The envelope came by courier early that same evening. JC signed for the standard sized, plain envelope with his type written address. Curious as to what it was, he opened it before he stepped off his front stoop.
JC, here is a copy of the receipt from the dealership for the return of the vehicle. Also enclosed is a copy of the receipt from Challenge for the Children where the money was donated in your name. Have a great break and I look forward to seeing you back on tour next year. Cordially, Amanda
JC sighed in frustration and turned and stepped inside the house, slamming the door in the process. He was just about to crumple the papers when he was interrupted.
"What was that about," Joey asked, standing in the doorway from the kitchen to the foyer.
"Oh, just that a gift I bought a girl has been sold with the money given to charity," JC answered with disdain.
"Who's charity and for how much?"
"Ours and about $45,000.00 in my name," he said with a slight smile as he imagined the accountants face when they saw the check in his name….
Joey was confused. "Ok, now you've got a story to tell," he said as he and JC walked back into the kitchen. They stood around the kitchen island making sandwiches as JC told the story about him and Amanda.
"Well, I can see her side," Joey started.
"Uh, how can you take her side. She totally led me on with that kiss," JC exclaimed practically yelling.
"JC, if she were teasing you, would she have been crying," Joey pointed out.
"Well…," JC said thoughtfully.
"Yeah. Which tells me there's more to the story than you know. Heck, she's probably confused by her actions herself. Give her a couple days then try again. Try to get to know her. Woo her. Don't give into every urge to kiss her, you'll scare her. Let her kiss you the next time. And above all, let her know your intentions are completely honorable, that you're not trying to get her to bed."
"I never was," JC said quietly.
"She doesn't know that," Joey pointed out.
JC thought for a moment as he took a bite of his sandwich. When he cleared his mouth, she spoke, "Hey, when did you get so smart about women?"
"Being married to Kelly as long as I have, I've picked up a few things," Joey answered then quickly grimaced.
JC spewed the sip of soda he had just taken. "Come again," JC said after he recovered from shock. "You and Kelly… married? Since when?!?!?"
"Since we found out about Brianna."
"Joey! That's nearly two years…"
"I know," Joey replied with a blissful smile.
"And when were you going to tell us…"
"When the time was right…"
"And there's never been a right time in the past two years?"
"No, not exactly."
JC sighed. "You know, PR's going to have a hay day when they find out about this."
"I know, they need to earn the money we've been paying them," Joey replied with a devilish grin. JC shook his head as he took another bite of his sandwich. * * * * *
"Amanda, the office is not the place to receive flowers. Please tell your secret admirer to send them to your residence or we will start throwing them away," her supervisor said as she walked into the front office for her shift several days later. She stopped in her tracks. What appeared to be ten different bouquets of flowers covered every open desk space there was. She took the card from the nearest bouquet and opened it.
"I'm sorry, it won't happen again," Amanda said as bewilderment then anger flashed through her system. "Carl," she said to the Front Office Manager, "can I use your office to make a personal call about this situation," she said as she waved her hand over the office.
"Yeah, but don't be too long, we're expecting a heavy check-in today," he replied then walked over to the waiting desk agents to brief them on the afternoon's events.
As she walked into her manager's office, she pulled the accident report from her purse and sat down. She punched the numbers on the paper and waited as the phone rang.
"Hello," a familiar voice came over the line.
"Are you trying to get me fired," she spat angrily. She was fighting every urge to strangle him and was glad he wasn't standing in front of her.
"I see you got the flowers. I thought you'd like them," JC responded, his voice tinged with sadness.
"Whether or not I like them is not the point. You don't send ten bouquets of flowers to a person's place of work. It's not professional and reflects poorly on me and I cannot afford to loose this job," she continued.
"I'm sorry if I caused problems with your supervisors. Do I need to come pick them up," he asked. She could hear the hurt in his voice.
She softened. "No, I'll take them home and try and find places for them in my apartment," she said. Just then her supervisor knocked on the window to the office. She motioned she'd be one more minute.
"Speaking of your apartment," JC started without thinking. "I saw how small that was. What if I rented you a much bigger and better place? Like a house or something?"
Anger coursed through her veins again and took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves but it did no good. "JC, I can not believe you can make such a proposition," she yelled into the phone. "I am not a prize that is going to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. I refuse to be treated like an object. Go to hell," she finished and slammed down the phone.
She took a deep breath and walked into the main office and immediately saw all eyes were on her. "Sorry," she said quietly.
"What do you want to do with the flowers," Carl asked. He could see she was extremely upset.
"Um, do whatever. Give them to a hospital or the next ten guests that check in. I don't want to see them," she replied walking over to her mailbox.
"And the cards?"
"I guess collect them and put them in my box. I don't care," she answered and took a deep breath. Then turned around with a smile on her face. "Now, let's get to those 1300 guests checked-in, shall we?"
* * * * *
"JC you didn't," Joey said after JC relayed the most recent conversation with Amanda to his friend.
"Yeah, I did," he mumbled. They were sitting at Joey's kitchen table. Joey was bouncing Brianna on his lap. JC was resting his head in his hands, his elbows on the table providing support. "You told me to woo her," JC said as he looked up at his friend.
"What part of 'woo her' entails sending nearly a dozen flower arrangements to her office and then offering to put her in a house," Joey asked, getting frustrated with how dense his friend was being.
"I didn't think, I just acted and spoke."
"Um yeah, I think that's obvious."
"Hey, I don't need grief from you, I got enough of that from her," he said as he placed his head back into his hands.
"OK, in two days, send her a simple bouquet of flowers, to her apartment, with a card that simply says that you're sorry."
JC looked back up at his friend. "Will that work?"
"It's a start. Then move on from there, take her out to dinner some place. But don't overwhelm her!"
"Ok, we'll try that."
