Chapter Fourteen
"Dillon, are you sure it's wise for you to be driving, dear? You were just released from the hospital this morning."
Ordinarily, being fussed over like this would have driven Dillon crazy. But Lila Quartermaine was like an octogenarian Cindy Lou Who - she could soften even the Grinch's hard heart. He kneeled down in front of her wheelchair.
"I'm fine, Grandmother," he assured her. "I'm wide awake and my head hasn't hurt at all since two days ago."
Lila looked a bit
more at ease, but was still concerned. "Well, just be careful,"
she said.
"I will," Dillon promised. "And I'll be home
before Ned goes to sleep so I can check in with him, if it would make
you feel better. Georgie has an 11:30 curfew so I'll come home
after I take her home."
"Be certain you bring her home on
time, Dillon dear," Lila advised, ignoring the comment about
checking in. She knew Dillon would use good judgment. "A proper
gentleman always escorts a lady home when he is told to."
Dillon
took this in. He didn't necessarily think of himself as a proper
gentleman, so to speak, but he had every intention of treating
Georgie like the lady she was. She was so pretty...so smart...so
caring...Dillon let his mind drift off into Georgie-saturated
oblivion. His expression must have betrayed him.
"She's on
your mind." Lila's voice jarred him back to reality. He blinked
several times, readjusting to the present.
"What? Oh-" he was
flustered. He took a breath to calm down. Lila watched him patiently,
kindly. Her eyes were trustworthy. Dillon took another deep breath
and looked right at her. "Yes," he answered directly. "She's
on my mind. She's on my mind constantly."
Lila smiled warmly
and leaned her head forward in a confidential manner. "Would you
like to know something, dear?" She asked him, beckoning him closer.
He nodded leaning toward her. "Georgie Jones is the perfect person
for you. Would you like to know how I know that?" Dillon, smiling
brightly at her comment, nodded again. "Because," she continued,
"I don't even have to ask if she makes you happy. I just see your
face and I know."
Dillon's heart swelled. He leaned to kiss
Lila's cheek. "Thank you Grandmother." She patted his
hand.
"Arrrgghhh!"
Georgie yelled out in frustration
and tossed the red shirt on to the rapidly growing pile of clothing.
Maxie appeared in her doorway.
"Georgie, what's wrong?" she
said in a voice that indicated she wasn't sure if she should be
concerned or annoyed.
"Dillon is going to be here in an hour
and I haven't washed my hair yet and I have no idea what to wear!"
Georgie told her. Maxie smiled. This was her speciality.
"Okay,"
she told Georgie. "Calm down. Go and take your shower. I will put
together a bunch of different options for outfits and we'll decide,
all right?"
Georgie nodded, feeling better. "All right." She
took her robe off the back of her closet door and headed down the
hall to the bathroom, leaving her sister to survey the pile of
clothing that had taken shape on the floor.
"Looks like I've
got my work cut out for me," Maxie said aloud, kneeling down to
sort through the debris.
Dillon stood in front of the mirror,
fixing his hair. After a moment of consideration, he grabbed a bottle
of cologne and slapped a little bit on the back of his neck. Dillon
knew next to nothing about things like cologne, but he'd wanted to
go the whole nine yards when he took Georgie out, so he'd gone to
Wyndham's and braved the crowds of people doing their Christmas
shopping. He had grabbed the first bottle of cologne that didn't
have a name that sounded like he was about to either get a sex change
or throw Georgie over his shoulder and drag her back to his cave - a
bottle of some Calvin Klein cologne called Crave - had paid, and
gotten the hell out of there as fast as he could.
Dillon looked
down at his clothing, inspecting the charcoal pants for lint. He
smoothed down his dark green shirt and straightened the monochromatic
textured tie, tugging at it. Quickly annoyed by the fashionable noose
about his neck, Dillon loosened the tie and yanked it over his head,
tossing it on to the bed. He unbuttoned his top collar button,
breathing easier, and grabbed the charcoal jacket that matched the
pants. He took another quick glance in the mirror and left, slipping
on the jacket as he headed down the stairs.
Georgie walked
into her room, her hair up in a towel, her robe tied tightly around
her body. Maxie stood at her bed, fussing with the clothing that she
had laid out.
"Okay," said Maxie, turning around when she
heard the door open. "I picked out four possible outfits."
"Okay,"
replied Georgie.
"All right, choice number one." Maxie
indicated a pair of red satin cigarette pants paired with a black
tie-neck sweater. "It's sophisticated, but very hot."
"I
don't know," hemmed Georgie. "I don't think I want to wear
pants..."
"Well, that's one way to get Dillon's
attention," teased Maxie.
"Maxie!" Georgie was aghast. "I
meant I want to wear a skirt!"
"I know." Maxie smiled
ruefully at her anxious sister. "All right, well that cancels this
outfit." She tossed aside a pair of black tuxedo pants and a pink
sweater. "Next!" She held up a blue flowered corset top. Georgie
looked at her curiously. "It's mine."
"Clearly," replied
Georgie, eyeing the strapless, hook and eye item. It looked more like
a medieval torture device than a piece of clothing, but she didn't
want to insult Maxie. "Go on."
"Okay, with..." Maxie held
up a pale blue silk skirt, "and-" a white shrug style sweater.
Georgie nodded in consideration. "And finally..." a lowcut pale
green dress with a darker green obi style sash. It was beautiful, but
Georgie wasn't sure how fancy she should look.
"I don't
know," Georgie said hesitantly. "Nothing is, I don't know,
grabbing me."
If Maxie was insulted, she covered it well. "Okay,
we'll just find something else. How much time do you have?"
Georgie
looked at the clock and shrieked. "Thirty five minutes!"
"Okay,
okay," soothed Maxie, heading to the closet.
"Wait!"
Georgie picked up the tuxedo pants outfit that Maxie had tossed
aside. Tne sweater was a pale pink cashmere with a jewel neck and a
black satin ribbon woven around the hemline. "I think I like this
sweater."
"Okay," Maxie said soothingly. Georgie was
eternally grateful that she and Maxie had mended ways. Otherwise
she'd be going on her date in a yellow terry cloth bathrobe. "Go
in the bathroom and dry your hair. Don't worry about making it look
perfect, just get the water out and we'll put it up. In the
meantime, I'll find a skirt."
"All right."
Georgie
rushed to the bathroom to dry her hair. When she returned, Maxie had
laid out an ivory wool skirt and -
"Are those Mom's boots?"
Georgie indicated a pair of black leather knee length boots with high
heels. Maxie nodded.
"Come on, get dressed," she instructed.
"He'll be here in less than half an hour."
Georgie stepped
behind her closet door and slipped her robe off, quickly putting on
the skirt and sweater. She stepped back into view.
"So?"
"You
look perfect," Maxie complimented her. "Here." She handed
Georgie a bottle of perfume. "Wear this one."
"Baby
Doll?"
"Definitely," Maxie insisted. "It smells pink. You
have to wear it with that outfit."
"Thanks." Georgie was
nervous. She sprayed the perfume behind her ears and on her
wrists.
"Sit." Maxie indicated the chair in front of Georgie's
vanity mirror. Georgie obeyed. "What are you so nervous about?"
Maxie asked as she put Georgie's hair up with chopsticks. "You
and Dillon have been seeing each other for months."
"I know,"
Georgie conceded. "But we've never been out on a 'proper date'
before, you know? No, no sneaking around or...anything."
There
was a silence. They both knew that Georgie was referring, at least in
part, to Maxie's interruption of hers and Dillon's date at The
Cellar.
Maxie shifted her weight. "You know, Dillon's
completely crazy about you." She nudged Georgie playfully. Georgie
smiled.
"He's wonderful," she said dreamily, not even
noticing as Maxie fastened a marquisite butterfly pendant around her
neck. "He's so different from anyone I've ever met before. We
talk about everything, about nothing. He's so gentle and sweet.
It's just, it's so, easy with Dillon, you know?" She looked at
Maxie in the mirror.
Maxie smiled. "Yeah..." She looked just
the tiniest bit wistful.
Dillon parked in front of the Scorpio-Jones house and cut the engine. He grabbed the bouquet of flowers he had bought off the passenger seat and slid out of the car. He shut the door and smoothed down his clothing. Walking to the door, Dillon tried to calm his nerves, anticipating the third degree from Mac. Georgie was worth anything, everything, he just hoped this would be relatively painless. He took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.
Georgie shrieked. "Oh my god, he's here!" she
cried. "I'm not done with my makeup!"
"Calm down," Maxie
commanded. "I'll go down and stall him." She left the room and
headed downstairs, opening the door. Dillon, holding a bouquet of
stargazer and calla lilies by his side, looked surprised to see her.
"Hey Maxie," he said.
"Hi Dillon," she responded,
opening the door wider. "Georgie will be down in a minute. Come on
in."
"Thanks." He stepped inside and looked around, a little
uneasy. This was the first time that he was in the Scorpio home and
wasn't in any real danger of being thrown out. "So, uh, where's
Mac?" He wanted to get the interrogation over with. Maxie
laughed.
"He's out all night on a case," she said knowingly.
"So you escape the search and seizure this time." Dillon laughed,
a little more at ease. "Although I suppose I could try it." She
made her voice deep and stern. "So, where do you plan on going
tonight?"
Dillon feigned seriousness. "Woodlawn
Tavern."
"Really?!" Maxie squealed, killing her act. "That
place is beautiful!"
"Yeah," Dillon agreed. "I hope
Georgie likes it." He looked to the stairs, wondering when Georgie
would be ready.
"She'll love it." Maxie followed his gaze.
"I'm sure she won't be long, but actually Dillon, while we're
waiting, there's something I need to say to you. Why don't you
have a seat?"
"Okay..." Dillon sat down on the sofa, putting
the flowers on the coffee table in front of him.
"Listen,
Dillon, I owe you an apology," Maxie began. Dillon raised an
eyebrow. She went on. "-for the way I've acted toward you. I know
that I've been really awful and nasty most of the time and I'm
sorry. It's just, and this is really no excuse, I think I was just
really jealous."
"Jealous?" Dillon repeated.
"Well,
yeah," Maxie explained. "You know, I'm the older sister. I'm
used to experiencing things first. Then all of a sudden, my little
sister, who's never had much interest in boys is being pursued" -
at this, Dillon blushed slightly - "by a guy who respects her and
seems to genuinely like her for who she is, not how she looks or what
she'll do for him. And meanwhile, I'm so desperate to fit in with
the popular crowd that I spend my time with people who videotape me
in bed and get me to steal narcotics from a hospital. So, I took out
my anger at myself on you and Georgie. And I'm really, really sorry
about that."
"It's..it's okay," Dillon said. He was
impressed at Maxie's realization that she had been awful in the
past.
"Look, Georgie obviously means a lot to you, and you
obviously mean a lot to her," Maxie continued. "And I think...I
think that she and I are doing better now, you know? We're being,
you know, like, sisters and friends again. So the thing is, I'd
really like it if you and I could, you know-"
"Be friends?"
Dillon cut in, with an almost undetectable sarcasm. He knew it
wouldn't be quite that easy.
Fortunately, so did Maxie. "Well,
I was going to say try and get along," she clarified. "But I
think I'd like if we became friends."
"Me too." Dillon
agreed. They nodded at one another, smiling with quasi-comfortable
dis-ease. Neither was quite sure what to do next. Fortunately, a
sound on the steps behind them broke the awkward moment. They turned
around. Dillon felt his breath catch in his throat. He stood
up.
Georgie came slowly down the stairs. The pink of the sweater
was set off by the natural, excited flush in her cheeks. The soft
gold eyeshadow she wore emphasized the warm glow of her brown eyes.
She smiled softly at Dillon.
He was mesmerized. They walked toward
each other slowly, their eyes locked. Maxie drifted off to the side
of the room. Dillon and Georgie met in the middle of the living room.
"Hi..." Georgie breathed, feeling like she was about to
giggle from excitement. She fought to hold it in, wanting to be
elegant.
Dillon could feel his heart pounding. "You're
gorgeous," he gasped.
Georgie shook her head and was about to
brush off his compliment with another, "no I'm not" or "don't
say that," but this wasn't the time, so she simply replied "thank
you."
Dillon smiled. "Oh wait," he said. He rushed over to
the couch and picked up the bouquet of flowers. He walked over and
handed them to Georgie. "These are for you," he announced,
stating the obvious. She took the flowers, admiring them, breathing
them in.
"They're beautiful," she told him, "thank you."
She admired the flowers for a few moments and started to head into
the kitchen for a vase.
Maxie stopped her. "I'll put the
flowers in water," she told Georgie, coming over. Georgie started
to hand over the flowers, but Dillon stopped her.
"Just a sec,"
he said, reaching over and plucking two flowers from the bouquet. He
held one, a stargazer lily, out to Maxie. "For the lady," he
said, bowing slightly in exaggeration. She took it. "Thank you
sir," she joked back.
Dillon held up the second flower to
Georgie. Somehow in the middle of the beautiful arrangement of
lilies, he had hidden a pink rose, like the one he had bought for her
when he revealed his love for her. And once again, he broke off the
stem and tucked the bloom behind her ear.
"Shall we?" he
asked, extending his hand. She took it. "We shall." She let him
lead her out to the car.
