Too Much of a Good Thing

James ruffled his hair for the millionth time in front of the mirror. Each time he attempted to work his natural bed head hair, it just didn’t look right to him. He groaned out loud and Jo heard him outside of the bathroom just as she raised a fist to knock on the door.

“James, are you alright in there?” He heard her muffled voice from behind the door. He looked at his reflection again. With no such luck on finding satisfaction on how his hair looked, he gave up and opened the door.

“How do I look?” He asked.

Jo had never heard that one before. She was surprised that for the first time, the real deal James Neal was actually showing a moment of insecurity. She gave a small smile and ruffled up his hair one last time.

“She’s going to love you. Actually, I think she already does.” Jo assured him.

James wiped the sweat collecting on his palm on his jeans. How could he not be nervous? He was about to meet the only member of the Perry family he had not met yet. It scared him to death that Jo’s sister might not like him since the rest of her family already thinks he’s such a terrible person. They probably dislike him even more now that Jo had moved away from them.

Jo linked her arm with his and walked them out the door since she knew there was no way James was going to move on his own. She kept telling him that everything will be OK and that her sister, Leanne, will love him. Since she had met James, Jo did nothing but talk about him to Leanne. By now, her sister probably knows way too much about him than she would like.

Leanne was in town with her husband, Daniel, who was an aspiring musician with his first gig and first hand experience of the popular Lower Broadway. The Lower Broadway was where the most famous musicians have performed before. Jo was sure that Daniel was going to have a blast.

They were meeting them at a restaurant near their hotel for lunch before the show tonight. James’ hands continued to clam up and he could feel his body internally shake. He really just wanted to impress the older Perry and wanted her to accept him.

Jo pushed back his hair that was starting to grow again after his haircut recently. She gave the back of his neck a little rub, feeling how tense he was.

“What are you so worried about?” She asked in concern.

James looked at her through his peripherals. “I just want your sister to like me.”

“She will like you, I promise. She’s more like me than you think.”
“OK, that’s good then...right?”

Jo laughed. “Of course. Don’t worry so much about it. My parents and Rich...they have a different perspective than Leanne and I. They have a hard time really seeing people for who they are. It takes them awhile, ya know?”

James nodded, understanding what she meant.

“I hope that one day they’ll like me too.”

Jo smiled sadly. “They’ll come around. You said so, remember?”

“I do hope that they come around for you too. Fashion may not be their ‘thing’ but you are their daughter. They should give you the love and support like any parent should. Your brother...he’s a different story though.”

“James!!!” Jo laughed again.

“I’m serious,” he said. “I feel like the guy has the biggest ego on the planet and that’s coming from the second guy who has the biggest ego on the planet.”

“Rich is young and dumb--”

“Amen!” James interrupted.

“...but he’s still my brother. As much as I want to hate that fucker, we had some good times as kids.” Jo looked out the window as she remembered her childhood.

“I remember this one time when we were kids, he was only six and I was ten. We went to the park and I saw a few of my friends there,” she reminisced. “So we hung out while Rich played on the monkey bars and stuff. I remember just hearing this piercing scream and seeing him on the sand beneath the bars, holding his arm, and tears streaming down his face. I immediately ran towards him and I’ll never forget the look on his face.”

“What was it?” James asked, wanting to know what happened next.

“I don’t even know how to explain it,” she shook her head. “He just stopped crying and reached out his other arm towards me. I helped him up and walked him over to our mom, who was busy talking to one of her friends at bench far away from the playground. As we walked there, I remember Rich telling me that I was his hero when all I did was just be a big sister.”

“So how did that all change? From being his hero to being...this.” James took a left, approaching the restaurant.

“Rich got into some trouble when he was in junior high. Peer pressure and all that jazz. Cleaned up his act in a second and after my parents declared him as their little prodigy, he just changed. He just viewed life as something that was all about him and no one else. Leanne doesn’t even talk to him but I’m sure he doesn’t care.”

James just stayed quiet. There was a reason why they never talked about Jo’s parents or Rich. Jo always got into state of sadness whenever they talked about them. He didn’t mean to bring it up and now he just felt guilty doing so. He knew that no matter how unfairly they treat her, she still loved them endlessly. Family is forever and James knew that too.

After he parked the car, James did what he always did. He quickly went around to Jo’s side and opened the car door. He placed his warm hands against her cheeks so that she would look up at him. She still had those sad eyes even though her lips curled up to a smile.

“I’m sorry for bringing it up, baby,” James apologized.

A genuine smile formed started and that was all he wanted to see. “You have nothing to be sorry about. My parents and Rich, yeah they’re a touchy subject but I’m a big girl. I get over it. We’ll overcome that situation when the time is right.”

“Together,” he declared.

“Together.” She promised.

--

A swarm of hugs and “oh my God’s” was all the men heard from the Perry sisters. James smiled as he watched his girlfriend hug her sister tightly after years of not seeing her. He shook Daniel’s hand and shortly after, Leanne came at him with a big bear hug.

In pictures, Leanne definitely looked like Jo’s sister but in person, she looked like she could be her twin. Despite the slight height difference, they had about the same brown eyes, same hair, same lips, and even the same smile. He looked back at the twins they met at the airport. Jo didn’t even know she had a twin all along.

Once they settled down, Leanne bombarded the couple with questions even though Jo had already told her everything there was to know about them. Where did you meet? How did you meet? What was it like moving in together? Do you guys get into fights? Is there make up sex? Jo had to hide her blush while watching James awkwardly try to answer all of her questions.

“Make up sex? Really, Lee?” Jo mumbled as she buried her heated face into James’ shoulder.

“As your big sister, it’s important for me to know that you’re well taken cared of especially after arguments.” Leanne said firmly.

“OK, I think it’s time to end the embarrass-your-sister time,” Daniel piped up. Jo mouthed a ‘thank you’ to him and he nodded in return.

They talked about Daniel’s show tonight and his feelings about it. Jo looked over at James’ impressed look as Daniel talked about working as a temporary guitarist for a couple of famous bands. In fact, he wouldn’t stop talking about it on their way back home. After their lunch, they decided that they would meet up at downtown later on that night for the show.

They spent the afternoon playing with Stella, teaching her different tricks. Jo could not stop laughing as she watched James desperately try and teach Stella how to lay on her back.

“She just won’t listen to me,” he complained. “She has a favorite and it’s clearly you.”

“You need to use your gentle voice, baby. You’re scaring her with your deep, manly voice,”

James smirked and said in an even deeper voice, “you mean like this?”

Jo giggled as his warm breath tickled her ear. James tried again and to his surprise, it worked. He was so excited that she finally listened to him that it was nearly impossible to pull him away from the pup when it was finally time to go.

At was nearing eight o’clock when they arrived at the bar. They walked in hand in hand, making their way towards the center of the room where Leanne was sitting by the high tables. They talked a little bit until Daniel finally went up on the tiny stage. The bar goers are cheered to which Daniel raised a hand to wave at the crowd. He played a few of his own songs as more people arrived. In the middle of his setlist, people started to dance out on the small dance floor right in front of the stage.

Jo tried to get James to dance but he wouldn’t budge. After calling him a party pooper, she pulled Leanne with her as they danced to the catchy tune that Daniel was playing.

Finally, Daniel announced that he was slowing things down by playing a cover. Jo turned to James, hoping that he would at least slow dance with her. She didn’t even have to ask when he simply stood up and took her hand to lead her out to the dance floor.

“I had a dream I was mugged outside your house
I had a dream in a panic you came running out
For a moment you were sure I'd die on you
For a moment I believed you loved me too
But life is never like this, and you're never strong.

Despite the sad tune, they still continued to dance underneath the dimmed lighting. James held her close and felt her cheek rest on his chest.

“Too much of a good thing won't be good for long
Although you made my heart sing, to stay with you would be wrong
Too much of a good thing won't be good anymore
Watch where I tread before I fall.”

“James?” He heard her say.

“Hmmmm.” He looked down.

“Do you see us being together, I don’t know, ten years from now?”

“What makes you ask?”

She rested her head on his chest again. He stopped swaying them and tipped her chin up. “What’s on your mind, Jo?”

She shook her head with a smile. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. Tell me. It’s not stupid if that’s what you’re thinking.” He encouraged.

“It’s just…” she hesitated. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the future and us.”

He grabbed her hand and pulled it up to start dancing again. “What about the future and us?”

“We’ve been through so much together and even if half of the time it seems like we don’t get along, I still find reasons to stay because I know our problems are temporary. We are forever.”

Ugh, so cheesy. Jo mentally groaned. She wished James wouldn’t make fun of her.

”Too much of a good thing isn't good and you know
I watch where I walk before I fall
Before I fall.”

Daniel ended the song with a finally strum on his guitar. James pulled away from Jo and took a deep breath. He took a step back to make room and kneeled down in front of her. Jo’s hand flew up to her mouth in shock. Her eyes quickly scanned the room to see Leanne, already with her phone out to take pictures and videos, with a smile on her face and eyes gleaming with tears.

“I told Daniel not to play that song because it’s sad as hell but he did it anyway,” the crowd laughed, calming his nerves. “But I still think it’s fitting. Too much of a good thing isn’t good and we both know that. We took some time apart and realized exactly what we need. We need each other and I am so in love with you that I can’t imagine living one more day without you. Like you said, we are forever and it’s not cheesy like you think it is.”

The crowd laughed again while Jo continued to stand there, speechless, completely forgetting they were at a bar.

“I have an endless list of reasons why I love you so much and I can tell you everything on that list but it may take a really long time. I’m hoping that you’ll stick around for a little while so you could hear those reasons,” James took out the velvet box from his pocket and popped it open. The diamond ring sparkled and it seemed like it lit up the whole room.

“So will you, Johanna Perry, marry me?”