Love and Obsession
Chapter 3
'Rush Hour Renegades, comin' at ya!'
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. You're listening to the Rush Hour Renegades on KLFH FM 95.6! This is Jesse."
"And I'm Joey. The topic of the week is: Making a difference in the community."
"That's right, Joseph! Our guest tonight is a fifth grade teacher at Frasier Street Elementary as well as an accomplished artist who gives free art lessons to underprivileged children. Please welcome Ms. Elise Jacobson!" Jesse and Joey clapped their hands as a tall young woman in her early thirties with wavy, dark brown hair and green eyes, dressed in a simple white blouse and a knee length navy blue skirt that flared out a little, and black dress sandals walked in and sat down in the empty seat.
"Hello, Ms. Jacobson. It's a pleasure to have you on our show." Joey greeted with a smile as Elise shook the guys' hands.
"Thank you. Glad to be here." she replied politely.
Jesse and Joey asked her some questions and Joey couldn't help but stare in amazement at her. He mentally berated himself for staring at her like that, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't help falling in love with her.
Her eyes sparkled with delight as she talked about her work as a teacher and community helper, her students, her son, and how she balanced everything. Joey's heart skipped a few beats as she talked. He loved children ever since he moved in all those years ago to help Danny raise his daughters and hoped to have a family of his own someday.
"Damn, she's so beautiful." He thought. "She's perfect!"
Then some callers asked their own questions or gave their comments. The show finally wrapped up half an hour later and the guys thanked Elise for joining them, to which she replied with a smile, "My pleasure!"
Jesse left soon after she did, having to take Leah to her dance class. Joey stayed for a moment or two, then he locked up for the night. As he made his way out to the parking lot, he spotted Elise about to get in her car. He mustered up the courage to walk up to her and ask her out.
"Hi." She said shyly as she realized he was right behind her.
"Hi. Are you busy tonight? I was wondering if you'd like to join my family and I for dinner." He offered.
"I appreciate your offer, Mr. Gladstone, but I can't."
"Oh, I understand, and please call me Joey. Maybe another time then?"
"Sorry, but no. I have to go now. Goodbye." Elise said, waving to him as she put the gear shift into 'drive' and then drove away. Joey felt a hint of sadness in her voice, but couldn't quite place it.
He sighed and got in his own car and decided to stop at the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner on the way home.
D.J was with Steve at his apartment, sitting on the couch and eating pizza while they discussed their ideas for the wedding.
Steve had proposed to her on Memorial Day weekend, during a Tanner family barbecue and she accepted. Everyone was happy for them. They gave the couple gifts; Danny even gave D.J the dress and veil her mother wore when she got married and D.J felt that it was a great way to honor her.
When they broke the news to Steve's parents, they threw them an engagement party at a nice French restaurant. Kimmy Gibbler and her boyfriend Duane went crazy and threw a party for them too, or rather, Kimmy planned it, but Duane just went along with it. D.J still laughed about that.
It's been three months since then and they felt that this was the right time to start making plans.
"When should we have it?" He asked her.
"What about the day before Easter?"
"It's perfect, like you." He replied as he winked an eye at her.
"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself." She teased back. He chuckled, then they continued their conversation, talking about some other details, like the colors of the bridesmaids dresses, entertainment, food, and which song they were going to use for their first dance.
"I love you."
"I love you too." They wrapped their arms around each other in a gentle, loving embrace and kissed on the lips. He wanted so badly to make love to her, but they agreed to wait until their honeymoon. They couldn't wait to be married and start a family, but for now they were content with what they had.
Stephanie and Josh sat at the breakfast bar with Michelle, Nicky, and Alex doing their homework. Sadie was at the kiddy table, joyfully scribbling in her coloring books.
"Stephanie, can you help me with this problem? I don't know how to do it." Michelle glanced up with a questioning face and tapped her pencil on the problem she needed assistance with.
"Sure. Let me see." Michelle handed the workbook over and watched carefully as her sister read the problem aloud and showed her how to solve it. "My father is four times as old as me. In twenty years, he will only be twice as old as me. How old is my father and how old am I?' Okay, set up an equation. X is the age of the daughter and 4x is the age of the father, so the equation should read as '4x plus 20 equals 2 (x plus 20).' Then, multiply the part that's in the parentheses by 2 and you get '4x plus 20 equals 2x plus 40.' Subtract 20 from both sides. You understand it now?"
"Yes, I got it. Thanks."
"No problem! Let me know if you need more help."
"I will." Stephanie, confident that the younger girl could do the rest by herself, went back to her own assignments. Nicky and Alex had finished by now and went out to the back yard to practice for their next football game. Michelle finished a few minutes later and decided to take Sadie outside to watch the twins practice.
Stephanie and Josh remained in the kitchen and finished their homework, then put it in their backpacks. Then he helped her set the table for dinner.
"Would you like to stay?" She asked him.
"Are you sure? Won't that upset your dad?"
"It's okay. I asked him this morning. I mean, he wasn't exactly thrilled about it, but Aunt Becky 'talked' to him until he gave in."
"Then count me in!"
"Great."
Just then, Joey arrived home and set the groceries on the counter, next to the stove. He took a few boxes of spaghetti, a wedge of Parmesan cheese, and several other ingredients out of the bag and with Stephanie and Josh's help, he made meatballs and a homemade spaghetti sauce and cooked the pasta. Stephanie made a salad and grated the Parmesan cheese into a small bowl, while Josh made and sliced up some cheesy garlic bread and by the time everyone else got home, dinner was finished and on the table. Joey called the kids inside and everyone sat down to eat.
The meal was pleasant. Everyone seemed to be enjoying each others' company and the food was a huge hit. Leah excitedly told them that she learned to do a pirouette in dance class, Nicky and Alex talked about their strategies for the game, Michelle asked Danny for permission to go to a school friend's party with Teddy, Denise, Aaron, Derek, and Lisa to which Danny said 'yes, but only if there is adult supervision', and Jesse and Joey teased and laughed about Joey's crush on that woman they interviewed earlier.
An hour later, they were just about finished eating and Danny and Joey remained in the kitchen to load the dishwasher. As the last plate was put into the machine, they heard the telephone ring.
"I'll get it!" They heard Michelle shout. "Joey, it's for you." She said as she handed him the cordless phone that was in the living room.
"Hello?"
"Hi. I'm sorry to bother you this late, but I want to apologize for earlier. I was such a..." A woman's voice on the other end of the line answered, not wanting to say a certain swear word while her son was there. Joey smiled as he heard the child's voice in the background.
"Don't worry about it, Ms. Jacobson. If anyone should apologize, it should be me."
"No, Mr. Gladstone. It wasn't your fault. All you did was stare at me and try to ask me out, but it doesn't excuse me for being so rude."
"Sure it does. I should not have done that. It was very unprofessional of me. Please let me make it up to you. How about you and your son come over on Friday night and I'll order pizza or Chinese, or I can cook something?"
"I don't know. I'd like to, but I went through a very messy divorce a few years ago and I'm not ready to start dating again." Her voice lowered a bit as she said the last part.
"I understand what you're going through. My parents are divorced as well."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Eventually, Elise agreed to come over for dinner and after talking a few more minutes, they hung up.
Danny had been watching and listening in the entire time and gave him a disbelieving laugh.
"You tried to pick her up?"
"What, It's only dinner! I'm not asking her on a date."
"Joey, I don't want to see you get hurt." The taller man said. His eyes became sad as he looked at his best friend, then the next moment, he stood there, very deep in thought.
He had run into his ex-fiancee Vicky Larson the other day after nearly six long years. She loved her job in New York, but she missed Danny and the rest of the family and after all this time, she finally realized that she had made a mistake by choosing her job over them and decided to return to San Francisco.
Danny was conflicted too. He still loved Vicky, but his heart still hurt and he wondered if he could ever forgive her for it. A tap on the shoulder by Joey snapped him out of it.
"Thanks Pal. I know. I'll be much more careful this time."
"Good."
"Are you okay, Danny? You look like you just saw a ghost." Danny smiled slightly at Joey's concern and he simply nodded.