The Reluctant Sister (Reluctant Series Book 3) Read online

  Mom exited her booth and looked up and down at me, “Jeff will most definitely like seeing you in that dress.” She paused for a moment then added, “Does it really matter to you if Jeff likes your dress or not?”

  I glared at Mom as I stated, “Of course it matters to me! He’s my boyfr...” My voice suddenly trailed away. I stood there in silence for a moment or two, taken aback by my sudden declaration. “See Mom? That’s why I need time being a boy again.”

  I tousled my hair again, posed, and asked Mom, “I was thinking of wearing my boots with this dress. What do you think?”

  * * *

  Finally! The shopping expedition was over! We’d reached the far end of the mall and the only place left was the movie theater. Unless Mom wanted some popcorn from the theater, our shopping had finally come to an end.

  I thought just before we left, I’d check in at the theater to see if Gwen was working. A glance through the glass front of the theater showed that she was indeed working. I told Mom I wanted to go say hi to Gwen for a minute.

  “Don’t be too long. I’m exhausted and I’d like to get home,” Mom said. Then she added, while pointing, “I’ll sit on the benches over there and wait.”

  “I won’t be long,” I assured her.

  I hadn’t talked to Gwen since that one night several weeks ago. Gwen looked up from a cash register a moment or two after I entered. She motioned for me to head for her office. A minute later, she was shutting the door and sitting down.

  “What brings you here today, Christopher?” Gwen looked at me and shook her head. “My God you look so much like Diane it’s just plain scary.”

  “Well, I wanted to ask you something,” I said, settling down in my chair.

  Gwen waved her hand, “Ask away!”

  “You know, Christmas is coming up, and this year I was going to be needing a little more Christmas money, and... ah... well...”

  “Don’t tell me,” Gwen interrupted. “You want a job at the theater.”

  I leaned forward and said, “Yeah, kinda. Since you know that I’m not really a girl, I thought it might be easier on me mentally to work here than somewhere else.”

  “The way you look, I don’t think you’d have to worry about being found out.” Gwen looked thoughtful for a moment. She continued, “The only real problem I’d see with you working here is the little issue of going to the bathroom.”

  “I just won’t go, then.”

  Gwen laughed at me, “Yeah, right! Hmmm. We’re always looking for new help. The turnover is pretty high, since all I can get to work here are high-schoolers — no offense. Can you start tonight?”

  “Tonight? Geez, no. I have a date!”

  “That would be an automatic kiss of death to a job applicant, Chris, but since you’re the cause of the guilt I’m going to carry to my grave, I’ll give you a break. If you can avoid getting into trouble using the bathrooms, I’ll let you start Saturday afternoon. How’s that? I’m kinda busy right now, but come by tomorrow morning and we’ll fill out the paper work and go over what you need to buy for your uniform.”

  “Thanks Gwen!” I said as I stood up to leave.

  “Okay, see you tomorrow. Have fun on your date. I guess.”

  * * *

  The phone rang while I was getting ready. I hoped it wasn’t for me as I was in the middle of putting on my make-up. I heard Mom pick up the phone in the living room and began talking excitedly to someone. The conversation lasted until I finished getting ready.

  I walked into the living room and asked, “Mom! Well, what do you think?” I posed and strutted around, showing off my new dress. I thought the short dress and the tall boots looked good together. I let my long hair frame my face and my sister’s diamond stud earrings sparkled in the light.

  Mom smiled and said, “You look absolutely beautiful!”

  Just then, Dad came in from the garage, took a look at me and asked, “You’re not going out dressed like that, are you? Don’t you have any longer dresses or maybe some pants?”

  Mom turned to Dad and said, “Honey, this is her first real date. She needs to look nice for it.” Those words rang in my head: “First real date.” And she said, “she”.

  My head started to spin, and so, I tried not to think about the implications. Changing the subject, I asked, “Mom, who was on the phone?”

  “Oh! Yes. It’s good both of you are here,” Mom looked from Dad to me and back again. “That was Diane.”

  “Diane actually called home?” Dad was incredulous. “Should we notify the press? Are you sure it wasn’t a pod-person?”

  “If I may finish,” Mom interrupted. “Diane said she’s going to graduate this semester instead of at the end of the spring semester. The second Saturday of December is her graduation ceremony, and she wants us to come up for it. She’s also coming home. She’ll be home before Christmas.”

  Diane is finished with school? I didn’t think she’d ever graduate. She and Gwen had both gone off to college at the same time, but after Gwen got her degree, she came back home. Diane stayed on to get her MBA. And now, she was coming home. She would be wanting her room back... and her wardrobe.

  * * *

  Chapter 2

  While waiting for Jeff to arrive, I walked back to my old room. It’d been weeks since I’d set foot in it. It was a little jarring when I hit the light switch and stepped inside. On the walls were posters of heavy-metal bands as well as scantily clad women. Star Wars stuff sat on my shelves alongside tank and airplane models. On the desk sat my computer. I hadn’t fired it up in over a month. I wondered how much email had stacked up. The room was normally a wreck, but apparently Mom had had a chance to come in and straighten things.

  I walked up to the closet and slowly opened it. Inside were all the boy clothes I hadn’t worn in a couple of months. I giggled softly to myself as I looked through the clothes and realized just how bad my taste in clothes was as a guy. I opened the top drawer of my old dresser and saw all the neatly folded stacks of boy’s underwear. I picked one up and frowned. Gak! I had to admit to myself that I never wanted to return to this kind of underwear again!

  Rummaging further, under some socks with holes in the toes, I found a couple of pictures. They were of Ed and me, during that weird summer where I had snuck out of the house and dressed as Chrissy so Ed could take me out on “dates”. The pictures were taken at Harvey’s, the big teen hangout in town. ‘What on Earth was I thinking’, I thought to myself. Hell, what was I thinking now?! In a few minutes, I’ll be going out on a real date with a real boy. At the thought of Ed, I realized I hadn’t heard from him since school started. Just like a guy, I thought. Never writes or calls.

  I took a slow look around the room. I couldn’t believe that I actually used to live in this room, even if it was only a couple of months ago. At first, I thought that if I was going to have to move back into it, there were going to have to be some changes made. On second thought, though, this should be the perfect immersion back into boydom that I’d planned to slide back into over the holidays. If Diane was still here after New Years, I’d redecorate my room then.

  Before I could finish contemplating what to do with my room, the doorbell rang. Oh my God, Jeff’s here! I ran back into my new room and started re-checking everything in the mirror. I was smoothing out my dress when Mom called through the door to let me know Jeff was waiting. Why was I so nervous? I’d been out with Jeff dozens of times. I’d been out with two other boys as well. This date was decidedly different.

  As I entered the living room, Jeff stood. He took me quite by surprise. He was holding a dozen roses, and he was dressed in a sweater and sport coat, and he was actually wearing slacks instead of his trademark jeans. His smile broadened as his eyes fell on me. He just looked at me for a few seconds. He then said, “Wow, Chrissy! You are absolutely beautiful!”

  I could feel myself blushing as I gushed, “Thank you! I have to say, you’re quite handsome tonight!”

  “These are for you,” Jef
f said as he handed me the roses.

  “Thank you! They’re beautiful!” I took them and inhaled their fragrance. “I’d better put these in water before we go.”

  Mom stepped up and reached out for the flowers and said, “Here, let me take those and put them in water for you. “

  Jeff gestured toward the door with one hand and reached for my hand with the other as he said, “I guess we’re ready to go.” I took his hand and Jeff lead me out through the door.

  * * *

  Snowflakes danced in the headlights of Jeff’s car as we drove across town to Gladstone’s. It was quite cold and I was starting to wish I’d worn a longer dress. I looked over at Jeff, and he placed a hand on my left leg. Two months ago, I would have pushed his hand away, but tonight I laid my hand on top of his. A grab-bag of emotions swirled through my soul, but tonight I wasn’t going to think about what this might mean. For tonight, I wanted nothing more than to be on this date – to be with Jeff – to be his girl.

  The snow was still lightly falling as Jeff wheeled his car into a parking spot at Gladstone’s. He got out of the car and hurried over to my side and opened the door. Jeff extended his hand and helped me out of the car. Taking my hand, I was led to the covered entryway.

  Inside the doorway stood the maitre d’, all decked out. Fresh flowers lined the short hallway, and the red carpet looked like it had never been walked on. As we approached, the maitre d’ looked up. “Ah, Mr. Kowalski and... guest,” he said looking at me. “Will it be the usual table tonight, sir?” The look I flashed Jeff asked, you mean you have a usual table?

  “Actually, your best table tonight, Jameson!” said Jeff smartly as he handed the waiter a folded one hundred dollar bill. I thought ‘holy cats’! Jeff is really going all out. I was extremely impressed. I became less impressed later when I learned that Jeff had worked at Gladstone’s over the summer busing tables and had become friends with the head waiter. Jeff had been by earlier to set this up. The C note actually belonged to the waiter and Jeff had borrowed it for the occasion. Still, Jeff was pulling out all the stops, and I was enjoying every second.

  The maitre d’ led us to a table that was on a platform raised a few feet above floor level and had decorative walls and plants that made the table seem at least semi-private. Fresh flowers and a candle adorned the table. A large window gave us a panoramic view of the parking lot.

  The maitre d’ pulled my chair from the table and waited until I started to sit to nudge it under me. Another waiter arrived with what looked like a champagne bottle. I started to remind Jeff that we were both still in high school when Jeff asked, “Would you care for some sparkling cider?” I nodded and the waiter popped the bottle open and poured us each a glass.

  The maitre d’ left after he gave us each a menu promising a waiter would arrive shortly. I laid my hand on the table, and Jeff reached out and took my hand in his. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze, as he looked past his menu at me and smiled. This sure beat the crud out of Taco Bell!

  I took my eyes away from Jeff long enough to examine the menu, “Jeff, everything here is so expensive! Maybe I should just get a salad.”

  Jeff shook his head as he said, “No, no. Order whatever you want. Don’t even look at the prices.”

  At first, I started looking for something like chicken strips or just go with a chef salad. Then, it dawned on me that Jeff would probably be disappointed if I got something he could have bought cheaper at a Carl’s Jr. I looked around some more, and finally decided on the filet mignon, as it was the second most expensive thing on the menu.

  The waiter took our orders, and then, Jeff again took my hands. He just held them for a moment, then lifted them, kissed my fingers, then stared into my eyes. He smiled, as he said, “Chrissy, you really are beautiful.”

  I could feel myself blushing and a tingle floated up my spine. We just stared at each other for a few moments. I could just dive right into those very blue eyes of his.

  “Jeff, this is really wonderful!” I gushed. Pointing at the candles and flowers on the table, I continued, “It’s all very romantic.”

  Jeff tried to strike a devil-may-care pose as he said, “The food is really quite good and the service is excellent.”

  About that moment, a waiter coming from another table passed by looked over at us, and he started to wave and said, “Hey, Ski!” Jeff frowned at him and nodded towards me. The waiter then straightened himself and said, “Good evening sir! I hope everything will be to your satisfaction.”

  “Do you know him?” I asked.

  Jeff coughed and said, “I’m sure he’s seen my picture in the newspaper.”

  * * *

  The meal was wonderful; Jeff was charming, and I was on Cloud Nine. I could do this every day, I thought. We left Gladstone’s hand-in-hand, and then, Jeff opened the car door for me and helped me sit.

  I nestled back into the car seat and closed my eyes dreamily for a moment. I looked over at Jeff as he drove his car out of the parking lot. I felt that I must be the luckiest girl in the world. I lightly touched the side of his face, and he took my hand and gently kissed my fingers.

  After a few minutes of looking out the car window but not really seeing anything, it started to dawn on me that we weren’t heading for Harvey’s. I thought for sure that’s where Jeff was going to go to so we could get in some dancing.

  “Jeff, aren’t we going to Harvey’s?” I asked. “We seem to be going in the opposite direction.”

  Jeff smiled, “Oh, I’ve made other plans for us.”

  We drove on for several more minutes before Jeff pulled the car into the parking lot of the local playhouse. Mom had dragged me there once when I was a kid to see Peter and the Wolf. Tonight, there was a traveling ballet company performing Swan Lake. These were pros, not the usual no-talent locals who normally put on the plays.

  “Here we are,” said Jeff as he killed the engine.

  I turned to Jeff, “Wow. I can’t believe you’re actually taking me to a ballet!” Two months ago, wild horses couldn’t have dragged me to a ballet, but tonight, I was actually excited.

  Throughout the whole ballet, Jeff held my hand. My whole insides were bubbling over in gooey romance. I didn’t want the evening to end. However, the ballet did finally end, and as we started to get up to leave, I glanced down at my watch. Worriedly, I said to Jeff, “Oh no! It’s almost eleven! I was supposed to be home by ten!”

  Jeff seemed unperturbed. He said, “Relax! I cleared it with your mom this afternoon. You’re fine.”

  That was welcome news. I didn’t want to tick Dad off – at least no more than usual.

  As we left the playhouse, the snow was really coming down thick. I could hear an ambulance siren off in the distance. That’s all I would need would be for Jeff to lose control of the car on icy roads where I’d probably wind up in the Emergency Room trying to explain why I was dressed the way I was.

  Jeff did slide out into an intersection once. Luckily, the streets were largely empty by then, so fortunately for us, we were the only ones at that intersection. We arrived at the house, and Jeff helped me out of his car. We trudged through the deepening snow to my front door. The streetlights bouncing off the snow and the clouds made it look almost like daylight.

  As we stood on the porch, snow swirling around us, the only sound we could hear was the rustling of snow hitting the ground. Jeff put his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I put my arms around his neck and stared into his eyes. Finally, he asked softly, “Did you have a good time tonight?”

  Smiling, I replied, “I had a wonderful time tonight! Thank you so much for the ballet!”

  Jeff brushed some loose strands of hair from my face and said, “You’re very welcome.” He then ran a warm hand down my cheek. He bent his head down and softly kissed me. He looked back at me. I froze. He’s not going to say it, is he? Oh God, please don’t say it. He then quietly said, “I love you, Chrissy.”

  What did he just say?!? Surely, he can’t mea
n it. That was just crazy talk. I know he’d said “girl I’m in love with” several times, but he’d never said those three little words directly at me before. I really was stunned. I didn’t reply until a few seconds later as I felt myself starting to smile. My emotions were all over the place. A voice in the back of my head was jumping up and down, screaming ‘Don’t say it! Don’t say it! Mouth the words ‘alligator food’...he’ll never know the difference’. Finally, I breathlessly said, “Oh, I love you too, Jeff! I love you so much!”

  Jeff pulled me closer and kissed me, a long deep passionate kiss. All the pent up emotions from both of us exploded as we kissed each other as if we’d been waiting for a hundred years for this kiss. Breathless, we placed our heads on each other’s shoulders for a moment as we held each other tight.

  I felt tears streaking down my cheeks, as I held my eyes closed, never wanting this embrace to end. A boy had just told me he loved me. Finally, I had become completely a girl to him. I had just told a boy I loved him, and I meant every word. So help me, I really loved him.