Trivial Pursuits Ch. 19

Dear Readers,

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Enjoy!

Titania

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CHAPTER NINETEEN

"If it wasn't for you, I'd be alone
If it wasn't for you, I'd be on my own
Don't wait til I do wrong
Don't wait til I put up a fight
You won my heart without a question
Don't wait for lie!"
"Don't Wait" by Mapei

Alessa could no longer suppress a smile, and relented with a self-conscious, "What?"

Since they'd left the office for the small restaurant, Lou's scrutinizing eyes hadn't left Alessa's flushed face. And eventually, it was that unnerving, discerning stare that broke her down. But Lou just kept up the disconcerting inspection, her intelligent brown eyes taking in everything about her companion's appearance, piecing together everything she saw until at last suspicion flickered across her eyes.

"So," she taunted with a slow-forming, knowing smile, "how's it going with Denny?" The intensifying blush across Alessa's face served to confirm Lou's suspicions. Since Alessa had begun dating Denny, Lou had done her best to pry details from her cagy coworker, but Alessa remained tight-lipped, simply stating 'it's fine.' The lack of verbal details had forced Lou to begin studying her friend for more subtle, non-verbal signs, watching Denny and Alessa's interactions when they were together with a group as well as when they thought they were alone. To her, it was clear Denny was smitten with her friend, and the more she observed Alessa, the more she was inclined to think the feeling was mutual.

"What are you talking about?" Alessa managed to respond, her eyes running unseeingly over her menu in an effort to not look her friend in the eyes.

Lou grinned. "Oh, I think you know bloody well what I'm talking about. And you don't need to say anything. Apparently, by the looks of it, things are going very well."

Alessa looked up and tried to scowl, but couldn't muster the right facial muscles to pull it off as they were otherwise occupied with smiling. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"Ha!" Lou snorted. "Don't try to deny it. You are in love!" she said in a sing-song voice.

That did make Alessa's smile falter at last. "Love?" she said in a disbelieving tone.

Lou's excitement faded a little in the face of her friend's genuine confusion. Again, she sat back and studied Alessa. Their waiter came to take their orders, and once she was gone, Lou looked back at Alessa, forming the words she thought were to be a great revelation to her friend.

"Alessa, please don't be offended when I say this, but you aren't an affectionate person, you know? You're very...autonomous, even with friends. Standoffish. And that goes triple for guys. You never treat any of them like anything more than a colleague. It's always professional. Never anything more. So, for you to have even given Denny a chance at dating, let alone look as if your heart is floating on cloud nine, you must at the very, very least care for him. But I'd bet half a month's salary that you actually love him."

Alessa was silent a moment, her mouth open as her brain scrambled for words. "I'm...I'm not in love," she denied at last. She frowned and nodded in concession. "Yeah, I may like him, care for him, I suppose, but that doesn't mean I love him."

Lou leaned forward to lean on her forearm. "You care for him?" Alessa nodded. "You're wildly attracted to him?" Her blushing cheeks answered for her before she nodded. "Do you think about him, maybe not constantly, but frequently enough that it probably bugs you?" Alessa's narrowed, but she nodded. "And you feel scared or sad to think he won't be in your future, right? Like, if you have a future, you want him to be in it?"

Alessa was contemplatively serious. She nodded.

"And you couldn't imagine yourself with anyone else?" Alessa shook her head. "And when you're with him, do you feel more like yourself than any other time? Or at least, any time with someone else?"

Alessa sat back, thinking about that. It was true that Denny coerced her into uncomfortable situations, but once she had gotten through them, she always felt...freer. Because of him, she had the liberty to experience what she truly wanted. She slowly nodded.

Lou finally sat back with a cocky smile and, taking a sip through her black straw, said, "Admit it, baby, you are definitely in love with Denton Ashbury." She quickly cocked her head to the side. "Well, or you are well on your way to falling in love, at the very least." She held her drink up in a mock salute. "So cheers to you!"

But Alessa did not seem to mirror her enthusiasm to the breaking news. "Hey, what's with the face? Falling in love is a good thing. Why do you look like you've just been sentenced to death?"

"Is it a good thing?" Alessa mumbled, an eyebrow cocking up as her pretty mouth frowned in discomfort.

"Hell yeah," Lou stated emphatically. "Most of the modern world spends considerable effort, time, and in many cases, money, in looking for love. Why should it be a bad thing?"

"Because it will end." Lou frowned. "One way or another, they all end."

Lou slowly shook her head. "No. Not all. Some people find someone to love. Truly love. And they hold on for life."

Alessa made no more argument, unable to admit that was what she wanted, but was too afraid it wouldn't happen. She sighed and steered the conversation to an installation at a local museum she had read about, hoping the topic would be interesting enough to pull Lou's thoughts from her love life.

For the remainder of the week, she buried herself in work, hoping it would do well enough to keep her from having to face Denny and her growing maelstrom of confusing feelings. At one point, her mother called yet again, and the annoying feelings of guilt and discomfort arose. Though she didn't answer, she texted her back, stating she was in a meeting and couldn't talk. She kept the conversation short, and for all she could tell, her mother had simply wanted to chat.

It settled uneasily in her stomach, and as a result she lied to Denny and made an excuse that she wouldn't be able to spend Friday night with him. However, he wasn't going to allow her to get out of going back to his home after they'd spent the day with her family. They arranged a time for him to pick her up, and by ten thirty Saturday morning, they were driving the few short miles to her father's home.

With her boyfriend.

Denny remembered how to get there and had every intention of parking in the drive until Alessa sharply cut him off.

"Wait! No, don't park here! Let's find a spot on the street."

He looked puzzled. "Why? The street is filled and the drive has space for another car."

"I know, it's just..." but she couldn't find a reason. "Let's just find one on the street. There's always one."

He still looked puzzled, wondering why she objected to the perfectly good space. Alessa could feel his unspoken query as he moved the car on, coming to the end of the block and turning left to continue searching for the elusive open spot on the street.

"It's just that if Gram comes, and there isn't a space in the drive, she simply parks at the end of the drive, like it's the curb." She shook her head as if it were nothing. "It's just easier to not have to shuffle cars around when it's time to go," she explained banally.

Denny frowned, still not understanding the need for the panic he had heard in her voice when she'd yelled at him. At long last, the search came to an end two blocks over and one down. He sighed as he got out of the car. He offered to carry the large Asian slaw Alessa had brought, but she shook her head, stating she could handle it.

Over the past week, he'd felt her drawing away again, tightening up, reverting back to the stiff manner that he had worked so hard to release her from. After Dallas, he thought they had truly moved beyond her past. But on the drive to her parent's house, he could see her visibly draw up as if the mental armor she was donning was just as real and stiff as any metal defense.

They walked to the back of the house and waited as Alessa knocked. Within seconds Cadence was at the glass door, a large smile plastered on her face. Denny could hear her shriek of excitement from there. He couldn't help but return her enthusiasm with a smile of his own.

"You're here!" she squealed, opening the door and launching herself into his arms.

He chuckled, hugging her in return. Alessa had walked on in, not waiting for the two of them to include her. Denny was asking about her in generalities, to which she had loads of things to say. As Alessa was putting the large bowl in the refrigerator, Alex emerged from another part of the house, smiling when he saw his daughter.

"Alessa, how are you? Glad you could come," he said, embracing her and kissing her on top of the head.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Now introduce me to this mystery man," he said smiling.

She pulled away and took a deep breath. "Dad, this is Denton Ashbury. Denny, this is Alex Allen, my father."

"Mr. Allen, it's a pleasure to meet you," Denny stated stretching a hand out toward him.

Alex smiled. "Denton, very happy to meet you."

"Please, call me Denny."

"Okay, Denny."

"Trust us, the pleasure is all ours," cooed a voice from behind Alex as Shelly entered the room. "We were beginning to suspect something was seriously wrong with her, what with never having brought a man home," she laughed.

Denny's smile froze on his face, humor fleeting fast from his eyes.

"Denny, this is Shelly, my step-mother," Alessa introduced looking at the floor.

He tried to appear pleasant. "Nice to meet you," he said coolly.

"So Cadence tells us you two work together?" she asked in an amused voice. "So you are a lawyer as well?"

"That's right. We work in the same department. I think the Asian cultures are something that interest us both," he commented, trying to make polite small-talk.

Alex laughed. "Yeah, ever since college she's loved all things Japanese. I still don't know why," he admitted with a chuckle. "I tried to convince her to go into the bureau like me, but I couldn't sway her from law. So then I tried to convince her she could be a federal attorney, but she was bound and determined to go into business with the Asian markets."

"Well, some people just have strange little peculiarities. And that's nothing new for her," Shelly commented with a cackling laugh.

Denny felt Alessa's ire rise, and put a hand around her waist to calm her.

"Why don't we go out onto the veranda? I think Shelly's made some mimosas. Right, dear?"

"Yes. Cadence, will you run and get the tray out of the fridge?" Shelly requested with a sweet smile.

"Fine. But I want to sit by Denny," she called as she jogged to the kitchen. Alex and Shelly led the way back out the door and to the lushly decorated veranda.

"Isn't this weather just absolutely gorgeous?" Shelly asked as she took a look up at the blue, sunny sky. "And for November, too." She turned and sat on the small outdoor love seat her husband had occupied.

Alessa sat in a chair and Denny sat in the small two-seater adjacent to it. He wanted to hold her hand, but a quick glance over told him she wouldn't be comfortable showing any affection in front of her family.

Cadence emerged with a large tray with six tall, straight glasses filled with a light-colored orange juice. She presented them first to Denny and then Alessa, and then to her parents, before setting it on the table in the middle of the seating arrangement and taking a glass for herself.

"Cadence, should you drink that?" Alessa asked.

"Goodness, Alessa, I know you're a stick-in-the-mud, but I never knew you were so boringly conservative," Shelly chided.

"It has alcohol in it," Alessa replied with a disbelieving tone to her voice. "And she's a child."

"Precisely, and as the parent, I say it's okay."

Alessa simply took in a deep, agitated breath and looked away. Alex asked Denny about his work, and in an effort to move the focus from his upset girlfriend, Denny took the conversation in his capable hands, schmoozing her parents while she silently fumed. Cadence had settled in and snuggled up to him, smiling up adoringly at him while he regaled the family with impressive tales of his career.

Once Alex had quieted from another bout of laughter at a particular story, he smiled happily at his daughter and her boyfriend. "I knew there'd be something special about you when Alessa stated she was bringing you here. After all, you're the first man she's ever introduced to us. I'm glad to see I wasn't wrong. Any chance you two are thinking about a future? Maybe one with some wedding bells?" he grinned dippily.

Alessa's eyes widened in disbelief. "Dad-"

But Denny's laughter cut off any embarrassed rebuke she might have had in her stalled brain. "That's a pretty loaded question," he began, chuckling. "At this moment though, I think we're perfectly content with where we are at. No need to rush perfection," he admitted, smiling at Alessa reassuringly, knowing exactly how the idea must have frightened her and wishing her could thump her father on the head for doing that to her. Didn't he know her at all?

Shelly cackled. "Well, given her history, or more precisely, lack thereof, Denny I hope I don't scare you off by telling Alessa she might as well not let you go as another man might not come along. Don't want to end up an old cat lady, do you?" she smiled before sipping her drink.

Her father only added to fuel to her growing fire. "Well, I don't know about a cat lady, but a few grandchildren wouldn't be so bad, now would they?" he asked, holding his own drink up in salute to the proposition.

By this point, Alessa sat rigid, her cheeks flushing in mortification and fury. Again, she was saved from any defense as Denny spoke up.

"I'm certain Alessa will be wonderful at whatever she sets her mind to. And right now her focus is her career. Hell, I'm lucky I can carve out as much time with her as I do," he admitted with a self-deprecating smile. "And if she ever decides to shift her focus to include a family, I'm sure she'll do just as well as she has at making a name for herself at our firm." Denny swallowed the last of his drink with resolution. Discussion closed.

It was the same firm tone Alessa had heard him use countless time in negotiations and handling of staff and clients alike when he wasn't going to argue. It carried the weight of a man who always had his way.

Conversation picked up again, Cadence taking her turn in the spot-light to detail her latest passion. She told them all how she was working on a big art piece for school, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

At some point, Shelly's mother arrived with much fanfare. She took her seat at the opposite end to Alessa, adjacent to Shelly and Cadence. "Oh, dear, this is warm," she stated with a dour expression. "Alessa, be a sweetheart and go make me another," said the old woman, settling back and adjusting her thick scarf around her shoulders.

Denny heard the small sigh escape her. "Okay. Would anyone else care for more?" she offered.

"I'll take another while you're at it," Shelly piped up.

"I'm good, kiddo," her father stated. While she was gone, Shelly made the introductions between Denny and Gram.

"Actually, I'm a junior partner and I head up the entire department," Denny was clarifying just as Alessa returned with the two drinks.

Gram took hers and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you are her boss?" implication clearly ringing in the cadence of her words. Her eyebrows lifted as she cut a sideways glance at her daughter.

"In a manner of speaking," Denny acknowledged, "but as we've been dating, the role of her performance supervisor has been reassigned. Besides, final promotion decisions are made by the senior partners, not me."

It wasn't quite noon when everyone was in agreement that it was time for food. Alex invited Denny to help him grill the steaks, while Alessa followed Shelly's directive to set the table and pour the drinks. During the course of the meal, Gram began attempting a stealthy interrogation of Denny. However, despite her many years of being crafty, she wasn't quite adept as a first-class lawyer. As she attempted to pry deeper into the particulars of their relationship, he was tactfully discreet and never said anything more than he wished.

Though much wasn't said, Denny observed everything that was directed at Alessa from either her stepmother or the dreadful dragon was laced with animosity. He more than once turned his attention to her father, waiting for him to say something, but was disappointed the man seemed oblivious to their attitude. Denny watched Alessa defend herself half-heartedly and wanted, to step in more than once, but he was reluctant to contribute anything more than artful deflection.

After lunch, he stood with everyone in the living room discussing a very impressive Cassat painting. As the conversation progressed, he realized neither Alessa nor the old lady, had joined them. As he turned to look for her, knowing she had been asked to clear the table and run the dishwasher, he saw her almost violently push open the swinging kitchen door. She stormed out, her jaw clenching and fire raging in her eyes.

She marched right up to him and, slipping her arm into his, forced a lying smile he had seen a thousand times. "Well, thank you for a lovely lunch, but I'm afraid we have to go."

"Go? But I thought you were going to stay a while," Alex said puzzled.

"Yeah. I wanted to show Denny my photographs," Cadence piped in frowning.

Alessa opened her mouth, stalled in the face of her little sister's sadness. "I'm afraid she's right," Denny confirmed, smiling disappointedly down at Cadence. "We're meeting a group of friends of ours for a sail around the Bay." Alessa's head snapped up at him.

Alex laughed at that. "Alessa? On a boat?"

Denny chuckled before turning his meaningful gaze to her. "She's promised to do it for me. After all I've done for her," he intoned pointedly. Alessa felt her stomach drop. "So, yeah, I'm afraid we have to get going. But it was very nice meeting you, and hopefully Alessa and I can return the favor soon."

There was small talk about getting together again, and a further exchange of inevitable parting pleasantries. Finally, in longer than she'd have like, Alessa was holding Denny's hand and escorting him out the door.

"Care to explain why we manufactured an excuse to leave before planned?" he asked coolly, trying to analyze her shift in mood. Granted, she'd been fairly riled most of the day due to the subtle and not-so-subtle barbs from the two other women, but he was predisposed to think something very specific had set her off to make her suddenly wish to leave.

And then they walked across the drive, now blocked with the grandmother's car, and Denny suddenly had a flashing understanding followed by a brilliant idea.

Alessa scowled and shook her head in answer to his question. When they were near the end of the block, Denny stopped and pulled hard on her hand, turning her to him. His eyebrow shot up. "Come on. Spill it."

Sighing with a great, exasperated roll of her eyes, she stated, "Gram warned me about the perils of," and here she cleared her throat, her hands clenching into fists, "sleeping my way to the top."

Denny frowned. "Your grandmother accused you of that?"

"She said, 'dear, I know you only want to succeed, or maybe you don't want to grow old alone, but sleeping with your boss, for any of those reasons, will only ruin your reputation.'"