42: A Fabulous Idea

Jesse

     I have a fabulous idea. Tomorrow is Wednesday, and I know Marie has the day off. I also know that she's going to do everything she can to avoid me since she knows I know. I'm going to throw a party tomorrow afternoon. Just a small party. I haven't done one of these in a few weeks.

      However, it won't even be worth it if Marie won't come, so there's my challenge: how to convince her to come without it sounding like I'm only throwing the party as an excuse to spend time with her. I won't lie to myself and say that that's not what it is because that's exactly what it is.

      Hm, Bryce and Erin, Pam and Simon, Lynne, Belinda, Troy, Ginger... and Desmond. Hm. That's just weird. Bryce had told me the other 'hot' night about Ginger and Desmond. I never would've guessed. And Marie.

       I'm being friendly and including the new girl!

       That knows I like her.

       That has green eyes and fantastic legs, I think and momentarily forget myself as I think of what I would do with those legs if I could.
        Lara starts helping a couple of guys rent scuba gear, and it startles me back into reality.

      I groan and chastise myself for letting my mind slip down a torturous path while I'm trying to plan something.

      I'm going to throw it anyway. Invite everyone else first. Maybe then somebody... um, Lynne maybe, or Pam, could convince her to come. Guilt her into coming since everyone else will too. I throw good parties.

      Hm, Lynne. Pam will get all bubbly and start asking question after question that I don't mind answering; it's just I have other things to do!

        I call Ginger first, and it goes straight to voicemail. So, I leave a quick message. Then I call the others, saving Lynne for last. Bryce can't come. I don't know why I forgot he has to work.

      "Lynne..." I say, drawing out her name.

     "What is it, Jesse?" she asks. "Belinda told me about the party already. Yeah. Of course I'll come."

       "Good, but that's not exactly why I called you."

       "Oh?"

        "I have a favor to ask."

       "What?"

       "Would you... ask the new waitress Marie to the party for me?" I ask her, and she gets quiet. "If I ask her, she'll undoubtedly say no."

        "Why doesn't this surprise me?" she teases.

        I whine, "Lynne..." Then I pause for effect. "Please?"

        "You're incorrigible, do you know that?"

        "That's what I've been told." I make another pause before I beg again, "Please?"

        "All right, but I'm not guaranteeing results," she says with a loud sigh followed by a quiet laugh.

         I can't stop my grin. "Thanks, Lynne!"

      A few hours later, Lynne calls me back and says that Marie told her no, that she wouldn't be comfortable coming.

     When I hang up with her, I tell Lara I'll be right back, grab my keys, and decide to drive Martha over to The Flamingo and talk to this stubborn, green-eyed girl with the great legs.

Marie

     I'm getting to know my assistant manager, Simon, who'd been on vacation last week. He looks a little down that he hasn't much to teach me since Bryce covered it all. So, he has me arranging bottles and restocking the bar as needed.
      A few hours go by, and a woman approaches me, telling me her name is Lynne. I think I recognize her as one of my boss's friends, and she confirms my suspicions when she invites me to a party tomorrow night. I ask her where, and she tells me... at Jesse's house. I politely refuse, and she asks me to reconsider, that he throws good parties, and I should join their circle of friends. I tell her some other time perhaps.
     Not too much later, I crouch behind the bar, hoping I'm not messing up Jones' organizational system, when Simon walks around it and crouches down next to me.
      "You know," he says, "I was a little sad when I heard Bernadette was gone, but I think everything turned out better for it." He reaches up and very slowly tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. I look over at him warily as he continues, "Tuesdays are always so long and hard for me because both Bryce and Jones have the day off. I hope you and I can grow to really enjoy each other's company."
      "Uh, yeah," I say slowly and move out of his reach.
       Over the next few hours, we work side-by-side, serving customers, and he bumps into me and brushes against me more often than what I think is necessary. If he doesn't watch it, he's going to find himself curled up into a painful ball on the floor. But I don't want to do that to my boss, well, a boss.
       Another quiet lull comes around, and I stand up after restocking another part of the bar. I don't realize Simon stands right behind me until I'm fully upright.

      Suddenly, his arm wraps around me with his hand splayed on my stomach, and his nose moves into my hair as he murmurs quietly, "You smell fantastic."
      My voice sounds stern as I say, "Let go of me, Simon."
      "We could make good use of this little bit of quiet time," he says softly as, instead of letting go of me, his other arm wraps around me.
      I spin around to see that he thinks I'm going to kiss him. Instead, he gets a slap across the face.
      "What's going on?!" I hear Jesse growl menacingly from out of nowhere.
     I ignore him as I watch Simon rub his cheek with the backs of his fingers, a thoughtful look on his features. I move away from him, and his now-creepy eyes watch me.

      "Then again," he says contemplatively, "maybe we won't."
      "Exactly," I snap at him. I am so angry that I'm shaking. My boss! My boss did that! I'm all of a sudden glad Jesse is here as I turn around and mindlessly wipe the tables down once again. At least I have a witness. I glance up at him and see him shooting a deadly glare at Simon. Only a few seconds go by, but they feel like ages.
      Simon clears his throat, and the tense silence continues. I feel like I'm having trouble breathing, and I do my best to take deep breaths.
       Jesse breaks the silence to ask me, "Marie, may I speak to you a moment?"
       "She's working," Simon answers him.
       "You're not busy at the moment," Jesse snarls.
       Just to spite Simon, I direct Jesse to the lower seating area and use that excuse to sit down in one of the chairs. I put my head in a shaking hand.

       "Are you okay?" he asks me quietly as he takes the chair next to me.
       I ignore the question. "What do you want, Jesse?"
      "It doesn't matter," he answers quickly. "What happened?"
      "It doesn't matter," I echo.
      "Oh yes it does," he says almost immediately.
      "Jesse, stop trying to be the hero," I say exasperatedly.
      "I'm not. I'm a concerned friend who wants to tell his best friend to fire that fucker."
      "It's nothing I can't handle," I say. "You would know."
      "That was different."
      "Was it?" I snap the question.
      "Yes," he growls.
      "Did you come here just to argue with me?" I ask as I see a few customers walk up to the bar's front steps.
    "No, I came to beg you to come to my party tomorrow, but something more important is happening," he answers and leans down to try and get in my line of vision. "What did he do, Marie?"

       All he did was make a pass at me, I think with my head still in my hand, feeling ridiculous now. "It's not a big deal. He mistakenly thought that I wanted that."
     "Mistake being the operative word here. Are you uncomfortable working the rest of the day around him?"
      "I can't leave work!" I gasp, looking at him in shock for a second and thinking he's implying that I ditch work to go and tattle to Bryce.
      His expression is stern as he says, "Pretend it's not me asking this. Are you uncomfortable?"
     "Why does this always happen to me?" I say with my head back in my hand, not answering his question and trying not to break down.
     "It's not your fault. You did nothing wrong here, and you can leave. And you have me as a witness to say that something happened."
      "I don't want to be here right now, but I can't leave work."
      "Oh yes, you can!" His eyes are wide and his nostrils flare out. "Please come with me," he requests now in a moderately-calmer, authoritative voice and holds out his hand near my face, asking me to take it. I stare wordlessly at it.
    He sighs and says, "Marie, this is not flirty Jesse. This is business Jesse, and I don't feel comfortable leaving you here."

      This is royally-pissed-off Jesse, I think as I throw my rag on the table and put my hand in his. It's big and warm, and it closes around my fingers tightly as he pulls me towards his old car. Simon looks like he wants to yell at me to come back, but the death-glare in Jesse's eyes stops him.
      We get into his car. It doesn't have seat belts.

      I sit in my seat quietly as Jesse backs into the street and then we head to Bryce's house while he says, "Don't worry. We're going to get that motherfucker fired."
       What a fabulous idea, I think.