Amy's Smile Ch. 03

For the first time I realized that my half-assed plan was probably going to work and that was a circumstance I never planned for. It seemed to me that suddenly there was a very good chance that Amy was going to get her heart's desire. I mean yeah, Liam was a dumb shit, but even he had enough brains to yes to an offer like she was willing to make.

And though I wasn't willing to spend anytime thinking about why this bugged the shit out of me, I damned sure knew it did. The thought of Amy and Liam together was about as disturbing as thinking about Michael Jackson in bed with um, anybody. It just made no sense, my sweet, smart, funny little Amy with Liam the asshole?

"Only one more place, then we're through." Amy looked at her list, which was, by that time, a little grubby.

I sighed.

She heard me and looked up guiltily. "Oh gosh Charlie, I'm sorry, I know this can't be much fun for you."

Instantly, I felt contrite. For once in her life, Amy was the center of attention and I couldn't even let her enjoy the moment. I didn't know what it was about this girl, but she had the ability to reduce me to chivalrous mass of Jell-O in about 2 seconds flat.

"No Peanut, it's fine, really," I faked a genuine grin and winked. "Just don't make me drink another cup of capuchin; I already think I need insulin."

She giggled and the world was right again. "Okay I promise. But we need to walk to the other end of the mall. There's a nail salon there. I could have had them done at the salon, but even Guido says this place is better," she continued.

"Wait," I grabbed her arm and Amy stopped walking and turned to look at me.

"Are you sure about this? I mean, don't do it, Peanut." I said. "You don't want those claws, do you?"

She thought about that seriously for a minute. "Well no, but Liam always raves about Bambi's nails, so I thought..."

My shoulders slumped.

"Yeah, you're right, Liam does think they're hot," I agreed reluctantly.

"No, you're right." She actually sounded a little defiant. "I never have liked them and why should I get them just to please him."

Probably for the same reason you just dropped a couple thousand or so on a makeover, was my thought. But I decided to keep that little insight to myself. For some reason, it pleased me that Amy was not going to jump through this last hoop in her quest to snag Liam.

We finally said goodbye to the mall after I convinced her we really didn't need to go back and thank everybody again. If they worked on commission I figured they'd get a big enough thank you in their next pay envelope.

We dragged the gross or so bags we'd collected over the county line and finally found the car. It was a tight fit, but we eventually managed to pack everything in and even had enough room for both of us to jam ourselves into the front seat.

The drive back was quiet. Well, I was quiet, Amy never shut up. She'd certainly blossomed in the last couple of weeks. She was flying from the shopping extravaganza, and in spite of myself, I found I was grinning by the time she pulled up in front of the house.

"You coming in?" I asked, but she shook her head no.

"I need to get home and figure out where I'm going to put all this stuff," her expression grew serious. "And I want to give Miriam a ring. I'm really worried about her."

Sweet Amy. She was always going to be one of those people who took most of their pleasure from making other people happy. That's why she was probably perfect for Liam, if, that is, he ever got it through his fat head.

On that depressing thought, I ejected myself out of the car, put the bags that had stuck to me back on the seat and said my good-byes. She drove off into the sunset and I let myself into the house.