Chapter 2

During the next couple of weeks Frohike and Emma got used to each other's lives and habits. Emma had been enrolled at the National Cathedral School for Girls part way through the current school year. Michelle had been pleased that there was an opening. Emma had not really wanted to leave her old school but she couldn't say no to her mother, not at that point.

She liked the new school well enough but all her friends were across town and without seeing them at school everyday those friendships began to fade. Most of the girls at the new school had been together since the fourth grade. They were nice enough but she was not part of group and did not have any really close friends.

Frohike adjusted his work schedule to fit Emma's hours as much as possible. He would drop her off at school then go join the guys at 'the office' as he now called it. Depending on Emma's schedule she either took Metro home and he would meet her there usually within an hour or he picked her up to take her to her dance lessons.

Byers and Jimmy had no trouble adjusting to a 9 to 5 type schedule but Langly kept his own hours. He was working his way out of his snit but obviously resented the fact that Frohike was not with them all the time as usual. He often had some snide comment when Frohike needed to leave. Frohike put up with it for a while then finally called him on it.

"Look, I'm not asking you to be happy about my new living situation but you can just keep the stupid ass comments to yourself," Frohike demanded.

He had found out about the dance lessons purely by accident. He wondered if Emma would have continued with them if he had not stumbled across a collection of mostly tartan plaid 'costumes' in one of the guestroom closets. Along with these clothes he found a sword. He asked her about them when they were cleaning up after dinner that evening.

"Emma, I found some clothes in one of the closets upstairs that would have been too small for your mother. They look like costumes."

She had noticed that he seemed to be methodically searching the whole house for something but she hadn't said anything about it. She figured he would ask her if he wanted her help. "Was there a sword with them?"

"Yes, a basket hilt sword. It looked Scottish."

"It is. Those are my dance clothes."

Dance! Excellent. He liked that thought that his daughter was a dancer. He didn't mention his dance experiences. In his mind she was too young to know about the Tango.

"I take it they are for Scottish dances." This was a safe bet considering all the plaid and the sword.

"Yes, would you like a demonstration?"

"Certainly." He was pleased that she wanted to show off for him.

She ran upstairs. He thought she had gone to put on one of the costumes but she returned much too soon. She had changed shoes but not her clothes. She also brought down the sword and a CD. She put the CD in the player in the living room, chose a specific track and hit the pause button.

She removed the sword from the scabbard and laid them across each other to form a large cross in an open area on the carpet. She looked at him, "It's kind of cheating to do this on the carpet. The sword and scabbard won't move as easily if I kick them or step on them."

Kick them! Step on them! He looked at her feet in horror. The dance shoes that she had put on had to be made of the thinnest leather he had ever seen and they had next to no sole. She intended to dance around this sword wearing nothing but these flimsy shoes.

Emma laughed at the look on his face. "Don't worry, Dad. The sword is not sharp and I know what I'm doing." Then she added, "But remember, I am a professional." She shook her finger at him. "Don't try this at home."

He knew this wasn't the first time she had done this and if he had his way it would not be the last. So he sat back to watch.

Emma stood by the hilt of the sword. "Could you hit play for me?" He got up and stood by the CD player. She posed with her hands on her hips. "Okay."

The sound of bagpipes filled the room. She waited for a few measures then made a deep bow and began dancing around the outside of the sword and scabbard alternating either the right or left arm up in the air. Sometimes it was both arms.

After completing a series of steps at one side of the crossed pieces of metal she moved to the next. She did this on all four sides. "That's not so bad," thought Frohike. "She isn't that close to them." But when she got back to her starting point she stepped into the spaces between the arms of the cross repeating the identical dance steps only this time stepping and jumping over the blade and the scabbard as she went around the four quadrants.

Then the music started to get faster. By the time she was done, Frohike had reviewed everything he could remember about first aid and tourniquets. He felt as out of breathe as she looked but he did remember to clap when she was done.

"That was amazing!"

"Thank you. Considering how long it's been since I've practiced or gone for a lesson that wasn't too bad. I only kicked the sword once." Emma was proud of herself.

"You haven't been going to your lessons?"

"Not for about 4 months."

"Would you like to go again?" Frohike asked hopefully.

Emma hesitated to answer. "I don't know."

"Is this something you enjoy doing?"

"I like the dances and the competitions but sometimes the practice can get a little tedious. The main problem is the time."

"Time to practice?"

"No, the lessons are right after school. I would need a ride to get there."

"That's no problem."

"Dad, I know that being here with me is causing problems for you at work." He thought he had shielded her from that but obviously she had overheard some of his phone conversations with the guys. "I don't want to make it worse by making you come and get me early every Tuesday."

"Look," he made sure he had her full attention, "this is all part of being a family. We do things for each other that may not always be convenient."

She just looked at him for a few seconds then surprised him by coming over and hugging him. He held her tight for a moment then let her go. "Okay," she said. "I'll go call Robin and let her know that I'll be coming back."

"Robin?"

"Robin McRae, she's my dance teacher." She ran off to use the phone.

"Hey, when will I get to see the other dances?" he called to her in the other room as she started dialing the number.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get to know them quite well when I start practicing again."

It was because of the dance lessons that Jimmy got to meet Emma for the first time.
Frohike had told him that when the time was right, he and Emma would have all three of them over for dinner. Jimmy kept bugging Frohike to pick a day, any day. He even offered to buy dinner or to cook it himself so that neither Emma nor Frohike would have to. So when a time came that Frohike couldn't get away to pick up Emma for her lesson, Jimmy had jumped at the chance to do the chauffeuring for him.

Frohike was hesitant. "I don't know, Jimmy. She's expecting me and she has never met you."

"But you could call the school and have them tell her I'm coming instead." Jimmy was not to be deterred now that he had a plan to finally meet Emma.

Frohike started to waver. Emma had only gone to a few of the classes since she started up again and he didn't want to disappoint her. Jimmy did have a point; Frohike could call the school. He trusted Jimmy's driving so that was not a problem but to send someone who was essentially a stranger to pick up Emma just didn't seem right. If only he could talk to her to see if she would mind.

Jimmy refused to let up. He followed Frohike around begging and pleading until even Byers had heard enough and told him to knock it off.

Langly was on Jimmy's side. "Why not let him go if it means you can get this interview and have the article done for the paper to go to print Friday?"

Frohike was encouraged that Langly had something to say about Emma that wasn't a snide comment. This fact helped sway him into giving it a try but he had to talk to her first. He called the school and asked them to tell Emma to call him as soon as possible. He was informed that she could call him during her lunch period. He looked at the clock and knew that would be soon.

When the phone rang about a half hour later Jimmy answered it. "Lone Gunmen Group, Jimmy speaking."

"May I please speak to Melvin Frohike?"

"Can I ask who's calling?"

"This is his daughter Emma."

"Hey, Frohike, it's Emma!"

Jimmy started to say something else to Emma when Frohike grabbed the phone from him. "Give me that." He cupped his hand over the receiver and told Jimmy to get lost. He wanted to talk to her in private.

"Hi, honey."

"Dad is everything all right!" she sounded very worried.

"Yes, everything is fine."

"Oh man, you scared me! I thought something had happened!"
"No, I just needed to talk to you."

"Next time just have them write me a note so I don't think you've been in a car accident or something."

"If I had been in a car accident, why would I have you call me here?"

"I didn't say I was being logical."

"I assure you that if I had been in a car accident I would have sent someone to come and get you."

"Okay, so, why did you want me to call?"

"Because I want to send someone to come and get you." He couldn't resist the obvious opportunity to tease her.

"DAD! That's not funny!"

This was the closest they had ever come to having an argument. Byers and Langly were barely containing their laughter at Frohike's end of the conversation.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I won't tease you anymore. I know it's your lunchtime so I won't keep you long. I have a rather tricky interview that I need to do and the person is only willing to meet this afternoon. So, I wouldn't be able to pick you up on time. I'm considering having Jimmy come and get you after school to take you to dance class."

"Jimmy? He's one of your coworkers. The one who used to play football with blind guys."

"Yup, that's him."

"I guess it would be all right but I don't know what he looks like."

"He's about 6' 3". He has short spiky blond hair."

"What's he wearing and what will he be driving?" Frohike looked over to where Jimmy was waiting out of earshot for Frohike to get off the phone.

"Jimmy, do you want to take your car or the Honda?"

Jimmy nearly tripped over some equipment coming back. "What does she want me to drive?"

Frohike just shook his head. "Right now he is wearing a light blue shirt and jeans. He'll be driving a black Trans Am with New York license plates that say MODIV-8."

"Okay, I got it. Wait. One more thing, what's his last name?"

"Bond."

"His name is James Bond? Now you're teasing me again."

"Nope, that's his name."

"Okay, tell him to make sure he has his driver's license and that he'll have to pick me up in the Lower School Lobby in Whitby Hall."

"I will. I'll see you this evening. I'm not sure what time I'll get there but it shouldn't be too late. I'll get something for dinner."

"That would be great. I'll see you at home."

"Bye, honey."

Frohike was impressed. He was pleased to see that she would not get into a car with anyone unless she was absolutely sure it was safe. He turned to tell Jimmy that it was all set but stopped when he saw the goofy look on Jimmy's face. "What?"

"You called her 'honey'."

"Yeah, do you have a problem with that?"

"It's just so…sweet."

"Look, do you want to do this or not. I could get one of the others to go if you're going to get weird on me." This wasn't actually true but it got Jimmy to leave him alone.

Jimmy spent most of the afternoon watching the clock. Frohike decided not to tell him where the school was or even its name until it was nearly time to go. He was afraid that Jimmy would want to drive over there too early and just hang out in the parking lot waiting for the bell to ring. A strange man sitting in a black sports car on the grounds of an all girl school was bound to bring the wrong kind of attention to himself.

Finally at about 3:00 PM Frohike gave him the information. Frohike barely got him to repeat the directions before he was out the door.

Jimmy arrived on the campus just as school let out. A lot of parents were there meeting their daughters but most of the girls were heading for the bus stop or just walking down the hill to the nearest Metro station. He asked a parent where Whitby Hall was. Finding the building, he entered through the double doors. This area was nearly empty. There were a couple of girls standing around but none of them was Emma. He walked up to the reception desk.

"Hi," he gave his most winning smile to the woman behind the counter, "I'm looking for Emma Frohike."

"Is she a student or a staff member?"

"She's a student."

The young woman consulted her computer for a moment.

"I'm sorry but there's no one here by that name."

"But that can't be. Her father sent me to pick her up. This is the Cathedral School for Girls isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. Maybe if you spelled the last name for me."

"Sure, it's F-R-O-H-I-K-E. Her first name is Emma."

He heard a voice behind him. "Sorry, Mrs. Kelly, that's my father's last name. He must not know that my last name is MacKenzie." Jimmy turned to see the speaker. It was Frohike's Emma. With that braided hair she was hard to miss.

"I don't know, Emma. How can I let you leave with someone who doesn't even know your name?" The receptionist tilted her head in Jimmy's direction as she said this.

"It's all right. Check his I.D. It should say that his name is James Bond."

Mrs. Kelly gave Emma a look that said, "You've got to be kidding!' but examined Jimmy's I.D. without comment.

"Everyone calls me Jimmy."

"Okay, Jimmy, you check out. See you tomorrow, Emma."

When they got outside, Emma stopped and turned to Jimmy. "We really haven't been introduced." She held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Emma MacKenzie."

Jimmy was a little surprised by her formal behavior but shook her hand anyway. "I'm Jimmy Bond." They started walking again.

"You have an interesting name."

"Thank you but that's the main reason I ask everyone to call me Jimmy. People always seem to expect me to wear tuxedos all the time. It's just not my style." This made Emma laugh. Jimmy was pleased that his comment had elicited this reaction.

"Your car's attitude matches your name though," Emma observed as he unlocked the door to his Trans Am. She put her backpack in the back seat and noticed that her dad had remembered to send the change of clothes she left in his car. She hated dancing in her school uniform.

On the drive to Robin's he told her about going on undercover jobs with her dad and the other Gunmen. He didn't tell her the scary ones though like how Byers, Frohike, and Langly had been deep inside a missile silo when it had been blown up. They had gotten out without much difficulty but he had been nearly certain they were dead. He did tell her some of the funny ones.

Her favorite story was the one in which Jimmy impersonated an Elvis impersonator on a cruise ship. They suspected that the man whose place he'd taken could be the real Elvis. Jimmy went on stage in a wig and white sequined jumpsuit while the guys got the man's fingerprints. They were quite surprised to discover that not only was the man black but that he was wanted for fraud. Jimmy had gotten arrested right off the stage.

Emma found all this very funny. Jimmy did his Elvis imitation for her. She liked Jimmy. It seemed that it would be nearly impossible not to like him.

He stayed with her at her dance lessons. The teacher said it would be all right if he watched. He went to sit with the waiting parents. There were six girls in the class. At first Jimmy just thought that they were cute little girls doing cute little dances but the longer he watched them the more impressed he became. What they were doing was actually quite strenuous.

By the time they were done he doubted that most of the guys he had played football with could have kept up with these little girls. About fifteen minutes into the lesson, Emma started wheezing and having trouble taking a deep breath. She asked to be excused. She ran over to Jimmy and he got a little concerned. He knew that sound. He had heard Langly suffer in the same way.

"Can you hand me my backpack, Jimmy?"

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Sure, I just need my inhaler. It's in my backpack." She left the room to use it.

When she returned the teacher reminded her, "You're supposed to do that before you start dancing."

"Sorry, Robin, I forgot."

"Well, just don't forget before the competition. You remember what happened last time. You had to leave the stage halfway through the first dance."

"I know. I won't forget."

Jimmy drove Emma home afterwards. She was surprised that he knew the way. "Oh, I've been here before."

"Did my dad bring you here when I wasn't home?"

"Um, no, you were here."

"I was?"

"It was that first day."

"I don't remember."

Now he was getting a little embarrassed. "You were asleep on the couch."

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry I missed you then." Emma considered him for a moment. "Look, I need to go take a shower. Why don't you make yourself comfortable? There's fruit in the kitchen or I can make you some coffee before I go upstairs."

"No, I'm fine. Go ahead." Jimmy waved her toward the stairs. Left to his own devices, Jimmy looked around for a TV. There didn't seem to be one, at least not in the living room.

He went to the kitchen and got an apple. He spotted the climbing structure in the backyard. With the apple between his teeth, he climbed to the top platform. He leaned against the railing eating the apple. Checking out the yard he found a perfect spot for a basketball hoop.

When he was done with the apple. Jimmy wandered back into the house. He checked a large cabinet in the living room. No TV in there either. There was a piano against one wall. He went over to it, pulled out the bench, sat down and lifted the lid off the keys.

He positioned his fingers tentatively over them and very softly began to play a short melody he knew. Emma came slowly down the stairs trying not to disturb his performance. "You play very nicely," she complimented him when he was done.

Jimmy jumped. She was standing right behind him. Her unbraided hair still wet from the shower. She could move as quietly as her father. Either that or he needed to pay better attention. "I took lessons as a kid but didn't really keep up with it," he told her.

"But you can still play."

"I remember a few songs." He got up. "Here, you play something."

"No, that's okay."

"Please." He figured that she was just being shy so he put his hand in the middle of her back and gave her a little shove toward the piano bench. She twisted her body to get away from him.

"No! I really don't want to." She stood well out of his reach. "It's just that I can't. Not now."

Jimmy could see that she was trying hard not to cry. "I'm very sorry, Emma. I didn't know. I didn't mean to upset you." He gently closed the lid over the keys and pushed in the bench. He changed the subject giving her a chance to pull herself together. "Hey, how come you don't have a TV?"

Emma took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "We have a TV. It's in there." She pointed to a set of doors he had assumed opened to a closet. He went over and opened them to discover not only a TV but also a VCR, a DVD player and an expensive stereo.

Jimmy looked at the arrangement of the furniture and saw that he had missed the most logical spot. "Did you want to watch something?" Emma asked. Playing hostess restored the amiable mood she was in when she got home.

They sat down and surfed though the channels until they came across something they could agree on. She didn't want sports and he was sick of that show where neighbors redecorate rooms in each other's houses. Langly always wanted to watch that one.

They settled on a rerun of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Jimmy was glad that it was one of the earlier ones where Buffy and Spike were not going at it like rabbits. He figured she knew about sex and stuff but he would have been uncomfortable letting her watch something like that when he was kind of babysitting.

They had a good time counting how many times Buffy had died and come back to life, making fun of Willow's clothes, and thinking of vengeful things that Anya could do to people for them. They debated why Xander had left Anya at the altar. Was he just freaking out or was he still in love with Buffy?

Jimmy told Emma about the old Taster's Choice commercials that Giles had been in. He explained that there had been a whole series of them and that at one point they were so popular that they even advertised in TV Guide when the next new commercial would be shown.

Frohike came home with dinner about 45 minutes into the show. They moved to the kitchen to eat while it was still hot. Frohike got plates and silverware while Emma scattered placemats around the table. Jimmy tried to help at first but found that he was just getting in the way.

When Frohike told him to go sit down for the second time, he did as he was asked. He sat back and enjoyed the show. They hadn't been living together that long but the two of them very quickly had everything in order to serve a nice family meal, even if it was takeout.

They ate discussing work and school. Frohike talked about his interview. He was very pleased with the results. He had gotten the information he needed along with some other interesting leads. Jimmy talked about going to the dance lessons and how impressed he had been with the dancers.

Emma described a big research project she had just finished and turned in. She thought she had done very well. It was quite late by the time dishes were loaded in the dishwasher and everything else put away. Frohike looked meaningfully at his watch and Emma took the hint. He asked her about homework and she said that she had finished it during study hall. She wished them both good night and thanked Jimmy for all his help.

Jimmy waited until he felt certain she was in bed before bringing up what had happened at the piano. He told the whole story including trying to get her to sit down. He apologized to Frohike for upsetting her but he was concerned about her reaction.

Frohike admitted to Jimmy that he was becoming more and more worried that he had seen no sign that Emma even missed her mother let alone mourned her. Something had to give. The incident at the piano demonstrated to him that her emotions were closer to the surface than he suspected.

"I'm not sure what to do. Do I push it and get her to talk about her mom or let her do it in her own time?" Frohike suddenly looked very tired. Jimmy was amazed that Frohike was telling him all this. He wasn't usually this talkative. If he talked to anyone it was Byers. Jimmy wanted to help so he picked his words very carefully.

"Sometimes it helps to talk to someone who isn't involved. Is there a counselor at her school that she could talk to?"

Frohike looked up at Jimmy. "I hadn't thought of that. I could check. Even if there isn't they should be able to recommend one. I'll call there tomorrow or better yet I'll check when I drop her off."

Jimmy was pleased that he could help.