Playing the Field (Hot-Lanta Series) (22 page)

“Can I come in?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Patty said.

Marc didn’t care she shoved his body through the little opening and worked his way to her couch.

“Excuse me…”

Marc stopped her. “Patty did you really think you could send an e-mail and that would be it? You were wrong. You are going to act like a grown up and fa
ce your problems head on and I’m going to help you.”

She sighed and closed her door.

“First of all, I don’t want you feeling weird at all for what happened last night. Nothing happened between us, we were just two friends who needed a little human contact. There is nothing wrong with that, we both behaved so no reason to freak out.”

He continued not letting her speak up. “Secondly, I don’t like this business of you cutting people out of your life who are trying to help you. I know
your past and I know what you’re going through. I’m not going to walk away from you. You need help and I’m going to be there for you whether you like it or not.”

Patty just sat there staring at her hands. “Marc
, I can’t give you what you want.”

“And what do I want Patty?”

She was quiet for a couple of minutes. Marc thought she was never going to answer. “You want a relationship, a girlfriend. I can’t give you that.”

Marc grabbed Patty and sat her right next to him
. He was going to have to lie a little just to get close to her again but it wasn’t a bad lie, he was just not going to fully tell her the truth about his feelings because lord knows that would scare her away.

“Patty
, I would rather have you as a friend then nothing at all. I’m not going to let you push me away. You are stuck with me so you better find a way to deal with it.”

He pulled her in for a hug and she started crying.

“I want to get better Marc, I really do. I’ve been seeing a therapist and I know I’ve gotten better and you’ve helped but I just don’t know if I can fully trust anyone yet.”

“It takes time.” Marc said trying not to bask in the glory of Patty not denying him the friendship card again. He knew she was not going to shut him out which was one small victory for him.

“Sometimes you’re just going to have to take that leap of faith again but you have to make sure it’s with the right person. It will happen for you. In the meantime, you just work on yourself.”

“How do I do that?”

“I’m glad you asked.” Marc said. “I’ve compiled a list of things you need to do in order to find yourself again; to forget your past and leave it behind forever. I‘ve made a deadline for you, you must complete all these tasks before Jane and Brady’s wedding. If you set a deadline then you are forced to complete the tasks and not just push them aside like you have pushed aside everything else. You must tell me about each task after you complete them, whether it’s a text, e-mail or call. Clearly I prefer a call but it’s up to you. I’ll be out on the road soon and won’t be around to help you out with them and make sure you are completing your tasks but I trust you to do them as I hope you trust me to make sure I gave you complete-able tasks. Are you up for the challenge Patty? Are you ready to put your past behind you?”

Patty was leaning on his chest when she nodded her head.

“Good. You will get the list sometime tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the last night as your old self because after tomorrow you won’t see that girl anymore. You’re moving on Patty and I’m helping you.”

Patty hugged him tight and said, “Thank you M
arc. You’re one incredible friend.”

There was that stupid word again; friend. Marc soon hoped to get rid of that title and make that boyfriend instead and hopefully one day husband. He kne
w Patty was the woman for him. There was no doubt in his mind and come hell or high water he was going to make sure that happened.

                            ***

Molly woke to banging on her door and Winnie crying in her crib. She had the worst headache she had ever experienced in her life. She could barely move. She lifted her head and looked at the clock on the DVR, it was ten. Good Lord, how long had Winnie been crying? The pounding on the door continued. Who the hell was that?

She lifted herself off the couch and instantly regretted the move. Her stomach turned upside down and she lost all the contents in her stomach right on her carpet. Great!

She finished dry heaving and went to the door. Right before she opened it to end the God awful pounding, she looked in the mirror hanging in the entry way.

Good God she was on hell of a hot
mess. Her hair was plastered to her face, mascara smeared across her eyes and cheeks. Her eyes were blood shot and what seemed like drool was crusted to her chin. She tried to wipe it off but there was no use. She flung the door open and came face to face with Marcia and Jim.

Fuck!

The looks on their faces was not good.

“Molly! We have been banging on your door for ten minutes, we were about to call the cops. Where is Winnie?”

They barged through the door knocking her into the wall and went straight for Winnie’s crib stopping short of stepping in her puke.

“Good he
avens!” Molly looked at her apartment and things did not look good. There were two empty bottles of wine on the ground, her pills scattered everywhere and puke on the floor.

Shit, shit, shit.

“Jim go get Winnie and pack her things, I’m going to talk to Molly.”

Jim went off to Winnie’s room and she heard him coddling her. Molly gathered herself and went to go get her baby when Marcia stopped her in her tracks.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Marcia said in a very stern tone.

“Where do you think? I’
m going to get my baby.”

“No you’
re not. You’re not fit to take care of her right now. You need to get yourself together Molly and until you do, we will be taking care of Winnie.”

Molly was outraged. How dare she try to take her daughter away.

“You can’t do that. You have absolutely no rights to take her away from me.”

Marcia flung her arm around the living
room. “Look at you Molly. You’re a complete mess. Lord knows how long Winnie would have been in her crib crying today if we did not show up. You’re taking your pills irresponsibility and drinking way too much, the evidence is sitting right there on the floor. We all miss Luke but you need to move on and start taking care of your life, yourself and your daughter. Do you really think you’re going to live off the money Luke left you for the rest of your life? You need to get a job and be an example for your daughter until you can do that, Winnie will be with us.”

“I will call the cops on you for kidnapping!” Molly did not know
what else to say. They couldn’t take her daughter away. She knew she was not being responsible last night, they caught her on a bad day. She didn’t act like that every day. Maybe a couple of times a week but it had been a rough month or so.

“Go ahead and do that Molly, then things will get really ugly. We will bring you to court and try
for full custody of Winnie. We’re giving you a chance to pull yourself together, get your life in order. We believe you can do that and in the mean time we will have Winnie.”

Jim came in the room holding Winnie and a little suitcase full of her things. Molly ran over to her daughter trying to grab her. Jim stopped her.

“Molly, this is for the best. You let us know when you’re ready to be a mature adult again.”

Jim and Marcia started to walk out the door.

“No!” screamed Molly. “You can’t do this to me. Please she is the last thing I have.”

“If she is the last thing you have then you know what you
need to do to get her back. We’re not going to subject our granddaughter to your wild and irresponsible behavior. Learn to take care of yourself first and then you can take care of your daughter. We love you Molly and we want to see you get better.” Said Marcia.

Jim handed Molly a card. “This is a therapist that will actually talk to you and help you
, not just hand out pills. Get some help, sweetie. You know where we are if you need anything. We will take care of Winnie.”

“We just want you better.” Marcia placed a kiss on Molly’s head and squeezed her
hand. “We will check up on you later on in the week.”

Molly watched them walk out of her apartment with her daughter. Molly felt completely helpless
. She felt that no matter what she did, she was not going to get her daughter back.

Get her life together? How the hell was she going to do that? She didn’t have a life to begin with
, not ever since two soldiers knocked on her door and took away everything she had.

Molly grabbed the bottle of tequila she had in her freezer and sat on her couch
, skipping over the puke on her floor. She didn’t care if it stained the carpet she didn’t care about anything but finishing the bottle of alcohol in her hand and losing herself into an obviation. As she took a swig of her bottle she sent Austin a text message.

Molly: My pussy is crying and only your dick can comfort it. Be here in twenty minutes or you will regret it.

              If Austin was coming over she thought she better clean up the puke because Lord knows that was a turn off. She brought her bottle with her and cleaned up the already starting to crust contents of her stomach. She threw the rags out and her phone beeped. It was from Austin.

Austin: Be there in five sweet tits.

              Molly smiled. She had him so whipped.

Molly: I will be in the shower, the door is unlocked. I want to at least be fucked five times before your game.

              Molly grabbed her liquor and brought it into the shower with her. She stripped off all her clothes and got under the water. The hot water felt so good all over her body. She thought about what happened a little bit ago. Winnie was gone maybe it was for the best. Maybe Molly really should get her life together but for now she would focus on one thing and that was chasing her worries away with booze, pills and sex.

             
Molly was smoking a cigarette in the shower while holding her bottle of tequila when Austin walked in. She placed the bottle down and put the cigarette out.

             
“Hey sexy.” He said in his low masculine voice.

             
Molly threw the shower curtain open exposing her entire body. She watched Austin take her all in.

             
“Fuck, you’re so hot.”

             
“Take your clothes off and get in here, I’ve been waiting too long.”

             
Austin stripped down to nothing and Molly could already feel herself being satisfied. She popped some more pills real quick, followed by a swig of tequila and let Austin work his magic as she floated on a cloud of ecstasy.

                                          ***

              Patty sat at her desk around lunch time wondering if Marc was going to contact her or not. When he showed up at her apartment last night she was surprisingly so grateful he did not give up on her. She hated that she was happy to have him back. She knew she was going to end up breaking his heart and she really didn’t want to be responsible for hurting him but he was so sweet and encouraging last night she immediately accepted his help.

             
When she got into work today she expected to see a box on her desk or a list of some sort in her e-mail but there was nothing. Maybe he forgot or maybe he thought it was too much trouble. Maybe he convinced himself last night that her e-mail was right and he should not bother. Even though that would crush her, she would not blame him.

             
Patty was pulling out her bagged lunch when someone walked through the door, she looked up and found Marc standing in front of her wearing his braves gear and carrying a bag of food, an envelope and a folder.

             
“Hey Patty Cakes. Do you mind having lunch with me?”

             
Damn, he looked good. “Of course not.”

             
“Good we have some things to go over. Can we sit at the conference table? I brought a bagged lunch for both of us.”

             
Patty eyed his brown bag. “What’d you got in there?”

             
“My specialty of course, peanut butter and jelly with a side of carrots, some Cool Ranch Doritos and a Twinkie.”

             
Patty could not help but smile. What a guy lunch she thought.

“Sounds better than my salad with a side of nothi
ng. I will take you up on the PB and J.”

             
They walked over to the conference table and he spread their feast out on the table. He cracked open a PowerAde and split it between the two of them in plastic cups. She bit into her sandwich and marveled in the simplicity of the two pieces of bread slathered together with strawberry jelly and crunchy peanut butter.