12. The Picnic

Chrissy goes to Ian's company picnic.

       

         Chrissy got up after Ian left for work and started getting ready. She was spending the night at his apartment more and more. She starting buying extra toiletries like deodorant and an extra toothbrush to keep there. She also took over one of his dresser drawers and kept a fresh change of clothes in it. She liked staying at his place. It was so much quieter than her own apartment. She could really relax there.

        She finished putting on her make-up and then headed for the kitchen. She rinsed her coffee cup, put it in the sink and then turned to leave. She saw Ian’s lunchbox sitting on the kitchen table. He had already left for work an hour ago. She rolled her eyes. Idiot! Sometimes she couldn’t understand how a man could be so smart and so stupid at the same time! Well, she wasn’t going to make a special trip because of his stupidity. Let him starve for lunch! She stared at the lunch box for several seconds, and then sighed. She grabbed it and headed out the door.

She had never been to his work place, but she knew where it was. She had driven past it several times on her way to a motorcycle parts shop she frequented. She knew he worked in the shipping department, so when she pulled into the parking lot, she drove around back to the loading dock. She parked her motorcycle, unstrapped the lunchbox and carried it with her through a large, open over-head door. She found him almost immediately. He was strapping some cartons onto a skid. She walked over to him and stood there for several seconds before he noticed her. He was bit startled when he saw her and he gave her a puzzled look.

She held up the lunchbox in front of her and he smiled sheepishly. “Did I forget that thing again? Thanks for dropping it off for me.”

"Well, now I'm going to be late!" she snapped, "I swear Ian, you're twenty years older than me, but I still feel like your mother sometimes!"

She was about to turn and leave when she noticed some of his fellow employees were glancing at them curiously. Instead, she stepped forward and gave him a lingering kiss on the mouth. She then stepped back, gave him a little wave and said loudly, “Bye, Daddy.” Then she turned and walked out.

Ian didn’t have to look to know that everyone was staring at him. He felt his face flush while he went back to his work. For the rest of the day he told everyone he came in contact with, “She’s not my daughter!!”

~*~

Unless he worked overtime, Ian usually got home from work well before Chrissy. He was waiting for her when she walked in and tossed her helmet on the chair. She took off her hoody and tossed it after the helmet.

“Here,” he said, handing her a flier without even a hello.

“What's this?” she asked as she looked at it. Then she handed it back to him and said, “Have fun.”

“You're going with me!” he said sternly.

“Sorry, I don't do company picnics.”

“Well, you're coming to this one! You owe it to me after that little stunt you pulled this morning! I need to show everyone that you're not my daughter!”

“I don't even go to my own company picnic. Give me one good reason why I should go to yours. In fact, give me two good reasons, and I'll go.”

“Free beer!”

“Um... I... okay! That's one! But you won't come up with another!”

“Free food!”

“Nope! That's not good enough. Sorry.”

“You get to see the woman I dated before I met you,” he said with a smile.

“Huh?!... uh... you... no! That's not good enough, either!”

“Yes it is!” he grinned. “You hesitated! You're interested! You want to go and see her!”

She glared at him with her icy blue eyes. “Alright! Fine!” she snapped, “I'll go just long enough to have a beer and for you to point out your old girlfriend! Then I'm leaving!”

“She's not my 'old girlfriend'. We just dated a few times, that's all.”

“How many times?” she asked.

“Three. Four if you count the last company picnic.”

“Did you sleep with her?”

“Chrissy!!”

“No... you didn't. I can tell. Who broke it off?”

“It was mutual.”

“That means she broke it off,” she replied.

“I ended it,” he said, “Most women always call it quits with me after the third or fourth date. I just thought I'd beat her to the punch.”

“Okay,” she sighed, “I'll go.” Then she pointed her finger at him, “But you've got me for one hour, then I'm splitting!”

~*~

It was a perfect day for a picnic. The sun was shining with a few puffy clouds drifting by in a deep blue sky. The air was warm with a gentle breeze. Ian turned the car into his boss' driveway and pulled up to the stately house. He parked next to all the other vehicles and got out. Chrissy had wanted to drive her motorcycle so that she could leave early, but Ian had insisted that she ride with him and that he would leave with her after one hour if she wanted to go.

They got out of the car and started for the backyard. “Don't forget your sunglasses,” Chrissy reminded Ian. He muttered something unintelligible. “What?” she asked.

“I said I lost them!” he answered.

“You lost your sunglasses again?!” she replied in disbelief, “That's the third pair this year! And it's only May!” She held out her hand to him. “Give me your keys!” she ordered.

“What?!”

“I'm not staying any longer than I have to because you lost your keys! Let me hang onto them!”

          He angrily ignored her and kept walking.

He was dressed casually in a red t-shirt and khakis. She wore her signature white tank top and black jeans with black work boots. Around her neck was a choke-chain collar with a small padlock as a pendant. She brought along a black hoody in case it was chilly, but carried it draped over her arm. All of her many tattoos were on full display and her face was heavily made-up. Her short, black hair was disheveled as usual. She had expected him to ask her to dress a little nicer, but he hadn't said a word about the way she looked.

They walked around to the back of the house and saw that a large, open tent had been pitched in the yard with a number of folding tables and chairs set up under it. People were sitting at the tables and conversing, playing cards and enjoying various snacks that had been placed about. Some guests were playing horseshoes on the side lawn. A number of children were running around laughing and yelling.

“Kids!” said Chrissy with annoyance, “You didn't say there'd be kids!”

“Of course there's kids,” Ian answered her, “It's a picnic.”

“One more reason why I don't go to these things,” she muttered sullenly.

They walked over to a man that was busy getting the barbeque ready. He was fifty-something, distinguished looking and wearing an apron. The barbeque was a shiny, stainless steel behemoth with multiple racks and extra burners.

“It's got everything but the kitchen sink,” Chrissy whispered sarcastically to Ian.

Ian reached over and lifted one of the stainless steel covers to reveal a sink with running water. “Guess again,” he whispered back with a smile. Chrissy rolled her eyes.

The man turned to them and smiled. “Ian! So glad you could make it.” They shook hands.

“Hi, Tony,” Ian answered, “Great day for a picnic. Tony, this is Chrissy Allen - my date. Chrissy, this is my boss, Tony Fini.”

“Hello, Chrissy!” Tony greeted her warmly, “Welcome to my home. Grab yourselves something to drink! There's wine and tea over there and there's beer and soda in those coolers. And there's snacks on the tables.” He busied himself with setting up the barbeque again.

Ian grabbed a can of beer from a cooler. Chrissy preferred bottled beer and searched the coolers until she found some. She walked over to Tony. “Got an opener?” she asked him.

“Didn't I get twist-off tops?” he replied, “You'll have to get an opener from my wife, Meredith. She's in the kitchen, through that door there,” he pointed.

She walked over to Ian. “I have to get an opener,” she told him.

“Alright, I'll be around the tables,” he answered.

Chrissy entered a door off of a simple but elegant patio into the home's kitchen. There were five women in the room talking and laughing. One of them was busy getting snacks and dishes ready to be served. Occasionally, one of the other women would help her with something, but mostly they just stood around and talked. Some held glasses of wine, one of them had a can of beer. The kitchen suddenly became quiet as they turned and looked at Chrissy. The busy one turned to see what was going on. She saw Chrissy and smiled warmly.

“Hello,” she said in a friendly tone, “I'm Meredith. Welcome to my kitchen.” She wiped her hands on a nearby towel and extended one to Chrissy in welcome. She was in her fifties, very slim and attractive, and well dressed for a picnic. She had a friendly but in-charge kind of bearing.

Pretentious rich b***h, thought Chrissy to herself. “I'm Chrissy Allen,” she said, shaking Meredith's hand, “Your husband sent me in for a bottle opener.” She held up the bottle of beer as evidence.

“Certainly!” replied Meredith. She opened one of the many drawers and pulled an opener out and handed it to her. Chrissy popped the top off of her beer and took a swig, then put the opener in her back pocket. She held the bottle up as if toasting Meredith and turned to leave. “I know all of my husband's employees and I don't remember you,” said Meredith, stopping her, “You must be someone's guest.”

“I'm with Ian Stewart,” Chrissy answered.

“Oh, yes,” she said, “Ian works in the shipping department. He's also a talented artist. Let me introduce you to everyone.” She pointed to each one of the women and recited their names. “This is Rachael, Suzette, Cindy and Brittany.” The women smiled and nodded to her.

“Salut, enchanté,” said Suzette as she held out her hand to her. Chrissy looked at her suspiciously.

“You'll have to forgive Suzette,” explained Meredith, “She's quite the francophile. She spends two weeks in Paris every year for her vacation.”

“Have you ever been to Paris in the spring?” asked Suzette. Chrissy shook her head. “Oh! You must go sometime! C'est vraiment magnifique!”

“Are you Ian's daughter?” Rachael asked. She had an unfriendly look.

“I'm his date!” Chrissy answered caustically.

“Brittany and I were just getting ready to go out and start the childrens' games,” said Cindy, “Perhaps you'd like to join us.”

“I don't like kids,” Chrissy answered. There was an awkward silence.

“So, Chrissy,” said Meredith conversationally, “is your family from around here?”

“I don't have any family,” she answered.

“How did you meet Ian?” asked Rachael.

Chrissy thought she sensed a touch of hostility in her voice. She ignored her. “I'd better get back to Ian or he'll wonder where I am,” she said tersely. She turned toward the door.

“It was nice meeting you!” Meredith called after her.

She found Ian sitting at one of the tables watching some of his workmates play cards. She tossed the bottle opener on the table and said to him, “You've got forty-five minutes, then we're out of here!” She grabbed a handful of chips out of a bowl and plopped down in the chair next to him and looked moody.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“Yeah! I let you talk me into this! That's what's wrong!”

He rolled his eyes in exasperation. “You're bound and determined to have a lousy time, aren't you?! Why don't you join in a game or something? Or are you too afraid you might have fun?”

She flipped him off, not caring that a number of his co-workers saw her do it. They sat together in sullen silence for awhile. Presently, Meredith came out of the kitchen with the other women carrying bowls and dishes and began setting them around the tables. She then made her way around to all of the guests, greeting everyone and making sure no one needed anything. When she got to the table that Ian and Chrissy were at, she looked around as if something was missing.

“The guacamole and chips!” she said, snapping her fingers, “That's what I forgot! Chrissy, would you help me get them, please?” Chrissy looked at Ian with surprise as Meredith headed for the kitchen without waiting for her. Ian shrugged. She got up and followed after Meredith.

As Chrissy entered the kitchen, Meredith was taking a bowl of guacamole out of the refrigerator. She removed the plastic wrap that covered it and handed the bowl to Chrissy along with a wooden spoon.

“Be a dear and stir that for me, would you?” she asked.

She then began opening cupboards and getting out some large, decorative plastic bowls and bags of tortilla chips as Chrissy stirred the guacamole. Meredith spoke while she opened the bags and poured their contents into the bowls. “You know, outward appearances can say a lot about a person... but not everything. I never like to judge a book by its cover, like some people do. It might amuse you, Chrissy, to learn that some of the women here are actually a little afraid of you. And who can blame them? After all, you have very cold, cruel eyes.” She walked over to Chrissy with a bowl of chips and stood in front of her, staring at her.

Here it comes, thought Chrissy, she's going to lecture me on being more personable and friendly. I hope Ian doesn't get into too much trouble when I tell her off!

Meredith dipped a chip into the guacamole and fed it to Chrissy. “But when I look into those eyes,” she continued, “I see intelligence, and complexity... and a touch of loneliness.” She dipped another chip and fed it to herself while continuing to stare at Chrissy. “But what do you think? Does it need more lemon juice?”

“Huh?... uh... no... it's fine like it is,” stammered Chrissy, caught off guard.

“Good! Let's get back to the party then, shall we?” said Meredith as she gathered up the bowls of chips.

Chrissy stared after her a little dumbfounded for several seconds before she followed her. What the hell was that all about? she thought.

She caught up to Meredith as she was setting the bowls of chips on the table. Meredith took the bowl of guacamole from her and set it down next to the chips and thanked her. Chrissy looked around for Ian.

“He's over there, looking at Tony's peu de voiture ,” said Suzette, pointing to the side yard where a group of guests were standing around a small, shiny red sports-car. “It's a tradition,” she continued, “Every year Tony brings out his little toy so he can show it off to the guests.”

“Looks like you've been abandoned,” said Rachael with an evil smile.

Chrissy ignored them both and went to the cooler for another beer. She found an empty seat among the tables and sat down to munch on some chips. Presently, Ian came over to join her.

“You've got half an hour!” she said sulkily.

He sighed. “Why don't you go join in the poker game?” he suggested.

“There's a poker game?” She perked up and looked around.

“Over there,” he said, pointing to a group of people at one of the tables. He smiled. He had hoped that would pique her interest. Poker was one of the few card games that Chrissy enjoyed. When played correctly, there was no inane chit-chat between the players.

She looked in the direction he pointed. “I don't know,” she said, “Maybe.”

Just then, Meredith came up to them. “Chrissy,” she said, “Ian tells me you're quite the photographer.”

Chrissy shrugged. “Yeah.”

“Well, I may have a job for you. Do you think you would be interested?”

“I'm listening.”

“Follow me and we'll discuss it,” she said with a gesture and a smile.

Chrissy got up and followed Meredith into the house. “One of my hobbies is raising rare orchids,” she explained as they walked. “I have a number of them that are getting ready to bloom very soon and I want to hire someone to photograph them when they do.” Chrissy looked around her as they walked through the house. The living room was appointed with obviously expensive furniture and decorated with many pieces of fine art. As she glanced at the paintings hanging on the walls she assumed that they were from high end galleries in New York or Chicago. Suddenly she stopped to stare at one of the paintings. Meredith stopped walking and came back to where she was standing.

“Yes... it's one of Ian's,” she said, “He's a very talented artist. We have another one of his in the bedroom. A smaller one.”

They continued past the living room into a small sun-room and then into a small, attached green-house. It was full of orchids and bromeliads on tables and shelves.

“These are the ones, here,” she said, pointing at about a dozen of them on a table, “How much would you charge me to photograph them?”

Chrissy was going to say twenty dollars, but decided Meredith could afford more, so she said, “Thirty bucks.”

“Thirty dollars?!!” exclaimed Meredith with dismay. Chrissy's eyes flashed. She couldn't believe Meredith was balking at a lousy thirty bucks as rich as she was. She was about to tell her to 'shove it' when Meredith said, “A professional would charge me at least $200.00! I'll pay you one-fifty!”

Chrissy stared at her in disbelief for several seconds before she said, “Um... okay. It's a deal. One-fifty.”

“But I have to warn you,” continued Meredith, wagging her finger at Chrissy, “I'm very picky! I won't pay a penny if they're not top quality!”

“That won't be a problem,” replied Chrissy with confidence.

“And while you're here, I'll pay you another fifty dollars to shoot my bromeliads,” she added.

Chrissy nodded.

“Great! Give me your number and I'll call you a few days before they're ready and we'll set up a time.”

They went back outside and Meredith quickly excused herself to talk to some of the other guests. Chrissy found Ian sitting and chatting with some of his co-workers. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Rachael staring at her as she walked by. She walked up to Ian and looked at him for several moments, then she hesitantly and rather awkwardly sat on his lap. Ian was surprised by the uncharacteristic act of affection (and change in her mood), but didn't make a big deal about it and lightly rubbed her back in response.

“You haven't asked me to point out the woman I used to date,” he said.

“It's Rachael,” replied Chrissy with a nod in her direction.

Ian furrowed his brow. “How did you know?” he asked.

“She's been giving me the evil eye ever since we got here,” she replied.

Ian smiled. “Really?! You mean she's jealous?!”

“It would appear so,” answered Chrissy, also with a hint of a smile.

Ian looked her in the eyes. “I'll bet you're just eating that up!” he said.

She shrugged and continued smiling. “I don't mind it.” Then she kissed him. “Let her chew on that!” she added. “Now, give me ten bucks and introduce me to those poker players.”

Ian took Chrissy to the table with the poker game and got them to invite her to join. He stood and watched her for a short time and then went off to get another beer. He sat down at a different table and chatted with some of his co-workers for a while, occasionally looking over at Chrissy to make sure she wasn't getting into any fights. She continued playing poker as her deadline for leaving came and went. Presently, the smell of burgers and brats cooking on the grill began to waft through the air and made Ian hungry. Tony soon announced that the first batch was done and many of the guests started lining up with their plates. The poker game broke up and Chrissy came over to Ian.

“How'd you do?” he asked.

“Okay,” she answered with a shrug, “Are we staying to eat?”

“That's up to you.”

She nodded. “I'm getting hungry. But I'm going inside to use the bathroom first.”

As he waited for her to return, one of his co-workers from the poker game came up to him. “Geez, Stewart! Where did you meet 'Ms Pokerface'?!” he said.

Ian smiled. “She didn't clean you out, did she,” he asked.

“No, but give her enough time and she might! I've never played with anyone so stone-faced. I couldn't read her at all!”

“Yeah, that's Chrissy all right. It took awhile, but, believe it or not, I can read her like a book, now. And vice versa.”

“You're kidding!”

Ian shook his head. “Nope. It's weird, but we connect at a certain level somehow. We always seem to know what the other is thinking, or at least what the other needs.”

Chrissy re-joined him and they got in line for the barbeque. As they waited, Ian reached into his pocket. Then he reached into his other pocket. He began searching all of his pockets frantically. Chrissy reached into her pocket and pulled out his cell-phone and handed it to him. “Looking for this?” she asked.

“Yeah!” he answered, “Where was it?”

“I found it on the ground by the poker table! I'm swear I'm going to go buy a chain and attach one end to that phone and the other end to your belt loop!!” she said sternly, like he was a little boy who kept losing his mittens. He shot her a dark look that said he didn't like being scolded in front of his co-workers by a woman his daughter's age.

“Ask him about the time he lost a fork-truck,” said Rachael with a smug smile. Chrissy flashed her eyes angrily at her, then furrowed her brow and looked at Ian.

“Tell me she's joking, Ian!” she said. He avoided her eyes and said nothing. Some of his co-workers chuckled. She looked at him with disbelief. “Oh my God!! You lost a fork-truck?!! How could you lose a fork-truck?!” she asked in amazement. There were more chuckles.

“Yeah, I couldn't believe it,” said Tony with a smile as he served burgers from the grill, “I almost fired him for that one.”

She looked at Tony, then at Ian, then back at Tony again. “Did you ever find it?!” she asked.

Tony nodded. “He left it on a semi. Made it all the way to Cincinnati before it was discovered.”

Chrissy sighed and shook her head.

They got their food and settled down at one of the tables together. Some of the guests stared in wonder at the amount of food Chrissy had piled on her plate. They obviously wondered how such a slim woman could put away so much food. She immediately began digging in. Suzette sat down diagonally across from them.

“Tony! La cuisine est magnifique! As usual!” she said with a smile.

Chrissy decided that she had had enough of Suzette and her faux français. She looked over at her and said, “Suzette, plus tu parles et plus je suis convaincue que tu ne sais pas du tout parler Français, tu ne fais que semblant de parler devant toutes ses personne dans le seul but de les impressionner. N'est-ce pas vrai?”

(“Suzette, the more you speak, the more convinced I am that you do not know how to speak French at all, but are just faking it in front of all of these people to impress them. Is that correct?”)

Everybody at the table looked at Chrissy in stunned silence! No one had any idea what she had just said, including Suzette, who stared at Chrissy like a deer caught in the headlights. It was obvious that Chrissy was expecting some sort of a response, and everyone began looking at Suzette, who finally smiled nervously and said, hesitantly, “Oui?”

“Oui,” nodded Chrissy and resumed devouring her meal.

“Now, now!” chided Meredith good naturedly from the head of the table, “That's enough you two! Don't leave the rest of us out of your conversations. From now on, let's speak English only.”

“Yes! Of course!” replied Suzette nervously, “From now on we should only speak English. Right, Chrissy?”

Chrissy continued eating as she shrugged and said, “Whatever.” The rest of the guests at the table slowly resumed their conversations, though some continued staring at Chrissy with curiosity for awhile. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Ian was still looking at her with wonder. She turned to him and said, “I was born in Quebec. My mom and I moved here when I was ten. Our last name was actually Alaigne, but people kept mispronouncing it so my mom changed it to Allen.”

“Do you have any other surprises I should know about?” he smiled.

She shrugged. “If I told you, they wouldn't be surprises.”

They ate the rest of their meal in relative silence while everyone chatted around them. When most everyone was done, some of the children came running up to the their table, obviously flustered about something.

“Mom!” shouted a little girl to one of the women seated at their table, “Jeremy's stuck in a tree!”

“What?!” answered the woman with alarm, “Where? What tree?”

“That one!” the girl pointed to a very tall tree in the side yard, “And he's really high up, too!”

The woman got up and started trotting over to the tree with the rest of the children. Some of the guests got up and followed them with concern. Chrissy stood up and looked in the direction they were going, then said, “I'm going over to have a look.”

Ian got up and followed her. When they got there they found a number of the guests milling around under the tree trying to peer up into its branches to see where the boy was. His mother was becoming panicky.

“My God!” she said frantically, “He must be clear up to the top! What are we going to do?!”

“Tony, do you have a ladder?” someone asked.

          “Not that tall!” answered Tony.

        

          “Somebody call the fire department!” said someone else.

         

          Chrissy had been standing under the tree staring up into its branches as everyone else tried to figure out what to do next. Suddenly, she grabbed a branch and swung herself up, then began scrabbling up the tree like a cat.

“Wha - what's she doing!?” asked the boy's mother.

Ian shrugged. “Going after him, I guess,” he answered.

“Oh my God!” cried the woman in alarm, “Does she know what she's doing?! Tell her to come back down here and wait for the fire department!”

“She's halfway up to him already,” said Ian, “Let's wait and see what happens.”

“Why don't we hold off on calling the fire department until Chrissy assesses the situation,” said Meredith in a calm voice.

The woman held her hand up to her mouth. “Oh my God!” she said, almost in tears. Everyone stood around the bottom of the tree craning their necks to see Chrissy. It wasn't long before they lost sight of her among the branches.

It took some climbing, but Chrissy finally reached Jeremy. They were right - he was near the top of the tree. She found him clinging to a branch with both arms. She stopped just below him. Even as light as she was, she didn't dare go any higher with the branches so small.

“What the hell are you doing up here, kid?” she asked him. She guessed he was about ten years old.

“We had a contest to see who could climb the highest,” he answered in a frightened voice.

“Looks like you won.”

He nodded forlornly.

“Well, come on, kid,” she said to him, “Your mom's having a fit down there. You need to climb back down.”

“I can't!” he said, “I can't move!”

“What's wrong? It doesn't look like you're stuck,” she replied.

“I'm scared! I can't move!” He clung even tighter to the tree.

“Come on,” she said, reaching toward him, “I'll help you. I won't let you fall.”

“No! Don't touch me!” he cried out in panic.

“Suit yourself, kid,” she said, “Wait until the fire department gets here and gets you down and everybody laughs at you for being such a chicken.”

“I don't care!”

Chrissy thought for a few moments and then began casually looking around the tree. “Say... what kind of tree is this, anyway?” she asked.

“I - I don't know,” he answered.

“It looks like a Silver Maple,” she continued, “Have you seen any spiders?”

“S - spiders?!” he asked wide eyed.

“Yeah, Silver Maple Spiders. They live only in Silver Maples.”

“Really?!” He began looking around him in a panic. “What do they look like?”

“They're big, black hairy things. Very aggressive, too,” she answered.

“Are - are there any around me?!”

“Not at the moment. But give it time. These trees are usually crawling with them. Well, I'm going back down. You can wait up here for the fire department.” She started to climb back down.

“Wait!! You're leaving me?!”

“Sure. There's no sense in me sticking around waiting with you. I don't like spiders myself.”

“No! Wait! I'll - I'll come down with you!” He started lowering his foot slowly, but couldn't find the branch under him.

“Listen, kid. I'm going to grab your foot and put it on the branch underneath. Don't panic when I do!”

“O - okay,” he said.

She gently took hold of his foot and placed it on the branch. “Now I'm going to do the same with the other foot, okay?”

They continued that way for awhile, making slow progress downward. Before too long, they were within view of the people below them. She stopped and said to him, “I think you should continue down without my help from now on. And we won't say anything about the spiders, okay? You don't want the other kids making fun of you for being scared. And if you want, I'll tell everybody your foot was stuck in a branch and that's why you couldn't get down.”

Jeremy smiled sheepishly and nodded. “Thanks, lady,” he said.

“Whatever,” she answered, “Come on.”

They eventually reached the last branch and one of the men reached up and pulled Jeremy safely to the ground. His mother immediately wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Chrissy dropped to the ground from the last branch and was quickly surrounded by a number of the guests who began thanking and congratulating her and patting her on the back. She was obviously very uncomfortable with all of the attention, tersely replying, “Forget about it! Seriously, it was nothing! Whatever!”

Ian winced when Jeremy's mother came over and gave Chrissy a hug. “Oh! Thank you so much! You saved his life!” she said.

“Gah!” said Chrissy in surprise, throwing her arms out to her sides, “Okay! Okay! You're welcome!”

The crowd started breaking up and heading back to the tables. Meredith came over and put her hand on Chrissy's shoulder. “You did good, Chrissy,” she said with a smile.

“Stupid kid!” Chrissy muttered under her breath. Meredith chuckled and headed back to the tables with the rest.

Chrissy looked at Ian. “Okay! I'm ready to go now!” she said crossly.

“I guess I am, too,” he answered, “Let's go.” As they walked back to the house, he added, “I'm proud of you, Bittersweet”

“Yeah, yeah! Somebody had to do something,” she muttered.

         

They found Tony and said goodbye and thanked him for everything. Then they found Meredith and told her they were leaving. Meredith looked around to see that no one was within earshot, then she looked at Chrissy and said, “Suzette ne sait pas que, moi aussi, je parle couramment le Français et que je suis au courant de sa fourberie depuis longtemps . Merci de ne pas l'avoir exposée devant tout ses amis et collègues. Cela démontre de la maturité! Chrissy Allen, tu es la bienvenue dans cette maison n'importe quand.”

( “Suzette doesn't know that I, too, speak fluent French and have been aware of her fraud for a long time, now. Thank you for not exposing her to of all her friends and co-workers. That showed maturity! Chrissy Allen, you are welcome in my house anytime.”)

Chrissy looked at her for several seconds, then answered, “Merci.”

“Merci,” Meredith responded with a smile. Chrissy didn't smile back, but Ian saw that she had a sparkle in her eye and wondered if Meredith saw it, too. Then Meredith looked at him and said, “Hold on to her, Ian. She's a keeper.” Ian looked at her with wonder. She returned to her guests with a wave.

As Ian and Chrissy walked back to his car he asked, “What did you say to Suzette, anyway?”

She shrugged. “Nothing important,” she answered.

“I had no idea Meredith could speak French. What did she say to you?”

“Just that I'm welcome to come back,” she said, then added, “You know, she's okay for a rich b***h.”

They got into his car, but before he started it, he turned to her.

         

          Great, she thought, now he's going to tell me 'I told you so' because I ended up having fun.

“Chrissy,” he said, “I just want to say 'thanks'. I'm glad you came with me today.”

        

          “Oh... um... yeah, s'okay” she replied.

         

           He kept looking at her as if he had more to say. He finally went on, “You know... uh... I was wondering... that is... if you... um - ”

“Ian, if you ask me to put on a French maid's outfit for you, so help me, I'll slug you!!” she snapped.

He looked at her for a few seconds and then nodded. “Right,” he said, and started the car and drove them back to his apartment.

Reviews

[Christine Mae]

I especially liked this chapter. It showed that Chrissy is very talented, and she's also very confident in what she does. She's a true character. I love how you express your character's feelings, it seems so vibrant and real. You're an awesome writer. ;)

[Craig2591]

Thank you very much!

[John Lauterbach]

Big ol' chapter! You're keeping it fresh by adding in Ian's day job and Chrissy's talents as they're needed, while using co-workers to affirm details. I like/expect to see more of Meredith and Rachel and what they have to offer the story.

[Craig2591]

Thank you.

[Bella Luna]

This was such a great chapter! I loved seeing Chrissy have to interact with people outside of her comfort zone. It was nice that Meredith helped her open up to the experience. I like how she managed to impress most of the guests just by simply being herself and not having to bend to what she thought they expected. The ending was perfectly hilarious with the dialogue between Chrissy and Ian!

[Craig2591]

Thanks for continuing to read and review.

[E]

Well well, we finally learn a bit more about Chrissy, and apparently we learn it at the same time as Ian!
What a surprise she can be. Can't wait to learn more about her and her past, she seems to have quite a lot of background for someone her age... must keep reading!!

[Craig2591]

Thanks for the review.

[Tina Kline]

I enjoyed this. It seems like they've pretty much become part of each other lives.

[Barbara Walker]

Liked this very much! Characterization and dialogue very realistic!

[Faith]

This is gearing up into a suspenseful and wonderful need to keep reading.