Personal Assistant (14 page)

       
“Look,
I know you trust my driving, but I don’t feel comfortable driving
your
vehicles, why in the world would
you force me to drive
someone else’s
?”
Really, Frankie thought, he could be arrogant in ways she hadn’t predicted.

       
“I
know.” He jangled the keys again.

       
Frankie
put her hand to her forehead and rubbed the tension building there. She
practically growled as she rolled up the window, grabbed her purse and got out
of her car. She snatched the keys from his hand. “I can’t believe you are doing
this to me. I don’t understand. I try my best to make sure everything you want
is done in a timely manner and you reward me by borrowing…”

       
“I
didn’t borrow it,” he quipped.

       
“What?”

       
“I
didn’t borrow it.” He crossed his arms and looked at her as if waiting for
something to register that she didn’t understand.

       
“You
rented it? So I could drive you to meet your family for dinner?” It didn’t make
any sense.

       
“Part
of that is true. I do want you to drive me to dinner. I plan to drink as I have
something new to celebrate. I didn’t rent the car, I bought it. It’s not mine,
Frankie. It’s yours.” He walked past her and around the front of the vehicle as
she stood shell-shocked.

       
He
put his hands on the hood and tapped out a little drum rhythm. “You
gonna
let me in or just stand there?”

       
“I
can’t take this.” She turned to him. Tears began to sting her eyes. No one had
ever given her something that cost more than a hundred bucks, and those gifts
had come from her parents in the form of gift cards at Christmas. She had
bought her first car, a
clunker,
with money she earned
working at the bookstore. She bought the car she had now, a certified used
vehicle, with part of the money she made working and part of the money she got
from student loans. She could have spent her salary, something that she
considered decent money until stepping into this world, on a new car, but it
would be wasteful since she didn’t need it. “You can’t give me something like
this. I can’t repay it, I don’t...”

       
“Shit,
Frankie. I didn’t think you would get upset. I thought you would be excited.”
He moved back around the car to stand in front of her. He put his hands on her
shoulders and turned her towards him. He let out a strangled laugh and said,
“Consider it more for me than you. I don’t like your car. I hate it. I…”

       
“Are
you just saying that?” She looked up at him. Somewhere inside her hurt to think
what she had wasn’t good enough. Not just her car. It was simply one of many
things they saw differently.

       
“Frankie,
I just want you to take the gift. Be happy about it. Come with me to dinner
and…”

       
“Come
with you?” she asked. She took a step back. He didn’t mention her coming to
dinner with him.

       
“Yeah.”
He frowned. “Why? Did you have other plans?”

       
She
was sure the expression on her face was an ugly one. She was befuddled, her
brain not thinking clear.
Too much processing too fast.
She tried a couple of times to start to say something,
then
stopped.

       
Finally
he shook his head and said, “That’s what I thought. Come on, open the doors,
drive me to dinner, and if you still hate the car tomorrow I will park it in
the garage and you can donate it to charity or something.”

       
“Me?”
she gasped.

       
“It’s
your car, Frankie. I put it in your name.” He walked around the front of the
car and mumbled something that sounded a lot like, “Impossible to please this
woman.”

       
A
bit stunned, Frankie pressed the unlock button on the smooth “key”. The car had
an automatic start button, every bell and whistle, including features she
didn’t know existed. She would need to spend a lot of time learning the
vehicle. She didn’t mind the plush seats, the way the steering wheel felt
against her palms. The smooth surface was far from the hard ring she was used
to spinning.

       
They
drove the entire way to the restaurant in silence, except for the navigation
system’s directions. He had been deflated by her rejection and she had been
overwhelmed by his generosity. She finally broke the silence and asked, “Should
I come back to get you?”

       
“You
too good to eat dinner with my family now?” he grumbled.

       
“No.”
She hung her head low. “I didn’t think you still wanted me to.”

       
“I
always want you, Frankie. That seems to be my problem these days.” He slid a
finger along her thigh up until he could feel the material connecting the thigh
highs to the garter belt. He pulled it and let it pop against her thigh. “I
want something I obviously can’t have.”

       
He
left her stunned, sitting in the car a moment. He arrived at her door, opened
it and said, “Well?”

       
She
lost her footing getting out of the car. She stumbled, grabbed his arm for
support and he held on until she was steady. “I’m sorry.”

       
“Everyone
stumbles.” He let go of her arm and they walked into the nice, quiet, Italian
restaurant.

       
She
followed behind him as he navigated his way to a secluded section where his
sister, brother-in-law, and nephew waited for him. Frankie would have loved to
feel comfortable in the environment, but as she sat down she realized her and
the toddler were the only two non-actors at the table.

       
“You
will never guess what happened today.” Janice, his sister said as she greeted
him by standing and giving him a hug and kiss on the cheek.

       
“What?”
he asked as he pulled out the chair for Frankie to take a seat next to him. His
nephew ran around the table to climb into his arms.

       
“They
want little man here to be in a commercial with his dad.” She laughed, smiled
her famous smile. They shared a few key attributes, gorgeous eyes, gorgeous
lips, and gorgeous hair. “It’s a parenting initiative for that charity we
donated to last year. Isn’t that great?”

       
Frankie
held the smile on her face perfectly in place. Even though she was the only
non-actor at the table, she was pretty sure she was the only one acting at the
moment. They were being a family. She was…trying to be a good assistant? She
wasn’t sure anymore. Getting pulled into his world, into his family like this
was not part of the deal. She was supposed to wait, come back, or sit nearby.
She was the help, not his date.

       
“Fane-
kie
.”
The toddler pointed.

       
“Yes,
little man that is Frankie.” His dad answered.

       
“Fane-
kie
.”
He said again leaving
out the r sound.

       
“He’s
still working on r’s Frankie, forgive him.” Janice, his sister, said. This was
the first time she had met Janice in person, though they had spoken several
times on the phone. She was a bit surprised the toddler had heard her name
enough to try to say it, much less know it was her.

       
How
could she do anything less than smile at the little
bugger.
He had his mother’s eyes, and his daddy’s personality. The toddler was a
sweetheart, just like Buddy. He made her feel at ease.

       
Buddy
was much easier to be around than the Gunners. After all, he didn’t grow up
with the fame and fortune. He had become an actor late in his teens and worked
odd roles before landing smaller parts and eventually co-starring roles. One of
those had him co-starring with his brother-in-law, most likely how he wound up
with Jonas’s sister.

       
Frankie
sat quietly, almost invisible, except for the few questions Buddy would toss
her way now and then as if to remind everyone she was there. Dinner had been
placed before them, Jonas had shared his big news about the contract and how
thrilled the studio was he had chosen the trilogy. Frankie looked at the salads
they had all ordered and then at her plate of fettuccini Alfredo. Only the baby
had ordered pasta. They were in one of the most amazing little restaurants
ever. It seemed again, like a waste, but this time not a waste of money, it was
a waste of experience. Even the waiter looked offended by the triple dose of
lettuce.

       
Janice
looked at the plate and said, “I hate award season. I would love to order
something more, but I have to stay this exact size in order to fit into the
dresses. They tailor those things so much I am always afraid of gaining a
pound. And right now…”

       
Frankie
knew she stopped because it was not public knowledge that she was pregnant.
Frankie was not family and Buddy had not likely confessed he told her and Jonas
at the same time.

       
“Just
wear a dress from the closet. I’m only eating this salad because I went by that
restaurant again today and got a burger and fries at lunch.” Buddy admitted
with a guilty smile. “I took the motorcycle, Frankie, don’t worry I won’t out
the place as a new hotspot.”

       
His
sister looked at her husband and then to Frankie and Frankie could feel the
uneasy moment, but wasn’t sure what to do about it.

       
Buddy
put his hand on his wife’s back and continued, “I’m not up for any awards, not
hosting, presenting, or worrying about which designer is going to come fit me
into a tux I have to return, or worse, buy to hang in the closet next to
another tux that, if you ask me, looks exactly the same. I have a few that fit
just fine. I can have one tailored if I need to a few days before, and that is
what I do to escort my lovely wife to these events.  I get it,” he said
pointing from his wife to his brother-in-law, “but I don’t agree with it. I
think it’s a shame to have an opportunity like this and not be able to enjoy
it. Had I known we were coming here tonight, I…you know what…” He put his hand
in the air to motion for the waiter.

       
“You
never told me you felt that way,” Janice said sincerely.

       
“You
had a burger?” Jonas asked.

       
“Sweetheart,
you
gotta
do what you think is best for you, but I
would rather you buy a dress that you love the week before and feel comfortable
in it than to have you avoid food you love for the chance of getting on a best
dressed list. You’re always the best dressed on my list.” Buddy smiled. The
waiter arrived. “I want the special.”

       
The
waiter looked so relieved someone else had come to their senses.

       
Janice
leaned in and gave him a sweet smooch on the lips. “
Thanks,
honey.”

       
“Tell
me it wasn’t the best burger you ever ate.” Jonas stated.

       
“So good.
I mean I would have ordered it that day, but I had
already…” Buddy looked at Frankie, back to Jonas. “I had already… had red meat
that morning.”

       
“When
was this?” Janice asked.

       
“You
know,” Buddy shrugged. “That day I left to meet Jonas for lunch.”

       
“Yeah.”
Janice turned to look at her brother. “What was with
that? I mean out of nowhere Buddy tells me he had to meet you for lunch. We
just ate lunch. But he insisted on going. Said you needed some guy time. I can
barely get any time with you anymore. Is everything all right?”

       
That’s
what sister’s did. They punched holes in the stories their brother’s told.
Frankie wasn’t sure if she should be flattered or furious. Did he make last
minute plans to test her skills or to keep her around longer? It was her first
day on the job and he may have just been hazing her, or maybe he was thinking
about getting her undressed well before the night’s events had taken over. His
enigmatic expression revealed nothing.

       
Frankie
focused on the noodles, the creamy white sauce, the garlic buttered bread, this
plate of pasta wouldn’t solve her problem right now, but it sure was a nice
distraction. “This pasta is delicious.”

       
All
eyes went to the pasta.

       
“Fane-
kie
, tie mine.”
His nephew
held up a fork full of sloppy spaghetti noodles with red sauce dripping down
his hand onto his arm.