Terry and Gene 10

A week passed before she heard from Gene again. This time, he stopped in at the gallery.

"Well, hi," Terry smiled at him.

"Hey" he said. "How are you?"

"Fine."

"Anything new in here?"

Terry nodded. "The back room where you found your picture has several new things."

Gene smiled at her and wandered off to that room.

When he returned, she was concluding a sale with another customer. He looked around the room, waiting for her to finish. Once they left, he approached her.

"I'm free Wednesday night, if you wanna get together."

Terry smiled. "Sure. Why don't you come to my place. I'll cook for you."

"Really?"

"Really. Are you allergic to anything?"

"Nope."

"Is there anything you won't eat?"

"Eggplant, turnips and rutabagas,"

"Eww. I don't blame you. OK. What time?"

"Is six OK?"

"Sure."

"Are you gonna give me directions?"

"Sure. Come here." She stepped from behind the counter and beckoned him out the front door. She led him around the side of the building. "See those stairs? I live up there."

"I think I can find you ," he laughed.

She walked back into the gallery.

"Wednesday at six then?" she asked before closing the door.

"Yup. See you then."

Terry and Gene 9

A glass of Merlot did wonders for Terry's nerves. She settled back and listened to Gene and Jeannetta get caught up on their lives. Then they began telling Terry stories about their childhood that had all of them laughing loud and uncontrollably more than once.

Considering how horribly it had begun, the "date" had ended up being very good. Better, probably with Jeannetta along so that Terry wasn't the center of attention.

Jeannetta had a room at the hotel, so she went there after lunch and Gene walked Terry out to the valet stand.

Terry handed her ticket to the valet again. Gene stood beside her, his arm touching hers.

"Can I see you again?" Gene asked. Terry turned to look up at him, but he kept his gaze straight ahead. Her heart fluttered at the sight of his chiseled face.

"Yes. I'm glad you still want to."

Gene snorted and turned to her. "I'm surprised you said 'yes' after Jeannetta got her claws into you."

"That was pretty painful, but all's well that ends well, right?"

Gene smiled down on her. "Right."

"Next time, it's my treat." Terry said. "Just let me know when you're ready."

"I will," Gene said, looking down into her eyes. Terry felt herself being pulled into the chocolate vortex of his gaze again.

Terry's van arrived and she accepted her keys and gave the valet a ten dollar tip.

Gene took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Thank you." he said and bent to kiss her on the cheek.

Terry jammed her keys into her thigh to make sure she was still alive.

Terry and Gene 8

"Jesus Christ, Jeannetta." Gene said, disgusted. "I can just imagine what you said to her."

Gino pressed a handkerchief into her hand. Terry covered her face with it and sobbed again.

"I was really mean. Oh, honey. I'm sorry. I really am. You have no idea how often this kind of thing happens. And I've always been right in the past."

Gene put his arm around her shoulders and rested his forehead against her temple. "This big, nasty bitch is my sister. She's protected me my whole life and is just too stubborn to stop. I'm sorry." he said into her ear.

Terry took several deep breaths and tried to calm down.

"Come on, honey. Let's go to the girl's room and fix our make-up. I'll buy a bottle of wine and we'll start over, OK?" Jeannetta's voice sounded teary.

Terry nodded. "OK. I'm sorry." She lifted her head and removed her glasses. When she looked up a slightly blurry Gene looked back at her. It was so easy to get lost in his coffee brown eyes.

She put her glasses back on and looked at Jeannetta who had this amused look on her face as she looked from Terry to Gene and back again.

Jeannetta took her arm and said "I'm stealing her away. We'll meet you at the table. Gino, a good Merlot, please."

Arm in arm, they went to the ladies room. Terry looked at her face in the mirror, grabbed some tissues and started repairing the tear damage. Jeannetta stood beside her and touched up her nose.

"I know I humiliated you and I really am sorry. Gene hasn't dated a 'real' girl since high school. I'm used to meeting brain dead blonds with fake tits." Terry laughed. "Will you please forgive me?"

"It's OK. I'm alright. I can't believe he asked me out, either." Terry laughed again.

"Don't sell yourself short. Something in you sang to him or you wouldn't be here." Jeannetta put her hand on Terry's shoulder and looked at her in the mirror. Terry felt her face get hot. Jeannetta laughed. "You are real. You blush and everything."

"Doesn't everyone?"

"Not the ones without any shame. Come on, honey. He's waiting on you."

Terry and Gene 7

Terry opened her mouth to speak but the blond Amazon in the fur coat started talking again.

"Oh, come on, honey. Do you really think that if you sit here, Gene will magically show up, fall in love with you, and sweep you off your feet? Please. When are you groupies going to learn?"

"Miss Jennetta, this is..."

"What? His date?" she laughed. "Please Gino. She's not even his type. Come on, honey, get going. You don't belong here."

Terry sat through this with her mouth open, looking from Gino to Jeannetta.

"Miss Jeannetta..." Gino started, pleadingly.

Terry's senses came back to her and she nearly began to cry.

"No. It's OK. I don't know what I was thinking." Terry said quietly as she slid out of her seat.

"You are going to pay for that, aren't you, honey?" Jeannetta asked, pointing at her nearly full iced tea.

"Of course." She took a ten out of her purse and left it on the table. She all but ran out of the restaurant.

It was only her pride that kept her from bursting into tears as she handed the valet her ticket. She alternately clenched her jaw and bit her tongue to keep from crying, but she felt tears pricking behind her eyes anyway.

Suddenly, the scene erupted. Gene pulled up in his Mercedes and got out. "Terry?"
Jeanetta's voice from behind her called frantically. "Terry!"

Gino called her, too. "Ms. Stone!"

And the valet arrived with her van.

Terry tried to take the keys from the valet but Gene was too fast for her and snatched them from his hand.

"Where are you going?" Gene asked. Then "Jeanetta!" and he hugged the odious Amazon.

Terry tried to walk away but Gino stopped her. "Please, Ms. Stone. Just wait. Everything will be explained in a moment."

Terry felt a tear roll down her cheek. Then another. She covered her face and sobbed and everything stopped.

"Terry! What's wrong?" Gene cried, his hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, Gene. It's all my fault. She didn't look like your type..." Jeannetta trailed off.

Terry and Gene 6

When Terry arrived home after making her delivery, she sat at her kitchen table and played a couple games of Solitaire. She wasn't horribly nervous yet, but every so often she would feel her stomach flutter.

Finally the time came for her to get ready. She showered and got dressed. She wore her "little black dress" and twisted her hair into a loose topknot and held it in place with hairpins that had a shiny black bead at the bend. She put on her strappy black sandals and then the reality hit her. I'm going out on a lunch date with a rock star. Her heart pounded so hard she could hardly breathe.

She tried to time her trip so that she arrived at two o'clock. She pulled up to the valet parking and half-expected a sneer from the guy who took her keys. But he smiled kindly at her and took the keys to her ten year old van. She made her way to the restaurant.

The maitre'd greeted her.

"I'm supposed to meet Gene Grey here," she said.

"Your name?"

"Terry Stone."

He looked down at his list and then smiled at her. "Right this way, Ms. Stone. I just received a call from Mr. Grey. He wanted you to know he'll be about twenty minutes late."

"Thank you," Terry said as he led her to a seat in a curtained alcove. Terry tried to take a calming breath.

"Would you like anything to drink?"

"Iced tea, please." she answered as she sat down.

The curtain was a crimson crushed velvet and the chairs were covered with the same material. The crimson and cream tablecloths matched the napkins which were placed under the silverware rather than around it.

When they brought her tea, it was in a goblet with a thin slice of lemon and a mint leaf on top. Everything about this place was elegant and gorgeous.

She had taken a couple sips of her tea when she heard a loud woman's voice chatting cheerily as it came closer.

"It's OK Gino. I'll just wait at his table. He'll be so surprised to see me... Who are you?" The woman addressed Terry as she stepped around the curtain.

Terry and Gene 5

A couple of weeks passed. Terry hadn't forgotten about the meeting with Gene. Far from it. But she figured he wasn't going to call her. She wasn't really surprised or disappointed as she wasn't exactly the musicians' girlfriend type. She was short and dumpy with brown hair, brown eyes and glasses. Nothing like the trophies that were usually on a rock star's arm.
Monday night she was mulling this over as she got ready for bed. Just as she laid down, the phone rang. Startled, she picked up the receiver and promptly dropped it on the floor.

"Hello?" she said after retrieving it.

"Terry?" a man's voice asked.

"Yes?"

"It's Gene."

"Oh, hi!" she said and sat up on the edge of the bed.

"Did I wake you?"

"No. I'm just a dork and I dropped the phone. How are you?

"I'm OK. Do you have a lot of deliveries to make tomorrow?"

"O-only one." I can't believe I just stuttered.

"You wanna meet for lunch?"

Terry took a deep breath. "Sure. I was planning on making the delivery at ten in the morning."

"Cool. Do you know where Franco's is?"

Terry knew where Franco's was. In the most expensive hotel in the city.

"Yes."

"Wanna meet there at two?"

"OK. Two at Franco's tomorrow." She repeated, stunned. Good thing I just got paid.

"Cool." There was silence for just a moment. "It's good to hear your voice. I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner."

"It's OK." Terry felt herself blush.

"You didn't think I'd call."

"No, I didn't."

"Why?"

"I'm not exactly the glamorous musician type."

"If you mean you're not the souvenir-collecting, brain-dead, 'had work done' type, you're right."

Terry laughed. "No. I meant I'm not the svelte, beautiful, sexy type."

Gene sighed. "I think you have a caring heart and an intelligent mind. To me, that's beautiful and sexy." he said.

Terry felt herself blush from her toes to her hairline. "Wow. Thank you." It was all she could do to continue breathing.

"Tomorrow at two then?" Gene asked.

"Yes," she said, forcing the sound out.

"OK. I'll see you then. Good night."

Terry hung up the phone and laid down. It was a good hour before her heart stopped pounding and she could get to sleep.

Terry and Gene 4

"My phone number?" The very thought of Gene Grey asking for her phone number was mind-numbing.

"Yeah. So I can dial the phone and talk to you."

"Oh. OK." she said. I sound so stupid.

When they got to the front door, she set the wad of paper on the floor and took her wallet out of her pocket.

"Do you have a pen?" she asked. He produced one from the table in the foyer.
She wrote her phone number on the back of her business card. She swallowed hard as she handed it to him. He gazed into her eyes and she felt herself sinking again.
She forced herself to take a deep breath and bend over to pick up the paper.

"Well. Thank you again." she breathed and moved toward the door. He opened it for her.

"Good night. " he said.

"Good night."

When she arrived back in her neck of the woods, she called and ordered Chinese food and stopped by to pick it up. As soon as she walked through the door, she picked up her phone and the broken dial tone told her that she had voice mail. While she unloaded the food from the bag, she listened to her messages. One from her sister and one from Gene.

"Terry, I don't know exactly what was going through your head, but you had doubt written all over your face. I will call you. I want to get to know you better. Talk to you later."

Terry checked the time on the message. It was about five minutes after she had left his house. She erased it and called her sister.

"Ann, you'll never believe what happened to me today." And Terry related the story.

"You need to be careful. What if he's a weirdo?"

"If he's a weirdo, I'll call the cops."

Terry heard Ann sigh. "He's probably a big jerk."

"OK. Could you just try to be excited for me? I've liked this guy's music for years and now I got to meet him. One on one. Not even at a press conference or anything. And he asked for my phone number and he already called me once. It's kind of exciting, you know?"

"OK, OK. Just watch yourself."

It was Terry's turn to sigh. "I will."

Terry and Gene 3

When Tuesday arrived, Terry woke up, showered, and planned her delivery route over breakfast. Her heart began to pound again as she thought about going to Gene's house. He was the farthest away, so she would go there last.

She dressed sensibly in jeans, tennis shoes, and a t-shirt because sometimes the clients asked her to hang the paintings for them.

By the time she reached Gene's house, it was almost four p.m. It was pretty modest for a rock star. No huge front gate. No security shack. It was still a large house. Probably has a woman in every room, she thought and smiled at her own joke.

She carefully removed the painting from her van and carried it to the front door. The door opened as she got there and, to her surprise, it was Gene who held it open for her.

"Hi," she said as she walked in. "Where would you like it?" She was out of breath, but not from the weight of the painting.

He led her to the back of the house in silence. Here was a room with black walls, purple carpet, and a purple ceiling. The curtains were heavy and also purple. All of the furniture was black. She set the painting down on the sofa and carefully unwrapped it. Gene picked it up and hung it over a desk on the left side of the room. He reached up and adjusted the track lights so they would show off the painting. Terry smiled as she looked at it.

When she looked at Gene again, he was staring at her, a half smile on his lips. Terry felt the heat boil over in her cheeks and looked down.

"Well, thank you." She turned to gather up the wrappings from the painting.

"Why were you smiling?" he asked. She could tell he had moved closer to her.

"I really love it when one of our paintings is hung in a place of honor." she said without turning around. This is weird.

"How do you know this is a 'place of honor'? Maybe I never even come in here." Terry slowly looked around the room. There were several guitars on stands, paper and pencils everywhere, and several notebooks on the desk beneath the painting.

Terry looked at him. His eyes were teasing her. "Right," she said. "This is a Genesis room, if I ever saw one."

"A Genesis room." he said. "Never thought of it that way."

Terry took the paper and crumpled it into a ball. She turned toward the door.

"How many more deliveries do you have?" Gene asked as he led her back to the front door.

"None. I'm heading home."

"To your husband?"

"No."

"Boyfriend?"

"No."

"Girlfriend?"

"No."

"Kids?"

"No. And no pets, either. Anything else you want to know?" Terry laughed.

"Your phone number."

Terry and Gene 2

Terry gasped at the tone in his voice. "I'm sorry. It's a miserable, lonely picture. No one should have to feel that way." She stopped short of saying she felt sorry for him She wanted to lower her eyes, but she was caught up in his angry glare. She didn't breathe again until he turned away from her.

He pointed at the price tag. "How much of this do you get?" Still anger in his voice.

Here also, was a question that was always asked. "Twenty percent goes to me, twenty percent to the artist and sixty percent to the hospital."

Gene nodded, losing himself in the dark landscape once again.

"I'll take it." he said quietly.

Terry nodded. "Would you like to take it with you now or can I deliver it to you?"

Gene turned and looked at her. "You make the deliveries?"

Terry nodded. "If it's local. Otherwise, I'll have it shipped to wherever you like, but you pay the shipping costs."

"What's local?"

"No more than a two hour drive."

"OK. Deliver it then."

Terry turned and walked toward the front of the store. "OK. I make my deliveries on Tuesdays. Will there be someone there to accept it?"

"Yeah."

Terry took down the address, accepted the money, and thanked Gene for his donation. She filled out a receipt and gave it to him. She smiled up at him and got lost in his gaze again. Her heart beat so hard against her breast she was sure he would see it shaking.

The sound of another customer arriving interrupted their communion. Terry reached up and touched her cheek, flustered.

Gene looked down at her nametag. "Thanks, Terry." And he left.

Terry and Gene 1

"Good Morning," Terry said and looked up to smile at the customer who had come into the gallery. Her heart did a flip in her chest as she recognized the tall blond man who nodded at her before turning to look at the wall of paintings behind him. It wasn't the first time a celebrity had stopped in at her gallery. The famous usually had more money than they needed and purchasing art from her shop was a tax deduction, so she often made large sales to their kind. But this was Gene Grey, her favorite singer from her favorite band. She watched as he looked at the paintings. His longish blond hair hung straight down the back of his neck and his broad shoulders were well displayed by the black trench coat he wore. But beneath the nice coat, a pair of faded jeans and ratty tennis shoes shown. Terry smiled to herself and returned to inputting her sales data so her artists could be paid at the end of the month.

When she looked up again, he was gone. Probably in one of the back rooms, she thought. Then she saw him come out into the main part of the gallery again. His coat was open and she could see the gray sweatshirt he wore. She gritted her teeth and smiled slightly as he approached her.

"I have a question about one of the paintings."

"Sure. Show me which one," she said as she stepped out from behind the counter. She followed him into the back room and he pointed at a large picture.

It was an urban landscape done in black, gray and purple. In the foreground there was a broken and dejected man clutching a bottle. As you looked up, an alleyway extended with the buildings looming on either side of it. If you looked closer, you could see that the coloring and shadows on the buildings were actually faces, some beautiful, some hideous.

She nodded and turned to Gene.

"What can I tell you?"

"Do you know this guy?"

She nodded. "Jason. His work is very good."

"What's his story?"

People often asked her questions about the artists. Sometimes it was the stories she told about them that sold the artwork. Jason's story, however, wasn't all that pitiable.

"Jason is an alcoholic. Unfortunately, we see him at the hospital regularly. The truth is that he does his best work when he's sober. He just isn't able to stay that way for very long." Jason just made her sad.

Gene nodded and turned back to the painting.

"I know that feeling." Gene said as he looked at it. Terry sighed. She had heard that Gene had a drinking problem.

"What was that for?" Gene asked sharply and turned to face her.

Carrie and Keith 23

"Thanksgiving is only two weeks away." Carrie commented as they sat down to dinner. Justin and Keith had come over for some of Carrie's specialty: Lasagna. Carrie walked around the table and poured each of them a glass of Lambrusco.

"Know what I'm most thankful for?" Keith asked as she poured his wine.

"What's that?"

"You," Keith grabbed her arm. She looked down at him and smiled. Taking the wine bottle from her hand, he cleared his throat. "Carrie," his voice cracked anyway. "Will you marry me?" He held up an engagement ring for her to see.

Kim gasped, Justin smiled, and Carrie burst into tears.

"Oh my god. Yes!" she wailed and bent down to hug him.

Keith pulled her left hand up so he could put the ring on her finger. His hand shook so bad he could hardly get it on her. He laughed at himself.

Justin raised his glass. "To the newly betrothed." Everyone fumbled for their glasses to clink them together.

Carrie and Keith 22

A knock on the door was quickly followed by the sound of Justin's voice. "Hey, Keith!"

"He's still asleep," Carrie called from the kitchen.

Justin walked in. "Carrie?" his eyes wide, obviously taken aback.

"Hi," she waved and returned to stirring her coffee. "I just finished making the coffee if you want some." She licked the spoon and set it on the table before taking a sip.

Justin helped himself to a cup and sat next to her at the table.

"It's 11:00." Justin said.

Carrie looked over at the clock on the microwave. "11:04" she said with a little smile. "It was a long night." She looked up at him. He just blinked at her.

She laughed a little. "I know I look like hell. And the long night wasn't nearly so fun as it sounds. Mostly it was me yelling and crying."

"So, why is he still asleep?"

"I don't think he's had a full night's sleep in a while. Every time I've looked in on him, he's been out like a light."

"You don't look like you're sleeping or eating right, either."

"I haven't been," Carrie sighed. "But I will again."

***

Keith smelled coffee. He rolled onto his back and put his hand out. Carrie was gone. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. The clock said 11:15. I hope she's still here.

He heard voices as he walked to the kitchen. Carrie looked up and smiled at him. In the daylight he could see the ravages their separation had taken on her. But that smile lit up her face and made her look instantly healthier.

"Hey Keith," Justin said.

"Good morning," said Carrie. "I made coffee."

"Hey," he said and clapped Keith on the shoulder, but he kept his eyes on Carrie.

"It's after 11:00." Justin informed him.

"Yeah. I know. I was sleeping pretty hard." Carrie and he were locked into each other's gaze.

Justin cleared his throat. "Well, I just came to say 'hi'. I'll talk to you later." he said and made his exit.

"Bye" they said in unison as the door closed.

Keith sat down in Justin's vacated seat.

"How are you?" he asked quietly.

"Better than last night," she said with a smile.

"Me too." he said and took a sip of Justin's coffee. "You smell good."

"I took the liberty of using your shower a couple hours ago."

"I need to do that myself."

Carrie stood up. "Well, come on and I'll wash your back."

Keith couldn't scramble to his feet fast enough.