A Better Reason to Fall in Love (6 page)

“Anything can happen, Naomi,” Tabby said. “If you think about it, it’s really no different than the fact that Professor Anthony Lowery teaches at the same college Luke attended before he enlisted…and who, I might mention, you are currently freaking out over…and who is also the brother of David Lowery, one the biggest jerks at the office…and both just happened to be having lunch with the Derrière-inator, who just happened to know Armando because they were once cliff divers together, and—”

“Okay, okay,” Naomi interrupted. “I guess…I guess it’s all pretty implausible.”

“Right,” Emmy said, smiling at Tabby. “Implausible…but not impossible.”

“I feel good about him, Naomi,” Jocelyn said. Tabby looked to her friend to see an expression of extreme assurance owning her countenance. “No red flags are flapping in my head. He was a perfect gentleman. Furthermore, I’m not the kind of girl you see in all those teenage prom slasher movies—you know, where some crazy psycho fixates on some random cheerleader and follows her around spying on her and stuff.” Jocelyn paused, still smiling. “Call it fate, call it an accident, call it freaky or whatever you want—all I know is I agree with Armando…that first day we saw him, when he said that he might love me. I think…I think I might love him too…eventually.”

“You do?” Tabby asked, knowing full well Naomi was as confused about her own feelings for Professor Anthony Lowery as she was about Jocelyn’s for Armando.

“Of course,” Naomi said. “You’re thinking that
anything
is possible and that the old six degrees of separation theory is working overtime on this one.”

Tabby shrugged, arching her eyebrows in an expression of nonchalance—even though Naomi was dead-on correct. “Maybe,” Tabby said. “But it’s still Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon to me.”

Tabby smiled, delighted by Naomi’s dare. She loved to play the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game. Naturally, it was rather embarrassing proof that she’d seen too many movies over the years, but still, she enjoyed astounding Naomi with her worthless knowledge.

The gist of the game was easy enough—all she had to do was link the Muppets to Kevin Bacon through movies and other actors in six steps or fewer.

Smiling, she looked to Naomi and said, “Michael Caine played Ebenezer Scrooge in
The
Muppet Christmas Carol
, right?”

Naomi nodded and agreed, “Yes.”

“Thus, we begin,” Tabby continued. “The Muppets were with Michael Caine in
The Muppet Christmas Carol
, Michael Caine was in
Miss Congeniality
with Sandra Bullock, Sandra Bullock was in
While You Were Sleeping
with Bill Pullman, Bill Pullman was in
Sleepless in Seattle
with Tom Hanks…and Tom Hanks was in
Apollo 13
with Kevin Bacon.”

Jocelyn and Emmy laughed as Naomi rolled her eyes.

“And that’s in five moves…which is the long way around it,” Tabby teased Naomi. “If you want it in three then…the Muppets were in
Muppet Treasure Island
with Tim Curry…Tim Curry was in
Legend
with Tom Cruise…and Tom Cruise? Well, he just happened to be in
A Few Good Men
with Kevin Bacon.”

Tabby smiled as she pushed her straw onto her right incisor and slurped the remaining root beer out of her cup. Naomi had never been able to stump Tabby when it came to Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon—no one had. Though it wasn’t much to hang her hat on, Tabby enjoyed knowing she’d never been stumped.

“So, in retrospect,” Emmy began, “Jocelyn is falling in love with a cliff-diving restaurant owner, who once worked with Tabby’s dreamboat, the Derrière-inator, who happened to be having lunch last week with Naomi’s heartthrob Professor Anthony Lowery…who just happens to teach at the college where my Luke studied before he enlisted.” Emmy shook her head, adding, “I swear, I couldn’t be more wigged out if Johnny Depp walked through the door right now.”

“I guess it is pretty unfathomable,” Naomi said.

“Oh, yeah…
unfathomable
. That’s exactly the word I would’ve used,” Jocelyn teased with playful sarcasm.

“And I’m sorry, Emmy,” Tabby said, “but you would be a lot more wigged out if Johnny Depp walked through the door right now.”

“True,” Emmy agreed.

“So, Tabby,” Jocelyn said then, “all
you
have to do is find the nerve to ask out the Derrière-inator, and the circle of freakiness will be complete!”

“Oh. Is that all?” Tabby asked, rolling her eyes. “You keep watching that door, Jocelyn,” she said, “and when Johnny Depp walks through it…then I’ll ask out Jagger Brodie.”

“Oh, come on, Tabby!” Emmy whined. “You
love
him! You totally love the Derrière inator!”

“I do not!” Tabby argued, though she felt her cheeks pink up with a blush borne of embarrassment. “You guys are ridiculous.”

Though she hid it well—better than even she could’ve expected—her friends’ harmless teasing struck a tender nerve in her chest. She
did
like Jagger Brodie—and not just because he was hot. He was polite, smart, and well-mannered, and he was nice and respectful to everyone in the office. From the biggest CEO to the little teenage guy who delivered the pizza now and then, Jagger Brodie was always considerate. Tabby knew he was—because she watched him like a stalker. Nobody knew she watched him like a stalker, of course—not even her friends—but she did and simply because he so entirely intrigued her. She’d been crushing on the Derrière-inator since the day she’d first stepped into the office. Thus, she supposed she did love him in a way—loved to study him, if nothing else.

“Just ask him out,” Emmy suggested again. “Or at least start talking to him more often. I swear, every time he says something to you, you clam up like a…like a…”

“Like a clam?” Naomi finished teasingly.

Emmy giggled. “Yeah. Exactly.”

“I do not!” Tabby defended herself. “I talked to him Friday, didn’t I? Have you guys forgotten who it was that walked past the table he was eating lunch at? Have you forgotten who it was that found out about Jagger and Armando having been cliff divers together? Who it was that discovered it was the dashing Professor Lowery sitting with them?”

“Even so,” Emmy said, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: chitchat like that won’t find you making out with him in the break room.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Tabby offered. She took hold of Jocelyn’s hand, checking the time on Jocelyn’s watch. “We have…oh…about three minutes before we need to start heading back. If Johnny Depp walks through that door…” Tabby paused, pointing to the door leading to the aquarium viewing room in which they sat. “If Johnny Depp walks through that door in the next three minutes…then I’ll go straight back to the office and throw myself at Jagger Brodie.”

Emmy made a
tsk
sound with her tongue as she rolled her eyes.

The girls were silent. Not one of Tabby’s friends said a word as they each continued to stare at the door leading into the shark tank viewing room of the aquarium.

Tabby wondered what her friends were thinking—though her own thoughts were not as cheerful as her forced expression of amusement would leave her comrades to think. Emmy had Luke—or at least she would have him when his tour of duty was over. Luke would come home and officially propose (he’d somewhat proposed before he’d left but hadn’t had the chance to buy Emmy a ring), and they would be married by the end of the summer. It was obvious Armando was sweeping Jocelyn off her feet or that Jocelyn had swept Armando off his feet—or both. Tabby guessed it wouldn’t be long before Jocelyn would be lost in the bliss of true love. Even Naomi was having more romantic moments than Tabby was—and Naomi was the cynic of the crew! Tabby could not believe how gaga Naomi was over some college professor she’d only met once. Yep, even Naomi was living a life speckled with crushing that led to romance. Tabby, on the other hand, was little more than a stalker. She smiled to herself, thinking she was more the psycho in some teenage prom slasher movie—the way she watched Jagger Brodie without his knowing it, the way she hung on every word she heard him utter to anyone. Yep—she was an idiot.

In truth, Tabby’s outward nonchalance about the whole thing was exactly that—outward. There were times when she felt so alone—almost hopeless—as if her dreams of finding the man who would love her the way she was capable of loving in return would never appear. Tabby wanted the fairy tale, after all. Not the knight-in-shining-armor-who-saves-the-princess-and-they-live-happily-ever-after fairy tale, but the real one—a husband she could love and laugh with, children she could cuddle and delight over. She wasn’t ignorant enough to think life was easy—all picket fences and a little yellow house with shiny windows perfect. But she’d seen how happy her parents were—still saw it—and that’s what she wanted. Tabby wanted life—love, children, companionship—and yes, romance!

Still, sometimes it seemed she spent more time connecting actors to Kevin Bacon in her head than she did living life. She glanced to Emmy. Emmy was resplendent with the joy Luke’s love gave her. She looked to Jocelyn and could’ve sworn her eyes were shooting beams of light with the residual bliss still lingering in them thanks to Armando’s attentions. Even Naomi had had a wonderful romantic event over the weekend. And then there was Tabby—the redheaded, silent stalker of Jagger Brodie.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Naomi added as Jocelyn began quietly humming the theme to
The Twilight Zone
again.

“What are the odds?” Emmy asked as Tabby watched Jagger Brodie step into the room.

“The Derrière-inator himself,” Jocelyn whispered. She looked to Tabby, smiling. “Well, it ain’t Johnny Depp…but I think it should count!”

“What?” Tabby gasped, frowning.

“Yeah! It should totally count,” Emmy agreed. “I mean…it’s like he’s being handed to you, Tabs. It’s meant to be!”

“And the girl that’s with him…I suppose she’s meant to be too,” Tabby said. Indeed, a girl had entered the room just behind Jagger Brodie and now stood next to him as he studied the sharks behind the large glass wall.

“Oh, that’s just Keira Asner,” Naomi whispered. “She works in accounting…and she’s always panting after Jagger like a puppy.”

“Well, the fact remains that Johnny Depp did not walk through that door,” Tabby said. “So I guess I get to go on crushing on the Derrière-inator from afar.”

“Okay…okay,” Emmy whispered. “So Johnny Depp didn’t walk through the door. So you won the bet and you don’t have to ask Jagger Brodie out. It doesn’t mean you can’t make a concerted effort to talk to him more.” Emmy placed a hand on Tabby’s arm. Tabby looked to her friend to find her eyes filled with emotion—encouragement—almost pleading encouragement.

“You gotta do it, Tabby,” she said. “The days are gone when a girl can just sit back and expect a guy to go for it without giving him any signals that she won’t shoot him down if he does.”