Page 11 of Secrets on Sapphire

Apple Martini

The room was dark. She had decorated everything in black. She had replaced all of her light bulbs with orange ones. The drinks were poured and the food was out. The last thing she needed to do was hang the picture. It was a picture she had painted not long ago. A monster. A fire. Trick-or-treaters. It was the perfect depiction of Halloween.

Brielle walked slowly to the closet where she kept all of her holiday decorations. She opened the door and lifted the blanket off one of her favorite pieces of art. She blew the dust off and closed the closet door. She walked into the dining room where dinner would be served and placed the painting on the nail left in the wall from last year. She stood back and smiled. It was perfect.

This year Brielle was going to dress as a skeleton. Her costume was skin tight and showed off her small figure. As she was staring into the mirror to put on her makeup, she couldn’t help but stare into her own bright blue eyes. She began swimming in the secrets they held. She was just about to drown when her husband tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hey. You okay? You were kind of frozen there for a second.” Tucker was dressed as a skeleton as well, his look completed by a black top hat.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Her answer was short and curt.

She could already smell the alcohol on him. Her nostril lifted in disgust. Their marriage was nonexistent since the night Calista left the earth. It was loveless and completely and utterly lifeless. Every now and then, they would fulfill each other’s physical needs, but there was nothing beyond the surface. Brielle knew the only reason Tucker was staying with her was because she threatened to tell his children the truth about their mother. Brielle sighed and finished smearing the black lipstick across her lips.

The doorbell rang and Brielle plastered a smile on her face. She gracefully walked down the stairs and opened the door.

“Oh Honey! You look gorgeous!” Brielle placed small kisses on either side of Taylor’s face.

Taylor was dressed like a princess. The pink looked fabulous against her chocolate skin. Keeping with the couples’ costume theme that continued throughout the years, her husband was dressed like a king. Following Taylor soon after, was Harley and her boyfriend dressed as pirates and Sammy with her new fling dressed as firefighters. They were both cops, so they thought the costume was absolutely hilarious.

Tucker put on music from the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack and asked the guys if they wanted a beer. The men jumped at the offer and left their wives to gossip in the living room. The girls were laughing about a scene in the book Harley was reading when again, the doorbell rang. Brielle removed herself from the 44 Chapters about 4 Men conversation she was having and opened the door. Before her, stood a sexy baseball player and a redheaded cat.

“Well come on in ladies.” Brielle motioned Parker and Edie into her home. “I’m so happy you could make it! Especially you Edie; we missed you at the last book club meeting.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I just had some things to do.” Edie smiled. She noticed Tucker staring at her and she quickly looked away.

“Why is he staring at you like that?” Parker asked under her breath after Brielle walked away to grab them a drink.

“I don’t know. Drop it.” Edie whispered back just as Brielle returned with two martini glasses.

“My Halloween Dinner Party Specialty!” Brielle handed them each a glass filled with a green liquid and a sunken eyeball. The rim was covered in a red gel that dripped to the bottom of the glass, resembling blood.

“Well I hope it has a better name than that,” Parker stated as she took a sip.

Parker’s outspoken statement stumped Brielle and left her speechless.

“I think it looks like a zombie.” Edie stared at the drink in her hand.

“There ya go! The Zombie! That sounds better Brielle.” Parker smiled and walked away, joining the other ladies discussing Queen BB.

“It’s delicious,” Edie told Brielle, hoping to break the awkward silence.

“Thank you. It’s just an apple martini. Nothing special.”

“Well that doesn’t make it any less delicious.” Edie smiled.

Brielle couldn’t help but smile back, finding Edie’s presence much more comfortable than her other new neighbor. Brielle was just beginning to relax again when she heard a laugh that sounded so familiar, it caused chills to travel down her spine. She knew it wasn’t Calista, but it sounded so much like her. She looked over at her husband and knew he had recognized the sound as well. His eyes were glued to Parker. He didn’t even notice Brielle burning a hole into his side with her gaze.

Brielle interrupted her husband lusting over another woman by clinking her glass. The party moved into the formal dining room and everyone took their place at the table. Parker managed to sit across from Tucker and could see him staring at her from the corner of her eye.

“Well it looks like he’s staring at me now.” Parker nudged Edie who was sitting next to her.

As soon as everyone was seated and had their glasses filled, the food started coming out. As was typical for Brielle’s dinner party, the food was catered and served by attractive cater-waiters dressed in suits.

There were a lot of stories told, a lot of laughter, and a lot of drinking. The party went off without a hitch and when it was over, Brielle and Tucker played their roles as happy husband and wife, holding hands and saying goodbye to their guests. As soon as the door shut, Tucker let go of Brielle’s hand. He grabbed a beer out of the fridge and walked up the stairs. Brielle walked into the kitchen, filled a wine glass with Merlot and then kicked off her heels. She sat in her spot at the little table in her kitchen and through a crack in her curtains, she watched a drunk kitten find its way home.

***

Parker finally made it to her front door. She fumbled with the key in her purse. Too many Zombie drinks. As she attempted for the third time to get her door open, she heard soft music playing from within her house. She hadn’t left the radio on.

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