I looked over at James who looked pissed. "Babs, this is not the time."
"What's not the time? You told me that you weren't ready to have kids and you weren't ready to get married, right? Isn't that what you said? You said that you-"
"Babs."
"What? I'm happy," she shrugged. "I've got a new man." She looked at me and grinned. "He's slightly older, married. I mean, he's not going anywhere, but you know, the sex is good and he gets me nice presents,” she laughed. And then she smiled at James conspiratorially. "Funny, isn't it James? We've both got new partners now, don't we?"
"Babs," he said threateningly. "If you don't stop it, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"I don't want to leave. This is fun. It's the party of the year. Maybe the party of the century. I mean, who needs Meghan and Harry when we have James and Rosie?"
I could tell now that she was drunk and maybe even high on something. Was it cocaine? I tried to look in her face to see her eyes. But she wasn't looking at me now. She was staring at James. I wanted to tell her, "You can have him. I don't care two shits about him. And really, you shouldn't either because he's an asshole." But I kept my mouth shut. This was not my battle to fight.
"You know, Rosie," she said, "I actually have something in common with you other than James."
"Oh," I said with a light smile. "What's that?"
"We both know senators very well. In fact, we both know the same senator very well," she smirked and my heart sunk. "I already knew what she was saying. Most probably the married man she was sleeping with was my father, though I didn't want to break her heart again. She was one of many, many women. If she thought she was a special mistress, she was in for a rude awakening. But that wasn't my information to give her either.
"Come on, Rosie. Let's go and get a drink. What would you like?"
James grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Babs. I stared back at her standing there in her white dress with her long blonde hair. To anyone looking, she just looked like a beautiful, elegant woman, but she was empty and she was hollow inside. I turned my face back around quickly. I couldn't spend my time worrying about her, not when I had my own issues to deal with.
"So you got any panties on?" James whispered in my ear, and I flinched and pulled away from him slightly.
"Look, James. I don't know what your game is but ... "
"But what?" he said as his hand slid down my back and squeezed my ass.
"Get your hand off my ass," I said through tight lips.
"Why? You're the one that chose to wear a sexy dress. Plus, this is our engagement party." The smile left his face and his eyes stared into mine. "I think I can touch whatever I want."
"You can't touch me."
"Oh yeah?" he said. And before I knew it, we were in the corner of the room and he had my back against the wall.
“Just stop.” I hissed.
"You can't make a scene in here. We're two hot, young things that just got engaged," he said, as he pressed his lips against my neck. I nearly threw up at the feel of his cold reptilian lips against me. He was horrible. I was about to push him away, but on the left-hand side of the room, I could see my father and my mother staring at me. My father was grinning. My mother looked sick. I couldn't make a scene, not here. In the middle of the room stood Babs staring at me with hatred. I guess she still loved the bastard. I guess I wasn't the only woman with bad sense and bad taste in men. And to the right, there were a bunch of other random people staring at us, smiling, thinking we were two lovers who couldn't keep their hands off of each other.
I whispered at James, "Don't even try and touch me anywhere else."
"Anywhere else like where?" he said. His hand was on my waist now and I cringed. He slid it up and brushed across my breasts ever so lightly.
I growled at him under my tongue. "What did I just say?"
"You're not going to do anything, Rosie. We both know that."
"You think?" I said, and then I smiled. I pressed my lips against the side of his cheek and I ran my hand up to his neck. "Maybe I do like it after all," I said. I kissed my way off his neck towards his lip and ran my hands through his hair. He grinned, thinking I was relenting and he pushed his body closer towards mine. And then with one fell swoop, I raised my right leg and kneed him hard in the groin.
He yelped suddenly and stepped back. "What the fuck, bitch."
"Oh, so sorry. Didn't I tell you I had a slight tic? Sorry," I grinned at him. "I'm going to go and get that drink now, okay? I'll see you in a little bit."
He was scowling at me as I hurried away, but I couldn't stop myself from laughing. I made my way through the sea of people and looked around for a bartender. I needed something stiff and I needed it now. Finally, I saw a guy on the right-hand side next to a DJ. I hurried over.
"Can I get a triple scotch please?"
"A triple scotch. Whoa," the bartender grinned at me. "Really?"
"Do I look like I'm joking?" I said.
"I guess not."
He poured a triple scotch for me and handed me the glass. I downed it in four mouthfuls. I knew I was overdoing it, but I had to be slightly drunk to get through this party. I turned around and looked around the room. It was like a who's who of politics in the state. I could see the mayor and his wife, the governor, the governor from the state next to ours. I even saw the Secretary of State there, who was a good friend of my father's.
My father was standing next to my mother still, and they seemed to be arguing about something. I couldn't tell what. I was surprised because my parents never argued in public. I walked over to make sure that my mother was okay. And as soon as I reached them, they stopped arguing and looked at me. My mother looked like she had tears in her eyes, and I wondered for one second if she realized what they were doing and how it was harmful to me. Had she finally gotten a conscience?
"Mom, is everything okay?"
"No," she said. "It's not. How could you, Rosie?"
"How could I what, Mom?"
"Nothing, I just can’t right now," she said. And she walked away.
I stared at my father, frowning. "What's going on, Dad?"
"Nothing," he shrugged.
"Does she know about Babs?" I said suddenly as it struck me. I could see the blonde lady in the corner staring at us. "Dad?"
"What, Rosie," he said in a tone that told me that he wasn't interested in continuing the conversation.
"Do you really think it's fair to have your mistresses at parties that Mom comes to? Isn't it bad enough that they come to the house? Like how could you-"
"Don't you dare use that tone of voice with me. You have no idea what you're talking about, Rosie. No idea at all."
"I know that you're cheating on Mom. I know you've-"
"Shut up. You stupid, little whore."
I gasped at his words. I couldn't believe he was speaking like that to me.
He cleared his throat. "Your mother was upset about something in relation to herself. It had nothing to do with you, and it had nothing to do with me. Your mother is not the perfect little angel that you think she is, Rosie. Far from it."