Girl Gets Her Man

- -Hey, bay. It's your dad. We'll be coming down to visit.- -

Joanne looked down at the answering machine in confusion as she got ready for class. The parents hadn't come to visit her since she was at the dorms. Something was up or they had another reason for being in the area.

- - I thought I'd call and tell you. We'll be there to visit an old friend, so don't expect us to crowd you. Or, I won't anyway. You're mama's still worried bought you, though. You sounded a bit down, last night. Better put on a happy face, or she'll be on you.- -

"I bet she would," she sighed at the machine as she dawned her coat and sat on the arm of the couch. She had tried to sound cheerful, but it just came off as overly enthusiastic.

- - Just leave Friday night open for us to take you out to dinner. You should still have that dress we bought for New Years, right? I made the reservation for that French place my friend recommended. We'll see you soon.- -The machine said the time of the message and beeped for the next one.

'Wonderful,' she thought, 'I get to dress up pretty for the folks. I better drop my stuff at the cleaners today.' It wasn't as though she had anything special planned for the weekend, anyway. She looked forward to it really, because it was a chance to be somebody else for the night.

- -Jojo, you haven't returned my calls. I wanted to see my girl. - - 'Gary. Great.'

Jo mouthed, "my girl," as she put her coffee in the sink. It was bad coffee. Jesse had done the shopping without her and bought some strange flavored blend. She'd managed to drain it because Jesse said it would make her feel better. For the past few weeks, it had done nothing. She knew she'd either have to get used to the taste of coffee, or get over this funk that had passed over her. She regretted what she'd said to Danny. He'd been even more distant ever since. 'I shouldn't have told him anything.'

- -Give me a call.- - Gary had sounded worried.

Joanne hit the erase button and picked up her bag. After the whole dress thing, she'd been worried when he didn't call her to say he'd gotten home okay. Then, when he didn't call her back after her run-in with Jerry, she was resentful. Now, she didn't even care if he called. She looked out of the window. It didn't look like February at all. The sun was bright and people were walking down the sidewalk. If they weren't bundled up from the cold, she would have thought it was closer to April. She knew she should cut Gary loose before it got into February, but he didn't call on Valentine's Day. She figured he was done with her, so she didn't bother to clarify things. She picked up the phone to dial his number but hung up. She couldn't do it.

'What am I gonna say? I'd rather rip my fingernails out with rusty pliers than call him. Why do I care about what he thinks? He doesn't.'

She looked back toward the window. The wind whipped through the bare trees and made the twigs flutter in a pattern. The sight of Daniel's dark hair moving around his face came to her. Before she drifted off to sleep, his voice would fill her head. Her mind had started to run away with her in the daylight, now. She tried to shake him out of her brain, as she grabbed her keys. At school, Daniel would look at her with curiosity, but wouldn't approach. When she would try to talk to him, he wouldn't respond. Joanne stopped trying after the first few attempts. Her feelings were too raw, and he didn't seem to want to talk to her anyway.

At work, Dr. Samuels said they were the best team he'd ever had, because they worked like a well oiled machine. He even asked Jo if she was serious about considering graduate school. That may have been the main reason why Dr. S made out the new schedule the way that he did. When Dan was drawn into the conversation about Jo's future, he would decline the incentive to urge her to stay on. 'He was too busy working on his thesis to worry about some undergrad's problems.'

She opened her door and made sure she had her gloves. 'Hell, let 'em both go. You can get back to being yourself by yourself.'

*

Joanne got to class early and busied herself with her note cards. The mechanisms had to be perfect or she wouldn't do well on the exams. Dr. Samuels never gave any hints as to what would be on his mid-terms, so anything he'd ever mentioned was fair game. She was just about to re-read her notes when she caught a flash of green in front of her. She looked up at Daniel's army green shirt. She looked away. 'Is today the day he'll finally talk to me? He has to. It's only right.'

She got up and walked down to the front of the room, anyway. She figured, he might have seen the new work schedule. Dr. Samuel's had pretty much given her a duplicate of Dan's times. She wanted to see if he had a preference for certain days, so that she could give him his choice of new partners.

He looked up and snapped, "Whatever it is, it's not worth my time. Go bother, Reggie or Padha."

She froze. He'd looked her right in the eye and done that. She continued to look at him as he returned his focus to scribbles on a sheet of paper. He hadn't even wanted to find out what she wanted. She turned and went over to Padha as the room filled.

*

'Man, what is wrong with you? Why can't you just be normal to her?'

Dan watched her speak quietly with Padha. He wanted to apologize, but if he couldn't talk to her, 'How can I say I'm sorry?' He hadn't looked up until he was halfway through the first sentence. Then the words just spilled out of his mouth against his will. He figured it was better than babbling a series of platitudes about how her eyes and lips made his blood boil. It was definitely inappropriate to say something like that in a public classroom. He watched her face soften as she made notations in her book. She nodded and returned to her seat without looking at him. The old Joanne would have at least said something to him after he'd been that rude. She'd do that to a complete stranger. He'd seen her do it. He'd hoped she would call him on his attitude, but she didn't. She just turned away as if he'd just said nothing. 'Oh, well. We'll have time to talk later.'

*

Jo pulled out her planner and swiftly traded any days and times that corresponded to a time that Dan would be in the office. The dates Padha couldn't cover were easily given to Reggie. 'If he doesn't see me, we don't have any problems. Not anymore.' She wrote down the changes on a slip of paper and gave them to Dr. Samuels without a word. She wanted to yell at Daniel, but, 'What good would that do? I was the one that got my hopes up. This whole thing is stupid,' she scolded herself. She ran to the nearest bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. 'Don't you dare cry. He weaseled whatever he wanted out of you. Now I'm not even worth common decency? I can't walk into that anymore. I'm worth more than that. If I never see that man again, it will be too soon.'

***

As he worked the lunch rush, Dan was a literal mess. He'd gotten this pushy lady right in the faux fur ruff when he'd knocked into the counter with his tray. He didn't care that the woman sounded like a cawing crow right in his face. He couldn't do much but mutter a weak apology and retreat to the kitchen. His thoughts were still in Biochem, where he'd screwed up. Dr. S had made a note in his planner and simply handed the sheet of paper off to Dan. She'd switched every single day they had together. He'd asked specifically for those days and she gave them all away. Maybe, he'd been a little too harsh with her this past week. 'But, she never said a word. She just gave up. How's a guy supposed to know when he's being stupid?' When he figured out what she'd done, he tried calling her place. Jesse hung up on him more times than he'd like to admit before he got only the answering machine.

"Ok, I know I've been a jerk. I admit that. But, that doesn't mean we can't work together. I wanted those days so that we could talk," he shook his head out of frustration. "I need to talk to you. I should have talked to you. Please, Jo? Call me back." As he hung up, he knew she'd never get the message. 'Jesse's hitting erase right this second.'

A commotion out on the floor pulled him from his thoughts. A loud crash and his father's yell made him rush out of the kitchen to confront whoever it was. He paused in mid-stride. There was a massive black man crushing his father to death. The odd bit turned out to be that his father was actually happy about it.

"Oh, Danny! I forgot to tell you that Jimmy was coming to visit me. He and his wife are in town and I thought that you'd go to dinner..."

"I sure as hell won't," he grunted as he turned to go back into the kitchen. He heard his father follow him.

"It's just a dinner," came from inches to his left. "You be nice to them, and I won't say anything else about the girl."

"The girl?" 'You know damn well, what her name is.' It was killing him to see Jo so often, without being able to show her how he really felt, but he didn't want to mess things up. It turned out he'd done just that by keeping silent. 'She probably does think I suck. Why couldn't she give me another day or two? I mean, she can't even be in the same office when I'm there?'

"Joanne," David said to get Danny's attention. "The girl. The one you want over Candace."

"Do you see Joanne around here, lately?"

Dan must have been too loud. David's eyebrows raised as he said, "No, I don't see her... or Candace. Not since the day she came here. I know I was wrong. I can't take what happened back. It's just dinner. You can go on being moody, later. I'll even give you money for that keyboard you were looking at in the catalog." Danny didn't quite listen. Pop was going to buy him a keyboard? This was serious. Since Dan bought into the business, he'd been able to afford what he wanted. His father hadn't bought him anything other than birthday gifts since he turned eighteen. "This is important, Danny. I haven't seen these people since you were a little boy. They are expecting a smart talented man with sense enough to behave politely in company. How would it look if I had to make excuses for my own son. I thought you might be up to hear some stories about your mother. She'd know what to say right now. I'll have to apologize as it is to Jimmy..."

'And you brought up Mom?' "Look," Dan sighed in submission to the guilt trip his father was just gearing up to give, "Pop. I'll go to your thing and play the good son. Just don't expect me to be happy about it."

***

Joanne had actually had a good day. There was no sign of Daniel since she changed her schedule, and she even had a civil conversation with Jesse. Tonight would be the jewel in the crown. Her parents called and they would be coming to get her to go to dinner on time. She got to her door and sighed. She'd gotten up the stairs with her dress neatly folded and balanced over her arm, 'with hopefully no creases.' She knew how her mother would look, and she made sure to get her dress professionally pressed. She got a new pair of shoes and a set of earrings to match. She even endured the soft rollers, stashed under an oversized baseball cap, for the entire day. It obliterated her budget, but it wouldn't do for her to look bad next to her parents. 'All of this aggravation. They know that I only do this for them.' She shoved her keys into the lock and the door swung open before she could turn the knob.

"Where have you been?" Gary smiled at her surprise.

"What are you doing here," slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Your friend said I could wait here for you, since you've been too busy to answer the phone," he frowned at her.

She didn't want this to happen. She deliberately put her dress and shoes on the couch and crossed her arms. 'That is it. When this lease is over, I am so out of here. Jesse let Gary stay in my apartment without my permission, she barely stays here, anyway, and she cheats on Terrence in front of me. She knows I can't lie to save my life, but she puts me in this situation anyway. Jesse doesn't give a damn about me at all, does she? I talked to her about Gary, before. I made it clear that it was over, didn't I? Well, maybe not that clear. If I could afford it, she would have been gone a long, long, long, time ago. I thought she cared about me. She is such a bitch! I wanted to have a friend, but if this is what it takes to have one, I so don't need one.'

She turned away from him so that he couldn't see her lie. "I was really busy with work and all. What do you want?"

"I heard your parent's were in town. I figured you'd want us to meet some time. Now is as good a time as any."

'Meet my parents? Boy, please! You must be outta yo mind!' "Well, I'm going out to dinner with them, so now isn't a good time."

"I'll just come with you."

"I don't think that's a good idea," she frowned at his sweatshirt and jeans. "We're supposed to be going somewhere fancy."

"You don't want me to meet them, do you?" He cocked his head to the side and laughed, "And, here I thought I was a catch."

"Gary," she shook her head at him, "we haven't talked for nearly a month. That should tell you something."

He backed away from her. "I told you I needed to spend some time with my family. I thought we were clear on that before I left."

"We were clear. You and I don't really have much to say, okay? I can see your eyes glaze over when I start to talk about things I like. And, I didn't think that it would take three weeks without even a phone call. I left you messages. I figured, you'd call to see how I was. You didn't. That tells me all I need to know. "

"You mentioned me not calling, so my family does have something to do with it," he smiled at her and took her hand. "I thought we were gonna give this another shot."

She protested, "I think three strikes and you're out."

"They weren't even my strikes. Shit! The jerk showed up and ruined the first date. The second one was perfect until the crazy bitch came in and did what I was thinking of doing. Where's the third one, huh?"

"I needed you and you didn't bother to call me back," she stared right back at him. She watched him grind his jaw as he thought.

He finally came back with, "I don't get you. If you didn't want me from the get go, why didn't you just say no?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I can't say no. That's my problem. Even when I know that's what I should say. Well, I'm saying it now. I tried to get to know you better, Gary. I really did. I just can't do it."

"Or, maybe you didn't want to," he dropped her hand and picked up his coat. "Look, I'll call you, later."

She knew it was a lie. The way that he'd said it, she thought she wouldn't hear a word from him again. 'Maybe, just maybe he's right. Maybe I didn't want to like him. Maybe, it was the same thing with Daniel. He kinda forced his way in there at the beginning. I didn't encourage either one of them, did I? LIAR! I made them feel good, somehow. I don't know how I did that, but I need to figure it out.' She watched him walk down the stairs. It was time to get dressed, anyway. She got her dress out of the plastic film and held it up. It was a gray-black cocktail dress with red trim. The lines of color made it look as though she were dancing when she glanced at herself in the mirror. She ran her hand over the bodice and swirled the skirt. She made her curls bounce around her face as she applied her lipstick. So, the curls were a bit tight and it made her look more fun than sophisticated. The dress definitely screamed sophisticated. She admired the small red crystals dangling from their mounts before she put them around her neck. The matching earrings were a bit of a struggle, because she didn't wear earrings everyday. She smiled at her reflection as she cleaned the sink. She cleaned up pretty nice.

'Yeah, that smile is the one to keep on your face. Just make Mom and Dad happy, so you can go back to being left alone. Today was so good, too.'

She waited on the couch and flipped through one of the textbooks she'd bought but never opened. Some instructors never tell you they won't be using the book except for two days at the beginning of the semester. She had accumulated several interesting titles that she would flip through to be sharp for graduate entrance exams. 'I don't know why I never got money back for these.' A tap came to the door and she answered it.

Gary walked in past her and said, "You look gorgeous. But then again, you rock them jeans every time I see you."

He'd changed into slacks, a dress shirt, and a tie. He offered her a single red rose wrapped in plastic and made himself comfortable on her couch.

"Gary..." She wasn't sure what she should say. 'Didn't you just leave?'

"Aren't you gonna put that in water? It took me a bit to find one so big. I figured, I could feel your parents out about my coming along. Besides, it's a fancy restaurant, what experience do you have with that stuff? I could go to be moral support."

She thrust the flower toward him. "You obviously haven't listened to a word I've said to you since we met. This," she cast a hand across her dress, "is what I do when I'm not in school. We pick out big fancy places to go, and we eat. I've been doing this since I was six years old. I think I told you about that while we were walking through the park, if I'm not mistaken. And maybe, again on the way to the concert. You weren't listening, then. You weren't listening half an hour ago. I don't want you to meet my parents. Okay? We're not like that. Right now, I don't see what I ever saw in you." 'Girl, was that just you that said that? So much for trying to be pleasant to everybody.' She looked at Gary to gauge his response to what she'd said, but he wasn't showing much. She was getting a bit more irritated with him.

A loud rap came to the door. She motioned to Gary to stay there and opened the door for her father. She greeted him with an enthusiastic hug. At a very healthy 6 foot 3, he was an impressive man on any day, but today he was at the top of his game. The white shirt flashed through the neck of his tuxedo jacket with brilliance. His cufflinks, diamond shape onyx, with a patterned C carved in them, set off the deep black of the tuxedo. He smiled brightly at his daughter, "You look wonderful, bay. You never do disappoint, do you?"

"Aw. You have to say that!"

"No, I don't. I may be your dad, but I'd tell you if you were ugly."

They laughed. She knew it was the truth. If anything, her father was the most honest person she knew. Perhaps, that is why she was never much of a convincing liar, herself. She looked back at Gary and grudgingly introduced him, "Dad, this is Gary. Gary, my father, James Croix."

"A pleasure to meet you, sir." Her father took Gary's hand briefly and looked him up and down.

"Sir? Now, what's going on here, bay?"

"He's being nice. People can be nice," she turned away from him and gathered her dress coat and purse from the counter where she'd left them.

"Actually," Gary did an excellent job of getting to his point, "I heard you were in town and thought it would be a good idea if we met. Your daughter is a special girl, and I've been trying to get to know her better."

"Uh, huh," James' low voice bottomed out. "Well, we don't have much time. We're to meet up with friends at the restaurant. Maybe, the next time we come to visit, we can have a chat."

"Sure," Gary smiled. "We'll get to meet the next time you're in town."

Jo nodded her appreciation at her father's diplomacy.

He returned with an amused frown, "That's if you last that long. I can honestly say that my daughter has never spoken of anyone worth marrying, yet. That should be the only reason that you'd meet a girl's family." Her thought's of getting out without a scene dashed, she gave her father a disapproving frown and put on her coat.