Holiday Heat

By Jack Fisher

Emily Masters hates Christmas. She has hated it ever since the fateful Christmas Eve where her best friend, Jennifer Graves, stole the love of her life, Sean Sanders. And it only seems to get worse every year. She has failed in love, school, and work while Jennifer and Sean are now engaged to be married. In a desperate effort to reconcile, Jennifer and Sean attempt to help heal Emily’s wounded Christmas spirit. And in the process, things get very emotional and very heated.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Oct 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329590304

Book preview

2015

Chapter One

Kiss my ass, Santa Claus! I’ll have a Merry Christmas on my own terms! said the slurred voice of a very drunk Emily Masters.

Her less-than-festive spirit shattered the peace and quiet of her parents’ suburban home, which was just outside of Denver, Colorado. It was two in the morning, a light snow had descended over the area, and she apparently got herself kicked out of another bar. With Christmas only two days away, this was hardly a fitting way celebrate the holidays. But for Emily, it might as well have been a family tradition. If it were, then she was the only one in her family that appreciated it.

For Christ’s sake, Emily! Do I have to drag you by your hair? groaned Emily’s frustrated mother as they stumbled through the front door.

Don’t you dare, mom! I’m a…I’m a sexy blond who likes to keep her sexy blond hair extra…extra sexy, said Emily, stammering through her slurs.

And here I was thinking you would wait until after Christmas before breaking your promise to stay sober, her mother said as she struggled to keep her daughter upright while she closed the door behind them.

Hey! I…I never promised that.

Then I guess you were drunk then too! I swear you’re actually trying to ruin the holidays for everyone around you. I convinced your father to let you stay here so we could help you have a less miserable Christmas. And you reward us by stealing your brother’s motorcycle so you can go out and get drunk?

Eh, he’ll get over it, scoffed Emily, I left it parked at the corner of…someplace.

Emily barely acknowledged her mother’s disappointment. She was too focused on wallowing in her intoxicated state. She really pushed herself this time. She could barely stand, her makeup was smeared, her long blond hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in days, and her breath reeked of alcohol and a few other scents that defied description.

Alison Masters could only handle so much at this hour and Emily had a knack for testing her patience during this time of year. She resisted the urge to smack some sense into her daughter, but she probably wouldn’t remember it anyways so she saved herself the frustration. Instead, she removed her heavy coat and helped Emily remove hers. This proved to be more challenging than she thought because by removing it, she discovered that Emily was wearing her more provocative attire tonight.

In addition to the skin-tight black pants that Alison thought were too low cut, her daughter wore a tight fitting red shirt with V-cut down the center so that it prominently displayed her breasts. Alison could only imagine the kind of unsavory characters she had attracted. Had she not been so focused on self-destruction, she might have actually left with one of them.

Her mother attempted to purge those thoughts from her mind as she led Emily upstairs to her bedroom. She looked like she was on the verge of passing out so she might as well do so in the less degrading ambience of her old bedroom. It was too merciful after all the headaches she had given this family over the past few years.

You’re lucky he and his wife don’t get in until tomorrow, groaned Alison as they sauntered up the stars together, I swear if I could get him and your little brother here a few days earlier, we would stage an intervention.

Didn’t you try that last year? mumbled Emily.

I’m surprised you remember. Do you also remember us telling you how much we loved you and how much we hated seeing you self-destruct?

It’s not my fault. Blame Teddy…or David…or everyone else from college that was supposed to love me.

You’re still blaming those boys for your problems? said Alison.

Why not? They turned out to be assholes! Everyone I tried to reach out to…either broke my heart or pissed me off!

That’s not an excuse to go from an honor student to a girl who lost her scholarship and got put on academic probation.

That’s not my fault either! How was I supposed to know that schools in California have such a fucked up grading scale?

Enough with the excuses already, Emily! her mother exclaimed as they reached the top of the stairs, I’m sick of you blaming your problems on everyone but yourself! You were the one that decided to date boys that you knew weren’t right for you. You were the one that decided to leave all your friends behind and go to college in another time zone. And every year the consequences of your actions seem to converge around the same time of year!

And you wonder why I hate holidays? muttered Emily.

Alison Masters shook her head in defeat. There was no reasoning with Emily. Whether she was drunk or sober, she seemed intent on more self-destruction. And for reasons that she didn’t fully understand, she was extra ambitious around the holidays.

Since reasoning with her daughter was a lost cause, the frustrated mother focused on getting her to her room before she woke up her father. He actually had to be at work early in the morning and he didn’t need to deal with Emily right now, especially when they were trying to have their first successful Christmas gathering in years. Getting into the holiday spirit hadn’t always been such a daunting challenge. There was a time when Emily and her two brothers, Gary and Dylan, loved Christmas as much as any child. Then Emily had to go through this horrible phase at the end of high school, which in turn led to a nasty cycle of self-destruction throughout college. And so far, she hadn’t recovered. In fact, she wasn’t even trying anymore.

Emily continued to stumble as they made their way to her room. At times, her mother had to catch her to stop her from falling flat on her face. Eventually, they made it to her room at the far end of the hallway. Her mother didn’t bother turning on the lights or trying to get her out of her clothes. She practically carried her the rest of the way to her bed and let her fall unceremoniously atop the sheets.

I really wish I could yell at you more, Emily, sighed the frustrated older woman, I’m tempted to wake up your father so he could help me list the ways you’ve upset your family. But since I doubt you’ll even remember this conversation, I’ll just warn you that we’re running out of patience. This Christmas is your last chance to get your act together. And if there’s any trace left of the beautiful, cheerful young woman that used to call this room hers, you won’t squander it.

Hnn…cheerful my ass, was all Emily replied with.

Alison Masters let out another frustrated sigh, choosing not to get her hopes up. Her daughter was intent on making herself extra miserable for the holidays. Her family could only hope for the best, but expect the worst. She left Emily to sleep off her drunken stupor, dreading how this Christmas was going to play out. If there was any hope of salvaging the holidays for her and their family, she had to figure out a way to get Emily out of this self-destructive cycle.

But after her mother left, the cycle continued for Emily. In her intoxicated state, she rolled onto her back and looked around the room that once belonged to a very different Emily Masters. It hadn’t changed much since she was in high school. It still looked like the room of a pretty blond cheerleader who loved fashion, drawing, dancing, and skiing. The walls still had posters depicting ski slopes, fashion models, and various pieces of artwork she did as a teenager. In addition, there were still rows of pictures mounted in between the posters, showing her growing up into the beautiful young woman that left so many boys smitten and so many girls envious. These images all reflected a woman who didn’t know how much pain and heartache she would endure in the coming years.

One picture in particular captured her former innocence and it happened to be the one that sat on her nightstand next to her bed. It had been taken during her sophomore year of high school, a time when she had so many reasons to smile. And in the picture, two of those reasons were standing right beside her. One was a tall, athletic boy with perfectly combed chestnut brown hair. The other was another beautiful girl with shoulder-length auburn hair wearing the same cheerleader uniform that she was wearing. They all stood together, her arms around each of them and full of affection. She held the boy a little closer, reminding Emily of the emotions she once had for him. Seeing him, even in his developing teenage form, was enough to make her remember how much those emotions hurt.

Oh Sean…why did you do it? Why did you make me love you so damn much? Emily mused, And you Jennifer…how could you let him? If you two were just going to hook up, you should’ve saved yourselves the trouble and ripped my heart out from the get go.

She tried to be angry. She tried to hate the boy