Progress (The Progress Series) (4 page)

“Well, kind of. They still got their baseball diamond. But I was in charge of doing the research and presenting the information to the City Council. They later said that it was my testimony that had swayed their decisions. I didn’t do any of the legwork, though. Other people had to go door to door getting petitions signed and stuff. I just buried my head in books about frogs for six weeks.” She tried not to brag.

“You must really like frogs…” he said, raising one eyebrow.

She noted his sarcasm and smiled widely. “I suppose. But it was more of the principle.”

“So, are you Little-Miss-Do-Gooder? Do you look in the newspaper every weekend to see what kind of volunteer opportunities there are for a young lady in the suburbs? Are you going to fly to Africa and feed the children dying of AIDS or build a house for a blind quadriplegic that blows through a tube to move through his hallway?” His face was unreadable.

And again with this guy’s mouth! Who does he think he is?

“Are you kidding me?” she asked, her smile faded.

“What?”

“How disrespectful!” Her stride came to an abrupt halt. “Are you naturally this much of a prick or do you really just feel the need to repel everyone you speak to?”

Doesn’t he realize that he was rude?

He looked away. “I guess it’s both,” he said after a pause. “This was a bad idea. I’m gonna go,” he muttered, turning away.

Her mind twisted for a long moment, debating what to do. The light was diminishing from the parking lot and it was getting harder and harder to see him, his silhouette fading.

“Are you running away from me, Jess?” she shouted.

He got to the road, sat down on the curb of the busy street and began speaking out loud.

As she got closer to her car, she heard the first honk. Snapping her head up, she surveyed the scene. Sitting blissfully ignorant on the curb, Jess had his arms crossed over his chest as three separate cars had to swerve suddenly to avoid hitting him.

After sprinting to him, she yanked him off the curb and found herself lying in the grass with stains on her jeans.

“You were about to be crushed! Are you crazy?” she said as she stood up to wipe her pants off and marched for the car.

“Yes!”

She paused mid-stride and faced him.

“Yes! I’m fucking crazy! That’s what you think, right? Crazy, stupid, messed up?” he shouted.

“I don’t think you’re stupid.” Her tone grew soft.

“Oh, but I’m not as smart as Adam,” he snapped, running his hand though his hair.

What does that mean? Adam, our greasy manager? What does he have to do with this?
She stood and stared down at her shoes, her courage building as she found her words.

“You’re just so rude and outspoken. You don’t need to say everything that creeps up into your brain. Don’t you care who you offend?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be so sensitive,” he snapped.

Her jaw dropped open and her brow creased.

“Let’s go look at your frogs now,” he said as he brushed her arm walking past her.

Okay. I’m seriously beginning to question my own sanity staying with him. Will anyone hear me, or see me if something happens? Is there enou
gh light for someone to find me? What shoes am I wearing in case I have to run?

She didn’t trust anything about him. Then again, she didn’t trust easily anyway. She really didn’t have much to lose, unless he wanted to take her virginity. Which, at this point, she would have given to a passerby.

She followed with a slight hesitancy.

He sat down in front of the pond and patted the grass next to him. “Saved a seat for you.”

“You are so confusing.” She couldn’t help but smile at his charm and warmth, at his inability to communicate, and that contradiction. Hot and cold was an understatement.

“I know, Red. Bear with me. I’ve never had many friends.” He looked around, and with a smile he said, “I guess that’s kind of obvious!” He laughed.

A smile emerged as she nudged his arm. “Me either.” They sat back with their arms extended backwards and legs outstretched in front of them.

“So, what now?” he asked.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” she said.

“Nothing. It was a stupid question.” He retreated.

“What do you want to do, Jesse?”

“Smoke. I want to smoke.”

“You better start buying your own packs; otherwise I’ll think you’re using me for my Marlboro Mediums.” She grinned and threw the pack at him.

“I’ll buy you a pack tomorrow, Red.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Zippo.

They sat through the night until the horizon lightened. By then, they had both stretched out and were lying on the ground, listening to the chirping of crickets and frogs.

“You saved those frogs.”

“Nah, I didn’t do much.” She shrugged.

“Yes you did. You should be proud of yourself. They couldn’t exist without you.”

Charlie looked over at Jesse’s shadowed face just as he turned his head to avoid eye contact.

“Let me ask you something…” he said suddenly, sitting up, startling her.

“Shoot,” she said.

“Why are you still here with me?” he asked.

She considered carefully before answering, because she honestly didn’t have an answer.

When she didn’t respond immediately he added, “Because I’m not gonna fuck you, ya know.”

She huffed and threw her arms in the air. “Charming.”
Okay. Done. See ya.
She stood and started walking toward her car.
How inappropriate!
The rage over his remark busied itself in her mind as she turned and snarled, “I have never had a boyfriend, never dated, none of it! So before you make an assumption about who I am or why I’m still here, take into consideration that I’m not gonna
fuck
you either!”

Her pace quickened and she pounded her feet into the ground with each step. “Way to ruin a nice evening, Jesse!” she yelled over her shoulder.

Enraged, she arrived at her car and savagely dug into her purse in search of her keys.  Hearing his shoes on the gravel behind her, she turned.

Staring at the ground, he was fumbling with a blade of grass. He looked surprised, hurt, and ashamed -- like he had no idea what he’d done wrong.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. Taking a slow step toward her, Jesse leaned in and she flinched. Her fingertips went numb and she forgot to breathe.

He slowly but chastely kissed her cheek.

Charlie watched as Jesse walked down the sidewalk away from her until he was gone.

*

That evening, Charlie went home and exercised again. This time, for over forty-five minutes. She had done well the past few days on her diet and was starting to feel her clothes loosen around her waist.  It was a good start, but she had a long journey ahead.

Charlie woke after three hours of sleep, showered, and dressed as usual for her Wednesday morning shift. “Parm and Pepp” day.
Ugh.

“Parm and Pepp” day was the day designated to wash and refill all of the parmesan and crushed red pepper holders at every table. The task itself wasn’t so bad, but it required her to be at work an hour earlier than usual.

The only people there that early were the manager and two prep cooks. The silence was refreshing. Charlie set up the tables, stocked the stations, and headed for the back to begin the chore of filling the bottles. The peppers always made her sneeze.

After organizing the racks that held the clean bottles, she began filling each one. Smiling, she thought about Jesse and his apology. She had probably forgiven him before he even asked, before the sweet kiss on her cheek.

“You still mad?” Jesse asked, startling her.

Shattering a bottle of parmesan on the floor, she said, “I wasn’t.”

He laughed and walked over to the pantry for the broom and dustpan. “Quit making me apologize. Sounding sincere isn’t one of my strong suits,” he said as he scooped up the parmesan and winked.

Emptying out the dustpan into the garbage a few feet away, he turned and looked at her. “So, you’ve never…ya know? I mean,
never
?”

Charlie looked around the kitchen in embarrassment. She was happy to find no one near. Taking a step closer to him she whispered, “No,
never
.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Why?” she asked skeptically.

“You’re--” he started, cutting himself off in mid-sentence.

Charlie saw him swallow and his expression harden, just before walking toward the dining room. She gave him a half smile and got back to work.

*

“Hey, table fourteen just asked me if I could check on their food. Are you helping them?” Jesse asked later that afternoon during the lunch rush.

“Yeah, I’ll take care of it, thanks,” Charlie said in a frenzy.

“Hey. Calm down. What can I help you with?” Jesse tugged at her apron string.

After regaining the strength in her knees at the mere thought of his hand being that close to her, she collected her thoughts and answered, “Twelve needs two Diet Cokes and twenty-three needs a bread basket. Thank you so much. Rae is really in the weeds here.”

“I got it. Take it easy. Go seat the people waiting in the front.” He slapped her backside and she took off her apron to greet the guests with a bright red face.

When she got back to the front after Rae had regained control of her tables, Charlie asked Adam if she could take a smoke break. She should have known by now that simple eye contact titillated him; actually speaking to him affected him in a lewd way. He nodded and licked his lips.

Yuck.

Once outside, she inhaled the cigarette like no other before it. Jesse opened the door abruptly and it hit her on the ankle.

“Ouch!”

“Oh, uh. Sorry. What are you doing after your shift today?” he asked, after taking a cigarette from her pack.

“Going home, taking a shower and relaxing. You?”

“I was going to go for a ride…” he told her.

“A ride?”

“Yeah. Wanna come with me?”

“Depends. What are we riding?” She tried not to think about the sexual implication in her question.

He smiled. “A bicycle.”

“Oh god, no thanks. I fell off a bike as a kid. A bad fall. They’re not really my thing,” she said.

“C’mon. You gotta get back on a bike someday!”

“Why can’t I just stay off of them?”

He rolled his eyes at her.

“I’m not riding a bike again, Jesse. Period.”

“Fine. No bike ride today. But I’m going to get you to ride again.
” He smirked and flicked his chin upward. “Let’s go have lunch somewhere then?”

“Are you sure you can fit me in? I mean, between Tricia, Christy, and Kendra?” she asked snidely.

He bit his bottom lip while trying to hide a smile. “Yeah, I can fit you in.”

“Fine. Where?”

“I’ll drive us,” he said.

*

After her shift, Charlie changed into a spare outfit she had stashed in the backseat of her car and made her way to a booth in the bar. Within seconds, Jesse joined her.

“Hey, I have to run home quick and change. I smell like a pizza. You can come in and wait. I’ll only be a minute,” Jesse said.

“Okay,” she said, surprised she was going to see where he lived. His attitude and mercurial iciness had shifted in the past twenty-four hours. He was much more consistently receptive and kind today, like a revelation had occurred for him.

They hopped in his Honda and headed south. He was listening to a catchy tune that Charlie didn’t recognize. It was Reggae, but with a fast tempo, fused with strange guitar distortions.

“What are we listening to?” she asked.

“Rx Bandits. Third-wave SKA. Love ‘em,” he said, playing the drums on his dash. “Do you like it?”

“Amazingly enough, I do. It’s fun.” A smile swept her face and she glowed with anticipation for the afternoon. She was enjoying him and not worrying about what he’d say next, at ease with him for the first time.

“How many waves are there?” she asked sincerely.

“Ha! Just three.”

They pulled into a driveway that led to a house not far from hers. It was in a quiet neighborhood where homes looked like they were built in the sixties. The house was two stories, brown with white trim, and needed a paint job. The screens were dirty, but the landscaping was simple and clean. A short brick wall segregated the mulch from the grass, and two lilac bushes flanked either side of the front door, which had three concrete steps leading to it.

“You wanna come in, or do you want to just wait out here? I’ll only be a few minutes…” he asked, taking the keys out of the ignition and cutting off the music suddenly.

I’m not passing up this chance.