Here's chapter two. Yeah, I gave Alice alot of baggage, hope you don't think it's too much.
Alice adjusted and readjusted the drape of her new dress, the shoulder straps, and her boobs filling out what passed for the bodice of the garment. She fiddled with her hair, but only just a little, knowing she was more likely to completely mess it up than make it look any better than it did. She'd pulled her long tresses back from her face in a fashionably sloppy bun secured with two chopstick-like hair picks. As she went over her appearance for the fourth or fifth time, her mother spoke from the doorway to her bedroom.
"Should I bring out the find china?" There was the subtlest hint of sarcasm in the woman's tone that made Alice turn from her reflection.
"I thought you were excited to meet him?" She balked. Carol shrugged.
"I am," the older woman insisted with hands spread before her. Her mother looked like she was about to say something, but thought better of it. "You're awfully dressed up."
"I wanted to look nice," Alice told her, feeling more out of place now in the dress than she had a moment ago. It wasn't that the dress wasn't pretty. It was. A pale blue that set off her grayish eyes nicely, it was light and flowy, with darker blue and pale, pale yellow accents; the pattern on the fabric reminded her of an Indian sari. The chest of the garment was crossed over itself just a bit and the skirt hung from there, almost like an empire waist, but not quite. The hem on the sides hung down passed her knees to points and gathered higher behind and in front. She had put new shoulder straps on the dress herself, slightly wider than they had been originally, and was rather proud of the job she had done. She'd coupled the dress with a faux crystal bracelet she'd found in her long ignored jewelry box and a pair of white dress sandals.
Her mother might have been a little more at ease if she could see the flaming chili pepper boxer shorts her daughter was wearing under the dress. Being that it was a dinner with her mother, Alice knew nothing intimate would happen between her and Jack tonight and felt safe wearing the boxers. In truth, she hated the too open feeling of just a dress and nothing between her and the wide world. It had been that way ever since a month before her twentieth birthday, when a classmate - back when she'd still been in college - had forced himself on her at a party. She had been wearing a dress that night and the feeling of unease in such a garment had never left her fully.
The one good thing that had come of the entire horrible incident was Master Yakata. Her counselor had suggested a self defense class, saying it might be beneficial and ease her feelings of helplessness. In Hiro Yakata, Alice had finally found a positive male authority figure. One who would never take advantage of her weaknesses and ceaselessly encourage her strengths.
Carol smiled gently, stepping into the room and gently fingering the material of Alice's shoulder strap. "You do. You look very nice, honey. You're really looking forward to tonight, aren't you?"
She nodded, absentmindedly swishing the light material against her legs. "I really like Jack, Mom."
Her mother nodded. "I know you do. I just… I worry, you know?"
"Yeah." She knew exactly why her mother worried, why Alice in a pretty dress with hair and make-up done gave her pause. It was almost, if not entirely, out of character for the young woman. And, as her mother had already put together, entirely Jack's doing. Even if he didn't know it.
Alice had run into Jack Chase, quite literally, as she was leaving a job interview at a business office near the dojo. If she wasn't going to school, she and her mother had decided, she would have to get a job at least. Being a junior instructor at Master Yakata's not withstanding. The girl had been wearing one of her two nice, business casual outfits - a periwinkle blouse and black dress slacks with a blazer that, since it no longer fit her, she slung over her arm as though it was simply too warm to keep it on. He'd seemed interested, but Alice took it as just passing fancy. When she saw him again, she was just coming out of the dojo and he had been seated at the fancy bistro across the street.
Jack hadn't commented on her clothing, not directly, but she knew her sweaty t-shirt and track pants had not been all that impressive. So, when the man had asked her out to lunch, she'd worn the other nice outfit in her closet. When he asked her out again, she had to go out and buy something else to wear, spending more money on clothes in the two months they had been dating than she had in the entire previous year. Yes, she had changed that little bit, afraid that if Jack saw her real wardrobe, it might be a mark off for her. But it wasn't as though it were a bad change. After all, what was wrong with dressing a bit more adult, a bit more sophisticated?
And, yes, maybe it was a little soon to be introducing him to mother so formally. They hadn't even been dating for three months. That was a bit of a surprise every time she thought about it; it seemed like so much longer. But they'd been sitting on a blanket in central park on the Fourth of July, Jack's arms around her as they watched the fireworks. It was such a fairytale moment. It was then Alice decided she very much wanted Jack to meet her mother. Obviously, she hadn't just blurted it out of nowhere, they'd been having a conversation and Jack was totally in favor of the meeting, but it had all been Alice's idea. Of course, it had.
Before there could be any more awkward mother/daughter conversation the buzzer rang. Alice jumped, her heart leaping up and pounding against her ribs for attention. Her mother chuckled and led the way out of her room.
"I'm going to finish setting the table. Why don't you let your beau in?" the good humor was back in her voice and Alice was thankful for it.
He brought roses. Roses for her mother. Who does that? Only the most perfect man alive, Jack Chase, that's who. A single red rose for her, as well. So romantic it didn't matter that her favorite flower was a carnation. And he was so polite and charming during dinner, even offered to help with the dishes. Not for the first time, Alice wondered how she had gotten so lucky as to have this man in her life. He was everything she had always wanted: smart, charming, attentive, and if she was completely honest, well off.
And then Carol had brought up her father, a topic Alice had carefully avoided with Jack. She didn't want him to look at her and see someone that was to be left. As for the dishes, her mother had insisted they leave them before retiring to give the two some time to themselves. The girl avoided her lover's eyes, forcing a chuckle that said everything was alright and the subject did not bother her.
"Sorry," she shrugged, picking at the hem of her dress, not realizing how in doing so she was pulling it higher up her thigh in a rather revealing way. "Didn't meant to drop the whole family baggage thing on you."
He gently took hold of her hand, curling a knuckle under her chin to lift her gaze to his. He was smiling softly. "It's fine," he assured her and she believed him. "I want to know everything about you."
Heat flooded the girl's face at that statement. She'd been the focus of a man's attention before, but no one had ever seemed so sincere as Jack. He could tell her the moon was made of cheese and she just might believe him when he offered her a slice. A sudden, quiet beeping broke the moment as his eyes fell from hers. He sighed, giving her an apologetic smile, pulling his cell from his pocket and flipping it open. The slight flicker of displeasure across his features told her whatever it was, it wasn't good news. He flipped the device closed again and tucked it away, turning his attention back to her.
"What's up?" she couldn't help but ask. Jack paused a moment before answering.
"How would you like to meet my family?" Not the response she had been expecting, but okay.
"Are they coming to town?" Maybe that's what the message had been about. Not that it boded well, if it had made him unhappy.
"No, we'd have to go there."
Ah, so they had told him they weren't coming to town. Whoever they were. Parents? Siblings? It only just now occurred to Alice that she knew very little about Jack's family. If she was completely honest with herself, she knew nothing about Jack's family. "Oh, okay. When?" Hopefully, it wasn't too far away; i.e. not so far they would have to fly.
He smiled charmingly. "How about tonight?"
Alice returned his smile, going along with the joke. "Oh, sure. Just let me get my coat." She teased back. When Jack only continued to look at her, it sunk in that he was serious. "You're kidding."
"It'll be an adventure," he coaxed, the charming smile taking on a hint of challenge. Oh, he knew her very well, knew that she was always up for a good challenge, but this was something else entirely. "Some things are more exciting on the spur of the moment, don't you think?"
Her brows furrowed and she shook her head. "Not things like this. Meeting your parents? I'd have to… get myself together." Pull myself together is more like it. As huge as introducing him to her mother had been, it was entirely hypocritical for her to be reacting like this to meeting his family, but she couldn't help it. Jack was perfect and she.. Well, she wasn't.
"Alice, you're perfect just as you are," he insisted and she might have believed him, might have let him convince her if he hadn't added, "And we can be back by… Monday morning."
It was Thursday night now, which meant the weekend out of town. If he expected her to jump on his private jet, he had another thing coming. Not that she knew whether he had a private jet or not, but that beside the point. Alice stood from her seat, pacing away from the table. It wasn't like Jack to push when he knew she didn't want to be pushed.
"Alice, what's wrong? Don't you want to meet my family? Be part of my life?" The question was asked in a soft, almost hurt tone and she hurried to cover her refusal with any reason she could find.
"No, Jack, but…" she grasped at the first straw she could find. "What if they don't approve of me?"
He seemed amused by her concern, which Alice hoped meant he already knew how they would feel about her. Picking his coat up off the back of his chair, Jack reached into one of the pockets. "They'll approve of you-" he said, pulling out a small, round box "-when they see you with this."
Alice blinked, tilting her head to the side curiously as he handed her the box. His amusement grew as he watched her try to open the thing for a moment before showing pity on her. He moved behind the girl and leaned in close.
"It's got a hidden catch," he explained. It would have, wouldn't it? He reached around her and Alice could smell his cologne, something rich and expensive that tickled her nose and almost made her want to sneeze. She could feel the heat coming off his body against her arms and back as he pressed his fingers to secret places on the box and twisted it open with a little click.
Inside the box was a ring. It was finely crafted of gold with small green stones set around a larger nearly clear crystal. It wasn't something she would have bought in a shop, but looked like an antique so she could only guess how expensive it was.
"It looks really old," was all she could say. Because, while nice, it wasn't what she would have called beautiful.
"It's been in my family for years." So a family heirloom, that explained the old fashioned design of the piece. But, why was she showing it to her? She pulled away and turned to face him.
"Wait, are you giving me this?" she asked in disbelief. The man actually smiled, looking for all the world pleased with himself.
"Would you like to try it on?"
Alice shook her head, completely taken aback by his attitude in the situation. "Jack, a ring like this, a family heirloom… it means something. And this is too fast." She pushed the box, ring inside, back into his hands. What could he have been thinking?
"Okay. I'm sorry I got the wrong idea," he apologized, laying a hand over his heart. But instead of taking her words seriously, he just pressed forward. "But maybe after you've seen my home, met my friends-"
"No, Jack. I just told you, no," she repeated sternly, stepping further back away from him. He looked genuinely surprised by her denial of him and for a moment Alice thought maybe she was the one reacting unreasonably. "Not tonight." She just needed time to think, that's all. Surely he would understand that. "You know, maybe just.. In a few days…"
"Alice-" he began, stepping towards her.
"Please," she said sharply, too sharply if the way he stopped mid-step was any indication. "Just give me some time?"
He remained silent for a moment, his expression unreadable to her. "Alright," he finally said. Picking up his coat, he moved towards the door and she followed, hating that she had somehow driven a wedge between them. She opened the door and he turned to face her. "I'll give you all the time I can spare." His tone was gentle, but his words did nothing to comfort her. The time he could spare, what did that mean? Would he leave her if she didn't make up her mind quickly enough?
Jack leaned in, wrapping her in a warm embrace. Though his words had been enigmatic, the message in his touch was always clear. He cared for her. His soft lips pressed to her hair, her cheek and finally her lips.
"Goodnight, Alice."
And then he was out the door and she was closing it. She turned away, walking blindly, and found herself face to face with one of two huge mirrors her mother had hung near the door, facing each other because she liked the way the reflections seemed to go on forever. The girl looked at herself, into her own gray eyes.
"What the Hell just happened?"