A/N: Hi everyone! THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! It makes me smile to see that so many of you are enjoying this. As a thank you, here are two chapters! I am also excited to say that on November 2nd & 3rd, I will be meeting Jason David Frank (Mr. Tommy Oliver!) at the Rhode Island Comic Con! This will be my second time meeting him and I cannot wait. I will tell you all about it in one of the upcoming chapters.
As always, thank you for reading and remember to review too!
Chapter Fourteen
The rest of the night was filled with swimming, spending time with each other, and of course, food and beer. It was nice hanging out with everyone and for the first time since I had been back, I spent the whole time not thinking about the wedding. I think it was easier without Kat there and without the added stress of Tommy being there. Things between us were easier now. The tension was gone, and it was like we had gone back in time to when we were just friends. It felt amazing to be able to have fun with him and the rest of our friends. It was such a relief to feel normal for the first time in a long time. It was almost like I had never left.
The next morning, I rolled out of bed and got ready for the day. Tommy would be meeting me at Caliolo's, the restaurant that Kat wanted to cater the reception. He had some things to do at the race track for his uncle, so he asked if I could meet him there. It wasn't far from the dojo and Jason said he had no issue giving me a ride. I figured I could do some work there before heading over. We rode in his truck into town and I helped him unlock the building and get things ready for his first set of classes. I could tell Jason was trying to avoid talking about something because he kept changing the subject whenever the topic of Tommy came up. He did it again as we were rolling out the matts and finally, I had to ask.
"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him as I rested my hands on my hips. He didn't look at me as he tied the straps that held the matts in place.
"Nothing." He replied.
"Bullshit, Jase. What is it?" He sighed, turning to face me as he stood from the floor.
"Trini told me you spent some time with Tommy yesterday. How was it?" He asked.
"Fine. We went to the country club and then the youth center. You know that." He nodded.
"Yeah. I meant after you left there. Trini said you guys didn't get back to the house until about an hour before we got there. You guys spent an hour at Tommy's place? And then you were alone in your room?" I gaped at Jason, not believing what he was implying.
"Nothing happened." I snapped, glaring at him. "If that is what you are getting at."
"It's not. I know you aren't that type of person and I know Tommy would never do that to Kat. But, do you think it's smart for the two of you to be alone like that? What happens if something gets back to Kat? This could blow up right in your face and I would hate for the group to get split up because of it."
"There is nothing to get back to Kat. Nothing is going on between Tommy and me. We're friends. That's it." I stormed passed him, heading up the stairs.
"Kim-."
"How could you think like that, Jason?" I asked, spinning to face him when I reached the landing. "You are my best friend! How could you even consider that I could be such a cold-hearted person? Yeah, I have feelings for Tommy, but I would never act on them. Especially now that he's getting married. Does it suck? Sure does. But I know damn well to not do anything about that. But for you to think I could fucking do something like that? I guess we aren't as close as I thought."
Grabbing the doorknob, I stomped into the office and slammed the door behind me. Flipping the light on, I glared around the room. It was already slightly messy, adding to the resounding anger that flared in my chest. It was nice to know my best friend thinks I could be a desperate slut. Did he really think I would try to do something with Tommy? What did everyone else think? What if he was right about someone talking to Kat? Would she think I was trying to move in on Tommy with her out of the country? It was annoying to consider that fact that my own friends saw me as some kind of homewrecker. I hadn't done a thing to try to make a move on Tommy. Not in the slightest. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind all that much. Granted, he did hug me in his apartment and hold me, but I was crying. There hadn't been any kind of emotion in the embrace unless you counted my grief. And if they knew Tommy as well as I did, they would know that Tommy would never even think of doing anything behind Kat's back. Though he lied about the reason the country club was out, he was always honest. At least he had been when I was living here.
Throwing my bag on the desk, the wedding notebook fell from it. Rolling my eyes, I scooped it up off the floor and remembered that I told tommy I would call Katherine this morning about the officiant situation. I did some quick math, noting it had to be about 2 pm in London. I had become a pro at learning the time zone differences thanks to my mother being in Paris. Walking around Jason's desk, I sat in the chair and picked up the phone. I dialed Kat's number that she had left me and waited as it rang.
"Hello?" The Australian accent said after four rings.
"Hey, Kat! It's Kimberly." I replied, leaning on my elbows on the desk.
"Oh, hi! How are things going? I was going to call Tommy this afternoon to ask him, but I bet you would know more."
"Everything is going great! We've got the venue, the cake, and we're going to try out caterers this morning and florists this afternoon. How was your flight?" I asked.
"Long. Pretty sure every kid on board had some kind of cold. I'll be glad when everything is over, and we won't be flying back and forth as much anymore." A small silence fell between us. "Is there something you need help with, Kimberly?"
"Actually, yes. I was going over the list of things with Tommy last night and I just had a quick question about who you wanted to perform the ceremony."
"Pastor John." She replied, without taking a second to think. "He's a very nice man and offered to do it for free. He works at the church my sponsor home went to when I first came to Angel Grove."
"Okay but when I talked to Tommy, he said he wanted his brother to do the ceremony." She sighed on her end and I could almost picture her rolling her eyes.
"I know he mentioned it, but I thought he realized how…how…odd that would be." She said, fishing for a word. "All of my family is flying in from Australia and I don't want them to think that our wedding wasn't worth coming for. David is a sweet man, but I just don't think he is the one who should be marrying us."
"It would mean a lot to Tommy, though. He was upset when he saw you had Pastor John written down and-." She cut me off.
"Tommy is just going to have to see reason. I know he doesn't understand it, but this is just the way it's going to be. Can't you find some way to convince him, Kim? I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but this is my wedding."
"It's Tommy's too." I said before I could bite back the word.
"Listen. I know he is trying to help plan this the best he can, but Tommy will come to reason once he sees that I'm right. Having David do our ceremony would come off as trashy and I do not want that. Please call Pastor John and let him know what time to be at the ceremony."
"Kat, I think you might be being a little unfair. This day is important to Tommy too. If he wants his family involved, he should be able to." I could feel the heat rising in my chest and on my cheeks, the blood filling them. "He's doing his best to make sure everything is perfect, and I think he deserves this one thing."
"Absolutely not. Let him pick out the flowers or the center pieces. His brother will not be officiating for us." I heard talking on the other end and she swore. "Sorry, Kim, but I have to get going. I will give you a call later to see how things went with Tommy and Pastor John, okay?"
"But Kat-."
"Just tell him it's this way or no wedding. Bye." The phone clicked, telling me she had hung up.
"What a bitch!" I said, slamming the receiver down. It landed in its cradle, the sound echoing off the walls of the office. Angry tears welled in my eyes and I felt one slip down my cheek.
"That sounded rough." Jason's voice said from the door way. I jumped, surprised to hear him. I wiped my face, turning away from him.
"Yeah." I whispered, doing my best to clear the tears. "I guess the bride gets what the bride wants."
"Well…" He said, walking into the room. He grabbed the other chair and wheeled it over, so he was sitting across from me. "Not necessarily."
"If I don't call Pastor John, she will. Either way, Tommy isn't going to be happy." I leaned back in the chair and ran a hand through my hair. "He's going to be devasted and there's nothing I can do about it."
"You know, I think there might be something we can do about it." He said, rubbing his chin. Leaning forward, he grabbed the phone and the notebook. Flipping it open, he found the number for Pastor John. He dialed it into the phone and put it on speaker. It rang twice before someone answered.
"Good morning! Thank you for calling Unity Community Christian Center. This is Pastor John. How may I help you?" A very cheerful man's voice said on the phone.
"Hello, sir. My name is Jason Scott. I am the owner of the new dojo in town." Jason said.
"Oh, yes! My grandson goes there. How are you, Jason?"
"I'm fine, Pastor John. I just was wondering if I could ask a favor of you. I would be willing to give your grandson a free month of classes for it."
"That is very generous of you. What can I help you with?"
"My parents are looking for some guidance when it comes to their marriage. They've tried professional counseling, but it didn't seem to work. I was hoping you would be willing to sit down and talk to them for a few hours before they decide on divorce or not."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I would love to try and help. Where do they live?" Pastor John asked, sounding concerned. I raised an eyebrow at Jason. What was he doing? His parents were just fine that last I knew.
"San Francisco. I know it's quite the distance but I'm willing to pay for gas and tolls."
"The distance is no problem. If you can just give me your parents address and number, I will contact them to set something up."
"Thank you so much, Pastor John. I appreciate this. Their address is 593 Sycamore Lane, San Francisco. Their number is 415-825-9688. I will let them know that you will be reaching out to them."
"You're very welcome. Take care, Jason." Jason hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair, a smug smile on his face.
"Aren't your parents coming to the wedding?" I asked. He nodded.
"Yup."
"So, you are going to make him drive six hours for nothing?"
"No. I will have my father call him that morning and let him know that they had something come up. But, when you call, he will have to tell you he already has plans." I smiled, shaking my head.
"You just might be a genius, Jason Lee Scott." He shrugged.
"I try to only use my powers for the forces of good. Just don't tell Trini I did that. She would beat me."
"That she would." I took a deep breath and fiddled with a pencil that laid on his desk. "I'm sorry about early, Jason."
"No. I should be apologizing to you. I didn't mean to offend you. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't trying to set yourself up to get hurt. Trini and I are worried about you. Zach too. I know you aren't that kind of person and there's no reason I would think that of you. The same goes for Tommy. Zordon picked you for a reason and no one who served as a Power Ranger would have it in them to hurt someone they love. I am very sorry I upset you."
"So, we're both sorry people then. Welcome to my club." I shot him a wink, standing. He stood too, giving me a friendly hug. He pulled away, resting his hands on his hips.
"You might wanna get going. It's almost eleven."
"Yeah. I just gotta call Pastor John quick. Hopefully he's not busy."