Playing at Forever (12 page)

People were going to have a hard enough time believing that Thomson Davis was going for a girl such as herself.  She wanted to
try
to be convincing. 

“There, all finished.”  Amy sat back, taking survey of her work.  “And I must say
,
I did a pretty good job.  It’s been awhile since I’ve done somebody else’s makeup.”

Penny turned to look at herself in the mirror.  For all the time Amy had spent on her makeup, Penny couldn’t see much of a difference.  Her cheeks were just a bit rosier than normal, her lips just a tint of a darker red.  It was her eyes where one could see the biggest difference—various layers of colors blended perfectly together to create an almost seductive effect. 

“Doesn’t Aunt Penny look beautiful?”  Amy questioned her youngest daughter, lifting her to sit on her lap. 

“Can I have some?”  Darla asked, poking her head in.  “I want to look pretty too.”

“Well, of course you can, sweetie, even though you’re plenty pretty without it!”  Penny reached over to grab one of the brushes Amy had used for her blush and dusted what little bit that remained onto the little girl’s cheeks.  “And here, we’ll even give you a little bit of this.”  She dabbed a bit of the tinted lip gloss on to Darla’s pursed lips. 

“Can I have some too?”  Little Amber asked and Penny laughed, using the brush to tickle the girl’s cheeks before giving her barely even a smudge of gloss.  “Pretty!”  Amber clapped excitedly. 

“Come on, let’s go show Daddy!”  Darla took her sister’s hand and dashed from the room, leaving Penny and Amy to laugh. 

“What time is he supposed to be here?” 

“Oh, I don’t know.  Any minute now, probably.”  Penny sat down on the edge of Amy’s bed to slip her strappy black heels on.  Downstairs, she heard the doorbell ring.  “I feel silly,”
  Penny
confessed, her heart suddenly fluttering in her chest. 

“Don’t.  Feel beautiful, because you are.  And the moment Thomson Davis—or Tommy Davidson—”
  Amy
rolled her eyes. 
“Whatever his name is.
  The moment he sees you, he’s going to forget about every other woman who’s ever crossed his path.”  Penny laughed, shaking her head.  “Oh, here—don’t forget your purse.”

Penny gripped the small black clutch purse as if her life depended on it.  By the time they left the bedroom, Paul had already let Tommy in and Penny heard the girls squealing excitedly. 

“Look, Tommy!  I have lipstick on!”

“Me too, me too!”
  Amber cried, certain not to be missed.  Penny watched from above as he picked a girl up in each arm, touching his lips to each of their cheeks. 

“Don’t you girls look
pretty,
” 

“Not as pretty as Aunt Penny.”  Darla
beamed,
her eyes wide.  “You’re
gonna
fall in love with her tonight, you know that?”  Penny laughed quietly, sharing the moment with Amy. 

“Oh yeah?
  She’s that pretty?” 

“Uh-huh.  You’re probably going to marry her.” 

“You really think so?”  Darla nodded emphatically. 

“And then you’ll be our uncle, and you can come over and push us on the swings whenever Daddy goes away for work.”  She told him.

“Well, I can come over and push you girls on the swings even if I’m not your uncle.”

“Yeah, but that’s not as much fun.”  This time, it was Tommy and Paul who laughed. 

“Daddy, did you know Tommy is on Aunt Penny’s wall?”  Amber
asked,
her hand on Tommy’s nose.

“You know, you just might be right.  He
does
look familiar.”

“That’s because he’s in
movies
, Dad,”
  Darla
rolled her eyes.  The two women heard the men chuckling before they introduced themselves to one another.  When it came time to shake hands, Tommy chuckled again, realizing he had none to spare.  Amy took that as her cue to descend the stairs.

“What on earth are you girls doing?”  Amy questioned, hands on her hips.  “Come on, get down—Tommy is not your own personal jungle gym!”  The girls burst into a fit of giggles as they squirmed, trying to get away from the arms of their parents. 

Penny hesitated a moment, trying to calm her nerves with a few deep breaths.  Why was she suddenly so nervous?  It wasn’t as if it was a real date. 

But how come it suddenly
felt
real? 

It was just Tommy, she tried to tell herself.  But that thought only caused her heart to hammer just a little bit faster within her chest. 

“Just get it over with,”
  she
whispered to herself, finally moving forward.

She could no longer focus on whatever it was the group awaiting her arrival was talking about, it taking far too much concentration to walk down the stairs.  It wasn’t until she neared the bottom that she risked a glance upward, finding Tommy’s eyes.

“I think they just fell in love with each other,”
  Darla
whispered to her little sister.  Penny laughed again, breaking her gaze with Tommy until she was standing beside him. 

Tommy, however, couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her.  The conversation they had been having continued, except for Tommy, who had suddenly fallen silent.  “Why don’t we give Aunt Penny and Tommy a minute before they leave?”  Paul suggested, a knowing look passing between
he
and his wife. 

“That sounds like a good idea—come on girls, what do you say we break into those cookies?”

“Before dinner?”
 

“
Shhh
, if you don’t tell, I won’t,”
  Amy
grinned, ushering the two girls into the kitchen while Paul followed behind. 

“I overdid it, didn’t I?”  Penny felt her cheeks reddening.  “It’s Amy’s fault, really—”

“Penny,”
  Tommy’s
eyes swept over her once more.  “You look…”

“Silly?”

“I was leaning more toward incredible.”  Penny’s heart fluttered yet again and she averted her eyes, staring at the floor. 
“You about ready to go?”
  He asked after a long moment and she nodded.  “I’m warning you—be prepared for a
lot
of cameras,”

“Wait!”  Amber called, standing in the archway between the kitchen and the living room.  “Don’t forget to say good night.” 

“Oh, how could I forget that?”  Penny hurried across the room, setting her clutch bag on the floor as she pulled her pseudo niece in for a hug.  “Good night, little Amber.”

By this time, Darla had hurried over and Penny gave her a hug as well.  “Good night, my darling,” 

“Good night Aunt Penny,”
  Amber
kissed her on one cheek while Darla kissed her on the other.  “Good night Tommy!”  They called over Penny’s shoulders and Penny laughed, rising to her feet.  Tommy held his hand out to her, his blue eyes shining brightly. 

“Take a deep breath,”
  he
warned her, pulling the door open.  Her breath caught in her throat, her smile faltering for just a moment.  Tommy stepped outside, pulling her with him.  The photographers surrounded them almost instantly and Penny tightened her grip on Tommy’s hand.  When she looked backward, she saw the two young girls watching from the window. 

Instead of the normal motorcycle waiting in the driveway, she found a black luxury sedan—a uniformed chauffeur waiting with the back door open.  Tommy let her climb in first, following quickly after.  She could still hear them calling to she and Tommy—could still see the flashes of their cameras through the heavy tint of the windows.  “Graham insisted on a driver,”
  Tommy
explained.

“It was a good choice.  Amy had a hard time deciding what to do with my hair because she wasn’t sure if I’d have to wear a helmet or not.  Actually, she told me that if you showed up on that motorcycle, she was going to
insist
that we take her car.”

“Well, I’m glad somebody thought ahead.”  They fell silent, Penny feeling very out of her element as the car drove smoothly along.  “I thought we’d start with a movie,
then
grab some dinner—but we can do whatever you want,”

“No, that sounds good,”
  she
smiled nervously.  “Really, Tommy—Amy just got overly excited about me going out on a date.  She wanted to make sure I looked nice, so that way I wouldn’t spend the evening wondering if I was hideous or not.”

“You could never look hideous,”
  Tommy
took her hand and touched his lips to it, dazzling her with his smile.  “I didn’t just break a rule, did I?”

“I think my rule only applies to kissing each other.”  She told him, her eyes twinkling. 

“I’ll make sure I remember that,”
  he
told her, something devilish about his smile.  Penny only laughed, shaking her head.

The theater was outside of town, in a more populated city area.  The local theater in town was much smaller, playing secondhand reels at discount prices. 
That
was the theater she and Tommy had spent a good deal of time in.

This one was much bigger, and much more modern.  It had only been built a few years before.  Penny hadn’t been to it much, still preferring the intimacy of the old theater.

The driver pulled into the fire lane and parked the car, getting out
to open
the door.  Tommy exited first, holding his hand out for Penny.  She knew, right away, that everyone was looking at them.  Her cheeks burned as Tommy slipped his arm around her and led her inside, certain to hold the door open for her. 

“Well, what would you like to see?”  He asked.

“Oh, I don’t care, Tommy.  You pick.  Something you haven’t seen.”  She added the last part knowing that he had probably been to several of the premieres for each of the movies being shown. 

“Well, I haven’t seen
any
of these with you.  It’s been awhile since we saw a movie together.” 

“I really don’t care,”
  Penny
repeated, shrugging her shoulders.  She was just happy to be there, with him. 

“Well, if I recall,
you
were quite the Brad Pitt fan.”  She laughed, nodding her head.  She had often told him that, if he ever met Brad Pitt whenever he became a movie star, he had better be sure to pass along her number.  “So we’ll count that one out then.”

“Hey!”

“I’m not competing with Brad Pitt for the attentions of a pretty lady. 
No way.”
  Penny laughed again, looking back up at the choices. 
“How about the new Tom Hanks?
  Or maybe that
slasher
flick?  I heard they were both pretty good.”

“The
slasher
movie is probably more date-worthy material.”  She suggested, remembering what they were there for.  Graham would probably approve of the choice.

“The
slasher
movie it is then.”  Penny looked around, eyeing the movie posters, distracting herself.  Tommy’s arms circled around her waist a moment later, startling her.  “You know, Pen, you’re supposed to be trying to
improve
my image.”  She felt his breath on her ear.

“Have I done something wrong?”  She felt a panic rise within her.  The last thing she wanted to do was make things worse for Tommy.

“Well, you’ve made me look like a total jerk.”

“How?”
  She was really beginning to worry.

“Well, just look at me.  I’m standing here next to you, looking like
that
, and here I am, looking like
this
.”  She felt him step closer, his body flush with hers.  “There isn’t a person in this theater that isn’t looking at you.”

“Oh please, I’m sure it’s
you
they’re looking at, Mr. Hollywood.  You’re on that poster right over there.”  Even in his jeans and plain button-down shirt, he looked gorgeous.  She was certain it was
him
they were focusing on.

“Nope,”
  she
felt his cheek graze against hers as he shook his head.  “It’s definitely you.”  Penny rolled her eyes at him, turning to meet his.  She hadn’t expected to find his face still so close to hers and she faltered, forgetting all about whatever it was she had been about to say as her heart pounded anxiously in her chest. 

“Next,”
  the
attendant called, startling her out of her trance.  Penny looked
away,
feeling slightly chilled as Tommy dropped his arms and stepped forward.  It took her a moment to join him.

“How many seats are left for that showing?”  Tommy asked.  The younger boy seemed confused for a moment, but checked something on the computer.  “We’ve only sold a few tickets so far.”

“Then I’d like to buy the rest.”  The boy’s eyes widened dramatically and Tommy grinned.  “You see those people out there?”  Tommy nodded toward the photographers, who were just beginning to show up.  The boy nodded.  “Under
no
circumstances are they to be allowed in to the theater.”  The boy nodded again. 

“You’re sure you want to buy
all
the tickets?” 
he
asked, his voice shaky. 

“Positive,”
  Tommy
handed over a credit card and the boy nervously swiped it.  Penny thought the printer might start emitting sparks, it began working so hard.  It only took a few minutes for the tickets to finish printing and Tommy handed them over to the usher, who had the same reaction as the boy who had sold the tickets to them.

She couldn’t blame either one of them.  She was in shock as well. 

“Show off,”
  she
muttered as they made their way to the concessions booth.  “What’s next, are you going to buy all of the popcorn, just because you can?”  Tommy nudged her with his shoulder, laughing. 

“Hey, can I help it that I like my privacy during my movie-watching experience?”  Penny rolled her eyes at him.  “You’ll be thanking me when you get to watch your movie in peace, that’s all I’m saying.” 

It made sense, of course.  Penny just wished it didn’t have to be so dramatic.  She thought buying just one full price ticket was expensive.  She tried totaling up how much the entire theater must’ve cost and gave up, the number much too high for her to even want to know. 

They ordered popcorn and
a large
lemonade—and two cocktails from the bar they passed on the way to the theater.  “Well, I think the seating choices are pretty limited
myself
.”  Penny said sarcastically as they entered the theater.  There were only three other couples scattered about the room.