From Christmas to Christmas

"Some date," Jeff snorted.

The girl's idea of a date was to go to the Wally's Pizzeria around the corner and get a large Wally Harvbanger pizza. Then the duo would walk right next door to the arcade. Or across the street to the Garden State Bowling Alley. Then, hand in hand, flushed with happiness, the two would return and scoop Andrea up then return to their apartment.

"Yeah," Jeff said, draining his can of beer. "Some date. But...they're happy."

Sitting on his bed, Jeff brought the empty can to his lips. Realizing the can was empty, Jeff put the can onto his nightstand. He sat for a long moment, just staring and not seeing anything.

October Thirty first, Patrick opined that Halloween was the perfect birthday date for Jeff. After all, Jeff was certainly a horror.

"Roses are red, pickles are green, you don't need no mask even if it is Halloween," Patrick declared, giving Jeff a fifty dollar gift card for Wally's Pizzeria.

"Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, what the fuck happened to you?" Jeff said, then thanked Patrick for the gift card.

"Jelly and Belly will love it; that's for sure," Jeff thought, putting the card into his wallet.

At lunchtime, Belly sent a text, asking if she could bring a friend to the special dinner she and Jelly were making for his birthday. Jeff puzzled at this but agreed that Belly certainly could bring a friend.

"It better not be Donna," Jeff suddenly thought as Belly sent a series of kissy face and birthday cake emoji's.

Belly worked for Dependable Commercial & Residential Cleaners. Dependable had their office in the same building that housed the First National Bank of Commonstead where Donna was the executive assistant to Beverly Hollister, branch manager. Every now and then, Belly would cross paths with Donna and would tell Jeff about these meetings.

"She looks rough," was usually the first comment Belly would make, or she would say, "She asked about you."

A toner cartridge vomited in Jeff's hands at his last client's office. The uniform shirt was a total loss, as were the khakis. The work boots were on their way out so Jeff wasn't too upset about the boots. But it did mean he had to call Jelly and let her know he had to clean up before he could come up for his birthday supper.

"Okay, Daddy, see you in a bit," Jelly happily said.

"But he is coming, right?" Jeff heard Belly insist and he again prayed the 'friend' would not be Donna.

Donna had called him that morning, obviously from her office phone. Jeff had answered, thinking it might be a new client. Ever since crushing the fledgling company Robert Buschold had used in his attempt to destroy Patrick Turner, their business had nearly doubled.

"Happy birthday to you," Donna sang, attempting a fairly poor imitation of Marilyn Monroe.

"Thank you, Donna," Jeff retorted, then ended the phone call.

Relatively clean; it would take industrial cleaner to get the ink off of his hands, Jeff went up to his daughter's apartment. He heard three squeals when he knocked on the door and smiled at the sounds of youthful exuberance and happiness on the other side of the door.

"He's here! Andrea, the birthday boy is here," Jeff heard Jelly announce as Belly flung the door open.

"Hi Sugar Booger," Jeff smiled, kissing the cute blonde.

"Thought I was Snotty Potty," Belly insisted.

"Hello, you must be Belly's friend," Jeff said to a very cute red head that sat at the small dining room table.

"Daddy, this is Sydnee um, Poor," Belly introduced. "And guess what? Today's her birthday too!"

When he'd looked into the girl's eyes, Jeff had felt a little spark. Shaking the girl's warm, soft hand, Jeff thought it must be static electricity. He stared into her caramel brown eyes for a long moment before releasing her small hand.

"Yes. Mom's in Trenton at some symposium or something and Daddy swears he's in Vancouver on business and can't get away," Sydnee smiled. "So Arabelle, um, Belly said I just had to come over; you're having chicken and sausage gumbo and..."

Is that what I'm smelling?" Jeff exclaimed. "Oh, and happy birthday. Sorry, I uh, I didn't know so I didn't get you a card or anything."

"You can get her one tomorrow," Belly suggested.

"Hi Daddy," Jelly smiled proudly from the stove.

"Honey Bunny, when did you learn how to make a roux?" Jeff asked, kissing his daughter. "But God that smells fantastic!"

"I uh, it, it's really out of a jar," Jelly confessed. "Momma sent it a couple weeks ago when I told her I wanted make you a gumbo."

"Well, that uh, that was very nice of her," Jeff said, slightly surprised at his ex-wife's gesture.

Returning to the living room/dining room, Jeff greeted his granddaughter. Andrea gave him a two toothed grin from her playpen. Then Jeff returned his attention to Sydnee Poor.

She was a red head, with pale skin and a dusting of freckles. Her eyes were a warm brown and were expressive. Her nose was slim and her lips were a cupid's bow.

Her dress was a sleeveless dress of bright orange. The dress had two grinning jack-o-lanterns over Sydnee's breasts. Because of the decorative pumpkins, Jeff could only guess at the size of Sydnee's chest but he guessed she had a generous handful. She was seated, legs underneath the table, so Jeff couldn't tell how tall Sydnee might be. Her bare arms were sleek, so Jeff surmised Sydnee was not overweight.

"Miss Michelle even sent some Crystal's Hot Sauce," Belly disclosed, putting a large bottle of the delicious hot sauce onto the table.

"Yes ma'am!" Jeff enthused. "Happy birthday to me!"

Jeff was served first, even though he insisted they should serve Sydnee first. She was served second and waited until Jelly and Belly had their own bowls. There were also smaller bowls of potato salad next to each person. Just before sitting down, Jelly put two sleeves of saltine crackers onto the table.

Jeff tasted the gumbo, then grabbed the bottle of hot sauce. Sydnee took a cautious taste of the dish, then goggled at Jeff.

"You, how can you add more hot sauce to this?" Sydnee asked.

"He's Cajun," Belly shrugged.

"And that gives him a cast iron stomach?" Sydnee asked.

While they ate, Jeff learned that the twenty two year old red head was an executive assistant to Walden Donaldson. She'd worked for King Sanitation & Disposal since receiving her certification from Souladou County Vo-Tech, first starting as a receptionist then working her way into the Executive Manager's office.

"No, no, sit. I know where the kitchen is," Sydnee said when she said she needed a glass of ice water.

Jeff's eyes opened wide when Sydnee stepped from behind the table. The orange dress ended at mid-thigh, showing off her pale legs. The pale legs were sleek and muscled; Jeff guessed that, just like Donna and Michelle, Sydnee had been quite athletic in high school. Donna had been a cheerleader and Michelle ad been a volleyball player. Both Donna and Michelle had possessed sweetly rounded buttocks and Sydnee's dressed showed off Sydnee's sweet backside to perfection. Her waist length red hair did not hamper Jeff's view of that sweet rear when she stepped into the kitchen.

"Isn't she just so cute?" Belly whispered urgently to Jeff.

"Yeah, she's super-cute. And young," Jeff replied. "Way too young for me. God, Belly, she's the same age as you and Jelly."

"YEAH? And?" Jelly whispered.

"She's a couple years older," Belly argued.

"Are you guys talking about me?" Sydnee asked, returning to the dining table. "I'm sorry. I know you like strong iced tea, but you could paint walls with that tea."

"Daddy thinks he's too old for you," Jelly stated.

Sydnee looked up from her bowl of gumbo. Jeff flamed bright red when the beautiful red head made eye contact with him. Her amused smile revealed perfect white teeth.

"Well, Belly did say you were old. Real old. Like seventy two years old or something," Sydnee said.

"Sydnee!" Belly squealed, laughing.

"That's it. You are definitely Snotty Potty," Jeff said to Belly.

"But, you don't look bad for a septuagenarian," Sydnee said, chasing her food with another sip of iced water.

"Oh. Gee. Thanks. I think," Jeff laughed.

The meal over, Jelly and Belly hurried to the kitchen. A few moments later, they began singing 'Happy Birthday' as they carried a store bought cake out of the kitchen. Jeff laughed when he saw a '7' and a '2' candle burning on the cake.

After cake and ice cream, Sydnee gave both Jelly and Belly hugs. She thanked them for inviting her, thanked them for making her twenty second birthday a memorable one.

"Bye Jeff," Sydnee said, large eyes looking deep into his eyes. "Hope I see you again?"

"Oh, no ma'am. I'm walking you to your car," Jeff insisted. "This is a nice neighborhood, but still, a beautiful woman shouldn't walk out alone after dark."

"Oh! A Southern gentleman!" Sydnee enthused, looping her hand through Jeff's arm.

"Hope I see you again," Sydnee said again, giving Jeff's lips a feather light kiss just before sliding into her car.

"I uh, yeah," Jeff said as she backed out of the parking spot.

At work the following morning, Patrick asked Jeff how his birthday had gone. Jeff paused in his scrubbing the ink from his skin and gave Patrick a tight smile.

"You know what? I, I feel cheap and used," Jeff said.

"Oh? Man! What, what happened?" Patrick asked, genuinely concerned.

"Aw man, God, I don't even, I mean, my right hand? Just wants to get it over with as quick as possible so it can go back to digging in my nose, or scratching my ass," Jeff hung his head. "I mean, it took what could have been a beautiful moment and..."

"God, dude, for a minute there I thought you were serious," Patrick laughed.

In between calls, Jeff stopped and bought a belated birthday card. In the local Ichabod's Grocers, he found a beautiful floral arrangement already in a very nice vase. Then, on his lunch break, he drove out to the King Sanitation & Disposal Building.

"Oh! Who are those for?" a stunning blonde asked, ready to page whomever the lucky girl or guy might be.

"Delivery for Sydnee Poor," Jeff stammered, suddenly feeling more than just a little foolish.

"Oh! How wonderful!" the girl said and called Sydnee's desk. "Yes, Ms. Poor, you have flowers. No, I'm not kidding. Sydnee! Why would I joke about that?"

A moment later, the elevator door chimed and Sydnee entered the lobby. Jeff thought she looked mature, confident, poised in her business attire of small three-quarter sleeve jacket and matching knee length skirt of navy blue with a light gray and white striped blouse. The mature, poised, confident aura vanished when she squealed and scampered to where Jeff stood.

"Oh, Jeff! You, you didn't have to do that!" Sydnee gushed.

"Sydnee! Uh, hush! Yeah he has to get you flowers; are you crazy?" the receptionist counseled.

"Evelyn, hush," Sydnee said. "Jeff, this is Evelyn; she got my old job after I transferred up to Mr. Donaldson's office. Evelyn, this is Jeff Landry, my boyfriend."

"Have you had lunch? There's a lunch room upstairs; you can get a wrap or a salad, I mean, most people bring their own, but..." Sydnee enthused, pulling Jeff toward the elevator.

"God, I, I can't believe; you even remembered that blue is my favorite color," Sydnee gushed over the flowers as they rode up to her floor. "Let me just put these on my desk then we'll go to lunch. Oh! I, I can't believe. You really didn't have to do this!"

"But I'm glad I did," Jeff thought.

"And, no, I didn't remember blue is your favorite color," Jeff smiled as Sydnee found the perfect spot to display her flowers. "Just a real lucky accident."

In the cafeteria Jeff bought a mixed green salad and a turkey wrap. Sydnee got a chef's salad and they found a table to sit and enjoy their lunch. A man walked over, smiling.

"I noticed the uniform shirt," Walden Donaldson smiled. "When you finish with your lunch? Don't hurry, but when you finish with your lunch come see me? I want to see what Turner can do for us here."

"I recognize that accent; I would recognize that accent anywhere. Where are you from?" Jeff said.

"Itty bitty place; bet you ain't never heard of it," Walden smiled broadly, also recognizing Jeff's accent. "DeGarde, Louisiana."

"Aw no you ain't!" Jeff gasped. "Me too! Where you went to school?"

"Get out!" Walden laughed a genuinely happy laugh. "You get finished here you stop by, hear?"

Returning to the office, Jeff casually let Patrick know they were in line to get a service contract with King Sanitation. Patrick grunted in disbelief.

"What? Did you suck that son of a bitch's cock? I've been trying for the past three years to get them," Patrick scoffed. "I almost had what was that guy's name? Brian, no Bryce, Bryce Adams but then they ran his ass on out of there."

"No. I told him you would suck his dick," Jeff smiled. "And remember, you swallow, okay?"

With a fifty dollar gift card to Wally's Pizzeria burning a hole in their purse, Jelly and Belly were anxious to go out on a date. So, Jeff got the playpen out and put it in his living room. Reheating some leftover gumbo, Jeff sat and enjoyed a good meal, the perfect end to what had been a really good day.

"Okay, this Friday? No. I cannot babysit my granddaughter," Jeff told the two girls when they came to gather Andrea. "I have a date."

"Thanks a lot, Belly," Jelly playfully accused.

"Oh, whatever," Belly smiled as she looped the diaper bag over her shoulder. "Ready?"

Jeff and Sydnee went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant and Jeff impressed Sydnee with his ease at using chopsticks. From there, they went to a local corn maze, then went on a hay ride and ended the outing with mugs of hot chocolate near a roaring bonfire. Sydnee snuggled against him and Jeff enjoyed holding the red head close. They kissed, tasting the rich cocoa on each other's tongues.

Saturday night, Sydnee took Jeff to a laser light art showing. Jeff enjoyed the visual display but the hard pounding techno music was too loud and frankly too redundant for his tastes. But as they danced, Sydnee certainly enjoyed grinding her delectable rump against his crotch.

"Is that for me?" Sydnee teased, wrapping her arms around his neck as she ground her crotch against Jeff's hard member.

"For you and only for you," Jeff agreed, doing a little grinding of his own.

"Oh goody," Sydnee giggled, kissing him.

During the week, Jeff was able to watch his granddaughter. He was attentive to the infant, even as text after text popped up on his cell phone. But suddenly, Friday and Saturday were taken. Jelly complained good-naturedly and Belly preened with smug self-satisfaction.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, Jeff and Sydnee were at an Italian restaurant in Carlton. They planned to go to the nightclub next door; Sydnee wanted to dance and she knew the cover band's drummer.

"Hmm," Jeff suddenly said, looking toward the door of the restaurant.

"Problem?" Sydnee asked, looking up from her Cesar salad.

"Hmm? Oh, oh no, no," Jeff said.

"Then why'd you say 'hmm' like that?" Sydnee pressed, looking as the hostess led two people to a table nearby.

"That, that's Donna. My ex-wife," Jeff admitted, looking at a very gaunt looking Donna Buschold and Seamus McCullen, her boyfriend from high school.

Jeff knew Deborah, Donna's mother approved of Seamus; she'd certainly said so much in front of Jeff. Deborah also displayed the prom photograph of Seamus and Donna attending their Senior Year prom on a place of honor on her fireplace mantle. Jeff had no idea where Deborah Buschold displayed the photograph of the wedding of Donna and Jeff. At more than one meal, Deborah would recount Seamus's recent accomplishments to Donna.

"She's pretty," Sydnee offered, looking at the blonde hair and the expensive clothing.

"Sydnee, she's emaciated looking," Jeff said.

Jeff saw the bags under Donna's eyes. The cosmetics was doing a good job of concealing it, but Jeff knew his ex-wife too well to not see the bags.

Jeff also saw that Donna was severely underweight; her skin was stretched taut across her face. And, even though she was smiling at a sneering, posing Seamus McCullen, Jeff saw that the smile did not reach Donna's eyes. With a shake of his head, Jeff returned his attention to his Cesar salad.

"Do you want to leave?" Sydnee asked.

"What? And miss the sausage and linguine you been running your mouth about?" Jeff asked as the waitress took their salad dishes away.

"Running my mouth?" Sydnee hooted.

"Running and running and running and on and on and on non-stop, all about how it's the best sausage and linguini I'm ever going have; I'll never be able eat anything else ever again in my whole life," Jeff teased.

"Oh shut up! I did not say anything like that Jeffrey Andrew Landry!" Sydnee protested, laughing.

After a truly delicious meal, Jeff paid the bill and assisted Sydnee from her seat. Turning to offer Sydnee his hand, Jeff heard a loud gasp. Looking over, Jeff saw Donna's anguished face staring at him. Jeff saw her eyes fill with tears as he held Sydnee's hand in his.

The cover band was a good band, with a good singer. They would never win a recording contract, but they would pay their bills by playing gigs like this. Jeff and Sydnee danced as the band played. When they went on break, Sydnee pulled Jeff backstage; the roadie smiled and did not attempt to stop Sydnee.

Even as he was talking and joking with the musicians, Jeff was haunted by his ex-wife's misery. Even as Sydnee hung onto him, rubbing her lithe body against him, Jeff was bothered by Donna's unhappiness.

When the band again announced a break, Sydnee said they needed to leave. Snuggling against him as they walked to his pickup truck, Sydnee none-too-subtle asked Jeff if his apartment was clean.

"What do you care? You're not going to see it in the dark," Jeff said when his brain heard her statement and what it meant.

"I am not tinkling in a dirty bathroom," Sydnee protested.

"Sweetheart, my Sydnee, my apartment is spotless," Jeff assured her as he helped her into his truck. "Remember: I baby sit my granddaughter in that apartment. It's clean."

While Jeff was trying not to break any traffic laws, Robert Buschold felt his hatred OF Jeffrey Andrew Landry resurface. After a few months of therapy, a very shameful thing for Robert Buschold to fathom, his daughter looked like she was finally re-emerging from her self-imposed cocoon of punishment. She'd even agreed to go on a date with Seamus McCullen.

And, just to make sure to rub it in her face, her ex-husband showed up. According to Seamus, Jeff had been there with a red headed tramp that didn't look old enough to be drinking the wine they'd consumed during their meal.

In none of the cell phone pictures Seamus had taken of Jeff and his date was the woman's face visible. Robert had to agree; the dress was far too short to be decent, but the girl had beautiful legs and a sweet looking rear end. Her clothing, what little there was of it, did look expensive and Robert did recognize the Rolex watch on the girl's right wrist. From that little fact, he deduced that the ginger tramp did have some money, or at least knew how to extort expensive trinkets from her men.

"Well, Mr. Landry, you have fucked with me and my baby girl for the last time," Robert thought, waving Seamus out of his private den.

While Robert poured himself another few fingers of his whiskey, Jeff was helping Sydnee from the cab of his pickup truck. With a playful smirk, Sydnee opened her legs for the briefest of moments. Jeff's eyes opened wide when he saw that his lovely companion was indeed a true carrot top. She gave him a scorching kiss then proceeded him to the door of his apartment.

"Oh, oh I bet you don't have a cloth covered clothes hanger," Sydnee huffed, entering his dimly lighted apartment. "And this dress is cashmere."