Tabitha Ch 08

"Ma'am?"

Tabitha started and gasped. "Yes! What? Yes!"

"I'm so sorry," the pretty brunette flight attendant said when Tabitha awoke so violently. "We served dinner while you were asleep and this is my final pass."

"Oh, okay. I'll have the chicken."

"What would you like to drink?"

"Water, please."

Tabitha glanced around her. The cabin wasn't very full, but the few passengers she could see were sleeping. The meal may have been good, for all she knew, but even the chicken tasted like water to her. The flight attendant cleared away the meal and came around again with a large pillow and a dark blue blanket. Tabitha wasn't sleepy anymore. She rooted around in her carryon and pulled out her portable DVD player and an album full of options. She cuddled under the blanket, popped in the earbuds and hit play on season one, disc one of True Blood.

***

Wes hugged Jazzy and she kissed his cheek. He hesitated to pull away because he didn't want to see the look she'd inevitably give him. That face full of pity and remorse, the same one she gave Blake whenever he skinned his knee or bumped his head. She grabbed his arms to pull back and look up at him. There was the look.

Wes sighed.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Jazzy. Can we not talk about it?" He hadn't been home ten minutes after dropping Tabitha at the airport when the door bell rang.

She narrowed her eyes at him and frowned. "We came over here so you wouldn't have to be alone. We don't have to talk about anything if you don't want."

Clay entered the living room from the hallway that led to the bedrooms. He'd just put Blake down for a nap in a guest room.

"What are we drinking?" he asked dropping onto the couch.

Jazzy and Wes both glared at him.

Clay shrugged. "I thought this would be the perfect time to get blackout drunk and wallow in misery."

"Shut up," Jazzy said rubbing her brother's arm. "Wes has no reason to be miserable, it's not like someone died."

Wes folded himself onto the couch on the opposite end from Clay.

"Wes went years with no pussy and no prospects. He comes across the perfect girl for him and lets her keep him at arm's length. Now, she's on a different continent, single, and hot as hell."

Wes had never wanted to punch his best friend more.

Jazzy shook her head. "You're not helping, Clay."

Wes glanced between the two people in the world that knew him best. He couldn't help but remember when Tabitha had learned just how much the three of them meant to each other.

***

"Beautiful!" Clay exclaimed when he opened the door. He swept Tabitha up in a hug, lifting her off her feet.

"I'm going to start thinking that's my legal name," Tabitha muttered into his chest.

"I'm going to start taking this personally," Wes grumbled behind her.

"I love you too, dude. Do you want a hug?"

Tabitha laughed when Wes rolled his eyes. He thrust the gift he'd been holding into Clay's open arms. They'd been seeing each other a couple weeks and Tabitha was getting used to Clay's flirting and Jazzy's take-no-shit attitude.

"Thanks for coming, Tabitha," Jazzy said hugging her after she'd given Wes a kiss on the cheek.

"Happy birthday, Jazzy," said Tabitha.

"Thanks, I plan on making it count!"

"Just make sure you can remember it tomorrow."

"Oh, I will. I don't' drink so—no worries."

"Yeah," Tabitha said glancing up at him over her shoulder, "neither does Wes."

"Our grandmother was a functioning alcoholic. She had cirrhosis of the liver and died of pancreatic cancer," Wes explained.

"I'm sorry," Tabitha gasped turning back to Jazzy, "I didn't mean to bum you out on your birthday."

"It's fine, sometimes everyone needs to be reminded why they make certain choices."

"Mommy!" a little boy said running between them and grabbing Jazzy's legs. She bent down and scooped Blake into her arms.

"Say hello to Tabitha," Jazzy told her son. "She's your uncle's special friend."

"Hi," the little boy said looking at Tabitha from under his dark lashes.

"Hi. Your uncle talks about you all the time. It's nice to meet you." Tabitha couldn't help but stare at the little boy. He was beautiful. His hair was ink black and his eyes were cornflower blue. He was pale, but had a natural blush across both cheeks.

"Daddy is being mean," Blake told his mother.

"What's daddy doing to my baby?" Jazzy cooed.

"Tickle monster!" Blake said indignantly.

"Do you want mommy to get him for you?"

"Come on Jazzy, you're going to make him a mama's boy!" Clay exclaimed walking up and reaching for Blake.

"No daddy!" he screeched giggling.

Tabitha gasped. Wes smiled.

She whirled around. "Clay and Jazzy are—uh."

"Blake's parents," Wes offered.

She studied his face, not amused that he was making light of her shock. She turned back to the trio. "I didn't know you guys were married."

"We're not," Jazzy said handing Blake to Clay.

"Oh." Jazzy blushed.

"Clay and Jazzy are in a relationship, its not public knowledge."

"Female fans like to think they actually have a chance at him," Jazzy explained.

Clay kissed his son's round cheek and set the boy down. Blake promptly ran off toward the back of the house. Tabitha's eyes went wide when Clay slid an arm over Jazzy's shoulder. "We'll make it official soon," he said kissing Jazzy's forehead.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Tabitha asked turning back to Wes.

He shrugged. "Not my secret to tell."

Tabitha studied him for a moment.

"Come on," said Jazzy tugging on Tabitha's arm. "You guys are the last to arrive. Let's get my birthday party started."

The party was loud and raucous. All the members of Sickly Sweet were there, as well as some people Jazzy worked with at her day job. Wes had met them all before and introduced Tabitha. She looked a bit overwhelmed by the time she'd met everyone. She held the Smirnoff Ice that Clay had given her, but he'd yet to witness her take a drink. The background music was Alternative music from the 90's, the songs his sister had loved growing up. The CDs he'd stolen from her room and listened to. Most of them were songs that had influenced his taste in the music he wrote, listened to, and played.

Wes grabbed Tabitha's hand and pulled her out the back door. Jazzy and Clay lived in a two-bedroom condo with an unfenced back yard. Behind the row of houses was a steep hill, just over it were rows of cookie-cutter houses on streets and cul-de-sacs. Blake loved to climb half-way up the hill and roll down it. Jazzy hated when he did it, because by the time he got back down to their back yard, he was dizzy and stumbling.

Wes took the bottle from Tabitha's hand and set it down on the small wrought-iron patio table beside them.

"Are you okay?" he asked gazing down into her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just really loud in there. I'm not used to being around so many people in such a small space...plus the music."

"Rock stars must to have decent sound systems," Wes offered.

She laughed and glanced through the French doors at the other party guests. "Becca isn't here."

Wes nodded and pulled her into a hug. "Jazzy and Becca aren't exactly best friends."

"I could pretty much tell by the way Jazzy talked to her at the bar."

Wes laughed. "Yeah, Jazzy is kind of a bitch to Becca. She wouldn't have anything to do with her if Becca and weren't friends."

He felt Tabitha stiffen in his arms. He silently hoped she wasn't the jealous type. Becca was no threat to Tabitha and his friendship with her was strictly platonic.

"Becca won't be upset about not being invited? I mean, absolutely everyone else is here."

Wes shrugged, pulling her closer against his chest. "Becca probably wouldn't come if Jazzy invited her."

"There's something I don't get," said Tabitha stepping back and out of his embrace.

He stayed silent, waiting for her to continue.

"That night at Rock Hard, Jazzy said that Becca is waiting for you to fall in love with her. What's that about?"

Wes sighed and turned away from Tabitha. He watched his sister through on the other side of the glass doors for a moment, she was in deep conversation with Nora, Spencer's long-time girlfriend. He thought about yelling at her for saying that shit in front of Tabitha...but it was her birthday and he didn't want to be the one to piss her off on her birthday.

When he turned back to Tabitha, she was looking uncomfortable...as if she regretted saying anything about it.

"Do you want the whole story?" he asked.

"Why not?" she shrugged.

Wes huffed out a breath and pitched his hands through his hair. "Okay, Becca worked part time at Life Sounds when I first started there. She had just graduated from Adam's University and was working there until she found a real job. We started hanging out because I didn't know anyone in town besides Mr. Dennis and Jazzy. We didn't date or anything, we were just friends for almost a year...even after she quit the music store."

Tabitha nodded.

"Well, somehow she found out that I used to be in a band that did pretty well. Suddenly, she starts flirting with me and asking me out on actual dates. I was pretty shocked because she'd been adamant about wanting us to stay friends. She got drunk one night and told me that she wanted to marry a man with money. It didn't matter if he worked for it or inherited it. It didn't matter if she was a first wife or a fifth wife. She just wanted someone to give her the means to do whatever she wanted. She still doesn't remember telling me all that. Anyway, I wasn't comfortable with the idea of dating her since she didn't want anything romantic with me until she found out that I might have some change in the bank.

That's Jazzy's beef with Becca. Jazzy thinks she's shallow and makes no qualms about telling her that whenever possible."

"So," Tabitha said slowly, "am I in Becca's way here?"

"She might think that," Wes said crossing his arms. "Thing is, I know for a fact that she maintains our friendship in hopes of catching some musician friend of mine unaware and getting him down the aisle."

Tabitha smiled.

"You should have seen her face when she met Clay. She couldn't form words for about an hour. Then she went into full flirt mode and Jazzy almost murdered her on the spot."

"Does she still want you?" Tabitha asked.

"Becca is a mystery. She ignores me when she's got a man and she makes lame attempts to get my attention when she doesn't." Wes slid an arm around Tabitha's waist. "You don't have anything to worry about, though."

Tabitha frowned up at him. "Who says I'm worried?" She rolled her eyes. "If she wants you that bad, she can have you."

It was his turn to go rigid. Wes let his hand slip from Tabitha's waist and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Okay. I'm going to get back inside and get some cake."

He saw her eyes go wide, as if she realized that she'd said something wrong, but Wes didn't feel like giving her a chance to apologize. He was well-aware of what she thought about their relationship, which wasn't much. Instead of letting her feel guilty for the rest of the night, he forced a smile. "Should I bring you a piece of cake?"

"Uh...no," Tabitha sighed. "I'll be right in."

***

Tabitha stared into the Subzero and bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing. It looked like one of the refrigerators on MTV Cribs. Every shelf was full of food. There were countless cans of soda, juice boxes, lunchmeat, and vegetables. Tabitha stared into the vegetable drawers. They were stuffed with produce: carrots, celery, leeks, broccoli, tomatoes, and bell peppers. Dion had come a long way. They'd grown up with a box of baking soda and crisper drawers full of pudding cups.

"Are you going to stand there letting the cold air out of the refrigerator or are you going to come over here and drink this tea I took the time to make?" Dion called from the table.

Tabitha shut the door and glowered at her sister. "Tell me again why growing a baby in your uterus makes your ass get fat...well fatter."

"You're such a bitch," Dion grumbled.

Tabitha smiled. "I learned from the best."

"I did study at the feet of the master."

"Speaking of the master," Tabitha said tapping a nail on the side of her teacup, "your mother called last week asking for money to get Pete out of trouble."

"Ech." Dion wrinkled her nose. "She's back with that jerk?"

"Domestic assault charges...so, yes."

Dion's jaw tensed and she didn't say anything for a few minutes.

Tabitha put her hand on Dion's arm. "What's the deal, Dee? You seem to hate Pete more than any of the other men mom dated."

Dion ran her hand over the high-polished table and frowned.

"Come on, Dee, tell me."

"Besides the obvious?"

"Yeah," said Tabitha. "Besides treating us like shit or ignoring us while using our mom for anything she had."

"Yes, the obvious. He used to do his best to catch peeks of me naked."

Tabitha recoiled, but grabbed Dion's hand in a vice grip. "Omigod."

"Yeah," Dion sighed, "Pete is the reason he moved out. One night, I was getting in bed and he opened our room door. He just stood there and stared at me for fifteen minutes. I pulled the covers up to my chin and closed my eyes. I'd never been so scared in my life. When he left, I cried myself to sleep."

"Holy crap, Dion! Where was I?"

"I put you to bed early that night. You had the fifth grade placement tests the next day."

"Did he touch you?"

"No. The next day, I moved out. I went to live with my friend for a couple weeks until I got in touch with Derrick. He was still living with his dad and going to Community College, but he got me in touch with a really nice social worker. I was legally emancipated in a few months and I came back for you." Dion gathered both Tabitha's hands in hers and squeezed.

"Months?" Tabitha repeated. "You were gone for months?"

Dion nodded.

"No, but I remember you being there. You were always there."

"I would get to school to pick you up and walk you home. I helped you with your homework, made dinner, and waited for mom to get home. Since I wasn't there to babysit, she couldn't go out as much. She was not the best mother, but even she knew not to leave your badass at home alone!"

Tabitha smiled and tried to blink away the tears that were forming. "Why, Dee? Why did you come back for me? I never understood that. You had your freedom and you gave it up to raise me."

Dion sighed. "If Pete the perv could even think about doing something with a seventeen year old, he wouldn't hesitate to do something to a nine year old. You were all alone and she sure as hell wasn't going to protect you."

"Thank you, Dee. I can't say it enough. I know you sacrificed for me, but I never knew how much. I still don't understand how you got Rick to marry you with an obnoxious teenage sister in the picture."

"I think it was my name Dionysus, he probably thought I was the bastard child of some Greek billionaire."

"I had no such ideas," Rick said walking into the kitchen and kissing the top of Dion's head and rubbing her baby bump. "I saw a beautiful woman that didn't fall for my crap, and had a seemingly endless capacity to love."

Dion mouthed, "Full of shit."

Tabitha giggled.

"Don't listen to her," Rick said kissing Tabitha's cheek. "Besides, you weren't that obnoxious."

"Thanks," she said rolling her eyes.

"Will you be staying for dinner?" Rick asked.

"No. I'm having dinner with Wes tonight. I'll leave after the kids get their homework done."

"You and this Wes guy are pretty serious, huh?" Dion said with a knowing smile.

"No, we're not," said Tabitha defensively. "You know I don't do serious."

Dion frowned. "This is the longest relationship you've been in since..."

"Ever!" Rick offered from behind the refrigerator door.

"Yeah, ever. Almost a month for you is serious." Dion said with a nod.

"No, it's not serious!" Tabitha snapped, "And how come he doesn't get lectured about leaving the refrigerator door open?"

Dion shrugged. "He bought it and the contents therein, and pays for the electricity that keeps it running."

"Fine, next month I'll pay the electric bill in this gargantuan house just so I can stand in front of the open door letting the appliance bulb give me a tan."

"Cool," Dion said, "I'll send you the bill when it arrives."

"Oh, shut up, you know I'm not paying the electric bill."

"Of course I know that! I also know that you're trying to change the subject and I'm not going to let it happen."

Tabitha heaved a sigh. "Please, Dee, I don't feel like hearing a lecture from you and your sidekick about finding the right guy and settling down. Just because the two of you found each other, doesn't mean I'm on some perpetual manhunt."

"Good!" said Rick shutting the refrigerator and popping the tab on his soda. "I don't want to think of you hunting for a man. It's so desperate."

"That's right," Tabitha said crossing her arms. "One thing I'm not is desperate."

Dion just rolled her eyes.

***

Wes was nervous on the elevator ride to Tabitha's office. They were supposed to meet for lunch, but Mr. Dennis closed the shop early. Wesley suspected it was to save on electricity since they hadn't had a customer all morning and there were no lessons scheduled that afternoon. So, he'd showed up to Tabitha's office, nervous about surprising her.

He hadn't had time to go home and change, so he'd put his leather jacket to cover up his work shirt. He didn't want to embarrass her by letting all her desk jockey co-workers know that she was seeing a salesman.

Tabitha smiled when he walked into her office. That relaxed him right away. Then, she got out of her chair, rushed to him, and kissed him long and slow. She was definitely happy to see him, and parts of him were a bit too happy to see her. He pulled away.

"What are you doing here?" Tabitha asked. "I thought we were meeting at one."

"Closed early," Wes whispered touching his forehead to hers. "I wanted to surprise you."

"Well, it worked." Tabitha stepped back and frowned. "It's June, aren't you hot in that thing?"

Wes shrugged. "I'm still wearing my work clothes."

Tabitha rolled her eyes. "Take that off. I don't care if everyone thinks you're a dork that tucks in your shirt. I know the truth."

Wes laughed but took off the jacket that was indeed a bit smothering at high noon on a summer day.

"Much better," said Tabitha with a wink. "Give me ten minutes and I'll be ready to go."

Wes took a seat and gazed around her office. The decorations were professional, but he could see her personality in there. For example: the bright orange vase on the floor beside her desk and three Jack Vettriano prints on the walls. The colors were bold, just like Tabitha.

"Done!" she said after a few minutes.

"Tabitha!" Laura sang from the door way.

Both of them turned to look at her. Tabitha bit back a snarky comment and smiled. "Yes, Laura?"

"We have a lunch meeting in a few minutes; oh...I didn't realize you had company."

Tabitha rose from the high-back office chair and glared at Laura. "Not even when he walked right past your desk?"

"I don't pay attention to strangers wandering around the office."

"Well I won't count on you to raise an alarm if someone decides to go on a murderous rampage one day."

Laura didn't respond. She was staring at Wes.

"Besides, I can't make the meeting. It wasn't on my schedule and I have prior plans." Tabitha pulled her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk and went around the desk.

"Oh, really?" Tabitha was still watching Wes, tracking his movements as he rose and put a hand on Tabitha's lower back. Her eyebrows went up when she noticed what he was wearing.

"Yes, really Laura. Now could you stop loitering in the doorway so we can leave?"

"Are you guys dating?" Laura asked, not even pretending to budge.