Chapter 7

When Jenna first spotted Scott at the far end where the playground was, she attempted to each out to grab hold of her daughter’s hand so they could turn around to head back downstairs. However, Timothy caught sight of them and called out to his classmate. “Tanya!”

The young boy had to let his father know as if he was announcing the arrival of royalty with the blow of a trumpet. He shouted. “Daddy, your real girlfriend is here!”

Time stood still for Jenna and everything in her surrounding blanked out. When she finally came to her senses, she realized she could no longer feel her daughter’s hand in hers. She thought her eyeballs had frozen up on her because she couldn’t steer her line of vision away from the image of Scott. She didn’t know when it happened, but someone had installed a camera in her eyes as they zoomed in and focused on Scott’s head turning around in slow motion. Then she saw flashes of bright lights causing her to shut her eyes. She could feel Scott was literally in her face. Apparently, he was calling her name with a very endearing tone of voice. Jenna had to tell told herself to wake up from this dream.

“Jenna! You okay?” Jenna kept hearing Scott’s voice repeating the same question several times. She had to force her eyes open to confirm she wasn’t dreaming.

Scott had his arms around her to help her up from the floor. Talk about clumsy. Talk about embarrassment. Talk about making a fool of oneself – especially in front of the guy who started to have such an effect on her. These were the thoughts that filled Jenna’s head as she let Scott help her to the nearest seat. She looked to the ground and spotted the culprit which caused her to slip and fell backwards unto her butt. It was a piece of wet tissue that someone had left on the floor to cover up an ice-cream cone that had dropped on the floor.

“Mommy, are you hurt?” Tanya had a worried look on her face.

“Mommy’s fine.” Jenna toughed it up and attempted to assure her daughter with a pat on her head.

“You fell down on your butt!” Timothy was honest and direct, much like his father. “Does it hurt?”

Jenna gave a weak smile and patted his head as well. Of course it hurts, she thought to herself. However, she downplayed the level of pain she was in. “I’m just a bit sore right here.”

Jenna put her arm around her back to soothe her spine that was painful. She wasn’t about to put her hand on the spot that was producing the most excruciating pain, certainly not in front of Scott. When she turned to look at him, he gave her a smirk as if he was reading her mind and lowered his eyes a little to focus on where the painful spot was. She wanted to give him the look to tell him what a pain in the butt he was, but thought that would not be appropriate in front of his girlfriend. She turned to look at the woman standing next to him and offered a weak smile. Jenna’s mind could only think of Timothy’s Valentine’s wish, the girlfriend part.

“You sure you are okay?” Angela asked with concern. “That was quite a fall you had.”

Jenna smiled politely and nodded. Scott’s girlfriend was not the picture she had imagined in her mind at all. Now she understood why Scott rebuked her for calling his girlfriend ‘ugly’ when they were at the bowling center. The woman standing next to him wasn’t ugly, but Jenna wouldn’t recommend her to participate in a beauty pageant either. It was just that people stereotype good-looking guys to go with women who were compatible in height and size. While Scott belonged to the perfect category for his height and weight, the woman standing next to him would need to wear clothing from the Triple Plus size line.

Jenna could tell with an initial glance at Angela that she was dealing with eczema issues on her face and neck, but she Jenna thought Scott’s girlfriend seemed like a very nice and caring person. Silently, Jenna offered her kudos to Scott for seeing beyond the physical blemishes and accepting a woman for her inner beauty. But she also believed the saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. She considered this woman lucky to have Scott, because most stupid egotistic immature men whom Jenna knew would not have given her a second look. Jenna started to feel awkward gazing at the woman’s reddish face, so she decided to turn her head to look away. As she did, she happened to lock eye contact with Scott.

“Sorry!” Scott thought Jenna was asking him to make the introduction. “Jenna, this is Angela.”

Jenna wasn’t expecting an intro, nor did she really want to know who this woman was. She only wanted to be left alone after that embarrassing entrance, and she could still feel the soreness on her butt. But Scott made the intro anyways. Jenna embraced herself to hear the word girlfriend, fiancée, or common-law spouse, but nothing of that sort was said. Then she was taken by surprised when Scott put his arms around her shoulders and introduced her to Angela. “This is Jenna! She’s my striking Valentine!”

“Oh, so you are the one who beat him in bowling! Good for you!” Angela sounded a tad too chirpy to Jenna. She wondered if Angela was trying to be sarcastic. Jenna saw a tint of sadness in her eyes, almost like envy.

Jenna felt Scott’s arm tightening around her shoulders when she gave him the look that asked if he had lost his mind. He gave her a grin to repay the favor from the bowling center.

Timothy was hanging around nearby and quickly approached Jenna. When he leaned onto her side, Jenna gathered the little fellow and gave him a motherly-hug-squeeze with her free arm. Tanya came along for the hug as well.

Scott was momentarily surprised to see how quickly his son had taken to Jenna. Aside from his grandmother, Timothy seldom wanted to be touched by another woman.

With a big smile, Timothy tugged on Angela’s sleeve and said. “She’s Daddy’s real girlfriend. She’s going to be my new Mommy!”

Angela laughed and began to give her congratulations to Scott and Jenna.

Scott thanked Angela and quickly interjected before the two children had a chance to say more. He pulled his son and Tanya away from Jenna and pushed them towards the Playground entrance. “Buddy…..it’s time you and Tanya to go back to the Playground!”

Jenna wasn’t sure how to take Scott’s response, so she kept quiet. But she had to wonder if Angela was for real or was she just putting on a show to disguise her anger. Jenna reminded herself it was best to stay clear of women who could put on such a good show. These were the most dangerous types. She decided that if Angela was to fight her for Scott, she would gladly hand him over.

“Anyways, I have to go now.” Angela got up and put on her coat. Jenna watched while Scott shook her hands and thanked her for meeting him here. Then he walked her to the end of the staircase and bid her goodbye to enjoy the rest of her evening with her Valentine.

When he returned to the table to join Jenna, he read her facial expression loud and clear. As if they had known each other like forever, he just came forward. “You thought Angela was my girlfriend, didn’t you?”

Initially, Jenna was spooked how easily Scott could read her mind. But she pretended to be unaffected. She looked at him and scoffed. The nerve of him to even ask her, she thought. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction, especially when he was flashing that smirk at her again.

When she wouldn’t give him the time of day, Scott turned around and grabbed his son’s jacket. With a warning glare at Jenna, he pulled out a Valentine’s card from the pocket and slapped it hard on the table with his palm. Jenna startled at the loud thud. Tapping his finger really hard on the drawn picture inside the heart, he asked her with a daggering scowl. “Was this your idea for my son’s Valentine’s wish?”

Jenna almost spit out her laughter, she also saw through his glower which she would never have taken seriously. She recognized the card right away, but she didn’t know Tanya had drawn such an exaggerated ‘ugly’ girlfriend inside the heart. The girl had a snout for a nose, her teeth were crooked with lots of cavities, her cheeks had dots that resembled boils and she was certainly suffering from mumps. Jenna recalled her daughter asking how to draw an ugly face and she had suggested three of the items on this picture. But Tanya had come up with the nose all by herself. Now looking at Scott, she remembered Tanya told her in the car and what Scott had said earlier at the bowling alley. Jenna was curious now. “Did you really ask your son to wish an ugly girlfriend for you?”

Scott didn’t know whether to take her question seriously or not. Then it dawned on him why his son would make such a wish. Of course, he had his parents to thank. “I did not tell him to wish me an ugly girlfriend!”

“Is it because you already have one?” She couldn’t believe her boldness in asking about his love life. “I don’t mean an ugly one. I’m sure your girlfriend is very pretty!”

Jenna knew she was treading on dangerous ground and Scott knew she was baiting him to reveal his relationship status. They were both playing with fire.

A sudden awareness came to Scott, he sat back into the seat and folded his arms across his chest. Then he made the Tsk, Tsk, Tsk sound with his tongue and nodded his index finger at her. He gave her a devious but playful look. “Now I know why you were so bold to assume that his mother wouldn’t be in the picture when you used me in front of Alan. Most women wouldn’t choose a man with a son as a scapegoat.”

It was Jenna’s turn to sit back and fold her arms. “Well, I’m not most women!” Jenna gave him a snub.

He considered what she said with a smirk. “True. And it’s because you already knew I was single.” He pointed to the card.

“I only found out today, just before you showed up at the bowling alley.” Jenna stated the truth. “I have nothing to do with this picture and your son’s wish!”

Scott leaned forward and said in the most inviting delicious sexy playful tone of voice. “Do you want to know what your daughter wished for?”

Jenna was pretty sure Timothy must have told him, just like Tanya told her what his son wished for. She ignored his question to avoid giving him the satisfaction.

“Would you like me to help make her wish come true?” He gave a nod of his head followed by a smirk.

Jenna was taken by surprised and thought he was offering himself. So she rebutted with the lamest line she could think of. “I think you are giving yourself too much credit here!”

After all, what else could she say to such a handsome man who was teasing her and making her feel flushed all over. Of course she would tell him the truth. “Anyways, don’t take this the wrong way but you’re not my type!”

She didn’t even know she had a type, she just felt she wouldn’t be his type.

Scott did a double take and studied her face. He could see honesty in her eyes with a mixture of something that he couldn’t pin point what it was. He wasn’t offended by what she said, only that he found her statement novel because no one had ever said that to him before. He felt a sense of relief because he really disliked playing the guessing game.

“I was referring to my hockey buddies. But I’m glad we have this understanding between us then.” He didn’t know why, but he felt comfortable enough to tell her what was in his heart as well. “I’m not interested in having a relationship with anyone right now.”

He lifted his head to look at his son who was playing and laughing with Tanya. Scott’s thoughts went to the heart shattering marriage he had with Timothy’s his mother. She was the woman who tainted all other women in his eyes.

Turning his gaze back to Jenna, Scott decided it was time to put an end to the conversation that was creating a burning in his heart. “Nope, I’m never getting seriously involved with another woman again!”

Jenna’s pupils dilated as she digested his words. She grinned at him and offered an impish smile. “So you’re one of those free thinkers, huh?”

Totally clueless to what Jenna was trying to say, he remained quiet.

“You don’t have to admit it, I can read between the lines! You’re telling me you prefer men instead!” Jenna laughed but she had to let him know how she really felt. “It’s too bad for all those women out there!”

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A few days later, a gangster looking woman dressed like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo rang Jenna’s doorbell. When the door opened, she shoved Jenna against the wall and hissed. “So what’s this I hear? Do you no longer love my brother?”