The alarm jolted her awake, cliché as it was. It was Saturday already.
Mason was playing noiselessly in his crib with a toy soldier.
She had resorted to moving him to her room, unhealthy as it was. He would develop even worse attachment issues, but he would be safe. Magdalene already lost her job the previous day after she left the bathtub running to answer an hour long phone call. For the third time. That girl's nose should have been glued to her phone. It would have made her life easier.
Lana sighed in relief that Mason hadn't been disturbed by the alarm. She didn't think she could handle it if he had an anxiety attack this early.. Work had been weighing down on her lately and she'd woken up all but relaxed.
She pushed away all thoughts of rest; Carrie had her big Divorce-aversary that noon and she did not respond well to tardiness.
"Good morning mama," Mason sounded quietly.
"Good morning baby," she picked him up. "How was your night?"
His eyes never once left the toy. "Okay," he finally responded, before going back into his shell.
That was a good morning indeed. Usually, Mason didn't talk for days. Him starting a conversation sparked hope in Lana. Maybe one day, he would let her into his head.
The telephone shrieked, reminding her to get busy.
"Miss Wendo, how may I help you?" Lana asked glancing at the grandfather clock in her room. It was eight AM.
"Get your ass up. Your chefs aren't here yet and I am not in the mood,"
Carrie.
"And good morning to you too, Miss Salman. I'm fine, thanks for asking,"
"Again, not in the mood. Can you get them here right now? Just.. Just get here yourself,"
The line went dead.
Well there goes my one hour of relaxation..
She picked up her baby and started preparing him. Looked like he was coming with her.
~~~
Carrie was screaming like a banshee when she drove into the parking spot. And she was headed straight for her, with the fury of an injured bull.
So the caterers weren't there yet.
It was eleven in the morning, they still had time.
"..SWEAR TO GOD LANA IF YOUR PEOPLE ARE NOT HUDDLED UP IN THAT BACK SEAT.." the words got lost somewhere as Carrie's brain processed the cuteness that was Mason, sitting there strapped to the backseat.
"Aaaaaaaaaw, baby," the door was all but yanked open and said baby carried away amidst coos and weird faces.
Lana knew keeping the baby would come in handy someday..
She hurried out of the car and called the head chef for the third time. She knew working the occasion was one spectacularly terrible idea, but large donations were slow and she needed a funding source for the high school kids she assisted.. She could at least keep them fed, and what better way than to organize for the food. That would keep her too busy to accidentally have a bottle of wine, or three. That was a habit that was hell to get managed, she did not need that kind of negativity in her life.
Or any other kind. That included but was not limited to men and the requirements that were attached to them, business scams, and distasteful music.
A truck honked behind her and she almost sank to the ground in relief. The caterers had arrived.
Within a few hours the party was in full swing. The acceleration rate of people's drunkenness was downright shocking. Lana was running around trying to keep a guy in a yellow thong from deep-frying a bar of soap together with the meatballs, but he was so insistent it was almost comical. Carrie had some taste in associates.
The cars were rolling in in droves, with no discrimination. Everybody was there, as long as you were in the guest list, and were liberal minded enough not to mind the scene. She had even seen an old man ride in on a bicycle and get the usual VIP treatment. He even got a valet, how cool was Carrie.
Lana decided, after yet another barely dressed couple of ran past her, that she was happy being the stern matron/ part time wallflower. That way, she could keep her reputation as a respectable charity event organizer and also keep darting into the left wing of the mansion to check on her sleeping son.
Speaking of, it had been ten minutes, she needed to check on him.
Carrie was still dancing on the ballroom-come-dancefloor, with twin well built "associates". She was still wearing her wedding ring, which meant the party was just starting. The fireworks would be at eight in the night, when she would symbolically trash the ring in a pre-positioned garbage bin.
Trust her to make everything gigantic.
As Lana walked to the children's room, she thought about her life so far. She was at a good place. Four years back she wouldn't have believed she would have accomplished all that she had. A stable job, a happy kid, a place to sleep, heck, even edible food. She felt that if her life was a novel, it would be a really good one.
She climbed the stairs slowly, smiling to herself.
The smile soon turned into deep, black horror as she met the scariest plot twist in her life.
The door she had bolted was lying broken on the floor.
Mason was gone.
********
Edit 2022, YEAH obviously that's what happens when you bring a baby to a party like that. Why you shocke? 17 year old me, where was this story headed? And can we reroute?
