Open Up Your Eyes
Beth sat watching a movie on the couch in Alana's living room wearing a pair of mint green and pink stripped flannel pajamas, white socks on her feet. Her hair was pulled back from her face which was covered by a green avocado mask.
"Re-ow!" Lysander Alana's large, furry, ugly, mud and sand colored cat, meowed loudly and hopped up on the beige sofa beside Beth. He sprawled out on the cushion Alana had been occupying earlier and turned his head towards Beth. His one good eye, (the green one) was momentarily focused on her while his other eye, (the red one) appeared to linger in another direction. "Me-ow." he cried again and turned in a circle his tail twitching. "Mee-!"
"Lysander, quiet yerself!" Alana scolded from the kitchen as she put her and Beth's dirty dinner dishes in the sink. It was nice having company for a change. It gave her a chance to cook.
The cat sat up, his attention still on the red head who was seated beside him.
Beth looked over at Lysander, who was obviously not very happy with her. "Lysander is a friendly cat, right?" Beth called to Alana.
Alana appeared a moment later dressed in a pink terry cloth robe and matching slippers, her hair pulled back from a face full of the same avocado mask as Beth. In her hands she held two glasses of wine. "He's annoyin' but harmless." she told her friend as she entered the living room. She shot a look at her cat. "Lysander, git down and quit pesterin' our guest."
"Me-ow." the cat replied sticking his nose up in the air before he hopped down from the couch and padded away.
Alana rolled her eyes as she set the wine glasses down on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "Don't ye be mindin' him much Beth, he's jest sore because he can't watch his favorite television program tonight, that Project Runway show with the Victoria's Secret Model." she explained.
"Oh." Beth answered. "Well, if he's not happy with the movie and wants to watch television I don't mind." she tried not to laugh. The idea of a cat having a favorite television show was ridiculous.
Alana settled herself on the sofa. "He's odd and has ta watch it alone. I already explained ta him that he'd jest have ta miss it tonight." She looked over at the cat who was doing nothing but taking up space on the white rug in front of the TV. "Go read yer Fancy Cat Magazine and leave us be." she told him with a wave of her hand.
Lysander meowed and in defiance remained where he was.
"Go now, shoo." Alana insisted.
Lysander sat up and with a swish of his tail he left the room.
"He's a very interesting animal." Beth commented shifting on the couch so she could reach for one of the wine glasses.
"That, he is." Alana agreed with a nod "I'd like ta say he normally behaves better, but he doesn't. He's not much for socialization. The mere mention of Josef and he spazzes right out. He's never even met him."
"Josef has that effect on some people." Beth stated with a chuckle. She brought the glass to her lips but didn't take a sip. "Speaking of Josef, there's something I've been meaning to ask you." she held the glass in her hand. "And I don't mean to offend you by asking this, but what happened at Mick's last night between you and Josef? You didn't put a love spell on him or anything did you? Not that I don't think he'd ask you out…it's just he's Josef Kostan, the Hugh Hefner of the vampire world." she babbled.
"Ye think I put a love spell on Josef?" Alana responded sounding a little surprised. "I would never… I mean.." she paused. "I know I'm not exactly up ta Josef's standards. I was a bit surprised by his askin' me out meself. So I can understand why ye'd ask me about it, but no I didn't. That is one thin' I'd never mess with. I'm not above havin' some harmless fun but love is the closest thin' this world has ta magic."
"I'm sorry Alana, I didn't mean to imply that you weren't up to Josef's standards. I don't think that at all!" Beth assured her.
"Beth, I take no offense ta ye askin'. Ye know, yer right, he is the Hugh Hefner of the vampire world." Alana agreed. She thought for a moment "Tis the grotto."
Beth nodded.
"Yer in the business of askin' questions, tis only normal ye'd be curious. I can sense thin's about people, and I don't sense any ill will towards me, jest curiosity and…" Alana looked over at Beth for a moment and then smiled. "Interestin' …. very interestin' ." she commented. "Oh!" She snatched the wine glass from Beth's hand. "Where's me brain? We can't be drinkin' alcohol! We'll be too bloated ta fit in our dresses tomorra." With a light chuckle she rose from the couch and disappeared from Beth's view.
When Alana returned a few moments later she held two full glasses of orange juice in her hands. She set them down on the coffee table and plopped back down on the couch. "Orange juice is a much better thin' fer us to be drinkin'."
"What was that all about?" Beth wondered aloud. "What's so interesting?" she asked eyeing her friend.
"Oh." Alana replied. "Nothin'. Well, nothin' yer not goin' ta find out about soon enough anyway."
Beth looked at Alana completely confused. "Huh?"
Alana lifted her glass from the table and took a sip of her juice. "Never ye mind." she said with a grin. "So what's goin' on with ye and Mick? Yev barely mentioned him all night." she asked changing the subject. "I know ye told me ye had quite a day today, but I'm guessin' there's somethin' more. Did ye and Mick have a quarrel?" she prodded.
"Mick." Beth sighed.
"That bad eh?" Alana replied. "What happened?"
Beth reached for her drink her mouth suddenly dry. She took a sip. "I don't even know where to start."
"The beginnin' is always a good place ta start." Alana said with a warm smile.
"The beginning? Like the beginning from when Mick and I met again, or the beginning of today?" Beth asked with a laugh.
"Jest go with today. We only have one evenin' ta get this sorted out after all." The Irish woman reminded her. "I take it the sweet n sour sauce didn't work."
"Everything between Mick and I is so…. ." Beth began. "Complicated."
"Alright, so then un-complicate it." Alana answered.
"It's not that simple. I think Mick sees me more like a child than a grown woman sometimes. He does this overprotective thing that just drives me crazy." She set her glass back on the table.
"He loves you. Tis normal fer him ta want ta protect ye Beth. Especially since ye have a long history together. Josef told me Mick rescued ye when ye were kidnapped as a wee tyke."
Beth bit her bottom lip.
"I can guarantee ye Mick doesn't see ye as a chiseller. If he did, ye two would have a whole different set of problems." Alana continued animatedly. "Imagine if it were him in danger. Wouldn't ye want ta do anythin' ye could ta protect him?"
Beth nodded. "Of course, but he's a vampire. He doesn't need anyone to rescue him." She thought for a moment then sighed. "Okay, maybe sometimes he does. There have been a few situations where if I hadn't been there he'd either be able to fit in someone's ashtray or he'd still be staked to the floor." Beth said with a chuckle.
"And how many times have ye been in harms way?" Alana asked quirking a brow at her friend. "Yer human and ta Mick that makes ye delicate. Anyone's life can end in an instant." She snapped her fingers. "Yers is so precious ta him. He values it more then his own."
Beth smiled at Alana's words. "I know I'm human. I have limitations but I'm also a lot stronger than he gives me credit for. He's always fighting my battles. No matter how small they are. Today, Brandon kissed me and Mick knocked him on his ass. He wasn't even a threat and Mick swooped in and-"
"Mick socked out the gobshite?" Alana asked, excitement in her voice. "Brilliant! Go Mick!"
"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side here!" Beth laughed.
Alana cleared her throat. "Oh, sorry yer right. Boo on Mick. Bad vampire! Naughty, naughty. How hard did he clobber him? Did he break his nose?"
"Alana!" Beth laughed again.
"Mick is from a much different time than ye. He's old fashioned; chivalrous. He comes from an era where men were men. They went off ta war ta protect their country. They worked all day ta provide fer their families. The women stayed home and cooked and cleaned and raised the galyas." Alana reminded Beth.
"That was then. This is now. A lot has changed since then." Beth argued.
"Well yes, but Mick is always goin' ta be Mick. He's goin' ta defend yer honor so ta speak. If he sees somethin' happenin' ta ye he doesn't like, he's goin' at step in. It's got nothing' at do with the fact that he's a vampire, he's a man." Alana replied with a laugh. "Apparently a very jealous one. I think it's kind of sweet."
"You think it's sweet that Mick punched someone in the face for kissing me?" Beth looked at her friend.
"Did ye ask the gobshite ta kiss ye?" Alana asked.
"No." Beth muttered
"Did ye imply in anyway that it was alright ta kiss ye?" The Irish woman questioned.
"Well, no."
"Then yes I think it's sweet that Mick punched out someone who did not have yer permission ta kiss you in the first place." Alana smiled.
"You should have seen him afterwards standing there like some proud peacock." Beth shook her head. "What is he going to do, hurt anyone who lays a hand on me?"
"If their hand is not welcome." Alana took a sip of her juice. "Nah. He's probably not goin' ta hurt them all. Maybe threaten them a little bit. It's jest a guy thin'. I think it was passed on from the cavemen."
"He told me loves me." Beth said softly.
Alana's face lit up. "Mick told ye he loves ye? What else did he say? What else did he say?" she asked practically bouncing up and down on the sofa cushion.
"He told me loves me and he wants us to be together."
"Oh! This is better then this stupid movie!" Alana replied glancing at the actress on the screen before reaching for the remote to turn off the TV. "What else? What else? Go on!"
"He said he wants us to share our lives and he wants to protect me and keep me safe." Beth continued with a small smile.
"And?" Alana pressed.
"He wants to hold me at night and when I cry he wants to be the one to hold my hand, because he loves me." She whispered fighting back her tears.
"Awwwe!" Alana gushed she clutched her glass of juice in one hand and waved the other in front of her face. "Look I'm tearin' up! Did he say it jest like that? Yer not leavin' anythin' out are ye?"
Beth sniffled. "He wants me to let him."
"And what did ye say? What are ye doin' here with me and me stupid cat?" Alana demanded.
"I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say." Beth answered honestly, her face solemn.
"Ye didn't say anything'?" Alana squeaked astonished by her friend's reply.
Beth looked down at the glass in her hand. "I'm not sure if I can let him."
"Well why not? Mick jest did somethin' that most women dream their men would do. He shared all of his feelin's with ye and yer not sure if ye can let him?" she exclaimed setting her glass down on the table and throwing her hands up in the air.
Beth tilted her head to the side and shrugged.
"UGH!" Alana cried in response. "What is this really about? Yer hesitation… are ye scared of Mick? Is it because he's a vampire?"
"There are reasons why we shouldn't be together."
Alana leaned forward, her palms out and shook her head in disbelief. "Like?"
Beth began, ticking off her reasons, one on each finger. "He sleeps in a freezer."
"He'll never hog the covers." Alana countered.
"He drinks blood."
"Ye'll never have ta cook fer him." Alana pointed out with a grin. "That can be a good thin'."
"He can't spend too much time in the sunlight. I love the sunlight." Beth went on.
"So ye have picnics at night. Moonlit picnics on the beach…" She sighed contentedly. "Can ye get more romantic then that? Besides, ye'll never have ta hear him complain about bein' sunburned. Men are babies when they're sunburned. Next?"
"Babies! There's one! Vampires can't have children." Beth replied smirking at her own cleverness.
Alana bit her tongue. She wanted to say something about her discovery. "Are ye plannin' on havin' a baby anytime in the near future?"
"Maybe someday…" Beth answered with longing.
"Then that's somethin' ye can worry about someday, not now."
"He's not human." Beth whined now sounding desperate to win the debate.
"Ye know yerself that Mick has more humanity in him than most of the "humans" ye see on the street everyday.
"I'm going to die and he's going to live forever." Beth murmured sadly.
"Plannin' yer death already are ye? Everyone dies Beth. It's like that Disney movie Lysander likes so much says, tis the circle of life. Eventually even Mick will die, because I know he can't stand ta live without ye. It's not hard at see that yer his reason fer livin'."
Beth took a deep breath, clutched both hands to her chest and closed her eyes.
"Are ye out of excuses? Because if ye are, I'm goin' ta tell ye the way I see it, the way it really is." She stated with complete confidence in her voice. "Yer not really bothered by the fact that Mick's a vampire, or that he drinks blood, sleeps in a freezer and can't spend much time in the sunlight. Ye don't even mind the fact that he can't have children, because like ye said right now it's not somethin' yer thinkin' about. Those are jest excuses. Yer scared ta give yer whole heart ta someone. And trust me I understand that. I've been there. I know what that's like."
"I'm not scared. I've been in relationships before." The former blond remarked defensively.
"Tell me about yer last relationship, before Mick."
"His name was Josh Lindsey. He was an Assistant District Attorney. We were together for a year before he was killed three months ago."
Alana bit her bottom lip. "I think I remember readin' somethin' in the newspaper about that. He was killed by someone he was prosecutin'. Right?"
Beth nodded. "He was shot and died right in front of me. Mick was there. He did everything he could to save Josh…" she explained, admiration for Mick evident in her voice.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean ta brin' up sad memories." Alana apologized sincerely.
Beth shook her head. "No it's alright. I haven't really talked about this."
"You loved him. It's hard ta talk about people we've loved and lost."
"I didn't love him, not the way I should have, not the way that he loved me." Beth said regretfully. "I cared about him. We had a great relationship, but then I met Mick and I found myself thinking of him whenever Josh kissed me. It was Mick I wanted laying beside me when Josh and I were together at night."
"So yer feelin' guilty. Yer punishin' yerself because now that ye can have what ye wanted, ye feel like ye don't deserve it because of Josh. Yer not responsible for his death."
"I was mad at Mick because he refused to turn Josh. Now I understand why, and I'm glad he didn't." She swallowed hard. "Josh wouldn't have wanted that. Selfishly, I wanted more time with him. Not time to spend with him, but time to explain that I didn't love him the way he way loved me. I knew he suspected there was something between me and Mick. I've never cheated on anyone before."
"Beth ye have no reason ta feel guilty." Alana told Beth as she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "And fer the record, ye didn't cheat on Josh. Last time I checked cheatin' involved a lot more then some imaginative thoughts."
"What about kissing? Does kissing count?. I kissed Mick when I was still with Josh." she took a deep breath.
"It could have been a lot worse." Alana tried sympathetically. "It's not like you parked in front of Josh's office and hopped in the back seat with Mick."
Beth took another deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Nothing like that. I would have broken it off with Josh before it got any further, but.. there's more. After Josh died, the DA's office brought me a box of his stuff and his life insurance policy, which he left to me. Of course to make matters worse I went through his appointment book and saw that he had a dinner meeting with some woman named Celeste. I thought he was cheating on me but it turned out that he was meeting with a jeweler to get his grandmother's stone reset and he was going to propose."
"Janey Mack!" Alana exclaimed. "If he were still alive today and he'd asked ye at marry him would ye have said yes?"
Beth looked at her friend her eyes sad. "No." she sighed. " I don't think I could have said yes to him."
"Then maybe it's better that he didn't know. He died knowing he was loved. Do ye really think he'd want ye ta be sittin' around punishin' yerself? " Alana questioned.
Beth turned to Alana. "Have you ever lost someone that you loved?"
"Aye, ye don't live as long as I have without a little heartbreak. But this isn't about me. This is about ye and Mick." she said with a smile tilting her head. "Do ye love Mick?"
Beth nodded and smiled. "I do. I love him. Every time I'm near him, the feeling it's overwhelming, . Even when he does a bonehead thing like punching out someone because they kissed me, I love him."
Alana chuckled. "Aww." she replied. "Well the only question left is what are ye goin' ta do about it? Are ye goin' ta love him and let him love ye in return? Or are ye goin' ta run away? And jest so ye know if ye choose the second one in me opinion ye'lll be a bleedin' gack." She replied with a laugh.
"Well I wouldn't want to be a bleedin' gack. Whatever that is." Beth chuckled half heartedly. "It doesn't sound good."
"Gack means yer a stupid idiot frankly." Alana laughed and shook her head. "Americans!"
"Hey!" Beth replied. "Josef says the same thing about Americans. That's so funny. Maybe you two are more perfect for each other than you think."
"Why are ye tryin' ta change the subject. Ye've got yer own love life ta be worrin' about." Alana reminded her.
"Yes, but we fixed my issues. And I didn't even need a lifetime of therapy. Thank You." Beth smiled at the wise redhead.
"Yer welcome." Alana smiled back.
"So you and Josef? What exactly did he say when he asked you out?"
Alana grinned. "Ye really want ta know?"
Beth nodded animatedly. "Yes!"
"Okay." She clapped her hands and jumped up from the couch. "Sit back. Git comfy." Alana moved away from the sofa so she was standing beside the coffee table. "Now keep in mind I'm already cheesed off at Josef fer ignorin' me."
Beth nodded. "Right." She took a sip of her juice.
Alana slipped her hands into the pockets of her terry cloth robe and slouched a little bit her shoulders slumped. "Are you doing anything on Saturday night?" she stated in a manly voice. She then straightened and turned back into herself to reply her part of the conversation. "Aye, I plan on gettin' dressed ta the nines, goin' ta this swanky party I heard about and dancin' with every man in the room." She turned back to where she was standing before, her hands slipped back in her pockets and her stance changed to the un-confident slouch. "Yeah me too." she answered herself in a manly tone. She removed her hands from her pockets again and turned to Beth. "I'd be lyin' if I said that didn't make me a wee bit nervous."
Beth stifled a laugh watching as her friend continued her one woman show.
Alana changed her position again. "Really? Did ye call me this evenin' ta tell me yer a bloody poof? Coz I'm havin' hard time believin' that." She turned again hands back in the pockets of her robe. "What?! No! I meant dancing with every woman at the party." she muttered doing her best impression of Josef .
Beth laughed aloud.
"Well, that's better. Ah, don't tell me, ye want me ta take notes at the party ta write up some publicity fer ye. Well I'm not workin'!" Alana replied crossing her arms and stomping her foot for dramatic effect. She turned back to Beth. "There was no way I was about ta miss the big shindig." she explained.
Alana then moved back into her 'Josef position'. "I don't want you to work at the party." she said trying to sound masculine. "Alright. Am I still allowed ta go?" she said once again portraying herself. "Yes. I invited you. Or I am inviting you… not just as an associate." she stated as Josef tripping over her words.
Beth brought her legs up on the couch to get more comfortable.
"I already got an invitation…" Alana said with confusion. She paused. "Beth, I honestly didn't know what the hell he wanted. But then…" She smacked herself on the forehead. "It hit me!"
Alana went back to her living room reenactment as herself this time. "Oh! Are ye tryin' ta ask me on a date Josef Kostan?" Alana turned so she was facing where she was just standing, hands in pockets. "That depends, are you planning on accepting?" she replied in a deeper voice. "You'll have ta ask to find out." Alana stated simply.
"I'm glad you didn't let him get away with asking you like that. Josef gets away with far too much already." Now it was her turn to gush. "So what'd he say after that?" Beth asked poised on the edge of the couch with interest.
"Thank you. I quite agree." Alana cleared her throat and went on with her show. "Would you be my date for the party on Saturday night?" she asked herself. "That depends. Are ye still goin' ta dance with every woman in the room?" she replied her accent thick. She then looked at Beth. "By now I was already goin' ta say yes, but I couldn't resist playin' coy." she giggled. "Then he said the sweetest thin'."
Beth smiled. "Don't keep me in suspense."
"Right. Sorry." Alana apologized before acting out the dramatic ending. "Not if I already have a full dance card. What do you say Miss Dawson, would you accompany me to the Old Hollywood Glamour Party on Saturday evening?" She swayed on her feet shoulders slouched. "So I said, I would be very pleased ta accompany ye Mr. Kostan." She smiled confidently.
Beth clapped her hands appreciative of Alana's performance.
"And then I kissed him on the cheek." Alana explained taking a bow and then sitting on the couch next to Beth. "He was rather flummoxed by the whole thin'. I have ta say ye could have put a Santa hat on me and called me Randal. I wasn't expectin' it."
"It seems like he was pretty nervous asking you. I've never seen Josef nervous. It's hard to even imagine." Beth commented.
"Aye, he's usually the one makin' a room full of people nervous. Twas refreshin' and very humorous."
"So what do you think this means? Him asking you to the party?" Beth took a sip of her drink.
"Eh. It's just a date ta a party that he's throwin'. I've gone ta his parties before. I'm not tyin' all me hopes and dreams on him anytime soon."
"But you do like him don't you?" Beth asked her friend.
"I like him enough ta work fer him fer the past four years. He's not lookin' fer any romance Beth. He's got his meals in high heels ta fill all his 'needs'."
"He's never fed from you?" Beth asked a tinge of shock and admiration in her voice.
Alana shook her head. "The most intimate we've ever been was me kissin' him on the cheek the other night. He's never showed any interest in wantin' ta bite me. Of course I haven't exactly offered meself up as dinner either." Alana paused. "I don't want ta be gettin' too personal, but have ye ever fed Mick? What was it like?"
"Mick's only fed from me once and it was an emergency. He was dying I don't think either of us got a chance to enjoy it. I'll admit I was scared, but it was thrilling too. I doubt he'd bite me again, especially for pleasure, even if I asked him to."
Alana quirked a brow at Beth. Beth looked at Alana her face turning red under the hardening green face mask. Alana let out a long loud squeal followed by a series of giggles. Beth joined her in her laughter loud enough to make Lysander 'meo-w' in complaint.
Mick and Josef sat at an empty poker table, in Josef's office, glasses of scotch in front of them. Josef was staring at his cards intently wondering just how he could have lost two thousand dollars to one of his poker buddies.
"You should know better than to invite John to a poker game." Mick commented. "He was a dealer in Vegas."
"I never lose." Josef replied shaking his head. "This is unacceptable!"
"It's just a game buddy." Mick reminded him with a light laugh. "It's only two grand. You make that while you put on your pants."
Josef shot his best friend a look. "Go home to blondie and leave me to mourn my money in peace." he smirked.
"She's not at home. She's over at Alana's. They're getting ready for the party tomorrow night." Mick said sullenly. "According to Beth they're doing 'girlie things'."
"I knew it was a good idea to introduce them."
Mick brought his elbows to the table, folded his hands under his chin and looked across the room with longing.
"Aww that's cute. You miss her." Josef teased. "Well then go home and watch one of her broadcasts that I know you have saved on your computer. Go rescue a cat out of a tree or whatever it is you do for entertainment."
Mick dropped his hands to his lap and looked over at Josef. "Don't you know you are my other form of entertainment? When Beth isn't around I have to settle for you." Mick grinned. "C'mon Josef. It's only 11:45. It's early. Do you really want to spend a perfectly good evening moping? We could go play pool or see a movie. When was the last time you saw a movie? There's always that jazz club by the beach." he tried.
Josef rose from the table taking his glass with him. "You're in an unusually optimistic mood. I'm not sure I like it. What turned your frown upside down? Beth agree to marry you?" He walked over to the window and looked out at the Los Angeles skyline.
Mick sighed. "I'll pay you two thousand dollars to leave this office right now and stop dwelling on the fact that you lost a game of cards."
Josef took a sip of his drink. "Done. Now where should we go?" He turned away from the window and made his way towards his friend.
"You seriously want me to pay you to hang out with me?" Mick asked.
"Hey you offered." Josef replied "Besides you still owe me, for the money that Beth spent, for human sitting and I'm sure there's a long list of other courtesies I've done for you that need to be repaid."
Mick rolled his eyes. "Whatever happened to a good old fashioned favor?" he asked pulling his wallet out of the pocket of his jeans. He opened it to retrieve a handful of bills. "I've only got fifteen hundred on me." Mick thumbed through the money in his hands. "Here's a thousand, I'll get you the rest later."
Josef snatched all the money Mick was holding with a wicked grin. "Nice doing business with you. Do you need a receipt?"
Mick shook his head closed his empty wallet and slipped it back into his pocket. "Thanks pal. Now I'm broke."
"You're not broke. Your wallet's just empty. We can hit an ATM machine before we go wherever it is we're going."
Mick grabbed his jacket from the chair by the poker table and put it on.
"Oh, you're still planning to donate tomorrow night at the party right?" Josef grabbed his suit jacket from his chair.
Mick groaned in reply. "Josef you're not going to be happy until I really am broke."
"I promise to get you and blondie a really nice wedding present." Josef said with a smirk as they left the office.
Later that night after the girls had finished laughing, washed off their face masks, cleaned up the living room and headed to bed, Beth lay in the quiet guestroom thinking about Mick. Everything Alana had said made perfect sense to her. She didn't have any reason to feel guilty. What happened to Josh wasn't her fault, just like it wasn't her fault that she couldn't love Josh like he'd wanted her to.
Beth turned on her side slid over towards the bedside table where her cell phone was and grabbed it. She lay back on the bed and pressed her thumb to the phone. It was just barely midnight. She wondered what Mick was doing. Beth sat up against the headboard of the bed and pressed her thumb to the phone again bringing up the text application. She quickly typed and sent a message then put the phone back on the table before returning her head to the pillow and closing her eyes.
Mick's phone beeped in his pocket alerting him to a text message.
"It's probably from Beth." Josef who was driving remarked with a knowing grin. "Is she wishing you sweet dreams, sending you kisses?" he taunted.
Mick chuckled. "I doubt that. We had another argument today. A stupid argument."
"Your fault? Or hers?' Josef questioned.
"I punched someone because they kissed her." Mick replied with a smile. "Then she freaked out on me. We had a screaming match on the side of the road."
"Oh. So it was your fault. Good going. Who'd you punch, the Gobshite? Alana will be thrilled." Josef answered.
"I can't do anything right when it comes to Beth." Mick muttered.
"Yeah, tell me about it. Women! I made the mistake of telling Alana she looked beautiful today and she told me, 'What are ye tryin' to say that I don't look good everyday?' Josef said in a high pitched voice trying his best to mimic Alana's Irish accent. "Women are such beautifully complicated creatures."
Mick nodded as he took his phone out from his pocket. "Next time choose your words wisely my friend." He pressed his thumb to the screen and read his new message.
Just wanted to say goodnight
And I LOVE YOU.
C-ya tomorrow night the party.
Wear your dancing shoes.
xoxo
Mick smiled to himself and read the message a few times. Everything between them was going to work out somehow.
"So what's Beth have to say this evening?" Josef asked as he pulled his Ferrari into the movie theater parking lot.
Mick slid his phone back into his pocket. "Oh nothing. It wasn't Beth." he lied.
"Yeah right. Who else makes you grin like that? I'll bet the fifteen hundred dollars you just gave me it was Beth. I'll tell you what, I'll give you back your money and pay for the movie if you show me the text message." Josef said with a grin shutting off his car and pulling his keys from the ignition.
"Keep your money Josef." Mick insisted getting out of the car.
"I was right, wasn't I? Goodnight kisses and sweet dreams. Humans are so predictable." Josef got out of the car and armed the alarm. "Do you want to skip the movie ? We could drive by Alana's house and check on the girls."
Mick shook his head. "No, Josef that's alright. Hang in there buddy you're gonna see Alana tomorrow night." He clapped him on his shoulder.
"I see Alana everyday Mick. I meant for you, because you probably want to kiss blondie goodnight."
"Are you sure it's not that you want to kiss Alana goodnight?" Mick teased.
"Please, Mick. We're here see an overpriced movie, the last thing on my mind is kissing my secretary goodnight." Josef replied shortly.
"Yeah you keep telling yourself that." Mick muttered as they made their way into the theater.
The night went on Beth sleeping peacefully having the sweetest thoughts of Mick. She got up around five to use the bathroom and paused in the hallway when she heard crying coming from Alana's room.
"Garren! Garren! No Garren!" Alana cried out fitfully in her sleep.
Alana was having a bad dream. Not wanting to disturb her friend Beth quietly used the bathroom and crept back down the hall. Lysander lay on the floor by Alana's bedroom door protectively. He looked up at Beth as she made her way back to bed.
She'd ask Alana about her dream tomorrow and if she wanted to tell her about it, she would. If she didn't, well it wasn't her place to pry.
Beth settled herself back into the bed and closed her eyes. Overwhelmed with exhaustion she fell asleep quickly. Her last thought before drifting off, Mick…Mc…a sausage McGriddle sandwich would be really yummy right now.