“ So where do you feel like going for dinner?,” Isaac asked.
“ I don’t know. I wouldn’t mind a Chinese place,” Terry replied, “ How about you?”
“ Chinese sounds fine with me.”
“ I think they sell some at the food court at the mall,” Terry suggested.
“ They probably do,” Isaac shrugged. “What’s your favorite Chinese restaurant?”
“ I like the buffet at Jade Dragon, but that place is kinda expensive.”
“ Don’t worry about that. It’s all on me,” Isaac replied. He briefly took his eyes off the road to give her a smile.
“ Are you sure about that?,” Terry grinned back, “ I have money, I can pay half.”
“ I know you could, but I want to pay for you.”
“ But Jade Dragon is still pretty pricey. I don’t mind the food court”
“ True, but if it’s Jade Dragon you want, Jade Dragon it is.”
Terry couldn’t help smiling at his determination to let her have whatever she might want. “ Okay. Jade Dragon is fine with me if it’s fine with you.”
Isaac soon found the restaurant and pulled into a parking space. Casually resting his hand on the small of her back, Isaac guided Terry to a small table in a quiet corner.
“ This is really nice, Ike. I guess I should say thanks,” Terry smiled.
“ Oh, don’t thank me yet,” Isaac replied with a devilish grin.
“ Hey, don’t get fresh on me,” Terry warned with amusement.
“ Me? Fresh? Would I do that?,” Isaac said, eyes wide with false innocence.
“ Well duh.”
Isaac chuckled. “ I only meant that we also have a movie to go to, so hold out on the ‘thank you’s’, at least until we leave the theater.”
“ I know that,” Terry laughed, gently knocking his wrist, “ and I still know what you might have in mind.” She glanced over at the buffet area and noticed a large sign. “ Well shoot, they stopped serving the buffet at 5:00.”
“ Bummer. I was looking forward to having all I could eat.”
“ Yeah, but then what would everyone else have to eat?,” Terry teased.
“ Hey, don’t forget who’s paying,” Isaac said in mock offense, then, seeming to speak to himself, said, “ You eat three Big Macs in one afternoon and you’re branded for life as a pig.”
“ Don’t forget, you also had two Mac Flurries and a bunch of fries,” Terry joked along.
“ Ooh, that makes me hungry,” Isaac said in an exaggerated tone that caused Terry to giggle softly.
“ Would you like anything to drink?,” a middle aged waitress asked politely, setting down a menu in front of each teenager.
“ Good timing,” Isaac grinned, “ I’ll have a large Coke.”
“ Diet for me,” Terry added.
“ All right. I’ll be right back with those.”
They were quiet for a moment, then Terry said, “ So how was that meeting you guys went to?”
“ Boring as hell, but we did decide on a few things for the next album.”
“ Such as?”
“ Well, we’re going to try to get it out by next Christmas. We want to try to get the recording done around September.”
“ What about the music for it? Isn’t it going to be hard to find the right stuff for it?”
“ I don’t think so. We’ve already got a lot of new stuff written and we’ve been talking about what we might want on it, so we may just pick out a dozen of those songs, make some changes, maybe write a few more. All that stuff.” Isaac’s eyes seemed to light up as he warmed to his favorite subject: music. “ It’s the recording that may cause a few problems.”
“ What problems?”
“ Well, the thing is, we’re planning on doing some recording here in Tulsa-”
“ Here you go. What would you like to eat?,” the waitress interrupted, setting down two sodas and straws.
“ I think we’re going to need a few more minutes,” Isaac told her politely.
She nodded and moved on to the next table. “Anyway, we’re going to do some recording here in Tulsa, but it also looks like we’re also going to do a lot of the recording in Los Angeles,” he finished.
“ Los Angeles?”
“ Yeah.”
“ How long do you think you would be there?,” she questioned.
“ It’s hard to tell. My guess would be at least for a few months, maybe more. You never can tell with recording.”
“ Oh. Well, that’s still really cool,” Terry said quietly.
“ Yeah, it is. It would be cool if you could go, I think you would like LA,” Isaac said optimistically.
“ I’m sure I would,” she answered sincerely. Terry was happy for him and for his brothers, but she didn’t like to think of him going away for so long. She knew a lot could happen in just a few months, such as Isaac losing interest in her, or she in him, but she decided not to think about it. She rubbed her eyes in irritation and stood up. “ Would you excuse me for a sec? My contacts are bugging me again.”
“ Sure. Do you want me to tell the waitress what you want if she comes back while you’re gone?”
“ Yeah, please. Tell her I want the sweet and sour pork and egg drop soup, okay?”
“ Sure, no problem.”
“ I’ll be right back.” Terry stood up and gave him a kiss on the cheek before she walked away.
Isaac watched her go and sat back with a smile. Well, this date seems to be going pretty well so far, he thought. He hoped she really wasn’t too upset at the news about him and his brothers leaving Tulsa for so long. It seemed that Terry never spent time with anyone else besides his family. His family loved her, but she needed more friends. He was glad that she seemed to be making friends with Maddy and Felicia, even if they were his brothers girlfriends, or friend, as Zac had so clearly stated on many occasion. She really needs to start talking to her mom more too, he mused.
“ Well well, if it isn’t the one and only Isaac Hanson?,” someone said sarcastically.
Isaac looked up in surprise at the girl who stood next to his table, arms crossed and glaring. Tall and thin, long and thick auburn hair, tight shirt and low jeans that complimented her body, altogether she was very pretty, but the way her eyes blazed in anger and her teeth bit at her lips in frustration obscured her otherwise attractive features. He thought she looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he might have seen her.
“ Hi, um, uh,” Isaac stammered. He knew he had seen her, but where? He searched his memory for a name. “ Alyssa, isn’t it?”
“ I’m Andrea,” she snapped, “ From McDonalds?”
AUTHORS NOTE: If you don’t remember who Andrea is, go to chapters 4 and 5
McDonalds? What was she… Than it clicked. Oh no! Isn’t she that one ditz? The one who was coming onto me like a prostitute? He cringed as he remembered Zac's endless teasing and they way he had rolled on the floor of McDonalds with laughter. If he ever found out about this, he would never hear the end of it. He felt like groaning, but forced a smile instead. “ Oh, Andrea. I’m sorry, I have trouble remembering names. But I thought you looked familiar.”
“ I’m surprised, since all you seemed to notice was your little girlfriend,” she said nastily.
“ My girlfriend? You mean Terry? I wouldn’t exactly say she’s my girlfriend, we’re just on a date.”
Andrea’s face softened as it brightened with a smile. “ Oh good, then maybe you and I could get together sometime,” she suggested as she sat across from him. She leaned forward expectantly.
Not this again. “ Well, Terry and I may not be going steady, but I guess you could say we are kind of going together.”
“ But that doesn’t mean you can’t see other girls too. It’s not exactly cheating unless you’re an official couple,” Andrea flirtatiously insisted.
“ Andrea, I don’t even know you!,” Isaac said in exasperation.
“ Well that’s why I’m suggesting that we get together, so we can get to know each other,” she huffed. Then she smiled sweetly again. “ You could come to my house and I could fix us a nice dinner and a very nice desert afterwards, if you know what I mean.”
Isaac sighed. Unfortunately he did know what she meant. “ Look, that’s a really nice offer, but I’m really not interested. Anyway, Terry’s going to be back soon, so, could you please…” He made a gesture that hinted at her leaving the booth.
Andrea glared at him again. “ What’s this Terry girl have that I don’t have? You won’t even give me a chance!”
Isaac looked at her in disbelief. Sheesh, you would think I was obligated to go out with her or something, he thought. And I don’t even know this girl! He frantically tried to think of something to say, to tactfully tell her to leave him alone, before Terry came back and got the wrong idea. But he could think of nothing.
“ Isaac?”
Isaac jerked his head to see Terry stood next to the table, eyeing Andrea and him with a mixture of confusion and suspicion. He stared at her with pleading eyes that said, “ I can explain! It’s not what you think!”
Andrea gave him a surgery smile again. “ I guess I should be going. It was nice talking to you again, Isaac. Think about my offer and call me some time. I promise you won’t regret it.” She patted his hand and stood up, setting a slip of paper before him. From her angle, Terry could see that a number was scribbled on it. Still smiling, Andrea slowly slid out of the booth and walked away.
Terry quickly sat down and stared at him. “ What was she doing here?”
“ I don’t know, I had no idea she was going to be here. She just sat down and wouldn’t leave.”
“ You’re not going to keep that, are you?,” Terry asked, pointing to the phone number.
“ No way,” Isaac said, tearing it in two, “ Boy, she is thick! I tried to get her to leave, but she doesn’t take hints. Believe me, I have absolutely no interest in her.”
Terry smiled. “ Don’t worry about it. That’s the kind of reputation she has. She finds a guy and does all she can to drive him crazy until her can’t take it anymore and agrees to one date, which she thinks of as agreement to going steady and nights of endless sex. Be careful of her. I think she wants you for her next honey and she’s not used to rejection.”
“ Don’t worry about that,” Isaac chuckled, “ There’s no way I’m going anywhere with her. The thought of doing anything with her makes me wanna hurl. Heck, she makes me sick just from the way she talks.”
“ You and me both,” Terry grinned, “ I think she feels she’s so well endowed, with her perfect looks, size zero figure, and triple c chest that she doesn’t think any guy can resist her. Then again, who can resist, ‘ Oh hello, Isaac. You know what, I love your little band so much, you guys are just so adorable. Hey, since I’m so good looking and since I like you, let’s go steady! We can go to my place and play all night long’?” Twirling her hair around her finger, Terry gave a cheesy smile and fluttered her eyelashes in a crude imitation of Andrea. Isaac found it so amusing that he burst out laughing, Terry soon joining in.
They eventually turned the conversation to other topics; the upcoming album, summer vacation, the movie they planned on seeing and didn’t give Andrea a second thought. After an hour or so, Isaac glanced at his watch and stood up. “ We better get going if we don’t want to miss the movie.”
“ Are you sure you don’t want me to pay half?,” Terry asked when she saw the bill. “ You shouldn’t have to pay all that yourself.”
Isaac turned to her and grinning, said, “ If you say anything more about the bill, you’re going to have to walk home.”
“ Fair enough. You made your point loud and clear,” she smiled back..
Isaac wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they walked out of the restaurant. Terry leaned in close and hooked her arm around his waist as they headed towards Isaac’s car. Neither noticed Andrea, sitting in the car to the far side of the lot, watching them and glaring at Terry.
She had seen the way Terry had made fun of her and the way Isaac had laughed. She had also seen how he had thrown away her number, but not before ripping it up. She didn’t know why Isaac liked Terry more than her. Terry wasn’t that pretty, why should she be the one to have Isaac’s interest? . It was true that Isaac didn’t know her very well, but that could have changed if he would have given her a chance. It would have been cool to date someone famous, instead of all the other guys she knew, so boring and ordinary. But he had made it clear that he didn’t want her. She sighed and wistfully thought of what it might have been like to say she was Isaac Hanson’s girlfriend. Oh well. There were other guys after all, even if they weren’t famous. Fighting back tears of anger at the unfairness of it all, she vowed that she would find a way to get back at them both
