The Girl in the Yellow Dress (ON HOLD!)

Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A Simple Request

"Look, that's all I'm asking for. Please!" I beg Mr. and Mrs. McHartey. My parents are sitting in their living room next to the fireplace and I'm pacing the floor. 

Mrs. Danielson gives me a hard glare. "No, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not! It's better than making her marry me before we even know each other!" I sigh. "Look, I'm not asking for a lot. Just give me a chance to date her. I wouldn't ask if I didn't mean it, honest."

Mr. McHartey shoots a glance at his wife and motions to someone out of sight. I look around the room for some bodyguard to throw me out or something and instead find Kim. She steps out of the shadows with a smug grin on her face and stands beside me.

"Hey, handsome," she greets me. "Fancy meeting you here."

"What are you doing here, Kim?"

"Kimberly," Mom explains tightly, "is here to help us reach a decision. She is around you more often then we are, therefore it is prudent for her to make the final decision. Do you know what decision you have to make, Kimberly?"

Kim nods. "You want Connor to marry Allie to merge the law firms. Connor doesn't want to make a decision yet, he wants to date her instead. You think he's lying to buy time. It's up to me to decide whether or not he actually likes her." She sighs and paces circles around me. "As for my decision, that's a little less clear. He most definitely likes her; after all, she's the only girl he hasn't dated yet in out school; but he could possibly be buying time as well. There's really no way to tell."

"Did you have them dance together like we asked?" Mr. McHartey asks Kim.

I shoot Kim a glare. I knew it wasn't just for fun. Kim always has a hidden agenda. God, how could I be so stupid?! But Kim just nods and smiles sideways at me. "Uh-huh. They really looked happy."

Dad sighs. "I say we just let him date her. What's the harm it could do?"

Mrs. McHartey shakes her head. "No way! This merge needs to happen now!"

They bicker back and forth for a while and Kim sits on the ground at my feet, watching the fighting with an amused expression on her face. After a few minutes of yelling, I just can't take it anymore. "Hey!" I yell, after whistling loudly into the air. They all freeze in place and turn to glare at me. "Thanks," I say after an awkward silence. "Look. Why not take your time to make the decision? We have two months until school starts. You don't have to decide anything now."

No one says anything. I gulp, and glance down at Kim, who's smirking at me. The silence makes me want to fidget, but I stand my ground. I look at Mom and she averts her eyes. I think I've lost all hope when she stands up. "Connor. Why don't you wait in the car? Kim, you can leave as well. We'll be there in a few minutes."

Kim stands and walks to the front door. I don't move, and Mom shoots me one of her pursed-lips glares. Kim clears her throat where she's standing with the door open, and I have no choice but to follow. We walk outside and I distinctly hear more shouting before the door closes. "Nice move, Ace. Now they're going to question your sanity."

I roll my eyes and hop into the backseat of our car. Kim walks to her blue Bug and starts it. Then she walks slowly back over to my open door and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Look. I know this can't be easy, but I'm just trying to help, okay?"

"Help? How are you helping?"

She glares at me and tightens her grip. "Hello? Who do you think is speaking on behalf of Allison? I only want to protect her. And if you really do want what's best for her, then I would trust me."

I don't answer, but I know she's right. Kim is, sadly, my only hope. But right now it doesn't seem like she can do anything so help with my... request.

"Fine. Anything you hear, you tell me, okay?"

She nods, and heads back to her car. As she opens her door, she turns back to me. "You might want to ditch the slut, okay? Allison hates her." She climbs in, but stops herself halfway. "Actually, it might make her a little jealous. Your call." She gets in all the way and drives away. I lean back in  my seat and close my eyes, wishing I could just block out the world.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, I was in a moving car with the air blasting against my face and the radio playing softly.

I sit up with a groan and look around. My mom turns around from the drivers seat and smiles at me. "Morning, sleepy head."

I grumble a greeting back and slowly sit up in my seat, rubbing my neck. "What happened?"

"You passed out," Dad explains quickly.

"No, I mean with the deal. What did you guys decide?" Mom and Dad share a look but don't say anything. I wait for a moment, then lean forward in annoyance. "Well?"

Mom sighs. "What you've asked isn't exactly simple, dear."

"How could it be any simpler?" All I wanted was to date Allison. I just needed time to make a decision. How could they expect me to choose Allison's fate before I'd even met her? True, Allison had always been... special. Part of me wondered if that's why I was asking this. Because this was just an excuse to get her to finally go out with me. It's not like I hadn't dated many girls before (I had, believe me). It's just that Allison had always been special. And now was the perfect chance to see if-

"Well, I think it's safe to say you'll be the perfect lawyer," Dad says abruptly, bringing me back to Earth. I wrinkle my forehead in confusion and he chuckles. "Well, what do you propose we do, son? You ask out Allison yourself? From what Kim tells us, you haven't got a chance." I cringe. "Or would you prefer Allison's parents force her to date you? It's not like that wouldn't arouse some suspicion. You've backed us into a corner, here."

I sit back in my seat and sigh, looking out the window at the blurry trees. "Look," I say at last. "Just give me a few weeks, a month at the most. Just give me a chance to get to know her. Then you can tell her whether I'm marrying her or whether she's becoming a lawyer. Okay?"

Dad turns in his seat to look at me. "You're actually considering this?"

I nod. "I kinda have to, right?"

He faces forward again, and I close my eyes. Now all I had to do was worry about winning over Allison. 

But what about the girl in the yellow dress? I asked myself. Looking back out the window at our approaching house, I rubbed my temples. Well, I guess I have two things to worry about.

Finding the girl of my dreams, and winning over my future wife.

*****

Okay, guys, what did you think?! I hope you guys like getting into Connor's head, it's pretty fun for me. :) So, FYI, my second channel is up, it's called xXSnazzyReaderXx and I'm not quite sure what it's going to be for yet. We'll see:) It could be more stories, it could be a blog, it could be anything!!! So, today's comment question is: Who do you think the Girl in the Yellow Dress is??? Leave a response in the comments below and I might choose you to dedicate the next chapter to!

WRITE ON!

<3 SnazzyReader