Southern Comfort Ch. 05

"He'll be disappointed if he finds out you were here and didn't even call him," she said.

"Tom will have to keep for a while. If you see him, tell him I'll catch up with him on the next trip. I'm going to get a quick shower and I think Bob and I will just head on back now. Something tells me it's going to be a long ride back and I want to get it over with as soon as possible," I said as I stood up from the table and crushed my cigarette out. **********

Neither Bob nor I gave any indication that all was not particularly well between us while we bid my Grandmother goodbye. Bob did something I didn't expect. He gave Granny a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek. Then he took her hand and pressed a wad of cash in her palm.

"What's this for?" she asked as she stared up at him in wonder.

"It's for the inconvenience of putting up with me, Mrs. J. I would have paid a lot more for a hotel and meals," he explained.

She began to protest loudly, but Bob insisted on her keeping the money. I said nothing to intervene one way or the other. What Bob didn't know was that it was considered an insult to pay for southern hospitality with money. On the other hand, it would have insulted Bob had Grandmother refused to accept the money. I let them work it out between themselves.

When Bob backed the car out of her driveway, a deafening silence descended between us. It lasted until we were on the Interstate headed west again.

He cleared his throat and asked, "Are you not going to speak to me at all now?" I remained mute. "Well, I guess that's a yes," he muttered under his breath. After a long silence he tried again. "You know you're going to have to talk to me sooner or later."

That comment worked. I couldn't help myself. "Oh, you are so wrong about that, Mr. Jones!" I snarled at him. "I can get along quite nicely without ever speaking to you again!"

"Okay, if that's how you want it," he sighed heavily. "But, it's going to be a little difficult for us to fuck if you aren't speaking to me."

"Have you fucking lost your mind?" I hissed at him. "Do you really think I would have anything to do with you now? You lied to me!"

"Technically, I didn't lie to you," he said smoothly. "I just didn't explain anything to you. I told you straight up not to ask me any questions because you wouldn't like the answers you would get."

"Did it ever occur to you that I would eventually figure it out?" I snapped. "You went through my fucking address book for god's sake!"

"Maybe you should be a little more picky about whom you hang out with," he suggested with pure sarcasm.

"Is that supposed to be directed at Jon?" I snarled. "Because the same damned thing could be said about you, Bob."

"I'm not fucking worried about Jon," he scoffed.

"Well, Jon is goddamned sure worried about you, Bob, or whatever your fucking name is," I snapped. "He warned me to stop feeding you information about us. Now, I know why. And, while we are on that subject, just how much shit do the two of you really know about one another? You know, shit no one bothered to tell me?"

"That's bullshit, Cindy. Don't you think you're being just a little over dramatic?" he admonished.

"Over dramatic? Who was being over dramatic when they went through my fucking address book, Bob? Who told Jon that he didn't know what he was getting into with me?" I countered. "Please enlighten me, Bob. Just whom are you concerned about at this point?"

Bob suddenly looked a little uneasy. "I don't have a goddamned clue what you're ranting about. I saw some names in your book I recognized. I was curious how you knew them. That's all there is to that."

"Yeah, right. You feed that bullshit to someone who's willing to swallow it without chewing," I said sullenly looking out the window. "You know the two of you have really pissed me off now."

"Who? Jon and I?" he asked with surprise. "Why?"

"You're both always trying so hard to improve my goddamned character. Maybe you should take a look at your own before you try to pick mine apart. 'Choose one of us, Cindy'. Good guy, bad guy. Pick one! My biggest problem with that is that I don't think you even know which side you're on, Bob," I snarled at him.

"I can tell you one thing though. This is the last time I want to hear anything about me choosing between you. Good, bad, or indifferent, it's gonna be whatever it's gonna be. Anybody that isn't okay with that can hit the fucking bricks and don't look back. From here on out, I'm like the fucking wind, Bob. I'll blow in any direction I fucking choose."

"Man! You really are pissed off right now. I've never seen you this mad before. It's kind of cute," he replied. He glanced at me and laughed quietly under his breath. "Should I give Jon a call and warn him that you're on the warpath before you get there?"

"You can take out a public service announcement for all I care, Mr. Jones. You just remember one thing, I have a pocket full of silver and more than one person I can call if you want to start a dime-dropping war," I hissed at him.

"That almost sounds like a threat," he snorted at me.

"Try me. Call my bluff, Bob, because I am as serious as a fucking heart attack right now. You want to go to war, Bob? Because besides friends, the one thing I've got that you don't have is a complete lack of give a fuck! You can share that bit of information with Jon if you like as well."

I must have made some small impression on Bob, because he didn't say another word until we arrived back at his apartment. I went straight from his car to my own.

"Don't you even want your clothes?" he called out as I climbed into my car and slammed the door between us. I turned up the stereo loud enough that it drowned out his words and I left him standing in the parking lot. I headed to my nearest local watering hole. **********

Bob might not have understood my message had it not been for something that happened nearly two weeks previously. It went back to the night I had dinner with Ivan. When I left Ivan's that night, I went straight to Jon's by his demand. Despite whatever he believed at the time about me sleeping with Ivan, there was no animosity between us. He waited for me to shower and come to bed before we engaged in any meaningful conversation.

Jon informed me that he had called Sonny earlier in the evening while I was at Ivan's having a drink. He then broke the news that in the future, any time I wanted to go out and he wasn't available, Sonny would be my official escort. It was his way of ensuring I was kept safely entertained and completely out of Bob's reach.

Jon also knew that since Sonny and I didn't get along, there was little chance of us developing any kind of meaningful fondness for one another. He just hoped we could call a truce long enough to be able to stand one another's company for even one night. His plan was flawed in so many ways that I don't even know where to begin.

First of all, he didn't bother to tell Sonny that our jaunts around town were simply all for show. Jon said that if I were seen in the company of Sonny, it would explain my presence around his house and thereby get his ex-wife off his back where I was concerned. As Jon termed it to me, I was to become Sonny's new girlfriend to all outward appearances.

He threatened to end our relationship if I didn't agree to his terms. His exact words were, "You'll give a convincing performance to everyone, including Sonny." Jon was very adamant on that point.

Secondly, as another fly in the ointment, he didn't really count on Sonny's sincere romantic interest in me. Nor did he count on Sonny's dedication to cleaning up his image. Sonny did quit drinking, cold turkey. He begged Jon to set him up with me and Jon kept him stalled, right up until Bob made his famous 'consider it a territorial infringement' speech. I guess that was when Jon hatched the idea of making Sonny my personal bodyguard.

Jon arranged for my first date with Sonny to be the very next night. I don't know why Sonny didn't question Jon's orchestration of the event. Jon dictated every rule Sonny had to adhere to in order to have the honor of taking me to dinner. Sonny shared with me the two most important rules: he had to deliver me back to Jon's custody before two a.m. and he could under no circumstances take me back to his house. Thanks to Jon, I now had an official babysitter and I was not happy about it.

Our first date was surprisingly pleasant. Sonny was unexpectedly quiet and shy. We dined at an Italian restaurant, and then he took me to the French Quarter to play the part of tourists. It went so well that he was late getting me back to Jon who was waiting up for us and pacing the floor when we got there. He was anxious to hear the details of everything we did and said. He admitted to me that the fact it went so well made him a little nervous.

When he asked me what I thought about his brother, I described Sonny as sweet and naïve. Jon took issue with that, saying I must have gone out with an impostor. But, when it came to being a gentleman, Sonny made Jon look like an uncivilized heathen. I had no problem with agreeing to our second date and that one went just as well as the first.

By our third date, Sonny and I were as comfortable together as peas and carrots. It was nice to have a constant companion for a change. Sonny was a walking, talking authority on the history of New Orleans. He kept me entertained with stories about the people and places of interest. He related stories about the people he and Jon had grown up with and about their exploits.

On the evening of our third date, Sonny decided to introduce me to some of the people they knew. I guess he thought it was a good way to entertain me at the time. We had gone to dinner earlier, and we were just cruising the city and talking when Sonny said, "This place belongs to a friend of mine and Jon's."

He nodded to a lounge with an overflowing parking lot. "I don't know if this guy will be here or not. I haven't seen him in a long time, but we'll try to find him and just say hello. We won't stay long," he assured me.

I had been drinking heavily all evening when we entered the club. It was smoky, loud and over-crowded. There were no tables available anywhere, so Sonny found a small area against a wall where he could leave me for a moment. "I'll be right back," he shouted as he forcibly made a path to the bar.

He returned with a glass of white wine for me, and a seven-up for himself. He scanned the crowd and eventually spotted the man he was looking for. He touched my arm and nodded in his direction. "Come on! I'll introduce you," he said, dragging me behind him in the direction of a group of men in suits.

He approached the man and touched his arm to get his attention. The man turned in our direction and his face reflected recognition. "Sonny! How the hell are you, my old friend?" he demanded above the din of noise. He pumped Sonny's hand up and down and Sonny glanced at me with a grin.

They exchanged a brief conversation before Sonny said, "Nick, I'd like you to meet someone. This is Cindy. Cindy, my friend, Dominick."

The man clasped my hand between both his own and said, "It's a pleasure, young lady." He was smiling this smooth, debonair smile at me as he checked me out. He was subtle about it but he was definitely looking me over carefully.

I noted the man standing at his shoulder. He was attractive enough. But, it was the way he looked totally detached that caught my attention. He seemed to be ignoring me entirely, focusing his attention on the activities going on around us instead.

"How do you know my friend here?" Nick asked as Sonny turned to engage in a conversation with the other men in the group. Apparently, he knew them as well because they were all asking him where he had been and what he had been doing to stay busy. He shook hands with each of them and called them all by their first names.

"We met through his brother," I said almost shyly.

"You were dating Jon?" Nick asked. I nodded. Nick smiled this knowing smile. "And, is Sonny your escort, or your date then?" he asked smoothly. There was an understood difference between a date and an escort. When someone said 'escort', you automatically understood that is wasn't personal. In most circles, an escort served a specific purpose.

I hesitated a second before I answered, "I guess you could say he's both at the moment."

Nick nodded and continued to hold my hand in his. "I've known Sonny and Jon many years. Since we were kids," he assured me. "How did a girl like you meet Jon? You're not local," he observed.

"I'm a bartender, and Jon likes to drink," I laughed. "He intervened in a trivial confrontation I had with someone he knew."

"Ahh! Jon was always a gentleman," he said nodding, his eyes twinkling at me. "How long have you been friends with Jon and Sonny?"

"Jon and I have been seeing one another for almost a year, but he introduced me to Sonny very recently, I'm afraid," I explained.

"Nearly a year? That's interesting," Nick acknowledged. "You must be a very special young woman. If you'll forgive me for saying it, Jon isn't normally that tenacious when it comes to women." Nick's curiosity seemed to grow with that one observation. "I think you will find you enjoy Sonny's company just as well. They're both very loyal friends to have," he noted as he looked in Sonny's direction.

"Are you still bartending?" he asked suddenly. I nodded. "Where?"

I answered without elaboration. The disinterested man whispered something in his ear. Nick made a face of interest and approval. He dropped my hand and clasped his hands behind his back. He rocked back and forth on his heels. I suspected I knew where Jon had picked up the habit.

"I would have thought you would be quite comfortable quitting your job if you are Jon's girlfriend. Or Sonny's," he added. I knew it was his way of fishing for information. Jon had said to be convincing to everyone. So, I decided to do my best.

"I have a family," I said simply.

"A husband?" he asked in surprise. His smile widened. "And, both Jon and Sonny as well?" he inquired looking more than a little amused.

"It would seem so," I said coolly. The disinterested party cleared his throat and whispered to him again. He was beginning to annoy me.

"Would you like a job?" Nick asked abruptly. I must have looked surprised by the question. Before I could answer he added, "It pays well and it's an interesting position."

"I'm afraid my plate is already a little full. And, I wasn't looking to change my current status. I'm comfortable with it, for now at least," I said.

His eyes twinkled and a smile curled the corners of his mouth. "A woman should never become too comfortable in any one position. It tends to get boring after a while. And a bored woman is an unhappy one," he said.

"You may be right, Nick. For now, I'm content though. I do appreciate your offer," I assured him.

"My offer stands. If you find that your circumstances change, you can contact me here. I'm sure I could always find a number of positions to offer you. In the meantime, I hope Sonny will bring you around again to visit," he said. He paused and then asked as an afterthought, "Do you mind if I ask you a very personal question?"

"Why should I mind? I feel like we know each other so well already," I said.

My comment didn't make him laugh, but he did give me a look that said he understood the meaning of it. "How old are you, Cindy?"

"I'm within the legal limits, Nick, and well under the moral ones. Which of those concerned you?" I asked.

He threw back his head and laughed. He turned and looked at his associate, who smiled slightly and looked away. "Neither! I was just curious," he said. "Now, you really have me curious."

"I wouldn't want you to die of curiosity, so I'll tell you. I'm twenty-one," I said.

He looked satisfied with my answer. "I appreciate your honesty, as well as your sense of humor," he remarked.

"Thank you, Nick. I do like to be appreciated," I said sipping at my wine.

"I don't believe I've ever been where you work. Is the food good?" he asked.

"It's acceptable, for what it is," I said.

"You know good food then?" he asked. Every question was intended to draw out bits and pieces of information from me. I kept my answers vague.

"I've eaten at a couple of good restaurants," I said coolly.

"Here?" he asked.

"Many places," I replied.

"Do you like to travel?" he asked.

"It depends on the circumstances. And of course the destination," I answered.

"You work. You like to travel. I take it you aren't a woman who likes to stay at home often," he said.

"It depends," I said.

"On what?" he asked in confusion.

"On whose home it is," I said. "I prefer to avoid my own entirely."

He looked at a loss for a moment. "You are a very fascinating woman, Cindy. You have a tendency to speak so little and yet say so much. That is a rare find."

Before I could respond, Sonny reentered the conversation. "Nick, we just wanted to stop in and say hello. You should give me a call sometime," Sonny said.

"Oh, are you leaving already?" Nick asked, looking disappointed.

Sonny nodded. "Yeah. I better get the lady home soon. It's getting late."

Nick smiled knowingly at me. "That is a shame. I was only just beginning to enjoy our conversation. You'll have to bring her back again soon, Sonny."

"I will. Maybe I'll talk Jon into coming with us next time," he said.

Nick threw back his head and laughed. "You do that, Sonny. You and Jon bring Cindy and come stay for the evening. I think it would be most interesting to have the three of you be my guests," he said giving me a grin.

Sonny glanced from Nick to me looking a little uneasy. Nick held out his hand to me again and as I took it, he said, "It was a pleasure talking with you, Cindy. I'm sure we will see each other again very soon."

"Thank you, Nick. I'll look forward to it," I replied. I looked around for somewhere to set my half empty glass. His associate snapped his fingers and a waitress appeared to take it from me.

"Enjoy what's left of your evening at home." Nick winked at me and leaned close to whisper, "Whoever's home it may be."

When we exited the building, Sonny asked casually, "What were you and Nick talking about?"

"Work. Food. Travel. Why?" I asked with a shrug of indifference.

"I just wondered. He was acting a little strange. Of course, I haven't seen him in awhile, like I told you," he said.

"Well, maybe he was just surprised to see you. Maybe he felt odd about trying to have a conversation with me. Sometimes, people have a hard time making conversation with strangers," I said.

"I don't know," he said shaking his head. "He seemed kind of out there when I said I might bring Jon next time. I wonder if Jon has talked to him recently." Sonny seemed to be pondering the possibility.

Sonny dropped me back at my car and I didn't bother to wake Jon. He needed to rest so he could go to work. I went home and by the following morning, I had forgotten all about Nick. **********

I was opening the bar when a floral courier walked in. "Can I help you?" I asked looking up from my work.

"I have a delivery for Cindy. No last name. Just Cindy," he said frowning at the card.

"I'm Cindy," I said with some surprise. I thought perhaps they might be from Ed.

"Then these must be yours," he said closing the distance between us and handing me a bouquet. I thanked him and made an effort to retrieve a tip for him, but he declined it, waving me off. "It's been taken care of."

The flowers were made up of twenty-one pink long stemmed roses mixed in among baby's breath, and a generous number of miniature pink roses. A large pink bow tied around the vase had a card attached that read simply, 'Nick'.