Unexpected Love (Jo's Story) (44 page)

“Actually he gave it to me and told me not to let her look at any prices.”  Molly laughs.

“Well, I know this place not far from here.  I get a lot of my dresses from there for big occasions.  They are really good and will take in anything that you need right there in the shop.  They get a lot of business from the ladies of the team.”

“Ok, sounds good,” I smile and take a drink of my wine.  I set my glass down on the table and hear my phone ping for a text.  I pull it out of my pocket and see it is from Jake.  I open the message and see him, Mark, and a couple other guys that I recognize but don’t think I know them.  I laugh and show Lisa.

“Well I think we should send one back,” she smiles and asks the waiter to take a picture of us.  “Don’t forget your wine ladies,” she says as she holds up her glass and we all follow.  He takes the picture and gives the phone back to me.

“Very nice,” I smile and show Annie and Molly.  I send it to Jake.

We are having fun to
o


We are getting our plates when my phone pings again.

You girls better behav
e
Dinner is on me…Tell Molly or I will!  I am going to text her and make sure that you told her I was paying!  Love you

I shake my head.  “What?”  Lisa looks at me.

“Jake is buying dinner,” I look at Molly. 

She just laughs, “He is whipped!”

“Yeah, I would say so,” Lisa smiles.

“No, he does it because he knows I don’t like it when he does that kind of stuff.”

“He isn’t going to stop Jo, get used to it.”  Molly looks at me.  I shake my head and text him back.

You know I hate when you do this to me.  I am a big girl I can pay for my own dinner!

I know, but you know how much I like spoiling you!

You are so frustrating!

Ilove you to
o


I roll my eyes and put my phone back in my pocket.  I finish my dinner and wine and Molly pays the bill using Jake’s card.  We walk to the place that Lisa was talking about because it is literally across the street from the restaurant.  “What color are you looking for?”  Lisa asks me.

“Not sure, I haven’t really thought about it.  What does everyone wear?”

“Well, I usually go with fall like colors, since it is almost fall.  I have seen girls go with a lot of blues and purple also.”

“What color is your dress?”

“This year I went with a plum color.  Strapless with some bead work in the bust.”

“Long?”

“Yes, I always do long.  I'm not a fan of short dresses.”

“You should try an orange,” Annie starts looking at some dresses.  “I think you would look good in like a darker orange.”

“I think she is right,” Molly starts looking too.  I look over and see a lady standing behind the desk on the phone and she smiles at me.  “Here, look at this one.  I like the cut on this one.  It will make your boobs look big,” she laughs.

“I don’t think she wants that, it’s bad enough being in front of all the press as it is, and something like that will probably give them the wrong idea,” Lisa laughs.

“Yeah, I guess,” Molly puts it back.  I look through a rack next to the door and find one that I like.  It is a dark orange with a black lace over it.  Makes it look darker and not too flashy which is what I am aiming for.  Annie hands me one that is a strapless with a dark orange also.

“Hello ladies,” the girl from behind the counter comes over to us.  “What are you looking for tonight?”

“Hey Regina,” Lisa comes around from behind a rack down from me.

“Lisa, hi,” she smiles and hugs Lisa.

“This is Jo, Jo this is Regina, she owns the shop.  She is Jake’s new girlfriend,” Lisa smiles.

“Oh, well someone finally snatched up that handsome guy?”

“Guilty,” I laugh.

“Well it’s about time.  So let me guess, Fundraiser Ball?”

“You got it.” Lisa goes back to searching the racks.

“What are you looking for?”

“Well, I was told that I would look good in a darker orange.  And I prefer something long and something I am going to be comfortable in and not too flashy.  This will be our first public appearance I would like it to be a good one, not me falling on my face or looking like a slut,” I smile.

“Ah yes, well those two you have are very nice, I bet we can find a couple more.  Why don’t you go on back and pick a dressing room.  Are you going to need anything else to go with the dress?”

“Yes, shoes, and I was thinking a clutch bag.  Something simple.”

“Good, ok.  I will let the girls search for some dresses, what size shoe?  And do you want heels, flats, or sandals?”

“I am a size eight and I was hoping a heel, but nothing super high.  I fell on my ass one night in front of him already that is enough for me.”

“Hey, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t,” Annie laughs.

“Shut it,” I point at her.  She laughs and walks back down to the dresses she was looking through.

“Alright, I will go see what I can find,” she smiles and turns and goes into a back room.  I walk back to the dressing rooms that she pointed out to me.  I hang the two dresses that I have on a hook inside one.  I look at the one I picked out.  I really like it.  Maybe I should save that one for last so I work up to it.

“Here, I found two.  I know this one isn’t the orange, but I think it will look good on you,” Molly hands me two more dresses.

“And I found one, that gives you five, let’s start with that,” Lisa hands me one.  I smile at all three girls standing there looking at me.

“Thanks girls.”

“For what?”  Annie asks me.

“For being here tonight.  It means a lot to me.”

“That’s what friends are for,” Molly smiles at me.  I close the door behind me as I walk into the changing room.  I start with the black one that Molly gave me.  I'm not big into black and this is strapless, which I'm not sure I like.  I usually have problems with strapless dresses.  I pull it on and walk out so one of them can zip it up.  It is pretty.  Satin with some stones on the bust, but not something I see myself wearing.

“I like it, but I don’t think it works for this occasion,” Annie says.  “It doesn’t seem formal enough.”

“I agree,” Molly nods in agreement.  I walk back into the changing room and take it off and put on the other one she found.  It is a lighter orange.  I go out and Lisa zips it up for me.

“I don’t like that one.  It doesn’t fit you right,” Molly says before I move too far.  I go back in and try on the next two.  One of them is ok, but still not what I am looking for.  I grab the one that I found and pull it on.  It is pretty; it has one strap that covers my mark from the shot that I took last weekend.  There are jewels on the shoulder strap and also on the bust to break up the fabric.  The back is amazing with the same jewels in a crisscross pattern but mostly open.  I am able to zip this one up myself and walk out.

“Holy shit Jo, that dress is amazing!” Annie smiles when I walk out.  “Is that the one you grabbed?”

“Yes,” I turn in the mirror.  “I love the back on this one,” I smile.

“I think we have a winner,” Regina walks up to me.  “And I found these,” she hands me a pair of shoes.  They are black with a little bit of a heel but not much.  I slip them on and they give me just enough height to take the dress off the floor.  “I will bring it up a little bit for you and give you a little more hold on the shoulder, we don’t want any mishaps,” she smiles.

“I love it,” Molly smiles.  “Jake is going to love it!”

“He isn’t going to be able to keep his hands off of you,” Lisa laughs.  “Not like he is able to on a normal day but this is really going to make it hard.”  I just shake my head and laugh.  She is right; there is no way he is going to be able to stay away from me in this dress.  I turn again and look at it. 

“I’ll take it,” I say to Regina.  She rings up the dress, shoes, and a small clutch that I find and Molly hands her Jake’s credit card without letting me see how much it was.  Regina tells me that she will have it ready for me early next week and I can pick it up anytime.

“So I am having a party at my place on Sunday to watch the game, all the wives and girlfriends are coming over if you are interested?” Lisa says as we walk back to her truck.

“Not sure what I have going on yet.  I know that I have to pick the girls up from my mom’s house.  Lizzy is going to want to be in front of the TV even though she knows Jake isn’t playing.”

“Quite the little cheerleader she is,” Annie laughs.

“Yes she is big into football like grandpa,” I smile.  Lisa drops me off first since my place is the closest.  “I will let you know about Sunday.”

“Sounds good,” she smiles as I open the door.

“Thanks again for coming with me,” I smile back at Annie and Molly.

“Thanks for inviting us.  And tell Jake thanks for supper when you talk to him.”  Annie smiles.

“I will, I'm sure he will be calling soon,” I look at the clock and it is almost 8:00.  I get out of the truck and walk up to the door and wave as Lisa backs out of the driveway.  I walk into the house and lock the door behind me.  I go and grab water from my fridge and sit on the couch and turn on the TV.  I sit there watching a show until 8:30.  Jake still hasn’t called.  Maybe he is busy with some stuff.  I turn off the TV and go up to my room and grab my pajamas.  I turn on the shower and get in.  My mind is thinking about the dress that I just bought.  I still don’t know how much the bill was and Molly wouldn’t tell me. I cannot imagine that it was cheap. I bet the dress was at least $400, if not more.  I get done and dry off and go back into the bedroom.  I look at my phone and still no call from Jake.  I'm tired, so I lie in bed and turn the radio on.  Next thing I know my phone is ringing.  I look at the clock and it is 10:00.  I grab my phone and see it is Jake.  I realize that it is only 8:00 there and he is probably just getting back from supper.  “Hello?” I try not to sound like I was sleeping.

“Hey baby, I woke you up didn’t I?”  He sighs.

“Its fine, I fell asleep waiting for your call.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Jake its fine,” I smile and sit up.  “How was your night?”

“Good, but not as good as yours from the looks of that picture,” I can hear him smile.  “Did you find a dress?”

“Yes, I did.  You are going to have a hard time keeping your hands off of me,” I tease.

“Oh really?  Well I can’t wait until next Friday then.  So how much of my money did you spend?”

“I don’t know, your sister wouldn’t let me see how much it was.”

“Good,” he laughs.  “So I have something for you to do tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yep, the contractor is going to start pouring the basement for the house tomorrow and I need you to sign something.”

“Why me?”

“Because I am across the country Jo.”

“He can’t fax it to you and have you fax it back?”

“I am going to be in practice and meetings all day tomorrow.  You are only three blocks away you can go sign it.”

“But it isn’t my house.”

“Not yet, but soon enough.”

I shake my head, “I wish you wouldn’t make me do that.  You know how I feel about you putting my name on that house.”

“You are just signing for them to do what they need to do Jo.  It isn’t like you are signing the contract or anything.”

“Still I don’t like it.”

“Baby, stop.  It’s fine.  If you don’t want to do it I will have Molly go sign.”

“Ok, fine, I will do it.  What time?”

“He will be there at like 7:00 but you can go over whenever you get a chance.”  He doesn’t say anything and we both just sit there for a little while.  “I can’t wait to see you on Monday.  I miss you like crazy.”

“I miss you too.”

“Do you and the girls want to do something for supper?”

“I don’t know, maybe.”

“What’s wrong Jo?”

“I don’t know.  I just feel like you are pushing this house issue on me a little bit.  I told you that I didn’t want to be that involved and you are sending me to sign stuff now.”

“I just need someone to sign to ok his time line Jo, that’s it.  He has it all figured out to what he is going to have done at a certain point.  I will just call Molly and have her do it,” he sounds frustrated.  “Listen, I am going to let you get back to sleep.  I will try and call tomorrow night.  I love you,” he hangs up.  I just sit there starring at my phone.  Why did he get so mad?

Why are you so mad?

I send him a text.  I don’t know if it is because I don’t want to be that involved in the house that he is upset or if he had a bad day.  I told him when he asked me about building that I didn’t want to be that involved because it was his house, not mine.  I lie back down in bed and stare out the window.  Things should not be this complicated.  Am I the one making them this way?  It’s because I'm not used to having things at my fingertips like he does.