by R. G. Winter
Harriett beamed. “Lovely. You’ll love the others. And I know they’ll be excited to meet your boyfriend. You don’t bring enough good looking men around here.”
Jane pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. “Grandma…”
Harriett and Franklin seemed to find this funny as they burst into laughter. Once they’d finished their snacks, Franklin offered to clean up the kitchen for them while she and her grandma caught up. The woman was always eager to hear about her life. Just as she was helping her grandma into her jacket, Franklin walked into the room.
“Thank you so much honey,” Harriett said as Jane pulled open the door, “it’s nice to have a man around here again.”
They walked down to the lake together. The lawn was dotted with people here and there, but mostly, it was quiet. Jane glanced across the surface of the water. Being there brought back so many memories.
“Jane, do you remember when we went to the lake together? You were just a girl. Skinny little thing too, big head with such a mean little attitude,” she whispered to Franklin.
“Grandma!”
Chuckling, she kept going. “That was the summer your sister almost drowned. Do you remember that?”
Jane nodded thoughtfully. “I was just thinking about that actually.”
“Our little Jane. She wasn’t that great of a swimmer herself, but she dove right in. It was enough to keep them both afloat until someone could pull them out. You always were brave.”
“Most people would argue that was foolish.”
“It’s not foolish when you’re trying to do right by someone else, remember that. Now, let’s walk around one more time, before those old hens get to complaining that I’m slow.”
The two ended up staying until the evening. When the sun began to dip low in the sky, they finally had to call it a day. Work would be on them tomorrow. Jane kissed her grandma’s cheek before her grandma kissed Franklin’s lightly.
“You take care of my Jane. They don’t make girls like her anymore.”
“No, they don’t,” Franklin glanced at Jane making her blush.
On the drive back home, Jane kicked off her shoes. She stretched her legs out, sighing. It always made her sad having to leave her grandma alone once again, but she was glad at least that she’d had Franklin there. She thought back to what her grandma told her in private. Harriett had leaned in close and told her to get a ring before he got away. The thought of it made Jane grin. Even with the forgetting spells, her grandma was still the same woman. Strong and outspoken. Jane adored her for it.
Franklin’s voice cut into her thoughts. “It was nice meeting your grandma and her friends.”
“I still can’t believe you let her take you for two hundred bucks,” she laughed.
“If she wasn’t your grandma, I’d say she was cheating.”
“Of course she was! I saw her slip the extra cards up her sleeve before we went to the lake. No one beats grandma, unless they’re cheating too.”
Franklin shook his head. “You two definitely remind me of each other.”
When they were close to her apartment again, Jane groaned. “I just remembered that the car is sitting in the parking structure at work.”
“Your dad never called you back?”
“It’s highly unlikely that he’d call his mother back on a Sunday. Today is church day, not recreation day, he always used to tell us. I’ll try him again tomorrow.”
“You know, I could take you to work tomorrow.”
Jane bit her bottom lip in thought. “I don’t know how comfortable I feel letting people know about us right away.”
She watched Franklin’s eyes roll. “Not like that, idiot. I meant, I could drop you off down the block or something. And if I’m doing that, maybe I could stay one more night. I did pack some work clothes earlier, just in case.”
“I’m sorry, I would say yes, but you called me an idiot.”
Franklin grinned. “Anyway to make it up to you?”
“I can think of a few,” she said as she ran her fingers up his arm.
***
Jane’s relationship with Franklin was never dull. At work, they maintained that they were enemies. Some of it was partially true. Jane still didn’t like the way he chose to do business and he thought she was still too soft. The result was that by the time the weekend came around, they didn’t bother with friendly introductions. They ripped each other’s clothes off on the way to the bedroom to work out their frustrations. By the time they were done, all was forgiven and they had the rest of the weekend to enjoy each other’s company.
It went on like that for months. Meetings and figures during the week, their time on the weekend. Jane still tried to squeeze in class with Rebecca, lunch dates and the occasional girls night, but most of her time was with Franklin. He was much the same, always telling her that the guys were complaining because he’d been spending less time with them. It was added stress, but neither of them seemed to mind.
The days had turned from sunny and hot, to cool and colorful. Jane enjoyed watched the multi-colored leaves fall from their branches. She crunched through them with her new boots, a present after her recent bonus at work. A thick, white scarf was tied around her neck, dark blue jeans and a maroon sweater completed the look. It was just the perfect time of year. Not freezing enough just yet to demand a coat, but chilly enough to slip into a comfortable sweater.
As she walked, her hand was slipped inside of Franklin’s. He almost matched her in a maroon sweater and dark blue jeans. He was sporting stubble on his chin. Jane thought it was sexy, but Franklin refused to wear it when they returned to work.
“I don’t think they want a scruffy looking guy working for the company. Besides, I have to retain my position as office heartthrob,” he laughed.
Jane shook her head. He’d won that title a few weeks back when three women in a row, all from different floors, had asked him out. Everyone was intrigued with why he wasn’t seeing anyone. She had sat in her cubicle both amused and seething when she heard the chatter. She knew that he was hers, but she wanted the rest of them to know too. Especially because she was getting to the point that if she heard him and one more woman flirting, she was going to snap. She pushed that thought out of her mind. There was no way she’d ever tell Franklin that. Besides, he’d already expressed how tired he was of keeping them secret.
“I just don’t understand why we can’t say anything? We’ve been together for a long enough time that I don’t think it’s some kind of fluke,” he said as they settled in on a bench, cups of steaming coffee in their hands.
“It’s only been five months and I don’t want people in our business. If we let on that we’re together, we have to sign all these stupid papers, people will look at me differently. I don’t want my personal life interfering with my business life, that’s all.”
“It seems like you’re embarrassed to let people know about me.”
Jane looked at him in surprise. “That’s not it at all! I could never be embarrassed by you. Okay, there was that one time at Hooper’s Bar where I got dangerously close, but that’s it. I care about you, look at me. I care about you , that’s what matters, right?”
Franklin seemed to pout for a minute longer, before he broke into a grin. “If you care about me so much, come to Thanksgiving with my family.”
“What? Seriously? That’s like this weekend.”
“I know. I was waiting to ask you, then I thought the longer I waited, the less you were likely to say no because you wouldn’t over think it.”
“What have I said about staying out of my head Mckinnon?”
He grinned. “Never gonna happen.”
They sat in silence for a while, sipping their hot coffees slowly so they wouldn’t burn their mouths. Jane was thinking about dinner with Franklin’s parents, even the thought of it was terrifying. She bit her lip, her leg bouncing up and down in front of her.
“Is that a yes or no?” Franklin asked shooting a glance at her leg.<
br />
“What do they usually wear at your house for Thanksgiving?”
“It’s a dress nice kind of day. Really nice.”
Jane groaned. “I don’t own nice. I own, sensible.”
“I’ll take you shopping.”
Jane glanced over at him. “Right now?”
He chuckled. “Yes, right now.”
They tossed their coffee cups into the trash can near the bench before they walked back to his car. Franklin immediately threw the heat on, making Jane crack her window. It never ceased to amaze her how different they could be, but it still worked. They drove downtown, to a row of smaller boutiques that sold specialized clothing, shoes and jewelry. When Franklin took her into the first store, she gasped.
Everything inside of the place was decorated with soft cream and burgundy colors. The lights emitted a warm glow. There were several rows of clothes, a two stall changing area and two red clothed chairs sitting across from them. As they walked further into the store, a woman with thick blonde hair, a curvy figure and big blue eyes emerged from a back room.
“Is that Franklin Mckinnon? I haven’t seen you around here in ages!”
The woman gave him a hug before she seemed to realize that Jane was even there. She turned to her slowly. Jane felt like the woman was appraising her with those big blue eyes and whatever she saw wasn’t that impressive. At that moment she took an immediate dislike to her.
“Who’s this?”
“This is my girlfriend, Jane. This is Eileen, an old friend of my families.”
Jane was polite enough to wave, but it stopped there. Franklin raised an eyebrow at her, she could feel his eyes burning into the side of her head, but she wouldn’t turn around. She watched him run his fingers over the back of his head with a sigh.
“We’re looking for a dress. You know, something for Thanksgiving around my house.”
“Oh, meeting the parents? You guys must have been together for a while,” the woman said as she walked away, swaying her hips in a black pencil skirt that accentuated her curves even more. “Frankie usually doesn’t take take home dates until they’re past three months.”
Frankie? Jane resisted the urge to grab the woman by her pretty blond hair and pull. Franklin must have seen something on her face because his hand was wrapped around hers in a moment. The action at least made her calm down, for the moment.
“We’ve been together almost six months now, actually,” Jane replied back curtly.
“That’s so adorable,” the woman said without a hint of truth in her voice, “what size are you? An eight?”
“A six, thank you.”
“You’re in luck. I think we just started carrying bigger sizes. I’ll be right back.”
Jane was seething. She could swear there was steam pouring out of her ears. As she stared after Eileen, she didn’t realize her hand was tightening around Franklin’s like a vice. He let out a little yelp before pulling his hand away.
“What’s wrong with you? Are you trying to break my hand or something?”
“Me? Who is that?” Jane whispered as she glared at him.
“She’s a friend,” he whispered back, “just a friend. What’s wrong with you right now?”
“I’m going to kill you when we leave,” she said between grit teeth.
“Here we go. I think this would look nice, don’t you think?” Eileen had brought out a swamp colored dress that looked like it was made from one wide, ugly piece of cloth. Jane crossed her arms. As the thoughts she’d been holding back started to spill out of her mouth, Franklin pulled her back.
“We’ll find something ourselves. Thanks.”
Franklin pulled Jane away before she could say anything else. While they shopped, Eileen seemed to always be nearby. It was enough to drive Jane crazy, but it was the only shop still open as the sun began to set. Instead of letting Eileen bother her, Jane tried her best to ignore the woman all together. She focused her attention on Franklin and the fact that she would be meeting his family in a few days.
Jane slipped into dress after dress. Nothing seemed good enough. Franklin was less than helpful as he only seemed interested in which dress he’d be taking her out of that night. When she really started to get frustrated, he held her hands, kissed her forehead and looked through the clothes until he found something for her.
“What about this?” The dress was perfect, a wine colored garment that stopped at the knees. The back slipped down low showing off her impressive back, while the front afforded only a teasing peek at her cleavage. Her mouth stayed open as her fingers ran over it. Soft to the touch, it was as if the dress was made just for her. She could tell that it would compliment her skin and hair as well. The little black tag caught her eye. When she brought it forward, she almost forgot how to form words.
“This is Chanel.” She said, her mouth feeling dry and tacky
“I think mother always said a woman needs a Chanel dress to complete her wardrobe.”
“McKinnon, this dress is Chanel.” She tried again, hoping this time he’d understand. Not that Jane was giving him any clues as to what her issue was.
“Would you prefer a Balenciaga? Or maybe something by Marc Jacobs? Personally, I think the dress is lovely,” he stretched out a hand, meaning to pluck the item from Jane’s pale fingers. She was too fast for him though, moving away a couple of inches: Not wanting to part with the luxurious silk.
“It’s beautiful,” Jane said carefully, “But, Franklin, have you seen how much this dress costs?” Suddenly she wanted to hate him. He shrugged at the price like it was no big deal. As if spending one of her entire paychecks on a dress was akin to dropping a few bucks at a movie theatre. “Let me pay for some of it? You’re flying us out to your parents, I can chip in?”
“Absolutely not.” Came Franklin’s terse reply. “It’s a gift, Jane. One I want to give to you. Now, I’m always very good with my money. Splurging a little bit on a beautiful woman won’t hurt me.” He smiled, the same one that always foretold mischief, “Imagine the look on Eileen’s face when I buy it for you.”
Convinced, Jane trudged into the dressing room, still holding the dress protectively up to her chest. She got undressed in a flourish, taking a moment to look every which way in the mirror. There were a few bumps on the backs of her thighs, a her shoulders looked larger than normal, and her stomach poked out way more than it usually did. All the happy weight from going on dates with Franklin was not agreeing with her.
She slipped into the dress, jumping up with glee when it zipped with only a little bit of extra tugging. In the mirror, her reflection stared back. The gown was marvelous, hugging her in all the right places, it’s cut giving her the most amazing waistline that she’d ever possessed. It was pretty enough to make Jane forget about the amount of zeros on the price tag.
“How does it look?”
“Can I wear it out of the store?”
“Do you really think you should?”
Jane pouted. No, she didn’t, but she also didn’t think that she’d be able to take it off when the time came. It was as if it was a part of her skin. She pushed the door open slowly, before stepping out into the store. Franklin simply stared. When he didn’t say anything for quite a while, she felt the nervousness starting to seep in. She cleared her throat. ”
“Wow, you look really beautiful.” He remarked. “You should take it off before it gets ruined.”
Jane felt the blush sweep up to color her cheeks. She turned around to face the full length mirror. As she examined her reflection, she smiled. Her hands twisted her hair up, the loose, dark brown waves suddenly elegant and smooth. Her fingers touched her mouth softly as she imagined what she’d wear with it. A pair of wine colored heels, deep makeup that made her look sultry, gold jewelry. As she marvelled, Franklin came up behind her before he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“You really think it looks good?” Jane asked as her eyes caught his in the reflection of the mirror.
“I think you look amaz
ing,” he mumbled against her neck, his lips leaving a trail of kisses down her skin.
A loud sound broke the spell that had drifted down around them. Eileen stood at the counter, arms folded across her chest. The scowl that was on her lips was the icing on the ‘screw-you’ cake. Jane covered her lips lightly as she giggled. When she returned with the dress, Eileen almost snatched it out of her hands at the cash register.
“‘I’m afraid we don’t do layaway, hon,” she said with a sickening sweet smile on her face.
“I’m paying for it,” Franklin said as he handed her a credit card.
No, Jane decided, that was the best moment of the night. The blonde’s face looked ashen as she rang them up, swiped his card and waited for his signature. All the while, Jane stood nearby grinning from ear to ear. When they were done, Franklin handled the white box that it was bundled inside of, his other hand wrapping around hers.
“Thanks for everything, hon,” Jane said with a wave of her fingers as they stepped out of the door.
As soon as they reached the cool autumn air outside, Jane couldn’t stop herself from bursting into a fit of giggles. The look of pure anger on Eileen’s face had been gold. She couldn’t figure out why the woman hated her so quickly, but she decided that it didn’t matter. Franklin was hers. She wrapped her arms around his as they walked back to his car.
“Thank you for the dress,” she said as he slipped the package onto the back seat.
“Don’t thank me yet. We have to get you some shoes and jewelry to match.”
“There you go with the mind reading again,” she said with a smirk.
“It’s an art,” he mumbled against her lips as he pulled her into a kiss that made her lose her breath. “Should we get dinner or say screw it and go back to your place?”
“Who needs food?”
When morning rolled around, Jane groaned as Franklin tried to roll her sore body out of the bed. She swatted at him, her eyes still closed. The mattress moved as he quickly pulled away. She could hear the sound of his feet moving along the floor. One of her eyes opened slightly.
“What woman doesn’t want to go shopping?” Franklin asked, the exasperation in his voice tempered with amusement.
