Chapter 13: The boy's in love

Wes went into the living room  and plopped down on the sofa next to his dad without even a hello.

“Weston, what’s up?” his dad asked, turning down the volume on the television.

Wes glanced at his father still not really focusing. It was a miracle that he had gotten home safely. His mind hadn’t been on driving.  He completely missed a stop sign and almost ran over a cat that streaked in front of his car. The rest of the trip must have happened by rote. He didn’t remember any of it. 

“Huh?” he said.

“Where were you tonight?” his father asked, now looking decidedly concerned.

“Um...Pepperfields...Uncle Rob and Aunt Beth were…. celebrating…. anniversary...don’t know which ....twenty…something,” Wes answered slowly. He spoke like a person who had been drugged with truth serum.

“They invited you to an anniversary dinner? That doesn’t sound like them,” Donny replied, frowning.

“No, I just saw them there. They loved Janet. She’s...awesome,” Wes said dreamily.

“Janet who?”

“Janet Fummel. Ah, Dad you just gotta meet her! She’s the best,” Wes said, his expression dreamy.

“Who is this Janet?”

Wes grinned. “My girlfriend. She’s the best girlfriend ever!”

“Seriously? You have a girlfriend? Since when?” his dad asked, incredulous.

“Um...I guess since two hours ago.  We only just started talking the other day and then I fixed her computer and we went out with Troy and Jasmine. Then we went out tonight and...and….we kissed. It was... fireworks,” he sighed, throwing his head back against the sofa cushions and closing his eyes.

“I can see that,” Donny mumbled, stifling a laugh. “So…you’ve finally found something other than computers to tickle your fancy. About time. So, when can I meet this dream girl?”

“Dream? No, she’s not a dream. She’s real!” Wes insisted, glaring at his dad.

“Okay, okay, take it easy. I didn’t mean anything by it,” Donny said soothingly.

“Oh...okay. You have to come to my next game, Dad. She’s gonna be there.”

“I always go to your games. You know that,” he replied dismissively.

“No, you don’t, Dad. Not really. You’re always on the cell phone. That’s not really being there,” Wes grumbled.

“You know about that?” Donny asked, surprised.

“’Course I do. Please, Dad, leave the cell in the car this time. I want you to get to know Janet. You’ll love her,” he said.

“Okay. I’m sorry, Weston. No more phones at your games, I promise,” Donny said, looking ashamed.

“Uncle Rob and Aunt Beth want to see you,” Wes added tentatively.

“I’ve been busy,” Donny replied, his jaw tightening.

“They told me to kidnap you and to bring you over for dinner some time. They want things to get back to how it used to be, Dad,” Wes said, unable to keep the pleading out of his voice.

“And how do they propose we do that, huh? Snap my fingers and go back in time? Margarita’s gone and won’t be coming back. Nothing will ever be the way it used to be,” he snarled.

“Dad, please. Mom wouldn’t want you hiding from the world, and especially not your own family.”

“I am in the world. I work in the world. I see people in the world. What more do you want?” Donny asked irritably.

“I want you happy again. I want us to see our friends and family again. I want us to joke and laugh and have fun again,” Wes said. "I know it won't ever be the same again, not without Mom, but we could try to..."

“It’s too hard, Weston. Rob has Beth and my wife’s gone. It’s just too hard,” Donny muttered.

Silence went on for several minutes before Wes thought of something.

“How about we go to one of Billy’s hockey games? They start in December and we always used to love them. We’ll have a guys night out, you, me, Billy and Uncle Rob. Don’t say no. It could be my birthday present. You have to do it then,” Wes said sternly.

“Weston…”

“I’m going to bed. Got work in the morning,” he said, cutting him off.  “Goodnight, Dad. Love you.” He hugged his father briefly and jumped up.

“I love you, too, Weston. Goodnight,” Donny replied thickly.

Wes was almost to the staircase when he turned back. “Um, Dad, can you do me a favor? Don’t call me Weston in front of Janet, okay? She’ll make fun of me something awful,” he said with a grimace.

Donny smiled weakly.  “I’ll try.”

“Thanks, Dad.”  

Wes went up the stairs at a run. Passing his sister’s room he heard giggling. He knew she had one of her obnoxious friends with her and he grimaced. He couldn’t stand any of her stupid friends. They would probably be up half the night giggling and talking about who-knows-what. with any luck he'd be up and gone in the morning before even seeing them.

He put his music on a little louder than he would have done normally just to drown them out and went to sleep to a robust baritone lamenting, “…if I were a rich man, yaba-dibe-dibe-daba-yaba-dibe-dibe-da...”

Donny attempted to watch Letterman for a half hour after Wes had gone, but nothing the comedian said struck him as amusing. That may have been due to his tortured thoughts. They went predictably to his darling Margarita and how much he missed her. The wound still felt fresh as if she’d only been gone for a few weeks. It was far longer than that, he realized. Time had slipped by without notice. 

He’d obviously done a disservice to his son and no doubt to his daughter as well. Perhaps Wes was right and he should at least try to get out into the world of the living. He glanced at the end table where his favorite picture sat in a mother-of-pearl frame. Margarita smiled back at him, her loving arms around the kids. 

Tears stung his eyes, but he didn’t bother stopping them.

Chapter 12: The pretend boyfriend

 “Come on,” Wes said standing up and offering his hand to her.

“What?” she said following him. Before she knew it, he led her to the dance floor.

 “Hey, I wasn’t kidding when I told your Aunt Beth I was as clumsy as an elephant,” she said, slightly panicked. “I’ll step on your toes, knock over tables, bump into waiters and most likely set the place on fire. Wes, are you listening to me? I can’t dance.” 

He pulled her close and started swaying slowly. “Shush, you talk too much,” he whispered in her ear.

“Oh, really?” she bristled. “You didn’t seem to mind during dinner?”

“True, but here we should just listen to the nice music. Just follow me and you’ll be fine,” he said nuzzling his face into her sweet smelling hair.

She relaxed and let Wes lead. Much to her astonishment, she didn’t step on any toes, knocked over no tables, bumped into zero waiters and didn’t even set the place on fire. What was more amazing was she liked this, almost as much as the kiss. This night was proving to be one of hidden wonders.

She looked up at him and he smiled.

“What’s my yenta thinking?” he asked softly.

 “Now I know why Jasmine likes going to school dances. This isn’t so bad,” she replied.

“Nope, not so bad,” he said. He stared into her eyes and felt himself falling into them. He could barely resist kissing her.

“Wes?”

“Hmm?”

 “I think I’m gonna like having a pretend boyfriend,” she said.

“You think?” he said, grinning.

 She nodded. “Wes?”

“Hmm?” 

“Do you think we look like a couple...like Jasmine and Troy?"

"Oh, we look much better than them!" he said seriously.

She laughed. "Um, I mean, if you haven’t had a girlfriend before and I never had a boyfriend, how will we know if we’re doing this right?” she asked.

He simply couldn’t resist anymore. He bent down and kissed her. “I think we can figure it out,” he told her.

Wow, she thought to herself. No wonder Jasmine and Troy do that all the time. It certainly stirs up the blood!  She stared up at him half astounded, half scared. 

“Is that…did I do that okay?” she asked breathlessly.

“Oh, yeah… real good,” he said. “They’ll believe it now.”

“Who?” she asked stupidly.

He chuckled. “My aunt and uncle…the ones who are watching us,” he whispered.

“Oh, yeah… Are you sure they’re convinced?” she asked.

He grinned. “Let’s make certain, shall we?” he said, before kissing her again.

“Well, I’m convinced,” she mumbled, feeling a tad bemused. 

Her heart pounded frantically and she felt slightly dizzy. Who the heck needed drugs, she wondered as she lay her head on Wes’ chest and snuggled closer, when you could just grab someone and kiss them?

Wes smiled to himself and held her closer. His plan was working even better than he’d imagined possible. Now if he could only get it to not be just pretending.

***********

“So, how was it?” Jasmine asked.

 Wes had just brought Janet home and Jasmine, grinning like a Cheshire cat, followed her slightly dazed looking sister up to her room. She knew what that unfocused look meant, but she wanted to hear it straight from her.

“Well?” Jasmine said closing the door behind them.

“What?” Janet said, evasively. 

“Janet, tell me!”

Janet didn’t want to talk, not just yet anyway, not even to her twin. It might break the spell. She also didn’t know what to say. Should she tell Jasmine the truth, but then, did she know what the truth was? What would Wes want her to say? This pretending….it had to be their little secret, didn't it? Everything seemed unduly complicated all of a sudden.

“You like Wes, don’t you? I knew you would. He’s such a hottie and smart and funny… everything you could want. I’m so happy for you, Janet. I knew you’d get over this anti-love thing, once you got the right guy. He must have kissed you, huh? Magical, wasn’t it?” Jasmine said excitedly. 

Janet just stared at her sister and wondered if she had been watching when they said goodnight on the porch.

Wes had held her hand and slowly walked her to the front door.

 “I had a really great time. My yenta is very entertaining,” he said. “Two dates in a row. No one will think that you’re not my real girlfriend.”

“Um... I think...um…” she stammered nervously.

“What?”

 “Well, when Troy brings Jasmine home after a date they...um...you know,” she said.

His heart suddenly took a grand leap. “You’re right. We should do exactly like they do. They’re the perfect couple to copy. That makes sense,” he said, taking a stray hair out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ear. He let his fingers brush lightly down her cheek.

“Troy does that all the time,” Janet said, giggling. “Kinda tickles.”

“Oh, yeah? What else does he do?” Wes asked stepping closer while moving his fingers along her throat.

“Jasmine describes it as fireworks…whatever that means,” she replied shrugging.

“I like fireworks. Let’s see if we can find some,” he said, bending down and kissing her.

It really did feel like fireworks, Janet thought.  She wondered if Wes felt it too.

“You’re awesome,” he whispered and kissed her again.

That answered her question, but she had another one. “Wes, we’re still pretending?” she asked.

“Uh, yeah. Of course. That okay?” he said nervously. 

She stared up at him and wasn’t at all certain anymore, but she nodded and stepped back frowning. “I can’t believe it.”

“What?” he asked, suddenly fearful.

“We went out again, for our second business dinner  and guess what we forgot to do?” she said crossly.

“What?” he asked, confused.

“We didn’t talk business. I’m starting to think you don’t really want to help me at all,” she said pouting slightly.

“But you said you didn’t want my help,” he protested.

She looked at his shiny new car sitting by the curb and back at him. “So, like… maybe I changed my mind,” she said petulantly.

He laughed and made to choke her placing both hands around her neck. “You’re gonna make me crazy aren’t you?” he said.

She giggled again and squirmed under his hands. “That tickles too.”

“My yenta is ticklish. Good to know,” he said a devilish grin on his face. “Huh, I didn’t think of that before but yentas are Jewish and you’re not.”

Janet gave him a coy little smile. “Is that a steadfast rule?”

“Oh…definitely getting you for that,” he said, but instead of choking her, he captured her face in his hands and kissed her for a good long time.

That was more like an atom bomb going off. They were quite breathless and both a bit dazed when they parted. It took a while before either could speak.

“Tell ya what…I could come get you tomorrow… if you like. I only have a couple of places to go to in the morning. You can come with me, like an assistant, sorta like on the job training,” he said.

“Really? That would be ok?” she asked, surprised.

“Sure, why not? I'm my own boss and I make the rules. It’ll be fun. Nine o’clock too early for you?”

“I’m a morning person, Wes. I’ll be waiting!” she said excitedly.

“Good night, my beautiful Yenta,” Wes said.

Janet gaped. “Beautiful? What have you been smoking?”

He laughed. “I’ve heard Troy call Jasmine that only a million times. Thought I should try it too and you’re much prettier than she is, so…”

“Hello! We’re identical,” she said.

He shook his head completely serious. “Not even close.”

She stared at him, bewildered. “Well, I see you’re gonna be a very convincing boyfriend.” She went up on tiptoes, kissed him lightly and smiled. 

“Good night, genius,” she said winking at him and with a giggle she opened the front door and was gone. 

“Janet?” Jasmine said looking at her curiously.

She blinked a came out of her dream-like state. “I’m tired, Jasmine, and I have to get up early. Wes is coming for me in…”

“Oh, my gosh! He’s gonna stop working just to be with you? This is awesome, Janet! This is exactly what he needs to get out of his funk,” Jasmine exclaimed excitedly.

“Well, actually, he’s taking me to work with him, so I can see how he runs his business, sort of like on the job training,” she said shrugging.

“Oh,” Jasmine said her smile faltering only a bit. “But you’ll be with him. That’s all that counts. You’re really going places now, Janet. You’ll see, this is gonna be better than even I thought.” 

Jasmine hugged her sister. “I’m so happy for you. I’ll let you sleep now. You have a big day ahead of you. Good night!” 

Bewildered, Janet watched Jasmine bounce out of the room.

What exactly did she mean? Going places? Was she talking about her Yenta business or Wes? 

One thing was apparent, though. Jasmine was completely fooled. She thought Wes was really her boyfriend. Well, that hadn’t been hard, Janet mused as she undressed and hopped into bed. 

Hours later her mind still whirled. Thoughts of Wes wouldn’t let her rest. She lay there staring into the dark, wondering. Wes had said it was all pretending, but it sure didn’t feel that way. Of course it wasn’t real, she told herself. That was plain ridiculous to think otherwise! If it was, then they would be in love and Janet didn’t need reminding what love did to people. Love was for idiots and she was no idiot.

She liked teasing Wes, liked to make him laugh. She could do that without even trying! But he could make her laugh too. That was surprising in itself. She realized she actually liked Wes, but of course, purely as friends. He sure could kiss though.

Pyrotechnic kisses aside, she also liked the dancing, liked the way it felt in Wes’ arms, leaning against him. She’d forgotten how nice it was to be held, like a most cherished person…like her dad used to.

She wiped quickly at the wetness on her face. She flipped her pillow over, turned to the side and forced her eyes closed.

“Stop thinking about him,” she muttered viciously.

She wasn’t talking about Wes.