47. Alyssa

"You look amazing, stop fidgeting."

"Who's fidgeting?" I was more nervous about how the night was going to end than anything else. I'd seen enough in the last few days to know that Natalie was not sane. Not that she's certifiable, but she seems to have an aversion to reality.

From what I've seen, she'd only attack the baby if he's in the direct line of fire, and since he should be in bed by the time the night ends, he should be safe. Still, I'd made sure that Sabi spoke to the nanny and warned her to be on alert.

Kevin, the husband and father, wasn't going to be back for another few days, and from what the nanny said, he had no idea about his wife's darker side. She's hit the nanny in the past and destroyed a whole room in a temper.

Some of the shit the young woman said was enough to get Natalie arrested, but as if being a piece of shit isn't enough, she mistreats her staff and holds threats of deportation over their heads if they retaliate.

This behavior seems to have escalated since Garrett and I got married. Here's the thing, ever since I learned the truth about what Helen used to do to Mitzie, I've been even more watchful because you can miss a lot when you have tunnel vision.

I was in my own little world, beefing with this woman because of the things she said about me, with no idea that she had any of this in her. I guess I didn't expect that Garrett would be associated with someone like her, but according to him, though he knew she had a mean girl streak, he never expected it to extend to her own child.

As much as he's disgusted with her behavior, I think he's even more glad that he dodged a bullet. He hasn't said much, but I can see each time she's mentioned how his face tightens up, and he gets that look in his eye.

Now we're getting ready at his place to attend the dinner party his parents are throwing in our honor. The guest list had been chosen by Garrett at my behest, because I wanted all the people she had blackened my name to in attendance, plus any stragglers who still believed they had a shot with my husband.

I plan to take all these bitches down in one fell swoop so I can go on with my life. These damn prep school Barbies ain't ever dealt with a southern belle who knows how to cut with the tongue while smiling in your face; bless their hearts.

The pleated floral print chiffon gown was elegant and ladylike but showed off my shape to perfection. It's not something I would've chosen, but he had and told me to trust him, which I do. He'd even chosen my jewelry, which was a robin's egg-sized cocktail ring and matching earrings from his great-grandmother's collection, with my slimmest evening watch on my wrist and, of course, my wedding ring.

Since none of these people had ever met me before, I was expecting lots of questions, and because neither of these rings were hard to miss, I was sure they would be great conversation pieces. Just a hint of his favorite scent behind my ears and knees, and I was ready to go.

I'd left my hair straight and pulled back behind my ears, and I knew I looked amazing, even with understated makeup and just a touch of gloss on my lips. The fact that Garrett was giving me the horny toad salute was all the validation I needed that I had hit the mark. I was going for the envy factor.

I wanted them to see me and drool with indignation that a bitch like me had snuck in and stolen one of their most eligible bachelors. In all honesty, I didn't realize that women like this actually existed in real life. Not until I listened to the shit Natalie spewed to Sabrina and anyone who would listen every chance she got.

She's so convinced that I am beneath her, and from her rants, I get the idea that she thinks I'm some backwoods country hick she planned to show up tonight so her friends could see just how much I didn't belong.

"You look like you're going into battle."

"Oh, but I am. It's the war of the bitches, and I aim to win." I patted his cheek when he started to look worried. "Don't fret; I have excellent table manners."

Of course, we were one of the last couples to arrive, so all eyes were on us when we walked through the door. We were just in time for the cocktail hour, which I knew was the time most of the questions would start flowing.

My mother-in-law was the first to greet us, and it was obvious that she was pleased to see us. She stole me away to introduce me to her and her husband's friends while my husband played catch-up with some of his.

Natalie wasn't here as yet, but I wasn't expecting her to be. I knew she wanted to make an entrance, but I had plans for her. You see, I'd combed through the guestlist and grilled Garrett on who was who, so I knew my target audience and how to get them hooked before she showed her face.

"Oh, Mrs. Samuels, I heard so much about you."

"You have? I didn't know Garrett spoke of me so often." I waved my hand dismissively.

"Oh, forget him; we're part of the same society; your name is legend."

"You're a PBK?"

"Yes, I am, Wellesley College, class of twenty-two." As expected, that started a whole conversation, and other women were brought in to add their memories. I knew some of them would throw in some questions or mention something they thought I couldn't possibly know, but within ten minutes, I had them eating out of my hand.

"Oh, Garrett, she's a delight. You must bring her to…" Fill in the blanks; I heard it repeated time and time again. I knew the second Natalie entered the room but didn't bother turning around to look; I knew it was just what she wanted.

I didn't rush over to Garrett's side either, though he made a beeline for mine, and we just continued talking since we were the guests of honor. That was the first volley.

The second came right behind it when my new father-in-law got everyone's attention and introduced us to the room, making sure to call me his new daughter, which I didn't even have to coach him to do.

"Introduce me."

"Behave!"

"Okay, then I will."

"Come along, you terror of a woman." I hid my laughter behind my champagne flute as we started walking. "On second thought, she should come to me."

I switched gears and headed over to Sabrina, who was talking to a somewhat younger crowd. There were easily about fifty people here, most of them Garrett's friends and acquaintances that he'd known since childhood. The rest were mostly business associates of his and his Dad's.

I spent about five minutes talking to the younger ones, who were all fascinated by my accent for some reason; then they moved on to how Garrett and I met; they all wanted to know if the interview was accurate, to which I assured them that it was.

Now, when I'm ignoring someone, I am genuinely ignoring them. I don't keep tabs on where they are or who they are talking to. I find that when I do that, the other party goes out of their way to make themselves seen and Natalie was no different. Only, she wasn't very good at hiding her pique.

She finally made her way over to where I was standing and I didn't acknowledge her as I was in the middle of answering a question from one of the other women. "Oh, Alyssa, this is Natalie." I turned to look at her at Sabrina's introduction with a pleasant smile on my face.

"Oh, hi, are you thee Natalie?" She got flustered way too easily.

"Um, thee Natalie?"

"Yes, Garrett's ex? Where is your husband? Is he not with you tonight?" I looked behind her as if expecting him.

"No, he's not, he's away on business."

"Aw, that's too bad, I was looking forward to meeting him. Garrett speaks very highly of the two of you and your son. You have a little boy, don't you? He must be adorable because you're absolutely gorgeous."

I could feel the looks being passed between the other women, and just then, Garrett arrived by my side, putting the icing on the cake when he wrapped his arm around me. "I see you've met Natalie."

"Yes, you told me she was gorgeous, but you didn't tell me she was movie star gorgeous." I playfully smacked his chest, then went back to talking to the other women, dragging him into the conversation along with me. See here bitch, you are not the main character!

I knew she'd tried convincing these people that I was a hick who had no social graces and wouldn't fit in with them. Now, when they think of this night, they'd remember how wrong she was, and if they had any shame, they'd call her out on her shit.

I knocked down every last one of her stereotypes without trying. And when they all learned where I went to school and my degrees, they were even more impressed. The way some of them were looking back and forth at each other, I half expected one of them to call her out right then and there.

By the time we sat down to dinner, she was fuming. I don't know who she knocked off to take their seat, but she was seated right across from Garrett and me. Now, usually, they separate couples at these things, but since we were the honorees, it was changed up a little bit.

I was engaging, I was charming, I was beautiful. I didn't engage with her any more or any less than I did with everyone else just so she'd know that she was no different from everyone else here as far as I was concerned.

If anything, she should've been mad at Garrett because he was very attentive to yours truly. Not that he isn't always, but I can imagine what it looked like to her. He kept his hand on my thigh beneath the table, but it was easy to tell from the angle.

When he wasn't talking to the guest on his other side, he was leaning into my ear. He was being naughty, telling me what he planned to do to me later, and I was trying hard not to laugh out loud.

"You two are so adorable. I'm just so delighted to see my son this happy. Thank you, Alyssa, I never thought he'd settle down and make me a grandma, now I have hope." I love this fucking woman.

"It might be sooner than you think, Mom, right, Lyssa."

"Behave!" I elbowed him in the side and blushed into my salad. Meanwhile, Miss Thing had made her way through a bottle and a half of wine before the second course got started.

Me, I was just feeling myself. Gigi might have been nuts, but my grandmas and aunties all picked up the slack. I could dine with the queen… No, not that adulterous slag; she wouldn't even make it past my backdoor. Anyway, you catch my drift.

I could feel her shooting daggers at me from across the table, and when it looked like she was about to fall over, I let someone else ask if she was okay. I don't know her, so why would I bother? It must be burning her ass that Garrett didn't even look in her direction, but I'm sure in her warped mind, it was all my fault.

Things went much better than I expected, and at one point, over the souffle, I looked her dead in the eye and smirked. That's when she knew that I knew and had beaten her at her own game.

At the end of the night, she left in a huff while Garrett and I were still saying our goodbyes. I guess the fact that he didn't even take a minute to give her a special goodbye was the last straw for her, and she peeled out of the driveway in her bitch mobile.

I hadn't planned to do it since I figured the kid would be in bed by now and should be safe, but on the drive back in the back of the car while Garrett was on the phone with someone or the other, I got my phone out and pulled up the feed from her nanny cam.

Everything seemed fine and I breathed easy, knowing that I hadn't pushed her too far. She was stomping through her house on a tear, which was to be expected, and I even had a good chuckle when she took a bottle of scotch to the head.

Garrett was still preoccupied with his phone call, and I was enjoying the late-night entertainment when things took a turn. "No-no-no-no-no." I started to get Garrett's attention but, in my panic leaned forward and told the driver to change course and gave him her address.

My heart was racing, and I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. By the time he got off the phone, he noticed that we were going in the wrong direction. "Why are we going this way?"

"It's bad, we've got trouble."

"Why? What happened?" Poor man, he looked confused. I didn't have time to speak as we pulled into her driveway. I jumped out of the car before it came to a stop and ran to the door, pounding and ringing the doorbell at the same time.

I could hear the kid screaming bloody murder from inside, and when she opened the door. I slapped the shit out of her shocked face. She wasn't in shock for long, and she came at me. I didn't slap her this time but a straight arm to the face, breaking her fucking nose.

Each time she came at me, I just punched her again because I was pissed; I kept seeing what she had done repeating through my head, and it just made me meaner. When her face was covered in blood, and I knew she'd had enough, I walked past her into her house.

"Alyssa, what the hell is going on?"

Garrett stood in the doorway where Natalie was now screeching and ordering him to have me arrested.

He was pissed at me, and rightfully so, until I turned with the kid that I had taken from the nanny, and he saw his face where she had scratched him. That's what I had seen on the screen. I guess the noise she was making woke the kid, and this crazy bitch snatched him out of his crib, shook him, then slapped him across the face before throwing him to the floor.

I know the nanny came out of her room at some point, but I was too panicked to watch by then. I didn't have to say anything to Garrett for him to get the picture and then that cold anger he was famous for was turned on his ex.

"Natalie, what the fuck did you do?" Later for that shit. I walked out the door with the kid in my arms, and Garrett had to stop her from coming after me. I beckoned for the babysitter, who looked terrified and confused, to follow me and took them both to the car.

"Garrett, let's go." Natalie was still screeching and making threats, and I don't know what he said to get her to shut up, but she threw herself to the ground and had a tantrum. I should have beat that bitch's head in.