Awakenings - SF1 (61 page)

"Jamie?" the deep voice reverberated through the phone on Sunday night, just minutes after she arrived home.

"Hi, Daddy," she said with a mental rolling of her eyes. She had conversed with her parents infrequently since their last argument and each of the conversations had been rather stilted, if not contentious. Her father had not again brought up his ridiculous idea about her moving back home, though, and for that she was grateful.

"Jamie," he began again, clearing his throat, "I don't like the distance that seems to have developed between us. What can I do to make things right?"

Wow! Someone noticed!
"Well, um...first of all, I'm really glad that it's important to you to stay close," she said fondly. "That means a lot to me, Daddy."

"Of course it's important to me," he insisted. "My relationship with you is the most important one in my life, Jamie. You mean the world to me, and I want you to know that I'll do whatever I can to work on this. I mean...I know we've each said things that we regret and I want you to know that I'm sorry for upsetting you."

"I'm sorry too, Daddy," she murmured as her voice caught. "I don't want you and mother to be angry with me, but I have to learn how to be my own person," she said with conviction.

"I know dear," he soothed. "That's just part of growing up. We'll try to be more supportive of your choices, honey. It's just...well, I guess it's just hard to have your baby become independent," he admitted.

"Thanks, Daddy," she said quietly. "Sometimes it's hard for me too. But I guess growing up is never easy."

"Well, another reason for my call is to discuss your official growing up," he said with a small chuckle. "You know that you're entitled to your first major distribution from the Smith trusts on your birthday. Have you given much thought to that?"

"Um...well, I knew it was happening, but I haven't really spent much time thinking about it. What do I need to do?"

"There are hundreds of decisions to make, Jamie. We're talking about a massive amount of money here," he reminded her. "Do you want to keep the money managers I've hired? Do you want to sell off the securities and take a cash distribution or in kind? Who do you want to represent you?"

"Wait...wait," she begged. "I don't know what I want to do! Do I have to make all of these decisions immediately?"

"Well...yes," he said slowly. "If you want the distribution, you need to be prepared to handle it, Dear."

"What do you mean, 'If I want it?'," she asked slowly.

"The trust makes the first two distributions discretionary," he said easily. "I thought you knew that."

"Okay...back up a bit, Daddy," she said in frustration. "Give me the whole story."

He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "All right, Dear," he soothed. "Here's the story. The bulk of your inheritance will come from the Dunlops, and other than the discretionary income that has been used on your behalf you get nothing from that trust until you are 30. But the Smith money can be distributed in several ways. Your mother and I are the trustees for your funds and we can make 3 distributions to you---25% at age 21, 25% at age 25 and the remainder at 30. But the first two distributions are entirely at our discretion. If you don't want the money or we don't think you're ready for it, we can wait. And as I'm sure you remember, the entire trust is due to be distributed when you marry."

"Yeah, I do remember that," she mused. "I guess I thought I would just take it all at once and Jack could help me figure out what to do with it."

"There's no reason we can't do it that way, Jamie," he assured her. "There are many, many decisions that you have to be prepared to make if you want the money now. If you don't feel up to it, there's no reason to force any more change upon yourself."

"Maybe that would be best," she mused.

"Are you happy with the way things are now?" he asked.

"Yeah...I guess I am," she admitted.

"Then let's hold off," he suggested gently. "Or do you want to discuss this with Jack first?"

"No," she said firmly. "This isn't really Jack's concern."

"Well it will be, Honey," he reminded her. "He's going to be a very, very wealthy man when you marry."

"No..." she explained with more patience than she felt. "He's going to be married to a very wealthy woman...there's a difference, Daddy.

Her father's wry chuckle surprised her a bit, but when he said, "I'm well acquainted with the difference, Jamie," she blushed at her unintentional gaffe.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Daddy, that came out all wrong."

"No offense taken, Jamie," he said easily. "You're absolutely right, of course. And believe me when I tell you that it's vital for you to work out an agreement about how you will handle your money before you marry. Otherwise it will be a constant source of contention."

Oh boy! Another constant source of contention! Just what we need!

Ryan had been pestering Jamie for a week trying to get her to decide what she wanted to do to celebrate her birthday. Since it fell on a Thursday she was not going to see Jack or her parents. Her parents had invited her down for a celebration on Saturday and Jack decided that they should celebrate both her birthday and Valentine's Day since it fell on the following Sunday. Ryan found this arrangement more than odd, but she kept her comments to herself.
The jerk lives 25 minutes from here! He can't drag his ass up here for a couple of hours to celebrate her 21
^st
birthday?! And who wants to lump their birthday in with Valentine's Day? That is beyond cheap!!

On Wednesday Jamie finally decided that she wanted to go to a bar to have a legal drink. This was fine with Ryan but the next problem was finding an acceptable bar. "Where do you normally go?" Jamie inquired.

"I don't go to a lot of bars to be honest," Ryan said. "I don't drink much and I'm not crazy about crowded places. But when I do go to one in the East Bay I usually choose a lesbian bar right on Telegraph. I don't think that's what you had in mind though. Maybe we should ask Mia, I'm sure she knows every hot spot in the Bay area."

"I don't really care about the atmosphere, Ryan. I just want to have a drink without fake I.D.'s"

"
Would you be comfortable in a lesbian bar?"

"Yeah I would if I was with you. Besides, we would be bothered less at a gay place."

"Hey, speak for yourself," she said haughtily as she ineffectively hid a grin.

"You know what I mean, silly. The men there won't want us and you've said that women aren't very aggressive, so I thought we would be left alone."

"That's probably true" she replied. "It's fine with me if that's what you want to do. How about dinner first?"

"Sure. You pick where we go. Why don't you come over at 6 or so to pick me up?"

As promised Ryan showed up slightly before 6 o'clock. She was dressed in her black silk t-shirt and a new pair of black lightweight wool slacks with deep pleats. The pants were held up by a thin black belt and they draped attractively over her long legs. Her black leather jacket was draped casually over her shoulder. "We need to get going, Jamie. I made reservations for dinner at 6 sharp."

"Reservations? We're going somewhere that you need reservations?" she asked in surprise.

"It's your birthday, knucklehead. I thought it would be nice to take you somewhere where the biggest question isn't 'You want fries with that?' "

"You wait right here, I'm going to change," she said as she looked down at her jeans and golf shirt. "I need to keep up with my escort. You look so
…
so
…
"

"Evil?" Ryan supplied helpfully, her face breaking into a crooked grin.

"No, I'd say you look sleek," she decided.

"Sleek, I think I like that," she mused.

5 minutes later Jamie came down the stairs in an outfit that clearly rivaled her escorts in terms of sleekness. She had changed into a little black crepe tube dress that followed every curve of her slim body. The little dress was covered by a supple black leather bolero jacket that gleamed dully in the light of the staircase. Small black flats finished the look. "I've decided that we should both be PIBS," Jamie announced.

"PIBS?" Ryan inquired as she slowly walked around her friend, looking at her outfit with open appreciation.

"People In Black," she replied. "It's very L.A."

"If this is how they look in L.A., I'm moving tomorrow," Ryan said decisively.

"You are such a tease Ms. O'Flaherty," she replied.

"Oh, I'm not teasing," she said with mock sobriety. "You just look so...so....so..." Ryan fumbled.

"Sleek?" Jamie inquired.

"Yes, but more than that," she pondered her image again. "Sophisticated, glamorous, sexy, somewhere in there," she finally decided as she waved her hands in the air.

"That's probably because my mother bought this for me. She forced me to attend an art exhibit down in SOMA and she insisted that all of my clothes were either too 'mainstream', or 'juvenile'."

"Well," Ryan reflected, "I would agree that is one of the least juvenile outfits I have ever seen," she said appreciatively.

As they left the house Ryan dashed ahead and opened her car door, waiting until Jamie was settled before she gently shut it.
Jack could learn some manners from her,
she thought. Ryan drove, of course, and they pulled up to the valet at 'Chez Panisse' at 6 sharp.

"Ryan, you are so sweet! I told you I liked this place months ago. It's adorable that you remembered," she enthused.

Ryan gave her a curious look as she replied, "If it's important enough for you to tell me it's important enough for me to remember." As she held the door for her she related, "I couldn't get reservations downstairs, but I thought we would be more comfortable upstairs anyway. It's a lot more casual," she said happily.

"I actually prefer the upstairs. It's not filled with stuffy businessmen trying to impress clients. Normal people from the neighborhood eat upstairs," she said knowledgeably.

Jamie ordered her favorite meal; a small steak with French fries. Ryan had rack of lamb with some delectable oil-roasted rosemary potatoes. She insisted on ordering a bottle of wine but made Jamie pick out the vintage since she was wholly ignorant on the subject. Jamie was just a bit disappointed that the server did not ask for her I.D., but she had to admit that she was glad that she looked over 21 tonight.

They had a thoroughly enjoyable dinner. Jamie was impressed that Ryan seemed very comfortable in this atmosphere even though she was certain that she did not dine out much. After they had savored cups of cappuccino and a delightful piece of chocolate silk cake they headed home. The bar was very close to her house so rather than trying to park they had planned on walking. After they had parked the car Ryan dashed out to her bike and removed something large that had been lashed to the seat. She carried the big box into the house with a wide grin on her face.

Jamie tried to wrestle the box from her hands but Ryan held it securely, finally holding it above the laughing woman's head. "What makes you think this is for you anyway?" she teased.

"Because it's my birthday and you are too sweet not to give me a present, even though you don't need to," she replied logically.

"Well, you've got me there. This is for you," she said as she presented the box to Jamie with a flourish.

Jamie proceeded to rip off the wrapping paper and tear the heavy cardboard in a matter of seconds. She was delighted to pull out a brand new bright yellow motorcycle helmet. "Ryan this is so cool!" she said gleefully. "I absolutely love it!"

"I've been worried about you wearing my spare," Ryan admitted. "My spare is fairly large so that anyone can wear it. But I wanted to get you one that would fit properly. Your head is mighty important to me, you know," she said as she began to adjust the helmet properly. The fit was perfect and now Jamie wanted to take the bike to the bar. Ryan agreed conceptually, but she suggested that Jamie might want to change first. "Have you ever ridden a motorcycle in a short tight skirt?" she asked helpfully.

"Oh, good point," she said with a little blush. "Should I change or should we drive my car?"

"I'm very content to have you remain in that outfit," she said with an eyebrow waggle. "But you get to choose. It's your birthday."

"Can I drive?" she begged as her face scrunched into an adorable little pout.

Ryan pursed her lips as though deep in thought. But she quickly let her face slide into a grin as she admitted, "You know I'm powerless against that puppy dog face. Of course you can."

"Be right back," she said as she ran up the stairs to change.

In a surprisingly short time Jamie came trotting back downstairs, still looking lovely, but much more equipped to drive a motorcycle. The short black leather jacket remained but now it covered a white turtleneck. Neat black jeans topped shiny black boots, now firmly placing Jamie into the sleek category. "Do you often have to warn your dates not to wear skirts?" she teased as they made their way to the driveway.

"Well, no," Ryan admitted with a leer. "I encourage my dates to wear short skirts."

Jamie was concentrating on getting onto the bike and she hadn't noticed Ryan's leering grin. "Why would you..." she started to say but the obvious answer came to her quickly. "Ryan!" she cried as she slapped her friend in the stomach. "You are such a..."

"Letch?" she once again helpfully supplied.

"At least!" her giggling companion agreed.

Moments later they pulled up to a rare legal parking space near the bar. It was still early and there were not many people in the establishment. It was dark and smelled of smoke even with the ordinance that banned smoking in bars. Jamie figured that years of smoke smell had just permeated the walls.

"Well, well, well," smiled the bartender. "The class factor in here just went up 100%," she said as she shook Ryan's hand. "Haven't seen you for a while, Ryan. I would ask what you've been up to, but it's pretty obvious," she teased as she regarded Jamie with a long look.

"You are incorrigible, Sandy," she grinned as she shook her head. "This is Jamie. Tonight is her 21st birthday, so treat her right."

"You certainly look like you're used to being treated right, Jamie," she said as she leaned over the bar a bit and moved her head close. "I guarantee that I'll continue that tradition," she purred.

Jamie unconsciously moved closer to Ryan and meekly ordered a white wine spritzer. Ryan asked for the same, although without the wine. After Sandy had placed their drinks before them Jamie whispered with a laugh, "I thought you said women didn't come on so strong."

"Sandy would be the most surprised person in the world if anyone ever took her up on one of her propositions. She's been in a committed relationship for years but she loves to joke around," Ryan informed her.

They found two stools near the rear of the bar. The juke box was on and the volume was a little higher than Jamie would have preferred but they could hear each other if they leaned close. "So what do you think?" Ryan asked. "Is it what you expected?"

"Well," she said as she looked around, "I have not been to a lot of neighborhood bars but from the few I've seen this one looks pretty typical. If you looked in quickly you wouldn't notice it was a gay place at all. Are most gay bars like this?"

"No, this is more like your typical middle class lesbian place. Some of the weekend clubs are very glitzy and appeal more to the 'lipstick lesbians'. I don't know why, but I feel more comfortable here. There are tons of good looking women at the weekend places but they're always really noisy. I think I just like the more laid back atmosphere of this place."

"Why do you call them weekend places?"

"Some promoters have a traveling club that is only open 1 night a month or 1 night a week. You'll see signs up advertising where the party will be. It's a lot cheaper to just rent a place for 1 night. Then they don't have the upkeep of keeping a place open on the slow nights."

"But you don't like them?"

"No, it's not that. Sometimes they're a lot of fun. But they're real high energy and um...
well, let's just say that I wouldn't take a date to one."

"Why not?"

"It's hard to um
…
well, I tend to um..."

"You get hit on a lot don't you?" she said with a big grin.

Ryan's chagrined look was a clearly affirmative answer. "There's usually a lot of people that I know that go to those and it gets kind of embarrassing," she admitted shyly.

"You can't help it that you're irresistible," she teased.

"It's hardly that, Jamie. I've just dated so darn many women that it seems like half of the city knows me when I go to one of those big parties."

"Well, I think it's because you're so darned cute," she said as she tweaked her nose. "I've got to use the rest room. Is it right there?" she asked as she pointed.

"Yep. It's just behind that wall. I'll keep your seat warm."

There were about 5 women in line and she waited patiently while she watched a spirited game of pool. When she emerged from behind the partition she was surprised and a bit peeved to see someone on her stool.
I don't get any respect in this community
, she thought crossly.
Hitting on her when I g
o to the bathroom! Unacceptable
!

She marched right over and slid in between Ryan and the stranger. Ryan's legs were splayed wide apart and she nestled herself right between them as she leaned back against her. When she received a rather wide eyed look from the woman she smiled sweetly and said, "Hi, I'm Jamie, Ryan's date. Who are you?"

"Just leaving," she said quickly as she did just that.

Ryan's head moved forward just a bit to rest on Jamie's shoulder. Her deep chuckle rumbled across Jamie's back as she said, "I guess I could take you to one of those weekend clubs. You'd just open a can of whupass on anyone who got near me."