Girl Gets Her Man Ch. 09

"What is your problem? I thought we talked about this before." Joanne Croix stood in front of her door with her arms crossed. "I'm not ready to go in that direction with you."

Gary shook his head, "I'm tired of this, Jo. I'm a man. I'm not some boy you can just play around with. I've taken you out. Bought you stuff. I thought we had an understanding."

Jo frowned, "I'll get you your money back for the tickets..."

"I don't want the money back. I want you."

"Look, it's been a rough night. I..."

Gary moved close to her, put his lips to her head roughly and put his hand on the door knob. "Yeah, I know. I've got a family thing going on soon. I might have to leave town for a few days. I can't guarantee I'll have my phone on."

"Really," Jo said. 'He probably said that to have a reason not to talk to you. All you do is talk him out of sex anyway.'

"It's nothing with my mom or anything, but I don't think she'd want me spreading the family business without checking with her first."

"I understand. You're leaving soon?" 'Damn, it sounded like I wanted him gone yesterday.'

"Yeah," he frowned at her, "tomorrow night. How about you give me a good kiss, in case I don't see you tomorrow."

Jo raised her face and let him kiss her lips. Every second that he lingered over her mouth was too long. She felt his hands move up her waist to press his thumbs into her shirt and bra covered breasts. He held her there with his thumbs straining at the material between him and her flesh as he pushed harder with his mouth. She pushed against his arms and let out a squeal around his mouth.

When he let go, he smiled, "I knew there was a reason I'm sticking around. I want to hear you make that noise."

*

Joanne jumped as some loud noise stirred her from sleep. The sound repeated and she realized it was the cordless phone. She leaned out to the windowsill next to her bed where it was perched. She picked it up and let the bottom drop to the floor.

"Uh, h-llo," she mumbled. 'What kind of idiot would be calling me while I'm trying to sleep? No, wait. It's got to be Gary. Did somebody die?'

--Beautiful, is he still there,-- a voice she didn't recognize slurred quietly.

"Wha? I think you've got the wrong..." She didn't really pay attention to the voice on the other end, since she was going to hang up any second.

--Joanne,-- the voice sighed, --I know you went home with him. I heard what he said. So, how ...me?-- A blast of music and conversation sounds made her miss the last part of the question.

"I can't hear you. Who is this?"

--This is Dan.--

"Dan," she sputtered fully awake. 'Daniel? You're calling me? You're calling me.' "Daniel. It's," she glanced at her clock, "One thirty A M! Why are you calling me?" 'I didn't even think you had my number.'

--I know what time it is. The bartender had a watch.--

"Bar... how much did you drink?"

--A lot, but I still remember your number, so....not enough?-- The voice now seemed more familiar with the slow careful way that he pronounced his words. The sounds faded. She figured he walked outside. If she hadn't heard the effects of alcohol earlier, she would have sworn he was sober. --I understand why you went out with him. I should have told you everything. Things would be so different, right now. You would have been with me, tonight.--

"Dan, if you wanted to talk to me, you should have done it before. You made yourself very clear."

--I tried at the shop, remember? I'm trying, now, Jo. I'm a moron, I don't figure things out too quickly. Come and talk to me. I'll buy you breakfast. Please, please say you'll come.--

"Who's with you?"

--Nobody but us chickens.--

"No, I mean who drove?"

--No one. I walked.--

'Walked? Crazy boy walked to a bar.' She asked as she slid into her jeans, "You walked?" The moment he begged her to come and talk, she'd gotten out of bed.

--Yeah, I walked right out of the place and straight for the nearest bar. How about I meet you at your house? Not if Jesse's there. I don't think I'm much for a fight right now.--

'First he wants me to go to breakfast, and now he wants to come over.' "Maybe, you should come over later in the morning. You can say what you have to say sober."

There was a pause before he said, --I don't think I will. I keep saying stupid stuff when I see your face. You're so pretty, I can't remember how to finish a sentence, sometimes. I need to do this now. You know I wouldn't bother you, if I didn't have it together enough to talk to you. Besides, I'd appreciate a warm up on the way home.-- His voice seemed to mellow in those last few words. He only did that when he was tired. She realized that she shouldn't have remembered that. He wasn't hers, and she shouldn't care if he was tired or not. She sighed, 'But, I do.'

"Well, I guess you could come over for a minute. I have coffee, if you need it, but you can't stay." She couldn't let him stay in her apartment. Not after what happened the night before. She wasn't going to let him die of hypothermia, though. He could warm up and be on his way. "Where are you? I could pick you up."

--Nice, thoughtful, beautiful Joanne. That's not necessary. I'm outside your building.--

Jo went to the window, but she couldn't see the ground level through the ice covered branches..

--Angel, I'm freezing out here. Buzz me in?--

"Oh, okay." She walked over and pressed the button. She felt a lot apprehensive afterward. What was he doing at her place wanting to talk? She thought there wasn't anything left to say. She hung up the phone and waited for him to knock. 'I've got to be crazy to do this. Haven't I learned my lesson? He didn't back me up when he knew she'd started it.'

A loud tapping pulled her from her thoughts.

"Hey," Daniel puffed as he moved through the door.

"Did you run up the stairs?"

"Yes," he panted. "Wanted to get here fast. Before you had time to change your mind."

"Well," she nodded in what she hoped to be a noncommittal way.

"I am such an idiot. I didn't bring you your Christmas present or flowers. That's what you deserve. Flowers every day. I always thought of bringing you flowers, but I never did. That way, you'd have that secret smile just for me," he babbled as he dropped heavily to the couch. He sprawled out across it as though he would take a nap. She'd gotten it because it was big enough for her father to fit comfortably, but she didn't think of anyone sleeping on it. Dan looked like he was napping on a half sized couch.

'Oh, yeah. Boy's totally rocked,' she thought as she followed him to the couch. "Danny, you said you were just here to warm up a bit before going home. You can't stay here."

"Why not? Why can't I spend the night with the woman I love?"

Jo blushed, "First off, it's morning already. Second, you don't love me."

"First, you know what I meant, ...and I meant what I said...uh, second," he murmured as he bunched up one of her cushions under his head. He pouted slightly as he settled into the pillow and closed his eyes. He was still breathing a bit hard from running up the stairs, but she got the distinct impression that if she let him, he'd pass out right there on her couch.

"Daniel Langier, get up, now."

He slowly rose to a swaying sit. "Okay, dear."

"Don't call me that."

"Whatever you say..." He struggled mentally. "Sweetheart."

The smile crossed his face slowly as he watched her reaction. At that moment, he was too defenseless to fight. 'Aggravating boy.' She shook her head and watched him lean heavily on the arm of the couch. He looked through her with those deep odd blue eyes. They seemed a muddy green, now. 'Were they always green? No, they're blue a really dark blue.' Jo watched a prepared speech roll through his brain. She knew it was the one she walked out on a few nights before. She felt it like watching a train wreck you can't stop.

"You know...I am so gone for you. You have no idea what I would do for you, do you? From the first moment I saw you..."

She tried to stop him from going on with the speech by crossing her arms and saying, "Danny..."

"I am trying to say something, here. You'll get the floor when I'm done." His eyes flashed in challenge as he said, "No really. You have absolutely no idea how much this hurts, do you?" He pulled at the front of his shirt. "It's like a fire. No matter what I do, it won't die down. It just eats at my insides. I have never felt like this in my entire life. Not ever. If you felt this, there'd be no way in hell you'd keep me away. But, you do. You're doing it now, with your arms crossed, and... There hasn't been one time that I thought that you hated me. And... Gary. What do you see in him? Would you marry some guy that would beat somebody up for you? Is that what you need, testosterone? How about somebody that would take the beating? I did that. I'd still do that. Do you understand? I want to be yours. You should be with me. Not him. Come back to me. Be with me, please." His voice faded.

'What the hell are you gonna say to that?' She sat down next to him and looked at her knees. A month ago, she would have wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. 'Anybody that would say that to me deserves that, right? But he's drunk and probably horney, so I can't trust my ears right now. Can I?'

"I know you don't love me. But, don't ever tell me that I don't love you," he growled as he rested his head on his hand and looked over at her. "I've loved you forever."

"Dan..." His hand went to hers and pulled it from the now loose circle she'd made around her waist.

He used his palm as a pivot as he shook his head slowly, "No, don't try to tell me I'm wrong. I just know." His head slid off of his hand and he snapped upright. He focused for a moment at her hand in his then let it slide away. His palm pressed against her cheek briefly. "I'm drunk. I should probably go home."

*

Daniel awoke to the sound of his own moaning. He felt around the bed and opened a bleary eye. He was home. He wasn't quite sure how he got there. His throbbing head testified to the liquor he'd used liberally to try to block out the previous night. The alcohol had done nothing to help him forget the look on her face when he took Candy's arm. He should have done what he'd wanted and taken Jo away from the situation, instead. 'Yeah, her boyfriend would have just loved that.' A pounding on the door made him jump upright.

He knew the excruciating pain in his head would increase exponentially because of this. 'Wait for it. Wait for it.... Jesus Christ!' He clutched at his head with a plaintive wail.

"Danny," his father called him. " Are you okay? Come out and greet the world. It's afternoon, now."

An unearthly voice fell from his open lips, "Stop beating on the door."

He rolled back to his mattress and pressed the pillow to his head.

David's voice was too close, "I didn't beat on the door. I gave a light tap, like every morning. Pheh! Smells like a distillery. Come, get up." The pillow pulled away along with the blanket. "Get out of my suit. Get in the shower. You don't drink."

Dan blinked at the sudden brightness as David pulled back the curtains. "I did a pretty good job last night."

"I thought you went to Jerry's show."

Dan peeled off the suit jacket and worked uselessly at the shirt buttons. His fingers weren't getting the message to grasp the small buttons. Frustrated just looking at his son, David helped get the shirt off.

"Yeah," Dan gained what was left of his real voice back, "I went. Then, I went to drink."

"Did you drive? No, he picked you up. Jerry shouldn't have..."

"I went by myself. I walked back." 'Or maybe, I got a cab' "It was all me," he sighed as he pulled off his pants.

David put a hand to the side of his son's face to get his attention. "Danny, don't do this again."

"Yeah, Pop. There's no chance I'll do that."

"Promise me."

Dan closed his eyes and saw Joanne's frowning face as he'd left her at the theatre. 'No, it wasn't at the theatre. She had a t-shirt on.' "I can't do that."

"Perhaps, you should go back to sleep. Your mind is off."

"There's not one thing wrong with my mind, Pop," he sighed as he dropped back to the bed. 'It's my heart.'

***

"Hey, girrrl," Jesse drew out the last word as she sat down at the kitchen table next to Joanne. She thumped down a plain paper bag next to Jo's papers. "Gary just backed out of going to the club. He said I should talk to you. What happened?" The tone had been more what did you do than what's wrong with him.

"Nothing," she looked up from her textbook. "He's got to go back home. There's a family emergency." 'Or so, that's what he said. He hasn't said much since the concert. He was so mad that night. He said he was okay with us not doing anything, yet. Maybe, he changed his mind.'

"Oh, so that's why he wasn't his charming self. I thought it might be that thing with Candy the other night. He said he took you home before you got a chance to meet Jerry."

She sighed, "Stop talking about it. She's crazy. He said he'd call when he got a chance."

"Hey, that's good. Phone sex is always a good way to spice things up."

"We're not having any kind of sex, Jess. I told you. We're not at that point, yet."

"You better get to that point or he'll go there without you."

Joanne looked back up from her book. This interruption would take some time to manage, so she slid her bookmark in and shut it.

"I don't ask you about what you do, so why do you have to get in my business?"

"Cause I'm trying to get you into some business so it'll be more interesting." She idly pulled a paper cup out of the bag and set it down. The scripted swirls of the Langier's logo encircled the cup. "Besides, you need to cement this relationship, so that you can think about after graduation."

"After graduation, I'm applying to grad school."

"Huh? Since when?"

"Since I'd like to learn as much as I can." 'Since, I need to figure out what I really want.'

"Didn't you say you were going to get a job and a man?"

"No. I never talked about a man. You're the one that always talked about men. I don't have the time..."

"Bullshit! I know I wasn't talking to myself. What? Did Gary say he didn't want to get married or something?" Shocked, Jo sat up straight in her chair and blinked, as Jesse continued to speak, "All he talks about is you, so you shouldn't take that too seriously. He was probably saying that to call your bluff about that sex thing."

"There's no bluff. How did we get here? I don't want to have sex with him, because I don't want to have sex with anybody. We didn't talk about marriage or any of that kind of stuff, because we're not close enough for that."

Jesse raised an eyebrow and smirked, "You were close enough to Hot Chocolate."

Jo looked away from Jesse. She hadn't mentioned to her friend that Danny had made a drunken visit. It was embarrassing really. He said some things Jo was sure he didn't mean. He even went so far as to beg for her forgiveness which really creeped her out. She'd taken him home after that. It was all she could do to get him inside his house without waking up the entire neighborhood. 'If his dad had come out, I would have died right there in his bedroom with his arm over my shoulder.' "No, I wasn't. You know that!"

"You didn't talk to him about the future? Probably planned out your wedding all those long nights, didn't you?"

'He said he loved me forever.' "It wasn't like that!"

"Why are you yelling, then? He is no reason to get rid of a good guy like Gary. You need to get you're act together. Danny's not worth this misery. You said so yourself."

'I did? It was probably when I was blitzed out of my mind.' "You keep bringing him up, like you have to remind me that he didn't care about me! I know it, already! I'm over it! I'm over him! Lay off of it!" 'You big fat liar! You bought every damn word of his bullshit. If he said that stuff sober, you would have done something stupid that night.'

"I wish I could, but I can't," Jesse smiled as she took a sip of her drink. She frowned at the cup and said, "Ugh. What the hell is this. I ordered the hot chocolate. Does this taste like hot chocolate to you?"

She set the cup down and pushed it toward Jo.

Jo picked it up and smelled it. It didn't smell like a Langier's hot chocolate. She took a sip. It was bad. It was the kind of runny mess that had a bunch of cocoa at the bottom of the cup when you were done.

"You're right. This stuff is garbage. Did you make some to take with you?"

"Hell, no. I got it from there. Here's your chance. If you're over him. You won't mind taking this back to Langier's and getting me a good one."