Chapter 4
"So did you have a fun
time at your party, Janet?"
Kevin was stacking
dishes in the tub that Janet was carrying; she was helping out
while they were understaffed.
"You knew about my
shower too?" she laughed.
"Sure. It gave me
the night off!"
"Well to answer your
question... yes, it was a lot of fun."
"Have you and Mr.
Dillon set a date yet?"
"Yep! The ninth of
May."
"Wow! That's not real
far away," he observed.
"You're telling me!"
"Hey, Janet... if
you've got stuff to do, I can swing things here, no problem."
"Oh, there's not much
I was planning to do tonight. Trevor and Belinda are at
home with a mountain of research to catch
up on, so the most important people
are occupied anyway." She swung the tub of
dishes in the direction of the
kitchen. "Let me go unload some of these."
With her back to the entrance, she
was unable to tell who had just walked in.
That is, until he
said to Kevin, "That's my Jan Jan over there, isn't it?" The voice was
unmistakable.
The sound of her tub
of dishes nearly tumbling from her hands to the floor got the
attention of half the restaurant. Janet salvaged
it just in time, but was clearly
shaken. And more noticeable than ever. The
man brushed past Kevin and got
closer to her.
"Come on, honey, I
know it's you! I saw ya through the window!"
'HOW DID HE RECOGNIZE
ME?' She wondered frantically.
"...And I know all
about your new face... I saw that talk show you were on a
couple years ago."
"You.. you did?" she
stammered, finally sitting the tub on the counter but still with
her back turned.
"Got it on videotape.
'Cutting The Edge' or whatever it's called.' Couldn't believe
it was you till you started talkin' about
all the crazy things you've done..."
"Janet?" Kevin broke
in. "Everything okay here?"
"Sure," she responded
tightly, finally turning around. "Could you show this man to
his seat... again?"
After he'd done as
she asked, Kevin headed back to the kitchen, where she
leaned against a wall looking like she'd been
punched in the stomach. "Jeez,
Janet... should I call the police? Who IS
that guy?"
"Axel Green, my ex-husband.
No, don't worry, I'll be fine."
"You don't LOOK fine,"
Kevin mumbled to himself as he walked away, deciding to
look up the Dillon's phone number on his own.
"Yeah, Dillon here."
"Mr. Dillon, it's
Kevin. Look, I know you're busy with work, but is there any way you
could come by Holidays?"
"What's up, Kevin?
You don't sound so good."
"No, I'm fine... it's
Janet."
"Janet?! What happened?"
"Well, this guy just
walked in who I guess is her old husband, and he's really
freaking her out..."
"What??"
"Some guy named Axel,
I think?"
"Kevin, I'll be right
over."
Awhile later, Janet toughened
up enough to regain her composure and return to
the floor. Taking the bull by the horns, so
to speak, she approached Axel's table.
"So why are you here?" she asked matter-of-factly.
"Oh, a little birdie
told me you thought you were getting yourself hitched again."
"That doesn't explain
why you're here."
"Awe, Jan Jan honey,
what's the matter? Can't an old flame try to come back
and get the fire going again?"
She was so taken aback
she had to repress a laugh. "Excuse me?"
"You think that's
funny, huh? You get a new face and now you're too good for the
old man?" He stood up menacingly. "We'll see
about that.."
Just as he was about
to try and grab Janet by the wrist, a familiar voice sounded
from behind him. "I don't think so, pal."
Axel's head snapped
around. "Who the hell are you?"
"The NEW old man,"
Trevor answered with a reassuring wink to Janet.
Janet's eyes squeezed
out a gracious blink to Trevor while Axel was turning to face
him. "Axel Green, I presume?" Trevor continued.
"The one and only."
"Oh, you'd be surprised..."
he said in an obvious poke at Janet's Actor Axel days.
Ambling a little closer
to Trevor, Axel grumbled "You still haven't told me who the
hell you are, bad tie guy."
"Dillon. Trevor Dillon.
I think it'd be in your best interest--"
"Dillon?" Axel's meager
mind took a moment to make the connection. "You got a
kid named Amanda, right?"
Janet's mouth dropped
open. Trevor had to fight to keep his cool, but he
succeeded. "As I was saying, maybe you should
just head on back to whatever
rock you crawled out from under, huh?"
"Afraid she'll be
too tempted if I stick around, aren't ya?" he sneered.
Trevor would have
loved to elaborate, but "Something like that..." was all he said.
"Yeah, too tempted
to take that thick head of yours and--"
"What was that?" Axel
turned back to Janet.
"Nothing," she said
quickly.
Trevor shot her an
amused look, but then quickly refocused on her ex. "Why don't
we just call it a night... you've seen her,
she's made it clear how she feels,
tomorrow you can just go on home and we'll
pretend we never saw you..."
"Dillon, you look
more like someone who'd put up a bit of a fight." Axel took a
couple steps toward him, cracking his knuckles
as he spoke. "Sure you don't want
to step outside?"
Trevor would have
delighted in that, naturally, but he caught a quick glance at
Janet and her eyes begged him not to. "Axel,
I'm gonna be blunt here," he said
with a sarcastic grin, "You're not worth Janet's
time... or mine."
Something in his eyes
spooked Axel just enough to back down. Turning to Janet
one more time, he said "All right, Janet,
I'm outta here... for now. But I'm not giving
up. I'm gonna show you I'm a changed man...
maybe not as pretty on the
outside as you are, but... well you'll just
have to wait and see, now won't you?"
She was trying to
stare him down, but there was still a bit of fear behind her eyes
that Trevor could plainly see. After Axel
lumbered out of the restaurant, laughing
to himself, Trevor remained where he was until
he could see out of the corner of
his eye that Axel was really gone. Janet exhaled
and leaned against the booth
for support.
"You okay, Babe?"
Trevor was over by the booth in record time, wrapping her in his
arms.
"I'm fine... I'm fine."
"For crying out loud,
you're shaking all over! Kevin--" Trevor looked over the top of
her head and got Kevin's attention. "You got
herbal tea or somethin'? Can we get
some going for her?"
"Sure thing, Mr. Dillon."
Kevin was off to fetch a cup. Trevor sat them both down on
the same side of the booth. "So that was the
real deal this time, huh?" he asked
after a minute.
"More real than I
ever intended to see or hear again," Janet sighed wearily. "Oh
Trevor, what have I done..."
"YOU?" he acknowledged
Kevin with a nod as he parked a paper cup of tea in
front of her. "How could you be responsible
for this?"
She fidgeted with
the tea bag nervously. "Maybe he somehow heard about my
spin around the block with Axel the actor..."
"Maybe, but..." he
thought back a moment. "Didn't he know Amanda's name?"
"Oh God, I think you're
right."
"Yeah, I didn't listen to
him much after he called me 'bad tie guy'," he snickered.
"Trevor, we should
get back to your house. If he found me, he could find Amanda
too."
"What are you sayin'--
you think he might hurt Mandible?"
"No.. I-- I don't
know!" she wailed.
"Okay, okay...I'm
sure she's fine, but we'll put your mind at ease and head back
there anyway." He kissed her forehead and
cupped her face in his hands. "So is it
safe to say he's not going to win your heart
from me this time?" he deadpanned.
She couldn't help
but laugh a little. "I love you," she whispered.
"Me too," he whispered
back. "Let's go home."
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