CONVICTION (INTERFERENCE) (2 page)

“YES!” he said, as if I’d offended him.

“I didn’t mean anything by that.  It’s just…”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. My name’s…”

“No, don’t tell me.”

“Then I
wouldn’t
be a man of my word.”

“It doesn’t count if I
ask
you not to tell me.”

“I thought you wanted to know?”

“I do…tomorrow,” I said, blushing again, while trying my best to flirt with him.

“I wish I could, but I have to work tomorrow.”

“Oh, where do you work?”

“Blake’s Tires, across from St. Vincent school.”

“I go to St. Vincent!”

“I know. I’ve seen you…I um, I’ve watched you.”

“Watched me?”

“I’m not a stalker or anything. I just saw you one day…talking to some guy in a sports car, and you looked really angry with him. I almost walked over to get the guy to leave you alone, but just as I started across the street, you shook your head at him and walked away. He drove off, so I figured you were okay.”

“That was Parker,” I said, irritated simply by the thought of him.

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“No! He thinks he is, though.”

“Maybe you should set him straight.”

“Oh, if only I could. He’s a friend of the family…well, his parents’ are. Sometimes I think my parents only had me so that I could marry Parker Hayes and our families would be legally united. And what’s worse, Parker’s all for it. He actually talked to me about ‘
our’
wedding one night after he and his parents came to our house for dinner. Like, he has our lives planned out for us…
Til Death Do Us Part
kind of thing. What guy thinks that way?”

“I’m lost. Your only 17, and your parent’s want you to marry this guy?”

“Not now, but, yes, they want me to marry him, oh, and stay home and have lots of little Parker’s! UGH! Our parents have forced us together since I was born. Honestly, I think they engraved our wedding date on my “It’s a Girl” announcements when I was born.”

“Ouch. So um, I take it you don’t have...feelings for this guy?”

“Oh, I have feelings for him, alright. Nausea! He makes my skin crawl.”

He smiled again.
“Well, in his defense, I can’t blame him for wanting you. You’re beautiful.”

I blushed again and looked down at the table.

“Do you always blush when someone tells you that you’re beautiful?”

“No one tells me that.”

“Then you’re not listening, because you are, without a doubt, the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”

Once again
, I felt my face flush with heat and color.

“Have dinner with me Thursday night.”

I looked up at him and said, “I’d love…Oh, I can’t.”

He nodded. “Daddy wouldn’t approve?”

“What? No, that’s not it. My sister’s in the school play. She got one of the leads in Beauty and the Beast. She’s playing Belle, and I have to go.”

“Oh, sure, okay,” he shrugged.

I think he thought I was lying or that I really was worried that my father wouldn’t approve of him. He was probably right. My father was one of the worst when it came to pushing Parker at me. It was never going to happen. I thought about it for a minute and realized now was as good a time as any to not only convince my father…but both my parents, that I was I never going to be with Parker and that I wanted to date someone else. Specifically this gorgeous guy sitting across from me…whatever his name was.

“Um, why don’t you come with me?”

“What?”

“To the play.  Come with us…and um, we can have dinner after.”

“Are you trying to piss off your parent’s by inviting a bad boy to your sister’s play? Or maybe use me to get rid of Parker?” he said, looking…
I don’t know…hurt maybe, or angry
.

“No!  I want you to come. I’ve told them over and over again that I don’t want anything to do with Parker, but they don’t listen. But, I didn’t ask you to prove a point, I asked you because I wanted to.”

“Why?”

I looked down, not sure how to answer his question.

He lifted my chin and repeated, “Why?”

“Because…you’re all I’ve thought about for three days now.” I was shaking now, shocked by my admission.

He sat back and said, “I don’t want to get you into trouble. I’m not exactly from your side of town.”

“I don’t care where you’re from.”

“Your parents will.”

“They’ll have to get over it. I’m old enough to date…or um, go out with…whoever I want.”

He ran his hands through his hair and took a sip of his drink. “Rebecca, that all sounds great and everything, but, something tells me, they aren’t going to like me.”

“I like you.”

“You don’t know me.”

“Please come.”

“Why don’t we go out Friday night, instead?”

“So, you don’t want to meet my parent’s?” I asked with a raised brow, throwing it right back at him.
             

“They won’t want to meet me.”

“You don’t know them. They want me to be happy…even though they’ve been forcing the issue with Parker. But, my mom’s coming around. She’ll keep my dad in line.  I do need to know one thing, though,” I smiled.

“What’s that?”

“Your name. It’s going to be hard to introduce you as ‘the guy who forced his friend to return my daddy’s credit card,”’ I smiled.

It was his turn to be embarrassed. “How did you know?”

“I saw you get out of his car today. I recognized him as the guy that bumped into me and I kind of figured it out.”

“It wasn’t my idea. I don’t steal…not anymore.”

“I kind of figured that out, too. Why else would you bring it back to me?”

“Because I want to get to know you.”

“Good, then come to the play with me.”

He sighed and said, “Okay, but I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I’ll give you my address,” I smiled, thrilled that I had won the battle.

“Why don’t I meet you at the school? I um, I’ll already be at work anyway, and since it’s across the street…”

“Okay, sounds good.”

We talked for a while longer.  I was so enthralled with him that I lost track of time and realized I needed to get home.

“Do you want a ride home?” I asked, knowing his friend had dropped him off.

“No, I’m good.  I don’t live far. I can walk.”

“No, come on.  I’ll give you a ride.”

He stood up and said, “I’ll walk you to your car.”

I got out my keys, expecting him to go to the passenger side, but he followed me and opened my door for me.

“I’ll see you Wednesda
y at 6:00 sharp at the school. Call Blake’s Tires if you come to your senses and change your mind about me going.”

“I won’t. Now, get in.”

“I’m going to walk. I’ll see you Wednesday,” he said and he walked off without another word. I watched him walk away, wishing I could go with him. It was going to be another long two days.

Introductions?  But, I Don’t Know His Name!

“Okay, it’s time to face the music. Start with Mom…she’ll be easier,” I told the worried girl in the rearview mirror on my way home from the mall. As I looked into my own eyes, I knew it didn’t matter if my family or my best friend approved of him or not…I really liked…
oh, I still didn’t know his name
. I closed my eyes and wondered how I was going to get around that particular problem when I told my mom that he was coming to the play. I sighed and started my car.

My parents were out for the evening, so I didn’t get a chance to talk to my mother. I was still concerned about how I was going to get around the ‘name’ thing, so I wasn’t too upset that there would be a delay in that conversation.

“Okay, have fun. I’ll pick you up in 90 minutes,” I told my little sister when I dropped her off at the school for rehearsal that evening.

I found myself glancing over at the tire store across the street that I had never even paid attention to…before now. It was 7:00 and getting dark, and I saw someone turn off the lights and flip the sign in the window to ‘closed.’ It was
him
and I felt a chill run through me at the mere sight of him.  He locked the door and started walking down the street and before I knew what I was doing…before I could stop myself, I had pulled up alongside of him and opened the passenger window. “Hi, would you like a ride?” I asked.

“What are you doing here?” he grinned.

“I had to drop off my sister for rehearsal, and I saw you leaving. What are
you
doing here?  I thought you were off today?”

“I closed for one of the guys. His wife’s pregnant and she called and said it was time
to have the baby, so he had to leave. I was already there, so…”

“That was nice of you. Are you going to get in?” I smiled at him.

“I can walk, it’s not far.”

“Please. I have an hour and a half to kill before I have to pick up Sam. Are you going to make me sit in the car all by myself for an hour and a half?”

“I should get home,” he said, but I could see he was considering it.

I sighed, “Please? If you leave, then I’m going to be sitting in the car; a poor defenseless girl, all alone. You can protect me from all the evils in the world,” I smiled. I couldn’t believe I played the ‘defenseless maiden’ card, but it worked because he laughed and jumped in.

“But, who’s going to protect you from me?” he grinned as he turned to face me in the seat.

“I know you wouldn’t hurt me.”

“You’re awfully trusting. Maybe you do need protection. But, what makes you so sure that I’m not your greatest predator? I’m probably a foot taller than you and I’ll bet I outweigh you by at least 70 pounds.”

“If you were that kind of guy, you wouldn’t have bothered to return my father’s credit card. And, you could have accepted the ride earlier today, and like you said, you’re
a lot bigger than me. If you wanted to hurt me, you could, and I couldn’t stop you. But, you don’t scare me. I’m a good judge of character.”

“Hurting you is the last thing on my mind. But, you’re still too trusting for your own good.”

“I have a sixth sense about people.”

H
e smiled. 

“Don’t laugh, it’s true. You’re a good person, no matter what you think of yourself. Now, your friend however, I have serious doubts about him. I certainly wouldn’t be sitting alone in a car with him right now.”

“Good thing, because I hate violence, and I’d really hate to have to beat the hell out of him in a fit of jealous rage,” he smiled again.

“You wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

He thought about it for a minute and said, “If we’d met a couple years ago, I think your sixth sense would be flashing red.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’ve done some things I’m not proud of. And, you wouldn’t have liked me much when I was 15 or 16. But I haven’t been in any trouble now for over three years.”

“I like you now,” I said, and blushed again. I didn’t know what it was about him, but I found myself speaking my mind, and other than lying about my age, I felt like I could tell him anything, and it would be okay.

We talked until 8:20 and then he said goodnight and started to go back inside the tire store.

“Don’t you want a ride home?” I asked.

“Your sister will be out in a few minutes.  I think I’ll just stay here tonight.  I have to be back in the morning anyway.”

“But, I thought you worked tomorrow
night
?”

“I’m working a double.”

“Ambitious.”

“Yeah, well, college is expensive.”

“There are grants and stuff.  Scholarships,” I said.

“Yeah, but when you only have a GED, and not the best grades, scholarships are a little more difficult to get. I can get loans, but I’d kind of like to pay as I go.”

“Your parents can’t help?”

“Um, no, my dad lost his job. I’m on my own. I um, I help out with the bills at home, though, so it’s kind of hard to put any money toward college. I have some money saved.”

“I’m sorry about your dad. I hope he finds another job, soon.”

“Thanks, goodnight. Lock your doors, okay?”

“I will. Goodnight.”

I watched him walk away, more impressed with him than I was before. He was not only gorgeous and honest, but kind and caring, too. I started my car and headed across the street to the school, just in time for my sister to come bounding out of the building, all smiles and full of energy. “It’s going to be a long night!” I said to myself as she came running toward the car at top speed, I’m sure full of stories about how she ‘wowed’ everyone with her impeccable performance.