Face the Music (4 page)

Jake was a good guy.  A bit of a player, but his heart was in the right place.  We went out a few times at the start of the season, but
it was never anything serious.  Our friendship was strong, though, and I trusted him and enjoyed his company.

O
ne night last week
we ended up in his hotel room.  He’d rented a movie, and I was actually
quite interested to watch it, but t
he bottle of wine we shared over
pizza
had gone straight to my head.
 
Things had almost gone too far.  Lucky for me, Emily called.  She needed me to stop by the store and pick up some chi
ldren’s Tylenol on my way home because
Molly
was running
a fever.  Needless to say, I wasted no time in gathering my things and heading out.

I couldn’t see us ever getting serious about each other. 
But then again,
I couldn’t see Jak
e
getting serious about anyone. 
I was really glad that I hadn’t made the mistake of becoming another notch on his bedpost.  Since
then
I
had been trying to keep
things casual between us.  I didn’t want to jeopardize
our friendship
by
making
it something more than it really was.

Yet
,
despite my best efforts to keep it cool
, his intentions were all too clear
.
  His hands were inching down my back.  I was uncomfortable and
about to tell him to
stop
when Sam walked in.  Chr
is was three steps behind him.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to inter
rupt,” Sam said, grinning when he saw us.
 
“
I forgot my keys.”

I wriggled free of Jake’s grip.  “You didn’t interrupt anything.”

Sam looked back and forth between the two of us.  “Uh-huh, sure.”  He pulled a chair back and got on his han
ds and knees to search under a table
.

“
I’m busy
tonight,”
I said to Jake. 
“I’m at the university ‘til five, and th
en I’ll watch Molly while Emily’s at
work.  You can come over and
hang out with us if you want. 
We’ll probably have hot dogs and watch
Cin
derella
.”
  Hopefully the idea of spending the evening with a four-year-old would
put a kink into whatever romantic schemes he had going.

I watched Sam rummage around the floor.  Chris leaned an elbow against the wall, the threads of his
T-
shirt straining against his thick bicep.  I couldn’t tell if he was listening to me and Jake or not.

“Got it,” Sam said, holding up a silver keychain.  “See ya, Jake.  Miss Bank
s.”  He waved over his shoulder
.

Jake was still looking at me.  “You have such a crazy schedule,” he said.  “I can’t ever keep up.  Rain check on the hot dogs though, okay?  I think I’ll call a few of the guys and see if they want to hit the clubs tonight.”

I lifted my shoulders in a half-shrug and tried to lo
ok disappointed.  “Your loss.”
 
I was actually glad he was going out.  With any luc
k
he would find someone willing to fulfill his carnal needs
and
take that attention away from me
.  “Well, I need to get going, so if I don’t see you later, have fun tonight!”

He was quiet as
I gathered up
my things.  The way he looked at me made me uneasy.  His eyes were glued to my face, but he was miles away. 

“Everything okay, Jake?”

His brows inched towards his hairline as he came back
down
to Earth.  “Yeah.  Why?”

***

Thursday afternoon Chris showed up durin
g the last few minutes of class and
hung out in my doorway.  I didn’t understand why- he knew I didn’t release the kids until twelve. 
H
e left
again
with Sam,
except
this time he didn’t even acknowledge me.

A sting of disappointment reached my cheeks.  Sure, he was on his way to a life of fame and fortune, and I was only the hired help, but that didn’t mean he
couldn’t at least say hello. 
And what was up with him hanging around Sam, anyway?  He had ten years on the kid.

I sighed, resigned. 
A
t least I hadn’t been laughed at again.

I was glad when he didn’t show up on Friday. 

After the kids left for lunch, I filled my arms with books and fold
ers, preparing
to head home.  Clutching everything with one hand while using the other to dig in my pocket for keys, I lost my battle with gravity and dropped everything.

“Damm
it!”  Papers scattered across the white tile of the hallway.

I heard a laugh and looked up to see Chris heading in my direction.  “Looks like you could use a book bag.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” I muttered to myself.  My last one had fallen apart in the washing machine.  I hadn’t had a chance to replace it.

If he heard the comment, he showed no indication. 
Surprising me, h
e knelt down and
gathered some of
my papers.  “I hope these weren’t in any kind of order.”

I looked at them hopelessly.  “Well they sure aren’t anymore.”

He reached
past me and picked up
two books, giving me a whiff of his cologne.  It was musky, smelling of sandalwood and amber, and I inhaled deeply as he studied the cover of a tattered copy of Persuasion. 

“Jane Austen fan?”

“Yeah, she’s my favorite
.”  I took another deep
breath, enjoying the effect his smell had on my olfactory nerves
.

“My sister is a big fan of hers, too.”  He stared at the other heavy, hardbound book and slowly read the title, “Recombinant DNA Technology- Bioinformatics and Applications.”  The corners of his lips folded down.  “You read this for pleasure?”

I wrinkled my nose.  “
That
one’s not such a page turner.  It’s for a class.”  I
described my university life- I
worked at the school Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and took a graduate class every Wednesday night until ten.

“Wow, you’ve got a lot going on.” 

“I stay busy,” I agreed as he handed me the last of the papers.  “Thank you.”

He smiled, stood, a
nd dusted off his pants.  “Okay
.  Looks like you’re good to…”  His voice trailed off when our eyes met.  He dropped his gaze and cleared his thr
oat.  “Well, I’ll see you later.
”

He took a few steps backwards then turned
on his heel
and walked off.

Chris Knots
, I thought to myself, keenly aware of the considerable attraction I felt towards him. 
Nothing but trouble, an unnecessary complication
.  I already had a hard enough time staying f
ocused on what really mattered;
I certainly didn’
t need him getting in the way.

Chapter 3

February thirteenth
was Emily’s twenty-first birthday. 
It fell on a Saturday, and she
took the night off from her waitr
essing job so we could go out and
celebrate.  Mrs. Johnson, a widow who lived across the hall, absolutely adored Molly and volunteere
d to take her for the night.

Emily wanted to go to Maury’s. 
It was an upscale Chicago club- complete with a
thick
,
green velvet rope and a
massive
doorman blocking the entrance.
  The only
people
he
allowed
through
were dressed like celebrities.  I didn’t think my
ten
dollar clearance-rack heels
from Target
would quite make the cut.

“What
makes you think we’ll get in?”

Emily
gave me a reassuring pat.  “Don’t worry, I know a guy.”

I could feel my eyes begin to narrow.  “A guy?”

“Yes, Allie.  A guy.  You know, someone of the male species?  You should try it sometime.  Don’t give me that look!” she said when I wrinkled my nose.  “I waited on him yesterday at lunch.  We got to talking, and he asked if I’d ever been to the club.  He’s working the front door tonight and said he could get us in.”

“Really?  But what if-
.”

“Would you stop worrying?  Everything will be fine, trust me!”

I wasn’t so sure.

“You remind me of Mom,” she continued.  “She was always so uptight about everything.  Loosen up and live a litt
le, let’s have some fun tonight!
”

Emily must have seen me flinch.  It had been almost three years since Mom’s accident, and while I did my best to cope, her death had left an empt
iness that couldn’t be filled.

She linked her fingers between mine.
“Sorry.  I miss her
too.  I was just trying to say-
” 

“
No,
i
t’s
okay,
” I said, squeezing her hand.  “Y
ou’re right; I promise to try and have a good time tonight.”

She planted a kiss on my hand and then
trotted right up to the doorman. 
Flashing him
a bright smile,
she
tos
sed her hair over her shoulder
and batted her eyelashes.  It never ceased to amaze
me that we were sisters.  W
e were so opposite. 

“John, hi!  Remember me?” she said, brushing a polished fingernail down his forearm.  “You said you could get us in tonight, so here we are!”

“Emily!” he
said, pulling her into a tight hug. 
He wasn’t discrete about sliding his hand down over her backside.  Emily sure knew how to pick winners.