Chapter 8

And then it was Yuletide. And, then there was the annual, as I discovered, employee Christmas party. It would be held at the local Short Horn Country Club in Scottsdale. Attendance was mandatory, except for the watchers. I was not a watcher. And, no, I didn’t ask. But I was certain that she’d be there. And, I was certain that all of my worst fears were going to be realized. Oh yeah, no doubt in my mind about that!

“Don’t get your head all in a tizzy,” said Melanie. “She’ll be there, but on the other side of the room with the family. I’ve seen to it that you will be with us at the producer’s table.”

Of course, I had no idea what the hell a producers’ table was, but I soon would; well, I assumed I would. I insisted on driving my own car. And, I had invited Mickey to be my pseudo date; and, she’d agreed. Well, I felt the need for protection, and she always came heeled.

The party being held in Phoenix was a two-hour ride from my place. I’d be meeting Mickey there at the club. I kinda wondered what she’d think of my faux nephew that we would likely see if not actually meet; well, I hadn’t met him myself as yet though I had to suppose I likely would now.

Mickey was already there when I arrived and she was out front in conversation with his majesty. I walked up to them. And yes, the boy was with him.

“It’s okay, Mister Halstead, she’s with me,” I said. He gave me a no shit grin and waved me over to them.

“Glad you could make it,” he said. Jack, this is Jack, AKA Junior. I smiled, as did my date. We talked for a few minutes, and I have to say I was impressed with the young man. I suspected that I would be talking to him, Junior, some more before the night was over.

“Well, Melanie said it was mandatory,” I said.

“How yuh, doin’, Bub,” said Mickey. As we turned to go inside.

“Good, now I see you’re here,” I said.

“Uh, Jack, you know...” he started.

“Yes, Melanie told me that I’d be at the producer’s table across the vastness of the dance floor from the family’s outpost was the way she phrased it,” I said.

“Yes, well, I hope that’s all right,” he said. I shrugged. He nodded, and led us inside. He and his son turned to go to their table. Mickey led the way to ours.

I spied Melanie and Andrew across the room and it was vast. I guessed there were likely two hundred folks already in attendance.

The bars, there were two, were already being pressed by desperately demanding gentlemen looking for service. I wasn’t among them, not yet. My date led me to the seats we were expected to occupy and had gotten seats apparently chosen in advance for us by Melanie. My seat was situated in such a way as to have my back to the family’s table. Thoughtful, I thought.

A piano man was already keeping up a tuneful serenade for the clientele. The big boss took to the dais and the piano closed out for the moment.

“Hi everyone,” he said. “We’re here to have a good time tonight, no talking shop,” he said. He got an en masse giggle from the throng.

He motioned toward the still covered buffet to the left side of the room from where he was standing. The buffet will be open momentarily; everybody eat hardy. And the bar is already open which fact it appears has already been discovered by some of us.” More laughter. “Anyway, enough talk. Have a good time!” he waved to the fans and headed back to his seat.

Mickey and I danced a couple of dances to the strains of the piano man and the mellow singer that joined him soon after the big man retook his seat. My kind of music I thought.

I was not surprised that Mickey got asked to dance by a couple of guys over the next while, one of which was the big man himself. She was enjoying herself.

I made my second trip to the nearest bar to reload our martinis. Things were going good; I thought. Waiting on the bartender, I felt a tug on my sleeve. I turned and was gazing into the eyes of my daughter.

“Having a good time, daddy?” she said.

“Sure am, so far,” I said, and I was smiling. “You?”

“Yes, I love holiday parties,” she said, “especially Christmas parties.” I gave her look because a thought just occurred to me.

“Barbie, I hesitate to ask but do you have a beau?” I said. I glanced around and toward the family table. I momentarily caught the eye of my ex, but I looked away as soon as I had.

“No, no, not yet,” she said. “I’ve been too busy working. And especially now that I’m working for dad’s business. Well, I know you probably know, it’s run, run, run.”

“Oh yes, and I do know,” I said. “Mister Halstead is a task master for sure.” I was smiling and it was a good-natured smile. So far, no problem per the woman. I could live with the level of exposure to her being around that was the case tonight.

“Well, I have to say, you’re what now, twenty-three?” I said.

“Yes,” she said.

“Well, like I was about to say, I’m kind of surprised that some guy isn’t hunting you down,” I said.

My daughter laughed. “Well, a couple of guys have made a small effort,” she said, and she laughed some more and so did I.

Barbie hung with us at the producer’s table for quite a while. I began to think that she was deliberately trying to keep me focused on her to prevent any problems that might occur with me and her mother. In fact, I soon became certain that that was her aim, probably suggested by her other daddy. I decided to call her on it, subtly, but call her on it.

“Honey girl, you can go back to the family table now. I can bet that they’re missing you about now,” I said.

“Dad?” she said. I gave her a knowing grin.

“Daddy, I’d rather stay here if that’s all right,” she said.

“Well, of course it’s all right. You can come around me any time you want. And, I do appreciate that your mom is sticking to her promise. But, no, you need to be getting back to the clan, really,” I said.

“Dad, okay, but can I ask you a question?” she said.

“Sure, okay,” I said.

“You say I can come around you any time I want. But, would that include me coming to work in Tucson?” she said. She’d caught me flat footed. I stared and came to a decision.

“That would be fine, but some things, subjects, would be off limits. Could you deal with that?’ I said. “I mean if you did come to work there?”

She didn’t quite scowl, but she did nod in the affirmative. “Yes,” she said, finally.

“Okay then,” I said.

Barbie did go back to the family table, and I did notice, well I looked to see, that there was a buzz when she got back there. Then it, the buzz, subsided and the party went on.

As mentioned, I had my back to the family because of my seating situation. So, I didn’t see it coming. “Any chance that you’d maybe ask me for this dance?” she said. Oh, and yes, it was the same girl who’d all but dumped me at homecoming a thousand years earlier. I turned to look up at her. Jesus she was beautiful. Up close it was way worse than a hundred feet across the dance floor.

“No, I don’t think so, Stephanie. Too many memories about a certain homecoming dance,” I said, and I wasn’t smiling. I turned away from her. I heard it before I saw it, the chair scraping a few feet across the floor from a neighboring table. She pulled it up next to me. I guess this was her major gambit. I stared at her.

“Please,” she said.

“I can’t and you know why,” I said. “Stephanie Halstead, you’re embarrassing me.” I chanced a look back at the family table. The man looked super nervous. Well that was fair, I was too.

I thought it odd that she seemed taken aback when I referred to her as Halstead.

“Jack, it’s been long enough. I owe you a dance, homecoming mistakes notwithstanding,” she said. At least she wasn’t minimizing my feeling per that ancient high school get together.

“Stephanie. Please let me be,” I said. “If you don’t, I’m going to be leaving, and up till now I was having a real good time.”

“Jack, that’s not...” she started. I stood, motioned to Mickey. And walked out. I waved to the boss as I left; well, I had to pass near his table. I wondered if I was going to be fired. I guessed not. They were the ones who broke their promise to me, not me. He’d realize that and likely try to make amends. Well, that was my thinking at the moment.

I got to my car and didn’t quite burn rubber leaving. I had a lot to think about on the two hour drive back to Tucson. I had thought about staying overnight at Mickey’s, we’d talked about it during the evening. Well, I had been drinking, But I’d only had couple, so I felt okay heading on home.

She watched her ex-husband march out of the auditorium. Stephanie Halstead turned to where the man’s date was seated. She, Mickey, had heard it all as had the rest of the table, or most of it.

“Mickey, will you talk to me?” she said. Mickey nodded.

“Not here,” said Stephanie. “Over there at the family table.” Mickey looked unsure, but nodded. The two women trekked around the floor.

They took two empty seats at the far end of the table. No one, not even the big man was about to interfere.

“Mickey is there no way to get the man to forgive me,” said Stephanie. She was not crying but her tone of voice betrayed her frustration.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of forgiving, Stephanie. It’s just he can’t be around you. I think you need to appreciate that and respect his wishes. You have another man now, a good man, pay attention to him, and let your other man, the man who used to be your man, find his own way. He needs to do that,” said Mickey.

“But I owe him so much. I want to do for him,” said Stephanie.

“There is nothing you can do for him, Stephanie. He spent a big part of his life in prison and needs to readjust to life on the outside. I’ve talked to him as have others. It’s hard for him. He needs to get his bearings and maybe another woman.

“You say you owe him and want to do for him. Problem is the only thing you could do for him that would mean anything to him, you can’t do because you are married to another. His daughter is helping him as much as she can, given that she lives so far away. But even she can only supply so much help for our man. But, Stephanie, what he does not need, not at this point in his rehabilitation, is you pressuring him. Most especially not you,” said Mickey.

“Mickey, you could talk to him. He listens to you,” she said.

“Yes, he listens, sometimes. but he’s still his own man. He makes his own decisions,” she said.

“Can I ask, does he have a woman on the side somewhere? You know someone he’d maybe like to get on with?” said Stephanie.

“Get on with? No, not really. He has women friends, me for instance, but a woman the way you mean, no,” she said.

Stephanie Halstead shook her head. “There has to be some way to help the man. I need to help him Even if he doesn’t want me to, I need to!” she said.

“Yes, well if you interfere with his rehab, as I call it, you will do way more harm than good,” said Mickey. “Trust me on that one. The man needs to find his way and he has to do it alone. He’s a real man, as I’m sure you will agree, he isn’t into charity or hands up, or any of that. You need to let him be, Stephanie.”

“A real man? Oh yes, he is definitely that,” said Stephanie. “I would never deny that. But he is also a stubborn man, and no one can deny that.”