Coffee in Common (29 page)

 "So what do you think of him now?" Jo asked her sisters, once Paul and Jillian were at the jukebox.

"He's cute," Jessica said.

"He's great," Julia gushed. "I keep waiting for him to say or do something to make me wonder, but he keeps on being sweet and charming. And it's not even an act, unless he's the world's greatest actor."

"I know what you mean. He's so attentive to Jilli even when he's paying attention to us, or to his friends earlier. And some of the things he says…well…I see what Jilli means about feeling like he knows her. What do you think, Jessie? Is he for real?"

"I guess so. He's been really nice to us all tonight and especially to me. I think Jilli told him about Ethan." Her sisters nodded their agreement. "I get a good vibe from him, you know? I mean, how bad can the guy be if he'll pay attention to the skinny little sister when Jillian's sitting next to him?"

Over at the jukebox, Jillian was using the touch screen to page through menus for the titles they wanted. After she selected Kelly Clarkson's
A Moment Like This
for Joanne, Paul asked, "Would you mind very much if I went out with another woman next week?"

She turned her head to examine his face. This had to be one of his jokes. "That depends. Are we talking about your mother? I wouldn't mind that at all."

He laughed. "No, not mom."

"Priya?" She realized there'd been an edge to her voice.

He caught the edge and grinned. "No, not Priya. Actually, if you think she'd want to go with me, I was thinking of asking Jessie to her prom."

Jillian was caught completely off guard. That was the last thing she might have expected him to say. "You want to take Jessie to her prom?"

"With your permission of course."

"You don't need my permission to…" She felt his hand squeeze her arm and looked at him. What she saw made her heart skip with joy. The tilt of his head and the look in his eyes under raised eyebrows told her he did indeed need her permission, because he considered them a couple now.

The smile he received in return let Paul know she understood, and the gentle touch of her palm on his cheek told him she felt the same way.

"You'd really do that? Take her to the prom?"

"Of course. She's your sister, and she's hurt, and I know how important proms are to girls her age. And not to appear immodest, I am kind of cute and willing to help her make the little twerp who dumped her realize what a horrible mistake he made."

Jillian chuckled.

"And besides, I was sick and never went to my prom. I think it'll be fun. If she'll go with me. What do you think?"

She had no idea. Paul kept surprising her. "I guess it's up to Jessie."

"But what about you? Would you be okay with it?"

She saw in his eyes that the slightest reservation on her part would be enough to make him forget the whole thing. "Well," she said playfully, "you're not planning to get fresh with her after the prom, are you?"

"Only if you'll join in," he teased, bringing a pleased flush to her cheeks.

"Okay then, that sounds like fun," she shot back, surprising herself once again by joking about such a thing. "You can go."

As they returned to the table, they decided to let Paul ask Jessie when he thought the time right. Everyone talked for a while as the music played in the background, trading stories about jobs and families. Jessie remained generally quiet, but Paul had noticed earlier she seemed interested whenever anyone was at the dart boards.

"Do you play darts?" he asked her.

"Not very well," she replied listlessly.

"Me either. Priya's great at it, though. She never played darts until she started working here in Boston but now no one at work but me will even play with her, and I only play because it's so amazing to watch her. As for me, I figure I'm doing well if I don't hit people standing at the jukebox."

That drew a half smile from her.

"Want to throw some?" She looked hesitant. "Come on. You can tell me all kinds of embarrassing things about your sister while we play."

"Don't you dare," Jillian cautioned they pushed back their chairs. "You gave your word."

Jessica was better than she'd let on, but then so was Paul, who kept up a running dialogue, sharing moments from his life as he probed gently into hers. Jessie relaxed more and more as they played, her spirits rising with every well-placed dart she threw, until, when she won the second game, she became almost giddy with delight. Paul had the feeling the girl would have hugged him had he not been her sister's new boyfriend.

Boyfriend. That's the first time I actually thought of myself as Jillian's boyfriend. I like the way it sounds. But I think the time has come to broach the subject of the prom.

"Very nice," he said, admiring the result of her last throw.

"Thanks!"

"Hey, umm, I hope you won't be mad at your sister or anything, but a while ago, I sort of asked her about why you seemed so down and she told me about the dung worm and what he did."

Jessie giggled. "Dung worm. I like that. It fits him perfectly."

"Anyway, I had this thought before and asked Jilli about it and I don't know if it's too crazy or what, but here goes. Would you do me the honor of allowing me to escort you to your prom next week?"

Her hand stopped cold in mid-throw. "You want to take me to my prom? Why? You're like, old."

Paul clutched his chest. "Arrgh. You think I'm old?"

Jessica realized she'd been less than tactful. "Well, I don't mean you're
old
old, but your Jillian's age. Why would you want to go to some lame high school prom?"

He turned to face her. "Several reasons. First, you're Jillian's sister and I like you." He saw her eyebrows shoot up. "I like you as her sister, I mean," which drew a grin from the girl. "Second, I figure you're really more upset about missing the prom than about Mr. Slime Mold breaking up with you." He saw her nod slightly and the look in her eyes change from skepticism to interest at what would come next. "Third, let's face it, Jessie, you're a babe, and a guy would have to be nuts not to jump at the chance to be seen with you." That caused her face to start glowing with both pleasure and embarrassment. "Fourth, I never went to my own prom and I think it will be fun. And fifth…" He paused. "…I figure that with a little effort, we can make Ethan so jealous he'll spend the rest of his miserable life asking people to kick him in the ass for being stupid enough to cheat on you."

Jessica was beaming now.

"Since you put it like that, how can a girl possibly refuse?"

She threw her arms around him and hugged him, much to the amazement of her sisters, who had been watching them, even though they couldn't hear what was being said.

"Jillian was right," she said softly after releasing him, "you really
are
the nicest guy."

SUNDAY, MAY 9

7:15 AM

Lisa padded down the wide, carpeted staircase, her feet clad only in a pair of Winnie the Pooh socks. She stopped at the bottom to stretch, then turned down the hall to the kitchen.

"I thought she was done with him."

It was her father. He was asleep last night when she and Rob arrived and she could tell from the tone of his voice he wasn't pleased to hear the news.

She stopped a few feet from the doorway to listen.

"Evidently they made up, Chad," her mother Elissa replied. She didn't appear to share her husband's displeasure, but neither did she sound happy about it.

"I really don't understand her, Lissy. With her looks and brains she could have any man in New England. Hell, there are at least a dozen associates at my firm who'd kill to go out with her. Just last week Morgan Downey told me his son had been asking about her. Did you know he's been clerking for Justice Thomas?"

"No dear, I didn't know that. But I don't think Lisa is really interested in meeting any attorneys, even if they have clerked at the Supreme Court."

"And that's another thing. What the hell's wrong with lawyers? She…"

"Chad. Please. Stop. Do we really have to have this conversation again? You know as well as I do that she wants a man who won't spend all his time working, as we did for so many years. She's told you that at least a dozen times. She's a grown woman, Chad, and she'll do whatever she wants to do. If she loves this boy then that's all there is to it. We can either accept it, and him, and all be happy, or we can drive her away and never see her. Which would
you
prefer?"

Lisa heard the clink of a coffee cup against a saucer, followed by a long sigh. "But couldn't she at least find someone who's not…I mean, what the hell will the kids look like?"

"Oh for the love of… They're not even engaged and you're worried about kids." Her mother sounded annoyed. "If someday they do have children they'll look however they'll look, and we'll love them exactly as we love her." She paused for a few seconds then said, "You know, Chad, sometimes you make me embarrassed to be your wife."

There was another long sigh.

"I know, Lissy. I'm sorry. I only want what's best for her."

"Well that's for her to decide now. Maybe if you tried to get to know him, you might find he's not as bad as you think he is. Have you ever actually talked to him?"

"What opportunity have I had to talk to him? We've seen him twice in six months, both times at parties."

"Well today is as good an opportunity as you'll ever have. I think I'll wake them in a few minutes. Why don't you cut up some fruit and bagels while I go take a quick shower."

"I have a better idea. Why don't I join you in the shower?"

Ewwww!

Lisa grimaced as she turned and hurried back to the stairs and up to her bedroom. She did
not
want to hear any more of
that
!

The sound of the door closing awakened Rob. Still groggy, he asked where she'd been. She didn't want to admit to her eavesdropping and didn't want to lie, so she jumped back into bed and snuggled up to him. She knew the closeness would take his mind off talking. Several times his hands wandered, testing her interest, but she was too distracted by trying not to imagine what was taking her mother so long. After fifteen minutes, she sent Rob off to the shower, then took one herself when he was done. It was almost eight-thirty when she finally heard her mother knock on their door.

 Lisa had been nervous about the four of them sitting together around a table, but to their credit, her parents really made an effort to get to know Rob. So much so, she found herself being ignored as they told their stories and listened to Rob tell his.

Only half hearing them, she thought about how close she'd come to breaking up with him and of his promise to spend the rest of his life making her happy if she'd let him.

That was last Thursday and now, just three days later, she was really putting him to the test. A day with the parents. He hadn't even blinked when she mentioned it and even suggested driving down last night instead this morning.

"Lisa!"

Her father's voice broke through her reverie.

"I'm sorry, daddy. I was thinking about something. What did you say?"

"I asked you about Tony DiBennedetto. Rob said you talked with him Friday to set up some date for a friend of yours."

Lisa told them about asking if Tony could find some space for her friends, and about his offer to let them use one of the private dining rooms. "He's such an old softy. I should have known he'd do something like that."

When her mom started clearing the table, Lisa rose to help. Rob pushed his chair back and offered his assistance, but Elissa waved him back into this seat. "This time, you're a guest," she told him, then drew a laugh when she added, "Next time, you get to wash."

As the women cleaned up, Chad and Rob continued to talk, or, more properly, Chad asked questions and Rob answered. After listening to almost five minutes of her father's terse, probing questions, Lisa thought he sounded like he was cross examining Rob. She was about to say something when Rob interrupted her father.

"Excuse me, sir." He sounded quite serious. "Before we go any further, don't you think it would be a good idea if I were sworn in?"

Lisa almost dropped the dish she was drying. She turned away so her father would not see her contorted face. She caught her mother's eye and saw that she, too, was trying not to laugh.

For almost half a minute Chad stared at Rob, during which time he asked himself if he heard the boy correctly, decided he did, wondered if the boy was being funny or impertinent, caught his wife's struggles in his peripheral vision, decided it was the former, and broke into a broad smile. "Very good. Very good. Not many people can leave me speechless."

That was all the encouragement the women needed as they let loose. Laughing all the way, they walked over to their men and wrapped their arms around them.

The ice had been broken, Lisa knew, and when her father caught her eye, she thought she noticed the slightest glimmer of respect for Rob. It wasn't the open-armed, admiration she would have preferred, but it was a start. A good start.

MONDAY, MAY 10

6:45 AM

"Who the heck is calling me at quarter-to-seven in the morning?" Jillian ran from the bathroom, dripping wet, to grab her cellphone. As much as she loved her job, she hated Monday mornings. She invariably kept hitting the snooze button on her alarm until she was late getting started, then had to rush through her shower and dressing so she wouldn't be late for work.

Metro Magazine wouldn't have cared, but Jillian set standards for herself and one of them was to get to work on time. She tried to towel herself off as she moved. She was running late, it was her turn to get the coffee, and now a phone call would eat up more minutes. She'd be skipping a leisurely breakfast today for sure.

One hand toweled her hair while the other flipped open the phone. Without even a glance at the display she barked, "Hello, who is this?"