Plain Gold Ring Pt. 03

She's grown up. She's not shy, anymore, not meek. For the first time, he feels like he's meeting June Silva: the woman. The woman he only got a little taste of before.

June finishes her peach and licks her hands, keeping her eyes on him. June fucking Silva, he thinks.

She's waiting for him.

He could really hurt her. He considers the probability that he will hurt her, but not in the way Sam meant. The truth is that June has grown up and so has he. He's ready for that fresh start now.

He takes the plunge. "Would you like to go on a date with me tomorrow night? A real date."

"A date?" she asks, as if she's tasting the words.

John only nods, waiting. Breathing. Hoping.

"Not fucked in the head anymore?" There is a hint of warmth in her tone that encourages him.

He grins back at her. "You have no idea."

She doesn't ask him why the change of heart; from the way she's appraising him, he can tell she knows. She doesn't appear to hate him for it, either.

"A real date," she says, as if tasting the words.

"Please."

She studies him, head tilted, hair blowing in the warm summer breeze. "I'll think about it."

"That's really fascinating, Jimmy," Melissa gushes. She crosses her leg over the other so that the slit of her red dress rides up a little. Her date watches the movement and is very nearly drooling. She suppresses the urge to laugh. "Baby, tell me more."

"Well, uh..." but the poor man can hardly go on.

"But before you do, I'm going to run to the restroom." She pats his leg, much too close to where he's hardening, and makes sure to smack her lips. "I want to hear every single detail of your story when I get back."

The bathroom is empty when she enters, and Melissa takes a moment to study herself in the mirror. She smooths her hair and wipes away a stray eyelash. The mirror's surface flashes back at her, and she smiles at the self-possessed and undeniably beautiful woman she sees there.

She frowns when she notices the little sprinkling of wrinkles around her eyes when she smiles, so she stops immediately. She's aging, and it's the worst thing that could ever happen to her. At least she's not losing her looks entirely. Jimmy, back at the table, can attest to that. Still, those wrinkles...

She applies more lipstick and a sudden memory flashes into her mind.

John in the kitchen, helping her wash dishes. "You're going to have the cutest wrinkles one day," he'd teased her.

"I'm never going to have wrinkles! Take that back!"

He took her in his arms, his hands still soapy and slick. "And I'm going to still love every wrinkly part of you."

"Excuse me," a female's voice says, snapping Melissa out of the past. A woman is waiting to get to the sink.

"Sorry." Melissa steps back, feeling... strangely blank. Empty. Hollow. Something she definitely can't recall feeling before.

"You have the most beautiful shoes," the other woman remarks.

Melissa shakes her head and blinks down at the heels Jimmy bought her. They cost more than a month's worth of rent. She'd squealed when she saw them and gave him the best blowjob of his life. "Oh, yes," Melissa agrees, her voice still heavy with whatever she just experienced. She still can't name what it was. She pushes through it. "They were a gift."

"Wish my husband would buy me something like that." The woman dries her hands and smiles. "They suit you."

Melissa stands higher. She catches her reflection again and thinks that the woman is absolutely correct. Just like that, the nasty, dark thoughts are gone. "Thank you."

She goes back out into the dining room and snuggles into Jimmy's willing side. "So, baby, tell me absolutely everything."

Lisa screams in her ear when June calls to tell her that John asked her out. "Were you wearing the new dress?"

"Of course I was."

Lisa giggles. "You whore."

"So, do I say yes?"

"Why not?"

June pushes her hair from her face and breathes out. "I haven't talked to him in a year."

"So?"

"What if we ruined our chances? I mean, I've had him inside me, for God's sake."

"So? I'm still not hearing anything for the 'no' column."

"Won't I be sending out a dangerous message? That I've just been waiting for him to be ready, or something? Isn't that kind of selfish?"

Lisa groans. "You're thinking about this way too much."

"Maybe I'm not thinking about it enough, because I really want to say yes. Does that mean I'm still the dork who fell in love with the unattainable guy across the street? I think I'm getting too old for that."

"It means that you know what you want. I don't think you're going backwards by saying yes to the guy. It's one date. Just don't do anything physical with him."

"Oh, God, won't he expect that?"

"Look, crazy, I gotta go. Do what you want! Life's too fucking short."

"Okay, bye. Bitch."

June feels even more conflicted after she hangs up. She feels like she was supposed to learn a whole lesson with John and that if she goes out with him, it'll undo everything.

Still... she really, really wants to say yes.

Maggie will likely give her great advice. She knocks on the bedroom door softly, in case the baby is asleep. The door pushes open and June spots Maggie passed out on the bed, so she closes the door behind her.

Sam is making a sandwich downstairs. He looks up when June enters the kitchen and gives her a smile.

"Want something to eat?"

"Nah."

Sam studies her. "You look upset. What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

He rolls his eyes. "Just tell me."

"No."

"You're impossible."

June peels at her nail polish. "Okay. John asked me out on a date." She peeks up at him through her lashes. He looks shocked. "Don't be mad at him."

"I'm not," Sam says slowly. "I'm just... surprised. So, did you say yes?"

"I told him I'd think about it."

"So that's why the poor guy is outside staring over here."

June gives him an appraising look. "Now you feel sorry for him?"

Sam takes a bite of his sandwich and doesn't respond. The faint music of an ice cream truck makes its way down the street.

"I want to say yes," she admits.

Sam nods and says, "I figured."

"What if..." but she can't continue.

"What if," Sam agrees. He pulls out a twenty from his wallet. "Go get yourself ice cream and think about it."

"You would... approve?"

"That shouldn't matter."

June stares at him for a moment. "It does."

"I'm not good at this fuckin' stuff."

"Consider me practice for the baby upstairs. Katie is going to ask you for boy advice one day. I guarantee it."

Sam curses under his breath, then shrugs. "June, baby, you're a grown woman. I didn't do what I did last year to hurt you. You know that. I would hate to think you feel like you could ever do anything that would make me not love you."

"I know."

He scratches his head and then gives it a shake. "Why don't you get him some ice cream on me, too. Go talk to him."

June tilts her head, hopeful and terrified. "You think?"

"You want to, right?"

She nods, afraid to say the words.

"He's a good guy. He stepped back and gave you both time."

"Yeah."

She slips into her flip-flops and runs out just as the truck stops a few houses down. She doesn't look across the street, but she feels John watching her. She buys two popsicles and then heads over, shoulders back and head held high.

His face is expressionless when she sinks down onto the stoop next to him.

She hands him a popsicle. "You strike me as a cherry kinda guy."

"Thanks. I am."

She smiles and John doesn't look away. Her lips are probably already red from her own popsicle, she knows, but she also knows that's not why he's staring. "Are you sure?" she asks.

He doesn't ask her to clarify. "Positive."

"Took you long enough." She playfully knocks her arm into his.

His eyes soften. "I know."

June leans against him and John inhales deeply when the top of her head brushes against his chin.