Big Daddy Sinatra: There Was a Ruthless Man(32)
But when the driver’s side door opened, and that gorgeous man stepped out, that green-eyed hunk from that reception, he was certain now. It was Jenay. That very man had showed a serious interest in her that day. He smiled. “It’s her,” he said.
“Oh, please,” Denise said, as she watched Charles round his car and head for the passenger door. “Why would Jenay Franklin be in a car with him?”
“I can show you better than I can tell you,” Norm said as Charles opened the door, and Jenay stepped out.
Denise’s young mouth flew open. “Jenay?”
“Told you so,” Norm said with satisfaction.
“Hey guys,” Jenay said cheerfully as Charles assisted her out of the car. “I’m not late, am I?”
“Not yet,” Norm said as they began moving closer toward her. “They haven’t made the first call for line-up yet.” Then he looked beyond her, at her companion. “Hi,” he said.
“Hello,” Charles responded. He didn’t remember Norm from Adam, and Norm was a little disappointed by that.
Jenay was disappointed that he and Denise had to witness her coupling with Charles this soon. They were going to ask her a thousand questions, and she knew it. But it was done now. “Charles, I want you to meet two close friends of mine.”
“Hi, I’m Denise Donahue,” Denise said, stepping in front of Norm and extending her hand. Jenay could tell that Charles wasn’t used to a woman as forward as Denise, but if he was going to hang around her, he would get used to it. Then she caught herself. Who said he wanted to hang around?
Charles shook Denise’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Denise Donahue.” Then he smiled. “Funny, you don’t look Irish.”
Denise, an African-American woman, laughed. “But you look Italian,” she said. “And you are Italian, aren’t you? I can spot any ethnicity a mile away.”
Charles was actually Sicilian, but he wasn’t going to quiver about it. In truth, it was a difference without a distinction to most.
“And you remember Norm,” Jenay said to Charles. “He was one of the cooks at your son’s reception.”
“Not cook, Jenay,” Norm quickly corrected her. “Chef. One of the chefs.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. He was THE chef at your son’s reception, Charles.”
“That’s better,” Norm said as he extended his hand. “Nice to see you again.”
“Same here.”
Then Norm realized something was amiss. It wasn’t Jenay’s hair, which was in a flawless down-drop of gorgeous, layered curls, but it was something. Then he looked at her attire: a beautiful form-fitting black dress. But it horrified him. “What happened to white, Jenay?” he asked hysterically. “We agreed we were wearing white, in solidarity, remember? What happened to that cute little white number I helped you pick out? We agreed on white and you show up in black, the exact opposite?”
Charles looked at Jenay. That little white number was still on her living room floor, and given the way he had flung it off of her, it was in no condition to be worn anywhere soon.
And Jenay, to Norm, who was suspecting what she was thinking, looked guilty as hell. “I decided to wear something different,” she said. “No biggie.”
“What was the solidarity about?” Charles asked Norm.
“We: Jenay, Denise and I, are the three oddateers. We’re three very different people who came together and actually got along. And we decided, as a threesome, to stand together in graduation. It took a lot for all three of us to get to this point, and we wanted to prove a point.”
“What difference does it make anyway?” Denise asked. “We’re all wearing big, hideous graduation gowns anyway.”
Jenay smiled. Denise had a knack for saving her bacon.
“I’ll park the car,” Charles said to Jenay. “I’ll see you inside.”
He wanted to kiss her, to show that she was his, but he knew she wouldn’t appreciate it in front of her friends. He got in the car and drove off.
Norm looked at her. “He did it, didn’t he?”
Jenay began walking toward the entrance. “He did what?” she asked as her friends followed her.
“He came over to your house and snatched you out of that glam white dress. Didn’t he?”
Denise laughed. “That’s ridiculous!” she said. “How do you come up with such foolishness? He even told me, Jenay, that Ford made Jaguars. That’s how off-the-reservation he is.”
Ford did partner with the Jaguar automakers, Jenay thought, and he was right-on about that white dress, but that was nobody’s business but her own. “Completely off the reservation,” she agreed, and they all headed inside.