Robin Alexander - Pitifully Ugly

hall. “Wardrobe malfunction.” Marvin smoothed his hair.

Angela fussed with my collar. “You’re on as soon as this

speaker wraps up. He’ll introduce you.”

“Your lips are the sweetest I’ve ever tasted,” I said, looking

her in the eye.

She moved closer, and for a second, I thought she was going

to kiss me. I puckered up.

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Robin Alexander

Angela’s eyes narrowed as she looked into mine. “Her pupils

are the size of baseballs. What the—”

“Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome—”

“That’s me.” I pulled away from Angela’s grasp. Her voice

was shrill and Marvin’s was even higher as they argued. I just

kept on walking.

Angela, Marvin, and I sat around the sitting area of our suite.

Angela held an ice pack to her head. Marvin was drinking gin

straight from the bottle.

“Well, she did it,” Marvin said with a spacey gaze.

Angela groaned. “It could’ve been worse. We could have

done without the laughing and pointing, though.”

They talked as though I weren’t in the room. Frankly, I wasn’t.

I was floating on a cloud of serenity.

“You have to admit she had the room laughing right along

with her. The rest of the speakers were duds.” Marvin took

another healthy swig.

Images of Hailey undressing me and putting me to bed

flashed through my mind. I reached for her, but she pushed my

hands away. “Drink this,” I heard her say as something cool was

pressed to my lips. Her voice didn’t sound the same.

“You’re always pushing me away,” I said, reaching for her

again.

“Go to sleep.” I felt her pushing me down onto the bed.

“Please stay,” I said. “I just want to be with you.” The words

seemed heavy as they left my lips. The bed was pulling me in

deeper.

I felt a hand softly stroke my brow and words whispered. “I

will.”

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Pitifully Ugly

Chapter 21

Homecoming of uncertainty.

I awoke the next morning alone with the gnawing feeling that

I’d forgotten something. My mouth tasted like I had been licking

a car tire. After brushing my teeth twice, I wandered into the

sitting area. Marvin was asleep on the sofa with an empty gin

bottle clutched in both hands.

“Hey.” I gave him a nudge, and he opened one eye and looked

at me.

“What day is it?” he rasped.

“I have no idea.”

He looked at his watch and cursed. “We’ve missed our flight.”

“It’s Monday then.” I took a seat on one of the chairs.

“Do me a favor, please.” Marvin sat up and rubbed his head.

“Call for room service and I’ll call the airline.”

I did as he asked and ordered lots of coffee to go along with

breakfast. I was about to take a quick shower when I heard a

knock on the door. Through the peep hole, I could see Angela

standing in the hall. Her hair was down and slightly damp. She

looked comfortable in a pair of jeans and an untucked button-

down shirt. She was also wearing a huge smile. I wrapped my

robe tighter around my body and let her in.

“Good morning,” she said as she planted a kiss on my cheek

and walked past me. “I was afraid I would miss you.”

“We missed our flight or you probably would’ve.” I gestured

for her to take a seat.

“You feeling okay?” Angela asked.

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“I’m a little unclear on last night…parts of it fade in and out.”

“You put on one hell of a show. Everybody is talking about

your speech.” Angela smiled up at Marvin as he walked back into

the room. “Mr. Mays says he enjoyed your speech above everyone

else’s. He was very pleased to hear how highly you touted our

products and service. I think my job is pretty secure.”

“I hope mine still is.” Marvin elbowed me in the ribs.

“I called Kalen first thing this morning.” Angela wrinkled

her nose. “She’s thrilled. I left out a few parts, though.”

“Thank you,” Marvin and I said in unison.

“I must really thank you both. I know the past few days have

been hell.” Angela focused on me for a moment. “It wasn’t fair of

me to put so much pressure on you. I was so nervous after the last

set of meetings when a few of my fellow reps were laid off that I

got a bit self-centered.”

“You’ve been good to us, Angela. I’m glad we were able

to help you out. Although…I wish one of you would fill me in

on what I did. I remember everything until I walked up to the

podium. I think I blocked it all out.” I looked over at Marvin, then

at Angela. They were both grinning.

Marvin held up a hand and started counting off each incident.

“You drooled, accosted a woman in the elevator, and made up

your own speech that nearly made me wet myself.” He cuffed

me on the shoulder. “But when it came time to deliver, you did

it…perfectly, minus the giggling.”

“I giggled through the speech?”

Marvin and Angela nodded. “It added some levity to an

otherwise dull evening.” Angela glanced down at her watch. “I

need to go help with the packing up.” She gave Marvin a hug, and

I walked her to the door. She turned and looked at me before she

stepped into the hallway. “You’re a great kisser, and that’s a lot

coming from a straight woman.”

“I’m sorry about that. Blame it on the Stanky Leg.” I looked

away in embarrassment.

“I’m not mad,” Angela said with a smile as she moved into

my line of sight. “Maybe now Zoe won’t hit on me so much when

I visit her salon.”

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Pitifully Ugly

“I seriously doubt that,” I said with a grin.

“Oh, I put your jewelry in your cosmetic bag.” Angela tucked

her hair behind her ear. “I put you into bed last night. Marvin

didn’t seem comfortable with the idea.”

I felt a flush wash over my face.

“I hope your girlfriend won’t mind.”

“I’m sure she won’t,” I said with a sigh.

“Maybe I’ll see you next time I’m in town. It might be kind of

fun to tell Kalen that story.”

“Fun for you, yes, but I’ll hear about it for the rest of my life.”

“Take care of yourself, Shannon,” Angela said as she walked

away.

“I’m so glad I don’t have to work for the next few days,”

Marvin said as he sipped on a Mountain Dew. “When this plane

lands, I’m driving you straight home, then I’m going home to

sleep for the next twenty-four hours.”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the five hundred-

dollar emergency cash that I hadn’t had to use and pressed it

into his hand. “Whatever bonus my sister promised you was not

enough. Thank you for taking care of me.”

Marvin looked at the crisp one hundred-dollar bills and tried

to hand them back. “I can’t take this. Even though you made me

want to pull my hair out, I had a blast and met a really cute guy.”

“Keep it then as hush money,” I said with a grin. “All Kalen

needs to know is that I gave her speech.”

As we walked through the New Orleans airport, I felt relief. I

was home. I inhaled deeply the smell of fried food and beignets,

and I even welcomed the smell of exhaust as we made our way

through the parking garage. My stomach did knot up, though,

at the prospect of seeing Hailey again. Invariably, we’d run into

each other at the apartment. It was going to be awkward and kind