Author Note: Warning, the author is still heavily obsessed with Eric being a dad…there will be some slight slash in this story and I may lose some readers but the story is a piece of fiction and if you know my style of writing, you already know to expect the unexpected.
Pocket Friends
T7S
Chapter 01 – Just Getting By
Jackie flagged down the bartender, "Another rum and coke please?" The bartender nodded as Jackie set her purse on stool beside her. The mediocre hotel anteroom was a poor substitute for a business meeting. The drapes smelled of dust and the stained carpeting was a far cry from its original color. Did it used to be blue or gray? The gathering for the Point Place Small Business Association wasn't due to start for another half hour. Jackie had been strong armed into attending this stupid little function because not belonging would be death to her fledgling beauty shop.
The bartender slid the drink over the cigarette burned bar and Jackie gave him a five dollar bill knocking back the drink in one burning swallow. A figure sat on the barstool next to her and commented, "One more of those and you'll be the life of the party."
She looked at the stranger who was trying to hit on her and was ready to respond with a cutting remark but instead she said, "Oh my god. Eric? Forman?"
Those green eyes smiled at her and he looked nearly the same as he did the since she saw him five years ago. Jackie reached over and gave him an impulsive hug. "Wow, you're looking good. Where have you been?"
Eric could have said the same thing. He had been sitting in a corner of the room trying to blend in with the wallpaper when he saw a gorgeous brunette sitting at the bar. He had left his glasses in the car and thought, what the hell, and approached her. Much to his surprise, he knew who she was and she was just as gorgeous as she was at 19.
He ordered a beer and replied," I've been working in Kenosha for a couple of years but I came back here a few months ago. I'm opening my own store."
Jackie smiled, "Me too! A salon. I want to make Point Place women beautiful.'
Eric grinned and pointed at himself. "A book store. I have first edition books and collectibles…a few famous diaries. I mean it doesn't pay much but if someone is putting a collection together, I might have the book they need."
"That's great. I would have figured you would be an accountant or a teacher or something like that."
He laughed, "I figured you would have been on television."
Jackie swirled the ice in her glass. "I guess that makes us the official losers of the group."
Eric took a big swallow of his beer, "What makes you think that?" Did she know?
She turned so she was facing him. "Well, Fez is in New York and married to your sister. Michael is a sergeant with the Police department in Chicago and finally married Brooke. Steven moved to Milwaukee and launched a recording business with WB and I heard Donna is an editor with the L.A. Times."
"All true. My dad is still pissed with Laurie for remarrying the guy that caused his heart attack." There was more but he couldn't tell her.
Jackie smiled, "Well, I think it's sweet that they've been married for three years. Everyone else is having success and here we are at some stuffy SBA meeting."
Eric put his empty beer bottle on the bar. "Well, it's a small price to pay for piece of mind." She didn't know.
Jackie put her empty glass on the bar and grabbed her purse, "Whatever. But hey, it was nice to see you again." She held out her hand and Eric dutifully shook it.
He sat on the bar and watched as she walked through the double doors, her hips making her skirt sway side to side. So many women wore pants these days that he could appreciate a good pair of legs…and Jackie Burkhart had some nice legs!
T7S
Jackie looked at the shampoo sink that was hanging to the wall by one stripped screw. "I can't wash hair in this. Look, it's going to fall on the floor!"
The plumber shrugged, "My orders were to install the pipes, not fix your sink at the wall. Call your contractor. If he wants me to do it, its gonna cost extra."
Jackie muttered under her breath and dialed the number for her less than handy construction manager. All she got was the answering machine. She supposed that if she waited until Saturday, she could get Michael to come up and fix it. He'd probably hurt himself in the process but at least she'd have a sink!
The plumber came back and said, "I talked to Smith on the radio, he said it's an extra $300 to fix the sink."
"But it wasn't fixed the first time, why should I have to pay twice?" This was infuriating!
He shrugged, "Maybe because you had someone else do it. I don't know, but that's the estimate. Call when you have the money."
Jackie fell onto the loveseat in her tiny waiting room. Well, she did have that wedding coming up this weekend, and she could do makeup for some cash, but she had already poured everything else she had into chemicals and supplies. Her new washer/dryer combo was being delivered tomorrow…and that was if the plumbing worked! The only saving grace was that she had the rental unit on the second floor above her shop. It was bigger than a bread box but still looked like a large closet. The rent was cheap and it was hers. Wasn't that all that really mattered?
T7S
Eric swept for the third time. The dance studio on the second floor was practicing their clog dancing again. Every Thursday, more of the ceiling insulation would float down on the floor after it covered his books. This time, however, he got smart and purchased a huge piece of plastic and covered his inventory prior to dance class.
All week he had five customers at best. Some people that came in were just snoopers but a couple actually bought some books on medieval history. Eric seriously considered selling some of the text books for Point Place Community College. That could be a good moneymaker and the students might find something interesting homework wise that would make his business grow.
Oh-oh…they were starting Tap Dancing class! Eric ran to the wall scones that held his reading lights. Luckily, this class was only 30 minutes long! But when all was said and done, he had his own store. Wasn't that all that really mattered?
T7S
"Mrs. Gardner, Amber is just going to look beautiful." Jackie was lightly stroking apricot blush to the huge apples on Amber's cheeks. Amber was a plus size girl and needed extra foundation to even out the shadows her third chin made. Once the make up was perfect, Jackie unrolled the thick brown hair and made ringlets to hold the baby's breath and mini rose barrettes.
The rest of the wedding party entered the bride's dressing room and started passing around champagne even prior to the party! Jackie quickly sprayed the ringlets and put her makeup back in the case. If she didn't touch base with Mrs. Gardner now, she wouldn't get paid later! That was always the case when the party didn't include an open bar.
"Oh Miss Bee, Amber looks so gorgeous. I love what you've done with her hair. We're going to take portraits after the ceremony….can you do a touch up? I'll pay extra?"
Jackie tried not to sigh but she just really wanted to get paid and go back to getting her sink fixed. Still, she put on a smile and said, "Certainly. I'll be there."
T7S
"Cap, it's bad enough that I'm an usher and the bridesmaid looks like Chewbacca…why do I have to write the best man's speech?" Eric argued. He looked in the full length mirror and adjusted the maroon cummerbund on his rental tuxedo. Cap, one of his best friends, lit up a cigar.
"Dude, I know Kathy is a dog, and I know you didn't want to be in the wedding party but Eddie is so lit, he can't put two words together. Just write something quick, I'll slip it in his pocket and the wedding couple will never think the best man is higher than a kite."
Eric was only in this ridiculous wedding party because one of his favorite customers asked him to accompany his fiancée's cousin. Kathy "Chow Dog" Bracker was the ugliest girl he'd ever seen. She had a two inch hair that was growing out of a mole under her chin and every time Eric saw it he cringed. Kathy took every opportunity to hit on Eric and he could swear he saw wedding bells in her eyes. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. EVER!
Eric scratched out some words on the back of a piece of hotel stationary and handed it to Cap. "Tell, your friend Eddie that he owes me big time."
Cap grinned, "I think Dave might let you kiss his cousin!" David Hailey had a family tree that kept growing back on itself. Cousins had married cousins and there was at least two Bubba's in that family and one had all his teeth. Chow Dog was a step-child so she escaped the uni-brow, but brought with her the hairy mole.
"Cap, I'm not kissing anybody tonight. At least anyone related to Dave."
His friend laughed, "Smart move. The apple doesn't fall far from that family tree." Cap put the best man speech in his tuxedo pocket and crushed the end of the cigar in the ashtray. "Let's go round up the family and get them seated. Maybe we'll get lucky at this wedding!"
Eric was longing for the kind of wedding party Kelso had when he married Brooke. They were such a great couple and everyone loved them. Eric and Hyde were joint best men and Donna and Jackie were beautiful bridesmaids. Fez was somewhere in a closet doing it with Laurie. Now THAT was a nice wedding!
T7S
Jackie found the wedding photographer and he gave her the general location where the photo shoot was going to be. While the Wedding March played, Jackie set up her table and an umbrella to keep the bride out of the hot sun. Can't have the makeup melting on a hot summer day!
She sat down on a small stool and read her latest issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. This issue had an article on popular hair styles for fall. She spied a small advertisement for making jewelry at home kits. The Burkhart gene saw the rhinestones and envisioned diamonds. She saw the blue and green beads and saw sapphires and emeralds.
How cool would it be to design jewelry for hair? Of course there was the perquisite tiara for the wedding veil but that was just a cheap ass version of a crown. Jackie wondered if there was a way to find out how many beauty shops sold hair jewelry.
She looked up to see the bride and her girls heading straight for the umbrella table. Amber had been sweating up a storm and her make up was ruined! "Oh Miss Bee, I look like a disaster and I want my pictures with David to be perfect!"
Jackie encouraged the young bride to sit while she assessed the damage. The foundation had to be completely reapplied, the mascara was making Amber look like a raccoon. "Did you cry a lot?" Jackie asked as she used cold cream to wipe off the makeup.
Amber nodded, "It was just so beautiful and when they released the doves….ohh….it was lovely."
Jackie paused, "They had doves inside the hotel?" That was a new one! Somebody was going to get a big cleaning bill for that little trick. Selecting a new clean sponge, Jackie started dabbing on the pale foundation make up to repair Amber's face. It was going to take some work.
T7S
Cap slapped Eric across the chest. "I get first dibs on a dance." Eric rubbed his chest, "What was that for? You can dance with Chewbacca anytime you want."
"No man, the make up chick. I want to dance with that!" Cap pointed to a petite woman who was nearly swallowed up in the shadow of the new Mrs. Amber Hailey. "Now that is something I want to get my arms around!"
Eric thought she looked stunning in the white linen shirt dress and the modest satin pumps. Those legs…there was something familiar about those legs. Eric smiled, "Ten bucks says she dances with me first."
Cap grinned, "You are on. No woman can resist the Cap Man."
Eric groaned. The Cap Man was synonymous for Lounge Lizard. Cap may as well just hand over the money now. Currently mole hair Kathy was sitting at the make up chair. Eric hoped something could be done to make her less unattractive or he would forever be hanging in David's den framed in glass with Chewie standing by his side.
T7S
Jackie almost threw up in her mouth. How could this girl not know she had a two inch hair growing under her chin? She was cultivating four more wannabe hairs beside it! Quickly, she sanitized her tweezers and just went for it. Three heavy duty tugs and the coarse hair was held up in front of Kathy Bracker's face.
"Honey, you can't let this happen. It's a mole and while moles can be attractive, hairy moles are not." Jackie gently chastised.
Kathy took the specimen from Jackie's finger and looked at it like it was some kind of alien growth. "Oh my God! Are there more?" Jackie only nodded.
Kathy pulled a wad of bills from her bra. "This was my dance with the groom money; I'll give you all of it if you remove the rest." Jackie pinched the sweaty cash between her fingers and dropped it in the bottom of her make up case. Easy money!
The groom's sisters had similar hair problems and despite the uni-brow situation which Jackie informed them could easily be solved with a good eyebrow waxing. Jackie plucked her way to over $300 in tips. She could fix her sink and then some!
The photographer hurried the ladies over to the water fountain for group photos and Jackie took that as her cue to pack it up. She spritzed her face with a mist of water and pulled her hair back into a pony tail. This day was finally over.
"You can't leave now….you'll be the life of the party."
Jackie whirled around and smiled, "Hey you! Why are you dressed as a purple penguin?"
Eric laughed, "The groom is one of my favorite customers and asked me to be an usher and I had nothing to do today so…."
Jackie folded her umbrella. "Aren't you supposed to be getting photographed with the wedding party?"
Eric visibly shuddered. "If you knew who the bridesmaid was…you would help me hide."
Jackie smiled, "It's a wedding. Everyone is beautiful, well except for this poor girl that I plucked to death."
Eric touched her sleeve. "Say….you wouldn't mind hanging around a bit and maybe having a dance with me?"
"Awww…as much fun as that sounds…I have a sink to fix." Jackie folded her small makeup table and tucked everything else into the tote bags. Eric moved around her to stop her, "What if I said please?"
Jackie pretended to reconsider and replied, "Nope."
Eric followed like a sad puppy. "What if I got my dad to help you? He's good with clogged drains and stuff like that."
Jackie stopped and turned around. "Mr. Forman can bolt a sink to a wall?"
Eric smiled. "Well sure, he has an electric drill and all the tools."
Jackie put a hand on his chest. "Okay. One dance and your dad comes to my salon."
Eric countered her offer. "Two dances and you come over to the house for dinner. Mom would love to see you again." Was it safe?
"Deal." She shook out her hand to seal the agreement. Eric accepted and helped her carry her supplies to her car. "You're too easy." He laughed.
"You're too cheap." She replied.
T7S