I Remember The Day She Told Me It's Over

I sighed heavily, my fingertips digging into the skin covering my hip bones as I stood there, no doubt looking like a pissed off model that I am.

What the hell was I supposed to do now?

I continued to stare into my walk in closet hoping that anything at all halloween related would waltz it's way into the middle and spin like a fashion model and making the come hither nod. But...that wasn't happening.

In a way, that was alright with me. I'd rather go to Zack's party as is and have an excuse to leave early. But on the other hand I knew he, nor anyone else there would let me live it down.

"I should've went shopping," I muttered to myself before turning around and heading towards my bed, taking a seat on the end near the edge and staring again at my damned closet. My eyes caught a picture of my niece and nephew sitting on stand against the wall and I smiled. They were why I hadn't went shopping. Much more important to me than any party. Their choice to stay out later than normal was something I couldn't say no to, especially since it was helping Trish and Craig out as well.

After I'd dropped the kids off and traded Trish's car back for my lambo I'd come straight home, and now I was dealing with my idioticy for basically telling Zack that I'd come to his halloween party.

Stuck, I kicked off my shoes and climbed into the middle of my king sized bed. Resting my head on one of the many pillows as I flipped open my cell phone and began dialing Kendra's number. Maybe she would like to come out and play.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kendra, it's Bai - "

I was almost able to finish my sentence before she cut me off. "Oh my god Bailey, I was just gonna call you. You cannot believe the shit that's going down here!"

Being the playboy bunny of the year, still didn't give me to much insider info, and I was always eager to hear the latest. I'd heard that she left Hef, and was actually about to get married to a pro-football player. I'd met him once or twice on our outings and I'd liked him. He was good for her. It was also nice to hear that she and Hef were still on good terms. In fact, the wedding was at the mansion and Hugh himself would be walking her down the isle.

"What's up?" I asked curiously.

"Okay," she sighed then giggled lightly. "So, Holly has always been Hugh's number one. But she's feeling the tick of her internal clock more and more every day and Hef won't give her a family..." Kendra added the dramatic pause before continuing. "So she's left Hugh too!"

This shocked me. Of all the girls. Holly was the one who was really in love. But, I also found myself sympathising with her. I'd feel so lost in that situation as well.

"Andddddddd," Kendra dragged the word on, "I dont' think Bridget will be there much longer either. Especially since Hef has those bimbo twins hanging around."

I'd heard about them as well. And from what I'd read, true information or not, I didn't have any will to meet them.

"Oh man. The house is really undergoing a shake down hey?"

"It is." Kendra stated with a sigh. "Anyway, sorry about that," she laughed softly, "I needed someone to tell, and I haven't talked to you in a while. So what have you been up to? We need to hang out."

I laughed and stretched out on my bed. "Actually, I was curious as to what you were doing tonight?" I asked with a hopeful tone.

"Ummm, we were just going to go out to a club. But do you have something better in mind?"

I quickly explained my situation and was nothing less than elated when she expressed her excitement.

"I have one small problem though," I admitted. Actually, it was a huge problem.

"You don't have a costume do you?" she asked with a laugh.

She knew me too well.

"Don't worry. Hurry over and we'll find something. Then we'll go crash this party."

"Thank you so much," I smiled my biggest smile even though she couldn't see it.

"Don't worry, now hurry the hell up woman."

***

"Vengeance, is this seriously the best shit you got?" Rev asked, disappointment evident in his voice as he rummaged through my candy bowls on the kitchen table.

"It's all I've got left," I admitted with a sigh. I was a little preoccupied to be thinking about candy, I was busy watching out the front windows, waiting for just one more vehicle.

"Babe, is there something wrong?" Meg's hand found it's way onto the small of my back and I glanced down at her with a smile. She was dressed up as Sally from the Nightmare before Christmas, and Rev was playing the part of Jack, the pumpkin king. I had to admit, they both pulled it off well.

"I'm fine." I lied. "I'm just waiting for Bailey."

"You invited her?" She asked me, raising her eyebrow in curiosity.

I couldn't tell if it was irritation crawling across her face now, or utter astonishment. Then she surprised even me. "Well that's good," she said finally. "You two need to figure things out."

Now it was my turn to eye her funny but she simply smiled, removed her hand, and wandered over to her boyfriend.

"Okay everybody, Tequila shots!" Matt yelled loudly, carrying a tray of shots in his hand, holding it above his head.

I turned to watch everyone migrate towards my kitchen while Ichabod happily played with Brian and Ashleigh's small white dog near his doggy bed. In my state of concentration, I really hadn't realised just how many people were in my house, let alone knew exactly who they all were. Friends of friends mostly. I guess that's the way things go.

When the doorbell rang, I couldn't keep my heart from thudding suddenly against my ribcage. I pushed past a few people for the door and swung it open with such force the handle crashed against the wall. I cringed, and she cringed.

"Jesus, I didn't think you'd be that pissed off to see me."

My mind suddenly flew from zero to ten on the 'fuck me' scale. And not the good kinda 'fuck me' either.

Terra shifted her weight slightly as she stood before me dressed up in an incredibly sexy ladybug costume. Behind her I'm sure stood the whole fucking playbaoy calender. Each of them wearing less than the one before.

"What are you doing here?" I muttered just loud enough for her to hear.

"We were invited." She replied with such lack of emotion I was tempted to believe her.

"I sure as hell didn't invite you."

"No," she shook her head in agreement, "but one of your buddies did. I just brought some friends."

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," someone muttered from behind me. I turned to see a guy I'd never met before in my life. But he looked content with a beer bottle in each hand.

"Baker, how much are they setting you back?"

I looked at him before looking back at the girls, each of them smiling their celebrity smiles.

"He didn't hire us sweetie, we're all friends," Terra replied.

"Baker. You're friends with playmates...and you neglected to let anyone else know."

I was tempted to ask him who the hell he was but was too shocked to say much of anything when the girls began filing into the house one after another, the mystery man taking Terra by the arm and beginning to show her around my place like he and I were best buddies. Little did he know she'd already been here.

I closed the door again, waiting till it clicked shut before returning to my guests. Now I hoped Bailey didn't show up.

***

"Kendra, are you serious? How the hell did you manage this?" I stared around in utter astonishment at the different costumes spread out amongst her room.

"You serious Bail? I called my old fashion coordinator right after I hung up with you. She hooked me up."

"You ain't kiddin. I wandered towards the closest costume. If you could call it that. The bikini sized coverings weren't making me feel any more comfortable about the situation.

"I am going to be a gangster," she pointed to her costume laid out on her pillows. "So feel free to pick what you'd like."

I was stuck. Halloween was not my thing. I mean, I loved the holiday, but I'd never been one to dress up. In the end Kendra picked for me. I stared down at the black costume on the counter of her bathroom. I was going to be a Jane Doe.

Through clenched teeth I pulled on the revealing outfit and met Kendra downstairs where we gained approval from her fiance and his football buddies before heading off to Zack's. Once we were actually outside his house, I actually felt a little more calm when I could see a few random ghosts and gouls standing on the front step smoking. Everyone else was dressed up. In my fragile state, I'd actually began to consider if Zack's invite might have been a set up. Like from a movie, where the poor girl shows up, the only one dressed up ridiculously and everyone laughs at her.

"Bailey, tonight, before the holiday is over would be nice."

I hadn't even realised Kendra was waiting for me. I crawled outta her vehicle and we began up the walkway to the front steps. As we got closer I recognized Syn right away dressed up as a shirtless fireman. He may be Zack's friend...but damn. My breath caught in my chest as I began up the steps behind Kendra. She eyed him curiously too.

"Bailey Jenson. You finally decided to show up?" he asked casually, flicking the red tip of his cirgarette into the empty beer can resting on the railing.

"I figured I better." I replied honestly.

He nodded, then finally smiled. "Well you better get in there. He's wearing a path into the carpet in the living room pacing back and forth waiting for you to show up."

I tried to keep the pink from invading my cheeks and my heartbeat at a regular pace. It should have been easy, but I could only take so many bodily hints at the fact that I wasn't really mad at him anymore and I actually wanted to see him.

"Come on."

I followed Kendra into the house and no one seemed to notice which was totally fine with me. The music was loud. Most lights were off. Jack-O-Lanterns were scattered all over the living room, lighting it in an eerie glow.

"I'm going to go mingle." Kendra smiled at me as she adjusted her fedora. I nodded. I was only looking for one person anyway.

"Bailey?"

I turned at the sound of my name, slightly disappointed that it wasn't Zack's voice beckoning me towards him. But who the voice belonged to, shocked me even more.

"Kate?" I blinked in confusion, my legs carrying me towards her automatically and before I knew it she was enveloping me in a hug.

"I haven't seen you in like, a year!" she squealed in delight as she squeezed tighter. When she released me I took a step back and took her in. She was dressed as an officer. She looked good.

"I know. I haven't seen you since testing at the mansion." I smiled. "How've you been? Where do you live now?"

"I've been great, and I'm In LA now," her accent still as beautiful as ever as she smiled widely. "I always told you I'd do it."

I nodded. When I met her at the playboy mansion we were both testing for the magazine. We'd had to room together and bonded instantly. Being from Australia, and a long way from home, she was eager to find solace in one person. "Well we need to get together then." I wrapped my gloved arms over my waist and smiled at her. "How did you end up here?"

"Oh," she turned and looked about the living room. "I came with a friend, who was invited by a friend. I think her name was Terra."

At that moment my happiness skidded to a sudden halt. My heart slamming against my chest threatening to break my ribcage. She would have enough balls to show up here. Unless Zacky had actually invited her, which was entirely possible I guess.

"Bailey?" My head snapped up at the sound of Zack's voice. He was standing near the entrance to the kitchen. Still looking like a sexy vampire. His piercing eyes locking on mine immediately. "Can we talk?"

I already knew about what.

"Yeah." I nodded before looking to Kate who was looking a little lost. "I'm gonna go chat with Zack...and then I'll fill you in on everything."

She was satisfied with that. "Alright," she nodded. "I'll grab you a drink and we'll sit and catch up."

I left her to grab us drinks as I moved towards Zack. "My room." he muttered softly before turning me around and directing me back through the people and down the hall towards his bedroom. I walked willingly, one of his hands against the small of my back as we moved quickly. He basically shoved me into his room then closed the door behind us.

"First off, I want you to understand that I did NOT invite her here." He stood up straight and tall. "I don't know who did invite her, but when I find out, rest assured I will kill them."

I frowned. "I don't care if she's here Zack." It was a lie. But it wasn't worth getting upset over. I believed him.

"You..." he faltered for a moment. "You don't care?"

I shook my head, and I heard him sigh heavily in relief.

"I was afraid you'd turn around and leave before I got to talk to you." He took a step towards me, grabbing onto my hands, holding them out to my sides and taking me in before locking his eyes with mine again. "I dig the costume. We could go together you know. Vampire kills sexy girl and she ends up a Jane Doe in the morgue."

"Not very romantic." I muttered.

"No. But...maybe she's not quite dead." He took another step towards me, closing the distance between us.

I wanted to step back but I couldn't. My feet wouldn't co-operate. And with him this close, my brain wasn't co-operating either.

"Zack." was all I could muster before his fingertips caressed my cheek.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you."

I closed my eyes. I didn't want this. No, wait. That's a complete lie. I wanted this. Suddenly not quite feeling myself, I leaned in, pressing my lips to his in a soft kiss that shocked us both.