The Dark Side of the Romantic Comedy Ch. 01

After a few minutes, though, John began to fidget. He opened his mouth a couple of times and cleared his throat and looked over to Jason pointedly, displaying all the typical indications that he wanted to speak, but without actually saying anything. Finally, a mile or two before they reached the hotel, John officially broke the silence.

"Big day Saturday, son. Big day. You ready?"

Jason glanced over to his father briefly and then turned his eyes back to the road. "I'm ready Dad. Really ready. In fact I can't wait to be married. To be a husband, a father."

"Well you're going to be great son. Great." John looked away from his son and his voice became softer and took on an awkward tone, a mumble really. "Certainly...certainly a hell of a lot better than I was."

Jason looked quickly back over to his father. "Now Dad..."

"No...no son, it's true." John said as he raised his hand to interrupt Jason. "We both know I was a shitty Dad. We both know it. Hell, your mother and I broke up when you were what? Three years old? And I barely saw you at all until...' John stopped for a moment, looking away briefly, taking in a couple of deep breaths.

"No, you had a tough break son, a tough break when you mom got in that accident and you got stuck with me. A real tough break."

In the darkness, Jason could make out his father bringing his right hand to his eyes to wipe something away and then he cleared his throat and swallowed hard a couple of times before beginning again.

"So...I'm happy for you son. Happy as hell that you've got this girl that you love. Happy that I can be here to see it."

Jason nodded his head as he pulled into the hotel parking lot and stopped the car before turning to look at his father. "Dad, I'm glad you're here for this too. Really glad. You're my family; I couldn't do this without you. "

John Bright turned to face his son and for the first time in his life Jason saw tears on his father's cheeks and heard his rough, gravelly voice crack as he spoke.

"Look son, I just want you to know how sorry I am that you got stuck with a reprobate like me when your mother died. Hell Jason, I could barely take care of myself, let alone an 11 year old boy." John stopped to wipe the tears away, but now they were streaming down his face and his voice had taken on a higher, uneven pitch as he finished his thought.

"I...I want you to know how...how much I loved having you around, even if it didn't seem that way at first. How much I loved watching you play in those games and go off to school. God, you were such a hard worker with all those part time jobs and still getting all those great grades. And the awards you got and that scholarship to college. And then...then you worked your ass off again and landed this top notch job. I just...I just want you to know that you deserve to get married to a great girl and that...that I'm so damn proud of you son. So damn proud."

And now Jason was crying too and the two men sat silently, each with a right hand on the other's left shoulder looking at each other without a trace of discomfort until John finally opened the door and made his way through the half lit parking lot to his motel room.

*****

Theresa Jones parents owned perhaps the largest home in Centerville, a huge Georgian set on several acres of land with half a dozen bedrooms, a recreation room, a library and a massive living room. That night the living room had been taken over by a dozen young women who were now reclining on the couch or sitting cross legged on the floor, giggling and telling stories, drinking wine and squealing in delight and embarrassment as the woman of the hour opened her presents.

Penny, being the bride-to-be and the woman of the hour was smiling as broadly and laughing as loudly as anyone there. Surrounded by a pile of gag gifts, and lingerie she was in her element and felt at ease and at home with her old friends.

But just then a drunken request for her to model some of the lingerie began to snowball into a demanding chant that was taken up by all the women. Penny, blushing furiously and shaking her head, did all she could to put them off, until she realized they wouldn't be denied.

With embarrassed hesitation, she picked up the gifts of lingerie and made her way down a hallway to the only bedroom on the main floor. She laid the outfits on the bed and spread them out, tapping her cheek thoughtfully as she tried to decide which would be the least humiliating to wear, finally deciding on a baby doll that came with a sheer wrap, the most demure of the possibilities.

She took her time putting it on and checked herself out from all angles in a floor to ceiling mirror before making her way back down the hallway to the anxious pack of boisterous women who greeted her return with the kind of catcalls, hoots and hollers typically heard in a strip club. Penny laughed nervously and, although embarrassed, did her best to play her part correctly, posing for the raucous women as suggestively as she could.

Most of the women responded with laughter and clapping, but Theresa, more than a little drunk, began shouting for more.

"Let's see another one, Penny. Show us another one!"

Not surprisingly, her request was taken up by the other women, but this time, Penny held firm and shook her head, trying her best to graciously turn down the women who gave off a disappointed groan when she eventually backed down the hallway to the bedroom.

Just after Penny entered the bedroom, a knock on the front door followed by a laugh and squeal by Theresa announced the arrival of three men, bearing conciliatory gifts of champagne and vodka in order to mollify the hostess for crashing the party. With minimal objection, Theresa led them into the room where the first two, Bill Jenkins, a short pudgy man with a cherubic face and horned rim glasses and Tom Anders, a taller, thinner version of Bill but with even less facial hair, made their way to the side of the room to hob nob with their girlfriends. The third man was Kenny Bailey who immediately asked Theresa where Penny was, quietly explaining that he'd brought her a present that he wanted to make sure she got before the wedding. When Theresa indicated that Penny was changing in the bedroom and would be out shortly, Kenny immediately started organizing the entire group into a choir that would serenade Penny with the school fight song when she returned.

But, back in the bedroom, Penny heard the extra commotion when the men arrived and assumed it was just the women playing another game or telling a particularly raunchy joke. Her return to the family room was being delayed by a nagging thought that she was being a bit of a stick- in- the- mud and she had begun debating with herself whether to give the girls what they wanted and model some of the racier lingerie.

Eventually, she decided to have fun and go through with it, so, after taking a fortifying drink of wine, changed out of the baby doll and into an ultra-sexy black corset with red trim and attached garters, matching panties and fishnet stockings. She looked over herself in front of the mirror, practiced a few poses, took another drink of wine and then, as confidently as possible, left the bedroom and began the march down the hallway to the waiting women.

She exploded into the room with a giggle, posing seductively, hands on her hips, shaking her pushed up breasts at the crowd in front of her that had, for some odd reason, been arranged in two parallel lines, back to back, like a choir. The other thing she noticed, to her initial disappointment, was the total lack of reaction by her audience, the women only standing with surprised or even shocked looks on their faces, saying nothing, some of them just opening and closing their mouths, several of them motioning in an almost frantic manner to something or someone at the edge of the room.

And that something was the three men. Bill and Tom stood open mouthed, Bill's drink slipping out of his hand to crash into the floor while Tom nervously cleared his brow of sweat. Kenny however, was grinning like a Cheshire cat and began nodding lustfully, before he started a slow, rhythmic clap of appreciation.

Penny screamed loudly, instinctively flung her right arm across her chest, brought her left hand to cover her sheer panties and then screamed again before turning and sprinting down the hallway, back to the bedroom.

She lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, frozen in embarrassment for good half hour before Theresa came in to gently encourage her to return to the party. By the time Penny made it back to the living room, only a few of the girls remained, seated around the coffee table, finishing off the dregs of the wine, talking quietly. Kenny was still there also, half reclining on the couch, wearing his usual mischievous grin. He waved her over and she reluctantly made her way through the obstacle course of furniture and gifts, groaning as she sat beside him, covering her eyes with her hands, her elbows resting on her knees.

"God, that was so...so humiliating. I just can't believe that happened. I'm never going to forget that as long as I live."

Kenny gave a reassuring laugh, patted her on the back and leaned over to whisper. "Look, if it's any consolation, I'm never going to forget it either. Honestly, I only wish I had my camera to record the moment for posterity. And for any nights I find myself alone and horny."

Penny uncovered her face and glanced over at Kenny, shooting him a brief look of unrestrained disgust, but his grin had turned into an outrageous leer and she found herself laughing and relaxing back against the couch.

"Well, I should have figured you'd have that kind of an attitude." She declared with mock outrage as she punched him playfully in the shoulder. "Seriously, someone should have clued me in that you guys crashed the party. I was mortified."

Kenny answered with a shrug and a laugh and a grand, open armed gesture to Penny and the other girls. "Surprise is my secret weapon. Without it, look at all the great stuff I'd miss."

The two exes and the remnants of the party told jokes and bawdy stories for a good hour before the conversation eventually turned quiet and contemplative. Finally, Penny yawned and stretched before announcing that she was getting sleepy and had better head home, Theresa rising unsteadily to get her keys in response. But Kenny laughed at Theresa's tipsy effort at standing and insisted on driving Penny home, an offer that Penny enthusiastically agreed with. Theresa smiled and nodded before flopping awkwardly back down on the couch, watching with approval as the two left together.

Conversation during the ride home was light and relaxed, full of observations about the dating habits and marriages of their old friends and reminiscences about days and events gone by.

Two blocks from Penny's home, Kenny pulled the car off the road, parking next to a tall hedge that shielded the car from the windows of the houses.

"What...what are we doing here?" Penny's voice dripped with suspicion.

"I...I have something for you." Kenny answered as he unbuckled his seatbelt and turned toward her, moving closer. Penny raised a hand to stop him, shaking her head adamantly.

"No Kenny. No. I'm getting married in 2 days and I'm not going to park here and neck with you for old times' sake. It's just not going to..." She stopped speaking abruptly when she noticed that Kenny was holding out a small, stained, wooden box with slightly rusted hinges, offering it as a gift.

"What...what's this?" She asked

"Open it." Kenny's voice was soft but insistent. "Please."

She reached to take it and gently opened the box, taking in a quick breath of surprise as she viewed the contents in the dim car light.

"Is this...wait...this can't be..." She murmured as she slowly, reverently pulled out an Opal pendant, hung from a fine gold chain, her face painted with surprise and pleasure. "How...how?"

"I went diving for it a lot, but I couldn't ever find it. So, I had the pond drained and searched through the muck until I found it."

"When..."

"Two years ago. During the summer."

Penny began awkwardly working at the clasp, her trembling fingers taking care not to damage the frail metal. Once open, she stretched the necklace out in front of her, admiring it affectionately in the dim light.

"Why, why did you wait until now?" Her voice had a faraway, breathy quality, the voice of a little girl seeing magic for the first time.

"I had this...this crazy idea that somehow we'd see each other and maybe...I don't know...maybe get back together again. So I was saving it. Saving it for that moment guess."

Kenny bit his lip and moved slightly closer to Penny before continuing.

"But...well, you got engaged and that sort of put an end to those plans. So I figured I might as well give it to you now before you got married."

Penny lifted the chain around her neck and struggled to fix the clasp. Kenny leaned in closer, his cheek almost touching hers and reached behind her shoulders.

"Here." He said, taking the clasp and putting it together before laying it across the back of her neck with a soft pat. "There you are." He said softly, his lips so close to her ear that she could feel his breath.

"Thank you." She was breathing heavily now, holding the pendant with her right hand like it was life itself.

"I love you." Kenny said simply before his lips brushed her neck, sending an electric thrill through her chest. "I've always loved you."

She was frozen, unable to react, to either embrace him or stop his advances as Kenny continued to plant kisses over her neck and her shoulder and then along the edge of her jaw until he came to her mouth, his lips hovering a fraction of an inch from hers, each taking in the other's breath.

"I love you." He said again and as Penny closed her eyes and let her mouth open slightly, he pressed his lips against hers. And now she responded, moving her mouth and tongue with his, slipping her arms around him, pressing her body closer to him. The kisses became deeper, more desperate as he pulled her closer, his hand slipping down her side, to her hip, to her thigh and then under her skirt until it touched her panties. He kissed her harder, his hand pausing on top of her panties, pressing into the soft, dampening flesh below until he felt her push back, ever so slightly with her hips and then, treating this as an invitation, began to slip his hand under the sheer material. When he touched her center and began to rub, Penny felt an electric shock of pleasure.

She pulled back instinctively, a hand on each of Kenny's shoulders, a look of horror, pain and regret on her face as she shook her head.

"I...I can't do this..."

Kenny pulled his hand from between her legs and rested it on her hip, his other hand holding her upper arm.

"It's ok Penny, it's ok..."

She shook her head violently and pulled away from him to plaster herself against the car door.

"No...no it's not. I'm...I'm getting married Kenny. I'm getting married in two days and I can't...I can't do this..."

She reached behind her back and managed to awkwardly open the door and essentially fell out of the car, landing on the ground with a thump. She quickly stood up, still shaking her head and started to run toward her home, disappearing in the darkness.

*****

12 hours later, Penny stood on a small stool in the middle of the living room, mute and motionless, like a living statue draped in a flowing, white on white wedding dress while her mother fussed about her, pulling on her sleeves, tucking on folds of fabric, making sure that it fit perfectly.

"You certainly aren't saying much this morning honey, are you ok?"

Penny gave a loud, uncertain sigh. "Yeah Mom, I'm fine."

Mrs. Miller gave her daughter a long, doubtful, appraising look. "You don't seem fine. Is everything ok with Jason?"

Penny glanced down with a look of sudden panic on her face. "Sure, he's fine. Why...why would he be upset? Did he say something to you? Did he seem mad to you this morning?"

"No...no sweetie. You just seem so...so quiet that I thought that maybe you'd had words or something. I thought that maybe...maybe he was upset that we...that your Dad and I insisted that he sleep somewhere else the night before the wedding. It's a lot to ask I guess...and maybe we shouldn't have, but we just think it's...it's just not right somehow. But if it's a big issue, if it's causing problems, he can sleep here tonight honey."

Penny breathed out a long sigh, and her body relaxed while she absentmindedly fingered the opal pendant she wore around the neck. "No, mom...he's...he's fine with it. He would have been ok sleeping separately the whole week if that's what you wanted. Jason...Jason is a good guy. Respectful."

Mrs. Miller fussed a little more, but kept giving her daughter measured glances.

"What is that? What have you got there honey?" She asked nodding her head toward her Penny's neck.

"What's what?" Penny asked guiltily, abruptly letting go of the pendant as though it had suddenly become unbearably hot.

"That...that chain and stone. What is it? I haven't seen it before and now you're wearing it like it's a prized possession. Did Jason give it to you?"

Penny pressed her lips together, delaying her reply for a moment.

"Kenny...Kenny gave this to me."

Mrs. Miller suddenly stopped fiddling with the dress and took a step back from Penny, bringing her hands to her hips in a gesture of disapproval.

"You're accepting gifts from old boyfriends now? A woman getting married tomorrow?" Her tone was stern, accusatory and Penny responded by mirroring her mother's gesture, hands on her hips, a determined, serious face.

"This is different mom. This..." she said touching the stone. "This is the pendant Kenny got me for my sixteenth birthday.

"

"What? The one you dropped overboard canoeing the day after you got it? That one? I thought that was lost forever."

Penny smiled and a faraway look reached her eyes as she rolled the pendant in her fingers.

"He...he found it for me. He had the pond drained and found it. He gave it to me...gave it back to me, last night, Mom. I think...I think it's a wonderful gesture. Don't you?"

Mrs. Miller snorted. "I think it's a gift from an old boyfriend who's still sweet on you, that's what I think. And I think you'd better be damn careful about that boy Penny. Damn careful. He's a charmer, that one. A real charmer. And you've got a good man you're marrying tomorrow. Don't be carrying any old flames into your marriage with you sweetie. That's bad stuff. Don't do it."

Penny scowled at her mother and retorted with a sharper, somewhat exasperated tone. "Why are you so hateful about Kenny mom? You were always down on him like he was never good enough for me. Everyone else around here loves him but you. Why is that?"

Mrs. Miller stepped toward her daughter and gently grasped her left hand with both of hers.

"Oh, sweetie. I like Kenny. I like him fine. And...and I would have been fine with you being with him if that's what you really wanted. All I want is your happiness, sweetie, that's all and if marrying Kenny was what you wanted that would have been fine. But...but I have to say that I always worried about him. Worried that he didn't have the kind of goals you had in life. He's a charmer, like I said. A boy who can create a big romantic scene for a night or for a moment. But he doesn't have the...the ambition to do the everyday work of making a comfortable life for his family."

Penny frowned. "Is that why you marry someone mom? If he can make you comfortable? Is that why you married Dad?"

Mrs. Miller smiled. "No sweetie, I married your father because I love him and he loves me. But one of the reasons I love him is because he takes care of me every day. Works hard for me and gives me the life I want. If Kenny had been what you wanted, him and the life he'd have provided, then that would have been fine, just fine. But I have to say that I'm glad you've got Jason. He's a good man that will take care of you. He'll make you happy for the long haul."