Alison went to church the next morning fuming.  She and Sam had spent most of the night trying to figure out what Justin’s deal was.  Sam kept insisting that there was something shady about him and JC while Alison didn’t.  He’d opened his entire life to her: showed her his apartment, and even where his parents lived.  She was getting the feeling that the night before really had been an accident but that didn’t erase her feelings of anger.

There were such things as telephones, right?

Still, she knew she’d hear from him today and she decided to give him a chance to explain again.  She’d been so upset the night before that she wasn’t sure she got all the facts straight.  So if he called – and she was sure he would – she would invite him over to talk for a bit.  He deserved a second chance after everything he’d done for her, she thought.

On the way home, her mom, Morgan, turned to ask her what was wrong.  She’d been sulking and not her usual sunny self after church.  Alison didn’t know what to say, so she told her the truth.

“Justin and I had a little argument,” she finally said and her dad, Julian raised his eyebrows. 

“Already?” he asked, surprised.  “You only went out once.  Can we help?”

That was Alison and Sam’s parents to a tee.  They always wanted to help their girls – they came to almost every game they cheered at and supported them in whatever endeavors they attempted, even with dating boys, although Mr. Welch was less helpful in that situation.  He still saw his daughters as little girls and wanted to protect them from everything.

Alison shook her head.  “Thanks dad, but it’s not a big deal.  I’m sure we’ll straighten things out tonight.”

“Tonight?” I don’t recall you asking if you could go out on a school night,” Mrs. Welch gently reminded Ali.

She shrugged.  “It’s not a date; if I see him, it’ll be to go get some ice cream or something and then straight back home, if that’s okay with you.  If it’s not, I can—“

“No, no that’s fine.  Just remember to let us know what you’re doing,” Mr. Welch told her.

“I will, Dad,” she said quietly, then slouched back into her seat until they arrived home. 

Sure enough, there was a message from Justin asking her to please call him back, and when Sam turned on her cell phone she had about five messages from him asking the same thing.

“Well?” Sam asked, as they changed into jeans and sweaters after church. 

“Well what?” Alison snapped, knowing where this was leading. She didn’t mean to be short with Sam, but she was the only one she could express her true feelings to.  “You already know I’m going to call him.  I just want to hear what he has to say.”

Sam tossed Alison her cell phone.  “Then here … go somewhere private so I don’t have to hear this.  If he had done that to me, he’d still be trying to pull my foot out of his ass.”

Ali ignored Sam and went down into the barely used living room, then slowly dialed Justin’s number.  He answered on the first ring.

“Sam? Ali?  Who is this?” he sounded wild, almost out of control compared to the message he’d left on her parents’ machine.  Then he had sounded normal and in control.

“It’s me, Justin,” Ali said quietly. 

He let out a huge sigh.  “Ali, I’m so glad you called me back.  Can we talk? Can I see you?  Let me explain everything that happened last night and I swear you’ll understand,” he chattered on and on.  “Can we meet today?  Please, Ali.”

How could she say no after that?  “Okay, Justin.  I can see you for … a little while … my parents don’t like us socializing on school nights.”

“I’m on my way right now.  I’m on Connecticut Avenue right now; I should be there in, like, twenty minutes, okay?”

“Okay.” Ali was still a little angry with him so she wasn’t as nice as she usually was.  “I’ll be ready.” Then she hung up the phone without so much as a god-bye, not feeling he deserved one.  Then she went to get ready, putting on a little mascara and lipstick as Sam berated her for breaking down so easily. Unexpectedly she turned on Sam, tired of hearing her go on and on.

“You don’t even know him, Sam, okay?  So don’t make assumptions that you can’t back up.”

“And you do know him after, what, two dates?  He totally dissed you and you’re just giving him a second chance without making him work for it?  You’re a total pushover, Ali.”

That made Alison angrier.  Maybe she was taking it out on the wrong person but she needed to vent somehow.  “I don’t see your love life going so smoothly,” she retorted.  “And what I do with Justin is my own business.  I know how to handle him and I would appreciate it if you would give me the benefit of the doubt.  I know what I’m doing,” she finished, lying through her teeth and Sam knew it.

Sam muttered under her breath, “Seems like he knows how to handle you …” and Alison whipped around from the mirror and gave her a death stare, which shut Sam up.

“Fine, do whatever you want.  I’ll be waiting for you to come crying back to me.” 

After giving Sam another dirty look, Alison grabbed her coat and went downstairs to wait from Justin. Still, some of what Sam had said had crept into her and made her even more anxious.  Was she doing the right thing?  She didn’t know.  All she knew was she had to see Justin again.

~*~

Justin was driving like a madman through the streets of Maryland, trying to get to Alison as fast as he could.  He’d made a complete wreck of things and knew it, but he couldn’t very well tell her that a drug deal had gone awry and that he, Slo and JC had to take care of business.  He knew he was wrong but he had to persuade Alison to give him another chance.  He couldn’t sleep all night from tossing and turning, wondering what tomorrow would bring – would she talk to him, or would she completely ignore him?  Luckily for him he’d been given one other chance and he had no intentions of blowing it.

He pulled up at her house and pulled on his jacket as he hopped out of the car.  Walking up the sidewalk, he saw the front door and there she was.  His heart flip-flopped and he smiled tentatively at her.  “Hi, Alison.”

“Hi,” she said reluctantly.  “Do you want to come in?”

She was looking gorgeous in a black sweater and black jeans that showed off her curvy figure.  His mouth was watering but he pushed those thoughts away. He had more important stuff do deal with.  “I thought we could go some place and talk, if that’s okay with you.”  The Welch house was so small that he knew the whole house would be able to hear him apologize and he wasn’t going to put himself on display like that, especially in front of Sam.

Alison sighed.  “I told my parents we might go for ice cream or something … do you want to go to the Coldstone Creamery?  It’s just a couple of miles from here.”

He would’ve driven her to a crack house if that was what she wanted.  “Sure, that sounds great.  You wanna get your coat?”

She sighed again.  “It’s right here,” she said unenthusiastically and put it on slowly, like a child being dragged somewhere they didn’t want to go.  But something inside of her did want to be with him again or she wouldn’t have let him get this close.  So in Justin’s mind, things were looking up.  They couldn’t get any worse, he thought.

They walked side by side to his Navigator where he opened the door for her and made sure she got in safely.  She was already buckling her seat belt by the time he got it.  “How are you today?” he asked cheerfully as he started the car and buckled in himself.  She gave him a look and he got the message that she was still mad in spite of their meeting.  “So, how do I get to this Creamery place?”

She gave terse directions until they arrived.  Usually packed, the place was uncharacteristically empty since it was winter.  They ordered their ice cream and sat down at one of the little tables.

“Ali, I know you’re still mad.  But didn’t you listen to what I said yesterday?  I had a fire at one of our properties and couldn’t get away.  I had no intention of standing you up; I just looked at my watch and noticed it was close to one and took off out of there, hoping you wouldn’t be pissed off.  Unfortunately, I looked too late at my watch,”

“Ever heard of a phone?” Ali said wryly, licking at her cone.  Justin watched her pink tongue licking at the ice cream and had to slow down before his mind wandered to other places.

“Like I told you, I lost track of time.  I promise, Ali, I promise it’ll never happen again.  Don’t be mad, baby,” he leaned over and took her free hand, running his thumb over it.  “You don’t know how bad I wanted to see you in that dress.  I wouldn’t have stood you up unless it was a major emergency and it was.  Let’s start that night over next week, okay?”

Ali sighed.  She didn’t know what to believe anymore.  Should she trust him again?  If it were anyone other than him, she would’ve written him or her off immediately.  But it wasn’t just anyone; it was Justin, the guy who treated her like a queen.  And if what he said was true about the fire, she could understand how he got lost in time.  But still …

“How do I know this won’t happen again? She asked him.  “How many times am I going to left, sitting by the phone, while you’re distracted with other things?  Especially in the middle of the night?  I could’ve gotten in serious trouble last night if my parents hadn’t been knocked out, asleep.”

“All I can give you is my word, Ali.  Is that good enough for you?”  He asked, hoping it was.  His word was important to him – it had to be in his business – so he hoped she understood how serious he was.  “I promise to never stand you up again.  I may get phone calls and have rare emergencies but if I do, I’ll call you and let you know right away.  Is that fair?”

Ali couldn’t help but agree that that was indeed fair.  So was she ready to start over with a clean slate? She supposed she was, given the earnest look in his eye and how upset he seemed to be about the whole situation.

“Okay, Justin.”

“Okay, what?”

“Okay, I … forgive you, I guess.  Just … don’t … I don’t want anything like this to happen again.  If it does then I’m gone.  I need to depend on someone if we’re going to be dating and up until last night you were 100 percent dependable.  Everyone is allowed a mistake,” she reasoned.

He grinned at her and felt like giving up a big whoop.  “You won’t regret it, baby,” he promised her. “Now let’s finish our ice cream.  I want to take you home where we can talk and relax.”

Alison shook her head.  “Not today.  I have homework to do and I promised Dad I’d watch the game with him.”

Justin was visibly disappointed.  “Can I see you sometime this week, then?  What about tomorrow, during your last period at school?  We can just go to the mall and walk around or grab something to eat before your parents get home,” he said persuasively and Alison couldn’t say no. 

What hold did he have on her to make her feel this way?  She couldn’t fight it – she was falling fast and hard for him and it seemed like nothing could get in the way of that.

Still feeling suspicious, she nodded her head.  “Okay, tomorrow.  You know where to meet me, right?”

He smiled.  “Got it all memorized right up here.  I remember everything about you, especially how fast you can suck down an ice cream cone,” he joked.

“You jerk!” she squealed, and threw a balled up napkin at him.

After their ice cream jaunt, he drove her back home but was reluctant to let her go.  “Are you sure you can’t spare a few hours for me?” he asked, between soft, deep kisses that made them both shiver. Alison was practically in his lap as he showered her with affection and attention.  Even his wandering hands to her breasts hadn’t bothered her – in fact, she liked it way too much for someone who wanted to remain a virgin until marriage.  But he seemed to take all thought of that out of her mind with his magic hands.  Nothing had felt so good as when he brushed teasingly against her nipples.  She thought there was no other pleasure that great in the world but Justin had a huge bag of tricks to show her that there was way better stuff than that.

“I’m really sorry, but I can’t,” she ran a hand over his bristly head.  “We’ll be together tomorrow.”

“But we can’t do this,” he said as he seized her in a passionate kiss that made her body sizzle.

“Maybe we’ll skip the mall and find a nice, quiet place …” Ali hinted that they could make out some more the next day if they could find a place to be unnoticed.  Justin got the meaning right away.

“I’ll see what I can come up with, baby.”  Oh, how she loved it when he called her that.  “In the meantime, get as much homework done as you can so you can concentrate on me tomorrow.”

As if in a spell, she nodded.  “Okay … I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she climbed back over to her side of the car, and he hopped out to open the door for her.  They held hands as they walked up the sidewalk to the front door and he gave her a peck on the cheek.  “’Bye, Justin,” she said softly and he kissed her on the lips one last time.”

“If I’m going I better go now … or I won’t be responsible for what happens next,” he half-joked.  “See ya tomorrow baby girl.” And with that he got in his car once again and disappeared down the street with Ali watching.

Finally feeling like things were good, she floated into the house, ready to ignore Sam’s protestations. 

Justin and she were meant to be together, she thought.  It was fate.

And nobody would come between them.  Nobody or nothing.

Ignorance is bliss.