CHAPTER 5
My father was waiting for me at the baggage claim carousels when I arrived. I immediately flew into his arms.
He held me close to him; talking soothingly to me. It was the first time that I knew how it felt to me consoled by a parent. I liked the feeling of safeness that it gave me.
We talked on the way back to his estate. I was taken aback when he told me that he had called Trey.
"You didn't threaten to punch him out or anything did you, Dad?"
Secretly I was hoping that is exactly what he had done. That would be such a 'father' thing to do it seemed.
"No Tylar, I simply told him that I felt it was appropriate under the circumstances for you to spend some time here to rest, relax and gain some perspective on the situation."
(Hmmm - that sounded a bit to me like my father was trying to diffuse 'the situation'. Did he think I had over-reacted?)
"What did Trey say?"
"He concurred. He genuinely wants you to feel better; he wanted me to convey to you that he will take care of Preston until you're ready to come back. He wants you to focus on feeling better physically and emotionally. He said you are to pamper yourself."
(Pamper myself? What did Trey fucking think this was, a weekend at the spa?)
"You know Dad, I think Trey is right. I could use some pampering. It sounds just like what the doctor ordered. Is Edie still at the house?"
"Yes, why?"
"Can I borrow her tomorrow to run some errands with me in the city?"
"Certainly. Any of the staff is at your disposal, daughter."
"Thanks, Dad." I smiled.
I liked Edie. She was only a year or so older than I was and we had clicked from the first time we met. She had hated Ms. Deeny as well so we had one thing in common right from the get.
The next morning after my father had left for court I phoned a limo service in Baton Rouge. I had told Edie the night before that she was at my disposal the following day. She had laughed saying it sounded like we were going to have some fun.
"You're right about that girlfriend," I had responded in 'Gina style.'
We climbed into the limo at 10:00 a.m. and headed for a luxury day spa in Baton Rouge. Once there, I handed Edie one of the spa menus.
"Pick anything you want Edie, my treat," I said.
"Oh Tylar no," she replied shaking her head, "I wouldn't feel right about it. I work for the judge."
"We aren't spending the judge's money Edie. We're spending my husband's money which according to him is mine as well. So have at it."
"Well alright then," she giggled.
We both went for the 60 minute hot stone massage, followed by the body scrub. I then selected a facial mask while Edie went with the massage moisture facial. We were then waxed, manicured and pedicured. We finished up with getting eyelash extensions. The total bill with tip: $1200.00.
(I was feeling better already!)
Our next stop was an upscale hair salon called Jean-Claude's
Edie was all for getting her highlights re-done. I was going for a totally new look altogether. I perused through multiple magazines until I found the hair style I wanted. I then asked to see hair swatches so the colorist could match my color exactly to the one that I selected. No more blondish-brown highlights for me. I heard brunettes were having fun these days - with other women's men.
When we were finished, Edie's hair had undergone a tune-up while mine had gone through a complete overhaul.
"Oh my God," Edie shrieked. "You look so different Tylar."
"That's the look I was going for Edie."
My hair was a dark chestnut brown that fell above my shoulders now. It was blunt cut in the back and angled at the sides. It looked exactly like Amber's hair.
We then went shopping at Dillard's. I bought two new pairs of boots; five pairs of skinny jeans, four new sweaters, a couple of cotton tee shirts, a new winter jacket and assorted lingerie, jewelry and make-up. By this time, Edie was feeling too self-conscious about my spending money on her. I finally forced her to get a pair of jeans and a sweater.
The limo was waiting for us outside to take us back to the estate. The driver had chilled champagne and cold appetizers waiting for us. We enjoyed both on the ride back.
"Wow," Edie said, "I can't believe you spent that much money today Tylar. I am really appreciative of your generosity but don't you think your husband is going to be pissed?"
I held up my champagne flute for a toast.
"Here's to pissed off husbands," I said, tapping my flute gently against hers.
It was a little after 7:00 p.m. when the limo pulled up to the mansion. I gave one of my credit cards to the driver to swipe for payment and then threw a generous tip on top of it. He saw us to the door carrying our packages.
Edie took my packages once inside and said she would deliver them to my room and have the washables laundered before I wore them. I thanked her.
"No, thank you, Tylar. I've had the best time today."
"Don't forget tomorrow night we're going clubbing after your shift," I reminded her.
I heard my father approaching across the hardwood floor towards the entry hall.
"Tylar, I've been worried. We've been holding dinner for you."
"I’m sorry Dad, the time just slipped by so quickly."
He was studying my new hairstyle. He had that 'judge perusal' thing going on again. I twirled around so that he could get the full view of my shiny new hairstyle.
"Do you like it?" I asked.
"Darling, the important thing is that you like it," he replied. "Let's have dinner."
Over dinner Dad mentioned that Trey had phoned him to see how I was doing.
"Since you weren't home and I had no clue where you were I couldn't tell him much," he said.
(Holy shit! Was he going all 'father' on me now?)
"Dad, I'm sorry," I replied, "I really thought that we'd be back before you got home. Edie and I went into Baton Rouge. I pampered myself just as Trey suggested I do, that's all."
My father eyed me warily. It reminded me a bit of Trey.
"That's good. You still may want to call and check in with him so that he doesn't worry," he suggested.
"I will. Now tell me about your day."
After dinner I retreated to my suite. Edie had hung up the coat and sweaters; she had taken everything else I had bought to be laundered. She had put my make-up in the bathroom and my jewelry was on the dresser.
I pulled my Blackberry out of my purse to put on the charger. I noticed that I had several text messages. There were two from Trey; one from Gina.
Trey had texted the first time at around 1:30 this afternoon:
'I hope you are relaxing and pampering yourself like a good girl. I love and miss you, Tylar.'
His second text message and come in around 7:30 this evening:
'Your father is worried about you. I talked to him about an hour ago and he said he hasn't heard from you all day. Please let me know that you are okay.'
Gina's text had come in at 8:03 p.m about fifteen minutes prior.
'Ty - call me when you get this. You evidently have your fucking phone on mute. Trey is a fucking mess! He and Tristan got into it BIG TIME!'
I phoned Gina immediately. She answered after the first ring.
"It's about damned time girlfriend. Your calls are going straight to voicemail. Are you avoiding me too?"
"Of course not, Gina. I just now pulled my phone out and saw all of these text messages."
"I only texted you once but I must've called you like five times."
"Trey texted me twice earlier. I guess he called my father too. So what's the emergency?"
"Well, Trey is basically a mess over all of this which in my opinion serves him right, but I still feel for the Hot Nazi. Tristan laid him out good."
"Oh my God, you mean they got into a brawl?"
"No, not that way. He laid him out verbally. Trey shows up at the club this afternoon around 6:00 p.m. when Tristan is working the bar. It's pretty crowded with the after-five crowd and I guess Trey was all pissing and moaning into his suds. He's all 'I can't lose her,' 'I love her so fucking much,' blah, blah, blah. Finally, Tristan had just had enough. He got into Trey's face and blasted him verbally. He told him that he should've appreciated what he had before he fucked it up. He told Trey he wouldn't blame you if you fucked every guy in Baton Rouge after the way that Trey had treated you. He told him to get over himself. He said you were too good for Trey!"
(Holy shit - I bet that didn't go over well!)
"Oh my God Gina - I don't want to be the reason that Tristan and Trey stop speaking to one another."
"Ty, for crying out loud. Someone had to put the Hot Nazi in his place and my man was just the person to do it. Having said that, I still think that you need to keep the lines of communication open with Trey to some extent."
"Okay, okay," I said wearily, "Between you and my dad nagging at me I promise the both of you I will give Trey a call."
"Good," she said, "Now how was your day?"
"I spent about three grand on pampering," I replied.
"Excellent," she said.