Kiss Me Goodbye

He didn't want to be hurt again.

* * *

Christmas Eve night, the phone rang. Jack's Mom answered it.

"Jack, it's for you!" she said.

He knew exactly who it was. The back of his head was hurting again. "Hello?"

"Hi, Jack. It's Lisa. Do you want to come over to my house for a while and visit with some of my friends? I have to find a way to repay you for the other night."

"There's no need to repay me. Besides, we haven't eaten dinner yet," he said, looking at his Mother.

Jack's Mom was giving him the 'go, go, go' wave with her hand.

"I think I'll stay home with my folks tonight," he said.

Jack's Mom looked like she was going to have a fit.

"Yeah, she usually goes all out for Christmas Eve dinner," he lied, as his Mother started to slam pots and pans around the kitchen in pure disgust at her son.

"On second thought, maybe I will stop by." His Mother stopped the commotion. "When should I come over?"

"Now!" she said. "Everybody is already here and I'm getting ready to make sandwiches for everyone. I'll make whatever kind you want."

"Okay, I'm on my way," said Jack and hung up the phone.

"That's better," said his Mom as she kissed him on the head. "Have fun!"

* * *

Jack knocked at Lisa's door and Denise answered. She started to hop up and down.

"Lisa! Guess who's here!" shouted Denise over her shoulder.

Lisa walked up to the door and opened it for Jack. "Why didn't you let him in, you dope?"

"I don't know," answered Denise, as she hopped her way out to the living room.

"Hum..." moaned Lisa, as she watched Denise go.

Jack took a good look at Lisa and hoped that this time he wouldn't blush. She was perfectly made up again, only this time she was wearing pink lipstick. Her wavy hair was flowing down past her shoulders and she wore pink nail polish to match her lips. He also noticed that her head didn't come up to his chin. Looking down he noticed she was wearing slippers instead of heeled boots or shoes. He looked at her baby blue eyes and desperately tried not to look down any further at the incredibly tight red and green holiday sweater she was wearing.

"Come on out and meet my friends," she said, as she held his hand and pulled him out to the living room. There were six new faces. All of them were girls and all eyes were on him. Again he felt self-conscious. Lisa began introducing him around the room. All the girls looked much younger than Lisa and Denise with the exception of Annette. She looked older than Jack.

Annette was a very good-looking girl. She had a killer body and extremely long strawberry blonde hair. Her face was as cute as they get. She stood, put her arms around Jack's neck, and kissed him on the lips. "Merry Christmas!" she said as she broke the kiss, but still held him around the neck.

"Down Annette," Lisa said, as she pulled Jack away.

She led Jack into the kitchen. She could see he was blushing again. "Annette is a bit friendly. Don't pay her any mind. In case you liked what you saw, keep in mind she's only 12."

"What? You've got to be kidding me," replied a startled Jack.

"Yep, she fooled me too," she replied.

"Where did these kids come from?"

"You know I'm new in town. These are my neighbor's kids. Denise introduced me to them. Don't worry; we won't do anything to you. You're safe," she said, as she chuckled to herself. "What kind of sandwich do you want?" she asked, showing him the platter that she had made up.

"Ham and Swiss with mustard sounds good," he answered after checking out the possibilities. "Where's your Mother? Does she know you have all these people here?" he asked.

"She's still at work. She'll be home in about 15 minutes actually and yes she knows about this. She was the one that suggested it."

"Does she know I'm here? She may not take too kindly of a guy in the house with her daughter and all these girls."

"Calm yourself. I asked her yesterday if I could have you over and she was thrilled. She wants to meet my 'Knight in Shining Armor'."

'Here we go,' he thought. She handed him the plate with his sandwich on it and added some coleslaw. They went back out to the living room. Annette stood back up.

"Down girl, he knows all about you," said Lisa. Annette flopped back down on the couch and frowned. Jack had a seat in an unoccupied chair.

As he ate, he looked at the nicely decorated tree. On the far wall, he noticed a piece of furniture that looked like a bar. Lisa was pulling on it. It rolled away from the wall and he could see that it was an organ. She fired it up.

She started playing Jingle Bells. Some of the girls sang along with the music. She switched to playing some more challenging pieces that had nothing to do with Christmas. She was pretty good. Jack had an ear for musical talent and knew she was well on her way, if she kept up with it. She started to sing.

That broke the spell.

'Nobody's perfect,' he thought. He heard a voice from the front door.

"Everybody put your clothes back on! I'm home!" said the voice.

"Hi Mom! Come on out and meet Jack!"

Lisa's Mother entered the living room and Jack stood to meet her. They shook hands and she said, "So, you're Jack. All I've heard the last couple of days has been 'Jack this or Jack that'. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," replied Jack, clearly nervous. Her Mother was clearly a senior citizen. Even though she had wrinkles and a few liver spots, he could tell where Lisa had gotten her figure and her baby blues.

"Well girls, I hope you haven't taken advantage of Jack, have you?" Lisa's Mom asked.

"Lisa won't let anyone else near him," complained Annette.

"I see," she replied, and gave Jack a wink. His nervousness was waning. Her Mom was okay. Lisa went to the kitchen to make her a plate of food.

"Elyse told me how you two met. I think it's priceless," she said, as she smiled. "She's told me about you driving them home and then single handedly saving Christmas."

'Hum... She called her Elyse, not Lisa,' thought Jack as he began to blush again with the compliments.

"Here Mom," said Lisa as she handed her a plate and fork. She returned to the kitchen and brought out a chair for her Mother to sit in. Jack was too much of a gentleman to let the owner of the house sit in a kitchen chair so he offered her his seat and sat on the kitchen chair himself. She thanked him and gave Lisa a wink. Lisa returned an 'I told you so' look.

Lisa went back to pounding out requests from her guests. She wasn't using any music. She just belted them out on the organ as if she knew them all by heart. Now and then she would hit a clunker and her Mother would give Jack an elbow and giggle. Lisa would counter by sticking her tongue out at them both.

All in all, it was a great evening. Around 11:00 the girls started to clean up and get ready to leave. Jack took the hint and did as well. All the girls left, with Denise bouncing out the door last. He was at the doorway when Lisa's Mom said goodbye and disappeared down a hallway. He turned to the door and Lisa was blocking it.

"Thank you for coming. It meant a lot to me," she said very seriously. She looked up to him with her big blues and kissed him. She backed away and was about to say something else, but thought better of it. Instead, she stared into his eyes and tried to will him to like her.

Jack could tell that her eyes were saying something, but it was a message he didn't want to receive.

"Thank you for a great night. Merry Christmas, Lisa," he said, as he opened the door and left. Lisa stood at the doorway watching him until he drove away. She closed the door and found her Mother standing in the hallway facing her.

"Either he is the best actor in the world, or he is the nicest young man I've ever met. You won't find many like him around anymore. Don't let go of him, Elyse, he's a keeper," said her Mom with a nod, and went back to her room.

Lisa had no intentions of letting him get away.

* * *

Jack was lying in bed in the dark. He did NOT want to think about Lisa, correction, 'Elyse'.

'Her name's Elyse,' he repeated to himself.

That name seemed to fit her more than the nickname she used with everyone other than her Mother.

Elyse.

What an uncommon and beautiful name. He conjured her face in his mind. Her lovely blue eyes and angelic smile caused a smile to creep onto his lips.

Wait a minute; he was not going down that road again! Just the thought of liking a girl made it hurt all over again. Soon college would start again. Between that and work, he'd have little time for her, or anything else. Her face, with the eyes that were trying to tell him something, forced itself back into his thoughts. He took a deep breath and steered his mind in a different direction.

As usual, they landed on Holly, and the memory of their last encounter was brought back in all its viciousness.

He got out of bed, went to the living room and plugged the Christmas tree back in. He sat watching the lights twinkle. He knew he wouldn't be sleeping for a while.

* * *

Elyse was lying in bed with a huge grin on her face. She never felt like this about a guy before. Her Mother never liked any of the guys she dated, but she was thrilled with Jack. Elyse knew he was going to be the best thing that ever happened to her. She could tell that he was resisting her advances and she wasn't sure why. He could be just shy, but she really didn't believe that. No. Something was bothering him and she was going to get to the bottom of it. She was going to help him remove whatever the problem was or help him deal with it. It was the least she could do for her 'Knight in Shining Armor'.

* * *

The day after Christmas, Elyse and Denise spent a few hours making phone calls to people in the chorus, asking about Jack. It didn't take long for Elyse to figure out what was wrong. She actually pitied him without even knowing what the break up was about. All she knew was that Holly had done something and it broke Jack's heart. No one could say what. Whatever happened, it wasn't public knowledge. This dark cloud seemed to hang over him at all times.

She knew it was going to be a major uphill climb, but she either had to make Jack forget Holly or make him believe that she would never do the same to him. She was sure that bringing up her name wasn't a good idea. If he brought it up, she might then try to discuss it without further damage. Her birthday was New Year's Eve and she was determined to have him come over that night and help her celebrate. She didn't want to wait that long to see him.

* * *

Jack was at work stocking the aisles in a local market. His thoughts were about how tired he was considering the few hours of sleep he had over the last few nights.

"Jack, you have a call on line 3. Jack you have a call on line 3," said the PA system.

'Mom must want some bread and milk when I come home,' he thought.

He went to the nearest phone and pushed the button for line 3.

"Hello."

"Hi, Jack! It's Lisa. How about coming over to my house for dinner tonight?"

"Why are you calling me at work?" he said with a low tone.

"I called your house and your Mom said you were working only till 6 tonight. She said it would be a lovely idea for you to come over."

'Thanks Mom,' he said to himself. "I don't know Lisa. I don't think I can take another evening of Denise."

"Well, she's not invited and if she does hop over, I'll hit her over the head a few times to slow her down."

The picture conjured up in his mind was pretty funny. A docile Denise was as rare as a documented Yeti sighting.

"I'm sure your Mother doesn't want me hanging around over there. I was just there the other day," he said, still trying to get out of it.

"Quite on the contrary, my dear. She is all for it and will be here as well."

Jack felt the trap close. He couldn't think of any other excuses and said, "Okay. I'll be over around 6:30."

"Great, see you then!" she said, and hung up.

'Both mothers are in on this now,' he thought. He sighed and went back to work.

* * *

He was knocking on Elyse's door at exactly 6:30. Her Mother answered it.

"Why, hello Jack," she said as she held the door open for him. "Elyse will be out in a second. She's freshening up a bit. Come on in and have a seat."

Jack walked into the living room and took off his coat. She took it and hung it in the closet for him.

"Here I am!" said Elyse as she entered the room before he had a chance to sit down.

"I'm going to check on dinner. Oh, by the way, Jack. Since you are an adult, you can call me by my name. It's Shelly," she said as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Elyse had walked up to him during her Mother's proclamation. When Shelly left the room, she put her arms around his neck and looked up at him. "How are you tonight, Jack?" she asked softly.

He cleared his throat and pulled her arms away from him, while looking toward the kitchen. "I'm fine, Lisa. Ah, what's for dinner?" he asked, trying to break the spell that her eyes were trying so hard to cast on him.

"I don't know. My Mom's making it for us. Do you want to watch TV until it's ready?" she asked, still willing him to accept her. She turned it on and sat on the couch. He sat next to her. She leaned over and rested her head on his chest while they watched F-Troop and Gilligan's Island. Somewhere along the line, she had started to caress his chest with her hand. He slowly became aware of it and almost knocked her on the floor as he jumped to his feet.

"Are you okay?" Elyse asked.

"I just have to go to the bathroom," he said, as he hurried down the hall. Inside the bathroom, Jack was breathing as if he was out of breath. He held his hand up in front of himself and saw that it was shaking.

She was getting to him. He didn't want it, but it was happening. He couldn't hide in here all night. So he decided to do the next best thing. When he returned to the living room, Elyse scooted over on the sofa to make room for him, but he sat in a chair instead.

'Problem's solved!' he believed.

Elyse simply got off the sofa, walked over to him and sat in his lap. She put her arm around his shoulders and started to play with his hair.

'Problem's NOT solved! Problem's WORSE!' he thought worriedly.

"I just love your hair," she said, running her perfectly manicured fingers though it.

Shelly came in the room. "Okay you two, dinner's ready."

'Thank God,' thought Jack.

'Crap!' thought Elyse.

They went into the dining room and Shelly had a feast on the table. It was a nervous dinner for Jack with both Elyse and Shelly looking at him. Shelly did all the talking and Jack found her to be a lot like his Mother. She was funny and seemed to have an opinion on everything. When dinner was over, Shelly excused herself for the night, leaving Jack and Elyse all alone. Elyse was ecstatic; Jack was having a fit.

"Well, I guess I should be leaving," Jack said, giving it a shot.

"It's only 8:00. Unless you have a curfew, you're not going anywhere yet. You don't eat and run in our house," responded Elyse.

The TV was still playing when she led him back to the living room. She pushed him down into the sofa and plopped herself on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked him in the eyes.

'Oh crap,' he thought. 'Here we go again.' He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them she was sticking her tongue out at him and making a goofy face.

When he started to laugh with relief, she smothered his mouth with hers. Her breasts were pressed hard into his chest. She refused to come up for air and held her mouth against his. Not knowing what to do with his arms, he finally put them around her. She responded by kissing him with even more passion. He found her to be soft and warm.

They were startled by a noise behind them.

"Sorry about that. I forgot my glasses," said Shelly. "Carry on," she said, as she turned and walked away.

Elyse looked back at Jack and giggled. "So, what did you like better, this," she kissed him softly again, "or dinner?"

"Your Mom really made a great dinner," said Jack.

She hopped off his lap and stood before him with her hands on her hips. "Okay, wise guy. My birthday is on New Year's Eve. It's my 18th. I want you to come over to celebrate with me. My Mom is going out that night so it will be just you and me, unless you want to invite Annette."

Jack wasn't sure if he was safe with Shelly in the house. Without her, he wasn't sure just how out of control it might get. His immediate response should have been no. Instead he said, "That would be great."

A voice screamed in his head. 'That would be great? That would be great? What's wrong with you? Run! Run as far as you can! Get out before you get yourself in so deep there is no escape!'

Elyse sat back down in his lap and started to kiss him again. They did so until well after 11:00.

* * *

Jack was lying in bed staring at the ceiling in the dark. Tonight was a disaster. How could he let himself open the door again? Yes, she was a good-looking girl, but that doesn't mean anything at all. Yes, she really seemed to like him. Yes, Shelly even seemed to think highly of him. Yes, he really liked her.

Wait a minute.

No! No he didn't like her!

Oh no! It's too late! Yes he DID! Oh no. Oh no. Oh no!

* * *

Elyse was lying in bed smiling in the dark. She almost has him! Any doubt in his mind that she was the right girl for him will be eliminated on her birthday. She was going to pull out all the stops. Short of taking him to bed, she was going to show him that not every girl was a Holly. She had no intentions of hurting Jack ever!

* * *

Before he left work on New Year's Eve, Jack called Elyse's house.

"Hello," answered Elyse.

"Elyse, is there anything you want me to bring with to eat tonight?"

Jack got silence.

"Hello?"

"You just called me Elyse. No one calls me that except my family. You just caught me off guard."

"I'm sorry, it just slipped out. I think it's a nice name and I think of you that way. I'll call you Lisa."

"No! I'm thrilled you called me that. Please call me Elyse from now on."

"Okay, Elyse, do I need to bring anything?"

"Fritos and dip," she replied.

"Okay, see you around 8:00," Jack said, and hung up.

He found himself actually excited about going. He had gone shopping after work the night before for a gift for her, taking advantage of the after Christmas sales. He found a pretty pink blouse with a lot of lace and frills. The question about it was whether it was going to fit. Jack had no clue about girl's sizes. He left the tags on just in case.

* * *

As Jack was arriving at Elyse's house, Shelly was getting ready to go out.

"Now, I want you two to be careful. I know you're both 18 now so I'm not going to make a speech. Whatever you do, do it smartly. Use your heads," she said, and went out the door.

'She really expects something to happen here tonight,' thought Jack.

When Elyse was finished hanging up his coat he gave her the gift. She gave him the 'You shouldn't have' look and opened the package.

"Oh, this is so beautiful, Jack!" she said holding the blouse up. "I can't wait to try it on!" She looked at the size tag and frowned at bit.

"If it's the wrong size, I left the tags on for you to exchange it," he said.

"No, it should be okay," she said and led him out to the living room. She didn't wait for them to sit down. She planted a wet kiss on Jack right away. It lasted nearly half an hour. Finally she said, "Have a seat, I'll be right back out."

Jack sat on the couch and watched 'Gunsmoke'. When Elyse returned she didn't seem any different, except that she now had a zipper front sweater on where she had a pull over on before. She sat down next to him and snuggled next to him as they watched Marshal Dillon and Kitty. At 9:00, 'Here's Lucy' came on. Elyse was caressing his chest again. This time he didn't jump. Instead he bowed his head and kissed her on the head. She looked up at him and kissed him with open lips. He felt her tongue trace his lips and search his mouth for his own tongue. Her kiss was as sweet as honey. He knew he had lost at this point. He was no longer able to resist her and allowed himself to revel in her sweet presence. She sensed the change in him too. At that moment, she knew she and only she was in his thoughts. Holly was nowhere to be found. She felt his hand reach under her breasts to hold her side. Lee would have been trying to rip her top off and shoving her hand in his crotch at this point. But this 'Knight in Shining Armor' was holding her tenderly as they kissed. The passion was starting to well up in her and she had to break off before she went too far.