“Why not? You should go and face them. You should face them so hard they fear your very presence.”
I laugh. “And how do you suppose I do that?”
“It’s simple, dear, you confront them, and you make them look as small as they made you feel.”
“Women like that don’t care if I confront them; all they care about is status and they’ve got it. Me, however, I don’t.”
“I have to agree with Doris,” Eve says, placing my coffee down. “I think you need to do something, what they did to you was awful.”
“What am I going to do? I already tried that and look where it got me.”
“Isn’t there some big beach day coming up?” Eve asks. “I overheard Hugh telling Riggs about it this morning, something about not wanting to go but being forced to.”
“I don’t know what he sees in that stuck-up rich princess,” Doris shakes her head with a sigh. “When he has beautiful Maggie here, ready to wait on him hand and foot.”
I snort. “I’m not waiting on any man, Doris. And he’s with her because they have this beautiful little baby and they’re trying to make it work, which I think should be admired.”
I smile down at Star, who looks up at me with her toothy grin.
“You can’t force love, dear.” She wiggles her finger as she continues, “It either comes naturally or it doesn’t. And with them, it’s not going to because he looks at you like you’re a snack that he needs to eat immediately.”
“Doris,” I scoff.
Eve laughs. “Anyway, back to the beach day. Have you heard about it?”
I exhale. “Yes, it’s some day with her family and friends. An annual event or some trash. They go to their expensive beach house and sit around the fire with their rich wine and talk about how hard it must be to have everything.”
Doris chuckles.
Eve grins. “Well, I think that’s your chance to get your revenge. If her friends are there, that means those nannies are, too.”
I scrunch my face. “I don’t even want to go. How realistic would it be for you to give me food poisoning?”
Eve gasps, pressing a hand to her chest. “I would never even say that word in this café, let alone pretend to give it to someone.”
“You’re not a good friend, Eve,” I mutter.
“I am a great friend because I’m going to give you a list as long as my arm of the things you can do to those girls to keep them from making your life miserable again.”
“I have no doubt,” I say, shaking my head with a grin.
“I agree with Eve, dear. I think it’s time you remind them who’s boss.”
I laugh. “Well, on that note, I’m taking my coffee and the baby over to the club because I’m not meant to be ‘walking’ around on my own in case I get stolen or something like that. Hugh’s words, not mine.”
“He’s looking out for you,” Doris says. “You could have been sold to some rich old man who would have used you as a sex slave, dear. Do you have any idea what that would be like?”
I snort. “I can only imagine.”
“Go on, before Doris creates even more terrifying scenarios for you.”
I wave to both of them, put my coffee in the cup holder on the stroller, and make my way over to the club. The guys are in a meeting, so I hang out with Gabby in the garage as she works. We chat, and when Star gets fussy, Hugh takes me home.
“How are things with Delilah?” I ask as we’re climbing out of his truck. “I’m sorry if me staying in the house is causing problems.”
“Things aren’t good. Told her this beach trip is the last chance I’m givin’ it. If nothin’ changes, when we get home, we’re goin’ our separate ways. She didn’t take it well, but I’m not stickin’ around if I’m not happy and, so far, she hasn’t proved to me that she can do that for me.”
“To be fair,” I point out, “you haven’t proven it to her, either.”
He gives me a look as he’s lifting Star out of her seat. “I wasn’t the one who wanted this shit to begin with.”
“No, but you agreed to give it a go and, so far, you haven’t done that.”
He purses his lips. “Stop bein’ so fuckin’ right all the time.”
I smile as I follow him into the house.
“Oh, also, my bathroom sink isn’t draining properly. I meant to tell you yesterday, but I forgot.”
“What’s wrong with it?” he asks.
I shrug. “Beats me.”
He exhales. “Let’s take a look.”
Yes.
Let’s.
“WHAT. IN. THE. ACTUAL. Fuck.”
I watch in horror as Hugh slowly pulls up a long, dripping, wet bit of hair from the drain he just unscrewed as he further investigated the problem. I give him an awkward look, because I know damn well that’s my hair.
“Ah,” I say, going red. “That would be mine.”
“What the hell do you fuckin’ do in here? Shave your head and stuff it down the drain?”
I burst out laughing because, honestly, I can’t contain it any longer. “Look, buddy,” I say, “I’m a woman with a whole lot of hair. I can’t help it if that hair washes down the drain during my showers.”
“Hair? Hair? This could cover the back of an entire fuckin’ gorilla.”
I lose it harder, laughing so hard I double over. The horror in his face is everything. I wish I could snap a photo just so I could look at it every day and make myself giggle.
Hugh tosses the hair, and it lands with a wet thump on the ground. Then he reaches in and pulls out another layer.
“Seriously, Maggie, what the actual fuck?”
I try to control my giggling as I answer, “I have a lot of hair, man, what do you want from me? An apology?”
“I wouldn’t fuckin’ mind one considering I’m elbow deep in your god damned monkey hair.”
I double over again, snorting this time.
“Not sure what’s so god damned funny about it. What the fuck, it’s stuck to me.”
He starts flicking his arm around as he tries to get the wet hair off him. My laughter is now wild cackles and tears are running down my face as I watch him wave his arms around, the expression on his face one I’ll take with me to the grave.
I finally stop laughing long enough to go over and help him with his dilemma. I get the hair off his arm, shove my arm into the drain and pull out the rest, then discard it in the bin. He glares at me as I do, and even though he looks pissed, I see a glimmer in his eyes that makes me give him a big, toothy grin.
“Next time you wash your hair, cover the drain and pick that shit up. Maybe make a knitted blanket for Doris.”
I chuckle. “Did you just make a joke, Hugh?”
“No,” he grumbles. “I’d hate to see what your pubes are like if this comes off your head.”
“Hey,” I scoff, “my vaginal area is perfectly smooth and wonderful, thank you very much.”
He glances at me. “That so?”
“I’m not going to prove it, so don’t even go there.”