Disclaimer: I don't own Zeke and Luther, and I have to say, it's one show I'm glad I don't own, 'cause the episodes keep getting better.
It had been a month since the break up and Ginger had been taking it better than anyone would have expected. Christmas was quickly approaching and Ginger couldn't be happier. She hadn't seen Zeke in over a month, but she was actually looking forward to seeing him again.
Every year, for the past six years, Garrett had come to the family Christmas dinner with her. He and Zeke would trade insults as she and Luther, who had started coming since his parents had gotten a divorce and one lived over seas while the other was in an undisclosed location, chatted about ideal issues.
This year, however, there would be no insults being shot back and forth across the table. Zeke would have no one to fight with, and there was a possibility that he would see how much she had changed over the years.
Even though Ginger had been dating the same person for almost a decade, she was surprised to find that, after the original shock, she had very little affection for the person who had broken her heart, and at the same time she also had very few feelings of grief over the loss of their relationship. She had cried for almost a week straight, but after spending almost every night comforted by Luther, either by phone or in person, Ginger realized that pretty much the entire relationship had been a farce, so much so that it was nearly comedic.
She had been so afraid of ending up alone after Hart had broken up with her, going as far as telling her she was a pathetic looser, too obsessed with her brother, and would die without even a friend in the world, that she quickly settled for the first person who had come into her path. She had stayed with Garrett so long that she tricked herself into believing that she really loved him and was even willing to give up some of her dreams to be with him.
Ginger had had time to think when Luther was busy and she couldn't get in contact with Poochi. Being without Garrett was a good thing, neigh, a great thing. She could now move on with her life. There were better people out there, and definetly someone better for her, and she was considering starting to look for him...if she hadn't already found him.
Only two more weeks until Christmas. Ginger still had to get presents for most her friends and this year, she decided, she would also get a present for Zeke. He probably wouldn't accept it but she had come to the conclusion that she would try and mend at least some of their broken relationship.
With in the next two weeks, Ginger was also planning to throw her annual Christmas party. She had discussed it with Poochie and was unsure for awhile if she would be up to it, but having activities to distract her from the recent events was helping her move on with her life more quickly than if she only sat around the house moping.
Of coarse, this years Christmas party would be a little different. She wouldn't have to incorporate the ideas of Garrett, but at the same she wouldn't have his help in planning the event. Garrett had helped with the cooking, the decorating, and the cleaning up afterwards, but Ginger was sure that she could handle that on her own.
When she really thought about it, the work load would actually be less then it had been the past years. Without Garrett, she wouldn't have to invite his family and friends, and they were the ones that always cause the messes and were so particular about the foods that were to be served. This Christmas was going to be great!
Just when Ginger was getting pumped and pulling out her netbook to start typing up a schedule and fresh, new ideas, her phone rang. To her surprise, a very unfamiliar number showed, but above was the most familiar name: Ezekiel Thatcher.
Ginger was shocked. She had gotten the number through Luther and had never expected to see the name on the screen of her phone.
She stared at the screen as it rang and, for some reason, that set her off. She buried her head in the back of the sofa as she burst into tear, ignoring her phone entirely.
Zeke flipped his phone shut sighing and pressing his lips together. "She didn't answer." He turned and said to the person sitting next to him.
"I hope she's okay." The red head said.
"I do to. It almost makes me want to go check on her...almost." Zeke said as he picked up a piece of pizza and stuck it in his mouth.
"Maybe we should go check on her." Luther knew that she had been doing fine and wasn't really worried, which helped him keep up the illusion that him and Ginger weren't close, but at the same time he wanted to help Ginger mend her relationship with her older brother.
"Nah. I'm sure she's okay." Zeke said around a mouthful of pepperoni and ham pizza.
"If you're sure she's okay, why'd you call her in the first place?" Luther said slurping on what was left of his cherry coke.
"I just want to know what happened between them."
"Why didn't you ask her, like, three weeks ago?" Luther asked counting on his fingers.
"You know what? Fine. I'll just call Stinky." Zeke said pulling out his phone.
"Wait! No! I-I don't think that's such a good idea." Luther protested trying to physically stop Zeke. It was too late, however, as Garrett always answered on the first ring.
"Hey, Stink. I heard you broke it off with Ginge." Zeke replied when Garrett answered his phone.
"Oh, is that so." Zeke said to what Luther assumed to be Garrett explaining his reason for dumping Ginger.
"Well, I'll see you at Ginge's Christmas party." With that, Zeke hung up.
"Wait. Garrett's not invited to Ginger's party." Luther said with a hint of anger towards both Zeke and Ginger's ex.
"Oh, he'll be there." Zeke said as if it wasn't a problem for Ginger for her ex-boyfriend to show up. "How do you know he's not invited anyway?"
"They just broke up! Of coarse he's not invited." Luther said almost yelling.
"Dude, Luth." Zeke said leaning back and regarding Luther like he was on fire.
"Sorry, bro. It just still hurts a little." What he was referring to wasn't what Zeke was thinking, but he had been purposely vague.
Zeke happened to glance at his cell phone as he was putting it away. "Oh!" He exclaimed. "I've gotta go. I have a date in thirty minutes."
"Good luck." Luther said waving as Zeke left.
Shortly after Zeke left Luther's house, Luther headed over to see Ginger. He knew that she would need help planning the party or at least someone to keep her from ripping her hair out.
It was three in the afternoon, so Luther was not sure if Ginger would be home or not. Most Saturday's she was away, but since it was nearing the holidays she was home more often.
Luther approached the red door that was adorned with a wreath that featured a white dove surrounded by brilliant red holly berries. Luther pressed the door bell, pushing his ear closer to the house to hear the familiar tone.
After standing at the door for several minutes, Luther decided to let himself in using the extra key that was under the welcome mat. It wasn't that Ginger ever needed to use the key, she was too organized for that, it was there for when she was away and didn't want Luther, Poochie, or Garrett prior to a month ago, waiting outside for her.
When Luther walked in, he immediately headed for the sitting room where he always waited when Ginger was away. To his surprise, upon entering the room, he found Ginger laying on the sofa, apparently asleep.
He walked up to the couch and sat near the middle of it where there was a small space to sit since Ginger was on her side with her midsection bent. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her. "Hey, Ginger?"
"Nng." She slowly opened her eyes pushing herself up to see Luther. "Oh right. Zeke called." She said noticing the cell phone still being held in her hand.
"Oh yeah. He was just going to ask about what happened between you and well..." Luther trailed off not wanting to upset her.
"It's okay." She said sitting up. "You can say it, but, really, that's all he wanted?" She asked a little hopeful that he actually wanted to talk about something more.
"That's all he said he wanted...and then he called Garrett who said he's coming to your party." Luther said cautiously.
"He said what?" Ginger shouted. "How could he even think to-errr!"
She was clearly angry and Ginger angry always scared Luther.
"C-calm down." He said pushing his hands in a downward motion. "I don't know exactly what he said. Z may have just misinterpreted him."
"Well if he so much as thinks of showing his rotten face up here then-" Ginger said cutting herself off for lack of words describing what she would do to him if she happened to see him especially in her house.
"I know. I'll be the first one to turn him black and blue if he shows his face here." Luther said proving his words by the anger in his voice.
"Haha. Thanks, Luther. I'm glad to have someone supporting me."
"Ah, you know I'm always there for you." Luther practically cut in.
"So what are you doing here?" Ginger asked curious and not accusatory.
"I thought I'd come help you plan for your party or something." Luther said smiling and turning to face Ginger fully.
"That'd be great." Ginger said leaning over and hugging Luther, who rather awkwardly hugged her back.
A week later all the invitations had been sent out, all the decorations on the outside of the house put up, most the indoor decorations were in place, and the list of foods scrutinized and ready to be shopped for. Only two days until her party, but she was prepared for it.
Ginger had been so busy she had completely forgotten about the events of last month. Both Poochie and Luther had been in and out the entire week helping her set up and just hanging out in general.
During all the hustle and bustle of trying to get ready for her party, Ginger had forgotten to do her Christmas shopping. It had been tradition, since she moved out at the age of 18, she and Poochie exchanged Christmas presents. The day after her and Luther would exchange presents in private so that word wouldn't get back to Zeke.
By this time, Ginger usually would have had all the presents bought for a month already, but this year Christmas presents had been the last thing on her mind, and so here she was, a week before Christmas, two days before her party, and three days before her and Luther's gift exchange, and she was giftless. The traffic would be awful and the stores would be crowded, but she couldn't leave her best friends empty handed.
Ginger headed off to the nearest mall. The mall would be the most crowded place to be before Christmas, but it was the only place that she could go to shop for people with such different interest in that short of time. Luther and Poochie were easy; just about anything she would get them, they would like.
Zeke on the other hand was a problem. The past four years she had bought him presents. He had only opened them since their parents were there. He had always tossed them to the side without really looking at them. This year, she was going to make sure she bought him something perfect, something he couldn't just throw to the side and ignore. Unfortunately, she had no idea what that would be.
As Ginger pulled into a parking space at the mall, she pulled a small, black notebook out of her purse. She flipped about three pages in to look at a list that was in six parts. Above each part was the name of one of Ginger's friends or family members. The list were of possible presents for each person. One present of each list was circled except under Zeke's name. All there was under Zeke's name was blank blue lines.
Ginger sighed poking the blank space with the tip of ball point pen. She closed her eyes and turned the page to see who was on the back side. Only five names were on the front, but she remembered she had written another person, she just couldn't recall who. As the page landed, front side down, it revealed the name she had been dreading. 'Garrett' written with tiny hearts surrounding it. Under the name was written 'Super bowl tickets'. Garrett was a known football fan and loved events with huge crowds. It was the perfect present for him, and she was so sure that that would be where he would propose. That would be exactly like something he would do.
Seeing the name again filled Ginger with anger. She dramatically ripped the page out of the notebook and tore it to pieces as tears started streaming down her cheeks. "Th-that total Jerk!" She screamed harshly pushing the door of her slick black miada open and almost hitting the SUV parked next to her. She slammed the door closed and glared at it only moments later realizing she just tore up the list of potential presents she had spent months coming up with and had not looked at since late November. Now she would have find gifts without preparation... and she had just locked her keys in the car.
She leaned back against the car, closing her eyes and running her fingers back through her hair. Luckily, she always kept her cell phone on her, in this case, her coat pocket. She pulled out a dark red cell phone and dialed speed dial number 3, the second most called person on her list recently: Poochie McGruder.
Poochie showed up thirty minutes later. She didn't have an extra key to Ginger's car, but she could bring her her checkbook and give her a ride home until she could get another key.
"Thanks for coming all the way out here, Pooch." Ginger said as the two young women made there way into the mall. Poochie had moved three counties over and now lived on average forty five minutes away so the two girls couldn't hang out that often.
"It's no problem, Ginge. I just wish we could have done this earlier. It's been awhile." Poochie said. She had changed from her shoulder length brown hair and big round glasses to slightly longer then ear length brown hair with blond highlights and contacts.
"It's tough when we're both so busy, but you are coming to my Christmas party, right?" Ginger asked a little worried. Poochie was often busy even around the holidays. It hadn't as of yet gotten in the way of their Christmas plans, but Ginger was sure that one day it would, and this year would be the worst possible timing.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Poochie said reassuringly. She knew that it would be difficult to take days off. However, she still understood that Ginger would really need someone to lean on this year and there was no way that she would trade a friend for a job, especially a life long friend.
"So, what are you doing out here in this crowd?" Poochie asked knowing Ginger had general distaste for large groups of people.
"I didn't get my Christmas shopping done as early as I usually do since I've been so busy and all." Ginger said turning into one of the department stores. "And I...uh, lost my list, so I'm not really sure what to buy for anyone."
"Who do you need to shop for?"
"Well," Ginger said about to tick everyone off on her fingers. "There's you, Zeke, my parents, Luther..."
"I can't believe you still buy him presents." Poochie said looking almost disgusted.
"Who? Luther?" Ginger asked scrunching her eyebrows together.
"No. Zeke. He never likes what you get him and he never gets you anything."
"That's not the point, Pooch. He's my brother, and this year I'm hoping to get him the perfect gift so that he'll finally forgive me." Ginger said hopeful.
Poochie gave her a 'you really think that's going to work' kind of look.
"What? It could happen." Ginger said stopping at the men's clothing section in one of the big brand retail stores.
"So what are you going to get Luther this year?" Poochie questioned more just trying to make conversation then really interested.
"I don't know." Ginger replied truthfully. "I kind of wanted to get him something special since he's done so much for me recently." Luther really had been there for her. She knew that if Poochie had been close enough to, she would have been at her house every night also, but it was more unexpected with Luther. Yes, he was a great friend, but until then she hadn't realized how much he really did care and how much he was willing to do. She only wished she had seen this when they were younger and before she had entirely broken her relationship with Zeke.
"What would he like?" Poochie asked trying to help Ginger out since it seemed the other woman was having a tough time coming up with an idea for what the perfect present could possibly be.
"He's usually fine with whatever I get him." Ginger said, "And he's pretty much interested in everything, so I kind of wanted to get him something personalized."
At the same time Ginger and Poochie glanced over at the clothing rack that happened to be standing next to.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Ginger asked with a relatively devious smile.
"Perfect." Poochie answered catching Ginger's meaning almost as immediately as Ginger had come up with the idea.
After several hours of shopping, and Ginger managing to find both her parents presents and even sneak one for Poochie, the girls left the mall only 28 minutes before closing. Poochie dropped Ginger off at her house offering to stay the night, however Ginger refused. She knew that Poochie had work early in the morning and after keeping her out most the night she didn't want to have to make her get up thirty minutes earlier than normal.
Once inside, Ginger crashed on her couch. She would deal with her car being stranded at the mall later. It had been a long day, her party was the day after tomorrow, and she had just spent $200 plus on her brother's best friend. Not that he wasn't really one of her best friend's as well, but she usually only spent around $50 on each individual, except, of course, her ex-boyfriend.
It was almost midnight when Ginger finally fell asleep. She had been laying on her couch for nearly two hours when the flashing of the television, set to a channel playing reruns of old soaps, brought her into a deep sleep.
There Ginger was, inside of her beautifully decorated house -full of white flowers tied with pink ribbons, the walls covered in lace and tiny golden bells, and at the center of her dinning room table stood a three tier white cake that, likewise, had pink fondant ribbons tied around each layer- standing in a long, flowing white gown. Her hair was tied back and a mesh piece of white cloth was hanging daintily from the tight bun. The hall was filled with her family; her mom, her dad, her brother, even her aunt Janet and all of her children. All of them were finely clothed in suits and beautiful dress. Beside Ginger stood Poochie wearing a light pink silk dress that was reminiscent of a princess gown. Ginger held in her hands a bouquet of daisies enhanced by small pink roses that had yet to bloom. This was her wedding and, in her mind, it was the picture of perfection, just like everything else she did. There was nothing that could go wrong, and there was nothing that would go wrong; she had already made sure of that.
Slowly, and to her horror, a man dressed in a brilliant, black tuxedo, came into focus. He had his long, shaggy, black hair slicked back behind his ears. His face was rather mousy and tan, his eyes, a dreamy blue. Nothing seemed wrong with him, until the words fell out of his mouth, "Babe, you just ain't doing it any more. 't's nothing personal, we're just through."
Ginger's jaw dropped as the beautiful bouquet went tumbling to the floor. "W-wait! Garrett!" She said reaching out an arm to try and grasp the fleeting form of her apparently ex-fiancé.
"Face it. It's over." Garrett said as he faded away.
Ginger dropped to her knees dumbstruck. Faintly echoing in her ears, she heard the preacher silencing the crowed gathered in her hall. "Order, order." He shouted over and over until everyone was seated and quiet. "Now." He proceeded. "Is there anyone in the court who would like to take the departed gentlemen's place?"
The priest looked around to see if anyone would come forward. Ginger could not comprehend what was taking place. She had just been left at the alter by her long term boyfriend and here the priest was asking for a replacement.
"I'll do it." She heard a voice boom from somewhere above her, which brought her attention to the fact that she was still sitting on the ground with her mouth agape. She slowly looked up to see who it was who had the audacity to believe that he could just waltz in and marry her without her consent. Slowly, she looked up to see long legs, covered in black tuxedo pants, further up she saw pale hands. She was almost held in a trance by the figure when suddenly she was snapped back to 'reality' by the priest once again banging his gavel. Apparently, the murmur that had begun emitting from the crowd when the man stood up to take Garrett's place and come to a point the priest thought it was too loud.
Ginger listened quietly as the priest hollering became louder and louder and the 'order, order' began to sound like 'Ginger, Ginger.' The banging rose to a point that it was almost unbearable, and when it got to a point she didn't think she could stand it any longer suddenly...
Her eyes snapped open. The gentle tune of her bell was playing quietly underneath the loud knocking and yelling coming from her door. Ginger was almost in a panic. "It was just a dream." She quietly whispered to herself as she shuffled over to the door.
Opening it, she realized two things: One, she had slept through the night on her couch since the sun was blaringly bright out side at the moment, and two, she had slept through almost ten minutes of Luther ringing her door bell, shouting her name, and pounding on the door.
"Why didn't you just use the key?" Ginger asked still shocked from her dream and groggy from waking up so suddenly.
"It wasn't there." Luther said, the relief obvious in his face and voice, lifting up the rug to prove that he was telling the truth.
A momentary wave of confusion swept over Ginger before it hit her. She had used the key to get in last night and in her haste to find rest, she had forgotten to place it back under the mat.
"Oh, sorry. I locked my keys in the car yesterday and, well, it's kind of a long story." Ginger mumbled after staring into space long enough to look like something was bothering her.
"Ginger, are you okay?" Luther said placing his hand on her left arm.
"I'm fine." She said absent mindedly. "I...just had a really weird dream."
"Oh." From Ginger's face Luther could tell that prying into the subject wouldn't be the best of ideas. "So can I come in?" Luther asked when Ginger seemed like she would be content leaning against the door frame staring off into space the rest of the day.
"Right. Yeah." Ginger said jumping out of the way. "Come on in."
"I, uh, thought I could help you with the cooking." Luther said unsure now and confused about Ginger's dazed state.
"That's tomorrow, isn't it?" She asked in a way that made it sound more like a statement than a question.
"Yeah, it is." Luther sort of whispered.
"That'd be great. Thanks." Ginger said leading Luther into the kitchen. Out of a draw, she pulled several sheets of paper and spread them over her counter. "These are all the recipes. Most of them are simple, but if one seems too hard for you to handle then don't try it, because I don't have enough ingredients for screw ups." She said a little more harshly than she meant it to be, but at the same time she could barely comprehend what she was saying.
"No prob." Luther replied unperturbed. "I happen to be a great cook." He said truthfully. It was just one of his many facets that he had discovered over the years. He pulled a light pink apron with flowers on and set to making the red velvet cake.
Ginger had started making the eggnog, after finishing the fudge and putting the sugar cookies in the oven, when she was suddenly overcome with vertigo. She heavily sat down in a chair and leaned her head on the kitchen table, closing her eyes. Luther was standing at the stove stirring the custard when he heard Ginger groan.
Turning the eye as low as it would go and placing a lid over the pot so it wouldn't over heat, Luther went over to where Ginger was sitting and pulled a chair up next to her.
"Is everything okay?" He asked leaning down to try and face her.
"I have a headache." She mumbled into her arm.
"Do you want me to get you a Tylenol or something?" Luther said leaning in.
Ginger merely nodded. When Luther returned after a few minutes of searching, she gladly swallowed the two tiny pills and stood up to get back to work.
"Nah-uh." Luther said gently pushing her back down into the chair. "I'll take care of the rest of it, so don't worry about it, okay?"
"Okay." She said looking up at Luther's smiling face and she discovered that that made her headache lessen by a significant degree. Immediately, Ginger's dream flashed back into her mind; the image of the tall, pale man who had offered to take Garrett's place predominating.
Ginger's mouth fell agape as she realized who the man was. "Luther..." She whispered.
Luther turned around giving her a questioning look.
"O-oh. I-I..." Ginger stumbled. "I was...not talking about you." She trailed off looking down at her feet.
"You said my name." Luther said confused, scrunching his eyebrows together.
"I-I dreamed about you." Ginger said quietly, unwilling to really tell the truth, but at the same time she was bothered by the dream and wanted to talk to someone about it.
"You did?" Luther asked almost too eagerly but attempted to cover it up. "I mean...what about?" He failed.
After what seemed like an eternity of silence Ginger quietly answered, "Mine and Garrett's wedding."
Luther didn't speak for an almost equally long time. "What happened?"
"He left me at the alter." Ginger said now opening up a little bit more.
"I-I'm sorry." Luther said unable to come up with a real response. Trying to change the subject a little bit, but at the same time curious about the role he played in the dream, he asked; "What was I doing?...in the dream I mean."
"You-" Ginger said forgetting for a moment and cutting herself off just as she remembered. She was silent for a long time, long enough that Luther was sure that she wasn't going to answer him. Just when he turned around to get back to what he was making, she answered.
"You said you would marry me..." Ginger said her voice barely audible.
Luther could feel his heart start to pound inside his chest as butterflies threatened to burst open his stomach. Ginger looked up almost hopefully at Luther's back. Her mind was racing, but there was only one thought that she held onto and it was questioning why she cared so much what his response would be. She had to admit, when she and Luther had first started hanging out, she had a crush on him, but as her relationship with Garrett started to get serious and the chance of marrying him became more likely, she thought her crush had vanished. Now, it seemed to be threatening to come back.
Both Ginger and Luther quickly snapped out of their thoughts as the smoke detector began to blare. Just when Luther jerked his head up, what was in the pot on the stove burst into flames almost burning him.
"Luther!" Ginger screamed grabbing a bag of flour off the table and running to throw it on the flame.
Luther stepped back stunned as the flame began to diminish, being smothered under the flour.
"Sorry." Luther muttered once he realized what was going on. The kitchen was now covered in flour, the eggs that were boiling in the pot were now close to ash, and the smoke detector was still blaringly loud.
Ginger sighed leaning against the counter. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have distracted you like that." She said slumping a little.
"No. I should have been paying more attention." Luther said moving next to her.
"It was both our faults." She closed her eyes and leaned against him. "Let's just forget the eggs and go with what we have finished. No one will miss them."
"Is there anything else you need me to do?" Luther asked slowly leaning back against the counter so that he wouldn't knock Ginger down.
"You can turn the smoke alarm off."
Luther moved out of his spot on the counter and reached his arms up, his height giving him advantage, to press the tiny button that turned the alarm off. "Anything else?" He asked smiling.
Ginger shook her head. "I just want to..." She stalled for a moment. "To not think. I bought this movie yesterday. You want to watch it with me?"
"If you want me to." Luther said placing a hand on Ginger's back and guiding her to the den where she had a big screen high definition television and amazing surround sound system.
A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to be updated. I just got around to editing it. Tell me what you think.