Enticing An Angel (9 page)

She quickly took pity on him, as she was
learning to do, and put her hand on his chest. Her smile faded
slightly, and in its place was a warm contented look.

"Thank you for that, Michael."

She could tell by his look that he was about
to make a joke, but he refrained. Instead, he merely nodded his
head with understanding.

Good, Angel
, she thought with a laugh
and smiled broadly up to him.

"Melanie," he said with a smile as he took
her hand and twirled her. She let him do it and moved lithely. "You
aren't falling in love with me are you?"

He was joking and teasing her by repeating
her question from the night before, but the comment caught her off
guard. She recovered quickly and teased him that he should be so
lucky. However, as they walked the streets, a dangerous and
unsettling realization came to her.

Damn, I think I am.

For the next few weeks, the two lovers spent
a great deal of time together. Each day they went to work, but the
evenings were spent at Melanie's apartment making dinner or making
love. Michael eventually brought his laptop and sketchpad so that
he could work on designs for his upcoming deadline. Melanie took a
look, but had to raise an eyebrow at the flat line drawings on the
screen. She could make more sense of his sketches and commented
that he should present those to his clients.

"Somehow, I don't think they'll be
impressed," he replied.

"Oh, I don't know," she answered as she sat
on the arm of her couch, feet on the cushions, and leaning over him
to look at his sketchpad.

"I think it shows some class," she said with
a smile.

"Well, I think they would rather have the
Koehler toilet and a glass storefront," he replied. "However, I
have to punch up the representational artwork for them, so I could
probably add some flowers or rose bushes to the image."

"Ooh, don't go crazy," she said with a
grin.

Michael pushed her and she lost her balance
as she began to fall backward.

"Ah," she cried out.

He only let her fall far enough to feel the
loss of control and quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and
hauled her onto the couch with him.

"Don't worry, sweetie. Your personal Angel
has you," he said as he kissed her.

"If you hadn’t pushed me, I wouldn't need an
Angel, you big lump of muscle."

Michael laughed and stood from the couch to
stretch his arms and legs. He’d been staring at his laptop for an
hour and his neck was sore.

"Melanie, are you busy this Saturday?"

"Why?" she said casually as she walked back
to her canvas.

"One of my brother's is having a birthday.
We're going to have dinner at my mom's, and I thought you might
like to come."

Melanie stopped in her tracks and looked at
Michael carefully.

Oh shit, he's serious
, she
thought.

That fact was obvious by Michael's cavalier
attitude. He didn't appear to think much of the request. In fact,
he was just massaging his neck and turning his head in odd
motions.

"You want me to meet your family?" she
asked.

"Sure, why not?"

"Um, don't you think that’s a little
overkill?"

Michael stopped his massage and turned to her
with a confused look on his face.

"Overkill?"

"Michael, we just started dating, and it
isn't even that serious."

Michael turned grave and watched Melanie
carefully.

"Am I missing something here? I'm just
talking about going to a party, eating dinner, and having some
cake. What's serious about that?"

Melanie shook her head. She was often amazed
at the stupid things men could say; and for as intelligent as
Michael was, he could sometimes do dumb things.

"Come on," he said as he approached her and
kissed her on the forehead. He suddenly began to laugh hysterically
and Melanie shot him the oddest look.

Now, what the hell is he laughing at
?
she thought.

She followed her thought with the actual
question, and Michael stopped laughing, but did continue to smile
widely as he spoke.

"Oh, it was just the thought of you around my
brothers—not to mention my mother. The scene was funny."

"Why is that?" she asked.

And the answer better be good, you big
oaf
, she thought.

"Well, Brian can be a little gruff, Nathan is
still in mourning over the passing of his wife and Joshua can't
stand women. You'd probably get along with David the best, but he
has work so he can't be there. Anyway, you’re a ray of sunshine,
and I was just wondering how those interactions will go."

"Uh huh," she said as she crossed her arms
and began to tap her foot, "and what about your mother?"

Michael just waved his hand as if to shrug
off the idea. "Oh, my mother will be ecstatic that I have a woman
in my life. When I told her I had a date last week, I thought she
was going to dance a jig."

"A jig?"

"Yeah, it's a funny little dance…"

"I know what a jig is," she said still
tapping a foot.

Michael smiled at her again and she
glared.

"Do you see the tapping foot? That means I'm
not happy," she said as she actually pointed to her foot.

"Oh, I thought you were trying to find a
Steampunk beat," he said with a wide grin.

Melanie tilted her head. She was not amused
at his joke. Michael continued to smile, then opened his arms and
gave her a hug. She had a choice of whether to unfold her arms or
remain cross at him. She decided on the former and hugged him
back.

"Look," he said, "you don't have to go if you
don't want to. Honestly, I didn't think it was a big deal. I just
thought it would be fun to have you there. It would also be fun to
get my mother off my back."

Melanie looked up at him as he hugged her and
gave him a skeptical look. She was very uncertain about this but
decided to consider it.

"Which brother is having a birthday?" she
asked.

"Joshua, he's turning twenty-five. He's also
the youngest."

"And he's the one that can't stand women?"
she asked.

Michael pulled away. "Oh, you'll be fine.
You're not trying to date him, and he wouldn't want to date you.
Besides, my mother will keep him in line."

Melanie kept her eye on Michael as he began
to massage his neck again.

"So, why does he hate women?" she asked.

Michael paused for a second and stared at her
blankly.

"That's personal," he replied. The levity had
gone out of his face. Melanie didn't buy it and shook her head.

"Uh, huh," she said. "You see, this is what I
mean. You invite me to your meet your family, drop a bombshell
about a brother hating women, and then say it's personal. That's
not really fair now is it?"

"I'm not sure I should say. It's his
life."

Melanie shook her head and came to Michael.
She patted him on the chest while sporting a patronizing smile.

"Now do you understand why inviting me to
meet your family is a big deal? Is it possible that sometime during
this party I might actually find out why he hates women?"

Michael opened his mouth to speak and then
quickly shut it again. The movement was comical, but Melanie
refrained from laughing. He was thinking about her words, and she
believed he needed to consider them carefully. After a moment,
Michael hung his head and spoke carefully.

"Her name was Jessica," he said as he slumped
his shoulders and turned dour. "They were high school sweethearts
with no big plans; at least not initially. Josh was set to go to
college, but she wanted to stay home. My brother promised her that
he would stay in contact and even promised to visit, but it became
a moot point. She magically got pregnant."

Michael walked over to the kitchen and began
to fumble about for a glass. He found one and then began to search
for something to put into it.

"She told us that she lost the baby. We found
out later that it was a lie; she was never pregnant. But by then it
was too late. Josh had given up his college and his scholarship. Do
you have any idea how few people get a full ride scholarship?" he
asked Melanie.

Melanie shook her head. She could quickly see
where this was going and without hearing another word about
Jessica, she hated the bitch.

"Well, it turns out that marriage wasn't to
Jessica's liking. She overspent rapidly, and Josh had to take two
jobs. Jessica wouldn't get one herself. When it came to a place to
live, she insisted on living with her mother. That woman was a real
piece of work. Divorced three times, living with a loser of a
boyfriend, and she'd been on welfare for years."

Michael found the tea and poured a glass.

"Well, eventually Jessica got pregnant, and
that made matters worse. Josh was upset because he always wore
condoms; he was too afraid to raise a kid in his current
situation."

"Oh, God," Melanie said. She could predict
very quickly where this was going.

"Yep, it took all of us as a family to insist
on a paternity test. At the end of one particular argument, Brian
knocked him out; it was that bad. But, we'd heard stories about
this woman, and Joshua's firm admittance to always using condoms
made us suspect. Do you have any idea what it's like to ask your
kid brother if he knows how to use a condom?"

Melanie shook her head again. Condoms weren’t
that difficult use, but she knew people did misuse them.

"It practically tore the family apart, but my
mother finally convinced him to get the paternity test. Wanna guess
the results?"

"Not his," she said.

"The mother's loser boyfriend," Michael
stated.

"Oh, damn," Melanie exclaimed with emphasis
on the last word.

"Yep, while my brother gave up a scholarship
and worked two jobs to pay her bills, she was sleeping with her
mother's boyfriend. Apparently, her mother knew all about it and
had convinced Jessica to keep Joshua around to help pay bills. When
we went to move his stuff out, we learned that Jessica's mother had
stolen Joshua's identity; with Jessica's help by the way. He still
has bad credit. It's been nearly two years since he left her, and
he now only dates women for sex. Other than that, he won't deal
with them. Oh, and by the way, what I just told you is the P.G.
version. It's actually worse, but at least the judge accepted the
paternity test. Boy that was a nightmare," he shook his head slowly
and sighed as he thought about his brothers failed marriage.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he turned gay;
and who would blame him," Melanie said calmly.

Michael nodded his head. He took a sip of his
tea and thought about the tale he had just told. He looked over to
Melanie who was thoughtful in her own right.

"Melanie, you don't have to go. Joshua is a
great guy. He's a stand-up kind of man. That's why he did his duty,
or at least what he thought was his duty, when Jessica lied about
being pregnant. He would certainly behave himself around you, but
you don't need to worry. The whole thing was just a thought."

Michael took another sip of his tea and
headed back to his laptop. Melanie contemplated on the story she
had just heard.

Huh, maybe my life isn't the only messed
up one in this relationship
, she thought.

"What time is it on Saturday?" she asked.

Michael turned to her and watched her
carefully.

"You don't have to go," he repeated
seriously.

"Do you want me there?" she asked, a small
smile gracing her face.

"Of course," he replied.

"All right, I suppose I can make an effort,"
she smiled.

Melanie was impressed as Michael turned his
car into the housing development. They were in a suburb of Seattle,
and from here, the sounds of the city were non-existent. What did
exist, were a lot of evergreens and shrubbery, as well as fine
looking homes.

"I thought you said you weren't rich?" she
asked him.

"I'm not. I'm just a middle class kind of
guy. Why do you ask?"

"These are nice houses," she replied.

"Oh, well my dad had a plumbing business, and
it did pretty well. He sold it off before he died, and before that,
he was able to buy a nice house. But it's not as if it's a mansion.
It's just a nice house."

"Uh, huh," she said, "Well it's nicer than my
loft."

"My car's nicer than your loft," Michael
said.

Melanie gave him an evil eye. After that, she
turned her head back to the complex. As an artist, the first thing
she noticed was the lack of power poles, or any utilities for that
matter; they must have been buried in order to hide them from
view.

The houses themselves were moderate size,
tile roofed, with red brickwork on the front. Manicured yards
graced each home and she was pleased to see several variations of
small trees and shrubbery. While it was all one development, each
house was unique and had a welcoming feel. It was certainly nicer
than Melanie was accustomed to, but she shrugged it off. Michael
was right, they weren't mansions, but the homes were pleasing.

The couple soon turned into a driveway near
the end of the street; this home was much like the others—light
brown vertical siding, large arched windows, and red brick columns
for accents. The house itself sat away from the road at least half
a block and was back dropped by several evergreens that towered
over the roofline. Melanie nodded her head and approved of the
scene. She thought it might make a nice wet on wet painting.

The car was parked and Michael made ready to
get out. Melanie was nervous; Michael was oblivious. She took a
deep breath and exited the car.