It Finally Happened: Part XVIII
It had been a very quiet drive to say the least. Ron was actually quite thankful that Monique's car, small as it was, had a back seat. Despite much apologizing, hiding, groveling and Ron swearing on Rufus' life that all he had seen were her wide open eyes, he didn't much feel like sitting too close to her at the moment. Still, he caught her glaring at him several times in the rearview mirror. After what seemed like an utter eternity they pulled up at his house.
"I'll just be a minute Monique." He said, squeezing his way out of the car.
"Oh, and what are you going to wear?" she cocked an eyebrow at him, leaning out the window on her elbow.
"Um, just some fresh…clothes."
"Oh boy." She climbed out of the car, grabbing Ron's hand and dragging him to the house. "Your lady did not just about burn down her house making you dinner for you to just change out of that hockey jersey into a sweatshirt and just who in their right mind wears long sleeves in the middle of June?"
"Hey, don't be dissin' my essential Ron-ness! I've got some nicer shirts and stuff." His defense was falling on deaf ears as she pulled him through the front door.
Gene Stoppable looked up from his paper as the two teens came in, one eyebrow going up as tried to comprehend the sight of a very attractive young woman leading his son upstairs.
"Hi, Mister Stoppable." Monique gave him a slight wave before dragging her charge toward his room.
Jean Stoppable stepped out of the kitchen, missing the precession. "What was that, hon?"
"Monique Jenkins just dragged Ron upstairs." He said, shrugging his shoulders at the question implied by her expression.
"I thought he was going steady with that Possible girl he's always hung out with."
"You know the kids these days, dear, they change faster than they change their hairstyles."
"I still wish he'd find a nice…" She stopped, catching her husband's glare. She squinted at him, shrugged and went back to fixing their dinner.
It's about time Gene thought, looking at the stairs, trying to make out what was being done and said up there.
Halfway through the door it suddenly occurred to Monique what she was about to do. She was entering the forbidden domain – a teenaged boy's room. It didn't matter that Kim had been here hundreds of times. That was different, at least up to a month ago. Ron was just her best friend, and there were no moral implications about her being up here.
For her it was different. Ron was as much a guy as anyone she knew. Not to mention the fact that, in reality, if he hadn't been so tight with Kim she might have been interested. NO! Get away from that thought, woman. You and Ron – wrongsick!
Then why was Ron the first thing she thought about when they mentioned Hirotaka earlier?
She put it off as being jealous of their relationship, not about any attraction she might have for Ron. After all, he was loyal, steadfast, caring and, most importantly, loving…to Kim. His innate lack of physical hotness aside, that's what she really wanted in a relationship. She also understood all too well the way Ron treated Kim, at least as far as being her boyfriend, applied solely to her and her alone. He was at heart sweet, kind, relatively innocent (as much as a normal hormone oozing teenage boy could be) and willing to be anyone's friend, but it was clear his heart belonged to one girl alone in the whole world.
Maybe that was the reason she had never been on more than three dates with any guy. She craved that kind of devotion. Kim hadn't been too far off about her wanting a boyfriend who would worship at her feet. It wasn't that. Well, yes it was, but she wanted that worship because he was in love with her. She wanted someone who would give their heart to her like he had to Kim.
Deep inside, she was also a little ticked off that he didn't seem to like what he saw. Oh, she was ticked off that he saw what he did, but still…
"I swear, the two of you must have been separated at birth." She surveyed his room. There were more clothes piled on the floor and bed than in his closet. She was almost afraid to look in his chest of drawers.
"Uh, sorry, but the maid has been off this week." He said, trying to grab up as much of the discarded clothing as he could, dropping several things in the process.
One thing in particular caught her attention, her eyes going wide. She snatched it up before he could react. She dangled it from her fingers, shooting him the look. "Care to explain this one, Rondo?"
"Uh, well, uh." Ron couldn't meet her eyes, or look at the white, strappy garment she was holding. He suddenly found the spot under his nose itched quite fiercely.
"Right, Mister 'were-moving-too-fast.'"
"It's not like that, Mon. KP's got a lot of her stuff here. The bottom drawer is all her stuff, I guess that just got left out."
"Ron, I have a sneaking suspicion that the clothes you've got of hers are all black crop tops and cargo pants, not Jockey size thirty two A. Actually, I'm sort of proud of you, second base after only one date?"
Ron grabbed it from her, stuffing it into Kim's drawer. "If you must know, when we got back from the mall, Kim wanted me to give her a back rub like she'd given me before we left. I didn't see anything. She made me wait out here while she got ready, I guess she forgot to put it back on. I don't know, I wasn't watching. She fell asleep so I went downstairs to watch Scamper and Bitey while she took her nap."
"If you say so." She said, laughing. "I for one think you'd be the first person to notice whether she had one on or not."
"Uh, well, normally, yeah, but I guess I was paying to much attention to the kissing when she came back downstairs."
"Sure. Now, let's see what we have to work with here. What exactly is clean and what isn't?"
Ron started picking up clothes again, holding some of it to his nose.
"Oh, never mind." She went to the closet, assuming the clothes hanging stood the best chance of actually being fresh. "Attention Smarty Mart Shoppers, brainstorm in Ron's closet. Dude, do you own anything that doesn't come from a discount store?"
"Uh, some of my mission gear, but KP gets most of that for me."
"Sigh…well, let's see if I can work a miracle here."
Kim stood in front of the mirror, still fussing with her look. The pale yellow top was one of her favorites, especially since she had taken the laces off the collar. She recalled looking at herself in her mirror one time before, getting ready to go out on a Friday night. It wasn't a date, it never really was, but something inside her was having a naughty thought about a certain someone wanting to untie them. So, she simply pulled them out. You really couldn't see anything else, but it was the thought that just a bit more neck was showing. Didn't matter, since the fellow she had subconsciously wanted to impress ended up mashing mummies all weekend with Felix.
That's Zombies a voice in her head corrected.
She had to admit, the outfit Monique picked out for her was good, really good. The peasant shirt, the multi-layered looking white skirt, the strappy sandals all blended really nicely, mixing her familiar look with one that wasn't so much girly, but feminine.
Somehow, though, it just wasn't satisfying.
After calming Monique down (she hadn't seen Ron that scared since, well, since the 'gravy ghost' incident) the three of them set about cleaning up the kitchen, Ron making a real effort to express his gratitude for the gesture while at the same time letting her down easy. She was disappointed, but really had to admit her home-made Nacos attempt was a complete loss, especially considering the tortillas were forgotten in the oven, turning into something resembling a fractured dinner plate. Rufus consumed the only remaining edible part – the grated cheese – and the leftover block as well.
Then Monique not only offered to take Ron home to change into something nice, she also made a couple calls, lining up a nice, but still quite affordable restaurant not far from the theater. It wasn't what she had planned, but it would be nice to have a night out on the town.
It was also nice thinking about their third planned date. Friday night Ron was going to chase his folks out of the house and they would spend the evening making dinner together. He was going to teach her how to cook if it killed him!
With a sigh, she slipped the clothes off again. They would be appropriate Friday, but tonight, with the new plans, she needed something better, something that would knock Ron's socks off (literally if she played it right – she had discovered the joys of footsies.)
Looking in her closet, her eyes came to rest on just the right thing. She smiled almost wickedly, knowing the reaction he would have. Time to take some bad memories and make them good.
She glanced at her digital clock. Ron wouldn't take long to change, unless Monique took her time picking out his clothes. In a snap decision she threw on her robe and headed down for a quick shower after laying out her clothes. Another sly smile played across her face as she got out fresh unmentionables. No see-thru, ride-up-where-it-don't-belong lace tonight, just simple, plain cotton. That's all she would need with this particular outfit, much to her mother's chagrin.
Almost a year ago her mother had grabbed her by the top to drag her to the breakfast table. Halfway from the door to the seat she realized that it was obvious to her what she didn't have on. That evening, Anne Possible had laid down the law on what fifteen year old young ladies wore, whether they needed it or not. After all, one never knew when there would be a draft of cold air to contend with.
She froze for half a second, realizing what she had left at Ron's the night before, hoping beyond hope he had found it before his parents had!
That worry got lost in the memory of her backrub. She sent him out of the room for just a moment, carefully lying on his bed so he would have just as much access to her back as she did his earlier that day. The experience had been utterly wonderful, much more so than the simple shoulder and back rubs he had given her before. It filled her with as much longing as it did pleasure.
Kim was happy now with the understanding they had come to. That longing was a good one, one that told her that her feelings for him were true. Those desires had taken their place along with the other things she wanted now, like having her own car, like going to college…
…like marrying Ron and being with him forever, like having his children. Those were all things that were in the future, things she was certain about, things that made her feel complete at this point in her life.
Quickly toweling off her hair, she ran a brush through it to help speed the drying. Ron was right, for as much hair as she had, it sure did dry pretty fast. She pulled it up into a scrunchie so it would be easier to do her makeup. Oh, she was going to let it down before he got back.
She was going to rock his sixteen year-old world tonight. Within reason, of course.
"Okay, Ron, here's the deal. You treat this car like it's your mother's car, you got it?"
"Got it."
It didn't take Monique but a twinkling to catch the look in Ron's eyes. Certainly Kim hadn't told him about the dream, had she? Then she thought of something else.
"Rule two, you don't take this car up Logging Camp road. There are people who know whose car this is and I don't want any unwanted rumors to deal with, you dig?"
"Sure thing Monique."
"Now here, this is enough to cover dinner and the movie tonight. It's a loan, so once you start getting your allowance, I want it paid back."
"I promise Monique."
"Okay, now, go pick her up and have a nice time. Oh, and one more thing."
Before he could react she wrapped her arms around his shoulder, giving him a warm kiss on the lips. It wasn't filled with passion the way Kim did, but it was a lot more than a friendly peck."
"Wow." She said finally, letting him go. "Kim's right, you really do know how to do that."
"Whu, whu, whu?"
"Just curiosity Ron. Let's just say I want you to give that to Kim for me. Just, let's never speak of this again, dig? Now, go get her Doctor Love."
She watched him drive away, standing on the curb, a small smile on her face. "Yeah, gotta get me one of those." She said, turning finally toward her house.
"I'll be down in just a sec!" He heard her call from upstairs. Even though the house was empty, somehow waiting in the foyer had become the 'proper place' to wait.
Moments later any stray thoughts about the surprise kiss were chased away. Kim made her way down the stairs slowly, letting him drink in the sight of her.
She was wearing it! She was actually wearing it! He couldn't take his eyes off her if his very life depended on it. Her legs seemed to go on forever, the tiny slit at the hem suggesting, hinting that there was even more inside. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his whole being turning into jelly at the sight of her smile.
It was a little different this time. Instead of the red shoes and bangles, she was wearing white strappy sandals. A wide, white belt was slung low on her hips, making the short dress look even shorter on her. In the low light of the stairway he could tell she was also wearing hose with it, tan hose that made her legs even sexier than he could have imagined…but it was that dress, that short black dress she had first worn at the Middleton Days Festival that drove him wild. It was that dress that had been part of what had put him on the path to realizing just how much he was in love with her.
Kim smiled at her awestruck boyfriend, knowing in an instant she made the right choice. He looked pretty good himself, with a dark maroon shirt, khaki slacks and his new black shoes. Monique certainly knew her craft.
Gently she closed his mouth as she reached him. That was certainly no way to start a kiss!
They were almost late for their reservations.
Next: What summer would be complete without family vacations?