The Romance Report (14 page)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

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The Romance Report

A blog dedicated to the pursuit of love and happiness.

Friday, October 5, 8:18 p.m.

  
It has
been an interesting evening, dear readers. I promised Mindie I would go on a
double date since I owed her after our Ric the hairy-backed beast debacle.
Imagine my surprise when I met my date, and he was wearing tights and a mask.

I know what you’re thinking, dear readers. It was
a repeat of my date at Dark Dreams, but nothing could be farther from the
truth. My date was a comic book geek. He had created his very own superhero
costume. He was Super Dork. He thought he was clever, but I thought it was
accurate.

He had covered his chubby frame in a garish yellow
spandex costume with a large green “G” on his chest. His face was covered by a
matching mask. He removed it when we were first introduced, but I quickly asked
him to put it back on. Yes, dear readers, it was that bad. Mindie may have to
go back to frenemy status.

Determined to make the best of my evening, I
cheerfully embarked on my first foray into the comic world. At least that part
of the date was interesting and I had fun. I never read comic books or manga as
a kid, but the quality and variety is amazing. I also met some unique
individuals at the festival.

I begged off extending my blind (or should I say
masked) date to include dinner. Super Dork was a heavy mouth breather. I spent
the whole evening looking over my shoulder waiting to see a pack of hounds
running me down.

As Frenemy and her cronies dropped me off at my
apartment, Super Dork leaned over and panted, “Do you want to feel what’s under
my tights?”

I punched him in the nose.

Comments:

IndigoRainbowUnicorn: I
love you, my friend. Please take me off Frenemy status. At least, Super Dork
won’t be trailing along on my dates with M. anymore.

QuinnieBee:
Apologies to M. I feel bad for losing my temper, but I’m done with dating. The
tights were the fashion faux pas that broke this camel’s back. M. was super
nice. Definitely need to spend time with him without the Breather.

IndigoRainbowUnicorn:
Will do. M. liked you, too.

Dreambuilder: Glad you
didn’t find your soulmate in those tights. Did you like the gift I left you?
Hot pink is a good color.

QuinnieBee:
OMG! It’s you! I loved it. It was the perfect gift. Thank you.
  

Chapter twenty-Nine

Quinn had begged for Sean’s help getting ready for
her grandmother’s birthday party. “Come on, Sean. You know I can’t do my
eyebrows and hair,” Quinn begged. “Please? Pretty please with brown sugar and
sunshine on top?”

“Honey, the only brown sugar in here is me. I will
do your hair, but only if you let me pick out a dress for you. I don’t want to
waste all of my amazing talent just for you to drag out that yesterday’s news
dress you always wear.”

“It’s an expensive black dress. My mother gave it
to me,” Quinn protested.

“You do this on my terms or no Diva Shawna
Makeover in your future.”

“Fine,” Quinn said, relenting.

Now she sat perched in her living room on a chair
with her hair in large rollers. Sean gave her eyebrows a critical look. “I
showed you how to shape your brows. Why aren’t you shaping your brows?”

“Who has time? I jump out of bed, shower and go.
Bread to bake. Pies to roll.”

“There is no excuse for poor eyebrow maintenance.”
Sean clucked his disapproval and began to tweeze Quinn’s brow. “I’m going to do
this one more time, but after this, I expect you to do this once a week.
Comprende
?”

“Yes, sir,” Quinn said meekly. “Ouch!”

“Beauty is pain. Pain is beauty.”

“Did you get that out of a fortune cookie?” Indie
asked, popping her head up from her computer. Beside her, Marty chuckled. Marty
had turned out to be a great guy. Funny, smart, handsome in a nerdy sort of
way, and he was very sweet to Indie. He didn’t say much, but his silence was a
nice balance to Indie’s louder ways.

“Open your eyes so I can put some liner on them.”
Sean commanded Indie as he dug through his box of eye pencils and brushes.

Twenty minutes later, Sean announced his newest
masterpiece was finished except for the dress. “You have to keep your eyes
closed.”

“How am I going to get dressed if I can’t open my
eyes?” Quinn demanded.

“Indie. Take care of this because I know she’ll
throw a hissy fit if I do it even though I don’t want a piece of her. Much too
high maintenance for me, even if I was straight.”

“I’m right here and can hear you.”

“I know,” Sean said with an evil laugh.

“I’ll help her. Come on, Quinn. I can’t believe
I’m doing this. I may need to shop for new friends,” Indie grumbled and led
Quinn to her bedroom.

“And miss all this fun and excitement?” Sean
called after her. “I don’t think so!”

Indie helped Quinn step into the dress and zipped
her up. “Oh my goodness. Sean has really outdone himself this time. You look
absolutely stunning.”

“Can I open my eyes up yet?” Quinn asked.

“No!” Sean shouted from the living room. He
scurried into the bedroom and tutted and fussed at the hemline and shoulders.
Once he was satisfied, Sean told Quinn, “Now you can look.”

Quinn blinked her eyes open and looked in the
mirror. It didn’t even look like her. She had cheekbones! And her eyes looked
sexy. She turned and hugged Sean. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Sean hugged her back and patted her on the butt,
“Your welcome. Now go get yourself a man, sugar.”

“Shoot. I look so good right now, I could probably
get two boyfriends. I might have you come and fix my hair and makeup before
every date.”

“Oh no. Like I said, I love you, Quinnie, but you
are much too high maintenance for me. Sean, pluck my eyebrows. Sean, blow dry
my hair. Sean, fix me up with your cousin, Ricardo.”

“Oh no you didn’t!” Indie and Quinn both exclaimed
at
 
the same time.

“Hmmm…” Sean pursed his lips. “You know you want
to run your fingers through his back hair.”

“I threw up a little in my mouth.” Quinn shivered
in revulsion. “Yuck!”

“Get your shoes on. Zach’s going to be here any
minute to pick you up. Marty, Sean and I will be there in about a half an hour.
Sean needs to finish getting ready.” Indie shooed Quinn out of the bedroom.

“For Grandma Rose, I’m leaving Shawna at home and
going to her party as the best-dressed Mexican man she’s ever laid eyes on.”

“Grandma Rose would be okay with Shawna,” Quinn
said.

“I know, but I’ve decided it’s okay to let Juan
Carlos make an appearance sometimes, too.”

Quinn heard a knock at the door and went to answer
it.

“No! You go stand there in the lamplight. I’ll
answer the door,” Sean said, as he pointed Quinn towards the middle of her
living room.

Sean answered the door, and Zach walked in and
stopped. “You take my breath away,” he said to Quinn.

“Aw.” Indie and Sean cooed in unison.

“Thank you,” Quinn felt a momentary flush of
shyness at all of the attention. She looked around for her evening bag. “You
look pretty amazing yourself.”

Zach wore a navy blue suit with a crisp white
dress shirt and a dark blue silk tie. Quinn felt a small flutter in her stomach
when she looked at him. “Are you ready to go?” He asked.
 

“I’m ready,” Quinn said and took the elbow he
offered. “I’ll see you all at the restaurant.”

Zach drove Quinn to Hanrahan’s. They didn’t talk
much on the short drive downtown. Zach had turned on a soft rock station. Quinn
kept looking at Zach out of the corner of her eye. He really was handsome.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Quinn was
quickly enveloped by a crowd of well-wishers there to celebrate Grandma Rose’s
birthday. Anne had gone to pick her mother up under the auspices of having a
family dinner at Uncle Patrick’s restaurant. Quinn looked around for Zach and
saw he was engaged in conversation with her father. Her father laughed at
something Zach said and slapped him on the back. Quinn started to make her way
over towards them.

“They’re here!” Someone called out. “Quick!
Everybody quiet!”

Uncle Patrick dimmed the lights on the back side
of the restaurant to help hide the party-goers. Quinn saw her mother help
Grandma Rose down the sidewalk and through the front door.

“Surprise!” They all shouted.

Grandma Rose looked up, startled. “Oh my! Well,
this is a surprise! Madelyn Wilbright, is that you? And George?” Grandma Rose
was soon ensconced in the seat of honor at the head table as friends and family
all surrounded her to wish her happy birthday.

Half an hour later, Quinn was chatting with a
friend of her mother’s when Uncle Patrick came up to her with a tall, older man
in tow. “Quinn, I’d like you to meet Charlie Macomber. He’s one of the
instructors at your school. He’s agreed to be your mentor chef.”

“What are you talking about?” Anne Daniels said
from behind Quinn. “What school? Mentor chef? Quinn, what’s all this?” Anne’s
voice had grown shrill and everyone stopped to stare.

“I’m going to culinary school to be a chef,” Quinn
said in a small voice.

“What? A chef? Whatever for? You have a degree in
journalism from a top school and you want to throw it away to cook for a
living. I didn’t sacrifice my life so my daughter could sling hash like a…”

Quinn stood white-faced and trembling. Zach made
his way towards her, but when he grabbed her hand, she pushed him away.

“Anne, that’s enough!” Rose Hanrahan commanded.
“Enough! Into the kitchen this instant!” Rose grabbed her cane and moved her
way towards the back of the restaurant. “Everyone continue with the party.
We’ll be back in five minutes. And you young man,” Rose pointed her cane at
Zach, “you stay put.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Zach said and took a seat at a
nearby table.
 

Quinn, her parents and Uncle Patrick followed
behind Grandma Rose. When the door to the kitchen swung shut, Anne turned on
her brother and spat, “This is all your doing! I can’t believe I let her come
work for you. You’ve brainwashed my daughter into wanting to throw her life
away to sweat in a kitchen!”

“Mother, I’m a grown woman, I made the decision,
not Uncle Patrick.”

“Well, you’re not doing it. I forbid you to throw
your entire future away on this!” She waved her hands and wrinkled her nose in
distaste.

“Anne, that’s enough,” Quinn’s father said
quietly.

“I told you that your father and I could get you a
job at the paper. You don’t need to waste your life and your education. You had
one bad experience for a no name Internet site. You’ll bounce back,” Anne
continued.

“Anne, I said that is enough. Quinn is an adult.
If she wants to be a chef, she can be a chef. Knowing her, she’ll be the best
damn chef this town has ever seen. No offense, Patrick,” Quinn’s father said.

“But she could work at a national newspaper. We
know people.” Anne protested and turned to Quinn. “Why in the world do you want
to cook?”

“I want a family. I want to give my children
something you never did. A home. Two parents that are home every day for their
child, not chasing after some war lord in Africa. I want to make something with
my hands, not spin stories to assuage whatever politico is in power.”

“I never knew you felt this way,” Anne said, shock
on her face. “I thought you loved being with Grandma Rose. Ma, didn’t she
always beg to go to your house?”

“Anne, be quiet and listen, really listen to your
daughter,” Grandma Rose said.

“I love Grandma Rose.” Quinn grabbed her
grandmother’s hand. “If not for her, I wouldn’t have had nearly as wonderful
childhood as I did. You, too, Uncle Pat.” He nodded his head for her to
continue. “But they didn’t make up for not having you there. I wanted my mom
and dad. You were too busy chasing stories, and when you were home, you were
too busy trying to make me into something I’m not.”

“I want you to have a better life than I did
growing up,” Anne said. “Honey, you don’t know how hard it was when I was
young.”

“Yes, I do. Grandma and Uncle Patrick told me
everything, but Mom, I’m not you. I’m never going to be you. I have to find my
own way and sometimes I’m going to fail. It’s okay. I love you, Mom, but I’m
doing this. I’d like your blessing, but one way or another, I’m going to
culinary school in January.”

“Is it going to make you happy?” Anne asked,
sniffling a little.

“Yes, Mom, it will. I love all of this. It makes
me feel like…well, me.”

“Fine. On one condition,” Anne said.

“Anne, leave your daughter alone on this,” Uncle
Patrick said, warning filling his voice.

“Hold on, Patrick Hanrahan, and let me finish,”
Anne admonished. “Promise me if you do this that you’ll be the best damned chef
in the city.”

Quinn hugged her mother. “I promise, Mom.”

“And quit calling me Mother. I know you only do it
when you’re angry with me.”

“Deal,” Quinn said, laughing.

A cheer erupted from the dining room. “There’s
never a dull moment or lack of drama at an Irish party,” Grandma Rose said, her
eyes twinkling. “I’m proud of you, Quinn. You’ve given me the best birthday
present ever. Now take me to meet your young man.” Rose moved her way towards
the dining room.

“He’s not my young man,” Quinn said. “He’s my
neighbor.”

“Don’t argue with your grandmother,” Grandma Rose
said. “I know when a man is smitten with a woman and a woman is smitten with a
man. Stop fighting it.”

“But…”Quinn protested. Her grandmother gave her a
knowing look. “He is handsome.”

“He has a good job and he’s smart,” Anne chimed
in.

“I like him,” Mr. Daniels said.

They walked into the dining room. Everyone acted
like they hadn’t all been listening at the door.

Sean and Indie rushed up to Quinn. “Are you okay?
What happened? We came in after the big blow up and missed everything.”

“I’m fine. Mom’s fine. I’m going to culinary
school. Where’s Zach?” Quinn craned her neck and looked around the dining room.
“Excuse me. I need to find my date.”

“Oooh, girl, did you hear what she just said? She
said date,” Sean whispered loudly to Indie.

Quinn zigzagged her way through the tables until
she stood in front of Zach. “Hi.”

“Hi. Would you like something to drink?” He
indicated the glass in front of him.

“In a minute. I’ve got something to say and I want
to get it out before I lose my nerve. I like you,” Quinn blurted. “I mean, I
really like you and not in the friend way, but in the I want to wake up and
have breakfast with you the next day kind of way.”

“I…” Zach started.

“Hold on. I need to finish. I like you and I want
to date you, but I’m a mess. I suck as a journalist. I got fired. I work
part-time at a restaurant and am going back to school, so I’m all high
maintenance and Sean says I can’t even pluck my eyebrows right and you know
what? I really want to kiss you right now.”

“Are you finished?” Zach stood up.

Quinn waited for him to tell her she was crazy.
Tears began to well in her eyes. “Yes,” she said in a small voice.

“Good because I can’t kiss you when you’re
talking.” He pulled her to him and kissed her. Quinn’s toes curled as a flutter
and then an electric current raced through her veins. When he finally pulled
away, he looked down at her. “I like you, too, Quinn Daniels. In fact, I’m half
in love with you already.”

“Does this mean I get to touch your telescope?”
Quinn gave him a coy smile. She fluttered her lashes at him.

“Since this is our third date, I think that could
be arranged.”

“I like a man with a big telescope. All the better
to see stars,” Quinn whispered.

“Good to know,” Zach whispered back and kissed her
again.