Chapter 19: The Limousine

Darren sat back in the chaise lounge, staring out over the newly mowed lawn. The lemonade tasted good after a morning of yard work. Stephanie said she'd be gone all day. She left a note, our date for tonight he assumed, on the desk. It said to open after 2. He was tempted to open it, but he had plenty to do until then anyway.

The past two weeks have been weird, he thought to himself. Ever since they came back from the Drive-In and the answering machine had a dozen messages. Stephanie shrugged off his questions, avoiding any explanations, at least until two days ago.

He'd run into Bobby and he mentioned it in passing at the dinner table. Boy was that a mistake! Stephanie exploded on him. He hadn't known that Bobby filed for divorce. Christy was a basket case. Well, when wasn't she. At least he'd had the presence of mind not to say that. Something was going on and Darren knew he'd be the last to know, but he would find out when she was damn good and ready for him to know.

And then there were three, he thought to himself. Cassie's back in town, too. Her six month stint in Chicago was over. Now the three of them could terrorize the men of this town again. And two of them were single! This didn't bode well. Those two would try to get Stephanie to spend more time doing things with the girls. Darren sighed.

Darren opened the note on the desk. "The famous musician Stephanie Davis and her entourage will be expecting their driver to pick them up at Madame Rousseau's at six. The evening's itinerary will be with the car at Warner Car Rentals. Your tux and cap are there as well."

So one recital and she's a famous musician with an entourage. Why do I think there will be three of them? Darren sighed and headed up the stairs to take a shower.

As usual, everything was set up and ready to go when he got to Warner Car Rentals. He used the men's room there to change into his tux. He paused to look in the mirror and adjust his cap. He looked the part, he admitted to himself. Okay, let's go make Stephanie's fantasy happen.

Surprisingly, the sleek black limousine drove like a dream. It wasn't hard to turn, but parking it would be a problem. Darren had to make a stop to fill the bar in the back. He put in two bottles of champagne, three of white wine and one of rum. He added two six-packs of diet coke, half a dozen bottles of water, and some of Stephanie's favorite cheeses and dips. He put the crackers and chips in the compartment next to the bar as well as some napkins, plates and plastic glasses.

The drive to Madame Rousseau's was uneventful and he arrived about five minutes early. It was a good thing too. Another limousine was pulling away from the curb in front of the salon just as he arrived. Things were looking good.

Speaking of looking good, Darren thought to himself as he opened the door to the salon. Stephanie, Christy and Cassie were sitting on one of the couches chatting. All he could think was wow. Stephanie wore a green dress that left little to the imagination. It showed just how much she has been working on her figure. He watched her for a moment, enjoying the animated and happy look on her face as she chatted with her friends. Her hair was styled differently and a little shorter than usual.

He hadn't seen Cassie in almost a year, but he knew her instantly. Her red hair was darker than he remembered. She wore a black slinky dress that showed her lithe figure and small breasts to great advantage. Through Stephanie, he knew that the size of her chest was Cassie's major disappointment. She felt that her small apples kept her from getting the attention she wanted. She was shorter than either Christy or Stephanie and, although she'd dated a number of men, she had never been married.

Christy looked fabulous in her bright red dress. The plunging neckline showed off her man made cleavage. Her blonde hair looked lighter than it had been a couple of weeks ago. She's looking for lots of attention tonight, Darren thought to himself. They all are. And looking like that, they'll get it. He felt a slight twinge of jealousy as he wondered if he was included in any of this attention.

"Excuse me, Miss Davis," Darren said softly, tapping the brunette on the shoulder. When she looked up at him, he smiled and said, "My name is Darren, I'm here to drive you this evening."

"Oh, very good, Darren. Thank you. We'll be out in a moment," she dismissed him and returned to her conversation.

Hmmm. Why do I feel like it's going to be a long, interesting evening? Darren shrugged and opened the salon door. He paused next to the limousine and waited.

The trio was still chatting when they exited the salon. Darren felt himself harden as he noticed all three dresses were above the knee and showed off three pairs of very nice legs. Down, boy, he hissed to himself and opened the door.

Carefully, Darren helped each of them into the car. Christy frowned and tugged at her skirt, clearly annoyed that Darren might see anything. Cassie made a great show of bending over and winked when he dutifully looked down her dress. Stephanie smiled and purposefully showed him the tops of her stockings.

When she was seated, Stephanie looked up. "You know where we are headed?"

"Yes, ma'am. I have the itinerary in the front with me."

"Very good." She turned back to her friends and Darren closed the door.

Darren slipped into the driver's seat and looked into the mirror. The three women were already partaking of the wine. He started the car and pulled out into traffic. He could hear snippets of conversation from the back. They were talking about Cassie's time in Chicago.

The conversation turned to something that happened in college and he heard Christy say, "I don't think Darren needs to hear this." The privacy panel slid upward and Darren was left with himself for company.

Darren pulled up to the restaurant on the itinerary. Les Fromages was one of the more exclusive restaurants in town. The front patio was set up to handle limousines and Darren stopped the car in front of the door. Hopping out, he helped each of the ladies out of the car and watched as they headed into the restaurant.

Darren parked the limousine and sat on the hood, opening the bag that Stephanie arranged for him. No fancy dinners for the driver, he sighed. The sandwich was quite good. So were the cookies, but he was struggling with how this date was supposed to bring them together. In fact, the more he thought about it, the less he liked this.

Down boy, he told himself. It's too early to jump to conclusions. The night is young. Maybe this one's about patience. I know that's one thing I lack. She did look like she was having fun with her friends. That is something. And she is so pretty when she's smiling like that.