Page 13 of Santa's Dirty Secret
"Well, I was all alone, and Nick needed someone to go with him to a charity event tonight." She glances over at me. The ease at which she is lying and telling the truth to her father simultaneously is impressive, if not a bit unnerving.
"Yeah, I'd planned on taking Rachelle, but you know how that went down," I add, but almost immediately regret opening my mouth when I see the look Alexis gives me.
"Of course," Mason says and steps back to let us both in.
“What are you doing home, Dad? I thought Nick had sent you on some deal you had to close.”
It's Mason's turn to look guilty now. He shoots me an apologetic look.
“About that,” he starts to say when a blonde woman walks out of the kitchen. She doesn’t look much older than Alexis. “I lied about why I was leaving.”
Alexis looks from the woman to her father and to me. I can still taste the sweat from the foot I put in my mouth a few moments ago, so I decide it’s probably best to let her father explain.
"Seeing all the decorations up in the apartment was a shock, and I'm not proud to admit that I ran instead of facing you and the past."
“You ran?” she asks.
“To Fiji,” the woman adds, glaring at Mason. “For about twenty-four hours before he dragged me back here.”
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Alexis asks before turning to her father. "Who is she?"
“This is my—friend, Charmaine.”
“Your friend?” Alexis looks from him to me. “And you knew all about this? Why didn’t you say anything when I yelled at you about sending him away?”
"I figured he had his reasons, and it was probably best to let the two of you figure it out together."
“This is unbelievable.” Alexis throws her hands up in the air. “This is just the shit topping to this shit holiday. Everyone I care about is lying to me.”
“Where are you going, honey?” Mason calls after Alexis as she disappears down the hallway to her room.
“I’m going to bed,” she yells. “I can’t wait until this fucking holiday is over!”
Mason and I stare after her in stunned silence. Charmaine shrugs and turns to walk back into the kitchen.
“What just happened?” I ask.
“I fucked up,” Mason says. “I shouldn’t have lied. But I saw all this, and I panicked.”
We both admire Alexis's work.
“She did an amazing job,” I say.
"I know, Bella would have loved it. That's why I insisted we come back early. As soon as I got off the plane, I knew I messed up, and that running was only going to make things worse."
"Give her some time to cool off. Then, she'll forgive you."
“You’re a great friend for covering for me. I owe you one.”
There’s that guilt again, only now it feels like someone taking a baseball bat and whacking me over the head with it.
"I'll hold you to it," I try to joke back, but I'm hoping to cash this in if I can ever get Alexis to forgive me. "I better head out."
"No, stay the night." Mason claps me on the shoulder. "I know that tonight was a shit show, but maybe we can salvage something for tomorrow."
The need to stay close to Alexis has me agreeing, even though I don’t think she’s currently speaking to me.
“Besides,” Mason whispers. “Charmaine is starting to show signs she’s a clinger.”
