Chapter 12
Tate knew he had to get Jane’s emotions under control soon or there would be no going to his parents’ house. He needed Jane’s true motives exposed and the sooner the better. He decides that Jane would probably be easier to handle without an audience so he motions for his roommates to leave.
Tate pushes Jane toward the bathroom reassuring her that a shower would help her feel better.
Jane is working to get herself under control and is relieved to be able to retreat to the privacy of the bathroom and away from Tate. Not knowing whether he was going to be overly friendly or outright distrustful was driving her crazy. He switched moods quicker than a hormonal teenager.
She turns on the shower. Then she opens the garment bag. She is shocked when she sees the gorgeous dress that Tate has chosen for her as well as the matching shoes. This dress is way too fancy for a meal with just his parents in their home.
Jane jumps in the shower and immediately feels herself relaxing under the hot spray. Once out of the shower, she searches through the garment bag and finds that Tate has also included some make-up and matching jewelry in the side pockets.
Jane is enjoying feeling feminine again wearing a dress. She combs her hair and applies the make-up with ease. She is thankful that she is able to style her hair to cover the cut on her forehead and the make-up conceals the discoloration on her face.
With the final touch of the jewelry, she looks stunning. She hardly recognizes herself. She slips into her new high heel shoes and with one last look in the mirror, she turns and leaves the bathroom feeling way overdressed, but looking so beautiful that she doesn’t care.
It isn’t long before Tate and Jane arrive at his parents’ house across town. Jane is instantly overwhelmed at their house when she realizes that it isn’t a private meal with his mother and father, but a large dinner party including his siblings and their spouses.
To make matters worse, she discovers that they have arrived late which embarrasses her.
Everyone is kind and seems genuinely happy to meet her. Jane gets the impression that Tate doesn’t bring home female dates very often. So why did he decide to bring her? They aren’t dating. Only Tate could become more of a mystery the more she learns about him.
Jane sticks to Tate’s side allowing him to do most of the talking. The size of his family home and the quality of the items within it shouts loudly and clearly about the healthy state of his parents’ bank account. She feels totally out of her league. Her fears increase as everyone is directed toward the very formal grand dining room. Each seat has way more silverware than she knows what to do with.
As everyone sits to begin the first course, she struggles to remember if her glass is on the right or the left. She bumbles through the first few courses without drawing too much unwanted attention. She feels silly eating a bite or two of each food before moving on to the next food that is placed before her. Who could possibly have the time to do all these dishes?
Toward the end of the meal, she needs a break from all the heavy scrutinizing she has been doing to ensure that she doesn’t embarrass herself. She no longer cares which fork to use next and excuses herself to go to the bathroom. Tate follows soon after.
She hides in the bathroom a long time, not really desiring to re-enter the dinner party. She opens the bathroom door trying to ready herself for the inevitable. She is surprised to see Tate standing outside the door waiting for her.
“So, are you done stuffing your pockets with all the valuables you can carry?” Tate asked, obviously back to his old accusatory self.
“Tate, you know I don’t have any pockets and I have no interest in your family’s treasures. Can’t we just go? I am totally out of place here. You family has been very kind, but I don’t fit in here and it is making me very uncomfortable.”
“So, you aren’t enjoying all this lavish pampering? You want to leave and no longer rub shoulders with the wealthy, while feasting on extravagant delicacies, and appreciating the opulent ambience? Are you sick?”
“I wish I could claim a headache and have an easy excuse to leave early, but I feel fine.”
“You really want to leave, don’t you? Wow, I thought you would totally enjoy this.” Tate remarks acting dumbfounded. “We’ll finish dessert with my family and then I’ll make our excuses and we’ll leave.”
“Thank you Tate,” she says letting out a deep breathe that she was holding. “I’m sorry that I’m not more outgoing.” She says as she grabs his arm and walks with him into the dining room.
Returning to the table together wasn’t a smart thing to do. It seems that everyone present noticed that the two of them had been absent and returned together. As a result of the teasing, Jane could feel her face going red with embarrassment. They hadn’t done anything that his family was suggesting, but it affected her just the same. Finding that they had waited for the next course for when she returned made her feel bad that she had been gone so long.
She was more than ready to leave when Tate finally stood and pushed in his chair announcing that they needed to be going. His family made a big deal over them, saying their goodbyes and begging them to come visit again soon.
Jane was so relieved when they finally made it to the car. She wanted to put this meal as far behind her as possible and forget it ever happened. What a disaster!
When Tate slid into the driver side seat of his car he noticed that Jane looks shell shocked. So her shyness was not an act to get sympathy from his roommates. This night did not go as he had expected.
Simon finds himself getting angrier and angrier at Jane, the longer he looks for her. She is definitely going to pay when he finds her again. He is getting tired because the hour is getting late, but searches a few more streets.
He has to blink twice to ensure that his eyes aren’t playing tricks on him when he sees Jane farther up the block he has just turned onto. She is dressed in a fancy dress but he would recognize her wearing anything. She is entering an apartment building.
Immediately a plan begins to form in Simon’s mind. He pays special attention to the address of the building and returns home to prepare. The next time Jane walks out of that building, she will be going home with him…
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Memory Lost
Mystery / ThrillerSimon didn’t realize that he hadn’t hit the curb until he climbed out of his vehicle and discovered the young woman sprawled in front of his car. The woman was lying on the ground with blood seeping from a gash in her forehead, not responsive but de...
