Fighting Perfection (The Perfection Series Book 2) (17 page)

     “I’m doing what every good Jewish boy does.  Making my mother happy.  She is overly concerned that she is not going to have grandchildren before she dies so she insists that I come to these things to find a nice girl that she might approve of.”

     “And yet here you sit with the gentile girl.”  I giggled.

     “I didn’t plan it that way.  I just feel like I’m being sized up for a wedding tuxedo out there and came to the bar to escape for a while.”

     “You don’t need to worry about me.  I’m not in the market for a husband or a relationship so you can take your breather.”

     “I had that suspicion when I noticed you were just sitting here being antisocial.  I thought to myself, ‘David, that’s the girl you need to be talking to tonight.  She doesn’t look like she has an agenda.’”

    I lifted my drink to him in salute.  “You got that one right.  I’m just drinking until my friend is ready to leave.”

     “That’s a relief.  Don’t get me wrong, I have no issues about commitment, but I’m just not ready to start a serious relationship with anyone.   I’m too involved with my work right now to give any serious effort to someone else.”

     “You don’t need to explain to me.  Like you said, no agenda.  I am not here trolling for my Prince Charming either.”

     He put his hand out to me.  “David Greene,” he said.

     I took his hand and shook it gently.  “I’m Mimi Ashcroft.”

     “I’m very happy to meet you, Mimi.  Where is your friend?” he asked, looking around.

     “Last I saw her she was out dancing with some man she met when we first got here.  I’m sure she’s still dancing, but I expect she’ll be back for another drink soon.”

     No sooner had I said the words than Grace appeared at my other side with a breathless Ike in tow.  He was staring at her star-struck as if he’d found his dream girl.

     “Whew, this little guy can dance,” Grace said, as she tried to flag down the bartender.

     “No, darling, let me do that for you.” Ike jumped in front of her at the bar.  “What would you like to drink?”

     “I’ll just have another chardonnay, you sweet thing,” she said, batting her eyelashes at Ike.  As soon as he was engaged with the bartender, she turned to me.  “He’s already asked me out for next weekend.”

     “The whole weekend?”  I asked, raising my brows.

     She nodded. “Yes, he wants to take me up north to some romantic B&B.”

     “Are you going to go?” I inquired, floored that she would be interested in more than dancing with this average guy.  Grace was much more into the hunky, muscly guys.

     “Maybe.  He’s kind of cute in his own way.”

     “If you say so, Grace.”  Just then she noticed David sitting to my left who was listening in with an amused look on his face.

     “Oh, hello there,” she purred, looking him over.  Now David was the kind of guy I could see her with and from the brief conversation we’d had, much more like-minded with her.

     “Grace, this is David.  We were just talking about this event, its merits, and drawbacks.”

     “With men like him here, I can see no drawbacks,” she said with a grin.

     I couldn’t help my eyes flashing to Ike and then back to her.  She just shrugged.  She leaned in and whispered “Dinner and orgasms, Mimi.  Dinner and orgasms.”  Grace had me shaking my head so much that evening, I thought I might end up with a stiff neck the next day.

     David stuck out his hand to shake.  Grace was all too eager to thrust her hand in front of my face and shake back.  Just then, Ike turned back around with their drinks and frowned.  He handed her the wine and scuttled closer to her wrapping his now free hand around her waist.  David just grinned a dazzling smile at Ike’s possessive move.  Grace leaned down and kissed the top of his head, then suggested, “Why don’t you take a trip to the men’s room or something, sweetheart?  Mimi and I need to have a little girl talk right now.  When you come back, we’ll dance some more.”  Ike grinned and hurried off to the back of the club.

     “I see you have him wrapped around your finger already,” I said as I rested an elbow on the bar.

     She giggled.  “I know, right?  I think it’s adorable.”  She turned her attention back to David.  “So, how are you enjoying the evening?”  I just snickered.

     David cleared his throat.  “Mimi and I were just discussing how arduous I find these mixers.”

     “You’re not looking for a relationship?” she asked.

     “Not especially.  I come about once every other month as my duty to my mom.”

     “You’re a momma’s boy?” she asked with a frown.  I would have thought he’d be offended, but he just threw his head back and laughed.

     “No, I wouldn’t say that.  I just like to keep her off my back as much as possible.”

     Grace looked at him with even more interest.  “How would you feel about a dance

then?”

     David looked to me as if asking for permission.  I’m sure he didn’t want to be rude since we’d been chatting.  Grace, on the other hand, had no such compunction.  I waved my hand as I took another sip of my drink.  “By all means.  I’ll just keep warming this stool until it’s time to go.”

     He stood and grabbed her hand leading her off to the dance floor.  I turned and watched them for a few minutes.  Grace was pulling out all her sexiest moves.  David really was much more her type.  After a brief time, Ike showed back up.  I hadn’t thought this through.  I was going to have to let him down easy on behalf of Grace.

     “Hey, where is my princess?” he asked, looking around frantically.

     “Don’t worry, Ike.  She’ll be back in a little bit,” I responded, scrambling for some kind of excuse to give.

     “I sure hope so.  I’ve never felt a connection to someone so quickly before,” he declared as he grabbed a cocktail napkin and wiped his rather sweaty brow.  “She’s a dream come true.”

     “She’s definitely unreal,” I responded, tongue in cheek.  “Did you make sure to get her number in case you don’t meet up again tonight?”

     “I did get her number, but I’m going to park myself right here next to you until she gets back.”

     Just what I needed--to have to entertain this guy while Grace was sinking her long red fingernails into someone else.  Why did I agree to come out with her again?  Oh yes, dinner and orgasms.  Not that I was much interested in either, but it gave me an idea.

     “I’d love to hang out with you Ike but considering you are interested in my friend, don’t you think you could give me an opportunity to meet other people?  You don’t want to be a cock-block, do you?”

     “Sister, no one is going to be interested in you when you are so obviously not Jewish.  These men are looking for wives or serious girlfriends at the very least.  Trust me, I know.”

     I felt a little sorry for him just then as Grace was a candidate for neither, and of course, she was not Jewish either.  This little guy was in for a big letdown.  I wasn’t going to be the one to break it to him.

     “Still, Ike.  For the right guy, I could convert,” I said, not fully believing I was falling back on Grace’s advice for excuses.  “Besides, there are tons of girls here.  It might be a good idea to get to know others.  You’re here to meet people after all.  Don’t hang your hopes on just one girl.  A guy like you has to be in high demand.”

     “You know, I think I might just do that.  Just don’t tell Grace.  I wouldn’t want her to get jealous,” he said, frowning.  “I don’t want to mess up my shot with her.”

     “Don’t worry about that at all.  Grace is very secure in herself and her appeal.  She’s not afraid of competition.”

     He immediately brightened.  “Competition, yeah.  She needs to know that I’m a catch.  Thanks, Mimi.  I’ll catch you later.”  He started to walk away, but then turned back to me.  “Don’t be too disappointed if no one talks to you.  It’s not your fault.”  Then he walked away.

     I smiled at his back and turned to the bartender and ordered my fourth Dirty Martini.  It was a good thing Grace had driven.

     The following morning, I awoke to my cell phone alerting me to a new text message.  I expected it to be from Grace with some kind of comment about the night before.  She had kept me out until two a.m. while she danced with David for the rest of the evening.  I had stopped drinking after my fifth martini and switched to soda water with lemon.  As a result, I only felt a bit dehydrated and had a slight headache.  Nothing some Tylenol and lots of water wouldn’t cure.

     I picked up my phone to see what sort of comedic line she had for me only to find it was from James.  I opened it up and all it said was ‘Hi’.  I honestly hadn’t expected to hear from him again after the other evening.  He seemed pretty adamant about his terms on getting to know me further.  So what was this about?  I texted back my own ‘Hi’ to him not knowing what else to say.

     Right away another text message came in from him.  It read:

     ‘Can we get together and talk tonight?  I’d really like to see you.’ 

    I was truly puzzled.  He had left the ball squarely in my lap two nights ago, and now he wanted to see me again?  I was pleased, of course, but also bemused.  He hadn’t seemed like the kind of guy who said things he didn’t mean.  I wrote back:

     ‘Isn’t it a little far for you to drive on a weeknight?’

     ‘Not for this.  I want to talk to you,’ he replied.

     ‘So just call and save yourself the trip.’

     ‘No, it’s better that we talk in person,’ came his next message, followed immediately with ‘I’ll leave as soon as I get off work.  That should put me at your place around eight.’

    ‘See you then,’ I responded.

     I wondered what he could possibly have to say that was so important, but figured I’d find out that evening.  With that, I went about my usual Monday morning cleaning routine.

     Justin called later in the day just to check in and see how things were going.  I gave him a rundown of the weekend and the highlights of the night before.  “Do you think Grace will ever change?” he asked. 

     “I don’t know.  She’s always been a little crazy, but she’s only gotten really wild recently.  I don’t know what’s happened to make her this way, but I do think there’s a story there.  She kind of hinted at something while we were in Lake Havasu and again at brunch yesterday morning, but I didn’t want to push.  If she wants to tell me, she will.”  I said as I lay on my bed, my thoughts of Grace troubled and concerned.

     “Well, I just hope she doesn’t get herself into any trouble.  She’s a great lady.  If she’s been having a problem, I would hate to see it get worse because she’s being reckless.”

    “I feel the same way,” I said.  “Maybe I’ll try to spend some more time with her, if she’ll let me.  That way she might open up some.”

  “Good idea.  Let me know if you learn anything and if there is anything I can do to help.  Now, you have school tomorrow night, don’t you?”

    “Yes, sir.  I sure do.  I’m going to spend some time here in a few studying to make sure I’m ready for class.  I just know there’s going to be some kind of test or quiz,” I remarked.

     “If there is, you’ll do great.  How about we grab some breakfast in the morning?  You don’t have plans, do you?” he inquired.

     “No, no plans tomorrow, but I do have some tonight and I don’t know how late they’ll go so breakfast might not be the best idea.  We could have lunch though.  Or maybe you just want to wait for pizza and beer night on Wednesday.”

     “I’d like to do both, honestly.  I want to spend more time with you.  You know that,” he said earnestly.

     I mulled this over.  Of course I enjoyed Justin’s company and until things had started to move into uncharted territory, I’d have jumped at any chance to hang out with him.  Now I just didn’t know what the right thing to do was.  I wasn’t ready for what he wanted from me, and I didn’t want to lead him on or get his hopes up.  On the other hand, I wasn’t totally closed off to the idea of more.  I decided I just didn’t want to ‘belong’ to anyone.  Problem was, I didn’t know how to say no to Justin without hurting his feelings which was the last thing I wanted to do.

    “You know I’m still not ready to get into anything serious at this point, Justin.  I just want to make that clear since you’ve been more than transparent about what you want.  I’m happy to spend time with you, you know that, but I don’t want to send the wrong message.”

     “Peaches, don’t overthink it.  If you want to come out to lunch with me, just come out.  I’m not going to read any secret messages into it,” he said.

    “Okay, then.  As long as we each know where we stand, let’s get together tomorrow.  Give me a call in the late morning, and we’ll figure out where and when.”

     Once we hung up, I dropped the phone to the bed beside me.  I was relieved he hadn’t asked about my plans that night.  I wasn’t going to hide my relationship with James, but I wasn’t exactly eager to discuss it with him either.  It kind of made me a bit sad since being my best friend, Justin was just the person I’d like to talk about James with under other circumstances.  Now, it was just inappropriate.

     After finishing the rest of my housekeeping tasks, I settled down with one of my textbooks and my trusty highlighter and began to read the assigned chapters again.  I found my mind wandering after a few minutes, however, to the upcoming visit from James.  I couldn’t imagine what he wanted to talk about.  He’d been completely honest about his feelings the weekend before so what was left to say?  He, too, suddenly wanted more than I could offer.  I didn’t think it was fair to put restrictions on me by expecting me to be exclusive to him as if we were in a committed relationship while we were just getting to know each other.  What was the point in that?  I certainly didn’t want, nor expect, it from him.  Tossing my textbook and notes aside, I looked at the time on my phone.  It was just before seven o’clock so I decided to take a shower to kill time until James arrived.

    Just as I was finishing getting dressed, my doorbell rang.  Barefoot and dressed casually in a pair of faded denim jeans and a plum-colored tank top, I hurried to the door.

     James was standing outside wearing his own pair of faded jeans and a U.S. Navy t-shirt. For once, he didn’t greet me with his mischievous smile.  He just nodded and said a quick, “Hello, Mimi.”

     I opened the door wider and stood back to let him inside.  “Hi, James.  How was your day?”

     “It wasn’t bad.  The usual stuff.  Listen, can we sit down?  I want to talk, and I don’t want to pussy-foot around.”

     I led him into the living room and despite his seeming sense of urgency, I offered him something to drink.  I was surprised when he requested some water, thinking he would have waved my offer off in favor of getting down to whatever was on his mind.  Nevertheless, I went to the kitchen and retrieved two bottles of water and returned to the living room handing him one.  He sat in the large arm chair that Vance used to love so much while I took a seat in the corner of the sofa across from him and curled my legs beside me.

     “So, what’s on your mind?” I asked.  “You were pretty clear the other night.  I can’t imagine what else there is to say that would prompt you to drive all this way just for a discussion tonight.”

     He cleared his throat and took a sip of water.  Putting the bottle down on the coffee table, he leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs.

     “I did some thinking all the way home the other night and ever since.  I don’t want to stop seeing you.  I really like you, and I think we have a good shot together.  I haven’t met a woman whose company I’ve enjoyed as much as I enjoy yours in a long time. 

     “Yes, I’m a bit possessive.  I don’t like to share, and I don’t like the feeling that I’m competing for attention.  But, like I said, I don’t want to stop seeing you.  I get that you’re just getting back into the swing of things so to speak.  I respect what you’ve been through.  I decided I’m not going to back away from you just because there’s another guy who realizes how wonderful you are and wants you for himself.   I don’t know anything about this guy other than he’s been your friend for a while, but I’ll show you the man that I am and why I’m a better choice.”

     For a time, I didn’t know what to say.  While I hadn’t known what to expect, it certainly wasn’t this.  I also enjoyed James’ company immensely, but I didn’t realize just how much he did mine.  I had been doing my best to follow the advice Vance had always given me:   don’t overthink things. 

     “I really like you too, James, but you know that.”

     He grinned for the first time that night.  “Yes, I do.”

     “I am glad you’d like to keep seeing each other, but I can’t make you any promises.  There’s no particular ‘end’ to this road, a date I can point to where I’ll make a decision between the two of you.  Who knows, I might even meet someone else.  Do you understand that, and for me this is not a competition between the two of you to see who is best for me?  I don’t even know what that is yet.  I’m happy to spend time with you, enjoying you,” it was my turn to grin, “all of you, but I don’t want to give you any false expectations.  If we become exclusive, it’s going to happen by attrition.  It will be because we find ourselves spending so much time together and are so full of each other that there’s just no longer room for anyone else.  It’ll happen naturally or not at all.”

     “Not only do I understand that, I accept it.  You’ll see, Mimi.  I’m the guy for you.”

     “There’s that unwavering confidence again.”

     “I told you before, Mimi.  I know what I want, and I know how to get it.”

     I just shook my head, smiling.  His determination was amusing and flattering.  I didn’t feel bullied in the slightest.  He took it as fact that an exclusive relationship between us was an eventuality.  To be honest, I admired his certainty when so much of me was uncertain at the time.

     “I can’t stress enough to you that I’m not in a position to choose, and I don’t see myself in an exclusive relationship anytime soon.  I’m not a player; I’m not trying to deceive you.  I just want whatever we have to be something honest.”

     “I’m good with things how they are right now, Mimi.  As I said, I put a lot of thought into this.  I want you, and if this is what it takes, then I’m in.”

     His words were an echo of Justin’s when we went to Catalina Island.  I really didn’t understand how I’d suddenly become this hot property between the two of them, and they were both so sure of what they wanted.  How could they want someone as unsure as me?  It really wasn’t sitting well with me.  I was being as honest as possible with the both of them, but I wasn’t the kind of girl who strung men along so I felt pressure to make a choice.  My mind rebelled against that thought and momentarily I thought of giving them both the heave-ho.  I immediately dismissed it, however.  Justin was a permanent part of my life, and I really did want to keep spending time with James.  Having come to think of myself as a selfish person in the not too distant past, this only made me feel like more of one.  I recalled my dream about Vance and Grace’s advice, and decided to proceed cautiously.

     “Alright, James.  As long as we’re both going into this with an open mind, I don’t see why we shouldn’t keep seeing each other.”  I smiled.

     He leaned back into the chair and gave me a very self-satisfied smile.  “You won’t regret it, Mimi.  I’m going to fulfill all your dreams.”

     I closed my eyes and did my best to keep from laughing.  I’d never met a guy as cocky as James.  I wondered if he ever fell short of his own expectations.  I asked him as much.

     “Never.  Sometimes I just change my direction,” he said with a wink.

     “Oh, I see how you are.  When you get tired of waiting, you’ll ‘just change your direction’.”

    “Not where you’re concerned.  Don’t worry your pretty blonde head about that.”  With that, he stood and smoothed down his jeans.  “I don’t want to run out on you, but I have an early morning and need to get back on the road to base.  It was just important to me to say what I had to say face-to-face.”

     “I’m really glad you made the trip.  We could have discussed it on the phone, but it’s always good to see you.”

     “No, you had to see my sincerity.  Now I’d really better go before I start stripping you out of those jeans,” he said with that familiar glint returning to his eye.

     I laughed.  “All right, wild man.  Let me walk you to the door.”  He grabbed my hand as we walked through the house.  When we reached the door, he pulled me to him and gave me a long, slow kiss.  He finished up with a small kiss on the tip of my nose.

     “We’re out all day tomorrow, so I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to call you.  If not, I’ll call you Wednesday.”  He leaned in and kissed me softly again and then went out the door.

      I went back to the living room and picked up our water bottles.  After pouring them out and tossing them into the recycling bin, I turned out all the lights and headed back to my bedroom.  It was only a little past nine.  I thought about James driving home.  He was crazy; it was nearly a    four-hour drive.  When he got home, that would mean he drove almost eight hours total to have a one-hour conversation with me.  I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.