Upstairs the atmosphere was quiet and reserved, not what either Tracy or Raine had expected. Tracy had told him to be ready for anything from a riotous party to wild orgies. She didn't have a very high opinion of the Hollywood set. But it seemed that the young men involved were not going to party tonight. After the Polar "Thrash" as Austin called it, and a scrumptious dinner prepared by Austin's chef, they'd settled in to a horror flick in the background of a fairly decent game of Risk.
Bridget and Julian had not made an appearance during the hot tubbing or the dinner, but came waddling up the stairs from the basement, sleep befuddled and love drained, with relaxed smiles on their crinkled faces. They didn't want to play the game or watch the movie, but were content to drink wine and munch crackers while watching the others.
Conversation swirled sometimes hilariously, other times competitively, with Tracy, the most tenacious if not the most competitive completely engrossed in her tactics and therefore unaware when the doorbell rang raucously. Austin glanced at Richard and Sabrina and got up slowly checking his watch.
"Expecting someone?"
Richard shook his head as Austin went to flip the outdoor light switch. Through the glass he could see several bundled figures, one wearing Thorburn Marley's face surrounded by white and gold fur. When he opened the door, looked perplexed to say the least as it was after midnight, the threshold occupants burst into a riotous and obviously intoxicated version of Jingle Bells.
This brought the Risk takers to the top of the landing overlooking the main entrance, and Austin had no choice but to step back and allow entrance, his blue eyes rounded in annoyance. His guests had certainly had a few drinks, but no one was acting inebriated, foolish, or immature at this point, and several of his more prestigious guests did not drink or take any form of recreational drugs at all.
Casey Crandall was in the immediate crowd, closely followed by his very sallow and wasted girlfriend. Austin bit his lip uncomfortably. Casey glanced up to see the ones looking over the railing at him, and he waved. "Tracy, baby! Come on down! It's a Pepper's Reunion!"
Tracy stiffened noticeably as she recognized now, several of the engineers, the head engineer, and a couple of house guitarists along with her nemesis, and his pregnant girlfriend. Beside her Bridget crowded in, and looked down with rising annoyance.
"Casey! It's after midnight!" She called.
"Bridget, my love! How good to see you, and Jules, too, see I told you it was a Pepper's reunion!" He started up the stairs to the landing. "Aren't you going to invite us in for cocoa? It's what you do when you have carolers."
Richard Mann, the more street wise of the two friends, moved to block the stairway effectively and whispered on his way, "We'll get rid of 'em real quick." To Tracy who hadn't moved.
Casey made it to the top and literally swayed drunkenly against Richard's well- toned physique. Richard's hand out to steady him wasn't exactly permissive. His eyes were not as intoxicated as Tracy had first thought either. Richard was not going to be bullied.
"Why did you come here?" Tracy hissed over the ledge. "You shouldn't be here. You're stoned out of your mind, and----." Raine's hand squeezed her arm and she glanced at him in rising agitation.
"Let Austin and Richard handle this, it's their place and their party." He escorted Tracy back to the living room and placed her strategically behind the kitchen counter out of the way, but still able to view the proceedings.
Richard and Austin and their dates apparently weren't quite sure what to do with their fifteen or more guests, and so eventually they did gain access to the main rooms. Tracy busied herself setting the tea kettle on the stove for hot water. She'd be damned if she offered them any more to drink, but as they came into view, she saw many of them, including Casey already had Styrofoam cups with straws. She could only imagine what was in them.
Tracy knew Casey had put them all up to this. Her heart beat raced and her fingers shook with rising agitation, not to mention that damn tension headache that blossomed each and every time she let herself get so irrationally annoyed. Raine's presence beside her helped a little, as they set out mugs and unloaded gourmet cookies Austin had been saving for the next day.
"Bet you guys didn't know that tomorrow was supposed to be Tracy's and my wedding!" Casey slurred, toasting his cup high into the air.
Tracy whirled infuriated. "No such thing!"
Raine poked her in the side. But she gave him back a warning glare and he backed off, hands showing his surrender. She felt the fires blaze out of control.
Casey leaned across the counter. "Yeah, precious, you and me, the dynamic duo, supposed to be tying the knot, but this fly boy here----."
"Hey, Case, why don't you just settle down...." Julian had started to referee before things got even more out of hand. He could see from Tracy's expression that she wasn't thinking this was funny.
"Here's to you, honey, the faithless wench!" Casey dangled his cup from his fingers and then raised it high and downed another gulp. Jolie looked miserable and pathetic in the entry way, absorbing her boyfriend's awful and disrespectful behavior. Casey didn't take his eyes off Tracy's face, nor her arm caught strategically in Raine's hand to keep her from accelerating her ire.
"Now's not the time, Casey." She hissed, eyes pleading with him to leave, to stop, to back off.
"When would be a good time, Trace?" Casey challenged. "Inquiring minds want to know why you've dumped your lifelong love for this flyboy."
"You should leave. All of you, but especially you." Her voice was low and controlled, but Raine could feel the heat burning his skin as she battled more and more anger. All eyes in the room were on her now, as the tea kettle whistle began to hum to life and Raine stepped to the side to intercept it, hoping to create a diversion.
"You know, Case, maybe she's right." Austin said, with a hand out to all of the revelers, now staggering around, completely intoxicated, opening windows and turning up the music and the TV. "You can't just come in here and start accusing my guests. This would be a better conversation had in private. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
One of the uninvited women, a sound tech or lighting tech or something, staggered into an end table, causing the lamp settled precariously in everyone's line of sight to topple and crash with a loud shattering sound. Several more gasps and even a scream accompanied it, and everyone's eyes and some of their bodies rushed to the scene.
"Look, Case, we were planning to go to bed soon." Tracy said as low as she could, hoping that the distraction would give her a moment to speak to his sense of honor. Someone's hot chocolate mug went flying. More screams.
"What the heck?" Austin's choked irritation stung.
Casey lurched away from the sloshy scene and flung himself up onto the counter. "You stole my woman, fly-boy, and for that you'll have to pay!"
Raine leaned over just as quickly, ready to duel. "Looks like you got another one pretty quick, and it also looks like you've offended your host. I think we should discuss this some other time."
"That's your suggestion, is it?" Casey jumped up on the counter and launched himself at Raine unexpectedly. Even with Raine's trained deflection, they both crashed against the cupboards behind them with loud swearing and flailing. The men in the room leaped to assist, moving to grab Casey and throw him out before any more damage could be done.
"Party's over, fellas." Austin was yelling.
Casey righted himself, threw a sour punch that missed it's mark and as he slipped to the side, Raine used a martial arts move that should have disabled him, but his Styrofoam cup went sailing into Tracy's who was cornered against the sink and the pantry.
Seeing her, Casey scrambled up. "You little bitch! You're trying to keep me out of the music industry, you're ruining my career!" He lunged for her, and pinned as she was, she had nowhere to go. He hit her full in the face, causing an instant nosebleed, and he followed it up with a hard punch to her ribs as he slipped in his own alcoholic puddle and went down with her kick in his chest.
Stars swam in her head and for an instant she seemed to float in astonishment, wondering when she was going to wake up from this nightmare.
At that Raine descended on Casey like GI Joe, and Casey covered his face with his hands, yelling for help. He kicked awkwardly, but was no match for a fully trained and fully enraged combat officer.
The space was too small. There was nowhere to go, to either continue the fight, which had escalated into a battle, or rescue Tracy who was huddled in a corner, blood spurting as she hugged her stomach painfully.
Austin and Richard jumped over the counter, grabbing for and subduing Raine, while Julian yanked Casey to his feet, and threw him toward the staircase, and Jolie who was cowering against the railing.
Julian shoved Casey and he staggered and caught himself, ready to do more battle, half laughing, half yelling.
"What were you thinking, Thor, to bring him here in this condition?"
Thor stumbled against the wall. "It was his idea. Said you guys were having a party. But it looks like you were just playing house." He signaled to the others, who had maybe noticed the party was leaving, and maybe hadn't in the commotion.
"Get out." Julian ordered, as Casey and the others finally found the door. Then he turned and made his way past the starlets looking appropriately aghast while tittering behind their hands. This was the kind of drama that got them in the limelight.
Bridget knelt beside Tracy with a kitchen towel, wiping up blood, and holding ice to her face which had instantly turned purple and red.
"Holy Shit, what was that guy thinking?" Austin gritted out, letting Raine go with a comradely pat on the back. "Tracy. Damn! Is she okay?"
******