by Alex Riordan
Jessie blew out a breath. “Mom, don’t start with the guilt trip.”
“Jessie, I’m not. I’m just saying…You usually call on Wednesdays. When you don’t, I worry.”
“All right, point taken and duly noted,” Jessie said, knowing it was useless to argue with her. “Look, I called because I wanted to invite you to dinner tonight. Stephanie’s mom is in town, and I’d like for you to meet both of them.”
“Stephanie? Is that the latest girlfriend?”
“Um, yeah. I’ve been seeing her for a few weeks, actually.” She was suddenly feeling like this may not have been the best idea. Her mother was an artist when it came to being snide about her girlfriends…or boyfriends, for that matter.
“You haven’t mentioned her, I wasn’t aware that you were dating again? Well, other than that…Alex, girl.”
“Mom, don’t start on Alex. Please?” She sighed again.
“Fine, I won’t say anything about her, but really, Jessie…she seemed very…loose, to me.”
“Mom…”
“All right. So…what does this girl do for a living?”
Jessie took a deep breath, bracing for her disapproval. As much as Julie Drake hated the music business, it was second to how much she hated the movie industry. “She’s an actress, Mom.”
“An actress? Jessie, please tell me she doesn’t act in those movies with those friends of yours.”
It took Jessie a moment to realize which friends her mother was referring to. “Mom! She’s not a porn actress! Jesus…Stephanie’s a legitimate actress. She’s here interning for a TV series at our office. My God! I can’t believe you’d say that!”
“Well…you don’t have the best taste, Jessie. I never know what you’re going to bring home.”
Jessie was rolling her eyes and shaking her head. “Mom, she’s not some stray puppy I took in. Stephanie has been in some pretty big movies. You’ve seen her, I’m sure.” She named a few of Stephanie’s movies, and a light bulb seemed to click in her mother’s head.
“I know who she is, now. She’s the girl who can’t seem to stay dressed through an entire movie?”
“Mom!”
“Well, it is true, Jessie. She always seems to be taking off her top.”
“Mom, for God’s sake. She’s an actress. It’s part of her job. Look,” she was starting to get irritated. “I’m inviting you out to meet Stephanie and her mother, Nancy. If you don’t want to come…”
Her mother breathed out a sigh. “All right, Jessie. Calm down. I’ll go. I think it’s the first time you’ve ever invited me to meet one of your girlfriends.”
“Probably because this is the only one worth meeting,” Jessie answered, meaning it. Just to make sure her mother understood, she added, “Mom, I really care about her, so I’d appreciate it if you could…you know…curb the snide comments?”
“Snide comments?” her mother repeated, obviously offended.
“Yeah, like what you said about her not keeping her top on?”
“Oh. Okay, Jessie, I’ll do my best,” she said, giving in. If Jessie was actually making an effort to share her life with her, she could make the effort to get along.
“Thank you, Mom. I appreciate it.” Relaxing now that the hard part was over, Jessie filled her in on what time she’d be picking her up for dinner.
* * * *
By the time five rolled around, Jessie’s nerves were on edge. Every time she did anything with her mother, she got irritable. She tried not to, but somehow, Julie Drake just always seemed to push her buttons. It made doing things with her a rare occurrence. Standing in front of the closet, staring without really seeing, she didn’t notice Stephanie come into the room until she wrapped her arms around her waist from behind.
“I didn’t mean to startle you, Jessie,” Stephanie said, when she felt Jessie jump. Nuzzling into the brunette’s neck, she asked, “Are you okay?”
Closing her eyes and enjoying the feel of Steph’s breath on her ear, she sighed as she relaxed into her and laid her hands over Stephanie’s where they rested on her stomach. “I’m fine. It’s just…doing anything with my mother can be a huge production. She’s kinda…well, she’s like a ‘Jewish mother,’ if you’ll pardon the expression.”
Stephanie quirked an eyebrow at the unusual description. Jessie didn’t usually mention her mother, and she hadn’t asked. Not because she didn’t want to know…the first night they’d slept together, she’d mentioned her and her disapproval of her chosen singing career. At the time, Stephanie didn’t want to get off subject by going more in depth about it. Now, she worried there might be some things she’d missed.
“I’m not really sure I know what you mean,” she said. “You don’t mention your mom, much. I take it you’re not very close?”
“Oh, we’re all right, I guess. She’s just…kind of…overbearing, I guess you’d say. She did a good job raising me and my brother. She just likes to criticize.” Jessie explained it quickly, as if she were worried. Turning around, she looked deeply into Stephanie’s eyes. “Don’t let her push you around or try to guilt you into anything, Steph. She’s good at that.”
Stephanie reached out and placed a hand on her cheek, caressing it lightly. “Hey, I deal with movie producers and directors all the time. Your mom isn’t going to run me over, Jessie.” When Jessie relaxed a bit, she went on. “Why doesn’t your mom like you singing in the band?”
Jessie shrugged. “My father’s a musician. When I was a kid, he spent most of his time on the road and away from home. Mom always resented it, I guess. All I remember is them fighting all the time when he was home. When I started singing in the band, Mom had a fit. She didn’t want me to be like him.” She snorted. “But I can’t help it if all this stuff’s inside me and needs to come out. She just doesn’t understand that.”
“What does your father say?”
Closing her eyes and leaning into the caress, Jessie answered. “He doesn’t know I sing.”
“What? Jessie, how can he not know?” Stephanie couldn’t believe Jessie’s dad had no idea that she was a singer. How could he not know something like that?
“He’s not around anymore,” Jessie said. She reached up and caught Steph’s hand, pulling her closer. “He lives in California and still does the music thing.”
“So…you don’t talk to him or anything?”
“Not a lot, no. He’s usually pretty busy, and I don’t like to bother him.”
Okay, this was new territory for Stephanie. Her family had always been close, and even though they lived on opposite coasts, she made sure to talk to them at least once a week. She simply could not fathom someone not speaking to their parents. “Jessie, he’d probably like to know about that part of your life. You should at least call him,” Stephanie said, trying to encourage her. “When’s the last time you saw him?”
Jessie bit her lower lip in concentration. “Umm, the last time I saw him was when I passed the Bar Exam. He came into town and took me out to dinner.”
Stephanie shook her head. “Jess…that was what? Seven years ago? You need to see him. He’s your father. I’ll tell you what…when you come out to LA, we’re going to go visit your dad.”
A stab of panic ran through Jessie when Steph mentioned visiting LA, and she tensed up. She’d almost forgotten that Steph actually lived there and not in Ohio. Swallowing hard, she nodded. “Yeah, maybe we could do that,” she said noncommittally.
Stephanie noticed when the brunette tensed and took a deep breath. Searching the blue eyes, she asked, “Jessie? Hey, what’s wrong?”
“I…uh…I forgot for a minute, that you live there and…not here,” she stammered.
“Oh, Jessie!” Stephanie wrapped her arms around her again and pulled her tight. “I’m sorry, Baby! I’m in no hurry to leave, or anything. You do know that, don’t you?”
Jessie clung to her, sniffing. “I know. I guess I just…haven’t really thought about you leaving.”
Stephanie held her face in
her hands, pushing her hair back behind her ears. She smiled sadly as she looked into those blue eyes. “I love you, Jessie, and I’m not going anywhere soon. I told you before…we will work this out. One way or another, I’m not planning on letting you go.”
Jessie sighed and leaned into her, resting her forehead on Steph’s. “I know, and I believe you. I love you too, Steph.”
Stephanie smiled again and kissed her. “Good. Now, let’s get this dinner over with. I’m ready to come back here and crawl into bed.”
Jessie laughed. “You’re always ready for bed.”
“I haven’t heard you complaining,” Steph said mischievously, as she slipped out of the brunette’s arms and left the bedroom.
Jessie followed her, smiling, and grabbed the car keys as they headed for the door.
* * * *
Much to Jessie’s relief, dinner went off without a hitch. She’d made reservations for the four of them at Bella Luna, the best Italian restaurant in town. She swung by her mother’s on the way, and picked her up. They ran through the introductions on the way to the restaurant, and made small talk during the short drive. When they arrived, they were seated immediately and the head waiter stood by as they perused the wine list. Stephanie, knowing Jessie’s taste in wine, asked her to choose.
Jessie chose a bottle of Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Masetto Bolgheri Rosso, the 1995 vintage, a wonderful Merlot from Tuscany. As they waited for the wine, Nancy and Julie began telling stories about their daughters’ childhoods. At the moment, Nancy was busy embarrassing Stephanie with a story about an incident involving her and her brothers, and Jessie was fascinated, watching the blush rise from her neck up to her cheeks.
Catching Jessie watching her, Stephanie blushed an even deeper shade of red. Moving her hand up, she caught Jessie’s hand and squeezed. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” she whispered into her ear.
“A little,” she agreed. “Mostly, I was just wondering how far down that blush goes,” she said, giving Stephanie a look that said all too clearly what she’d rather be doing.
“Keep that up, and you’ll never find out,” she whispered back, blushing even more, if it was possible.
“But you’re so cute, when you blush,” Jessie said, kissing her on the cheek.
Just then, the waiter returned, bearing dinner. As they all settled in to eat, Nancy leaned over to Jessie’s mother and said, “Julie, you must be very proud of Jessie. I don’t know what I’d do if she hadn’t been there for Stephanie the other night.”
Julie looked at Nancy, perplexed. “I’m sorry? I’m not sure what you mean?”
“You didn’t tell your mother what happened, Jessie?” Nancy asked, looking at her, surprised.
“I uh…hadn’t gotten around to it, yet,” Jessie admitted, looking vaguely chagrined.
“Jessie?” Turning to look at her, Julie Drake had ‘the look’ on her face. When she was a kid, Jessie had feared that look. It had always meant she was about to get into big trouble. But now, taking a deep breath, she met her mother head on.
“Mom, it’s why I didn’t call you Wednesday. I told you…something came up,” Jessie said, trying to keep her from getting upset that she’d kept the news of Stephanie’s attack from her.
“Well? What exactly happened?” Julie wasn’t upset. She was well aware of the fact that Jessie didn’t tell her everything that happened in her life. And, knowing Jessie, she was actually quite happy with that arrangement most of the time. Apparently however, this was something she should have been informed of.
Jessie sighed and launched into the story, careful not to tell her more than necessary. For instance, she didn’t need to know what Bob had been screaming about when the police arrived. Still, by the time she was finished with the tale, Stephanie interjecting where necessary, Julie was sitting there, stunned.
“So…you just walked into that room and…” she was having trouble wrapping her mind around the idea that a child of hers had willingly put their life in danger. Right now, she couldn’t seem to articulate what she was feeling.
“Mom…” Jessie caught her hand with her free one. Looking into her eyes, she tried to assure her that she was okay. “Mom, please…it’s okay.”
Julie looked at Jessie, gauging the truth of her words. Finally, she took a deep breath and said, “Well, I guess those martial arts lessons paid off then, didn’t they?”
Jessie laughed, relieved that her mother wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it for once. “I guess they did, Mom.”
Stephanie, glad to see the tension dissolve, said, “Well I for one, am glad they paid off.” She was holding Jessie’s hand again, leaning against her shoulder. “I just found Jessie, and I’m not quite ready to let her go, just yet.”
Jessie smiled at her. “That’s good to hear.”
“You know,” Julie interjected. “I’m really glad you invited me here tonight, Jessie. Not only has it been enlightening…but I think you’ve finally found someone. Stephanie,” she turned and addressed her, “I’m so glad I got to meet you tonight. I was beginning to worry that Jessie was never going to find someone to share her life with.”
Stephanie smiled back at her and reached over to grasp her hand. Squeezing it, she said, “I’m glad we did this, too. Jessie doesn’t talk about herself much, so I was beginning to think she didn’t have any family.”
“Oh, she has family. She just doesn’t spend much time with us,” Julie said, giving Jessie a look that plainly said she wished her daughter would come around more often.
Jessie sighed and rolled her eyes. “Mom, you know I’m really busy. You’re always welcome to come see me play, you know, but you always turn me down.”
“I know. But you know how I feel about that, Jessie.”
She nodded. “Yeah. I know.”
Nancy, sensing a way to find out about Jessie’s father, said, “I saw Jessie perform last night. She’s very talented.”
“I’m sure she is. Her father was talented, too,” Julie said, smiling at Nancy. “Unfortunately, he didn’t know how to prioritize his life.”
“Mom, please don’t start in on Dad,” Jessie practically pleaded.
“So,” Nancy took a drink of her wine. “Jessie’s father is a musician, too?”
Julie nodded. “You mean she never told you?” She shook her head. “Jessie always was one to keep quiet about things like that.” She looked over at Jessie and then back to Nancy. “Jessie’s father is JD Drake. You’ve heard of him?”
Nancy and Stephanie both nodded together. “Yes. I’ve got quite a few of his albums. He’s always been one of my favorites,” Nancy said. Inside, she congratulated herself. She knew she’d been right when she’d told Bill who she thought Jessie’s father was. Stephanie, sitting next to Jessie, looked stunned. She’d had no idea.
“Well, he might be a great singer/songwriter, but he was a horrible husband and father,” Julie said drolly.
Jessie rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Mom, he wasn’t a bad father. He was just…busy.”
“He wasn’t there, Jessie. When we needed him, he was always gone somewhere,” she said, looking at her daughter with a bewildered expression. She had never understood why Jessie insisted on defending JD.
“He’s always been there for me, Mom.” Jessie would never understand why her mother insisted on putting JD down. She was the one who’d asked for the divorce and told him to stay away. JD had always made it known to both his children that he’d be there for them no matter what they needed. And, unlike a lot of divorced fathers, he’d actually tried to live up to that promise, too.
Julie sighed. “I know, Jessie. You’re just too much like him to understand.”
Jessie bit her tongue and held back what she really wanted to say. Her mother had never tried to comprehend her need to make music, and she never would. And, she’d always thought her mother was a bit selfish, wanting to keep JD all to herself. She knew her mother still loved her father. Otherwise, she would have remarried a
long time ago. So, instead of saying what she wanted, she said, “All right, Mom. Let’s just not talk about it tonight. We’re never going to agree where he’s concerned.”
Nancy, feeling slightly guilty about bringing it up, tried to apologize. “I’m sorry, if mentioning him has caused a problem.”
Julie waved a hand in dismissal. “There’s no problem, Nancy. Jessie and I always disagree where JD is concerned. It’s just that…well; there was always plenty of love and passion. Music was just more JD’s ‘thing’ than family was. It’s no big deal, really.”
“Well…if you’re sure? I didn’t mean to bring up a sore subject,” Nancy said, clearly feeling bad about mentioning Jessie’s father.