Negotiating for Joanne
Chapter 3

Copyright© 2013 by Carlos LaRosa

I was awakened at eight A.M. by the ringing of the phone extension in my room. It was Joanne Dunleavy calling.

"You told him you don't remember kissing me? Ellen Merchant's thirteenth birthday party? You took me over by the hedge on the side of her house and kissed me three times. I slapped you when you tried to feel me up, after."

As soon as she mentioned the hedge and the slap, I laughed. I'd had my hand on her butt while we'd kissed the second and third times. It was only when I'd made a grab for one of her smallish tits that she'd slapped me. I remember being very embarrassed about the slap.

"I remembered. I didn't want to say anything to him about why you'd slapped me." A lie, but nine years is a long time to remember a couple kisses.

"Daddy wanted me to give him some new names. He got really mad when I told him there weren't any others I'd be willing to marry. How much money did he offer you? He offered Gene Appelman five million dollars. Gene has plenty of his own money though. I knew he'd say no. Carl Steadson has some money too, but he hates me too much to ever want to marry me. I told him that I figured you would be willing to do it, if he offered you enough money. What happened?"

"I guess he offered me enough, five million, and then ten, after I'd turned the five down."

"You turned down ten million? You must be crazy, Kevin! Even Gene might have agreed for ten million. I'm insulted that you'd say no to that much money. I thought we were on better terms than that?"

"It wasn't you that caused me to say no. Your father is a very unlikable person. I couldn't stand the idea of having him for a father in law. If it was just marrying you, ten million would be plenty."

"I could get him to agree to staying away from you. You wouldn't have to deal with him after the wedding, except for holidays and other weddings or funerals. He isn't usually so bad, but he has been really upset over me getting pregnant. He hates it that I've gotten such a bad reputation. I guess I've sowed all the wild oats he's planning to put up with."

"Ten million buys a lot of tolerance and understanding for past mistakes with me. If we were married though, I'd expect you to honor your marriage vows. I can't pass any purity test myself, but when I'm married, I won't be doing any fooling around."

"I can talk with Daddy. If I can tell him you might still be interested, if he agrees to leave you alone. Do you want me to tell him?"

"Tell him I'm thinking about his last offer, but he'd have to leave me alone and still give me a good job in one of his companies. Tell him that I get to name the baby when it comes too." I heard Joanne giggling after I said that about naming her baby.

After we hung up the phone, I stayed in bed thinking about the conversation I'd just finished. Joanne seemed ready to get married. Other than at the beginning, Joanne hadn't had much to say about anything personal between the two of us.

I wondered if I wasn't being too easy, allowing my name to be put back in the running as a future husband for her. Of course, the money was certainly tempting, but I hadn't changed any of my opinions about the rest of it. I had to wonder if I'd hear back from either the father or the daughter. The fact that Mr. Dunleavy had gotten on the phone with my father right after I'd left his office had to mean that he was still interested in continuing our negotiations.

That night, at the dinner table, my father mentioned, very casually, that he'd once again had a phone conversation with Joanne's father. He didn't expand on that. I knew he was waiting for me to show some interest by inquiring about the phone call.

I continued eating, talking with my younger brother about his plans for going to college. He said he'd narrowed it down to either Yale or Brown. He sounded like he was leaning more towards Yale though. I'd gone to Brown, but I could understand why he might want to stay closer to home. He had a steady girlfriend, and she was already committed to attending Yale.

 
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