Just again wanted to thank all my reviewers: OClover1, She Loves Shoes, don't think about it, Cohen-girl, and Ansy Pansy aka Panz. Hope I'm still doing okay! Here's Chapter 5:
Chapter 5: The Starlight
Kirsten was almost finished getting ready for dinner. She tried to convince herself that she wasn't taking this extra time to get ready because of Jimmy, but she knew that was a lie. She was wearing a white tube sundress that had small black flowers printed on it. It wasn't too fancy, yet not too casual either. It looked incredible on her. She topped it off by putting diamond stud earrings into her ears and a fancy silver bracelet around her wrist. Her hair had spiral curls throughout it, but it had a flowing look to it, rather than having rigid, tight curls.
After finishing with her makeup, making sure not to have too much on, she heard the doorbell ring. She rushed downstairs to get it. She opened it to find a very presentable Jimmy Cooper standing at her door. He was wearing kakis and a blue polo shirt. Perfect, she thought. She knew that this would make a good impression on her father, which made Kirsten happy. She had to admit, he looked pretty cute and as he smiled, it made her heart flutter just a bit.
Jimmy stood at the door waiting for an answer to the doorbell he had just rung. A few moments later, Kirsten opened the door. He looked at her for a second. She looked so beautiful in the sundress she was wearing, so elegant and put together. As he looked into her bright blue eyes, he was glad that she spoke to him first, because for a moment, he couldn't seem to speak.
"Hi Jimmy! Come in! I'm so glad you came!" Kirsten exclaimed. She walked him into her house toward the kitchen to meet her parents. As Jimmy walked through the house, he was utterly amazed. Sure his house was big too, but this house was incredible. He could tell that everything in the house was of the best quality and extremely expensive, from the furniture to the paintings on the wall. The ceilings were vaulted and floor beneath his feet was made of marble. As the pair reached the kitchen, Jimmy saw an incredible view of the ocean.
"Mom, Dad," Kirsten began, "This is Jimmy Cooper. Jimmy, these are my parents, Katherine and Caleb Nichol."
"It's a great pleasure to meet you both, Mr. and Mrs. Nichol," Jimmy told them as he shook their hands.
"Oh, please, dear, call me Katherine or Kate," Kirsten's mom replied.
"And call me Caleb or Cal…" Caleb informed Jimmy.
Just then Jimmy looked up to see a little girl with light brown hair and a huge smile on her face bounding into the room from upstairs.
"Aren't you going to introduce me, Kiks," Hailey stated as soon as she reached the room.
"Okay, okay, Hailey, just give me like two seconds…Jimmy, this is my sister Hailey. Hailey this is Jimmy, my escort at cotillion," Kirsten told her.
Hailey grabbed his hand to shake it and said, "Nice to meet you, Jimmy!"
Jimmy had to chuckle at the eagerness of Kirsten's little sister. "Nice to meet you too, Hailey," he replied.
"Kiki, dinner isn't going to be ready for another five minutes," Caleb told her.
"Oh, that's fine, Dad. I was going to give Jimmy a quick tour of the house, anyway," Kirsten said.
"Excellent idea," Caleb replied.
Kirsten led Jimmy toward the backyard first and figured she would then head back into the house to show him that. Hailey tagged close behind. After getting a good look at Jimmy, Hailey thought that she could almost swear that Jimmy was the boy that was carrying Kirsten the other night…but she wasn't totally sure.
After showing Jimmy around the downstairs portion of the mansion, she led him upstairs. Jimmy had nothing but wonderful things to say about the house. It was starting to sound a little bit like kissing up, but Kirsten thought it was cute. The tour was coming to an end when they reached the end of the hallway between Kirsten and Hailey's rooms.
"So these are Hailey and my rooms," Kirsten told him.
But before she could continue, Jimmy turned toward Kirsten's room and blurted out, "Oh, so this is your room."
Kirsten looked at him a little suspiciously. "Yeah, how did you know?" she inquired.
"Oh, just a lucky guess," Jimmy lied, hoping she wouldn't figure out that he had actually been in her room before.
As Hailey listened to the two of them, she had all the proof she needed. Jimmy was definitely the boy that carried her home. She would have to hang this over Kirsten's head later…
Suddenly, Caleb yelled from downstairs, "Kiki! Dinner is ready."
Kirsten, Jimmy, and Hailey promptly filed downstairs one by one and seated themselves at the table.
Caleb took it upon himself to start the conversation at the table. "So, James, tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from and what brings you to Newport?"
"Well, my family and I are from San Diego. My father was awarded a promotion at his work, but consequently we had to move here. He's now an executive vice president of Pacific Life Insurance."
Caleb looked pleased. The boy seemed to come from a family with solid financial security. He continued to prod into Jimmy, "Please continue James."
"Well, let's see, I have an older sister, an older brother, and a younger sister. I play football…I'm a running back and a strong safety…and I also sail and golf," Jimmy told him. It seemed like so far, everything was going well, but he couldn't be sure. He did find it a little strange that Caleb called him James, but if he liked Jimmy, he didn't really care what he was called.
"Oh, that's great!" Katherine Nichol piped up. "You know, Caleb also enjoys sailing. He tries to go out every week if he can."
"Yes, I do. I am a very busy man, though, and I don't go out nearly as much as I should. I will have to take you out, sometime soon on the boat, James," Caleb told him.
"That would be great. I'll look forward to that," Jimmy replied.
Kirsten smiled brightly. It seemed like it had been so long that her family had been getting along so well, and she was amazed and extremely happy that her father and Jimmy seemed to be making a great connection. In fact, it seemed as though her whole family already loved Jimmy. Finally, she thought. I am actually pleasing them for once lately. The rest of the meal continued nicely, and after spending a little more time with the Nichols, Jimmy asked Kirsten if she wanted to go on a walk. Kirsten happily agreed.
The pair chatted about everything and anything while they walked. Once they reached the beach, Kirsten turned to Jimmy and said, "So I think my family really likes you. You even impressed my dad, which is no small accomplishment, trust me."
"I'm glad," Jimmy began, "And I hope that they weren't the only ones impressed."
Kirsten was glad it was dark because she was blushing a little bit after the meaning of Jimmy's words set in. "They weren't the only ones," she finally managed to get out.
Jimmy put his arm around her and led her a little closer to the ocean and the two of them sat down in the sand. Finally, Jimmy whispered, "I want to tell you, Kirsten, I really like you…from the moment I met you."
"Me too…" Kirsten said softly.
Slowly Jimmy reached up to her face and touched his hand softly against her cheek and pulled her closer to him. Just as their lips were about to meet, there was a loud yell, "Kirsten!" in the distance. Kirsten turned away and looked to find Hailey approaching them. Kirsten was livid.
"Hailey! What are you doing! Get out of here!" Kirsten screamed at her. "Ahh! Why do you always have to ruin everything!"
Hailey stopped dead in her tracks. She could feel tears forming in her eyes. "S-Sorry Kiks…I didn't mean to," Hailey sniffed. She turned and started walking away.
Kirsten instantly felt regret at being so harsh on her sister. She was only six after all. "Damn it," she sighed. She turned back to Jimmy, "I'm sorry about that…I should go after her…get her back home…I'm sorry."
"Hey, don't worry, I have a younger sister…I know how it goes. Hey, listen, you want to go out this week…on a date," Jimmy said.
"I would absolutely love to, but my family and I are going to be gone for the week in Hawaii…maybe the following week…I'll give you a call when I get back," Kirsten told him.
"Yeah, that's great. See you then," Jimmy stated.
Just as Kirsten turned to leave, she quickly turned back and said, "Hey, Jimmy…thanks for taking me in my house last night."
Jimmy looked stunned for a moment. How did she know? "I um…"
"I kind of figured it out…I really appreciate it," she told him. And before Jimmy could get out another word, Kirsten was gone, chasing after Hailey.
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Pacific Life Insurance is an actual company based in Newport Beach. I do not own it.
