Jess and Patty had spent a very interesting Monday together. Patty had driven her all over the place, to their elementary school, their high school, their college and finally, their university. Jess had been awed by all the memories Patty had of their time spent together. She laughed at stories of the tricks they'd pulled, of their antics.
For the rest of the day, Patty took her friend window shopping. It had been a revealing experience. And, according to Patty, regardless of what happened to her memory, Jess was still pretty much the same. Her choice in clothes bordered on the practical and the comfortable much more than on the flashy and expensive.
At the end of the day, the two young women headed for a video store and Patty chose a few movies that she swore Jess adored. When they got back to the Warren home, it was to find Gerald in the kitchen, an apron hastily thrown over his dress pants and shirt, while his wife sat in the living room, painting. Jess gave her father a quick hug, having a taste
of his marinara sauce and went to see her mother.
"This is coming along nicely Mom," said Jess, examining the painting.
"You think?"
"Oh yeah, Mrs. Warren," agreed Patty, "it's looking really good."
"Thanks. Now, what have the two of you been up to," she asked.
"Everything," said Jess with a smile, "Patty took me everywhere. To all my schools and we went window shopping."
"So you had a good time."
"Yeah. And she rented movies for me to watch. She says they warped my young mind and might warp it again."
"Let me see those movies?" asked Gerald with a sly grin.
Patty gave them to Mr. Warren for inspection and after looking them over, he went back to the kitchen, chuckling. Irene took them off the coffee table and laughed too.
"What," said Jess, "what is it about these movies? Mom? Father? Patty?"
"Come on, let's get started with the movies."
Patty and Jess went down to the basement and started watching the movies. The first one was Eddie Murphy's "Raw." Patty and Jess were laughing so hard that her parents came to join them. Jess thoroughly enjoyed the movie, until the part when Eddie Murphy talked about house burgers vs McDonald's burgers. The young woman turned to her mother.
"Did you make me any of those nasty house burgers Mom?"
"Absolutely not."
"But your dad did," chimed in Patty.
"I did not," protested Gerald. "My burgers were good. Healthy."
Patty and Irene rolled together and shook their heads. Jess just squeezed her father's hand.
By eleven, Irene and Gerald called it quits and went up to bed. At midnight, Patty stopped the movie they were watching, "Soul Food" and switched the channel to TSN. The familiar theme of "Raw is War" filled the basement.
Jess's heart pinched a little bit. Test hadn't called her since he'd arrived in Chicago. She'd just put it on account of him being busy but she still felt a bit strange. She had no clue as to his part in tonight's RAW and she was worried about him.
The show went on pretty much the same way it had on Saturday, with a lot of the big names coming out and making a whole lot of noise about a special match that was going to take place tonight. And from what Patty told her as the show wore on, only "bad guys" were involved, all of them members of the somewhat defunct Corporate Ministry. But what was worse was that every good guy, whenever they were done with their matches, was seen being driven away, meaning that whatever good guy was going to be left over, he was about to get pummelled.
Jess got into the whole spirit of the show, not even thinking about Test because he had assured her that he wasn't going to fight today. So she knew he wasn't involved. She knew he was safe. After a while, Shane came out all by himself and snatched the microphone from the hands of the announcer.
"As all of you know, a few months ago, my father was ruthlessly driven out of the WWF, compliments of the Texas Rattlesnake. Now, according to the contract he signed, with Austin's blood, my father would never come back to the WWF, on RAW or on Smackdown. And Vince McMahon, my father, being an honorable man, had lived up to his end of the bargain."
Shane took a moment and strolled around the ring, looking thoughtful.
"Damn it," said Patty, "Vince is coming back."
"That's a bad thing, right?"
"It can't be good. Listen."
"However," continued Shane, "some things have been happening in the past couple of weeks which have bothered him quite a lot. Mainly, the marriage of his daughter with the hooligan who goes by the name of Test. Not to mention Stone Cold Steve Austin's involvement in the wedding. Quite understandably, my father was enraged by this and he has done the only thing he could have done." Shane took a pause. "He's had that marriage annulled."
A general NO filled the United Center and the chants of ASSHOLE filled the arena. Shane didn't lose his composure. He had something too mportant to say.
"As a matter of fact, here comes the bride now."
Stephanie was brought down the ramp, in her wedding gown, by the members of the Mean Street Posse. She was hoisted on top of a life guard's chair and was handcuffed into it, no matter how hard she fought to be freed.
"Stephanie, I'm only doing this for your own good. Now, as for the two men who have enraged my father," said Shane, "Stone Cold and Test will face each other tonight. In a lumberjack match with the members of the Corporate Ministry acting as Lumberjacks."
Stephanie's scream resounded through the arena and RAW faded to a commercial.
"What does that mean?" asked Jess.
"Test's about to get a whooping," said Patty.
"Why?"
"The wedding. I think. Jess, there's more to this than meets the eye. And I don't like it. Test's going to get beat."
"But it's fake, right? He's not going to get hurt, is he?"
"I don't know."
When she heard Shane announce the lumberjack match, from her fancy dressing room, Linda's blood ran cold. That explained why she hadn't been able to find her daughter, Test or Steve today. She wouldn't put kidnapping past her son or husband. She had to do something. She called her assistant and had her bring the directory for the wrestlers' cell phones. She might be down, but she wasn't out of the game yet.
Within five minutes, all of the "good" guys were on their way back to the arena and getting ready for a brawl. Linda's orders had been clear.
It wasn't a normal fight. She would direct the traffic and make sure that Stephanie, Test and Steve got out of there without too much of a scrape.
In the room where they'd been stashed, Test and Steve were thrown a couple of gym bags with their gear in it. They were ordered to change and wait.
"Son," said Steve, "you remember that lumberjack match Rock and I with the members of that fucked up ministry as lumberjacks?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, tonight's going to be a replay of that. Except, there ain't none of that Union to save our asses."
"Tell me about it."
"Vince was smart this time around," said Steve, pointing to the monitor in a corner of the room, "he sent everyone who had a potential to help us out of here. We're on our own boy."
Test sighed, shaking his head. "It's all your fault, you know," he said, grinning.
"My fault? How?"
"Don't you remember, Mr. President? It was when you gave us the option to have a match with whoever we want that I first asked Stephanie out."
"Hell son, who told you to go out and date the boss's daughter. Hell, that was your choice."
"And it's going to get me slaughtered."
"Well, you'll always have me to thank for it."
"Right. Thank you for all my happiness. Thank you for tonight. Thank you."
Steve and Test exchanged banter for bravado. Deep down inside they were scared out of their wits. None of them could see how they were going to make it out of there alive.
Vince waited in his dressing room, wearing his jeans and a referee's shirt. He rubbed his hands together in glee. He would show them all. No one crossed Vince McMahon and lived to tell about it.
Linda hurried across the arena, almost ready to throw away the noisy heels. But she didn't have time to stop. She had to make a stand right now and she couldn't slow down. The wrestlers she had called upon were arriving at another entrance and she had to be there to greet them. She was alone and that was how she wanted it.
Linda bit back a sob when she saw them there. All the men she had called upon. Rock, Mankind, Edge, Christian, Val Venis, The Godfather, Al Snow, Chris Jericho, D'Lo, X-Pac, Road Dogg, Kane, Hardcore Holly, Crash Holly, Ken Shamrock, Chaz and the wrestler formerly known as Meat.
"Thank you," she said, stepping in the circle they had formed. "Now, here's what's going to happen."
Shane stood in the middle of the ring, gloating so much he was about to explode. He was so happy to have his father back that he didn't hear Stephanie's screams behind him.
"Now, before we introduce anyone else, let's bring out our special referee!"
Vince hadn't been ready for the silence that filled the United Center when he stepped through the curtains. The fans were shocked. Shane was ecstatic. Stephanie paled. And redoubled her efforts to free herself.
Her emphatically loud NO! was the starting point for the audience.
Never, in the entire history of RAW had a man been so booed. Even when the fans had discovered that Vince was the higher power. The screams, the insults, the slurs came at him with such force that he took a small step back, momentarily frightened by their intensity. But he didn't let that deter him.
He was back baby.
As soon as she was done explaining her plan, Linda called Steve, the head of WWF security on her cell phone. She asked him to come to her, with ten of the biggest guys in his team. Linda took a deep breath and looked around. Most of the guys had been wearing jeans and t-shirts when they'd come back to the arena. Now, most of them were naked from the waist up, talking and stretching.
"Excuse me, Mrs. McMahon," said a feminine voice behind Linda.
"Yes," said Linda, turning around and coming face to face with one of the most beautiful wrestlers she had ever seen.
"My name is Lexi. Shawn Michaels recently brought me back to the WWF out of retirement."
"Lexi, yes. I've seen you fight. You're a formidable opponent."
"Thank you. Now, I heard everything you had to say. Who do you want me to take out?"
"Are you sure you want to get involved? After all, you're still new to the Federation. It might be too soon for you to declare your allegiances."
"Trust me Mrs. McMahon..."
"Linda, please."
"Thank you. Trust me Linda, if there's one thing that's already been settled, it's my allegiance."
"Good. Thank you. You can smash Chyna into the ground for me."
"No problem. Looking forward to it actually."
Without another word, Lexi went to the Rock and took off her t-shirt, revealing a white ribbed tank top. She was ready to rumble.
In the main area, Test's theme came on. The young man stalked out, defiantly throwing his hair over his shoulder. As he walked to the ring, his eyes were on Stephanie, trying to appease the fear he saw in her eyes. He didn't know how this was going to turn out but he wanted her calm for whatever happened to him. After tonight, things were bound to change.
Once he got to the ring, Test set about boring holes into the foreheads of Shane and Vince McMahon. He made no effort to lessen the hatred. He wanted them to know hell was coming and that hell was an exam they would never pass.
The breaking glass that announced Austin's arrival brought the arena to their feet. Test was almost deafened by it and he smiled at the cocky bald man who casually strode down the ramp to him. Steve got into the ring and walked to the announcer, clicking his fingers for a mike.
"Ding dong, the Asshole's back," he chanted, getting on top of the third rope, looking down at Vince.
The audience picked up the chant, making Vince redder and redder in the face.
"How did you enjoy your early retirement, Vince? Was it fun? Hell, don't bother answering, cause Stone Cold don't give a damn!"
Getting down from the ropes, Steve tossed Test the mike with precise instructions.
"Make Junior afraid," whispered Steve.
"Vince," said Test, "I don't give a damn how badly Steve kicks your ass, you ain't nothing to me. But you Shane... you little prick, watch out for me, cause once I get through your crap ministry and your posse, I'll crush you. And nobody's going to come out to help you. No one."
Test's words were corny but there was plenty of danger in them. He was slow to choose his words and said them softly, calmly, with an assassin's precision. Shane was scared shitless. His eyes glazed over and he would have crumbled to the ground if he hadn't been sitting on an announcer's chair. He was aware of nothing except Test's eyes.
The Corporate Ministry's music came on and its members came out in a semblance of order and surrounded the ring where stood Vince, Test and Steve.
The two opponents heard the bell ring, shared a look and grabbed Vince.
When Linda saw Vince being held by Test and Steve Austin, she gave the head of security Steve, her okay. With a confidence that came from experience, Steve opened the doors and had his guys file in first, creating a corridor for the wrestlers he was responsible for. Within thirty seconds, they were all in position. Steve, head of security, used his walkie-talkie to contact his team captains and had them converge to open up the way for him.
In the ring, Steve and Test swung Vince and sent him flying on top of the announcer's table. That was the starting point. The members of the Ministry all climbed into the ring, going after Test and Steve.
Head of security Steve gave the signal too, only to realise he'd been too slow for the other wrestlers' taste. They were already heading for the ring.
As she watched from the ramp, Linda thought back to the brawls of the eighties, with Rowdy Roddy Piper, Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart. She smiled tightly and started making her way to the ring. She'd changed too, into running shoes and jeans. She wove her way through the throng, making a mental note to give a bonus to all the wrestlers who managed to move out of the way when they saw her coming. She kept her eyes from the ring, not wanting to see her husband and son slugging it out with her friend and Stephanie's. Finally, she stood below Stephanie's chair and reached up and touched her daughter's ankle.
"Mom," said Stephanie, looking down at her, "did you do all of this?"
"Yeah. Now, don't move, I'll get you out of there in a jiffy."
Linda showed Stephanie the heavy duty pliers she'd brought along and started climbing up the chair. Once she got up there, she realised there was no way she could free her daughter and maintain her equilibrium at the same time.
"Here, let me help," said a deep voice from below her.
Linda looked down and saw Kane standing there. She smiled down at him and as he held on to her waist, Linda used all of her strength to cut through the handcuffs. Within a few minutes, Stephanie was free and Kane was back to the semblance of the Royal Rumble that was taking place.
Stephanie was about to hug her mother but Linda shook her head. "Honey," she said, "the show ends in five minutes and we still have work to do. Now, do you have pants under this ridiculous dress?"
"Yeah."
"Good."
Linda grabbed the long tulle skirt and ripped it from Stephanie's waist until her daughter was only wearing the top of her wedding gown and a pair of jeans.
"Let's go."
Steve, head of security, was there, waiting for her on the other side of the dividers. He hoisted her and Stephanie across the dividers and both women followed him into the crowd.
A minute later, the members of the ministry realised they were the only ones left standing in the ring. The men who'd come out in defense of Stone Cold and Test now stood on the sides, a mischievous look in their eyes.
"Vince," said Linda from the ramp, "you've crossed me for the last time. Boys, go for it."
All the wrestlers outside the ring suddenly had hoses in their hands and on Linda's orders, they turned them on. The Corporate Mnistry got soaked to the bones. And there was no way out. Wherever they went, there was a hose keeping them in the ring. It was a major victory for the good guys.
And in a house in St. Bruno, on the outskirts of Montreal, Patty and Jess laughed until they couldn't laugh anymore.
Five minutes after the end of the taping, Test was in the dressing room he shared with Steve Austin and dialing a long distance number. It rang twice.
In St. Bruno, Patty hopped over a couch and got to the receiver a second before it rang for a third time.
"Yeah?"
"Patty?!"
"Test! What's up man?"
"What are you doing at Jess's place?"
"We were just watching... hey!!! No fair!"
"Give me that phone!"
"No!"
As soon as she'd heard who Patty was talking to, Jess had moved closer to her friend, making hand signals to give her the phone. While Patty tried to maintain a semblance of a conversation, Jess had jumped her.
Test stayed on the line, smiling as he tried to imagine the scene.
Gerald and Irene saw the scene and shook their heads drowsily. As her husband tried to separate the two "adults", Irene picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Mrs. Warren?"
"Test?"
"Yes. I'm sorry to call so late ma'am. I just realised that there is a time difference."
"It's quite all right. I think the fighting would have woken us up anyways."
"Fighting?"
"Oh yes. The girls have done it for quite a while now. It's rather idiotic but it doesn't seem to hurt the friendship."
"I see."
"Can I please have the phone?" asked a discheveled and out of breath Jess.
"Of course. Good night Test."
"Good night Mrs. Warren."
Irene and Gerald went back up the stairs and Jess and Patty burst out laughing.
"Hi Test," said Jess. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Why?"
"We just watched Raw. That was brutal baby. Are you sure you weren't hurt?"
"I took a few bumps, but nothing too bad."
"Good."
"I'll be in Montreal tomorrow at around six."
"In the morning?"
"No. PM. Most definitely."
"Cool. We'll pick you up. What flight?"
"You don't have to."
"Let me check. Patty, you want to go pick up Test at the airport tomorrow at 6 pm?"
"How much you paying me?"
"Patty says yes," answered Jess, barely avoiding her friend's kick.
"I don't want to be rude or anything Jess but Patty's car's a bit cramped for my taste."
"Don't worry about that. We'll fix something for you."
"Cool. So I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Yeah."
There was a long minute of silence over the line. During which time, Patty gave her friend a semblance of privacy as she carefully examined her fingernails.
"I miss you," finally said Jess.
"I miss you too."
"Good night?"
"Sweet dreams."
"I'll dream of you then."
"Do that."
When she hung up the phone, Jess wrapped her arms around her trembling stomach and squeezed, trying to calm down the butterflies.
"What's wrong?" asked Patty.
"Nothing. I just happen to think I like him. A whole lot."
"That much?"
"I don't know. Is it much?"
"Well, you kind of feel like you're about to throw up, right?"
"Yeah. I think."
"But you're too happy to do something that gross."
"Definitely."
"And you surprise yourself by smiling at the weirdest times for the weirdest reasons?"
"Yeah. So what's the verdict?"
"Like. Serious like."
"What does that mean?"
"That you seriously like the boy."
"Good, cause I do."
Test put down his cell phone and eased into the couch he'd been sitting on. He closed his eyes and heard her laughing eyes, saw her engaging laughter and kissed the happy curve of her lips. He stayed there for a few minutes, drinking in the moment when he realised he wasn't alone.
The young man bit back a smile. He imagined wet leather couldn't feel good.
Chyna stood in front of him with her big workout bag, her long hair hanging down her back and strands of it sticking to her face. As her outfit, the usually sexy leather chaps clung to her strong legs, not looking very hot.
"Can I use your shower," she asked.
"What's wrong with yours?"
"I'm sharing it with Billy and Hunter. Those boys are vain and it takes them forever to shower."
"And why did you think of me first?"
"Because I know how fast you are in the shower. And you proved me right," she said huskily, eyeing his bare legs from under his thick robe.
"Take your damn shower and get out."
As soon as Chyna disappeared in the bathroom, Test pulled on his clothes and sat back, waiting for Steve. Just as Chyna turned off the shower, Steve came into the dressing room. Before Steve could be his loud, boisterous self, Test signalled for him not to make a sound and motionned him to sit by his side.
To be sure, Chyna appeared at the bathroom entrance, wearing nothing but a smile.
"Want to wash my back," she asked Test.
"I think his answer's no, but I'm game," said Steve.
Chyna's eyes popped out of her head when she heard and recognized Steve's voice. She growled in frustration as she stomped back into the bathroom. Steve and Test just grabbed their bags and made a discreet exit. As soon as the door closed behind them, they burst out laughing.
They were still chuckling when they passed Hunter, who was tying back his still wet hair.
"You guys seen Chyna," he asked before realising who he was asking, "oh, never mind."
"Actually," said Test, "she's in our dressing room."
HHH's eyes bugged out and he stalked off angrily. Steve and Test finally made it to where Stephanie and Linda were waiting for them. The ladies were talking to the Rock and to another woman who would give Chyna's muscles a run for their money.
"Finally," said Stephanie, going on her tiptoes to peck Test's cheek.
"You guys recovered?" asked Linda.
"Yeah, we're fine."
"Thanks for helping out there," bit out Steve, shoving a hand at Rock.
"No problem," chuckled Rocky. "Jabroni."
"Hey, hey," said Lexi, gently pushing back Rock when she saw the mutinous look in Steve's eyes, "it was our pleasure."
"Hey there, Lex. Good to have you back. Loved the way you stomped Chyna out there."
"No problem. As a matter of fact, I'm available to do that 24/7."
"Hi," said Test to a grinning Lexi, "I'm Test."
"Lexi. I've seen you fight. You're good."
"Thanks."
"That's no small praise," said Rock.
"I figure."
"So where are we off to?" asked Lexi. "I feel like unwinding."
"Well, there's a really cool club not too far from here," said Stephanie, "I went there last time I was in town."
"Sounds good," said Steve.
"Actually," said Linda, "old ladies like me have to call it a night. After tonight, I've got a feeling Vince is going to be up pretty early asking for explanations."
"Come on Mom, you got to enjoy tonight."
"And I will. When all the details are taken care of."
"Test?" asked Rock, "are you with us?"
"Unfortunately not. I'm flying to New York tomorrow to pick up a few things at my place in the city and then I'm off to Montreal for a few more weeks."
Stephanie staggered a bit when she heard of Test's plans. After tonight, she would have thought. Well, she didn't know what she thought. She'd just hoped that he would have stuck around a bit longer.
No one but Lexi saw the shocked look on Stephanie's face. She quickly moved away from Rocky and went to stand by Steph.
"Are you okay," she whispered.
"Yeah."
"You looked a bit in shock."
"Well, I kind of am. I didn't expect him to leave right away, I guess."
"You like him, don't you?"
"I don't think so. It's just that so far, out of all the wrestlers, I've got no friends here. Except for him."
"Well, now you got two."
"Thanks."
It was decided that Rock, Austin, Lexi and Stephanie would take a limo to the club and that Test and Linda would share another limo to the hotel. It was a surprisingly quiet ride to the hotel. Both were lost in their thoughts and were barely aware of each other. It was only in the elevator that Linda spoke up.
"Are you ready for a challenge Test," she asked, raising intelligent eyes on him.
"Yes."
"Good. Enjoy your vacation. Because when we come back, I'll have one hell of a challenge for you."
With these words, Linda got off the elevator, leaving Test to ponder on her words. He did, but only for a few seconds though. All of his thoughts were focused on one thing. On one moment. The next time his eyes would caress the face of the woman who made him glide all the way from the elevator to his bedroom door. Jess. Only she mattered.
The plane landed in Montreal without too much trouble. Test quickly made it out of the turnstiles and looked around, looking for Patty or Jess.
He was so intent on finding his friends that he almost missed the diminutive driver holding up a piece of cardboard with his name written on it. Surprised, he went up to the driver.
"Excuse me," he said, "I'm Andrew Martin."
"I know," answered Patty from under the driver's cap. "But I couldn't tell you that."
"Patty? What is this?"
"This is a surprise," she explained with a wink.
Patty looked at his suitcases and shook her head, wondering how it was that Jess, without her memory, had still managed to rope her into doing this. She thanked the heavens that Test's suitcases were the easy ones with wheels and retractable handles and dragged them out to the car.
Test chuckled when he saw the stretch limo. It was black and stern, just like Patty's driver's outfit. She popped open the trunk and looked at his suitcases.
"All right," she said, "I like you and all Test babe, but I ain't killing myself with these suitcases. You're a big boy, you load them in there yourself."
"Fine."
Test did the job in a few seconds, completely oblivious to the people who walked by, looking at this strange scene during which the driver ogled the passenger as he loaded his own bags into the back of his limo.
As soon as the bags were loaded, Patty slipped back into driver mode and opened the door for Test.
"Hope you have a nice ride," she said with a mischievous wink.
In the car, Jess was seated on the opposite seat, her back to Patty's. She was smiling. And she was happy. He was back. And he was hers for the next few weeks. She wanted to scream out in joy and do cartwheels but she suppressed the urge.
"Hello Test," she said in a surprisingly calm voice.
"Hi Jess."
"How was your flight?"
"All right I guess. I slept a lot."
"Tired?"
"A bit. A lot of travelling. And when I got to New York, I didn't have time to rest."
"I see. I thought we'd grab a bite to eat and then go to your hotel. But if you want, we can go to your hotel first."
"Well, let's stop over at the hotel, give me time to get set up and then we can go for that bite."
"Sounds like a plan."
Jess tapped on the partition which lowered immediately. Patty was there, waiting for her instructions.
"We're going to the hotel first," said Jess.
"Perfect. Should we take the scenic route?"
"That sounds good."
"No problem."
"Scenic route?" asked Test.
"Yeah. Patty told me it was longer but nicer."
"All right. Now, how did you guys get your hands on this limo?"
"Well, Patty used to work for her uncle's limo company throughout her college years. It was a cinch for her to get him to lend her one. All we have to pay for is gas."
"Cool. And this has a lot more room than the Bug."
"Tell me about it."
"Now, why are you sitting so far away from me?"
"Because."
"Because what?"
"Because I like that."
"Why?"
"The greater the anticipation, the greater the thrill."
After Jess's words, there was silence in the limo. Both Jess and Test drank in the Montreal sites, but they also exchanged heated looks. His eyes traveled along the long legs encased in black denim up to the not-quite flat stomach and the magnificentt curves of her breasts, wrapped in a wrap-around top with drove him crazy with just wanting to untie it. Her long black hair was pulled back from her face with a burgundy headband which was a match for her top and her full lips.
Unbeknownst to him, Test was undergoing the same kind of examination. When he dozed off, Jess hungrily drank in the sight of him until she was drunk with it. She licked her lips at the muscles bulging through his khaki pants and the strength of his chest and arms. His little goatee suited him just right and his long hair was pulled back in a ponytail.
"Down girl," said Patty, interrupting Jess's x-rated fantasies.
"What?"
"Come on, you think I can't tell you're undressing him and doing naughty things to him in your mind?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying I know you girl. And I'm saying it's too soon."
"For what?"
"For what you're thinking. You're not fooling me, you know. I know what you want. And it's too soon."
"You really think so?" asked Jess, turning around and throwing her arm over the back of Patty's seat.
"Absolutely. Listen honey, I know you care about him. That's not the point."
"What is the point?"
"Point is this. You care about him and he cares about you. But regardless, something traumatic happened to you."
"But I don't remember it."
"Exactly. You never know when you will remember it. What if you and Test are having a really great time together and things start going that way? Do you think he'll be ready to have you crumble in tears because of something you remember?"
"I never thought of that."
"Now, don't get me wrong. I'm rooting for you, for the two of you to become a couple. But I want it to happen the right way. For both of you."
"Thanks. I'll think about it."
"Do that."
Test heard the conversation, not all of it, but most of it and it made his heart ache. Patty had brought on some really good points. Whatever was happening between him and Jess wasn't like a one-night-stand. She might remember the rape at any time and he had to be ready for that. He had to be ready for her and he would. He vowed it.
For the next two weeks, Test and Jess got to know each other intimately. They were starting off fresh, with brand-new ideas and perspectives. For Jess, it was a sharing of her newly discovered self with a person she cared about deeply and who she knew to care about her. Test stood by her side when she went to the bank to get her financial situation in order and he was there when she found out exactly how much she had saved over the years. They were both surprised. Patty, however, was not.
"How could I have saved so little?" asked Jess with a disappointed look on her face.
"Babe," explained Patty. "You and I are peas in a pod. We live paycheck to paycheck. We enjoy our lives, make sure we have enough to survive and throw caution to the wind."
"How am I going to survive on this little amount?"
"On this little amount, you won't. But there's a little something your parents don't know anything about."
"What?"
Patty drove Test and Jess to another banking establishment in the heart of downtown Montreal. Quickly, they were ushered into the office of a young executive who smiled at them gregariously.
"Jess, Patty... how nice it is to see you both. Hi," he said, looking up at Test, "I'm Patrick Mercier."
"Andrew Martin."
"So?" asked Patrick, sitting at his desk, "what shall I do for you ladies today?"
Patty quickly explained Jess's medical situation to Patrick, skipping the rape portion of it.
"Now, Jess finally went to the bank this morning in order to get her financial information in order and was shocked to find how little money she had saved up."
"Well, of course she was. There's barely any money in that account."
"So, what's the point of my being here?"
"That's because most of your money is here. In this establishment?"
"Really? How come?"
"Jess," said Patty, "that bank we went to this morning, that's our parents' bank. That's where we started our first accounts ever when we were in the second grade."
"Shouldn't we have a lot more money then?"
"We do. Here. Three years ago, we both wanted to move out. But we didn't have the funds for it. We both had crap jobs which would only allow us to get a crappy apartment on the wrong end of town. So, one night, we got drunk. Really drunk. And spent a hundred dollars on lottery tickets."
"Lottery," scoffed Test, "a hundred bucks on lottery tickets? Come on."
"We won twenty thousand dollars."
The look on Test and Jess's faces was a frozen look of glee. They were both ecstatic but they didn't know if it was for real.
"Twenty thousand dollars?"
"Twenty thousand dollars."
"For real?"
"For real."
"Wow!"
"We didn't tell our parents."
"Why not?"
"We both agreed that they would try to meddle too much. So, we splurged with a thousand, found ourselves a nice apartment and we moved out. As for the rest of the money, we opened a joint account with five thousand dollars in it and we invested the rest."
"In what?"
"All sorts of things," answered Patrick with a big grin. "Your fourteen thousand dollars grew quite a bit since then. Actually, you would be quite a pair of catches right now."
"What do you mean?"
"You both have estates of approximately two hundred thousand dollars. Canadian."
"That's a lot of money," said Test.
"Indeed it is. Now, I only play with the interest," explained Patrick. "The rest of the money is pretty much yours to play with. You can do whatever you want with it. Although you guys have been quite good at not spending it. When your retirement comes around, the two of you should be sitting on quite a nest egg."
"Wow!"
"So we're rich?" asked Jess.
"No, not really. But you're certainly comfortable."
Patrick spent about an hour explaining the intricacies of her account to Jess, information she drank it, absorbing it until she couldn't take it anymore. After that, as the trio walked to the car, Patty squeezed Jess's hand.
"Happy?"
"I think so. This is good, right?"
"Yeah. It is."
"What else is there for me to know?"
"Aren't you curious about your job? About what you do for a living?"
"Yeah, kind of."
"You want to check it out?"
"I'd love to."
Fortunately, Jess's job was a stone's throw away. On the way, Patty explained that Jess worked as a manager in the marketing department in one of Montreal's biggest chain of boutiques for women's stores. She was in charge of advertising and she had moved up in the company over the course of five years. It was a good position considering that she had started as a sales clerk. Patty said nothing more, unwilling to sway her friend anymore.
As she stepped into the building, Jess started to feel uncomfortable. She felt stressed for no good reason. Patty led the way to her office.
It was a nice homey room filled with knick-knacks, pictures and a desk strewn with papers and reports. Jess sat behind the desk and looked at Test.
"Does it suit me, this desk?"
"I don't know. If you wore a suit, maybe. But now, in jeans and a t-shirt, not really."
"Patty, Do I like this job?"
"Not anymore. Almost every day, you have headaches, and you say you want to quit."
"So why don't I?"
"I don't know."
"Well, I have a nest egg. I'm the new me. I quit."
"Good."
Jess scribbled the words on a piece of paper, grabbed a thumbtack and pinned it on the door. On their way out, a tall, lanky man approached them, a big smile on his face.
"Hey there darling," he said, looking at Jess.
"Hi," she responded, eyeing him dubiously.
"Don't you remember me?"
"Patty?" asked Jess, looking at Patty, feeling nauseous.
"Jess, this is Mike."
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