A Scarlet Christmas Carol
Chapter 4
By Teala373
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Scarlet was completely stunned that the dejected, broken man before her was truly Flint. He had always been so strong, so confident. He had that quick wit, adventurous smile, and boyish charm that won him many friends, not to mention the heart of a beautiful lady. Flint had been like a brother to her. He and Lady Jaye always spent so much time with she and Duke. She couldn't believe that this man - this bright, intelligent, wonderful man - would end up living in some whole in the wall, drinking himself to death.
"This can't be right!" She turned to send a skeptical and angry eye towards Barbeque, "Even if the Flint I know allowed personal tragedy to bring about his downfall, his friends and family wouldn't have allowed him to do this to himself! Where are Duke and Roadblock and Dusty and Cover Girl! You don't honestly think that you can lead me to believe that because I went off to be a star is the soul reason Flint is sitting here drowning in a bottle of Jack!"
Barbeque sighed. "Flint did a very good job putting on a brave face. A female that was as close to him as you were would have spotted it. He finally picked up and took off, rolling with the wind. It's very hard for them to track him as he moves around from construction job to construction job. Perhaps if the person who had been like a sister to both him and Lady Jaye had been there for him..."
"How can this be all my fault?!" Scarlet screamed. She felt bad, downright terrible, for Flint, and it was this guilt, hanging around her neck like a noose, that was causing her defensive, angry response.
Barbeque, keen on where she was coming from, remained patient. "No one is blaming you, Scarlet. We just want you to see what has happened to your friends once you abandoned them..."
"Abandoned?!"
He cut her off, raising a hand to silence her. "Scarlet, you were very important to these people, to all of us. Did you honestly think that you could disappear from their lives and they wouldn't miss you, wouldn't need you? Did you honestly think that you didn't need them? Miss them? I'm trying to show you why you need to change and reacquaint yourself with your family! Not just your father and brothers, but the Joes, too!"
"Now wait a minute, I see my father and my brothers - I send them money and I give them tickets and..."
"Spending short clips of time and giving them material possessions in place of your time is not 'being with your family'. Nothing ever comes out of being alone. You need friends and family, whether you want to admit it or not. You can't keep running away from Lady Jaye's death or the guilt you feel about it. You need to get on with your life - and being a grumpy celebrity, as successful as it is, is not how to move forward."
Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "No offense, but being dead sure has given you some depth."
Barbeque laughed heartily. "That's just what LJ said!"
They both enjoyed a good chuckle over that till Barbeque announced that they had to move on to their next location. Giving one last long look at Flint, Scarlet sighed as they were once again whisked away.
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The sound of clinking silverware and endless chatter filled her ears as she waited for the whirlwind of colors to fade away. When her eyes readjusted, she realized that she was standing in the middle of a very nice restaurant.
"Wow! Where are we? This place looks fabulous!"
Barbeque shook his head. "It's a place you should recognize because you should have been here before."
Ignoring him, Scarlet continued walking around the restaurant. She noticed a familiar group of faces sitting in what appeared to be one of the best areas of the restaurant. A stunning Courtney Krieger, in full celebrity-supermodel attire was daintily nibbling on her Caesar salad while making small talk with Brad Armbruster, Ronald Rudat, and Etienne Lafiette. All of them looked well. Courtney was as beautiful as ever, Brad was not only more handsome, but he seemed to have an air of sophistication about him, Ron still had those boyish, charming Southern-boy looks, and Etienne looked fabulous in a smart, casual Armani look.
"I don't believe it!" Scarlet whispered as she smiled despite herself, "I can't even remember the last time I even saw Cover Girl, Ace, Dusty, and Gung-Ho!"
Barbeque sighed. "Well, if you didn't delete their e-mails, fail to return their phone calls, and pawn off their invitations to your brothers and co-workers..." He was soon met with a rather nasty look.
"Things change!" came her flippant remark as she prepared to leave. However, she stopped in mid stride as she began to overhear their conversation.
"This Scarlet Chicken dish is delicious! Roadblock made a good call naming it after one of our favorite gals!" Dusty's good natured humor hadn't dimmed one bit since last she'd seen him.
Courtney sighed. "Yeah... it's too bad she's never tried it herself.... I really miss her. We were all so close. Do you think she'll show tomorrow." She was met with silence as everyone suddenly took a rather large interest in their meals.
"I... don't know..." Ace dared to break the silence, "I think that maybe she's... ya know... carrying around pain and stuff since Jaye..."
Gung-Ho cleared his throat. "Yeah... uh... she really did change after that... I kinda got the distinct impression she really didn't want anything to do with us after all that."
"Well, she can't just write us off forever! We're... we're family damn it!" Courtney's outburst was firm, but still low as they were in a public place.
"What's with all the long faces?" The table looked up to see Marvin Hinton, who still went by Roadblock, setting another mouth-watering dish on the table.
"We... were talking about Scarlet... wondering if she'd show..."
The great man stiffened at the name of a woman that he had been incredibly close, considered family, like a sister. "If she does show, she better not cause any trouble. Oh, what am I saying, you know Sean or Michael are going to make an appearance in her place!"
"C'mon, RB, you can't be sore with her like that," Ace began.
"Yeah, well, wait till you trip on another piece of Duke's heart and have to pick it up. Maybe you won't be wanting to stick up for her then," he tried to compose himself as he lifted the wine bottle off the table and topped off their glasses, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some other customers I'd like to see to."
Scarlet remained silent throughout the entire exchange. She continued to remain silent when Barbeque began taking them to a new location - a tastefully decorated hotel room in beige and cerulean.
"It's nice, Barbeque, but unfortunately, you got the wrong room. As a matter of fact, I don't even think you have the right hotel."
The fireman laughed. "I'm not trying to take you home, Scarlet. This is your last stop on my shift."
Before Scarlet could respond, the man she had been so desperately trying to ignore walked in and sat down on the edge of he bed. His classically handsome face with fine, chiseled features were still alighted atop a beautifully crafted, well-sculpted build. His eyes were different, though. They weren't bright, lively, full of adventure, full of hope, of purpose, of honor, or everything that was ever right... They were somber... melancholy...
"Duke..." she breathed as tears slowly crept to the corners of her eyes.