"But you just won't let me kiss you anymore?"
"Not as long as you're enforcing your no relationship rule."
Another long gulp and another pause later, "What if I forget about that rule?"
Stephanie felt dizzy again. "Then you ask me on a date and we see what happens."
Ranger didn't flinch, blink, grin, frown, yawn, or smile. He just sat there staring at Stephanie. When she finally couldn't take his stare any longer she looked away. And when she got bored with the silence she grabbed the TV remote and flipped through the channels. After watching the last 15 minutes of an 'I Love Lucy' rerun, Ranger finally spoke.
"So do you have Scrabble or something? I have a feeling the next 9 hours are going to be long ones."
Steph In The Right Direction
Chapter Nine
After two hours of Scrabble, two hours of Monopoly, two hours of channel surfing and two hours of cleaning every square inch of the apartment, Stephanie ushered Ranger out the door. Somehow they had managed to spend the remainder of the night without any 'heavy' conversations.
As Stephanie changed into her pajamas she replayed the events of the night. What was Ranger thinking when he asked what she would do if he forgot about his 'no relationship' rule? Was it merely a test? Was he just seeing if she would take the bait? And when she did fall hook, line and sinker why did he allow the topic to close as quickly as it had opened, not another word about it being mentioned for the remainder of the night. Stephanie sighed and tried not to read too much into that particular flash of memory.
As she snuggled under the covers for some quick sleep before her evening date with Joe, Stephanie smiled as she replayed the remainder of her night with Ranger. The games started out tame, then someone yelled, 'cheater' and it was all downhill from there. By the time the games were put away, their sides ached from the laughter. Then she recalled the way he looked as he padded around her apartment cleaning. It had been her idea to straighten up, so she was surprised when she noticed him folding the clean clothes. And when he put away the clean dishes away she stared at him in awe, amazed at how at home he looked.
When he caught her glance she quickly adverted her eyes. She swore she had heard him laugh, but not wanting to explain herself she let it go.
Stephanie rolled over and re-fluffed her pillow. She double-checked the alarm clock then finally fell asleep.
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Stephanie sat straight up when her alarm clock beeped off. She threw a pillow in it's direction causing the clock to fall from the nightstand and bounce across the floor. When it settled to a stop, she glanced at the time and realized she had only allowed herself an hour to get ready for her date.
Tossing the covers off the bed, she fluttered into motion. After a quick shower, she dug through her closet until she found a simple red sundress. Moving on from the clothes, she settled in to do her hair. She rubbed in some mousse, gave it a quick scrunch and blow dry and did the hair flip thing a couple of times. After she finished, her hair was ten times wider than it had been when she started. In an effort to tame it down, she pulled up the sides and secured them in place with a set of cute berets.
When all was said and done, she took a long look in the mirror and decided that she didn't look half bad. She was all dressed up, and now, all she needed was a place to go. She glanced at the clock on the floor. 8:15pm. She checked her answering machine to see if she had missed a call from Joe, but the mechanical voice announced that she had no new messages. Figuring he was running late from work, Stephanie grabbed the remote and began flipping through the channels.
Two Seinfeld episodes later, Joe finally arrived. When she opened the door he let his eyes slide up and down her body before settling on her chest. She had to clear her throat before he met her eyes.
"Thought you were picking me up at 8:00." It wasn't a question.
"Sorry Cupcake, work things. You know how it is. You look great, ready to go?"
Trying to put on the brave face, she took a deep breath then nodded. "Breathe, Steph, Breathe. So he was an hour late? Don't let it ruin the night, just be the better person," she told herself.
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Five minutes after they were seated at their table Stephanie noticed how handsome Joe looked in his suit and tie. Unfortunately she noticed it as he walked outside to take a cell phone call.
Several minutes later he returned and their evening began once again.
"You look great Joe."
"Thanks. This tie is killing me and these shoes are some kind of torture device but I told you I'd dress up." he explained as he loosened the tie.
"Well, I appreciate the effort. This really means a lot to me. I think it's time we start coming to some decisions about our relationship and we can't do that until we really learn what each other want."
"Shit cupcake. Is this about getting married? I didn't think you wanted that?"
Stephanie sighed. "No Joe, it's not about getting married. I don't necessarily want that right now, but I do want a committed relationship. I need to be with someone that understands and respects me…"
Before she could finish her sentence, Joe's phone buzzed again. And for the second time that evening she watched as he walked through the front door to answer the call.
When 20 minutes had passed and Joe hadn't returned, Stephanie's patience met it's limit. She tossed her napkin on the table, asked the waiter to add another lobster to the order then slowly snuck out the back door. She walked about three blocks before realizing she couldn't walk all the way home, so she flipped open her cell phone.
"Hey, can you come get me?" she said into the receiver.
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"I can't believe you ordered two lobsters then walked out and left him the bill!" Mary Lou giggled over her carton of Ben & Jerry's.
"Well it was the only decent thing to do Lou. He was an hour late picking me up, then he kept answering his cell phone and left me sitting in the restaurant for 20 minutes all by myself after I had just finished explaining to him that I was looking for someone who would respect me!" Stephanie explained over her own carton of ice cream.
Mary Lou shoved the spoon into the ice cream then looked at her best friend as if for the very first time. "Stephanie, you do deserve better. You know that right?"
"I say that I do, but I keep falling into the same old situations. Maybe it's just me, maybe this is all I'm capable of having."
Mary Lou waved the spoon in defiance. "Don't be silly. You deserve to be treated like a princess. Just look at me and Lenny. I adore that fool, he drives me batty sometimes but he really is perfect for me. And don't you dare roll your eyes Plum. I didn't say he was the perfect man, but perfect for me. I hate that he leaves his dirty socks all over the house, and I hate that sometimes he forgets to put the ice cream back in the freezer and it melts everywhere, but those are little things. They don't mean anything. The way he looks at me, the way he loves our children, the way he supports me, those are the real things that matter. And those are things that you deserve to have."
Stephanie wiped away a single tear, tossed her ice cream on the table and devoured Mary Lou in a bear hug. The best friends, swayed and cried in each other's arms until someone rang her doorbell.
They pulled apart slowly, and Stephanie made her way to the door. When she flung it open she saw a very angry, a very pissed off, and a very wet Joseph Morelli.
