When I Look At You

“I cannot believe… I am doing this.” Joe muttered, straightening his tie.

He stared at his reflection in the mirror and frowned. He couldn’t believe it. Charlotte had said yes. It blew his mind. Looking at the clock he saw that it was five thirty. He had to leave to pick up Charlotte now or they’d be late. With a sigh he grabbed his keys, locked his door, and hit the road.

****

Joe reluctantly pulled into the driveway of Charlotte’s house. Climbing out of that car was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. Upon reaching the stairs he stretched his arm out and rang the doorbell. The door was opened by a brunette, about the same age as Charlotte.

“You must be Joe,” she said, smacking her gum and leaning against the doorframe.

“Yeah… and you’re?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Janine, Charlotte’s roommate. She’s not ready yet.”

“Oh,” he said, shifting his weight.

“So you gonna come in?” she asked, still leaning against the door.

“Okay… sure.” He said, taking his hands out of his pockets.

As soon as he moved Janine moved away from the door and walked into the living room. Joe rolled his eyes as he opened the screen door, making his way into the house. Closing the door he walked in uncomfortably and looked around.

Janine sat cross legged on the couch. He watched as she reached to the table next to her and picked up a pack of cigarettes. Taking one out, she pulled a lighter out of her pocket and lit it, sticking it in her mouth. He didn’t want to know what happened to the gum.

“Want one?” she asked, blowing smoke rings and turning the pack towards him.

“No, thanks.” He said, clearing his throat. He was at a loss of what to say when he heard heels clicking down the stairs.

“Hey, sorry. The damn hair straightener was being temperamental.” Charlotte said, coming into view, a smile on her face. Joe heard Janine mutter something but it wasn’t coherent. All he could focus on was Charlotte’s dress. Faith had one just like it. She wore it to her first dinner with the Jonas family.

“You okay Romeo?” Janine asked loudly causing Joe to come back to reality.

“Fine.” He said coldly. “Ready?”

“Yeah,” Charlotte said with a smile.

“See ya, Blondie! Romeo,” Janine said, nodding to Joe. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Yeah, no worries there. Joe thought, rolling his eyes as he and Charlotte walked to the car.

“Sorry about her, she can be a little… intense sometimes.” Charlotte said, buckling her seatbelt.

“It’s okay,” he said, putting the car in reverse and heading towards Kevin and Danielle’s house.

The ride was filled with uncomfortable silence. Charlotte would occasionally ask questions but all she would get from Joe would be a few words. A couple of grunts and one word answers here and there. He didn’t ask her a single question. After awhile she gave up and slouched back in the passenger seat, staring out the window. When he turned onto Kevin and Danielle’s street he heard Charlotte gasp.

“Your brother and sister-in-law live here?” she asked, leaning forward in her seat as he pulled into the driveway. She was in complete awe.

“Yeah.” he said, shutting the car off and getting out. He made his way to the door and soon after heard Charlotte following. He probably should have opened her door for her but it didn’t cross his mind until after the fact.

Just as he was about to knock, the door swung open. On the other side stood, who else, Danielle. She smiled wide and ushered the two inside. She gave Joe a kiss on the cheek and Charlotte a hug, surprising her.

“I’m so glad you decided to come!” she said brightly, linking her arm with Charlotte’s and leading her into the living room where the rest of the family was.

“I thought it would be nice to meet Joe’s family.” Charlotte said, looking over her shoulder to smile at Joe. He gave her a curt smile and a nod of his head before looking at the floor.

“Everyone, this is Joe’s date, Charlotte.” Danielle said, causing Joe’s head to snap up. His gaze caught Kevin’s and Kevin just shook his head, giving Joe a sympathetic smile.

Everyone smiled and greeted her. His mother even stood up and hugged her while his father shook her hand. Nick welcomed her, wrapping his arm around Faith’s waist. Frankie and his girlfriend, Becca, shyly said hello, while Kevin offered to get her a drink.

After mindless minutes of chatting and his family subtly interrogating Charlotte, Joe was relieved when Danielle announced that dinner was ready. He hightailed it out of his seat into the dining room, nearly spilling his wine on the white rug of the living room. Before he could take his usual seat Danielle entered and grabbed his elbow, leading him to the other side of the table.

That’s when he noticed the name cards. To his left was Charlotte. To his right was Faith. He took a deep breath, bit his lower lip, and counted to ten. Torture. Pure and utter torture. Faith smiled as she took her seat next to him, Nick on her right. Frankie was seated directly across from him, Becca on one side, his parents on the other with Kevin and Danielle at the ends. The two came out with platters of Danielle’s mother’s lasagna, his mother’s baked ziti, and Danielle’s spaghetti and meatballs.

“This smells delicious.” Charlotte said, taking some lasagna.

“Thank you. I hope it tastes as good as it smells.” Danielle said with a laugh.

As Joe piled some ziti onto his plate he felt a kick under the table.

“Ow!” he cried, glaring across the table at Frankie.

“Joe, are you okay?” Denise asked, her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just… really hot.” He said, setting his plate down. “Kevin do you have bread?”

“Yeah, I’ll go…”

“I got it.” Joe said, quickly shoving away from the table and walking towards the kitchen.

“Excuse me… nature calls.” Frankie said, heading towards the kitchen leading to the bathroom.

“What was that for?” Joe hissed, randomly opening cabinet doors looking for some bread.

“You don’t want her here. Do you?” Frankie asked, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms, an amused expression on his face.

“What was your first clue, Einstein?”

“I can get rid of her.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Joe asked with sigh, leaning against the counter next to his fourteen year old brother.

“What’s her cell phone number? I’ll call her and tell her that her house is on fire.” He said shrugging.

“That’s terrible!” Joe exclaimed, being sure to keep his voice down. Frankie raised his eyebrows. “But completely brilliant. Her roommate does smoke… I think it could work.”

“Okay, just give me her number and I’ll do the dirty deed.”

****

Joe returned to the table with a plate of bread and a smile on his face. He set the plate in the middle of the table and grabbed a piece as he sat down, dipping it in the sauce of his ziti and taking a bite. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Faith staring at him.

“What’s with the mood change?” she whispered.

“No reason. I just love bread.” He whispered back, taking another bite with a smile on his face.

Charlotte’s phone rang when she was in the middle of a sentence, answering a question Denise had asked. She excused herself and dug her phone out of her purse.

“Hello?” she asked. Everyone was silent as she listened to the other person speak. “Oh no! Okay… I’ll be right there. Thank you.”

“Is everything okay?” Kevin Sr. asked.

“My… house is on fire. I have to go.”

“I’ll call you a cab.” Kevin said, getting up.

“Did they say what caused the fire?” Joe asked, faking concern.

“No… but it was probably Janine. She might have forgotten to put out a cigarette and flicked it across the room. It probably hit a curtain. I knew something like this would happen sooner or later.”

“What’s going on?” Frankie asked, coming into the room with fake confusion on his face. He winked at Joe and took his seat next to Becca.

“Charlotte’s house is on fire.” Nick answered.

“The cab will be here in five minutes.” Kevin said, walking back into the dining room.

“Thank you so much. I’m so sorry, Danielle.”

“It’s alright. I hope everything is okay.” Danielle said sympathetically.

A few moments later a horn beeped from the roadside. Charlotte frantically rushed to the door. She gave one more last apologetic look before running outside, into the backseat of the bad. The Jonas family returned to the dining room to continue their meal while Joe and Frankie hung back a little, watching the cab drive away.

“What happens when she gets home and realizes there was no fire?” Joe asked.

“She’ll call you. She’ll explain that someone must have called her as a prank. Then, you’ll insist she stay home and get some rest after all the excitement and worry she just went through and you’ll see her at work tomorrow.” He said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Genius.” Joe whispered, clapping a hand on Frankie’s shoulder and leading him to the dining room.

The evening slipped by quietly after Charlotte had left. Just as Frankie had predicted, Joe received a phone call from Charlotte about twenty minutes after she had left. He had played his part cool just like Frankie told him and she agreed to stay home. Joe was able to eat his dinner with his family in peace… except for the fact that Faith was by his side the whole meal and they would occasionally bump elbows. Half the time it seemed to him like it happened on purpose, like she had wanted to touch him but he brushed them all away as accidental.

After dinner the entire family settled into the living room for dessert and coffee. Everyone was paired off except for Joe who sat in one of the arm chairs, content with the fact that he was spending time with his family.

“I still can’t believe someone would call someone saying something like that.” Danielle said, leaning into Kevin’s chest as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“Yeah, some people are cruel.” Joe muttered, glancing over at Frankie who had a small smile on his face.

“She’s such a nice girl.” Denise said. “Too bad we didn’t get much time with her. Why didn’t you tell us about her when she started working there?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t think it was that big a deal.” Joe said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Are you going to see her again?” Danielle asked excitedly. Joe looked over in her direction and caught Faith’s gaze and she looked as stunned as he felt.

“I don’t think so.”

“She seems to like you.” Kevin Sr. said.

“I think you two would make a great couple.” His mother added.

“Whoa! Can we stop with all of this? Charlotte is nice, yes, but she’s not my type. I barely know her and after meeting her roommate I’m not sure I want to know her. Who knows what kind of people she hangs out with if Janine is the person she chose to live with.”

“Joe.” Kevin said, calmly.

“No, Kevin! Let me get this out.” Joe said, sitting up straight and setting his mug on the coffee table. “You guys know I love you. I really do. But this has got to stop. I know you all just want to see me happy but please… stop. I can find a girl on my own. When I find the right girl I’ll let you all know.”

It was silent for a few moments as everyone processed what Joe said. Becca shifted uncomfortably next to Frankie. Faith looked down into her coffee and Joe sat back in his seat, running a hand down his face. Denise cleared her throat and everyone looked to her.

“Okay.” She whispered. She stood up and walked over to Joe, taking his face in her hands. She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead. She bent down and looked directly into his brown eyes. “Okay.”