Double Time
Chapter 53
“She would be half a planet away, floating in a turquoise sea, dancing by moonlight to flamenco guitar.”
—Janet Fitch, White Oleander
WITH ALL THE PRACTICE, you’d think they could have warned me. I should have known something was up when Mom handed me a peach colored shirt to wear with my grey suit. And then she tied a matching bowtie on me. Dad came in as I was straightening my vest.
“Ah, just in time, I see,” he said. He held out a pocket watch and chain then tucked the watch in one vest pocket and fastened the chain to a button on the vest. “This was your great grandfather’s watch. It’s over a hundred years old. I’ve kept it clean and running but it doesn’t often get taken out. After the party, we’ll put it back in the case where I keep it and when there’s a special occasion, you can ask for it. You look fine, son. I’m proud that you can help make this young lady’s party special for her.”
He put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. I was crying. He didn’t comment on it. Just patted me on the shoulder and left the room. I think there were tears in his eyes, too.
I stayed still—frozen in place. My heart gradually calmed. I knew this watch. Without ever looking at it, I could describe every detail. It was a 1916 Elgin 17 jewel open face pocket watch. It had been my father’s and was given to me on my wedding day to Rebecca. I gave it to my son on his wedding day. And now, my father had placed it in my pocket. It wasn’t a particularly valuable watch on today’s market. I supposed it was probably worth two or three hundred dollars. But it was the most important physical object V3 had encountered yet, even though my guitar was probably worth more.
One day, I would place this same watch in my son’s pocket. Again.
When I entered the hotel party room where Brittany’s quinceañera was to be held, Sophie met me immediately. Mom followed with a bag containing a change of clothes for me. I wasn’t sure what she’d packed. I felt like a peacock in my gray suit and the bright peach shirt and tie.
“Now, just relax here in your dressing area,” Sophie said. “The party starts in ten minutes and the quinces will be announced half an hour after that.”
“There’s more than one?” I asked. This was the first I’d heard of that and I wondered at the size of the ballroom when we walked through.
“Heavens yes. No one family can afford a party this size. There are five quinces. Yours happens to have the added celebrity of actually having her birthday today. So she’ll be the last one announced and you’ll conduct her from here to the podium where there will be pictures taken before the first dance. The first dance will be just the quinces and their escorts. A waltz, of course. Feeling confident?”
“No.”
“Jacob,” Sophie whispered in my ear, “I would never do anything to hurt my dear niece—especially on her special night. But should you ever find yourself in New York, I’ll make you very welcome. There are places in New York where we can dance all night. Vertically or horizontally.”
Oh, shit! I think that was exactly the kind of signal Rachel told me to watch for. Now what? What do I do?
“Sophie, any dance with you would be a pleasure,” I murmured. “Just not tonight.”
“Of course not,” she said. “Here are the other escorts arriving now. I’ll leave you boys to introduce yourselves. Have a great evening!”
I expected Brittany to wear a formal dress. I didn’t expect the volumes of peach taffeta that hung from her waist like a tent. Above the waist, though, the bodice of the dress was covered in peach sequins that made her bust shine like a beacon. And it was the first time I’d seen Brittany’s bare shoulders. The strapless gown conformed exactly to the shape of a very nice pair of breasts. She wore a diamond necklace and tiara. I was speechless.
“I’m so glad you’re here!” she panted, reaching to kiss me on the cheek. She could only get so close and I leaned in to give her access. The skirt had some kind of rigid cage under it to keep its shape.
“Of course, I’m here, girlfriend,” I said. “This skirt is going to make it hard to do much dancing, though. They could have warned me.”
“That’s why Grandma was so particular about our form for waltzing,” Brittany laughed. “You have to maintain the proper distance.”
“That will work for the waltzes, but not for salsa.”
“During the whole first half of the dance, it will be nothing but formal dances. I will dance with anyone who wants to, including all the fathers and grandfathers and lecherous uncles who are here. This dress guarantees that they can’t squish me to them or get fresh. After the formal dances, I’ll change into a party dress and we’ll get wild.”
“Wow! I had no idea.”
“Our final quince this evening is celebrating her fifteenth birthday today. Please welcome Brittany Adams, escorted by Jacob Hopkins.” There was applause and we were in action, ascending the stairway to center stage where I turned Brittany toward the crowd and she curtseyed. Then, the usual bustle of having a photographer and half a dozen assistants arranging us and re-arranging us for portraits and group shots. They were pretty efficient and it took only fifteen minutes before the MC announced the official quince waltz and the five couples moved to the dance floor. I was nervous about stepping on the hem of her dress, but once we started moving, we were a shimmering couple in the lights of the dance floor and nothing else mattered.
At the end of the waltz, Brittany’s father stepped up to us.
“May I?” he said. I handed Brittany off to him as the next piece started and went to the side to wait it out. Sophie joined me there.
“Nicely done, Jacob. Now, at the end of each dance, you will return to your quince, take her hand from the previous dancer and hand her off to the next who asks. If no one asks, you will dance with her. About every five or six songs, lead her over here and I’ll have a glass of water for her.”
“She’s going to be exhausted.”
“You train to run races,” Sophie said. “Brittany has trained to dance all night. Go. The song is ending.”
And that was the way it went for the next hour. I stepped onto the dance floor to accept Brittany’s hand from the man she was dancing with and then hand her off to the next old lech who approached. At least at this stage, no one was soused. The bar was carefully monitored so none of the teens could get alcohol, but the adults were slowly getting sloshed.
After about an hour of this, the MC announced a short intermission for the quinces to change clothes for the after party. He made sure to thank the gentlemen who had danced with the young ladies and reminded them that the next part of the evening was reserved for youngsters on the dance floor and that quinces would be accompanied by their escorts at all times.
Mom met me in the changing room and opened my suit bag.
“Give me your jacket and vest,” she said. I obeyed, carefully removing the pocket watch from the vest before I handed it to her. She handed me the second vest, a classy piece with its own lapels. I buttoned it up and attached the watch properly. Mom took my tie and opened the top button. Sophie stepped up to look me over.
“Are you cold, Jacob?” she asked. Where’d that come from?
“No.”
“Then unbutton your sleeves and roll up the cuffs. You are going to get hot.”
I did as I was told, thinking that this was all a lot more comfortable than the formal dance part. I got a look in the mirror and Mom handed me my trilby. I looked gangsta cool. We still had fifteen minutes to wait for the girls to finish changing. I guess it takes a while to get in and out of those monster dresses. At least a server rolled a big tray of food into the waiting room and we were all able to eat something. Not all the guys were particularly well-behaved and I overheard one talking about how he managed to get a hotel room to take his quince to after the party. Some rather indecorous terms were used and I was about to step up and suggest he silence himself when the door opened and our dates were let in to join us.
“Wow!”
“Don’t tell me you’re speechless, Jacob.”
“Yeah. But wow!”
Brittany had changed, all right. Her new dress was the same peach color as the formal, but it was a lot racier. Still strapless, the band that covered her boobs was straighter across so less décolletage was exposed. But between that and the very short skirt, strips of solid fabric that connected boob strap to skirt were connected by what looked to have been torn fabric. Her skin wasn’t actually exposed because there was a very transparent black silk undergarment. When she put her hand down at her side, Brittany’s skirt only reached to about her wrist. I was amazed her parents would let her out in public in this extremely sexy dress.
“You look amazing,” I said.
“This is why we only dance with our escorts for the rest of the night. Are you ready?”
“Yeah. But, you know? I was counting on a few layers of fabric between us when we dance salsa. Did you manage to get on birth control?” I grinned at her and she blushed prettily.
“I don’t think it’s necessary,” she said primly. “Someone told me you’d already had the implant.” This time it was my turn to blush and I led her out to the dance floor again.
I met a lot more of Brittany’s friends during the rest of the party. We weren’t required to be dancing all the time, but we danced a lot. We also got to eat and talk to our friends. Even though I didn’t dance with them, Joan and Rachel often danced with us—close enough that we could touch. The DJ played music other than Latin tunes, too, so after one particularly racy salsa dance, I pulled Brittany to me and held her close as we slow shuffled to the music.
“Thank you for being my date tonight,” she whispered.
“I can’t tell you how much fun I’ve had,” I answered. I felt her shift her position slightly so my thigh was just between her legs and she pressed her pussy against it.
“I’m not really ready to have sex yet,” she said. “I think Desi has the right idea of waiting until she’s sixteen. It’s nice to know that a boy finds me desirable enough to have sex, though.” Her next shift rubbed her body up my erection.
“I won’t be able to leave the dance floor after this dance,” I said. “I’ll be embarrassed.”
“Not me,” she answered. “I’ll be proud that my date cannot hide his reaction to me. The other quinces will be envious.”
“Flight delayed. I won’t get home until Monday night.”
“Can’t wait to see you!” I responded to Beca’s text. Of course, she’d sent the message to all five of us, so my phone immediately chimed with everyone else’s response, excited that our littlest girlfriend would soon be home.
“I’m 50 miles away! I want kisses and pizza when I get there!” That was Desi’s message about three minutes later.
“Attn girlfriends and Jacob! I have Mom’s car and will pick you all up in an hour. Everyone on board?” Joan messaged.
“I’m in,” I immediately texted back.
“You wish,” came the immediate reply.
“Me too,” Rachel said.
“Mom says I can come too. Is that okay?” Brittany asked.
“It is so okay, girlfriend!” Rachel sent back.
Just over an hour later, Joan pulled up in front of Brittany’s door with me in the back seat of the Audi. I jumped out and went to the door. Gomez answered and looked me up and down. I was just in jeans and a polo shirt. He looked past me.
“My daughter said her quince escort was picking her up. Do you know him?”
“Do I look that bad, sir?” I asked. He laughed.
“No, Jacob. Come in. I need to explain the rules.” I followed him into the living room where the whole family was waiting.
“Rules, sir?”
“Rules for dating my daughter. Number one: Home by ten unless a special curfew has been approved. Number two: No behavior that would cause either her, you, or us to be embarrassed. Number three: No alcohol or weed while on a date unless you are here in the company of adults. Number four: She cries, you cry. Am I clear?”
“Yessir. I think in your position, I’d make the same rules,” I said. In fact, they were remarkably close to the rules V1 had set when my daughter started dating.
“Then have fun!” he said. Brittany jumped up from where she was sitting and rushed to hug me.
“Yay! Let’s go!” We waved at everyone and walked hand-in-hand to the car.
“You know you have to share,” Rachel said when we got into the back seat.
“I know. Thank you! I just… There were so many people… I didn’t get a real goodnight kiss from my boyfriend last night.” She turned and looked at me with such a plaintive look that I immediately bent my head to touch her lips with my own. We were startled apart when Joan announced we were at Desi’s house.
“San Diego was a total zoo. I didn’t get anywhere near as much attention as I should have because I couldn’t wear any of the really interesting costumes. No escort,” Desi explained. “And there were some that I would have hesitated to wear, believe it or not.” I’d seen Desi in her Ryuko costume and didn’t think there was anything more risqué than that.
“Is that where you just came from?” Joan asked. We were at Oley’s for pizza and Desi was regaling us with all her summer cosplay experiences.
“No. That was two weeks ago. We’ve been in Bad Grammar, Kentucky for the past ten days for the Ren Faire. Have you ever heard an English accent spoken with a southern drawl?”
“I’m surprised your parents let you out so soon after getting home,” I said. “Mine would have me mowing the lawn and doing the laundry before I could do anything fun.”
“Um… It’s like this… For the past ten days, we’ve been sharing a tent at the Ren Faire. It doesn’t provide much privacy from anyone in the campground and even less from your daughter who is sleeping five feet away. Mummy and Daddy wanted private time and Baby Girl needed to get out of the house. Right damn now!”
We all cracked up at that. Desi leaned over and kissed me for about the hundredth time, then shifted and kissed Joan.
“And Baby Girl really needed some kisses.”
Rachel jumped up and ran around the table to kiss Desi, too. I was surprised when Brittany got up from beside me and moved over to give Desi a very sweet kiss as well. And my position was… Let’s just say, I got a view of Brittany I’d never seen before. She wore a blue one-piece shorts and top outfit. It was very cute. When she leaned over to kiss Desi, the shorts pulled tight over her round little bottom and rose up high enough that I could see her butt ledge. I almost reached out and petted it but caught myself just in time.
Instead of running back to her seat, Brittany just sat back on my lap as she carried on a little conversation with Desi. I put my left hand up to support her back, which I realized was very open with just one strap across it. Not knowing what to do with my right hand, I just let it settle. On her leg. Her bare leg. She placed her own hand on top of it and moved it up a couple of inches. My response could be felt under her butt. She got up and moved back to her seat on the other side of me but paused over my left ear.
“Very proud,” she whispered.
“So, school starts this week. Are you ready?” Nanette asked as we drove to the golf course early Monday morning.
“I guess. How long will we be able to keep running in the mornings? I didn’t start running outside until this spring. I suppose it gets too cold or something.”
“Cold, rain, snow, and ice. We’ll be good most days through October and some days in November. Maybe December if the snow is late. The hardest part is that we’ll not only be running in the cold, but in the dark as well. I have some alternatives. The Plex has an indoor track. I have a pass to run there a few times a week. I’ll get you in,” she said.
“That would be great! For some reason, I feel like running in the morning starts my day off right. It’s not just to get my leg strong again now.”
“Endorphins. Runner’s high. Other hormones and enzymes that are released during exercise. You probably notice something missing on days when you don’t run. There are… uh… other things that can give you that high, as well.”
“I’m thinking I should probably not run 5k a couple of hours before I run a 5k race in the future,” I laughed. “I ran my personal best Saturday at the race, even though we ran a slow 5k right before.”
“You’ve got the makings for a long-distance runner. Let’s work you up to 10k and see how you do there before we start talking marathon.”
“You run marathons. I don’t think I’m that kind of a distance runner.”
“Maybe and maybe not. We’ll find your optimum distance and train for that.”
“You sure are helping me a lot on this, Nanette. Thank you.”
“De nada. Let’s stretch things out. And try not to fall into any compromising positions. Okay?”
At practice, Jock announced our positions and times. Our boys’ team won third place overall. With twelve schools competing, that was pretty darn good. One of our girls had placed fifth in the girls’ meet with a time of 19:45. After congratulating us, Jock sent us out to run intervals. He marked our 400-meter track with halfway stripes. We were supposed to run at as fast a clip as we could maintain for 800 meters and then walk for two hundred. When we’d done that five times, we had covered 5k. The thing was that most of us ended within ten percent of our best 5k time.
The winner of Saturday’s girls’ meet fell into step as I walked out the last 200 meters and then Jock sent us once more around the track to finish our cool-down.
“Hey, nice job Saturday,” she said as we walked. She was almost as tall as I was and most of that height was legs. Nice, shapely legs.
“Congratulations on your win,” I said.
“I’m Olivia. Livy Dayton.” She held out her hand.
“Jacob Hopkins. It’s nice to meet you, Livy. I’m looking forward to being able to run a twenty-minute 5k someday. I still have a ways to go.”
“Somebody said you got banged up last fall and it was a miracle you could run at all. Or even walk.”
“Um… Yeah. I was in an accident. I have a metal pin in my right leg and had hardly any muscle in it at all when the cast came off. I decided running would be the best way to regain my strength. Besides, I was getting fat before the accident. I didn’t want to do that.”
“Well, uh… if you’d like a running partner sometimes… you know… like on a weekend or something? I’d… We could… I mean, if you’re interested.”
“That would be great, Livy. I have a running partner for my daily runs in the morning, but I could always stand another good run on the weekend.” She smiled at me and I detected a hint of a blush. Uh-oh. Maybe it was just because we’d been running. “Livy. I should say that I sort of have a girlfriend. I’m not implying that you want anything more than a running partner, but I think full disclosure is appropriate. I don’t want you thinking that I’m on the make or anything.”
“Oh. Well, would she be okay with it? With us? I mean running together.”
“They’d be fine with it,” I said. Her brow creased but before she could say anything, Jock called us all together to lay out the plan for training after school starting on Wednesday.
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