Coffee in Common (34 page)

FRIDAY, MAY 14

4:30 PM

Gary rolled down his window, snatched the ticket he'd need later at the toll booth, and started down the ramp to the Massachusetts Turnpike. Sitting next to him in the front seat, resplendent in his tuxedo, Paul had entertained him with how he'd met Jillian and about much of what had happened since then.

"And now you're taking her sister to a prom? That's wild!" Gary glanced over at Paul with an appraising and envious eye. "Does she look anything like Jillian?"

"She's a little shorter and a little thinner, but I think she's just as pretty. You'll see for yourself soon enough."

"Man, you have to be the luckiest guy alive. Were you a saint or something in a previous life?"

Paul grinned. "I don't think so. Why?"

"Come on. Last week you stumble onto what sounds to me like the love of your life, and this week you get to take her sister out, too. And she tells you its okay to make out with the sister to make some guy jealous. And the sister's a fox!" He grunted. "And you wonder why I think you have a golden horseshoe nailed to your butt?"

"Hey, what can I say?" Laughing, Paul pulled out his cell phone and dialed Jillian's.

"Hi, hon. I thought I'd check in. Is it total pandemonium over there?"

"No. Actually, everything's going smoothly and almost calmly. Where are you?"

"Sitting next to Gary. We're on the Pike."

"Already? You'll be way too early. You aren't supposed to leave here until quarter past six. How far away are you?"

"Hold on." He turned to Gary. "ETA?"

"If the traffic stays like this, twenty, twenty-five minutes."

Paul relayed the time estimate.

"That means you'll be waiting around for an hour!"

"I know, I know. But it's Friday and I thought the traffic would be heavy, and I wanted a little time to rehearse with Jessie."

"Well you'll have plenty of time now."

"Don't worry. This way I can take some time to meet your parents and fill them in on all the details of our little plan."

"Don't you dare!"

Paul could hear her sisters in the background asking what was wrong. Laughing he said, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. You think I want your father coming after me with a meat cleaver or something?"

After saying goodbye, he dropped the phone into the breast pocket of his tux. "So what do you do when you're not driving me around? And why do you look as good as I do tonight?"

"Davie makes us wear a tux when we drive this and the other Bentley. For the regular limos we wear the outfit you saw last Friday. I guess he thinks it makes the ride more elegant or something. As for what I do, I mostly go to school and study. I'm a sophomore at Tufts University."

"No kidding. I grew up in Medford near Tufts. On Adams Street. My parents still live there."

"I live on Boston Ave across the street from that little convenience store on the corner of Hillside Ave."

"Hey, you're only two blocks from my parents. Talk about a small world. But wait a second. You look too old to be a sophomore. Were you in the military or something?"

Gary grinned. "No. I look old for my age. I bet you thought I was as old as you, twenty-four or twenty-five, right?"

It was Paul's turn to grin. "Well, you're right about what I thought, but I'm twenty-eight."

"Really? Well, I just turned twenty-one last month."

"Hey, congrats! Did you go out bar-hopping to celebrate?"

"Actually, no. I have a hypersensitivity to alcohol. My brain doesn't react normally to it, so one drink and I'm flying. Two drinks and I'm falling down drunk."

"I never heard of that."

"Neither did my parents when I was sixteen and they let me have a glass of wine with the meal at a wedding. They actually grounded me for a week because they thought I'd snuck at least two or three more glassfuls. After the next time it happened, they took me to the doctor.

"At first I was bummed, you know, but now it's kind of fun being the sober one watching all his friends make fools of themselves."

They traded school stories for the next ten miles or so until Paul asked if the girls at Tufts were still as brainy and beautiful as when he was there.

"They certainly are."

"You go out with any of them?"

"Nah, not really. I go to parties now and then, but studying and work keep me pretty busy."

"Sure, but with all those great women available, how can you pass that up?"

"I date a little, but to tell the truth, I'm sort of waiting to meet the love of
my
life again."

"Again?"

"Un-huh. A little over a year ago, I was going with this girl, Claire. One Saturday she talked me into taking her shopping at the Gallaria Mall in Cambridge."

Paul nodded. "Girls love that place."

"Sure do. Well, after an hour or so of wandering in and out of stores, I'm getting tired of it but she's getting her second wind. So I told her I'd wait for her in the food court and she promised not to be too long." He grunted. "I knew that would never happen, but I didn't mind. I like sitting around and watching people.

"Well, I'd only been there about five minutes when this big, loud, obnoxious guy and this really pretty girl sit down next to me. She has a small drink and he's pissing and moaning about having to buy it for her, how these places rip you off, and on and on. Then he starts in on her, how stupid she is for buying stuff here, and this fault and that fault. And the girl just sat there, embarrassed, taking it all.

"After about ten minutes of that treatment, during which the girl is looking more and more miserable by the second, he jumps up, literally commands her to stay put until he gets back, and stalks off. No sooner is he out of sight than the girl starts to cry. Not loud, just sort of weeping, like all the embarrassment and shame was leaking out.

"Man, I couldn't imagine why the hell she was with him and I felt so bad for her that after a minute I leaned over and said softly, ‘Excuse me, but I wanted to apologize.'

"She sort of stiffened when she heard me and snapped, ‘For what?' And I told her, ‘For being the same gender as that asshole you're with.' Well, that got about half a smile out of her and we started talking.

"I could tell she was a little shy, but once she figured out I wasn't hitting on her, she warmed up. She was quick, and sweet, and funny, and so easy to talk to that I found myself really liking her. And I definitely had the feeling she was into me, too. Of course, she was only a junior in high school and not quite seventeen, but I didn't care. We were really connecting, you know?"

Paul nodded, not wanting to interrupt.

"Anyway, in the back of my head, I start wondering what Claire will think if she shows up and sees me having a great time talking to another girl. So I checked my watch and forty-five minutes had gone by! And of course, just then Claire did show up. What could I do? I thanked the girl, told her to find a new boyfriend, and said goodbye.

"Well, Claire and I are in the garage walking to my car when I realize I never even asked the girl her name. And suddenly, it was real important to find out who she was. So I handed Claire my keys and told her I forgot a small bag at the table and ran back to the food court."

Gary let out a big sigh, and Paul could tell what was coming next. "She was gone. I was so bummed I almost forgot to stop and buy something so I'd have a bag when I got back to the car."

He glanced over at Paul. "You know how you said that when you met Jillian something seemed to click. Well, that's how it was. When Claire and I were driving home, all I could think about was that girl. We really made some connection." He paused and sighed. "Since then, I've been waiting to meet her again. I figure we were fated to meet so it'll happen when the time is right."

"You have no clue who she is or where she lives or anything?"

"Nope. Not even a hint. So I spend much of my free time in the mall hoping to run into her again." He shrugged. "If it's really meant to be, I'll find her."

"Sure, but how long do you keep…"

Paul's cell phone rang before he could finish. It was Jillian, who wanted them to stop at the convenience store on Main Street to pick up a bottle of orange soda.

"I've been craving it all day and mom doesn't have a drop in the house."

"So, you get cravings for orange soda. Any other potential cravings I should know about?"

"Actually, yes! For three days I've been craving that slice of
Zaccotto
we left in the limo last Friday! Gary probably tossed it out. What a waste!"

Paul told her to hold on and turned to Gary. "Hey, did you find a paper bag in the limo last Friday?"

"You mean the one with that incredible dessert?"

Paul grinned. "He found it and ate it. And judging from the smile on his face, he enjoyed it as much as we did."

Ten minutes later, the limo turned onto Sears Road, and they were at the house. Jillian was waiting for them and waved as they pulled into the semi-circular driveway.

Gary sat behind the wheel, glancing in the side mirror as Paul and Jillian embraced and kissed. Then she walked toward his window so he rolled it down.

"You know I may never forgive you for eating my extra dessert."

"I'm sorry." He tried to look contrite. "I had no idea how valuable it was."

"Well, I should make you sit out here for punishment, but I forgive you, so come on into the house."

"That's okay. I'm used to waiting in the car."

"Nonsense. They won't be leaving for over an hour, and if you don't come in now, my mother will be out in two minutes to drag you in. I guarantee it. Come on. The parlor is way more comfortable than out here. You can even have some of my orange soda!"

5:10 PM

Priya was wondering if Paul had arrived yet at the Marshall home when Rob voiced the question.

"Unless they hit heavy traffic on the Pike he should have been there ten minutes ago," Tom told him.

"I still can't believe he's really taking her sister to a prom."

"Why not? It's a nice thing for him to do," Priya said. "Proms are important to girls and even if they don't succeed in making her old boyfriend jealous, she'll remember how nice he was to her for the rest of her life. Take my word on that."

Tom and Rob shrugged. Both had attended their high school senior proms and neither understood the big deal. You had to get dressed up to eat rubbery chicken and dance to whatever lame music would be approved by the school. As far as they were concerned, the best thing about their proms had been the all-night parties after.

"I'll always take your word, without question, on any girl thing," Rob assured her. "So what time is Brian picking you up?"

"Seven-thirty. What do you think, should I dress up or dress down?"

"Where's he taking you?" Tom asked.

"I don't know," she replied, then added with a grin, "but it's probably not Casa de Luna."

That drew matching grins from the two guys.

"Just because Paul's nuts, doesn't mean all men are," Tom quipped.

"That's right," Rob agreed. "Brian seemed like a pretty steady sort of guy. Reasonable, you know. Not given to undue extravagance, but he'll want to impress you with his gustatory sophistication. Hmmm. Yes… I'm guessing he's taking to you Sal's"

"Sal's? Where's that."

"You know Sal's."

Priya shook her head.

"Sure you do."

"I'm telling you I don't. Where is it?"

"Right near Park Street station.

She shook her head again, her face blank.

"The sausage cart."

Tom had seen it coming and burst out laughing.

"You moron!" Priya searched her desktop for something to throw at him. Then she stopped and wagged a finger at him. "I'm going to tell Lisa you did that.
She'll
make you pay."

Rob was about to reply when Priya's phone rang. It was Brian.

"Are we still on for seven-thirty?"

"Absolutely. Do I need to get dressed up?"

"Priya, I can't imagine anything you could wear in which you wouldn't look fantastic. Be comfortable so we can relax, okay?"

Brian couldn't see her pleased smile at the compliment.

"Okay."

"I, ah, well, I didn't know what kind of food you like, so I made reservations at three places; The Union Oyster House if you want seafood, Little Vietnam over on North Beacon street if you want something Asian, and Giacomo's in the North End if you're in the mood for Italian."

"Are you serious? You made three reservations?"

She grinned as Rob's and Tom's eyebrows shot up.

"Hey, I was a Boy scout who became an engineer. Being prepared is in my blood. Actually, that's really why I called you at work. I didn't want to leave the two losers holding reservations on a Friday night."

Priya laughed. "The two losers?"

"Sure. The two places that won't have the prettiest girl in Boston sitting at one of their tables tonight."

Again, the pleased smile curled her lips.

5:20 PM

Paul, Gary, and Jeff Marshall were seated in the living room. After making introductions, Jillian and her mom had vanished upstairs to assist Joanne and Julia in completing the transformation of Jessie from high school girl to prom queen.

For the most part, Gary sat back and enjoyed listening to Mr. Marshall tactfully but pointedly extract from Paul the story of his life, plans for the future, political and social outlooks, and plans for after the prom.

"Well, sir, I hadn't really thought about after the prom. With your permission, I suppose I'll leave that up to Jessie."

Her father's pleasant smile never wavered.

"All well and good, but please remember that Jessie is not old enough to drink. She's also somewhat shy and given to going along with the crowd, so I'll consider it a personal favor if you would take special care of her tonight and make sure nothing happens that shouldn't happen."

Then, always the good host, he turned his attention to Gary. "Are you happy at Tufts?"

"Yes sir."