Another new chapter. I'll run out of prepared content soon so don't hate me when the posts slow down.

Enjoy and remember that I don't own the JE characters.

6. Embarrassment

When Carlos opened the door to his dorm room, I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't that. The room was tidy, two duffel bags were packed and sitting by the door, an overflowing back pack filled with books and papers sat on the bed and a laptop bag sat on the desk. The trash was empty, the shelves were bare and there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere.

I turned and looked at Carlos and said, "I thought you said you still had work to do to pack? From what I can see, everything is ready to go."

Carlos laughed and said, "Almost everything."

He walked over to his closet and opened the door with a flourish. I looked in and saw that the shelves were covered in neat piles of notebooks and papers.

"I can't fit my course work into my bags, and I am reluctant to throw it away just yet. It might come in useful if I come back next year."

I nodded in understanding. I was the same with my notes and books. An idea popped into my head so I started rummaging around in my handbag. A few moments later, I pulled out three strong plastic bags that I always carried with me and handed them to Carlos.

"Why are you carrying bags around with you?"

I laughed and replied, "I don't like the bags they give out at the grocery stores, so I use these. They also come in handy if I have to carry something unexpected."

"These will be extremely helpful. I was just going to carry them down to the car and hope they stayed organised during the trip, but that was probably a bad plan. This is better, thanks."

I smiled and helped hold open each of the bags as he neatly organised his notebooks and papers in each. When we were finished, he looked around the room and said, "I guess the next step is to carry my stuff down to the car. When we get down, if it's OK with you, I'll leave you at the front to guard my things while I bring the car around."

I nodded and agreed to his plan and picked up the three bags of notes and his laptop bag. He was able to carry his backpack and the two duffle bags so we didn't need to make a second trip. He locked his door, placed his keys in an envelope, and left them at the front desk on the way out.

While I was waiting for him to return with the car, I was looking at my fingernails, trying to decide if it was worth trying file them before my interview. I knew I had a manicure set in my handbag, but I wasn't sure if Carlos' car was the best place to do that.

I was brought out of my internal dilemma when I heard my name spoken. I looked up and saw Lester, Bobby and Tom walking toward me.

"Hey Steph, what brings you by here this morning?"

"Hi guys. I'm mooching a lift off Carlos. I have a job interview in Newark this afternoon and he was kind enough to offer a ride in exchange for a bit of manual labour."

Carlos walked up and interrupted us saying, "The ride was offered as a courtesy. No exchange was necessary."

I laughed at his reaction, so I said, "Carlos is right. The manual labour of carrying Carlos' belonging was perfectly voluntary. I was here and I couldn't stand by and watch a friend work alone when I could easily help."

Lester laughed at my reply and asked, "Once you guys load up the car, do you think you could spare 5 minutes to help us? We have a sofa that we need to carry down three flights of stairs. The three of us can lift it alright, but we can't see around it well enough to turn it when necessary. An extra set of arms and eyes would be very helpful."

Carlos looked at me and said, "We have plenty of time, what do you say?"

I smiled, turned to the guys and said, "I'd be happy to help. Lead the way."

The guys led us to the third building past Carlos' Residence. We climbed two flights of stairs to find a sofa wedged at one of the turns. I looked at it and could see where they went wrong. The turned it without lifting it high enough to clear the railing.

"Guys, each of you grab a corner and I'll direct your movements."

Tom and Carlos took the bottom corners, forcing Lester and Bobby to climb over the sofa to get to the top. I instructed Tom and Carlos to lift their end as high as they could and swing it to the left while Bobby and Lester lifted their end and held it steady.

After about 5 minutes of turns, raises and lowering, the sofa was out of the stairwell and loaded in the truck that Bobby borrowed from a friend.

"Thanks Steph, you were just what we needed. Carlos, we'll talk soon."

The guys climbed into the cab of their truck and left Carlos and I watching them as they drove away.

I smiled and turned to walk back to Carlos' car, laughing to myself about at how easily the guys lifted the sofa, but unable to navigate it around tight corners. Carlos must have noticed me laughing because he said, "Those jokers had no problems getting that sofa up to their common room. I have a feeling they faked their difficulty just so they could enlist your assistance. They all really liked you last night, and they especially liked how you dealt with Lucida. None of them really liked her. They avoided spending time with me if she was around."

I thought about this for moment, worried that they saw me as some sort of replacement for Lucida, but I didn't have long to think about that before Carlos continued with his story. "I think Lester likes the idea of a spending time with me and the guys without Lucida, just us guys you know? Lucida never really let me just hang out. She was always around, and the only time I really had to myself was when I studied. Suffice it to say, I studied a lot. In hind sight I should have stood up to her, but she always had such a temper tantrum if I tried to broach the subject that it was just easier to avoid it and put up with her."

I didn't know how to respond to his story, so I just stayed quiet. When we reached his car, we jumped in and headed to Newark. During the journey, we talked a little bit about my break in and how my family would react if I didn't go home for the summer. I knew my mother would be disappointed and upset with me, but I refused to worry about that until I actually had a job to worry about.

The morning rush hour was long past, so we managed to make it to the outskirts of Newark in about 25 minutes. I looked at the clock on the dashboard when we passed the sign welcoming us to Newark and noticed that it was only 11:30. I looked over at Carlos and said, "Thanks again for doing this Carlos, I really appreciate it."

"No problem, I was going this way anyway. I've actually enjoyed having the company."

I smiled at him and asked, "Since it's still early, and my appointment isn't for a few hours, would you let me take you to lunch?"

"We can stop somewhere for lunch, but you don't have to pay for me. I already have a summer job lined up."

"I know I don't have to, but I want to. Just as long as we don't go somewhere too expensive, I am an unemployed student."

Carlos laughed and replied, "At the moment, I'm sure you'll have a job in a few hours. I know a diner not too far from my father's building downtown. I can park at his office and we can walk the two blocks and take as much time as we want before your interview."

"That sounds good, just as long as I don't keep you from anything important. I don't want to monopolise any more of your time today."

"Don't worry about that, nobody is expecting me anywhere until later this afternoon, so I'm free to keep you company for as long as you want."

Because I was satisfied with his answer, and slightly relieved that I wouldn't have to kill a few hours in a relatively unknown place, I let the subject rest. Less than ten minutes later, we parked and headed for lunch. We walked into a small diner, and since we beat the lunch rush, we were able to pick one of the booths by the window.

I watched the waitresses behind the counter drool over Carlos as we walked to our table. Since he had his back to them, he couldn't see them staring, but I could, and for some reason it made me feel more confident. They thought he was my boyfriend, and they hated me for it. I wasn't going to encourage them by telling the truth.

I studied the menu for a few minutes, and after discussing our choices, we closed our menus to show that we were ready to order. After a few minutes of waiting, a waitress came over to take our order. She smiled at Carlos and asked him what he'd like to drink and then eat. She made no indication that she had even noticed me, so Carlos said, "Babe, what do you want?"

I was shocked that he used such a familiar nickname for me, but I recovered quickly and gave the waitress my order. She wrote it on her notepad barely looking away from Carlos the whole time. He thanked her, and she reluctantly walked away from our table, leaving me slightly annoyed.

I looked at Carlos, who was acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred. I wondered why he was so nonchalant about the whole thing, so I asked, "Does that sort of things happen all the time? Are all other people who accompany you completely invisible to waitresses?"

Carlos looked at me and laughed out loud. It was a magnificent thing to behold, but it didn't last as long as I'd have liked.

"You should have seen how Lucida reacted when we went out together. She would get very annoyed and whined the whole time. She even complained to the owner of one restaurant, but she was so rude about it, they asked her never to return."

"It got to the point where she'd book ahead and ask for a male waiter or an older waitress. I was more embarrassed by her behaviour than I ever was of the attention I received from strangers. I guess she was just so self-obsessed that she made everything about her."

"I have to be honest Carlos. I can actually sympathise with how she felt. I'm just your friend, and I felt completely invisible and unwanted when she came to the table. But on the other hand, I can understand why the waitress was a bit overwhelmed."

At that point, our waitress came over carrying a tray with our drinks. She took her time putting Carlos' drink in front of him. First putting down a napkin as a coaster, and then placing his sweating ice water on the napkin. When she was done with his drink, she threw a napkin in my direction, hurriedly placed my drink at the furthest edge of the table and walked away, throwing one last glance at Carlos as she left.

Carlos slid my drink towards me and then said, "I'm sorry that being with me has caused you any discomfort. I don't like this attention, but I have gotten used to it. The guys even complain about it when we go out. "

"They're all over there shooting daggers at me with every look. I am starting to find the humour in this situation, especially after seeing the look on her face when you asked me what I wanted to eat."

Carlos laughed and asked, "Do you mean when I called you Babe?"

I nodded, so he continued, "I hoped that they'd take the hint that I'm not interested in them. I'm here with you, and I'm going to spend our time together ensuring that you are ready for your meeting this afternoon with my father."

"That's a good idea. What can you tell me about your father?"

"My father is actually a really nice guy. He isn't one of those people who are always serious, but he really values hard work, ingenuity and loyalty. He also likes people who stand up for themselves and fight for something they want.

"I didn't share any of the details about your problems with my father, but I did mention that you stood up to someone who did you wrong. He was impressed that you didn't let Ryan push you around or get away with what he did. As I said, he doesn't know the details, but he does know you stood up for yourself against somebody that should have had your back, but betrayed you.

"He's very smart and can read almost anyone. When I was growing up, I could never get away with lying to my father. He always knew. I don't know how, but he just knew."

I thought for a moment, and when I saw our waitress approaching with our food, I waited until she was within earshot, smiled brightly and said, "Let's eat now and talk more about family later."

"Good idea Babe, I'm starving. We can talk about all that practice we need to start our family later."

I completely missed the waitress putting my food in front of me, ogling Carlos and walking away. I was absolutely stunned by Carlos' and all I managed to do was blush, causing Carlos to laugh much longer than the last time. I wasn't able to look at him this time, so I pulled my plate toward me and started eating, taking comfort in the familiar flavours.

When Carlos finally quieted down he said, "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you Steph. I was only trying to elaborate on your comment."

I was confused, and it must have shown on my face because Carlos smiled and said, "You saw the waitress coming and said that we should eat now and talk about family later. I just took it one step further and implied that we were talking about our own family."

I was still blushing, but I managed to squeak out, "Carlos, I meant that we could talk about your father later, not a family of our own, and especially not practicing for that family."

"I know Babe, I was just teasing you. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. I'll try not to do it again or at least not in front of other people."

I nodded at his apology and returned to my food. While we were eating, the waitress came by three times to ask Carlos how he liked his food. The first two times he politely answered that everything was fine. The third time, he was beginning to get annoyed, so when I let out a low moan just as the waitress came by to ask, he said, "I think my wife likes it because the noises she is making now are significantly quieter versions of the noises she makes when we're in private. If you know what I mean." He winked at her, making her turn and walk away quickly.

I swallowed hastily and started to cough. Carlos chuckled and pushed my glass of water closer to me and said, "You do make erotic sounds when you eat, so I had to take advantage of the perfectly timed moan you let out just as she approached. The look on her face was hilarious, but the look on your face was priceless."

I thought for a moment about all of the things he had said today and smiled inwardly before saying, "You should count yourself lucky that I'm not in the market for a family or a husband, or you might find yourself in a situation that makes you uncomfortable mister."

I tried to keep a stern look on my face, but the smile that emerged on Carlos' face made me crack and we both broke into laughter. For the next 45 minutes, we talked and laughed about nothing in particular, so when it was 1:05, we gathered our belongings and I paid the bill, leaving a little extra for the tip. I didn't want to be stingy, but I wasn't overly generous. I left the exact change for a 20% tip and Carlos placed his arm around my shoulder as we walked out.

As soon as we were away from the diner, I twisted so Carlos' arm was no longer across my shoulders. He dropped it to his side, smiled, and chuckled. We arrived at his father's building with ten minutes to spare. Carlos knew his way around the building so he assured the receptionist that he would escort me to the waiting area upstairs.

When we exited the elevator on the 3rd floor where Carlos' father had his office, Carlos was warmly greeted by a woman. He turned to me and said, "Stephanie, this is Amanda. You probably spoke earlier today to arrange this meeting."

I shook Amanda's hand and said, "Yes, it's nice to put a face with the name Amanda. I'm glad to meet you."

A booming voice interrupted our greetings saying, "Is that my youngest son I hear?"

Moments later, an older version of Carlos emerged, smiling as he embraced Carlos, who said, "It's good to see you Papa. It has only been a couple of weeks, but it seems like longer."

Carlos' father looked at me and asked Carlos, "Who is this young beauty?"

"Papa, this is Stephanie Plum. Steph, this is my father, Ricardo Manoso."

I looked at Ricardo and held out my hand to shake his. Instead of shaking my hand, he took it in both of his, raised it to his lips and kissed it, causing me to blush slightly.

"It's very nice to meet you dear. Please come in so we can talk." He looked at Carlos and said, "Will you wait? I wanted to talk to you before you head home? We shouldn't be that long."

"Sure Papa. I'll keep Amanda company until you are finished."

More to come. Please review and I'll post more.