It's a Christmas, Carol

"When did you have in mind?" he asked smiling.

"How about a month before you picked me up?" I said. "And do you know anyone who..."

Shit, I don't know how long it was. Who can judge time in a situation like that? But I woke up behind the wheel of my Jeep. I had a gleam in my eye and a new attitude. I slammed on the brakes, just as a blindingly fast, yellow Mustang veered into my lane and streaked ahead of me. This time I avoided the accident though and saw Tim wave at me in his rear view mirror.

I got off of the freeway and drove back to work. As soon as I walked in the door, Iris was on her feet.

"You got back pretty quickly," she said. "Are you okay?"

"Iris West, you worry about me too much," I said smiling.

"It's my job," she said red faced.

"Maybe it's more than a job," I said. Her face turned as red as her hair then. Before she could answer the doors popped open and several men carrying huge stacks of pizza came in. Another guy came in and started setting up a DJ booth in the middle of the office floor. Within moments there was music playing throughout the office.

"Hey," yelled Greg Jenkins. "How am I supposed to work with this racket?"

"Well, Greg," I said. "We're having a Christmas party. I'm going to give everyone their Christmas bonus and then we're going to party like it's 1999. But you don't have to worry about getting your sales in anymore, because while I was gone, I made some life changing decisions."

"You were only gone for like three minutes," he snapped. "How life changing could they be?"

"Well one of them was that I have to make this place a more fun workplace, like it used to be," I said. "And another one was to stop fretting over shit and just go with my gut. Yet another one was to stop taking shit from people who don't have my best interest at heart. And you see, I heard what you said earlier, Greg. So you're fired. Hit the fucking bricks, buddy." He was shocked. I patted him on the back and wished him a Merry Christmas.

Iris and I walked around giving everyone their bonus envelopes, while the party was going on in full swing. Everyone in the room was dancing or eating except for Greg who was angrily packing.

I still hadn't actually made a decision about Carol yet, but I had made my plans for what to do in either case. I decided to let her make the decision for me. But either way, the two of us were going to sit down and talk after Christmas.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. Late on Christmas morning; just after eleven o'clock, Carol went upstairs. The kids were still opening the last of their presents and deciding what they wanted to play with first. I followed Carol to see what she was doing. She had gotten dressed as if she was going out.

She saw me and started talking in that exasperated voice that I'd come to hate.

"I need some money. I'm going out," she said.

"It's a Christmas, Carol," I said angrily. "Your parents are on their way and..."

"I won't be gone for more than a couple of hours," she snapped. "You can entertain them. I need to be relaxed with them anyway. I doubt that they'll even notice if I'm not here."

Under my breath, I mumbled, "Why the fuck can't Billy do without you for once?"

"What...what did you say?" asked Carol. Her face was ashen with shock.

"I said, what the fuck, it's silly, let's not argue for once," I told her. "You go on. I'll keep your parents busy until you get back." I made myself smile, but underneath the smile, I had made a decision. Actually Carol had made the decision for me.

* * * * * *

Carol

I couldn't believe how good it felt to be getting out of that house for Christmas. It had been bad enough with Evan doting on the kids all morning. He'd given me a lot of really nice presents, but he still spent more time and energy on the kids than he did me. Why, just once, couldn't it be the two of us like it was in the old days? I had called my parents and told them that we weren't doing anything for Christmas. Apparently, Evan had called them back and told them to come on over and visit their grand kids. I knew it would just turn into another occasion where I was ignored and forgotten in favor of Evan and the kids. It had been that way my entire life. That was when I made the decision to go out and spend some time with the person who always put me first.

I got to the hotel in record time. I felt funny. I felt like there was something wrong with me. I was letting Evan get to me. He seemed so hurt when I left. And he'd given in so easily. But then he always did. For the whole time that we'd been together, Evan had always done his best to give me whatever I wanted to make me happy. For a fleeting second, I wondered why I was punishing him because my parents didn't give me any attention. I also realized that I was taking my anger and jealousy of my brother out on my husband. But the thoughts were fleeting and ended when the door opened and Billy yanked the door open and took me in his arms. I decided to have some fun, first and surrender to the guilt later.

The problem was that there was no later. Billy was going strong. He fucked me twice and mauled my tits until they were sore. After that he talked about how miserable he was that he hadn't been able to buy his parents any Christmas presents. He talked about how someday I would meet his parents and they would love me. I reached into my purse to get the money I'd brought him. The thought of it sent goose pimples up and down my spine. I would love to meet his parents. Maybe that was what I needed. Maybe a new family would be just what the doctor ordered. Maybe I needed to start over without a husband and kids to take all of the love and attention.

I banished that thought though, even as I gave Billy the money. Billy was fun and he was a good way to punish Evan, but he was a toy. He could never take Evan's place and I did love my kids.

Billy snatched the money from my hands just as the door to the hotel room splintered. Three police officers came into the room and demanded that we put our hands up.

"Get dressed fat ass," said one of them. "You're under arrest."

"What am I being arrested for?" I screamed. "I haven't done anything."

"We've been watching you for weeks, sister. We've got it all on tape. We came in, just as you were paying him the money. We've got you for solicitation of prostitution. I can see now though why you'd have to pay for it. You've got a pretty face but from the neck down...disgusting.

"And you he-whore, throw some clothes on so we can take you downtown," he smirked. "There'll be lots of customers for you in the big house. But they won't be paying for it and it's gonna' be a little bit different from the way you're doing it here. But you'll still be selling it...kind of. By the time you get out, your farts won't make any noise, if you get my point."

I was in shock. They dragged me downtown and they took Billy and me in separate cars. I think they did it to make sure we had no chance to put a story together.

They put me in a cell with a bunch of dirty, smelly, rough looking women. I went to one corner of the cell and it took everything I had, not to start crying. I was allowed one phone call. I didn't dare call Evan. So I called one of my girlfriends. There was no way her husband would let her leave their family on Christmas day. I was told that I could have another phone call the next day. I would probably be arraigned the next morning, but being Christmas, I might be stuck there until a judge could come in. None of the judges would be too eager to come in with the holidays upon us.

Then the nightmares started. My court appointed lawyer had already met with the assistant DA who'd be taking my case. He was a hard ass who was looking to make a reputation. I tried to explain that I wasn't paying for sex. I explained to them that Billy and I were lovers. I told them that I was having an affair and I just gave Billy the money as a present. It had nothing to do with the sex.

"So, do you give him money every time the two of you have sex?" asked the ADA.

"I...I guess so," I said.

"Sounds like prostitution to me," he said. "But since this is your first time, I'm going to let you off easy. You'll get a five hundred dollar fine, and 6 months of probation. I'll see you in court in ten days. Call someone to bail you out."

He left the room to see his next suspect. I had no choice. I called Evan. I told him where I was and that it was all a big misunderstanding.

Evan came down to get me. When I was released, they took me into a large room where the person bailing you out could pay your fine and then take you home. It was the worst moment of my life. Not only was Evan there, but the ADA told him about the case. My father was with Evan. They both looked at me as if they were disgusted. Then the worst thing possible happened. I saw Billy come out and a woman about my age went over to him and slapped him. She took one look at me and started laughing.

"You cheated on me with that?" she laughed. "Well, Honey, he's all yours. I'm done with him. I'm filing for a divorce first thing in the morning. I hope you can take care of him. He's never had a job in the entire time that we've been together."

She smiled suddenly. And then spoke to the officer at the desk loudly. "Oh damn, I was so stressed out about coming down here that I forgot my purse. Put him back in his cell, I'll be right back." Then she started laughing. Even I could tell that she wouldn't be back.

Apparently Billy knew too. He started screaming and begging for her to come back.

"Elaine, I can't stand her. I only did for the money," he screamed. "She's nothing to me."

"Then we're getting divorced for nothing," she said. "That cop told me that you two have been at this for months at least."

My dad looked at me with nothing but disgust on his face. Evan was much calmer though. "Evan, I'm so sorry, honey," I whined. "I swear it will never happen again. As soon as we get home I'll explain the whole thing to you and..."

"Carol, just save it for when we talk," he said. He paid my bail and didn't say another word to me until we got home. He went and checked on the kids. They were fine. They were up watching one of those Disney Holiday movies while their grandmother slept on the couch.

"I'll put the kids to bed and..." I began.

"I'll take care of it," he said. "You don't have much time."

"I don't have much time for what?" I asked.

"To pack," he said. "You're going with your parents. We're done."

"What do you mean, we're done?" I asked. He just walked away. I tried calling him every day and he never picked up the phone. My parents went to visit their grand kids and I was allowed to see them too, but Evan left the house for the time that we were there.

The day before I was due in court, I finally got a chance for a meeting with Evan. I wore the sexiest thing I had. And I could tell from the way that his eyes almost burst from his skull that he still wanted me.

"Evan, Honey, what do I have to do to convince you that I'm really sorry?" I asked.

"Carol, I believe you," he said. "You don't have to do anything to convince me. Now let's get to the divorce." I was shocked. I didn't want a divorce. I was sure that my parents had put him up to it.

I ran out of the house. There was no way I would even talk about a divorce. Apparently it was all a part of Evan's plan because he never tried to call me or anything else. The next day in court, I found out that besides the charges of having sex with a prostitute, Evan was suing me for taking money under false pretenses.

The judge pretty much went along with the ADA as far as the prostitution related charges went. But he also had me put on the sexual offenders list. I smelled Evan in that.

I found myself divorced and penniless, less than three months later. There's a law in our state that if you've committed a crime against your spouse, they can get a divorce almost immediately. The law was put into effect to help battered women, but Evan's lawyer played the family courts like a Stradivarius. He also used the fact that I was on the sex offender's list to get Evan full custody of the kids.

My parents insisted that I get a job and find a place to live. Over the next few months I learned a lot in bits and pieces. I found out that Evan had known what was going on long before I was arrested. He'd hired a PI to follow me around about a month before I got caught. Evan's PI had been the one who gave an anonymous tip to the DA and got me arrested. I also found out that someone had beaten Billy nearly to death. Evan had been at a school program for one of our kids during the time that Billy was beaten. Several witnesses had seen him there. He had attended the show with our kids and his secretary, Iris.

It seemed that Evan had been spending a lot of time with Iris, since our divorce. I had never liked that bitch. She was always too into my husband. I was sure that things between them wouldn't last long. Evan had never been into skinny, nearly flat chested women.

I got to see my kids every other week. They seemed to be happy. On fact I had never seen them happier. I went a little crazy when I found out that Evan and Iris were engaged. Since Evan and I had broken up, I hadn't had one date. I had tried craigslist and almost every dating site I could find. I got a lot of first dates. But most of them were cut short. Even when I let the guys know that I put out, I didn't get many takers.

Iris and Evan seemed to have the world by a string. Evan had gotten over me and moved on. I became obsessed with getting my husband back. I decided that the best way to do that would be to get Iris to leave so we could work things out. I started following her and calling her all the time. All it did was to get me checked into a facility that dealt with mental health problems.

The good thing was that during the three years that I was there, they not only helped me to realize that I would never get my husband back, but they helped me to deal with my issues concerning my perceived parental neglect.

The bad news was that by the time I got out, Evan and Iris had a baby together. Everyone in the family including my parents doted on that little boy, including his step brother and sister. There was no way I would ever get Evan back. Even my children were very stiff and uncomfortable being around me during our meetings. They acted as if they had lives to get back to and I was no longer a part of that.

* * * * * *

Epilogue

Iris and I named our son, Timothy Ivan, after the two people who were the most responsible for his birth. TI looks like me facially, but he also has his mother's stature. He's so short that his brother and sister called him "Tiny Tim."

Over the years we lost track of Carol. She just faded from our lives. I've heard rumors about her doing drugs and even trying her hand at prostitution. I never followed up on any of them because I just never cared. Even the kids never mention her. In her own way, she truly became the ghost of Christmas past. The good thing about the past is that it's over, so Carol belongs there. I truly hope that she found some happiness for herself, but again, I don't really care. I'm too busy with my wife and my kids to let an unpleasant memory ruin things.

The day after Christmas, my beautiful Iris and I are going away on yet another second honeymoon. I guess this one is our tenth. TI is going to take care of the business while we're gone. It took me a while to figure out the fact that Iris had been the one to pray for a happier life for me. She'd been in love with me for years when she made the wish. Wherever they are out there, I hope that Tim and Ivy got what they wanted too. Because they gave me the best Christmas present ever.