Jack stood there for a few moments recovering from what he had heard before dashing to the door. "STEPHANIE! TERRI!" He called out. He quickly noticed that his shouts were useless as he saw the girls dashing onto the bus at the corner stop. He turned and slammed the door behind him, groaning on his way to the kitchen the way he always did when things were not going his way.

Janet entered the apartment in enough time to hear Jack's groans. She rushed into the kitchen and found Jack slamming cabinet doors.

"Jack. Did you have a chance to talk to Stephanie this morning?" Janet asked.

Jack gave her a sidelong glance and one of his loud groans as he slammed the refrigerator door.

"I take that as a no." Janet replied. "Well what about Larry?"

Jack's face brightened in realization. "Larry! Good idea Janet. I'm just in the right mood to kill him."

He rushed back into the living room and opened the front door preparing to go out and ran smack into Larry who stood as if he were about to knock on the door.

"Oh, good. Just who I wanted to see. Brace yourself. One, two, three….." Jack crooked his arm back ready to deal his former friend a blow when Janet grabbed his elbow and stopped him.

"Jack, calm down!" She commanded as Larry stood there shielding himself from the blow.

"How can you say that Janet? My sister has only been in town for three days and look what's happened!"

"Look, Jack. I understand you're upset about our date last night, but….."

"Don't but me, Larry. I'm not talking about a simple date…….although that upsets me too…….I'm talking about a bigger issue here."

"What?" Larry asked, throwing open his arms.

"Well Larry…" Janet began as Veronica's brother, Jason, arrived at the door. "You've got a little sister. How would you feel if someone proposed to her after dating only two days?"

Larry looked at Jason with shock and subtle jealousy. "Are you kiddin'? I'd murder the bum!"

"No you…..what?" Jack asked, surprised at the answer.

"I said I would kill him!"

"Thank you!" Jack said, forming a fist again. Janet grabbed his arm just as he was about to deliver a blow to Larry, who thought it was intended for Jason. "Jack, go in the kitchen."

"Janet, I'll handle this."

"Yes. You handled the situation with your sister so well yesterday. Just go in the kitchen and let me talk to Larry!"

Jack reluctantly allowed Janet to give him a shove toward the kitchen. He stared at Larry coolly as he pushed on the swinging door to make preparations for the gourmet dinner.

"Look Jan. I know Jack is upset but I really don't have time to talk about it right now. I just came up to see if I could borrow a necktie."

"A necktie?" Janet asked.

"Yeah. They're shooting this commercial down at the used car lot today and I have to dress up."

"Excuse me, but may I come in and talk to Jack?" Jason interrupted.

Janet sighed heavily. "Let me check with him, Jason. He's under a little pressure right now."

"Janet! The necktie?" Larry pressed.

"Hold on." Janet replied. She hurriedly went to Jack's room and pulled open his bureau drawer. "What color Larry?"

"It doesn't matter, just grab one!"

Janet plucked a red tie from Jack's small collection and threw it to Larry.

"Thank you!" He shouted, running down the stairs in an effort to make it to work on time.

"I'm sorry Jason. Let's see if this is a good time for Jack."

Jason followed Janet to the kitchen. "Jack? Is this a good time to see Jason?"

Jack turned to the door and his bitterness turned to guilt when he saw Jason. "Jason. I'm so sorry for the way I acted out there. Larry's sort of a problem right now."

"Listen, Jack. I just came home to get some keys for work. I have to get back and make some arrangements for a wedding tomorrow. Will you be all right?" Janet asked.

"I'll be fine, Janet." Jack replied, waving his roommate away. He then turned to Jason. "Now where was I?"

"Larry. But there's no need to explain things to me, Jack. I'm just glad you're setting me up with your sister. She's gorgeous!"

"Thank you." Jack smiled. "Listen, I know I called you over here this morning but I didn't realize she had made plans for today. She's already gone."

"Oh." Jason replied in disappointment.

"But I don't see any reason why the two of you can't get together tonight. I have to prepare a dinner for some….special clients….but I should be here until about 6:30. Is that a good time for you?"

"Terrific!" Jason replied.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that afternoon, Stephanie and Terri arrived back at the apartment.

"Thanks again for picking up the dress for me, Terri. You're a lifesaver!"

"No problem, Stephanie. I just hope it fits." Terri replied as she went into her bedroom to hang the dress in the closet.

"I'll be sure to try it on before I leave. I wonder where Jack is?"

"Try the kitchen!" Terri shouted back from the bedroom.

Stephanie went into the kitchen and spied Jack getting the food ready to take to his client's house. "Hi stranger! Need any help?"

"No, I've just about got everything ready." Jack replied. He looked at his sister, desperately wanting to have a long talk with her, knowing that there wasn't enough time.

"Jack are you okay? You look so sad."

"Everything's going to be okay." Jack said, grabbing her into a hug. Stephanie looked surprised but returned the gesture.

"Do you remember Veronica's brother Jason?" Jack asked as he let her go.

"Oh, yeah. The guy at the Bistro the other night." Stephanie nodded.

"Well, he really likes you, and I sort of promised him that you would go out with him tonight."

"Tonight?" Stephanie asked, remembering that Larry was going to be hung up at the car lot shooting the commercial. She really didn't want to go out with Jason, feeling that she was being unfaithful somehow. Still, Jack looked so sad and she didn't want to do anything to disappoint him. "Sure. What time?"

Just then the doorbell chimed. "Right now." Jack replied, going into the living room followed by Stephanie. He opened the door to find Jason standing there with a small bunch of flowers.

"Hi!" Jason said, entering the living room. "These are for you." He handed the flowers to Stephanie.

"How sweet!" She replied, sniffing the flowers. "Listen, Jason. If you don't mind I would like to change clothes. What are we doing tonight?"

"There's a concert down on Palm Boulevard I thought we might go to."

"Great!" Stephanie replied. She knocked on Terri's door and went inside. "Terri, I'm going out with Jason tonight. Could I borrow a t-shirt and some shorts?"

"No problem!" Terri replied.

Meanwhile in the living room, Jack was talking to Jason.

"Listen Jason, I'm glad you came over tonight, but I gotta level with you. You see, it seems Stephanie's pregnant, and frankly I'm willing to do almost anything to get her away from that former friend of mine Larry. He's taking advantage of the whole situation."

"Your sister is pregnant?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. Like I said, I'm really sorry and I understand if you want to cancel the date."

"No. Not at all." Jason replied.

About that time, Stephanie emerged from Terri's bedroom dressed for the date. Both of the guys had their backs turned and neither noticed her.

"I mean, it's an awful thing when a sister gets pregnant, especially when she's so young. But hey, what can a brother be expected to do about it?"

"I understand your view, Jason. I don't want this to be your problem. But me, I have to worry about this." Jack sighed heavily. "So where is Veronica tonight?"

Stephanie almost gasped and ran back into Terri's room. "Terri!" She exclaimed, closing the door quietly.

"Stephanie, what's wrong?" Terri asked with concern.

"It's Jack! I think Veronica is pregnant!"