One Hundred Twenty Seven

“So what are ya gonna do?”

“Take her on a date, I guess.”

Richie was kicked back on his best friend’s couch in front of the big screen TV watching his Lakers take on the Phoenix Suns in a playoff game.  It had been three days since Allegra had brought up the subject, and she hadn’t mentioned it again, but it had been consistently flirting with the edges of Richie’s consciousness like a nagging blister.

He wanted to argue that what they had was more than anyone could ever hope for from a handful of dates.  They’d built something more concrete in their short time than fifty or a hundred dates would produce. 

Of course, he knew that from experience.  Countless boring, go-nowhere-but-the-bedroom trysts had done nothing but prove to Richie how superficial the whole process was.    Allegra had no such experience to draw upon.  She’d never gone through the ritual of primping for a man, hoping to see a light of desire in his eyes when she opened the door.  Or wondering if there would be a goodnight kiss, and if so, where it would lead. 

He was her first relationship – with a strong possibility of being her ONLY relationship.  That meant he had to get it right the first time.  If something as simple as a few dates would prevent regret from taking seed and blossoming into future resentment, it was a small price to pay.

“She’s coming to London with you, though.  Right?”

It was a fair question – one that he would answer if he were able.

“She’s considering it.”

Blonde brows winged upward in surprise and he muted the TV, asking, “What the hell is there to consider?  She doesn’t have job commitments and she’s never been to Europe.  Why wouldn’t she want to go?  Is she pissed at you?”

Maybe. 

While she hadn’t mentioned the dating any more, she’d withdrawn into herself a bit since that evening.  Not that she seemed angry or unhappy with him.   She still ignited at his touch and curled into his heat to sleep each night.  There was just something different. 

But he didn’t want to voice that to Jon.

“I don’t think so.  She says she wants to hang around Jersey so she can get started in a formal computer training program.” 

“You can’t fuckin’ hire somebody to come to Europe for that?  It would keep her busy while we’re doing our shit.”

Richie rolled his eyes, taking quick note of the score.  Lakers were leading 62-55 at the half.  They’re gonna make it to the finals again this year.

“You really think she’d go for that?” he asked, dragging his attention back to Jon with a snort.  “She hates me paying for anything.  I swear she’d starve if I weren’t the one who suggested food.”

“That’s just too damn bad for her then isn’t it?  You’ve laid claim to that baby so you’re responsible for both of their well-being.  She’s gonna hafta get used to it.”

“You’d think so, but it hasn’t happened so far.”

Jon’s eyes flicked to the television screen and saw that it was still halftime.  “Does she want to stay here in the guest house or is she reclaiming your condo?”

“Hell if I know.”

“You’ve got tonight and tomorrow night, dude.  Take her out and romance her.  Convince her she can’t live without seeing Europe.”

The truth was Richie had been thinking it might not be a bad idea for them to spend some time apart.  If she was glued to his side all the time, she had no choice but to consider him in everything she was doing.  Being separated for a while would let him know if their relationship talks had made a lasting impression.

But he was curious…

Richie looked at Jon suspiciously.  “Why’s it matter so much to you?” 

“I’d rather have her in Europe than here with Dot.  The two of them together spells nothing but trouble for me, man.”  He shook his head with a dry laugh.  “Nothing but trouble.”

♪  ♥  ♫

“So are you going to London with him?”  Dorothea asked Allegra. 

They’d both taken up their customary positions at the kitchen table while the guys were watching the game, this time sipping chamomile tea instead of coffee.  Allegra had been relaying Richie’s thoughtfulness in getting her the pregnancy book, and Dorothea had spent the last half-hour giving her the real version of what to expect while she was expecting.  There was a definite gap between the two. 

She’d also extracted a promise from Allegra to call if she had any questions at all.  After giving birth to four children, anything that could happen during pregnancy had happened to Dot at least once.

  

“I don’t think so.”

Dot placed her cup down on the table, removing the errant drop of tea from its surface with her fingertip.   She thought Allegra’s eyes hadn’t been quite as sparkly as they were when she left for California.  Something had obviously happened to dampen her excitement at being with Richie and Dot wanted to know what it was, but chose to ease into the subject with a lesser question first.

“Isn’t that why you were getting the passport all those weeks ago?  I thought you wanted to see Europe.”

“I do, and I may go over later in the month, but since Richie will be busy, I’m going to take some time and enroll in some formal computer classes.”

Allegra wouldn’t meet her eyes and was fidgeting, folding one leg under the other in the chair and tucking the hair she’d left loose behind her ear.

Dot smelled a rat.

“And he’s probably buying that bullshit, but I’m not.  What’s really going on?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Al-leg-ra…” she threatened in her mean mommy voice.  “Don’t make me be a bitch about this.”

“Dot, there’s really nothing more to it.”

Huffing, she crossed her arms and gave Jon’s cousin the look that acted like truth serum on all of her kids and her husband.  For some reason they thought she could look right into their souls and see that they were lying – and she let them.  It had worked to her advantage on numerous occasions.

Including this one.

“God, Dot, would you stop already?  I just need some time away from him.”

“Are you having second thoughts?  Is he smothering you?”  It was easy to believe that Richie could become overwhelming if given half a chance.  He would drive her nuts with all that affection.

“No and no.”  She sipped her tea in a bid to buy a moment’s reprieve before sighing heavily.  “Everybody thinks I’m sitting around like some lost puppy just waiting for him to snap his fingers and ask me to marry him.  For all I know he’s thinking that too.   I’m NOT, and maybe I need to make that clear.  Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I’ve lost my independence.”

“So you think he’s taking you for granted.”

Allegra blinked slowly.   “A little bit, maybe,” she said haltingly.  “I was just telling him the other day that nothing about our relationship was normal.  We’ve only been on one date, for crying out loud.   Then in the blink of an eye, I’m pregnant with no job and we practically live together.”

Now they were getting somewhere.

“You’ve been screwed out of the courtship.  You want him to chase you.”

“What?”  Allegra sat up straighter in her seat.  “No!  Of course I don’t.  That’s stupid.”

“Is it?  You went from spending a day at the spa and salon trying to capture his attention to an old married couple in the time it takes to say ‘sick, twisted pervert in Detroit’.  Nobody would blame you for feeling like you’d missed out on some of the good stuff.”

“I… I… No.” She shook her head.  “I just…  I… I want to think if he ever does ask me to marry him that he’s asking, not granting some kind of wish.”

Dot snickered.  It didn’t matter how Allegra wanted to sugar-coat it to herself.  She wanted him to chase her.  What woman didn’t want to be sought after?  And while he’d come running for her after Seattle, it was the only time that Dot knew of.   Mr. Sambora was entirely too used to having women drop at his feet – or to their knees.  He could certainly stand to be left wanting a little.

“You’ve sold me.  I’m not going over with the kids until the week before the fashion show.  Stay here with us until then.  You can appropriate one of the bedrooms in the main house or stay in the guest house – whichever you want.  We’ll have daily brainstorming sessions to find new ways to humble our men by the time we make our way across The Pond.”

The corner of Allegra’s mouth tipped up in an unsure half-smile about the same time her phone rang.  Reaching into her pocket, she looked at the screen before answering it.  “It’s Richie.  Why is he calling me from the other room?”

“You’ll find out if you answer it,” Dot observed dryly.

“Bitch,” Allegra muttered with a grin before swiping her finger across the screen.

“And don’t you forget it.”

Rolling her eyes, she answered the call.  “Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” he replied in a smooth drawl. 

Allegra’s eyes narrowed.  “What’s up?”

“Besides me?”

“Um, yeah. Besides you.”

Dot threw her head back toward the ceiling with a groan, and Allegra took the opportunity to turn her back on the other woman.  She didn’t know what Richie was up to, but she didn’t need Dot’s snarky unspoken commentary to distract her.

“Well, there’s this Broadway show that a friend of mine wrote all the music for that’s supposed to be pretty good.  I heard it’s even been nominated for a bunch of awards.  Would you wanna go check it out with me tomorrow night?  Maybe grab a bite to eat beforehand?”

The grin that swept across her features threatened to crack her face with its intensity.  She’d purposefully let the subject drop and not brought it up again, but it pleased her no end that he hadn’t dismissed it as some silly notion.  He may have thought it was silly, but he was still trying to give her what she wanted. 

Allegra made a concentrated effort to school her voice into a casual tone.  “That sounds nice.  What time should I be ready?”

“I’ll be waiting on the guest house porch at five.”

“Isn’t that awfully late?  It doesn’t give us much time to drive into New York.”

“Oh we’re not driving,” was his cryptic reply. 

The only assumption that she could make was that they were going to fly, which didn’t make any sense.

“In the time it takes to get out to Teterboro and then into the city from JFK or La Guardia, we can just drive from here.”

Richie’s provocative chuckle tickled her ear, sending shivers to the tips of her toes. “Don’t worry about details.  All you have to do is look beautiful and meet me at five o’clock.  I have everything else under control.”