Absolutely Unforgivable(40)

Before I could finish what I was trying to say, Jeromy broke in. “Oh baby, don’t be upset. I thought your dance was great. I loved every minute of it.

All I could think to say was, “Are you kidding me?”

“No. Really. I loved it. It was the hottest thing ever. You are so sexy. I love seeing you dance around like that, confident and seductive. I wished you would do it more often.”

I could hear every word of what he was saying but still I felt mortified by my behavior. That wasn’t like me. I’m not that kind of girl.

“Please, baby, it’s going to be okay. And hey, I’ll be home in about an hour to show you how much I’ve missed you.”

“Oh?” I perked up that he would be home soon.

“Listen, I want you to go upstairs and get fixed up in a pretty outfit. I am going to take you out to a late lunch.

“Okay ... but ....” I started to say, when he interrupted me, “I want you to meet someone special. Can you be ready in about an hour?”

“Yeah. Of course. Are you going to tell me who we are going to have lunch with?”

“My mother.”

My heart skipped a beat when he said those words. It took me a second to catch my breath but before I could speak he continued. “My mom’s home now from Virginia and she wants to finally meet you.”

When we first arrived, Jeromy’s mother had been away visiting Jeromy’s little brother Nathan, who was stationed in Virginia. He was serving his second term in the Navy. I was so nervous to meet his mother, but it was something I had wanted to do for a while now. I had spoken to her several times on the phone before over the past year, but this would be our first official meeting. She was always so sweet when we spoke on the phone. But still, she was Jeromy’s mother and I worried about what she would think of me after meeting in person.

Without remembering that Billy was standing right behind me, I just ran up the stairs after I hung up the phone with Jeromy. I ran to my closest to try and find something to wear. Worried that something might be wrong, Billy ran upstairs after me. He found me in my closet in a full blown panic attack, going through everything I had, desperately trying to find something appropriate to wear.

He leaned on the door frame. “You okay?”

I fell to my knees, on top of the pile of clothes at my feet with a tear in my eye. “Jeromy is going to be here in about an hour.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

I sighed. “No. It’s just he wants to take me to meet his mother and I don’t know what to wear.”

He stepped into the closet, coming closer to me. He put his hands on my chin and forced me to look up at him.

“I’ve known Debbie for a long time. Trust me, it doesn’t matter what you wear, she isn't going to judge you like that. She is going to love you.”

“I can’t do this, Billy. I just can’t.”

“I have never been as confident as I am right now when I say that I know Debbie is going to absolutely adore you. How can she not?” His words, while sweet, were still not all that reassuring.

“How about I go sit on the bed and you try on some different outfits that you like and come show them to me and I’ll let you know which one I like best?”

“Okay. I guess that would be a good idea,” I said as I tried to wipe the tears from my eyes.

I picked out a few of my favorite dresses and as I put each of them on I paraded past Billy who was sitting on my bed, propping himself up with an elbow. After about the fourth or fifth dress he grumbled, “My Lord, girl, you have way too many clothes.”

“No way! A girl can never have too many outfits,” I said as I twirled around in my latest number.

“Oh yeah, that’s hot,” he murmured.

I was feeling better now. Billy did seem to know how to make me forget about my troubles. But before I could thank him for being so wonderful, my bedroom door burst open. I was startled and jumped. Billy quickly sat all the way up on the edge of my bed.

It was Trista. “There you are. Billy, damn it, they are waiting for you downstairs in the studio.”

“Uh yeah sorry. Something came up.”

Trista glared at me. “I noticed.”

She hurried him out the door, closing it behind them. I started to walk back into my closet to actually find something I could wear when she came back in to my room.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” she demanded.