Chapter 12
Allie bit her lip. "Look I'm not falling for him, although I hear voices and see stars whenever we kiss. But that just means he's a good kisser. If nothing else, there's Alaric. So it's over. Really."
"Uh huh," Kate said clearly not convinced.
Neither was Allie, so on Wednesday afternoon while she was at the library, she very sensibly decided not to stay at home that night and called Kate over instead. "I want to go shopping?"
"Shopping?" Kate said raising an eyebrow.
"For a change."
"I've been waiting for you to tell me that." Kate said. "I know where we'll go. We're going to transform you!"
"Just a little," Allie said hastily. "I---"
"I'll be making appointments with the hairdresser and the manicurist. Be ready by five," Kate said. "This is going to be so much fun."
"Well," Allie said but Kate had already dashed off to the nearest pay phone. "Maybe soften it a bit."
She went back to stamping the returned books and decided not to worry about the transformation until she was actually in Kate's clutches. As she was putting on her jacket, her phone rang.
"Hi dear. Are you taking me to the driving range tomorrow?"
"Well, I wasn't. It's Kate's turn---"
"Because one of the lovely newcomers has a grandson who's name sounds very familiar. He coaches little kids in the driving range," Rosario said, showing an ability to focus that hasn't diminished with old age.
"Well, that's nice grandma." Allie said distractedly trying to unhook her purse from the chair without losing hold off the phone.
"Ike Hollis." Rosario said. "It's ten o'clock. In the morning. And we could grab some Starbucks on the way."
"Well," Allie said, taken aback that her grandmother was trying to fix her up."Why not? It's my day off."
"Bye, Honey."
"Bye, Grandma." She finished putting on her jacket and thought about surprising Ike the next day. It would be good to catch him off guard for a change.
She picked up her purse and went down to meet Kate, suddenly interested in being transformed.
The next morning, Ike was watching a particularly hopeless putter, Harry, try to nudge the ball into the hole when two cool hands covered his eyes from behind. He smelled chocolate and vanilla and felt a rush of pleasure. "This is a surprise, Allie," he said, and then he saw Debbie pulling her hands back. "Deb?"
"Hi," Debbie said.
"Sorry," Ike said. "you wear the exact same perfume as a friend of mine. Except I don't think she wears perfume." Nor does she come to the driving range, Ike thought kicking himself for making such a stupid mistake.
"Perfume," Debbie looked perplexed.
"So," Ike said, taking a step back. "How've you been?" A golf ball rolled past his feet and bent to pick it up. "You should get behind the yellow line. These kids have no control."
"Fine," Debbie said, swallowing. "Just came over to say, hi."
"Hi," Ike said. Something in the bleachers caught his eye and he looked past her and saw Allie, sitting at one of the tables, her hair cut short in loose curls that glinted in the morning sun. She was wearing a flowy white dress, and her face lit up when she talked to the elderly woman beside her so that she looked positively angelic, and he lost his breath for a moment.
"She cut her hair," he said out loud.
"What?" Debbie said, and followed his eyes. She recognized the girl from the bar.
Ike nodded to the line, recovering. "Stay behind the yellow line, will you?"
"Right," Debbie said in a very brittle tone as she made her way to the other side of the yellow line.
When Allie walked to the driving range after parking the car, the other senior citizens were warming up, and she saw her grandmother out on the putting green, her advanced age showing in the way she held her club, and felt a twinge for her. Then she saw her and smiled and she thought, Oh she's going to be fine.
She tried to watch the kids but it was hard because Ike was there and her eyes kept going to him. I don't like him, she told herself. But her heart melted, as he tried to teach the kids on how to grip a club.
A slender blonde walked up behind Ike and put her hands over his eyes, and Allie thought, Of course, and felt all the giddiness she felt a moment ago deflate.
Someone sat down beside her and said, "Hello." Allie turned and saw the same blonde who had her arms around Ike just a moment ago. Wearing, Allie now noticed, a red tube top that wasn't entirely appropriate for the driving range. "I'm Debbie."
"Right," Allie said. "I'm Allie."
"Isn't Ike just the sweetest? Just a minute ago, he said he loved the way I smelled." Debbie said, smiling.
"That's great," Allie said, looking back to find Ike, only to him staring at them with a very strange expression on his face.
"There's Ike," Debbie sighed, wiggling her fingers at him. "I told him he'd be great at coaching."
"This was your idea?" Allie asked.
"Yes. I suggested he do it since he comes here every wednesday anyway, to help his grandfather." Debbie explained.
"Oh," Allie said, and turned back to see a kid throw a swing with an impossible force for a seven-year-old and clip Ike on the side of the head. It knocked him off balance so that he fell on his knees and then to the ground.
"No," Allie called running over the yellow line. "Ike?" she asked as she went down to her knees beside him as he tried to sit up.
She tried to look if his pupils were dilated and fell into the same hot, dark chocolate depths again, growing breathless as Billy Joel belts out "She's Always A Woman" and the voice in her head said, This is the One.
"Turn that music down will you?" Tyler called at the girl on the counter.
"Ike, are you all right?" Debbie said, and Allie looked down at him to find him staring at her.
"Ike?" she said.
"You okay, down there, buddy?" Tyler said looking down at Ike.
"Ike, say something," Debbie said, panic in her voice.
Tyler crouched down next to Ike. "Say something or we're taking you to the ER now."
"Did you hear the music?" Ike asked, still staring into Allie's eyes then reaching up to touch her hair. "Springy."
"Okay. ER it is." Tyler said hauling Ike up to his feet and dragging him to his car. "You better not throw up. I just had my car cleaned."
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Chapter 12 is done! Thank you for all the support guys! 1,000+ reads and over 14 more votes to 100. So don't forget to vote! :)
I just read "The Happy Birthday Song" a short story by northbynorth. It was incredibly sweet.
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