Magnolia parked the car and sighed. Drew looked over at his girlfriend. He could tell she was nervous and didn't want to be there. She had done a great job with wearing a salmon colored sequin dress that sparkled and made her soft brown eyes pop. Her dark blonde hair had been curled and put up.
"We don't have to go in there. Let me take you out to a fancy restaurant instead and then go dancing. Or we can go home and pretend to be rich, snobby people and keep these stiff outfits on," he said.
"We are rich people," she said.
"You missed the word snobby," he said.
She turned her head and looked at him. He reached over and took her hand. She had a hard time with her family. They rarely saw them but she always felt like she had to show up to gatherings like these. It didn't make it easier that they didn't see Drew as good enough. In their eyes, he was a broke wrestler. They had no idea wrestling could bring in a good amount of money when a wrestler was a good as he was and had a fair contract bringing in a high number. The letters WWE meant nothing to them. Wrestling was not good enough in their eyes.
"Let's just leave," he said. "You don't owe her anything."
"No, I have to," she sighed.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because it's the right thing to do," she shrugged. "Let's get this over with."
They got out of the car and walked towards the classic music and the people talking in the garden. Drew eyed an expensive car parked among the others.
"A ferrari? Who drives that?" He asked.
"I have a pretty good guess," she sighed.
They continued into the garden. They were there to celebrate her mother Avis' 60 year old birthday. Apparently her mother had gone all out with a big, fancy party that had to cost a lot of money by the looks of it.
Magnolia looked up at the big house. Somehow her mother had been able to marry a rich, old guy who left her everything when he died a few years later. Since then she continued the bad habit of marrying rich men and bleeding them dry when she got tired of her latest toy. Magnolia remembered at least three marriages after the old, dead man who used to own this place but there could have been more she hadn't heard about. Avis never kept them for long. She married fast and took their money. She also spent the money right away which was why she was always on the hunt for a new man or trying to get money from her own daughter.
"Daughter!" Avis yelled.
Avis came walking over and hugged Magnolia. Drew could see it took a lot of effort on Magnolia's part to hug back and force a smile.
"Mother," Magnolia said.
"Are you always this formal?" Drew chuckled.
"And Drew," Avis rinkled her nose. "I see you're still with this one."
"Yeah, I like to keep my men for longer than three months," Magnolia said.
"Rude," Avis smirked. "But I'll let it slide. Tonight we are having a party. Get some champagne from one of the waiters so you're ready for the first toast when everyone has arrived."
Magnolia looked around but all she could see was champagne glasses. She turned her eyes to her mother again.
"No water?" Magnolia asked.
"Water is for weak people," Avis smirked. "Don't you agree, Drew?"
"Don't!" Magnolia said firmly.
"What?" Avis tried to look innocent. "It's not like he's an alcoholic, right?"
"You know damn well that's exactly what he is. A recovering alcoholic," Magnolia sneered. "So take that attitude and stick it right up your..."
"Wow," Drew gently grabbed Magnolia's arm. "Easy there, panther. I'm sure your mother simply forgot."
"Yes, I forgot. I'll go get you some water," Avis said.
"Thank you," Drew said.
Avis took off and walked towards the house.
"She's not getting you water. She's gonna pretend that she forgot, and we'll look like assholes when we're not toasting her along with everyone else. She'll make damn sure that everyone knows we don't celebrate her the right way," Magnolia said.
"I know. Your mother is so not cool," Drew smirked. "But you can drink. I won't mind."
"I don't want to," Magnolia said.
"Mags!" A male voice yelled.
Magnolia rolled her eyes and once again put on a fake smile when her twin brother Luka walked up to them. Another hug was given that Drew could see she wanted no part of. For some reason the twins' mother had always only wanted a boy. Having a girl on top of the wanted boy was not something she was pleased about. Magnolia was told all through her childhood that she was a mistake. Her brother adopted the same attutide. Mother and son against their own blood that had never done anything wrong except for existing.
"Nice car outside," Magnolia said.
"You noticed," Luka grinned. "It was expensive but worth it. Speaking of..."
"I'm not paying off your car loan," Magnolia cut him off.
"I'm not asking you to but your niece needs braces. Had I known this would be the case, I wouldn't have bought the car. Now I'm stuck. I can't afford her braces," Luka said.
"Tell me how your choice to procreate is my problem," Magnolia said.
"She's your niece!" Luka said firmly. "I wouldn't have bought the car if I had known she would need braces. I'm stuck. I need your money. If you love her, you would do this."
"Really? You're gonna pull the 'if you love her' card? You're never gonna change, are you?" Magnolia asked.
"You can afford it. I googled you the other day. Your name appears on several big movies, mrs. producer," Luka said.
A woman stepped up to them and pulled Magnolia in for a hug. This hug was more willingly given. Drew recognized Luka's wife Marlis from the few times he had met her.
"You look great, Magnolia," Marlis said.
"You too," Magnolia said.
"I'll go grab some more champagne while you ladies catch up," Luka said.
Luke gave Marlis a stern look and then walked away.
"What was that all about?" Magnolia asked.
"He doesn't want you to know," Marlis answered.
"Know what?" Magnolia asked.
"We're getting a divorce. It'll be finalized next week. He said I couldn't tell you or it would ruin his chances of getting your money. I'm not taking part of his cruel plans anymore. I'm over him. Next week I'm a free woman, and I'm going on a date with a colleague who's been patiently waiting for that final signature on the dotted line since I didn't wanna be accused of cheating," Marlis said.
"Look at you, girl," Magnolia smirked. "I'm proud of you. Now he said something about needing money for braces, and I'll gladly help."
"Save it," Marlis held up her hand. "My grandfather already paid for those. I don't need your money. I never did. Luka is the one with a problem. Him and your mother. You already know how those two can be."
Magnolia nodded in agreement. She had grown up with those two. When she got her first job as a teenager, her mother demanded she shared her salary with her brother so he wouldn't feel left out. Half of her salary quickly turned into more each month. It wasn't until she got out of that house that she was finally able to keep her own earnings to herself, and even then they continued coming for her.
"About that water," Drew said.
"Let's get you some," Magnolia said. "Let's use the back door. It's closer to the kitchen and we can sneak around without having to strike up conversation with anyone."
They walked around the edge of the garden and made it around the house. She opened the back door and they walked inside. They walked towards the kitchen but she suddenly stopped and held up her hand. She pointed to her ear and he concentrated on listening. The voices of Avis and Luka reached them from the kitchen.
"She'll give you the money. Don't worry," Avis said.
"It's not fair she has all that money and doesn't share," Luka whined.
"Don't worry, honey. I'll make sure she'll give it to you, or we can share my portion," Avis said.
Magnolia turned her head and looked at Drew with furrowed brows. She shrugged since she had no idea what they were talking about. She wasn't planning on giving any of them money.
"You know she's not gonna willingly pay for this party," Luka said.
"The final guests will be here soon," Avis said. "Once they're here, I'm opening the party with a thank you speech. I'll tell everyone how my darling daughter has offered to pay for everything and that I've accepted. Everyone will clap and tell her what a wonderful person she is. She'll have no choice but to pay up afterwards or everyone will see her as a cruel person promising something and leaving her old mother will the bill."
Magnolia looked at Drew again. Drew was shaking his head in disbelief. Magnolia pointed towards the back door and both of them quietly walked back out in the garden.
"Let's leave. That way she can't put you on the spot," he said.
"No, let's have some fun," she said.
"Fun? You wanna party all of the sudden?" He asked confused.
"You love me, right?" She smirked.
"Oh, it's like that," he smirked back. "I don't know what the hell you're planning on doing but you got my full support."
He leaned down and pecked her lips.
"I love you," he whispered. "Go slay the evil queen."
She giggled softly, walked over to a waiter, grabbed a glass of champagne and walked up on the small stage her mother had said up. The band stopped playing as she positioned herself in front of the microphone.
"Can I have everyone's attention, please?" She asked.
Everyone stopped talking and looked up at her. She looked towards the house to see her mother and brother step outside with confused looks on their faces.
"Welcome, everyone," she said. "My mother asked me to give the first speech and I accepted. I honestly don't know what to say. I'm not much of a talker but she told me to just speak from my heart and let you all know what's going on, so that's what I'm gonna do."
She held out her arms as if she was taking in all the expensive lights and crystals in the garden. This party was damn expensive. Everyone present already knew that.
"It's a beautiful party, isn't it?" She asked. "My mother has been keeping a secret from you all but it's the reason behind this party. How may she afford it, you might ask. Well, I'm here to answer that. She won the lottery. She was lucky getting the big win a while back and she decided to throw this big party for all of you instead of keeping all the money to herself."
She raised her glass and looked over at Avis who looked shocked.
"To my selfless and magnanimous mother," she said. "Happy birthday."
Everyone shouted happy birthday and raised their glasses. Magnolia took a sip and walked down from the stage. On her way back to Drew, she placed the still full glass of champagne on a table.
"Shall we, tiger?" She asked.
"We shall, panther," he grinned.
She hooked her arm with his and they walked out of the garden while her mother was too busy with people swarming her and talking about her lottery win. Magnolia cast a glance over at Luka's soon to be ex wife Marvis who threw a thumbs up in her direction and grinned. Marvis knew what was up and she was on board. Once Marvis was free of Luka, Magnolia would make sure to call Marvis and continue the bond with her.
"That was fucking awesome!" Drew laughed once they were inside the car. "You finally stood up for yourself."
"About time," she said. "Enough is enough."
He leaned over in his seat and kissed her.
"I love you so much," he said. "Pick a restaurant. Take me anywhere. Order whatever you like. I wanna treat you to the best night tonight."
"I like that idea," she grinned.
She turned on the engine and the car slowly rolled forward.
"Mags!" They heard Luka's voice.
They turned in their seats to see Luka stomp towards the car.
"What do you wanna do?" Drew asked.
"I wanna eat Chinese," Magnolia answered.
She raised her middle finger. Her brother stopped in his tracks and looked shocked. The shock only lasted a second and then he started walking towards the car again. Magnolia stepped on the gas and drove away without looking back.
"My phone is in my purse," she said. "Mind blocking their numbers for me?"
"On it," he chuckled. "Chinese sounds great, by the way. Good food, great company, and a night to remember. I don't think I've ever been so turned on by seeing you angry like I was tonight. You're gonna cash in on that later."
"What are you planning?" She asked.
"You'll see," he smirked. "Feed me first and I'll cater to your every need and fantasy tonight."