The Icing on the Cake
"You'll never believe what I found out today at work," Ray came in through the front door and into the family filled living room.
"What? That Cheetos are orange?" Frank said lounging in the leather recliner.
"No Dad," Ray said after starring at his father for a few moments, "This is serious-"
"Ray I thought you were going to fix this garbage disposal," Debra said as she entered the living room from the kitchen.
"Him?" Frank pointed to Raymond, "He couldn't even fix his G.I Joe doll when the leg popped out of place when he was a kid. What makes you think he can fix things now?"
"You played with dolls?" Debra asked, side tracked from the garbage disposal problem.
"Oh no honey," Maire just happened to over hear the conversation as she came down the steps, "Robert was the one who played with dolls."
"No wonder he turned out the way he did," Frank muttered.
"Hey," Robert sat up quickly, "I resent that!"
"Debra," Marie put her hand on Debra's shoulder, "I finished organizing the drawers in the twins' room. I just don't know how you managed to find anything in that mess."
"Thanks Marie," Debra bit her tongue and smiled.
"Excuse me!" Ray said, "Hello, can we get off the doll subject? Mandy Jones is in town."
"Mandy Jones?" Fear flooded over Robert's face as he jumped up quickly from the couch, "What's she doing here?"
"Well uh apparently….she's a sports writer to and she's in town to cover the Knick's game tomorrow night," Ray explained.
"So?" Debra didn't see what the big deal was.
"I tell you, she was nothing but a whore who tried to corrupt my little boys," Marie said, "Come on Frank. Let's go."
"Why?" Frank slowly got up from the recliner, "You cooking for me tonight Marie?"
"No…." Marie said as they left, "Debra is."
"Ray, honey?" Debra walked over to Ray, "You okay? You seem a little….uneasy."
"Geeze, who wouldn't be? Mandy Jones…." Robert stopped as his thoughts drifted to another place.
Ray seemed uneasy and jumpy for the remainder of the afternoon and evening.
"Ray. I don't see what the big deal is but…" Debra said climbing into bed, "If it makes you feel better, I'll get a sitter and I'll go with you to the game tomorrow night."
"Oh honey," Ray looked over, "Ya-you don't have to do that. I'll be fine."
"Well, okay then," Debra kissed him on the cheek and turned over to go to sleep.
"But if you insist," Ray said as he scooted down and situated himself under the covers.
The next night, Ray and Debra dropped the kids off at Marie's and went onto the game. As they approached their seats, he saw her from a distance and his stomach knotted up. There she sat. Mandy Jones. He hadn't seen her since high school and yet nothing about her had changed. Her hair was still long and honey colored.
"Raymond," She stood when she saw them, "It's been so long since I last saw you!" She then forced a hug onto him.
"Uh yeah," Ray just stood with his arms slightly extended, "Long time no see."
"You look good," She said after pulling away from him.
"Okay, thanks," Ray didn't want to say the same on the count of Debra being right there, "This is my lovely wife, Debra." Ray emphasized the words lovely and wife.
"Hi," Debra stepped in front of Ray and shook hands with Mandy, "Nice to meet you."
"Hello," She smiled a fake smile.
During the game, while Ray paid attention to every play, Mandy's attention was half and half. She and Debra were getting along fine – cracking each other up and telling stories. Mandy was just using Debra to get to Ray, and Debra was eating right out of Mandy's hand, falling for every bit of it.
"Well, she's really nice," Debra said on the way back home after the game.
"Yeah," Ray glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes then back at the road, "Nice."
Within the next few days, things seemed to be getting back to normal.
"Honey!" Ray shouted as he walked through the front door after work, "I'm ho-," To his surprised he found Mandy sitting on the couch, "ome." He finished the rest of his sentence.
"Hello Raymond," Mandy uncrossed her long slender legs and slowly got up from the couch.
"Wait, what are you doing here?" He asked in shock and panic.
"Oh," Mandy suavely walked over to him, "Aren't you glad to see me again?" She batted her eye lashes at Ray.
"Oh, hi Ray," Debra walked in from the kitchen wiping her hands on a dish cloth, "Dinner's almost ready."
"What? You invited her to dinner?" Ray rushed over to Debra's side.
"Ray, don't be rude," Debra scolded her husband.
"Ya know," Mandy over heard, "Maybe I should just go. This might not have been such a good idea."
"Oh no," Debra said, "Stay. It's fine. Right Ray?"
Ray let his guard down after a moment, "Yeah, Please, please stay."
During dinner when Debra wasn't paying attention, Mandy would smile and wink at Raymond and under the table she would try and rub her leg against his. He kept cool all through dinner. He knew it would soon be over.
"Debra, you're such a good cook," Mandy complimented as Debra collected their dinner plates.
"Oh," Debra smiled and blushed, "Thank you."
While Debra's back was turned, Mandy reached across the table and gently ran her fingertip against Ray's hand causing him to jerk it away from her.
"Marie made a chocolate cake for desert. I'll just run over and get it. You two just chat and catch up." Debra said, shutting the back door behind her.
Ray felt a streak of panic run through him. Since Debra was gone, it gave Mandy the perfect opportunity to come onto him, which he knew that was something she was capable of. She was responsible for ruining his first relationship. After school one day, he was sitting on the bleachers waiting for his girlfriend. Mandy was upset at the fact that Raymond didn't break up with his girlfriend to date her, so she got revenge. She pinned Ray down on the bleachers and kissed him. Ray's girlfriend walked in at the wrong time and was heart broken. Of course things looked wrong from her point of view, but in all reality, the whole thing was completely innocent on Ray's part. She never talked to him again after that. And he was afraid the same thing or something similar would happen with Debra.
"So," She folded her fingers together, "How's married life?"
"It's great," Ray said, "It's more than great."
"You never think about me?" She got up from the chair and ran her French manicured, white tipped fingernails through her long silky hair.
"Not really," Ray didn't hesitate.
"Oh," She put one hand on his shoulder, "I think you do." She circled around him like a hawk.
"Hey Marie," Debra let herself in the back door into the kitchen.
"Oh God," She rushed over to Debra with her hand on her chest, "You left him alone? With her?!"
"Well yeah," Debra said, "I just came to get the –"
"You get back over there!" Robert over heard and rushed in.
"You guys are being ridiculous," Debra picked up the cake, "She's a very nice person. So what if she use to have a little puppy love crush on Ray in high school?"
"They didn't call her Candy Mandy back then for nothin'," Robert commented.
"Candy, Mandy?" Debra squinted her eyes in confusion.
Marie moved closer and whispered in Debra's ear the reason why they called her Candy Mandy. It involved sexual activity with lolly pops.
"What?" Debra gasped, "That dirty tramp."
She rushed back over to the house with the cake in her hands. So many things ran through her head. She didn't know whether to rip Candy Mandy's hair out or to kick her own self for the letting Mandy so close to her and to Ray for that matter and for believing Mandy's fake personality. Debra burst through the kitchen door and sat the cake down on the counter.
"Now you listen to me," Ray said from the living room.
Debra rushed to the doorway to see what was going on. She saw Raymond standing across from Mandy with his finger pointed at her.
"I might not say it or, or show it that often, but I love my wife." Raymond said.
Debra's heart melted and she stopped in her tracks. A sweet side of Ray that she had been longing to see for so long was finally breaking through.
"Sure, you're attractive," Ray continued, "but when I look at you, that's all that I see. But when I look at Debra….beauty isn't all that I see. I see my past, my future. And every time I look at her, I'm reminded of happy times and good memories, and I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have her. Now maybe you and I might have had a chance a long time ago. But you ruined my first real relationship, and I'm not going to let you do that to my marriage. There's nothing you or any other woman in the world could do or say to break me away from my family."
Mandy was in shock and at loss for words. No man had ever told her no before.
"So, just get your coat and get out, "Ray demanded.
Mandy shut her slightly opened mouth and quietly put her coat on. Debra blinked back a few tears, her presence still unknown.
"And," Ray added, "They'll be no chocolate cake for you!"
Mandy quietly and sheepishly opened the front door in order to leave, but Debra caught her before she shut the door behind her.
"Wait," Debra walked across the living room with the chocolate cake in her hand, "I cannot begin to tell you how angry I am right now."
"Uh, oh," Raymond muttered.
"I," Debra continued, "I just cannot believe that I let you so close to me or my husband or our whole family for that matter."
Marie overheard as she walked up the sidewalk. She wanted to lend Debra her special cake cutting knife. She felt it was the only way to cut the cake neatly.
"And since you're so talented with candy," Debra continued, balancing the chocolate cake in one hand, "See what you can do with this!!!" Debra heaved the cake at Mandy's face.
As the cake flew towards Mandy's face, Mandy turned, causing the cake to only hit the side of her face. But the rest, which was most of the cake, smashed into Marie's face, who at that point was standing behind Mandy.
"Uhhh oh," Raymond said, after seeing the cake squish onto his mother's face.
Debra covered her mouth with both of her hands. The victory of having the cake hit Mandy in the face wasn't so fulfilling. Marie wiped the cake icing from her eyes.
"It's okay honey," Marie saw that Debra didn't mean to hit her on purpose. She wiped most of the rest of the cake off her face, getting as much on her hands as she could, then she casually spread the chocolate cake mess off of her hands and onto Mandy's face, "I believe this belongs to you." Marie smiled an evil smile.
Mandy was disgusted and she left without saying a word and with a chocolate cake facial. Needless to say she didn't bother to show her face around there again.