3 GUYS, A GIRL, AND A ROSE
Chapter Sixteen
Rated R for Content
May 10, 2003
Tommy's Twenty-Second Birthday Party at a Karaoke Bar
Nearly two months had passed since that night
at the club. Over that time, Rose hung out with Jack on a daily basis.
Christina couldn't help but to be jealous. Sure things were fine between them,
after Jack had stayed the night with Christina, but she still felt distant from
him. They didn't even hang out alone together anymore. They only hung out when
they were at the pub or the club with Tommy and Fabrizio. Rose would be there
to. She bit her tongue to not upset Jack. Jack always walked home with Rose.
Didn't take the train with them unless Rose wasn't there. Didn't dance with her
unless Rose wasn't there. She was still so very in love with Jack. Tommy fell
even more in love with her.
*****
"Happy birthday Tommy!" Christina
said giving him a big hug. Tommy was happy to be spending his birthday with his
friends. Even Rose. He was especially happy to be with Christina. He noticed
she was trying to be nice to Rose.
"Happy birthday man!" Fabrizio said.
"Happy birthday Tommy!" Rose and
Jack said. "We went shopping together and bought you this." Rose
said. Tommy was flattered in the short time he had known Rose, that she had
given him a birthday gift. He hugged Jack and gave Rose a hug also. He saw Jack
smile when he did that. Jack smiled whenever some one was doing something nice
or said something nice to Rose. He wanted her to feel welcomed. He smiled even
more when Christina was nice. Christina still joked about Rose, still didn't
like her, and Tommy and Fabrizio laughed. Fabrizio was nicer to Rose then Tommy
and Christina were though.
"You guys flatter me too much!"
Tommy said. Fabrizio went on the stage where people sang karaoke and spoke into
the microphone. "I'm not singing now. I just wanna call my dearest, best
friend, the birthday boy himself, Tommy, to the stage."
Tommy ran up on the stage and hugged
Fabrizio. "Sit on the seat man." Fabrizio directed Tommy to sit on
the chair he had brought up. "We don't have a stripper for you. Maybe
tomorrow. What I am gonna do now though is call the ever so lovely beautiful
Christina up on the stage. Come up here babe!" Christina went up on stage.
Tommy looked puzzled.
"My man, we're gonna have her give you a
lap dance! One time deal!" Tommy smiled big. "Hit the music!"
Fabrizio yelled. They started to play the Nine Inch Nails song
"Closer" and Christina began to dance.
Tommy was really excited. He watched her
while she danced in her plaid skirt. He hadn't been this happy in a while.
Tommy didn't want it to end. When she finished she was on his lap. Tommy stood
up hugging her. "Thank you!"
"No problem babe! Hey what's poking
me?" she asked. Tommy realized what she was talking about. He stared down at
his now erect penis. He was embarrassed when Christina looked down.
"Well damn! And that was only a rated
PG-13 lap dance. Don't worry! Fabrizio would've gotten hard the minute he heard
lap dance."
"I heard that!" Fabrizio yelled.
Tommy and Christina looked at each other and laughed. He was happy he got to
spend his birthday with his friends. Most of them were people he knew from
Underground, Lucky Seven's and work. He was especially happy that Christina was
there.
*****
Rose was in the bathroom when Jack was
sitting at the bar alone drinking a beer. He heard Christina sit down next to
him.
"Hey babe!" Christina said.
"Hi. You looked good up there!"
"Really? Maybe I'll give you one!"
"Hey! Anytime! Anyplace!"
"No problem!"
"How can I not love this girl?" Jack
said. He threw his arm around her shoulder and kissed her head.
"Wouldn't everyone like to know?"
Jack and Christina laughed. They had laughed with each other for a few more
minutes. Jack turned to see Rose walking to them. Christina saw her and just looked
down.
"Hey guys!" Rose said.
"There you are!" Jack said.
Christina smiled. He knew Christina was biting her tongue. He could tell she
was doing that a lot lately. He was happy that she was trying to be nice even
though he knew how much she detested her. Fabrizio was the nicest to her. Tommy
didn't say much to her. Overall Jack was just happy they weren't mean to her.
"I am gonna go sing karaoke with my
boys!" Christina said. She hopped off her seat and kissed Jack on his
cheek. Jack smiled and watched her run off to Tommy and Fabrizio. Rose then sat
on the seat where Christina sat.
"So, Jack, why don't you go up and
sing?" Rose asked smiling.
"Me? I don't think so. I sound like a
dead cat." Rose laughed. He had a heavy crush on Rose. He was too nervous
to kiss her though. Just like was nervous to kiss Christina all those months.
"Well Jack, you amaze me!" Rose
said.
"Really? How so?" Jack asked her.
His smile grew brighter.
"You are doing exactly what you want in
life. You have friends who adore you, you live a free life. I admire you for
that."
"Well Rose you amaze me as well."
Rose blushed. Jack and Rose laughed with each other some more, danced, and
continued to carry a conversation.
Then something in his heart was telling him
something. It felt weird. Every time Rose spoke, every time that she laughed
and smiled, he felt like he was in love with her. He wasn't so sure. Then she
touched his hand and that's when he knew. He was in love with Rose.
*****
Rose felt kind of jealous of Christina's
relationship to Jack. Christina barely even spoke to Rose, which made Rose feel
intimidated by her. She knew Christina didn't like her, but for Jack she bit
her tongue. Rose had to admit that Christina was beautiful. She couldn't
believe Jack and Christina never had a romantic relationship. Sometimes she
felt inferior to Christina when it came to Jack. Sure she and Jack were now
close in months they had known each other, but she wanted to be close to him
like Christina is. Possibly even more.
Rose was walking to the bar when she saw
Christina and Jack laughing with each other. Noticing Christina's touchiness
with Jack. She knew Christina was in love Jack. Jack finally had noticed Rose
walking to them and she knew Christina had left because of her. Rose was
jealous when she kissed Jack's cheek.
Jack and Rose talked a bit and danced. Rose
felt so close to him, so comfortable. She almost felt like she was in love with
him. Almost that was.
"Thank you, Jack," Rose said. Jack
looked at her strangely.
"For what?"
"For welcoming me into your circle of
friends."
"It's no problem."
"Fabrizio seems really nice."
"Yeah, he's my best friend. As well as
Christina and Tommy."
"Yeah. Speaking of which, I really hope
they like me."
"I'm sure they do." Jack knew that was
a lie. They both knew it.
"Yeah, but I never really had friends
before. They were always the fiancée's or girlfriends of Cal's or my mother's
colleagues. No one real."
"You have a friend now." Rose
looked up at him and saw the meaningful look in his eyes. He smiled at her and
held her hand. Touching it softly. That's when she knew for sure that she was
in love with Jack.