids are young.
"

Karen was counting. "Twelve adults, three kids. Anyone else?"

"Not that I've hea
rd. Dad was an only. Sometimes M
om invites a few others who would otherwise be alone for Christmas, but she hasn't warned me about any."

"Do you give presents to everyone?"

"Yes. We need to add your name to the tags. You can help."

She smiled. "Tell me more about them. Specifically, are they wine and food snobs?"

I laughed. "No." I moved Karen to the dinette table, handed her a pen, then started bringing her presents from under the tree. As I handed them to her, I told her who they were for and what they were. For some, I explained the story. All the guys were getting one present. The women were getting a unique present, plus I had made pamper baskets for them. There was one pamper basket left with no name.

"If Jon brings a girlfriend, this is for her."

Karen added her name to all the tags. Once we were done, we moved all the presents to several recycle shopping bags and carried them out to her car.

I gave her directions as we drove.

"Madeline, about what you said earlier," she said, once we were under way.

"Yes?"

"I couldn't do better than you, either."

I smiled. "That's only because you like having a stay at home wife. Once I'm back to working, you'll feel differently. Besides, so far I'm a lousy lay."

She laughed so hard she was wiping tears from her eyes. Once she had herself back under control, she said, "You're wrong about the first part. I admit the sex has been lacking though."

We spent the rest of the ride with me telling her more about my family. My parents lived in Golden Valley, only one suburb from Karen's home in Plymouth, so it wasn't a long ride. We pulled up in front of the home I grew up in. Karen let me out before pulling to the curb so I wouldn't have to walk in the snow. Then we collected the presents
, treats
and two bottle
s of wine from the trunk, taking two trips to carry everything.

"Hey, Mom! Dad!" I said after letting us in through the front.

"Kitchen, Madeline," I heard Mom say. I helped Karen with her coat
. We left the presents in the living room and I pulled Karen to the kitchen, bringing the wine and cookies.

Mom and Dad were both there. They had been twenty-seven when I was born, so they were fifty-eight now. Mom didn't die her hair, so it was long and black with streaks of grey. I thought she looked amazing. She was small, like me, and was my source of grace. Dad was of moderate height and still had most of his hair, but he'd put on a paunch from years of Mom's cooking.

"Mom, Dad," I said. "This is Karen Greene. You've heard about her. Karen, my parents, Sarah and Mike Burnet."

Dad and Karen shook hands. Mom hugged her. Karen was surprised, but returned the hug. The four of us made small talk for several minutes before I asked, "How can we help."

"What's in the bag, Dear?" Mom asked.

"Oh." I emptied three plates of
krumkake
onto the table.

Dad's eyes lit up. "
Krumkake
? I haven't had that since I was a kid. Your great grandmother used to make it." He immediately stole one. "Where did you get these?" he said after the first bite. "They're great."

"Thanks," I said. "I made them."

Mom and Karen both took one, Karen giving me a dirty look as she ate the fattening goodness. She finished it and said, "You have new duties after the
new year
arrives."

"Oh? I was under the impression my duties would be relaxing after the first."

She smiled. "Workout partner."

I laughed then reached over and pinched her waist. "If you gained any from my cooking, I couldn't tell where."

"Calories don't count on Christmas," Dad declared.

"Well," Mom said. "These calories aren't going to cook themselves." She handed knives and cutting boards to Karen and me, and we began cutting up potatoes and carrots. Karen, Dad and I did whatever
Mom told us for a while. Karen and I teased each other a few times.

Finally Mom said, "You two need to decide something before anyone else arrives." She looked at us to make sure she had our attention. "Friends or girlfriends? You're acting like girlfriends. How do you want to be introduced?"

Karen didn't say anything but looked at me.

Mom continued. "If you continue to act like this but are introduced as friends, then people are going to think you're hiding the true nature of your relationship, but hiding it poorly. Karen, Mike and I know you hired our daughter, but no one else knows you even exist."

I looked between Karen and my parents, suddenly confused by everything. I liked flirting with Karen. But I was straight. She wasn't my real girlfriend. And it wasn't like we were latched onto each other like a couple of lovesick songbirds.

Torn, I kept looking between the three of them. "Maybe this was a bad idea," Karen suggested. "I could go home."

"No!" I said, surprised at the intensity of my reaction. "I mean. I don't want you to leave."

"I would love to stay," Karen said. "But your mother is right. Maybe we should stop flirting."

"I like flirting with you. You make me feel good."

She smiled broadly at that.

"Oh hell," I said.
"Does it matter?"

"Yes," Karen said.

"Fine," I said. "House mates. Friends. Dance partners. And I will flirt with you if I want to.
It's your choice if you choose to flirt back.
"
I looked back at Mom. "And people can think what they want."

And with that, I went out to set the dining room table.

* * *

Jon did indeed bring a girlfriend, a pleasant woman named Amber. I didn't think the relationship would last, but they seemed happy together. I found the present I'd brought for a random girlfriend and put her name on it. She was very surprised and pleased to receive a gift.

I flirted lightly with Karen throughout the day and she flirted back. Mom pulled me aside later and said, "Your father and I like her."

"It's just a job," I told her. "It's ending in a week. But thank you."

The run up to the New Year's Eve party was stressful. I coordinated with the caterer, made sure we had a sufficient alcohol supply, and changed out the house decorations somewhat. I kept the lights and garlands but got rid of the Christmas tree and any decorations directly related to Christmas.

Once all that was done, things settled down, and New Year's Eve day arrived without any major stresses.

Karen, of course, went to work. She promised to be home by five.

"And don't threaten me," she said, smiling. "I promise, five PM, no later." She paused. "Please call me at three thirty and again at four."

I laughed.

Invitat
ions had said eight PM, so I had a relaxed day. It felt odd, like I was forgetting something. I kept roaming through the house, wondering what I should be doing.

At three thirty I called Karen. "Hello, girlfriend," I said.

"Hey." I could hear the smile in her voice. "Hang on." She muffled the phone, and I could vaguely hear talking in the background, then she said, "Talk to me. I am getting up and leaving right now."

"You're coming home early?"

"I wanted to spend time with you," she said.

My heart skipped a beat.

I talked to her until she got in the elevator and her cell phone cut out. She called me again as she was leaving the parking garage, just to tell me she had indeed left the office and hadn't been waylaid on the way out the door. She was home by four.

I was in the kitchen, checking on things that didn't need checking, when Karen walked in the door. She walked straight to me and pulled me into her arms, kissing me deeply.

I kissed her back, clutching at her.

"Wow," I said when she was done. "What was that?"

"That was thank you," she said. "For everything you've done." Then she took my hand and pulled me upstairs and to her bedroom.

"Um."

She laughed. "I want to change into something comfortable for a few hours," she said. "And spend time with you."

I smiled and sat on her bed while she changed out of her work clothes and into a bathrobe. Then she took my arm and pulled me back downstairs with her. We sat down on the sofa, and she pulled me into a cuddle.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her.

"Getting in character," she said.

"Uh huh," I said. "What is really going on?"

She didn't answer right away, but when I looked up at her, she looked a little sad. "Tonight is the last event. I don't want you to leave."

"Even if the sex is lousy?"

"Yes. Even if the sex is lousy."

She was sitting at the end of the sofa, turned slightly, and I was to her
left
, my legs curled up underneath me, as I lied against her, her arm wrapped around me. She was warm and soft, and it felt so comfortable. I snuggled in a little tighter and didn't say anything. We sat like that for a while.

"I'll keep paying you," she said after a while. "Not as much, but I'll keep paying you. Stay here."

"As what?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know," she said. "The way it's been, I suppose."

"Your fake girlfriend?"

She paused. "If that is what you want."

"No real job."

She was quiet for a while before answering. "No. You'll have virtually no living expenses except your car. I could claim you as a domestic partner and put you on health insurance at work. I'd tell the boss the truth, but we have a good relationship, and he'd let me do it. And I'd pay you."

"Karen," I started to say.

"Please think about it. You've been happy."

"This has been the best month since June," I said. "But what would I do? You've kept me busy with the events, but even with those I'm starting to run out of things to do. I'm not going to sit home and crochet."

"Is it my hours?"

"No. I need something to do."

"You could do volunteer work," she suggested. "Meet me for lunches a couple of times a week. Take cooking classes. I'll let you redecorate the house however you want. You could start dancing again. You can host events here as often as you like."

We sat quietly for a while. I thought about what she was asking. "I miss the travel with Marsha."

"I will take you anywhere in the world you want to go. The boss has been bitching at me to actually use my vacation time. I am supposed to use six weeks a year. I use about one.
I couldn't be gone for more than two weeks at a time, but you could use my vacation time however you want."