11 Years cont…

"What on earth for?" he asked. She just gave him a blank "are you that dense" stare. "No seriously you look fine." She looked at her hands, they were still pudgy like they were when she was a kid. "You are a beautiful young woman Maria, and don’t you let anyone convince you otherwise." he smiled, he absolutely hated it when girls that we pretty weren’t satisfied with the way they were.

"Yeah, you don’t know what it is like. That is what everyone says." she said looking at him.

"What do you mean, I didn’t mean to offend you, but you look fine." he smiled at her confused.

She shook her head. "Jordan, do you have any idea what it is like to have people consistently rag on you to your face about how you look?" she wasn’t smiling anymore "do you consistently have people call you things like Ms. Moo and Ms. Piggy and make farm animal noises when you are around?" she was getting defensive and Jordan was listening. "Do you have any clue what it feels like to hear Boom-badda-boom badda-boom when you walk in public places?" she was almost in tears. "Or have you ever been in a restaurant and been eating a piece of pie and someone say ‘she shouldn’t be eating that’ when the skinny person next to you has out eaten you 5 times."

"Maria.. I" Jordan tried to interrupt.

"Have you ever Mr. Knight, like a guy and him have asked you out just so that he could humiliate you in front of the whole damn school?" she had a tear go down her face.

"Maria.. noo." He got up and slid into the booth next to her and put his arm around her. "I’m sorry people have done those things to you." He felt somewhat guilty for doing those things in high school. "People don’t understand what you are going through, and your right. I have no idea either. To tell you the truth I use to tease girls in school that were overweight too. But you know what, I realized what I was doing and never did it again." He kissed her on the cheek. "You are a great girl, woman even. I think that people pick on other people to make themselves feel better." He tilted her head up so he could look her in the eyes. They were filled with fear, rage and even sadness and disappointment. "You have to accept yourself Maria. I know it isn’t easy. But until you do people will always look down on you. Hell, you could be the most beautiful woman in the world and you would still get ragged on because of some jealous bitch." He wiped a tear from her face. "If you want to lose weight, do it because you want to, not to stop the teasing. Either way you are a wonderful human being that I am honored to know."

"You really think so?" she said looking into his sincere dark eyes.

"I know so." he replied he leaned down and kissed her softly and innocently on the lips.

Jordan and Maria had a great time goofing around on the way home. He pulled up into her driveway and said goodnight. But by then it was actually morning. "Hey, you have to work tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah, only from 2 till 8. Why?" she smiled at him.

He grinned mischievously. "Wanna catch a movie or get in some trouble?"

"Sure, meet me at the record store." she waved by and walked in the door. Her dad had already left for work. She went to bed and slept good. She got up at 11 am and took a shower. She put on her best jeans and a white T-shirt. She put on makeup and actually used mascara. Then she opened her jewelry box and put on her favorite earrings a faux pair of emeralds and a small cross necklace. She left for work and couldn’t wait until Jordan arrived. About 5 O’clock a florist delivery guy came in with a big bouquet of roses. "Oh, no he is canceling." she said to herself then she looked at the card. "Can’t wait till 8" is all it said. Could a 29-year-old man really have a thing for her?

At 8 Jordan showed up right on time. He was wearing black jeans and a white T-shirt. He smiled as he came in. "I see you got my roses." he smiled and when she clocked out he offered her his arm.

They walked around the mall until it was time for the movie to start. They sat down and within minutes she heard "hey fatty got a mystery date." She pretended not to hear the guys in the back. There were some girls giggling too.

"How much did you pay him?" a girl said.

Jordan just looked at Maria, she was all ready in tears. But she was holding her head high. "Maria, remember our date?" asked one of the boys wearing a football jersey "you thought it was real, but it was only a pig roast!" The guys and girls burst into laughter, "and the pig was you." There was a chorus of Oinks and Jordan turned around.

"Listen to me you punk ass holes!" he said getting ‘Southie’ on them. "You guys are nothing but Neanderthals who need to grow up and get a fucking life." Jordan continued depleting their humanness and humiliating them like they did to Maria. When he was done he looked where she was sitting. She was gone.

Jordan looked all over for Maria in the mail, he couldn’t find her anywhere and he even paged her. He finally went into the record store where she worked.

"Uh oh." remarked Lisa.

"Hey, did Maria come in here?" he asked

"Um yeah, but just to call her dad. He came and got her like 2 minutes ago." she smiled. "If I were you I’d stop over there." she pointed to the flower shop across the mall. "And then I would beat her home. Her dad has to drop something off at his bosses. So if you hurry you can beat them."

He smiled and leaned over and kissed Lisa on the cheek "you’re a lifesaver. Did she say anything about what happened."

Lisa smiled. "Well, all that stuff is G-18 Classified." she keep smiling at him. "All I can tell you is that you righteously embarrassed her, see, you and I barely remember being 18 and in high school, but if you recall, when someone stands up and defends you like that it only makes things worse."

"Oh no, your right." He ran out and into the flower shop. Then he went to there house and sat on the porch.

Maria and her dad pulled into the driveway. "Oh, boy, he is here."

"Nice looking guy. Remember what I told you ok." Jesse said getting out of the car. "Mr. Knight, nice to meet you." He went into the house. He hoped she would actually listen to her good ole’ dads advice. They had talked about how if he apologized it was a good thing and that for Jordan, some one of high status and celebrity to defend someone out in public like that, and then he couldn’t be all bad.

"Look." He stood up and handed the bouquet of flowers to her, they were yellow and blue. "I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that it upset you." He smiled at her, she returned the smile. "I can’t stand for people to treat others that way, and I let my emotions take over my common sense."

"Jordan, it’s Ok. Thank you for defending me, but it will only make things worse at school. You of all people should know that." She managed a half smile. "Will I always get flowers when you are in trouble?" she smiled at him when he made a ‘I’m a bad boy’ pouty face. "Such a guy thing to do." he smiled back at her.

"You mean your not mad at me?" he asked.

"No, but next time it won’t be so easy." She gave him a hug. "You want to come in for a drink?"

"Sure," They went inside, it was a simple house with pictures of Tiffany and her dad and grandpa. She had a group picture with all of her friends it was taken at Junior prom. "Do you miss your friends?"

She looked longingly at the picture. "Yes I do, I was in Kindergarten with all of them. I’m the only one that has ever moved away." she smiled

"Why did you move?" he realized that may be a touchy subject "if you don’t mind my asking?" he added.

She picked up a picture of her grandfather. "Last summer my grandpa was on the way to a doctors appointment. When he pulled out of the driveway onto the road, it was a really curvy road with a step drop on the side. Well, he had a heart attack and drove into the gully and hit a tree head on." he wiped a tear off of her cheek. "Well, we didn’t have much insurance and we owed so much on the mortgage on the farm that the back took it last summer. Since we are from the Appalachia, there aren’t many jobs and dad had a friend who runs a trucking company here in Boston, so Dad took the job and we came here." she smiled. "I miss my friends but, it is worth it. Dad is happier here I think. His girlfriend lives here."

"I’m so sorry to hear that." he put his arms around her. She was starting to feel like a girlfriend now and he didn’t mind it. He didn’t even think about the age difference anymore. "What about your mom?"

"Mom and dad were 16 when I was born. After she had me her parents decided to move to get away of the ‘embarrassment’ that I brought on the family." She put her head down crying.

"You’re not that, how could they do that?" he shook his head and rubbed her back.

"Well, her dad was a well know preacher, and well, grandpa owned a little tavern in my home town. Dad was a player back then and they didn’t want the ‘church’ to find out." She stopped talking and just enjoyed him holding her. "I have never meet her and dad hasn’t seen her since the day I was born. She left the hospital and they drove off in a U-Haul never to be seen again." She looked up at him "personally, I never want to meet them. It would change things too much. She has no right to me, she left me."

"Well, Maria, if she was 16 then she had to go with her parents." he rationalized.

"Yeah, but why didn’t she try to find me later, when she was 18 or even 20?" she asked him "she never wanted to see me and I barely even know what she looks like."

"Good point." he moved her over to the couch. He felt so at home there, it was a warm, cozy, comfortable place.

Jordan pulled into Donnie and Kim’s place. "Hey, but hole." Donnie greeted him.

"Why can’t guys just say hi?" Kim said to herself.

"Hey guys. Howya doin?" Jordan said jumping out of his Yukon. "Hey Kim, can you do me a favor?" he asked.

"I don’t know, you don’t want me to deliver something illegal do you?" she commented.

"You know I didn’t know that stuff was illegal." He kidded about the Cuban cigars he gave her to take to Donnie one day. "No, seriously. I meet this girl and I am taking her to the premiere, can you take her shopping with you. I’m paying of course."

Donnie and Kim just looked at each other. "What about Evy?" they asked Kim had a grin on her face, she never liked Evy.

"We’re history. Anyway her name is Maria and she will meet you at my house tomorrow morning. If that’s ok." he smiled at Kim. "You’ll like her I promise." He was as giddy as a schoolboy. Donnie and Kim knew he had a thing for her by the way he was acting.

"One question." Donnie spook up "why can’t she go shopping herself."

Jordan smiled, "she doesn’t know the town and she doesn’t have many friends. Oh, um, she is, well," he stuttered. He didn’t know if he should mention her age. He figured it would come out tomorrow, so to save an ask kicking he went on "she is 18"

"Whoa, slow down boy!" Donnie exclaimed. "She is only 18? What the hell are you thinking!"

"Uh, she is mature for her age." he defended.

Kim smiled and said "you sure you aren’t just immature for your age?" she smiled. "Ok, see you tomorrow," she pulled Donnie in the house as Jordan left "is he nuts or what?"

"I don’t know, 11 years, that’s a big difference." He was playing the responsible friend role but inside he was cheering his buddy on. He couldn’t wipe the huge grin off his face. "Hell, why not. At least she’s legal." he joked "remember that girl Joe dated a few years ago that was 16 and her dad found out and flipped?"

"Yeah, but she told him she was 20." Kim looked concerned "I’ll feel her out tomorrow and see what I think. I don’t want Jordan getting messed up with the wrong girl again."

Donnie shook his head in disapproval "Kim, you need to learn to not be so nosy all the time." He gave her a hug "I love you, I am so glad you take care of me and my friends."

"Well, someone has to, you guys don’t know your head from a whole in the ground." Kim looked up at Donnie and he bent down to kiss her.

The next morning Maria got dressed in a nice white blouse and nice black dress pants. She curled her hair and put makeup on. She was going shopping on the most fashionable block in Boston. She drove to Jordan’s house, he buzzed her in as a crowd of fans screamed. She pulled in and he waved her into the house.

"Don’t you ever go talk to your fans?" she asked.

"Yeah, believe it or not I was out there ten minutes ago. That’s a new group.." he pulled a T-shirt on over his buff chest. He was just wearing sweat pants and his hair was still dripping from the shower. "You look nice." he smiled and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, before they knew it they were embraced in an innocent kiss.

"Um, hello?" Kim said popping her head in the door pretending to have not seen the kiss.

Jordan and Maria pulled apart "Kim this is Maria, bla bla bla, whatever."

Kim and Maria smiled at each other. The age difference was noticeable but comfortable. "Well, lets get out of here before Donnie and the guys arrive." She smiled at Maria and they both walked out. When they were outside Kim laughed "you really don’t want to see these guys all together. They are so childish." Kim opened the door to her silver Mercedes convertible.

Maria and Kim had a good time shopping Maria found the perfect dress, and Kim insisted she get everything to go with it, including the hand bag and shoes. They went to lunch and met Nina there. Nina was a tiny girl and very nice. They were both glad to hear the news that Evy was out of the picture now. "So Maria," Nina began "you and Jordan a thing?"

Maria blushed. "No I don’t think so."

"To bad." Nina said, "he needs a good woman." Nina had no idea that Maria was only 18. "Where do you go to school?" Nina asked.

Maria smiled. "English high."

"What? I thought you were in college? How old are you?" Nina was shocked. Jordan had more since than this. Maria told her that she was 18 and her and Jordan were just friends. When Maria said they were just friends, Kim gave Nina a "yeah right" look.

They finished lunch and shopping. Kim took Maria back to Jordan’s house where the guys were drunk and watching WWF.

Maria had a good week. She felt too good to let the kids at school get her down. She was going to LA with Jordan this weekend and she knew she would have a blast. Her dad was glad that Jordan was taking her somewhere she had never been. The day came that Jordan and her would fly to LA. They decided to go a few days early so she could do the whole sightseeing thing. She had her bags packed, her dad let her get new luggage and a few new outfits on his credit card. Jordan pulled up in front of the house and got out of his car. Jesse met him at the door. "You must be the famous Jordan?" he joked. "Come on in, you know women they are never ready on time."

"Nice to meet you Mr. smith." Jordan replied respectfully. "Thank you for letting me take Maria with me."

"No problem," he leaned in to whisper to Jordan "I have a lady friend coming to spend the weekend." He smiled and winked. "If you know what I mean." He took a drink of his beer.

Maria came down the stairs wearing a new pair of black Jeans and a nice white crinkle poet’s shirt. "Hi." she smiled.

Jordan took the suitcases out of her hands and kissed her on the cheek.. Over the past few days they had been getting some secret make out sessions in. He smiled at her. "You look nice."

"Well, thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself." She kissed her dad goodbye and Jordan put her things into his car. "I gotta stop at Joe’s he is going to take us to the airport. His car broke down last night and he is to cheap to rent one until his is fixed." he laughed "that boy is a cheapskate"

They talked and messed around until they got to Joe’s. Joe drove them to the airport and they loaded VIP, first in front of everyone. Maria was getting use to the VIP treatment. But she wasn’t letting it get to her head the way Evy had. Jordan didn’t talk about Evy much, unless it concerned Dante. It was a long flight and she was nervous the whole time. They finally landed and went to the hotel. Of course it was the best in the city and they got the best suite, overlooking the ocean.

"Wow, this is gorgeous." she smiled. Jordan came up behind her and put his arms around her. She turned around. He was looking into her eyes. "What?" she asked.

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever meet." he said sincerely.

"Yeah, ok, you meet Cindy Crawford, she is a hell of a lot prettier than me." she punched him in the arm and walked back into the room. "I’m hungry," she said giving him a pouty baby face.

"No Maria, she isn’t. Not like you are anyway. You have the inner beauty that I have always wanted. You are honest, sincere and sweet, kind, smart." She walked over to him and put her index finger on his mouth. He moved her hand. "You are mature beyond your years." he continued. "You are beautiful on the outside to."

She put her head on his chest and was listening to his heartbeat. She had already fallen in love with him and was pretty sure he loved her back. "Doesn’t my age bother you? I mean I am still in High School." She looked up at him "what if the media found out about me?" she asked.

"Then I will compare us to Michael Douglas and Katherine Jones." he smiled "come on he is old enough to be her father."

"Yeah, but she is also an adult in societies eyes. I’m not." she sighed. "I just don’t want your career to go bad if they find out about me."

"Maria, I love you and if my career goes bad because some stupid narrow minded people cant handle it, then so be it." He hadn’t realized he said ‘I love you’.

She had a tear go down her cheek. "I love you to, but I don’t want to cause any problems." she smiled.

"I love you, and you don’t and if the public doesn’t like it they can kiss my ass." he leaned down and kissed her. He loved her innocence. "Lets get something to eat."

They next day they went to Universal and Disney. They had a lot of fun, even though they got a lot of stares and he got mobbed seven times. They came back to the hotel exhausted from the day. "Have fun?" he asked her.

"Yeah." she smiled, she had been smiling all day. "Thank you." she said.

"No thank you, I barely believed I was almost 30 today." he laughed. "Donnie and Kim want us to go out with them tonight. Is that cool?"

"Sure where are we going?" she asked.

"Just out. Who knows where we will end up." He smiled and got into the shower.

She could hear him in the shower singing. She got into the other shower. She got out and put on a black silk skirt and a silver shirt and some black heels. She put her hair up and did her makeup. When she came out of her room Donnie and Kim were already there.

She smiled at Jordan, he and Donnie were wearing all black as usual and Jordan had his shirt unbuttoned a ways. "You ready honey?" he asked. She nodded and they proceeded downstairs. A crowd of fans had assembled outside and they had to push through them to get to the limo. They got in and Jordan and Donnie each poured a scotch. "Want some?" Donnie asked Maria. She nodded her head no. "Ok whatever." he smiled. "Just remember, this is LA and you can get away with just about anything when you have enough money." he smiled. "Viper Room." he told the driver.

They got to the Viper Room and the bouncer let them in without carding her. She did see Jordan slip the bouncer a few hundred-dollar bills. He put his arm around her as they walked in. A lot of people were there, she knew some of them. Mark was there with a table waiting. He was sitting with Ben Affleck and Jason Priestly, they were already drinking. The waitress came to them and took their orders. "You want a drink?" Jordan ask Maria.

"Sure." she smiled. "What do you suggest?" she asked Kim.

The whole group laughed. "I’d start with something simple honey." Kim smiled at her and turned to the waitress "get her a Cosmo." They sat around and laughed and even danced. Maria was introduced to a lot of famous and not so famous people. Before she knew it she was dizzy and really wasted. After a long night out they decided to go back to the hotel to sleep it off. Jordan had to practically carry Maria into the hotel. "Damn, she really can’t hold her liquor can she." Kim laughed.

"Hell, if she hangs out with Jay long enough she’ll get use to it." Donnie slurred. "Lets go to bed and get some nookie nookie." He and Kim went into there room.

Jordan woke up to the sound of Maria puking in the bathroom. "Hey baby, you gonna be ok?"

She looked up at him, she looked horrible. "I’m never gonna drink again." she said.

"Yeah ya will. We all say that when we get our first hangover." He smiled and handed her some milk and Tylenol. "Kim is going to the spa and wanted to know if you wanted to go. She is getting her hair and makeup done for tonight."

"Sure." Maria really liked Kim, she was like the sister she never had. "Tell her twenty minutes."

Maria and Kim went to the spa and at five they came back to the hotel to get ready for the premiere. Maria put on the black shiny sleeveless dress and her Jacket. She also put on her mother’s earrings. Jordan came out of his room looking smashing in his tux. He walked up to her and kissed her. I got something for you. He handed her a large flat box about the size of a small notebook.

She opened it and it was a diamond and emerald necklace, with matching earrings and bracelet. Very simple, but expensive and elegant. "Wow, thank you they are beautiful." he put the necklace on her, she took out her mom’s earrings and put in the new ones. Donnie pecked on the door.

"Come on you lovebirds lets get going." He smiled as he saw the jewelry. He leaned towards Jordan and whispered "you know jewelry means commitment right?" Jordan nodded his head. "Oh, and you thought the crowd last night was bad. They got into the lobby and all they could hear were earsplitting screams of fans.

They walked out the door, bodyguards in front and behind. Maria was squeezing Jordan’s hands for dear life. They ran to the limo and pulled away quickly. A few minutes later they pulled into the theater and there were even more people there. Including Cameras for TV. They got out and walked up the red carpet where a reporter from E! got a hold of them.

"Mr. Knight." she caught him and he turned around.

"Yeah," he smiled at the camera, Maria was standing behind him but still had hold of his hand.

The interview was pretty normal. She asked about his career and his view of Donnie and Joe’s careers. Then the question Maria dreaded came "and who is this lovely young lady?"

Maria took a deep breath not knowing how to react, she just smiled at the camera. "This is my girlfriend Maria." he smiled at the camera, he knew the she looked older than she really was and he wasn’t important enough for anyone to dig up any dirt. He could feel Maria's hand squeeze his really tight. The reporter asked how they met "In a record store. I have to go now, thank you." he excused them. he could tell Maria was nervous. A few more reporters stopped him and he talked awhile but kept it short for Maria’s sake.

The premiere went well and they had the same media blitz when they came out but Jordan only talked to one reporter and jumped in the limo. He smiled at Maria who had barely said two words. "You ok?" he asked for the fifteenth time that night.