Frank excused himself as Alex and Monica drug Sasche to a private room. "Cody."
"Yeah Boss?"
"Where's Jake? I thought I saw him when we first arrived."
"I'm here Frank. Up on the second level balcony. What do you need?"
"You. I need to talk to you."
"I'll stay where I am then."
--
Alex and Monica both pulled out their earpieces so Frank and Jake couldn't hear what they were going to say.
"We are SO sorry about what happened! Neither Monica or I had any idea that this would turn out the way it did!"
"No kidding. Sasche, if we had known, we would have told you immediately!"
"Guys, it's OK. Frank explained everything to me before we left. That's sort of why we were late. I threw a tantrum and said I wasn't coming tonight."
Monica and Alex's mouth dropped for a moment. Then they looked around and pulled Sasche out onto the balcony. "He cares for you. Monica even thinks it's as deep as love. Sasche, if you could have seen his face when you left him there at the nest..."
"Yeah, he looked like his world had just ended."
"I know. And that's why I need to talk to him."
--
Frank pulled Jake onto another balcony and closed the door behind him.
"You're not going to throw me off the ledge, are you?"
"A few days ago, I might have." Frank chuckled and pushed his hands into his pockets. "Jake, look, I know you've been seeing Sasche since Tuesday evening. At first I wasn't sure if I liked the idea of her dating someone I didn't know. But when I found out it was you, I knew I didn't like the idea. Wait, let me finish. But, when I saw how miserable she was yesterday, I knew I didn't have a choice in the matter. The plain fact is, she smiled a lot more this last week than she had since Trey died a few months ago."
"Trey?"
"Trey Allerton. He was a New York City fireman. He died in the World Trade Center incident." Jake's face flinched and he looked out over the grounds at all the lights.
"She never told me. She mentioned something about not being able to talk about it before, but that she was so comfortable with me that she didn't even think about it."
"Sasche was dating him for a few months prior to the incident. He held her up after our parents died and I couldn't. She's got a lot of demons to deal with revolving around that day. Don't we all. But lately, and I mean since you came into her life, she's been happier, more like her old self. You did that for her Jake. And I think I owe you my thanks for that."
Jake was speechless. Did he hear his boss right? Two days ago he was getting the riot act read to him for daring to date Sasche. Now he was getting thanked for it?
"If I know Alex and Monica, they've got Sasche pin holed somewhere and trying to convince her that she needs to talk to you. But I know a secret. She's looking for you Jake. Go find her and talk to her.
--
Sasche stood in the middle of a large crowd of people. Alex and Monica were off trying to find Jake for her.
Jake was trying to push through the people to get to Sasche. 'Just follow the hanging tongues' was what Frank had said about making it easy to find Sasche. He wasn't kidding. When he finally caught a glimpse of her, he knew why.
It was a clandestine moment when the crowd of people parted as they walked about. Jake saw Sasche and couldn't help but stare. Damn she was beautiful.
Over near the orchestra, Alex, Monica, Frank and Cody stood watching. The orchestra was on a raised platform and they had a better view than anyone else on the floor. While Sasche and Jake were searching for one another, Cody had managed to rig the sound system into his laptop. When Alex and Monica arrived, they all giggled conspiritorially and searched his MP3 archives for the right song. It was Frank who picked it out for them.
All four watched with a smile as Sasche and Jake finally saw each other. Life was a dance indeed.
****
"Yeah Boss?"
"Where's Jake? I thought I saw him when we first arrived."
"I'm here Frank. Up on the second level balcony. What do you need?"
"You. I need to talk to you."
"I'll stay where I am then."
--
Alex and Monica both pulled out their earpieces so Frank and Jake couldn't hear what they were going to say.
"We are SO sorry about what happened! Neither Monica or I had any idea that this would turn out the way it did!"
"No kidding. Sasche, if we had known, we would have told you immediately!"
"Guys, it's OK. Frank explained everything to me before we left. That's sort of why we were late. I threw a tantrum and said I wasn't coming tonight."
Monica and Alex's mouth dropped for a moment. Then they looked around and pulled Sasche out onto the balcony. "He cares for you. Monica even thinks it's as deep as love. Sasche, if you could have seen his face when you left him there at the nest..."
"Yeah, he looked like his world had just ended."
"I know. And that's why I need to talk to him."
--
Frank pulled Jake onto another balcony and closed the door behind him.
"You're not going to throw me off the ledge, are you?"
"A few days ago, I might have." Frank chuckled and pushed his hands into his pockets. "Jake, look, I know you've been seeing Sasche since Tuesday evening. At first I wasn't sure if I liked the idea of her dating someone I didn't know. But when I found out it was you, I knew I didn't like the idea. Wait, let me finish. But, when I saw how miserable she was yesterday, I knew I didn't have a choice in the matter. The plain fact is, she smiled a lot more this last week than she had since Trey died a few months ago."
"Trey?"
"Trey Allerton. He was a New York City fireman. He died in the World Trade Center incident." Jake's face flinched and he looked out over the grounds at all the lights.
"She never told me. She mentioned something about not being able to talk about it before, but that she was so comfortable with me that she didn't even think about it."
"Sasche was dating him for a few months prior to the incident. He held her up after our parents died and I couldn't. She's got a lot of demons to deal with revolving around that day. Don't we all. But lately, and I mean since you came into her life, she's been happier, more like her old self. You did that for her Jake. And I think I owe you my thanks for that."
Jake was speechless. Did he hear his boss right? Two days ago he was getting the riot act read to him for daring to date Sasche. Now he was getting thanked for it?
"If I know Alex and Monica, they've got Sasche pin holed somewhere and trying to convince her that she needs to talk to you. But I know a secret. She's looking for you Jake. Go find her and talk to her.
--
Sasche stood in the middle of a large crowd of people. Alex and Monica were off trying to find Jake for her.
Jake was trying to push through the people to get to Sasche. 'Just follow the hanging tongues' was what Frank had said about making it easy to find Sasche. He wasn't kidding. When he finally caught a glimpse of her, he knew why.
It was a clandestine moment when the crowd of people parted as they walked about. Jake saw Sasche and couldn't help but stare. Damn she was beautiful.
Over near the orchestra, Alex, Monica, Frank and Cody stood watching. The orchestra was on a raised platform and they had a better view than anyone else on the floor. While Sasche and Jake were searching for one another, Cody had managed to rig the sound system into his laptop. When Alex and Monica arrived, they all giggled conspiritorially and searched his MP3 archives for the right song. It was Frank who picked it out for them.
All four watched with a smile as Sasche and Jake finally saw each other. Life was a dance indeed.
****