Lady in Red Ch. 23

Steve looked at Gwen who nodded slightly. Then he turned to Jordan who had a huge grin on her face. Next he looked at Charlie Burns, who was nodding his head vigorously.

“We’d be pleased to attend, and to perform. You know that we hold your mom and dad in high regard. I ask only that Paula, Diane, Kate, Steph, and our reporter friend, Amber Stahl be invited as well. If that’s agreeable, we’ll be there.”

“Consider it done!” agreed Michelle. “I want you to sing that song to me again, and to let me show you Paris Saturday before the dinner. I can get us into the Louvre and Napoleon’s Tomb fast and easy. We’ll visit Versailles, too, but we’ll need to start early. You could spend weeks in the Louvre alone.”

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the gang worked promotions in some of the larger stores in Paris. At night, they played the Olympia to enthusiastic crowds. Friday afternoon, Gwen was surprised to see Jen Bennington approach her while she was signing autographs and discussing the gown she was wearing with a group of teenage girls.

Gwen immediately stopped what she was doing to welcome her. “Jen! It’s so good to see you again. I’m sorry to interrupt our conversation everyone, but this is Steve’s cousin. I‘ve only just met her and I want to get to know her better. Please give us a few minutes.”

With that, Gwen took Jen’s hand and led her to a changing area. “Gwen, thanks for being so nice to me. I feel awful about the way my grandmother and mother treated you the other day. I feel especially bad for Steve. He didn’t deserve Grandmother’s attitude. I let her and mom know just who you are and what you and Steve have accomplished this year. Of course, they’d heard some of it, but they don’t pay much attention to everyday matters. They’re more concerned about the high society around Washington.

“When I mentioned that you and Steve had been invited to a state dinner and performed there, they seemed to suddenly think you were okay, if a bit ‘common’. I told them that you were here in Paris at a big department store promoting your own line of gowns and swimsuits. Then I showed them the article in the paper about your performances at the Olympia. I just wanted them to know that you should be looking down on them, not them looking down at you. You and Steve are American heroes and I’m so proud that he’s my cousin, even if he’ll probably never admit it after the way he’s been treated.”

“Jen, Steve was hurt the other day, but not by anything that you said or did. Would you have dinner with us at our hotel tonight? Then come to our last show as our guest? Would you tour Paris with us tomorrow with Michelle D’Anjou? Then, to top off this mini family reunion, come to dinner with us at Hotel de Marigny. The President of the French Republic will be hosting it and your handsome cousin will be performing. What do you say?”

“Are you kidding me?” asked a stunned Jen Bennington. “Dinner with President and Mrs. D’Anjou? Seeing you guys perform? Getting to know you and Steve better? Jordan Quick? If Grandmother tries to stop me, I’ll walk out on her. This is the kind of stuff that she always wanted to be involved in but never could quite manage. Now she’ll see that the son of her daughter; the one that she disowned for falling in love with a man, is doing it all and taking me along. The irony is so sweet.

“It’s funny. Grandmother approved of my Dad marrying Mom, and he ran off with a secretary almost ten years ago. Now the son of the son-in- law she insisted was beneath out family, is getting me into the company of the elite of France. This is so cool!

“Steve’s father must be awfully proud of him. He’s accomplished so much and he’s still quite young. I bet he’s a great guy and Grandmother made a huge mistake not accepting him into the family.”

“Steve’s dad died almost a year and a half ago. He was a SEAL commander in Afghanistan. He and Steve were involved in defending American civilians against Taliban. His father died in the conflict and Steve was slightly wounded, and he was just sixteen at the time. His mother, your aunt, died in a car accident a couple years before that.”

“I see that your family has no problems accepting Steve. I watched all the videos and you’re in most of them with him. You two are in love, aren’t you? It really shows in the videos.”

“That’s putting it mildly. I love him so much I have trouble breathing when I’m around him. He’s brave, kind, gentle, athletic, and all male. I fell in love with him when I first met him and it’s only grown more intense since.”

“You’re treating me very well, considering the way my family treated Steve and his father. Can you believe that Mom and Grandmother never even knew Steve’s father’s last name? Grandmother never gave Aunt Jen a chance to tell her about him. Grandmother heard she was seeing a sailor and ordered her to stop seeing him. You can see how well that worked for both families. My mother isn’t as bad as Grandmother, but she follows Grandmother’s lead. The threat of being cut out of the will worries Mom. She saw what happened to Aunt Jen.”

Steve was chatting with young female fans in French when Gwen approached him with Jen following. “Excuse us girls,” began Gwen with a smile as the girls all backed off a few steps. “This good looking guy has to say hello to someone. Steve, I want you to greet your cousin, Jen.”

Steve was caught by surprise. He was still smarting from his Grandmother’s remarks earlier in the week. He was not certain that he wanted to be friends with any relatives on his mother’s side. He looked from the girl to Gwen. What he read in Gwen’s face made his decision. He had come to rely on Gwen for guidance in most social contacts. It was obvious that Gwen expected him to be warm to the girl. Steve was not going to upset Gwen by being stubborn.

“Hello again!” greeted Steve as he pulled Jen into a big hug. “You’re the second relative that I know about that will have anything to do with me, and you’re by far the prettiest. I’m really happy to meet you, Cuz.”

Steve glanced at Gwen as he hugged Jen. He saw a big smile and an approving nod from his girlfriend and felt relief. Gwen was much more astute with most interactions and he had come to rely on her judgment quite a bit.

“You’d better get used to having a pretty cousin around because she’s joining us for dinner, going to the show, and spending tomorrow with us, including the dinner with the President of the French Republic,” revealed Gwen as she beamed at Steve’s treatment of his new found cousin.

Jen hung around the store the rest of the day waiting for everyone to finish the promotion so she could return to the hotel with them for dinner. She had quickly gained the friendship of Stephanie and Kate. They had many things in common and had become close in short order.

“I don’t want to seem dumb, but I’m a little curious about the relationship everyone here has with Steve. I know Gwen is his girlfriend and they’re in love, but all the other women here seem to be very fond of Steve, too. The way Kate and Stephanie talk about him, you’d think he was their boyfriend. Jordan hangs close and smiles at him all the time. Even the two adults in this group appear to be taken with Steve to some extent. If I’m out of line, or hitting on a sore subject just tell me to keep my nose out of your business,” stated Jen carefully.

“Yeah, I guess it’s no secret. We all love the guy. Gwen’s the lucky girl he’s picked, but she doesn’t mind the rest of us teasing and flirting with him,” replied Kate with a big grin. “He could have his way with any of us girls, and maybe even Mom and Aunt Diane, but he isn’t like that. He’s loyal to Gwen and that’s what makes him so much fun. We can do almost anything to him and with him and he won’t take advantage of us, darn it!”

“I think you should leave Paula and me out of your generalizations, Kate. We’re both happily married and as responsible adults, we’re not smitten by this ruggedly handsome, heroic young man.”

“Wow! You really went out on a limb with that denial,” chuckled Paula as she turned to Jen to make a better explanation. “Diane and I admire, respect, and appreciate Steve and everything that he’s done for our family. We do not ‘love’ him the way the younger women in the family do, but we do love him as member of our family.”

“Yeah, whatever,” interjected Stephanie. “Mom and Paula love the guy like we do, but since they’re married to our dads, they have to behave themselves and not get as daffy as us younger females. Their mother, our grandmother, has the ‘hots’ for him, too.”

“Let’s check the dessert menu,” suggested Diane to change the subject. “I’m leaning toward the chocolate mousse tonight.”

“I hope that exchange answered your question,” laughed Gwen as she patted Steve’s shoulder. “We all love the guy, but he and I are in a very committed relationship and we’re going to remain completely faithful to each other. That doesn’t mean that Jordan, as well as all my female relatives won’t tease and flirt with him. Quite the opposite.”

“Sometimes I think I must be invisible,” complained Steve. “You all talk about me like I’m not even here, or I’m a prized bull or something. I have feelings.”

“I can vouch for that!” stated Kate immediately. “When his arm was in a sling, he had ‘feelings’ all over us poor defenseless girls, didn’t he Stephanie? In fact, I heard his own doctor ask him to release her ‘nubbin’, if you can imagine that!”

That statement by Kate brought laughter from everyone at the table. Steve blushed slightly and then laughed with the rest. Jen was fascinated by the easy way all of the women interacted, freely admitting that they liked Steve a lot, but showing no jealousy or competitive actions regarding him.

Jen sat between Stephanie and Kate at the show that evening. She left in awe of the talent her new friends, and her cousin demonstrated on stage. Her grandmother and mother were going to get an earful first chance Jen had.

The next morning, Michelle had arranged for a small bus to transport the group to various sights. They left early and visited Versailles, and then traveled to the Louvre. They saw the ‘Mona Lisa’ and ‘Venus de Milo’ along with countless other works of art. They spent some time at Napoleon’s Tomb before getting back to the hotel to dress for the evening’s affair. Michelle had brought her dress with her and changed with Kate and Stephanie.

Jordan was the first to notice that Michelle had chosen a dress from the ‘Lady in Red’ line, as had Jen. That made the choice unanimous among the ladies. Since it was semiformal, Steve was wearing a suit jacket and pants with a dark crewneck shirt. Jordan, Gwen and Steve were going to be performing and dressed accordingly.

There was a brief speech from Michelle’s father before dinner. Luckily he kept it quite short. Everyone was very hungry and the food smelled delicious. After dinner, there was a small band playing slow music to which some people danced. It didn’t take Steve long to realize why the Austrian contingent had requested that Gwen and Jordan be invited.

One of the members of the Austrian delegation had been an Olympic Skier. He managed to win the bronze medal six years prior and was a minor celebrity in Austria. He was about two inches over six feet, blond, blue-eyed, handsome, and acutely aware of it. He gave Gwen the full court press. He dominated her dance card. Somehow no one else seemed interested in dancing with her when Felix Muller was in the area.

Steve was confident that Gwen could handle the attention. What concerned him was the obvious disrespect the man was showing Steve. He had to know that Gwen was his girlfriend. For him to be so obvious in his intentions demonstrated a galling lack of respect for Steve. It was an international assembly hosted by President D’Anjou and Steve was determined to not allow his pride to create some sort of diplomatic calamity.

Steve danced with Kate, Stephanie, Amber and Jen while Gwen remained in the Austrian’s arms throughout. Jen was an excellent dancer and he asked her about it.

“My mom and your mom took hours of dance lessons and I had to do the same. It’s family tradition that we are trained in dance and music so that we appear cultured and refined. It’s sure paying off tonight. I asked Kate to video us dancing so I can show it to my friends back home. They won’t believe it when I tell them that Steve Hammer is my cousin!”

“Your girlfriend likes the skier, yes?” asked a blonde beauty Steve had just escorted onto the floor. She spoke English with a heavy accent, so Steve replied in Russian.

“I sure hope not, but he’s persistent as the devil. I don’t know if he’s trying to bait me, wants to get into Gwen’s panties, or both.”

“You speak excellent Russian!” responded the surprised girl. “I am from the Ukraine, but I speak Russian as well. I think that arrogant Austrian is misjudging you badly. He feels very manly and full of himself. Everyone at the dinner tonight was speaking about Steve Hammer and his gorgeous girlfriend. We have all seen the videos of that icy water rescue and the shootout at your school. We’ve heard you sing, play music, and have seen you dance, even in the Ukraine.

“You are real, but look and sound like a woman’s dream. The blond man is jealous and insecure. He thinks he will prove he is a better man by stealing your woman. It is painfully obvious and pathetically childlike. Your lady will not be fooled and will love you even more when you are not dragged into a competition with the idiot. It’s best that you hold me close and have fun dancing with me. He is watching you for your reaction. Pay him no attention and you will have your revenge.”

“Miss, could you tell me your name? It isn’t often I receive such wise advice from a strange, beautiful woman. You’ve been very helpful and may have prevented me from causing an incident.”

“I am Nadiya Misko. My father is head of the Ukraine delegation. I begged and begged for him to bring me to Paris. He finally relented and now I am in the arms of the famous American hero, Steve Hammer. Could I prevail upon you to dance the next dance with me also? They are making a small video of the delegation’s visit to Paris and the successes we enjoyed. Our dance is being recorded and I will have access to it even if it does not appear in the final edit. My friends will be so envious,” laughed the blonde beauty.

“I think we can sneak in another one, Nadiya. You are an excellent dancer and a delightful conversationalist,” replied Steve as they began their second straight dance. “You’ve given me some good advice. I know I’ll face this very situation often and now I’ll know how to handle it. Thank you so much!”

“I think your lady friend has noticed that we have begun our second dance together. She appears to be working her way across the dance floor with that conceited ass. I fear she may try to switch partners! Can we dance toward the door slowly? That should require enough time to keep me in your arms for the entire song, and out of the clutches of your competitor,” suggested Nadiya with a brilliant smile. “You’ll save me, but at the expense of your beautiful lover.”

The dance had ended and Steve was thanking Nadiya when Gwen and Felix Muller appeared beside them. “Steve, this is the famous Austrian skier, Felix Muller. Felix, this is my boyfriend, Steve Hammer. Remember that we are supposed to dance together for the next song, Steve?”

Steve quickly searched his memory and could recall no discussion about a special dance with Gwen. He glanced from Gwen to Nadiya, who once again displayed a dazzling smile.

“I am Nadiya Misko. My father is the head of the Ukrainian delegation. Steve was just telling me that his next dance was promised to his beautiful lover. He seemed very anxious to once again have you in his very strong arms,” offered the blonde beauty as she extended her hand to Gwen.

As Gwen took her hand, she studied the girl closely. She quickly reached a conclusion and smiled widely. “Thank you, Nadiya. I think we may have a lot in common. We could be great friends, I think.”

“That would be fabulous!” replied the blonde quickly. “You are incredibly beautiful, and very famous in the Ukraine, as well as America. It would be quite a feather in my cap to be known as your friend.”

While Gwen and Nadiya were talking, Felix took Steve’s hand to shake it after their introduction. Steve was unable to suppress a grin when Muller tried to squeeze his hand really hard. Steve’s grin irked the Austrian so he applied more pressure.

“Felix, normally I like blondes, but you’re really not my type,” laughed Steve. “I’ll have to ask you to let go of my hand before people get the wrong impression about us.”

Muller quickly released Steve’s hand. His face was red and his teeth clenched. “You think you’re a funny man? I don’t think you are. No one would ever mistake me for a homosexual, but you are a different story. I wonder if you might be gay.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that!” interrupted Gwen as she watched the two men interact. “He’s made passionate love to me every night this week. He’s very manly and a skilled lover. Nadiya, would you ever think that Steve is gay?”

“Never!” replied the blonde. “When I danced with him, I felt his manliness against my stomach. He oozes testosterone. You are very fortunate to have such a virile lover!”

Felix Muller turned and stomped across the floor as Gwen and Naydia shared a laugh. “That was perfect, Nadiya! And thanks for ‘remembering’ that Steve and I had a dance scheduled. That ass had his ‘manliness’ pressing against me for half an hour. It didn’t impress me like he seemed to think it would.”

“If I may be so bold, Gwen. After having the pleasure of your lover’s ‘approval’ pressed against me for two dances, I can say that it’s unlikely that Felix will be able to properly impress you. You’re a very lucky lady.”

“Once again, I have to tell you that I’m right here. I can hear everything you two are saying. Shouldn’t this discussion be held in the ladies’ room or something?” questioned Steve. “Nadiya, you didn’t have to press so close to me. Then I wouldn’t have rubbed you the wrong way, so to speak.”

“Believe me, Steve. You rubbed me the right way!” laughed Nadiya. “I am so jealous of Gwen.”

Gwen and Steve joined Jordan a short time later, and together they went to help Charlie and the band set up the equipment. Then they played the set they had been doing at the Olympia Theatre. The trade delegations loved it. President D’Anjou beamed as he thanked Gwen, Steve, Jordan, and the band. He had managed to entertain his guests with some very popular singers. Michelle was delighted because Steve had serenaded her again, this time in front of her parents and international guests.

The instruments were being packed into a van when Steve had an idea. “Charlie, it’s going to be pretty late by the time we get back to the hotel, but why don’t you join us for breakfast tomorrow morning at our hotel? You don’t mind, do you, Jordan?”

“Wise guy! No, I don’t mind. I should have been the one to extend the invitation, but Steve had a good idea for once. Would you join us for breakfast before we fly back to the states?”

“I’d be delighted! Thanks, all three of you. Our trip is an unmitigated success. Our band is getting bookings on our web page. We put some videos up on it of the past few performances. They were great! I hope we can convince people to hire us even though we won’t always have the incredible Jordan Quick, the beautiful Gwen Anderson, and the so-so Steve Hammer. We’re returning to the states in a couple days and things are looking up, thanks to you three.”

The next morning Gwen managed to be the first out of their shower. When Steve sauntered out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, he was very surprised to see Nadiya reclined in the chair with the view of the Eiffel Tower. Gwen was sitting on the bed, chatting with her.