Endings and New Beginnings
Chapter
3: Complications and Personal Relations
Misty stared moodily out over the water: this was her favorite spot in Pallet. The water was beautifully calm, and full of water pokemon. Today the sky was blue with a few wisps of cloud. A gentle breeze blew, just enough to cool and comfort without blowing hair in one’s eyes. The gentle call of flying Pokemon and the whisper of the wind in the trees was soothing. Unfortunately Misty wasn’t enjoying any of it today. Her mind was on other matters.
That May girl was trouble. From the moment she’d arrived she had attached herself to Ash, as if she owned him or something. Smiling those overly sweet smiles, batting her too long lashes, clinging to Ash’s arm… and he was so – nice. Couldn’t he see that she had ulterior motives? May probably had their whole lives planned, right down to the color of their children’s pajamas. Misty made a face at the thought.
“Well, don’t we look thoughtful today?” Misty looked up as Jesse sat down beside her. (not without a look of disgust and some serious swiping at the ground of course). Misty was surprised to see Jesse sitting on the ground at all, though her years as a member of Team Rocket had probably seen her sitting in far worse places. Misty almost smiled, then was amazed at how comfortable she already felt around the older woman.
Unlike how she felt around May.
How strange, she was more comfortable with her ex-archenemy then with what might be called her counterpart. Maybe that was the problem, maybe she was afraid of being replaced.
“So, are you gonna tell me what’s wrong or do I have to beat it out of you?” Jesse’s smile belied the threat in her words. Misty looked at her skeptically. They might be on friendly terms now, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to share something so personal with Jesse.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me,” Jesse shrugged before casting a sidelong glance at Misty, “I’ll bet I can sum up all your problems in one word – May.”
Misty jerked, startled, then forced herself to seem nonchalant, “That’s ridiculous, Jesse.”
“Right,” Jesse smiled, “that’s why you nearly jumped out of your skin just now.”
“I, well…” Misty stammered incoherently.
“And I know why she’s bothering you,” Jesse continued. Misty wasn’t sure, but she thought she detected a malicious glint in those blue eyes, “She’s after your man.”
“My man?” Misty gulped.
Jesse rolled her eyes, “She’s all over the twerp.”
“Ash?” Misty tried to hide her discomfort, Jesse was dangerously close to the mark.
“Yeah, Ash.” Jesse mimicked her, “don’t play innocent with me. Or are you still pretending you aren’t in love with him?” Jesse’s stare was direct and demanding, this wasn’t a game.
“I never loved Ash.” Misty said defensively.
“Kid, a teenage girl doesn’t follow a guy half way around the world unless she feels something for him.”
Misty looked down at the ground, “he owed me a bike,” she said lamely.
Jesse nodded, “right.” She agreed, sarcasm dripping from her tone; she placed a hand on Misty’s arm causing the girl to look her in the eyes, “don’t con a con-woman. I used every excuse and every denial in the book to dodge my feelings for James. I probably wrote a few chapters myself. But,” she smiled gently, “in the end it was much better to just get it all out in the open.”
“Right,” Misty didn’t sound convinced. Taking advice from Jesse didn’t seem wise, not that she wanted Jesse to know she thought that.
“As for that May girl, the best way to deal with her is just to wallop her.”
“WHAT!?!” Misty jumped to her feet in shock. That’s just what she needed!
Jesse nodded firmly, “Yes, wallop her. It’ll make you feel better, trust me.”
“Okay, I’m leaving now,” Misty couldn’t believe Jesse, “Uh, thanks,” she added quickly. Jesse might be crazy, but she’d hate to offend the volatile woman.
“He doesn’t care about her!” Jesse called to her retreating form. Misty didn’t turn back, but her heart lifted – just a little.
***
She hurried toward the house; she was probably late to help with something. If Jesse had been worried enough to come looking for her who knew how long she’d been out there.
She had just managed to get a somewhat sincere smile on her face (she didn’t want to make things hard on Delia) when she saw something that made her lose it.
Who was that girl bubbling around her
Ash!?!? Granted he seemed
less than thrilled about it, but still… she could only take one problem at a
time. She slowed her approach,
trying to decide if she had ever seen the girl before.
She looked familiar, but more like when a person reminds you of someone
else, then when they remind you of themselves.
Maybe that was it, maybe one of her siblings had been a challenger at
the Cerulean Gym. As Misty
watched the pretty brunette,
That’s who this woman reminded her of! Gary!
Resuming her approach she plastered an all too false smile on her lips (hey, she was trying!) Coolly she interjected herself between Ash and the stranger, she deftly fixed his rumpled collar, though she may have yanked a little harder than was strictly necessary.
“Uh, hey Misty,” Ash gently pulled his collar away from his neck. “Where have you been?” She shot him a look that clearly said to drop it, “Or, you know, we could talk about something else.” <Like why you nearly strangled me, and why you’re so upset today>
Misty smiled sweetly, “I was just wondering who our guest is.”
“Oh, Misty this is May Oak, Gary’s sister, the Professor’s granddaughter. She’s been away at…”
“Finishing school.” The young woman’s critical gaze took in Misty’s jeans and short hair.
“Huh,” Misty said with feigned interest, “I didn’t think they still had those archaic institutions. Wherever did you manage to dig one up?”
“Ladies, never dig.” May Oak said with a sniff. Clearly they were talking about more than schooling, more like lifestyle choices.
“Um, May,” Brock spoke up, hoping to diffuse the tension charged air, “will you be staying here at the lab?”
“Heavens no.” May gave a dainty, practiced laugh. “I’m staying at the hotel in Viridian. No, I just came to pay my respects to Grandfather, and remind him that I will expect to be a member of the wedding party.”
“Oh, joy.”
“Where?” Brock looked up in excitement.
“Viridian is a long way to come everyday to help with preparations.” Tracey said uncertainly.
“Oh, don’t be silly!” May Oak interrupted him shamelessly <some lady she is> Misty thought, “I can’t be bothered with preparations, it would be far too long a journey each day.”
“Then why did you-”
“Come so early? Why you silly dear, I came to shop. I haven’t been to the Viridian mall in ages!”
“What a loss.”
“Anyway, tell Grandfather I stopped by. See you at the wedding.” She began to walk away and then turned to Delia, “Oh, and if the dressmaker needs to see me about my bridesmaid gown she can reach me here.” She handed Delia the hotel’s card, “Good day.”
“I thought she wanted to pay her respects.” Richie said once she was out of earshot.
“Yes, well apparently her shopping engagement was more important.” Misty said.
“Now dears,” Delia wagged a finger at them, “let’s be polite. She didn’t actually say she was shopping today. It might be something important, though I can’t imagine…” Delia looked ashamed of herself and left the thought unfinished. Lifting her head she smiled brightly. “Look at the bright side! With another bridesmaid the wedding party will be an even eight instead of seven! I’ll just go tell Samuel she was here. I’m sure he’ll be pleased she’s taken such an interest in the wedding.”
“An interest in showing herself off.”
Ash sighed, “Well, come on guys. We have a job to finish.” Looking at the tables still waiting to be moved the other men groaned.
It had taken them nearly two days after the May Oak incident to get all the tables in the proper place (they had had to abandon the task the first day due to impending rain. They ended up battening down tarps to protect the tables and running for cover), they dreaded the thought of having to move them again for the wedding. When James had returned from town (where he had gone to fetch paint for the display bases) he even pitched in. He wasn’t much help though. But to give him credit he did try, he was just a little weaker than was needed for the job. Finally giving up he had gone to paint the bases by himself. Delia had begun serious work on the gardens, probably to avoid being near the groaning men.
She had even brought Mr. Mime with her to help straighten the house, but after a few hours of Mimie tampering with his books and notes Professor Oak had ordered the Pokemon out of his house. Mimie was restricted to yard work as well, though more often than not he was chasing one or another of the young men around trying to clean their sweaty faces.
After two days of this everyone agreed that they all deserved a break. There wasn’t much they could do at the moment anyway. They only had a few more projects they could complete before the week of the wedding, and they were waiting on supplies from another town. Apparently the wedding canopies (there were several, all very large) simply had to be made of pure Beautifly silk, which could only be found in a small, very remote area of Hoenn. It then had to be sent by boat to a manufacturer in Shanti (the only place that made the elaborate tentish canopies the Delia simply had to have.) And once the things arrived, the frames would have to be painted (for all that money, you’d have thought the manufacturer would color match them, but noooo) then assembled, the silk had to be carefully placed, then the whole lot had to be folded and placed in a safe area. One couldn’t very well leave them in the open air for a month! Ash wondered what had happened to his wonderfully practical mother. Apparently weddings changed women.
Ash heaved a huge sigh, looking forward to the three day break before the new job started.
Misty was humming to herself, having just finished a dress fitting (she was so glad Delia had chosen blue for their dresses). This was the start of her break as well. It felt so good to be out in the open again, and extremely good to be free of May for a few moments. The girl had finally stepped away from Ash for a few nanoseconds (no doubt terrified of being asked to do real work), and she had plagued Misty, talking non stop about how close she and Ash were.
Misty felt eyes on her and looked up to see Ash smiling at her. Wandering over she sat by him casually.
“Hi.”
“Hi.” She smiled. For a long time they sat in silence, enjoying the sun, the breeze, and each other’s company.
“Hey, Misty.” Misty opened her eyes and turned toward Ash, “I was wondering,”
“Ash!” the two jerked as Brock called to him. “Are you gonna help or what?”
“Help?” Misty asked, “I thought you were on leave.” A teasing smile played at the corners of her mouth.
“I am,” he made a face “from my mother and the Professor, Brock on the other hand…”
“This is a project of Brock’s?” she asked, surprised, Brock was more the house work type.
“Yeah, I think it’s a present for the happy couple.”
“Ah,” Misty nodded sagely.
“ASH!” Ash groaned as he stood, then heaved a huge sigh.
“Well, I guess I’d better go before he wakes the whole neighborhood.” He winked at Misty, who chuckled. It was the middle of the afternoon, and the whole neighborhood consisted of them - the people staying or working at the Oak lab.
Suddenly May appeared beside him, latching herself to his arm and talking non stop. “Ash, are you going to help Brock?” Ash nodded, looking back at Misty, deflated. He was too tired to shrug May off today. He would just ignore her. “Oh goody! I’ll come too.” She looked at Misty behind lowered lashes, “I’ve just missed you so much. You’ve been far too busy these last few days, I’d love to help you, but you know how it is.”
“Mmm,” Ash made a noncommittal noise.
Misty glared at their retreating forms. She certainly knew how it was. She stood and walked toward the pond, she liked the lake, but the pond would give her more privacy. Once there she replayed the event of the last several weeks. And the more she thought about it the madder she got. Soon Misty was fuming. That May girl made her so mad! Why had Delia invited her to the wedding? The girl hounded poor Ash, hanging on him, giggling incessantly, teasingly reminding him of her broken bike when he objected to her presence. As if Pikachu accidentally destroying her bike gave her a claim on him! Ridiculous! Besides, he’d destroyed her bike first, and he’d had a bigger hand in it too! If anyone had a right to him it was her!
“Hey Misty,” May popped up out of nowhere, smiling brightly. Misty started, May was always so happy. The truth was, in another situation the two probably would have been friends, as it was Misty was jealous beyond sight (though she would never have admitted it) and May knew Misty was more than competition. May also knew that Misty didn’t realize how much she meant to Ash. Most of all May loved rubbing her interest in Ash and freedom with him into Misty’s face.
“Ash and I are going to the mountains tomorrow to find something or someone, oh, what was it?” she shrugged, “I can’t remember, but it isn’t important. It’s probably something stupid, you know how boys are.” She leaned closer, smiling, “but the point is- we’re going alone.” She stressed the word.
Misty was desperately trying to maintain her calm. So what if Ash and May were going somewhere and he hadn’t told her? He had probably planned on going alone and May had just invited herself along as she did so many times (like all of Hoenn and probably everywhere else the two had gone together.) Besides, she had really worked on controlling her temper while Ash was challenging the Elite Five. She wanted to prove she could be easy to get along with. He didn’t get mad at her much anymore, and her anger was just keeping them apart.
“Misty,” May was practically purring, “I probably shouldn’t have told you, but I felt you had the right to know.”
<yeah right> Misty thought sarcastically <out of the goodness of your heart…>
“It’s going to be great,” May continued, “Me and Ash, alone in the wilderness. I hope something frightens me, so I’ll have an excuse to be in his arms. He’s so-”
*WHAM*
Misty knocked May to the ground, then ground her heel into the girl’s back. Hmmm, maybe Jesse was rubbing off on her.
“Ow!” May squealed, “get off of me!!!”
Misty had to admit it felt great, Jesse had been so right, she just needed to let out her anger.
“MISTY!?” her gaze flew in the direction of the shocked voice and met Ash’s eyes. He had frozen mid-step, coming out from the woods, a look of shock on his face.
Misty gulped, oh this looked mature. “Uh, hey Ash.” She stepped away from May nervously. May stood unsteadily brushing herself off, then she opened her mouth ready to assault Misty. One look at Ash convinced her to go.
“Ash, I,” Misty began without looking at him, out of the corner of her eye she saw his arm jerk in a cutting motion and she stopped talking. Ash made a strange noise, low in his throat, almost like a growl. Her eyes flew to his face and she started. He looked so angry, but his fiery gaze wasn’t concentrated on her, it was directed toward May’s retreating form. He turned around slowly.
“What did she do?” His tone was steely.
Misty was filled with pleasure, he was taking her side, without knowing anything about the situation his response was to back her. But his question further unsettled her. She couldn’t tell him what had happened without admitting her feelings toward him. In that instant of confusion and discomfort she lashed out at him.
“YOU were taking HER to the MOUNTAINS!?!” she was much too loud, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “Nice of you to invite the rest of us!!! What is it you’re going to look for? Or is it just an excuse to be alone with HER!?!”
Ash had been watching her in bewilderment, now he was just plain irritated, but he was careful to keep his voice low and steady, “You’re mad at me?” he asked incredulously, “I didn’t do anything to you. And I don’t know what she told you, but she and I weren’t going anywhere.” He took a step toward her, “I was coming to see if you wanted to go see Bruno tomorrow, he’s back in Indigo, and talk to him about that Pokemon chip. But obviously you don’t want to spend time with me so I’ll go alone. Sorry to bother you.” He turned and walked away. Misty just stood, frozen. He hadn’t yelled at her, but he couldn’t have made more of an impact if he had. He wanted her to go with him not May, or at least he had.
May had made it all up. She’d probably known how Misty would react, had planned on it, to produce just this outcome. Misty could have kicked herself; why had she gotten so upset? She should have just avoided Ash’s question, he probably would have let it go. She sat down, her arms resting on her pulled in knees. Stupid, she was so stupid. Tears streamed down her face. Jesse was wrong, Tracey was wrong, everyone was just wrong. Ash would never love her because she was an idiot! Why couldn’t she control herself?
She didn’t know how much time had passed before she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“Misty?” It was Richie, “Ash sent me. What’s wrong?” Misty sniffed and wiped at her tears. Richie handed her a tissue.
“Ash?” she asked in a small voice. Richie nodded.
“He was worried about you, but he wasn’t sure you wanted to see him right now."
Misty’s eyes teared up again, but this time she refused to cry. She looked at Richie, studying him. She could trust him, and it would be so nice…
“He’ll never want me.” She stated sorrowfully, “All I ever do is yell at him.”
“At Ash?” Richie asked gently. She nodded. He rubbed her back lightly with a hand. “He doesn’t hate you Misty, he cares for you – a lot. Nothing is going to change that. Trust me, I know.”
“Do you?” she asked. He didn’t answer, but something in his eyes reassured her.
“You want me to leave you here or are you coming back to the house?” he asked.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.” She said, smiling slightly. “Tell Ash I’m alright.”
“Good.” Richie patted her shoulder then stood and left. True to her word she followed shortly.
“May!” Ash looked around rapidly trying to force himself to sound calm. Why did May keep bothering Misty? He had hoped the two would be friends, had been sure they would be but… Would he ever understand women?
“May!” he could see her now. She heard him, but kept walking. He ran to catch up with her and placed a hand on her arm. “May.” He forced himself to sound gentle, when what he really wanted to do was shake her.
“What?” she asked tersely. She pulled her arm out of his light grasp.
“Well you can stop walking for one thing.” He moved quickly, positioning himself in front of her. Seeing her face he softened. “May, what’s up with you lately?”
She swiped an arm over her face. “What do you mean?” she asked defensively.
“May.” He admonished gently, “when we traveled together you were never like this. Now you’re so…” he searched for a kind way to say it, “Confrontational. Why do you keep picking fights with Misty? What is it with you two? From everything I know about you, the two of you should get along great.”
May looked at him in shock. <Is the man dense?> she wondered. “You honestly don’t get it do you?” she asked incredulously.
Ash shook his head then threw his hands out in a helpless gesture of question. “I have no idea, so why don’t you just explain it to me. It might help.”
It was tempting, oh so tempting, but she wouldn’t – couldn’t – tell him. She knew very well that her only chance was that Ash and Misty would never get together, would forever be too uncertain, because once they got together they would never be apart… and if she told him, he would know Misty had feelings for him. She would be destroying her only chance.
“I can’t.” her words were cold, face closed, body stiff.
Ash sighed, “May,” he reached an arm out. She cut him off, brushing his hand away.
“No Ash!” she looked at him, pain in her eyes. She placed a hand on his chest, “let it go Ash. Please.” The last word was a soft plea.
He considered for a moment, it wasn’t worth it, besides he would get the rest of the story from Richie later. He hoped Richie was having better luck than he was, “fine, but try to get along with Misty, please. We’re all going to be here for quite some time.”
May nodded. Picking fights with Misty certainly wasn’t earning her any brownie points anyway. She had seen how upset he had been when he had found Misty pelting her – upset at HER!
“Good.” Ash smiled warmly at her, “I’m going back now. Dinner’s in an hour, don’t be late.”
Richie was at the house when Ash arrived, Misty however was not. Ash threw a glance at Richie who shook his head with a smile.
“Later.” Was all he said then he went upstairs. Since Richie didn’t seem interested in talking Ash sat down to wait for Misty. A few minutes later the door opened. Misty smiled when she saw him.
“Hey,” she said uncertainly.
He looked up from his seat on the couch. “Hey,” he had been thinking about their conversation.
“Ash, um.” She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, this was so hard, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have attacked you like that. You hadn’t done anything wrong.”
Ash was mildly surprised, but he smiled warmly. “That’s okay, May can really turn you around. Trust me, I know.”
“Yeah,” Misty bit her lip. For a few moments they remained in silence. Ash picked at the couch, uncertain what would happen next, and Misty shifted her weight back and forth.
“So,” Ash finally broke the silence, “you wanna go tomorrow? To the mountains, I mean.” Tears of joy rushed to her eyes, but she held them back. He still wanted her to come, even after what she’d said.
“Yeah, Ash, I do.” She smiled, “thank you.”
He shrugged, “well there’s really no point in going without you. It’s you Bruno really wants to see, the two of you were supposed to discuss that fragment.”
“Yeah.” Not even his practical reasoning could diffuse the warm glow she felt. He wanted her to go with him.
For a few moments they stood staring at each other. Ash frowned as his eyes moved to her soiled clothing. Earned in her fight with May no doubt. How long had they been at it? Forcing the thought behind him he smiled at her.
“Dinner’s in forty five. You should go clean up.” Misty looked confused, then her eyes flew down to her clothes and she blushed. The whole embarrassing incident came back in a rush.
“Yeah,” she said lamely, glad for the chance to escape. She bolted up the stairs.
Once upstairs Richie ducked into his room. He was tired of May, tired of her attitude, tired of her presence, and especially tired of how she threw herself at Ash. Couldn’t she see that Ash’s heart was taken, had been for years? Lost in thought he was startled to feel a hand touch his shoulder.
He jumped, whirling to find Tracey there, “Man, don’t do that!”
“Sorry,” Tracey voice was barely a hushed whisper, “I called you but…”
“Yeah? Well, if you were speaking that quietly I can’t imagine why I didn’t hear you!”
“Shh!” Tracey put a finger to his own lips. “We’ve got to do something about May, she’s going to ruin everything.”
Now that was
something Richie couldn’t have agreed with more.
For half an hour they remained in the room discussing their options,
finally they agreed that there was only one thing to be done – they had to
find
***
“No way!” Gary was not happy with the plan they had come up with.
“Come on,
“Yeah, well, why me,” the other man demanded, “why can’t you do it?”
Richie smiled, “I don’t think I’m her type.”
“That’s just it,” Tracey said, “Too
obvious. You on the other
hand,” he shot
“Yeah, right.”
“Come on man, it’s just for a few weeks.”
“Five weeks,”
“Not you again!” Ash turned in the direction of the voice, looking up and behind them. There, on the ledge above the cave’s entrance stood a grinning man. He was short and broad, and all muscle. His arms clearly visible in his karate style, sleeveless tunic. Ash smiled. Bruno.
The man leapt skillfully from the ledge, landing with surprising ease. It was quite a jump. “You know I can only stand to be beaten so many times.” He groused.
“Pika chuu!” Pikachu jumped onto Bruno’s shoulder squeaking happily.
“Hey Pikachu, I’m glad to see you again.” Bruno reached an arm across his chest to scratch the rodent’s ears.
“Everybody likes Pikachu more than me.” Ash exclaimed in good natured exasperation. “What am I doing wrong?”
“Oh Ash,” Misty laughed, “It’s not your fault you’re not a small, yellow, furry thing.”
“Maybe if you were you’d be more popular.” Bruno laughed.
“I was once.” Ash said smiling, “It didn’t seem to help.”
Pikachu jumped from Bruno to Ash and patted his shoulder.
“Thanks pal.” Ash returned its affectionate touch. “I know you’ll always like me. Even if I am big, and clumsy, and dumb, and unobservant…” Ash continued to drone out his list of faults (much to Misty’s amusement) until Bruno, grinning hugely, interrupted him.
“Hello Ash.” He offered his hand, genuinely glad to see the young man again, “I hear you beat us all.”
“Yeah,” Ash broke off his monologue and shook Bruno’s hand, he too was grinning once more, “hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
Bruno laughed, “I doubt it! As I recall you’ve had more than your share of adventures.”
Ash shook his head, “You guys were tough.”
“Oh yes,” Misty rolled her eyes, “Much tougher than say, scaling cliffs, battling storms from the outside of a plane that is flying, saving the world from annihilation.”
Ash blushed.
“Misty! It’s good to see you again.” Bruno bowed slightly to her, then put a hand on her shoulder. “Keeping him in line?”
Misty smiled and looked at Ash sideways, “Hey, Bruno. I try, but you know what a trouble maker he is.”
Bruno laughed heartily, “Don’t I! Don’t worry, you can take him.”
“And he knows it!”
They laughed again as Ash turned redder.
“Now about that fragment…”
Ash was relieved they had turned the conversation away from him. Gradually he relaxed and smiled as he watched the two carry on an animated discussion over the origin of the fragment and the Pokemon it might have belonged too. Let them make fun of him if they wanted, he was glad Misty was having a good time.
The last two weeks had been torture. First those stupid canopies, Ash grimaced at the thought, then they had sent out the rest of the invitations. Then there was the cake tasting, the menu for the reception had to be chosen, and they had listened to more terrible bands! And in just over a week the fun would start again! Final fittings, floral arrangements, rehearsal dinner, decorating, and setting up those evil canopies… And Ash still had no idea what he would say in his speech! He had been very thankful for that three day rest, even if they had had some trouble. It had been nice to spend some time with his friends, and with his pokemon.
He was even more pleased that he had a week off now. They all needed to recuperate before the final stages of wedding preparation. Today he needed to train, he didn’t want his pokemon getting soft. It would be just great to open a gym with pokemon who hadn’t battled in months. He was thinking about setting up some practice matches for later. But the other guys seemed reluctant. What had happened to Richie’s eagerness?
Smiling to himself he wandered around the grounds of the lab and almost ran straight into Misty.
“Hey!” He grinned, “Uh, sorry about that Misty.”
“No problem.”
Misty smiled too. Things had been
great between them ever since they had gone to see Bruno.
It helped that May had been less annoying. That got Misty thinking, May had been spending a lot of time
around
Ash smiled at her, “These last two weeks have been nice huh?” he asked casually, “A little hectic, a lot of hard work, but things have really calmed down.” She knew he was referring to the situation between her and May.
“Yeah. Hey,”
she shifted uncertainly, he had
brought it up so maybe… “May and
Ash’s smile widened, “I know, and that scares
“What does? That someone
actually hit it off with
He shook his head, “I haven’t decided yet.”
“When you do let me know.” She placed a hand on his arm, leaning toward him slightly. “Actually, they’re both pretty nice now.”
Ash looked at her in surprise. Was she really okay with May now? Maybe that fight had been good for them. James had suggested that to him, but he had thought it rather strange. How could fighting help them get along? But then, it seemed to have worked for him and Misty, and for Jesse and James. He shrugged - go figure, relationships were strange.
He smiled again, “Yeah, things have really improved.” Misty could tell he was relieved. She smiled wider, happy that she could make him happy.
***
“Uh, oh, trouble at six o’ clock.” Tracey muttered. He had been standing with Gary and Richie, talking about wedding gifts and those awful canopies (not that they looked bad, they were just so difficult), but mainly watching May. Not that she had been much of a problem recently, he had even seen her and Misty smiling at one another. Maybe their plan had worked better than they had expected.
The other two men turned in the direction he had indicated and saw May
headed straight for Ash and Misty. Chances
were it was harmless, but why tempt fate?
Tracey and Richie looked expectantly to
“Uhn, uh.” He shook his head, “I’ve got somewhere to be.”
Richie quirked a brow.
“Really!”
Richie made a
face.
It made no sense. Richie generally avoided May, as he did most women. He sighed, “Alright, I’ll go.”
“That a boy!”
Richie drew in a deep breath before heading toward May. It was all Tracey could do to keep from laughing at the sheer terror on his friend’s face. Then he sobered, if not for Jenny that could be him! He shuddered and turned away. The least he could do was let Richie suffer in peace.
