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Blue Moon 5.5

by Donna Lamb

Richard got Jo out of there as quickly as he could; he'd picked up on the byplay but wasn't sure if it were Barry or Larry who'd been the target of Jo's vengeance-kiss. He suspected Barry because Larry had looked too tickled by it and Aronhaus had ducked back into his office.

But that kiss.

In the elevator, Jo and Richard looked sideways at each other. Jo had her arms crossed and her fisted hands tucked under each opposite elbow. Why did I kiss him? she railed at herself. She'd kept it to just a peck on the lips but she'd leaned against his body to do it, and that had had some totally unexpected implications -- not to mention sensations.

"Why did you kiss me?" Richard asked once they were in the parking lot.

Jo had kept her distance. She sighed, rubbed her forehead and didn't look at him. "B-barry p-pinched m-my b-b-b-butt and called me sweetie. And Larry thinks I'm B-barry's girlfriend! And just what the hell has been going on b-behind m-my b-back while I w-w-was dead?"

"While you were dead?" Richard stopped, squinched his eyes tightly closed and reopened them. Joel had seldom used a word like hell, but Jo had reason he supposed -- still that question stonkered him, momentarily. "You're pissed," he noted, reaching for the handle of the limo's back door.

"No, I'm sitting up front this time," said Jo. She pulled the other handle, the weight of the front door of the limo took her by surprise and Richard caught it easily from her. She glared at him.

"What? Doors are sometimes heavy, that's one reason guys open them for girls."

"W-well, I'm still p-pissed so don't expect much of a thank you." She repeated the earlier lesson Richard had given her and slipped inside as if she had been doing it for much longer than just an hour. She didn't really recognize that her talent for kinesthetic memory seemed much greater than Joel's had been.

"You're welcome," said Richard. He closed the door before she could answer and sped around the car to get in the driver's seat.

"Can I use the ph-phone?" Jo asked.

He showed her how to use the built-in driver's phone, surreptitiously leaving it in hands-free speaker mode. Jo dialed.

"Hello?"

"M-mom, it's me again," said Jo. "Sorry, I got interrupted earlier."

Richard boggled but said nothing.

"Oh, that's okay, dear. I hadn't heard from you in a couple of days, so you know how I am, I got a little worried." Beverly Messenger sounded happy.

Richard stared at Jo, then started the car and wheeled out of the lot, heading toward the freeway. He could drive and listen at the same time.

"I'm f-fine, mom. Richard's p-playing chauffeur for me." Unexpectedly, Jo giggled. At least, Jo didn't expect it.

Richard grinned and Jo's mom, Beverly, laughed. "Well, where are you, hon? Could you come by for lunch, maybe?" She sounded just as anxious as any mother asking a grown child to visit her.

Jo glanced at Richard. "Jo needs to do some shopping," Richard said out loud. Oh, shit, is she Jo or Melody? They were calling her Melody at the office, too. "Uh, and I've got a fare in Burbank at eleven, so if I left her in Town Center could you run up and get her?"

"Well, sure," said Beverly sounding anything but sure. "Doesn't Melody live in Burbank, off of Sunset, there?"

"Uh? What's the address?" Richard asked quickly.

"Go ahead and tell him, M-mom," said Jo, grateful for the finesse.

She turned out to have a good excuse for not attempting it. "544 Via Buena Vista," said Beverly. "Are you having trouble remembering things again, hon?" she asked.

Startled, Jo nodded, then said. "Uh, yeah." It would be just too convenient a claim since she, in fact, didn't remember the details of Melody's life at all. Maybe I've fallen into a parallel world? But Melody's mom sure sounds exactly like my mom. She looked sideways. And Richard is Richard, why am I the only one who's a different person?

"Poor baby, keep your sunglasses on so you don't get one of those headaches again. How about you give me a call later and I can come there or you can come here? I'd love to get another chance to drive your little Cooper." Mrs. Messenger's giggle sounded just like Jo's. "And Richard? You must be on your carphone; you call Melody, Jo?"

"Uh," said Richard."Well, she reminds me so much of--of Joel?" He looked at Jo, shrugged then mouthed, You've got a Cooper? She shrugged. From the console, he produced a spare pair of aviators and handed them to Jo.

"Sure, and it is her middle name," said Mom.

Jo giggled again, now if I just knew how to spell my last name. She tried on the sunglasses, pulling down the mirror on the visor to look at herself. The headache she'd seemed to be developing began to recede. She smiled at Richard, feeling an odd warmth. The shades looked -- sexy on her and now Richard had a pair on, too.

"Which do you prefer, hon? Melody or Jo?" asked Mom.

"Uh. W-well, Richard started calling me 'Jo' and I kind of like it." Another giggle tried to bubble up but she suppressed it. "At least I can say it."

"Well, then, I'll call you that, too. And you can always keep using 'Melody' professionally, I suppose," said Mom.

* * *

"You had to give her a Cooper?" groused Sophie.

"It's a turbo," said Ted. "The Thierrys' never actually had children but when they were offered the chance to posthumously spoil a daughter, they jumped at it. Now what's this 'profession' joker you just slipped into the pack?"

Sophie giggled, pleased with herself.