Ch 132 I should tell you something

I should tell you something

          Wes stopped short of the stairs, pulling Janet back.

          “What’s wrong?” she said. “I have to go. The car’s waiting for me.”

          “I know, but I think I should tell you something,” he said, looking worried.

          Her eyes widened as they always do when she expects bad news. “Don’t you dare, Wes! Don’t you dare tell me you’re not going, cuz I will kill you!”

          He shook his head. “I’m going, but…I never did tell you who my client was and why the project was so important and why it had to be done tonight.”

          “I thought the deadline was Monday?”

          “Got moved up.”

          “And you’re not done?” she shrieked.

“I am done…sort of. Thing is, I have to work tonight…at the gala.”

          “What?!?!”

          “The website is for… it’s the official Luke Tramaine website, a fan page I guess we’re calling it.”

          Janet’s mouth fell open. “Luke didn’t tell me about that!”

          “Course not…since he doesn’t know about it…yet,” Wes said, bracingly.

Ch 131 Do not disturb

      Wendy led Jeff into the kitchen, and she fleeting wondered if she ought to put up a do not disturb sign. She stood before him nervously fiddling with her hands, and for several minutes they just stared at each other in silence.

      She noticed his tie was still undone, but with her shaking hands she knew she’d make a mess of it. “You look wonderful, Jeffery,” she finally said, in a voice barely above a whisper.

      He grinned and in a low voice said, “Why are we whispering? Do you not want anyone to know I clean up good?”

      She laughed. “Well, I’d hate for someone to snatch you away from me,” she said before she could stop herself. She could feel her cheeks glow pink.

      “Like that’s likely,” he replied, stepping closer and taking her hand. “You look so beautiful, Wendy. Every day more beautiful.”

      “It’s just the dress and makeup,” she said, shrugging.

      “No, it’s not,” he replied seriously.

Ch 130 Talk with Mom

          

          Janet stood outside her mother’s bedroom door drumming up the courage for this most important talk with her mom. At last she knocked softly. “Mom? Can I come in please?”

          “Sure,” came Wendy’s muffled voice from inside the room.

          Janet opened the door and was immediately treated to her mother’s nearly bare backside. “Really, Mom, a thong?” Janet said, rolling her eyes while closing over the door.

          Wendy laughed and continued slipping the stockings over her long, shapely leg, hooking it in place with the garter and proceeding to the other one. “I don’t want VPLs. The dress is so tight it’ll show everything!” she said, then looking over her shoulder she smiled. “You look stunning, Honey!”

          “Thanks,” Janet said, chewing on a thumb nail.

          “Oh, Janet, don’t bit your nails. You haven’t done that in years. It’s nerves, isn’t it? Well, don’t be nervous. You’ll be wonderful!”

          “Being biased again, Mom,” Janet said, but it helped calm her nerves slightly and she put down her hands, clasping them in front of her. “I’d like to talk if you don’t mind.”

          “About the birds and the bees?” Wendy said, half joking.

Ch 129 The Best Yenta deserves Jimmy Choo shoes

“Wes, are you listening to me?”

“Janet, come quick!” He grabbed her arm and pointed down to the ground “You see that? You did it! You got them together. You are the best yenta ever! Anything you want, Baby, it’s yours…even a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes.”

“Jimmy who? What are you…” She gasped. She suddenly spotted Wes’ father with her aunt and they were kissing…like right in the middle of the crowd of teenagers! “But I didn’t…”

“Sure you did! You just don’t know your own strength, cuz you’re that good. Oh, Janet, this is awesome! My dad’s in love! Come on, let’s go see them!”

“Wes, what are crazy?” she said, trying to hold him back, but in vain. Wes tugged her all the way down the bleachers, pushing passed people getting back to their seats. “Wes, listen to me. One kiss does not make you in love.”

Ch 128 The tired little man

“Mommy, can we go home now?”

May Lyn scooped up her tired little man and gave him a hug. “Not just yet, Honey. The game’s only half over and don’t you want to find Mr. Sebastian first? Stevie said he was going to be here with Cindy and…”

“Der he is!” Tristan suddenly shouted, squirming out of his mother’s arm. “Mr. Bashan!” He hit the ground running, sprinted forward and got instantly swallowed by the milling crowd.

“Tristan!” May shouted. In panic mode she ran after him, but the crowd closed around her and she couldn’t see him anywhere. She was trapped in a sea of people all pushing her further away from her baby.

“Oh, dear God! Tristan!” she shouted breaking free at last.

Ch 127 Glad we did this

Janet sighed contentedly. She loved the feel of Wes’ arms around her. Her head lay on his shoulder, so she was comfy-cozy as you please. She smiled and turned to kiss his neck. “I’m glad we did this,” she whispered.

“Me too,” he replied, kissing her temple and pulling her closer. When she looked up he kissed her sweet lips and they fell into bliss again.

Anyone seeing them like this would think they were miles from anyone in a romantic setting, perhaps sitting by a lake watching the sunset. Instead, they were high up on the bleachers at Orianco high school smack in the middle of a boisterous crowd of football fanatics, mostly West-Castillo fans alternately cheering and moaning as their team did well or poorly. They were mostly moaning and groaning.

Janet and Wes, however, were not in the least interested with the game. Neither did the noise bother them, not one bit. Even the kid next to Wes suddenly jumping up when a touchdown was imminent, and accidently stepping on his foot in frustration when Luke Tramaine himself ran the ball over the line, didn’t register. When they broke apart from their kiss, they smiled and continued ignoring the game, speaking softly amongst all that noise.

“I missed you so bad, Janet. I didn’t like sharing you with Luke,” he said.

She giggled and had been about to say something sarcastic about Luke being a

Ch 126 What’s the big deal

              

          “You’re home… finally!” Wendy said.

          “Sorry I’m so late, Mom,” Janet said, still watching the clip Wes had just given her. “Luke wanted to stay a bit longer since we’re not practicing tomorrow.”

          “I’m glad you’re home. I was hoping we could talk,” Wendy said. When Janet didn’t reply she added, “What are you looking at?”

          “Um…Wes just gave me these two clips of me and Luke singing,” she replied.

          “Ooh, let me see!” Wendy put her face right beside Janet’s and watched the video with her. “Oh, honey, you’re wonderful!”

          “Thanks, but I’m better in this one,” Janet said, showing her mother the next clip. “Practice makes …well, not perfect, but, you know, a little better.”

Ch 125 Even better

   

          “Tell me, Janet, is Luke Tramaine as good looking as I’ve heard?” asked Lydia, Troy’s mother.

          Janet laughed. “Definitely,” she said. “He’s very cute, but he’s super nice, too, so that makes him even better.”

          “Nice!” Lydia said turning onto the road the GPS indicated. “And you get to sing with him, huh? And possibly do other things?”

          “Mrs. Wellington, hasn’t Troy told you I’m dating his friend Wes?” Janet said pointing to the fifth house on the right. “The one with the red beech tree in front is Luke’s.”

          “Yes, he told me, but…I remember how it was in high school with gorgeous bad boys all over the place. Nice boyfriends take a backseat to them.”

          “That’s just it. Luke is gorgeous, but he’s not a bad boy. He’s got a girlfriend—a very nice girlfriend. Alana and I have become good friends, so even if I did have the hots for Luke—which I don’t—I would never move in on my friend’s guy.”

          “Wish I had friends like you in high school! Can’t even count how many friends of mine stole my boyfriends,” Lydia said, pulling in front of the house.

          “You needed better friends, I think,” Janet replied. “Anyway, thanks for the ride here. I really appreciate it.”

“You sure you don’t want me to pick you up after your rehearsal? I have some shopping to do after the dentist appointment…give me a chance to see this stud.”

Ch 124 Prom gowns and dancing

            Wes stepped into the unusually quiet house, put his car keys down on the half-moon accent table his mother bought expressly for the purpose and frowned.

          “Dad? Tristan?” he spoke into the apparently empty house. His father’s car was in the driveway, however, so they had to be here somewhere. It was just a matter of finding them. He walked through the house eventually stopping in the kitchen for a drink. As he popped the top on a can of ginger ale, he heard a shout coming from the backyard.

          He grinned. “Shoulda known,” he muttered, leaving through the back door and stepping onto the patio. He looked around and saw no one, so he walked down the gravel path, skirting the perennial bed full of buzzing bees taking advantage of the sprawling, late-blooming asters, short, compact mums and tall, dark purplish-blue monkshoods. Here Wes could hear more distinctly his father’s low baritone and Tristan’s infectious laughter. He finished his drink, set down the can and climbed up the ladder to his old, no-longer abandoned tree house.

Ch 123 Come on, Janet

          “Oh, come on, Janet!” Wes pleaded. “Let me take you over to Luke’s today.”

          Janet shook her head. “No, Troy’s mom is giving me a ride. She has a dentist appointment in town so she doesn’t mind, and Luke said he’d bring me back home,” she said, before turning serious. “You have to finish up that project proposal so you can come to the gala. You promised. You are working on it, aren’t you?”

          “Yes, of course, but…we’ve hardly spent any time together this week,” he whined as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her close to nestle into his chest. “I miss my yenta.”

          “You make me laugh, Wes! We see each other all day long at school,” she said, her voice muffled as he hugged her tighter.

          “Two minutes here and there isn’t enough,” Wes said.

“You forget English class and we even spend lunch together, and now you’ve brought me home, which, come to think of it, is a waste of precious time…time you should be spending at your computer getting some work done!” she said poking her finger into his chest. “If I didn’t know better I’d say you don’t want to come to the gala with me.”