FIN

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KELLY WAS OBVIOUSLY jealous of Maria but I wasn’t happy with the way she had spoken to her. Perhaps Kelly was more like her parents than I had realized.

A few minutes later, Maria returned with Kelly’s drink.

“Thank you,” Kelly said, taking the glass from Maria.

“Do you need anything else?” Maria asked.

Kelly smiled at me and at Rockwell. “Yes, why don’t you get your boss and Rockwell a drink, too?”

“I’m fine, Maria,” I said.

“How about you, Rockwell?” Kelly asked.

“I think I’m okay, too,” Rockwell said.

“Oh please, don’t be silly. Your glass is empty.” Kelly turned to look at Maria. “Please get him another drink.”

“Of course,” Maria said.

My heart broke as I watched Maria walk to the kitchen.

“Excuse me for a moment,” I said to Kelly and Rockwell and then followed Maria to the kitchen.

“Fin, where are you going?” Kelly asked.

“I’ll only be a moment,” I said.

I entered the kitchen.

Maria was standing in front of the sink.

“Maria,” I said.

Slowly, she turned around, a glass in her hand.

“I’m sorry I’m taking so long. I couldn’t find a clean glass,” she said.

There was no one else in the kitchen. And we were out of sight from the rest of the guests.

“It’s okay. I didn’t come in here to rush you,” I said.

Tears in her eyes, she placed the glass on the counter next to sink and turned off the water.

I felt an overwhelming desire to take her in my arms and never let her go.

“I’m sorry, Mister Bradley.”

“For what?”

She wiped away a tear with her hand.

I approached her slowly. “I thought I told you to call me Fin.”

“My Mama always told me never to cross the line with my employer and she was right, Mister Bradley.”

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close to my body.

She pushed me away, picked up a dish towel and started drying the glass.

I was an absolute bastard for having used her the way I had to make Kelly jealous. I was wrong and I owed Maria an apology.

“Maria, you didn’t cross any line. It was I who overstepped.”

She kept her face down, which only made me feel more of a bastard. I was her employer and I should never have put her in such an uncomfortable position.

I was about to tell her how sorry I was when a loud crash came from the foyer.

Maria looked at me as if she was giving me permission to leave.

“I’d like to finish this conversation later,” I said.

“Okay, Mister Bradley.”

I didn’t want to leave her. More than anything I wanted to stay with her and make things right but this was my party and I had to make sure no one was hurt.

I rushed to the foyer, fully expecting an utter and complete catastrophe.

My guests were laughing which immediately told me whatever had happened hadn’t resulted in any serious injuries.

I was relieved but I still needed to know what had caused the loud crash.

The answer revealed itself quickly. On top of the piano was one stuffed giraffe and one really drunk guest on its back. I blinked a couple of times to make sure I was seeing what I was seeing.

Yes, it was true. A guest had tried to climb the giraffe and both the poor stuffed animal and the tipsy guest had crashed down on the piano.

“Way to go, George! You stuck the landing!” Rockwell shouted.

Fortunately, there didn’t appear to be much damage. The pianist stood by, startled and cursing under his breath. Poor guy.

I helped George off the piano and Rockwell and a few other guests picked up the giraffe and put it back on its feet.

George dusted himself off. “I don’t know what got into me, Fin.”

“Maybe one or two or three too many drinks,” I said.

He smiled and stumbled over to a chair near one of the windows.

I had wanted a Gatsby-style party and it looked like I was getting exactly that. Still, I could do without anymore drunken guests attempting stunts that could land them in the hospital.

Jeffrey handed the pianist a brandy.

“Are you okay or do you want to call it a night?” I asked the pianist.

He shook his head and took off his shirt. “I’m staying.”

The women in the room shouted, “Yeah, baby! Work it!”

The pianist took a bow.

My guests were definitely enjoying themselves which made me happy but even so, I couldn’t stop thinking about Maria.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and hoped it was Maria.

When I turned around, Kelly was standing in front of me, much to my disappointment.

“Are all of your parties this wild?” she asked.

“Wilder,” I lied.

“Wow, I should have come to one of your parties a long time ago. I didn’t know what I was missing,” she said.

“This was the first time I invited you.”

She looked away for a moment and I was immediately sorry I said what I had said. I was being a jerk.

“Why did you invite me?”

I had tried for so long to get over Kelly. But I couldn’t. I thought about her all the time. She broke my heart and yet, I still wanted her. I still wanted her love, approval and admiration. I had to prove to her that she was wrong for hurting me the way she did. I had to prove to her that she was wrong for dumping me and breaking off our engagement when I needed her the most.

“Fin?” she said.

“Yes.”

“Where did you go just now?”

“Nowhere. I’m here with you.”

“You didn’t answer my question. Why did you invite me?”

“Because you never came to any of my other parties.”

“You didn’t invite me.”

“I know and I should have. I guess I was hoping you would come. That you would want to come because you wanted to see me.”

“You were hoping I would crash your party? Show up uninvited?”

“It sounds stupid, I know.”

“Not stupid, just silly. If you wanted me to come, you should have invited me a long time ago. I would have come, you know. I came tonight.” She slipped her hand in mine.

In that moment, with her hand in mine, I should have been thrilled with the way things were going but another girl was on my mind. I couldn’t deny it.

I needed to finish my conversation with Maria.

“Let’s go listen to the band play,” Kelly said.

“Go on, I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

“You’ll join me right now,” she said.

I relented and followed Kelly to the lawn where the band was playing, my mind on the girl whom I had left in my kitchen.