"So you're really going to do this huh? You're going to go pick her up tomorrow and take her to this get together her folks are having?" Craig asked. Aaden stretched his long legs out on the coffee table and grabbed the remote.
"Yep." he said. Craig frowned and took a swig of his beer.
"You saw her right?" Aaden threw him a look that told Craig he was barking up the wrong tree…. Craig knew that for some reason Aaden had the hots for this Kathleen woman…. And Craig knew his friend enough to know that he would kick anyone's ass who said the wrong thing about her.
"Ok sorry… I guess she does have pretty eyes." Craig said trying to make peace. Aaden just shook his head and went back to flipping through channels.
"So did she tell you anything about her family?" Craig asked. Aaden shook his head.
"No." Then he looked over at Craig and could tell his friend was dying to say something. "What is it Craig? You never have known how to keep your mouth shut. Don't start now or your damn head might explode."
"Well I went out with Christy again this week…." Aaden snorted.
"Slept with her ya mean?" Craig shrugged.
"I took her to dinner first." he said. Aaden couldn't help but laugh. "Anyway I mentioned you and Kathleen to her and she told me some things…"
"What kind of things?" Aaden asked.
"Man let's just say you are really barking up the wrong tree with this woman… You need to just cut your losses and get out now." Aaden found a rerun of Cops and put the remote down.
"Craig, you've been my friend for a long time. Don't' make me kick you out of my house."
"Yea we have been friends a long time…So you know I only have your best interests in mind when I say this woman ain't right for you." Aaden sighed and laid his head back on the couch. He had learned a long time ago not to take relationship advice from Craig but he also knew that Craig wouldn't shut up until he'd said what he wanted to say.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Her family is loaded man… I'm not talking a little loaded.. I'm talking filthy rich." Craig said. Aaden looked over at him.
"And why exactly does that make Kathleen not right for me?"
"Come on Aaden. They're high class types… You know the golf every Sunday and wear your suit and tie to breakfast at the country club kind of people."
"I still don't see what that has to do with Kathleen and I." Aaden said. Craig rolled his eyes.
"They are high class and well you…. You aren't." Aaden narrowed his eyes. He looked down at his feet which were propped up on the coffee table. His sock had a hole in and he wiggled his big toe that was sticking out. He was wearing his dirty ripped up work pants and no shirt. His stained up ball cap was on his head.
"So are you actually trying to tell me I'm not good enough for her?" he asked. Craig held up his hands.
"No way! I am just saying that you are two completely different kinds of people from two completely different kinds of families and I don't think you'll fit in at her families party." Aaden stood up and grabbed his shirt off the floor.
"What are you doing?" Craig asked as he pulled it over his head.
"I gotta get to the store and buy some clothes.. I hardly think worn out jeans and work boots would be the best thing to wear now that I know I'm going somewhere so high class."
"Are you serious?" Craig asked but Aaden was already out the door. "That man has lost his damn mind." Craig said as he turned the TV up and downed the rest of his beer.
888
Aaden pulled up in front of Kathleen's apartment and climbed out of his truck and into the rain. He cursed as he tugged at the collar of the button up shirt he was wearing. As he walked up the stairs to her door he scratched at his leg and cursed the damn pants he was wearing to hell… No, he corrected himself, they weren't pants they were trousers and he had paid a small damn fortune for three pairs of them…. They were tight, itchy and he couldn't move worth a crap in them.
He knocked on Kathleen's door and waited several minutes but no one answered. He wondered why she wasn't home… It was five so he knew he was on time. He decided he'd just walk outside and wait on her. He was just walking out the door of the apartment complex when he saw her pull in driving a beat up old blazer. She didn't seem to notice him as she climbed out and pulled a big white box into her arms.
She kicked the door closed with so much force the blazer rocked.
"Stupid damn rain! I'd like to know how this day could get any worse!" she yelled. She started walking toward the door but couldn't see well over the big box in her arms and tripped over the curb. She fell face first into the wet, muddy grass. Aaden quickly ran over to her and helped her up.
"Oh Aaden I didn't see you here." she said and he was pretty sure her face turned red beneath the layer of mud. He picked the box up off the ground and followed her up into her apartment.
"Sorry I'm late.." she said. "It's been a bad week." He sat the box down on the coffee table and slipped off the patent leather shoes he had also spent a small fortune on the night before.
"Want to talk about it?" he asked. She had her back to him and was reaching up into the cupboard. Suddenly the entire contents of the cabinet came pouring down on her head…. Plastic bowls and cups scattered across the kitchen along with the bottle of Tylenol she'd been trying to reach.
"Oh my god things could not get any worse!" she yelled. "I am a complete failure at absolutely everything! I cant' make a marriage work! I can't drive worth a damn! I'm no good at housework!" she said looking around at the messy kitchen. "And according to my boss I'm not even good enough at being a secretary!"
Aaden waited several seconds to make sure she was done. He had never worked so hard to fight the urge to laugh. He was currently biting his tongue hard enough to cause severe pain… Here she was soaked to the bone in a black knee length skirt and a soggy blue shirt, her hair was plastered to her head and face and every inch of her was covered in mud from her fall outside.
He looked at her green eyes and saw that she was near tears.
"You probably really think I'm a crazy person now." she said bending and picking up the bottle of Tylenol. She popped a couple in her mouth and grabbed a plastic cup off of the floor, filled it with tap water and took a drink. Aaden shook his head.
"No… We all have bad days." he said matter of factly.
"Oh god… I got a ticket today… Apparently it is frowned upon when you run a red light and saying that you are twenty minutes late for work is not a good enough excuse." she said pulling the ticket from her purse and laying it on the counter. "Then my boss informed me that since I was twenty minutes late for work my secretarial services would no longer be needed. And now I am covered in rain and mud and carrying on like a crazy person and you are probably regretting that you ever agreed to come with me this weekend….." She sat down hard on a kitchen chair and he walked over to her and set a chair in front of her and then sat down.
"Ok I'm gonna do my best to make you feel better. I do not think that you're crazy… I want that to be the first thing I say. Second.. I don't know the details of what happened between you and that short guy but from what I have learned you weren't the one that screwed that up…. Uh.. The driving thing well I can't really help you there.. I've only seen ya drive once and well we both know how that ended." he paused at Kathleen's light laughter and felt pride rise within him. He didn't know it could feel so good to cheer a woman up after she'd had such a bad day.
"As far as the housework goes.. I've always said that's overrated anyway. I mean come on you spend hours getting everything just perfect and the next day it's just messy again. And as far as your job goes… I bet you were just too damn good at what you did and all the other little secretaries were getting jealous so in an effort to avoid an inter office riot he just made up an excuse to let you go and save himself the trouble… Darn fool if you ask me" Kathleen smiled.
"Thank you." she said. "You're a good friend." Aaden sighed and stood up. He wanted to be so much more then her friend.
"So are we still going to this get together?" he asked. She nodded and stood up as well.
"Might as well… As bad as this week has been this weekend could not possibly be any worse." she said. "You go ahead and make yourself comfortable on the couch.. I'll go get cleaned up and then we'll head out." Aaden nodded and watched her walk away down a short hallway. He sat down on the couch and then groaned when he heard the shower turn on down the hall and all sorts of very improper images flashed through his mind.
888
Forty-five minutes later and the two of them were sitting in Aaden's truck as he drove down the tight mountain roads.
"What are you wearing?" Kathleen asked him. "I mean don't get me wrong you look handsome.. Just not very comfortable." He laughed as he yanked at the collar of his shirt for the three thousandth time.
"I'm wearing clothes." he said matter of factly. "Or do your parents live in some kind of nudist colony that I've not heard about?" An image of Aaden nude flashed through her mind and she felt herself blushing.
"No this is definitely not a clothing optional kind of party." she said. He smiled.
"Darn. Nudist party was sounding kinda fun." He saw her blush even deeper. From this angle he had a clear view of the scar on her cheek. It was long and jagged but thin and went from her ear almost to her lip. He could tell that she had tried hard to hide it with make-up but it was still clearly visible.
He didn't mind of course… He was just glad that she had lived through that accident and that she was now sitting beside him looking flustered and embarrassed at his jokes.
"So what's wrong with what I'm wearing?" he asked. Other then the fact that I feel like a damn trussed up turkey on thanksgiving? He thought to himself.
"Nothing.. Nothing is wrong with it.. But wouldn't you feel better in your normal clothes?" she asked. He reached up to adjust his hat and then remembered he wasn't wearing it either.
"Naw I'm fine." he lied. She narrowed her eyes as she looked over at him.
"Can I ask why you went out and bought all new clothes just to wear to this party?" she asked.
"What makes you think these are new?" He asked. "I've had these forever." She reached over and Aaden felt his blood pump hotter as her fingers grazed across the back of his neck. He wondered what exactly she was doing but then he felt a tug on the collar of his shirt and she held out the price tag for him to see.
"Had them forever huh?" she asked. He grinned sheepishly and shrugged.
"Give or take a few days." he said. Her eyes widened when she looked at the price tag.
"Fifty dollars! You spent fifty dollars on one shirt that you obviously can't stand just to wear it to my parents house…. Why?"
"My friend Craig knows your friend Christy.. I guess they got to talking about us and Craig told me that your parents aren't really blue jeans and t-shirts kind of people." Kathleen snorted and threw the price tag onto the floor of the truck.
"I'll pay you back all the money you spent." she said. "No one should of ever told you that you weren't good enough just the way you were."
"No you won't pay me back." he scolded. She sighed and looked out the window.
"Craig was right though. They are not blue jeans and t-shirt kinds of people." she said. Aaden looked her up and down.
"Then won't they be a bit upset to see you in that very nice fitting pair of jeans?" Kathleen felt her breath catch in her throat and she blushed crimson red. He was a ruthless flirt and she had no idea how to flirt back….
"I said they weren't jeans and t-shirt kinds of people but I am. I never could stand living the way they live that's why I didn't go back after I left Tom." she said.
"So basically you're telling me that I spent three hours in a department store, got lectured by a very feminine male store clerk on the difference between pants and trousers and nearly maxed out a credit card for nothing because I could have just worn my jeans and t-shirts?" he asked. She couldn't help but laugh.
"Yes. That's what I'm saying."
"And I could have worn my hat too?" She nodded and took a breath to calm her laughter.
"Yes."
"Well doesn't that just figure." he said. Kathleen yawned into her hand. He looked over at her.
"Tired?" he asked. She nodded.
"Like I said it's been a long week."
"So take a nap." Aaden said. He saw the look she gave him and chuckled.
"I know how to get to Lexington. I'll wake you up when we get close and then you can guide me the rest of the way."
"You won't be upset with me if I sleep?" she asked. He rolled his eyes.
"I'm telling you to aren't I?" She smiled.
"Good night then." she said and then curled up on her side away from him.
888
Aaden hated to wake her up but had no clue how to get to her parents house from here. He laid a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. She sat up quickly and he tried to hide his smile as she quickly wiped drool from her face and looked over at him.
She had red lines down her cheek from being pressed against the seat belt and he decided not to tell her that she had said his name eight times in her sleep… He knew because he had counted and he had felt his heart race every time she had said it…
"We're almost to Lexington… I'll need you to tell me where to go." he said. She nodded and looked around.
"You have about two more exits before you get to theirs." she said. "Sorry I slept for so long. I guess I really was tired."
"So when we get there what are we exactly? Am I your boyfriend or…." Kathleen shook her head.
"No no no." she said quickly. "I wouldn't ask you to pretend that just to make me feel better.. No we're just friends and you came along so I wouldn't have to drive all this way on my own." Aaden nodded but inside he was screaming at her that he hadn't been offering to just pretend to be her boyfriend.. .He was offering to actually be her boyfriend…
What the hell is wrong with me? he thought. He was a thirty year old man and here he was acting like a sixteen year old boy afraid to tell his crush that he liked her… If his big brother were still alive he would probably slap him on the back of the head and tell him to man up.
They didn't talk much more the rest of the trip except when Kathleen was giving him directions.