Groove To Da Beat Chpt 43
By Knightmare Elite
I'm sorry for the inexcusably long gap between updates for this story. I've really been looking at my work on this site and it all seems so bad. I know there are people who do like these stories, and I don't want to let them down. It also sucks that many have abandoned this story because of the slow updates. I'm getting my focus back and am trying to make myself relevant on FP once again. Thanks for all the support.
"You know, I'm not one for omelets, but this was epic." Cassie sipped her chardonnay and eyed the last bit of pie.
Debbie swished her glass in view of the empty plates. "I've always wanted to try a spinach omelet; the garnish was a bit much."
"Gross, spinach should NEVER be in eggs. This Dutch cherry pie with vanilla stripes is lovely," Cassie said as she gobbled the remaining morsel.
"Please sweetie, don't talk with your mouth full," Debbie sighed.
Cassie rolled her eyes and discretely finished chewing. She pulled a napkin from the holder, snobbishly wiping her mouth to Debbie's amusement. "Better?"
"Admit it, you think I'm condescending," Debbie, with a pinky raise in a sip of chardonnay, asked.
"Wow, mom, who says you have no sense of humor," Cassie giggled.
"I try."
Cassie's cell phone vibrated against the plate. "Hm, don't recognize that number." She flipped open the phone with a momentary pause, "Hello?"
"Hello, love, it's Finola. I got your number from Darla. Hopefully I didn't catch you at a bad time," Finola asked.
Cassie covered the receiver and leaned across the table, "It's Finola. A hot stripper actually has my number!"
"Stephanie has your number, and she's a model, a pretty one at that," Debbie noted.
"Well yeah, and I suppose I can say I slept with a model, a ton of times," Cassie sheepishly added.
Debbie glanced at her empty wine glass with a light shrug. "You're never going to stop talking about sex are you? I can't say I'm surprised, you are my daughter after all."
"The gay version of you," Cassie mused.
"Don't keep your stripper friend waiting." Intrigue marked Debbie's face. "She probably wants pole dancing tips."
"As if," Cassie whispered while uncovering the phone, "SO sorry about that, Finola. So what's up?"
"It's not nice to keep a girl waiting."
"Won't happen again." Cassie lifted her glass to the floating waitress.
"I'll forgive you this time. Anyway, my computer's broken, and I'd like to know if you could take a look at it. Your friend, Fabian, said you were all into computers and such. I'd ask him, it's just, I have sensitive pictures and videos on there," Finola explained.
"Oh I see, sure I can take a look at it. What kind of 'sensitive' are we talking, if you don't mind me asking," Cassie nosily inquired.
"Eh, it's a few dozen pictures of me and my ex. Let's just say, I wouldn't want those getting on the internet," Finola admitted.
"But you take your clothes off for a living, in front of complete strangers," Cassie reminded.
"I love my job, but my private life stays private. I can't bear the thought of a horny man finding that archive, especially the videos. Agatha would never forgive me," Finola somberly related.
"I see what you mean, I always keep my porn." Cassie quieted seeing her mother's alarmed expression, "err, videos in an encrypted folder. You definitely need to look into removable storage for that stuff."
"So I've been told. I don't know much about computers outside the basics. I turned it on this morning to check my email, it beeped then shut off. I haven't been able to get it working since. I would be very grateful, Cassie," Finola begged.
"Would you be able to drop it off as Sally's today? Darla knows the way," Cassie asked.
"Sure thing, I'll drop it off on my way to work. That thing is such a piece of shit; I've had it for four years now. I want to get a new one so badly, but all my stuff I on this one," Finola sadly explained.
Cassie turned the phone to one side, auto adjusting her speech for an apparent computer novice. "From the sound of things, your computer likely died of old age, or the hard drive went."
"So if it's indeed dead, does that mean all my lovely pictures and videos are gone too?" Finola nervously asked.
"Not necessarily, there are lots of ways to recover a hard drive. If your computer is beyond feasible repair, I'll help you pick out a nice replacement, and transfer your stuff over," Cassie offered.
"That's amazing! I would be indebted to you; I'd pay you of course. If you can carry over my stuff, then I'm definitely buying a new computer. What's better a desktop or a laptop?" Finola asked.
"It really depends on your needs. One thing you're definitely going to need is an external hard drive, for your more sensitive media," Cassie suggested.
"You're a lifesaver Cassie. Is there anything I can do to compensate your generosity?" Finola sweetly asked.
Cassie glanced at her mother sitting across the table, armed crossed in a subtle blush. "There is something you can do, but I can't talk about that right now."
Finola was quite a few seconds before answering, "It doesn't involve sex does it? I'm not that kind of girl, I have morals you know."
"No, I have a girlfriend for that, though this is sort along those lines. I'll explain another time. Is this your home or cell number?" Cassie asked.
"My cell, I trust you won't give it out?" Finola asked.
"Of course not, anyway, I need to go. So you'll drop the computer off at Sally's?" Cassie smiled as the waitress returned with her fresh glass of wine.
"Sure thing, love," Finola agreed while hanging up.
"Will that be all for you?" asked the waitress as she refilled their glasses.
"You really should come home so I can cook you a proper meal. Eating out is nice, but shouldn't be an everyday thing," Debbie said.
"You are staying in a hotel, so it's not like you have to cook anyway. Sally keeps me healthy, she can't make banana pudding the way you do. No one can." Cassie pouted and gave her mother a puppy eyed stare. "Can you teach me how to make it?"
"I suppose I can," Debbie agreed. She placed two twenty dollar bills in the booklet. "I'd like to say something sentimental like 'my mother taught it to me'. Truthfully, I really wanted to impress your father after our third date. I knew he liked banana pudding, so I found a recipe at the library and followed the instructions."
"Cool, so did dad love it?" Cassie asked.
Debbie shook her head. "It was the most awful dish I had ever created. He politely choked it down, and I didn't want to acknowledge the awfulness. Needless to say, it was a long time before I tried making banana pudding again."
"Poor dad, you ruined his favorite food. What happened after you both 'politely' ate it?" Cassie inquired.
"He hugged me and told me he appreciated the effort. Then he said that no one can make banana pudding as good as his mother," Debbie sighed. "That really hurt me. I felt like dirt, knowing I attempted to copy something so dear to him. Three months later, I visited your grandmother, and asked her to teach me her recipe. It took me six tries to get it right; she was an endlessly patient woman."
"No way, grandma taught you how to make that? How come she never made it when I went over?" Cassie felt an inkling of resentment toward her mother.
"There's no reason for you to be angry. Anne Marie loved you dearly, and, well I'm not supposed to tell you this--"
"What?" Cassie leaned over the table anticipating the secret.
"Before Anne Marie passed, she gave your father her recipe index. It was to go to you as a wedding present, so that you could keep your husband happy." Debbie noted the displeasure in Cassie's eyes, "she was an old fashioned woman."
"Grandma was a great woman, just never too fond of gay people. Do you think she would have accepted me?" Cassie softly asked.
"With time, yes. Cassie, Anne Marie loved you from the moment you were born, till the day she died. The index is in your father's safety deposit box, along with a few other items. Unfortunately, you can't legally access the box until you turn twenty five. Are you angry with me?" Debbie lifted Cassie's chin, seeing the sadness on her face.
"No, I'm just bummed about grandma. She used to be a chef in the 70's, it was her passion. It's strange how you're the total opposite of grandma. You're everything she taught dad to stay away from, and still he fell in love with you. Even worse, I still want to be like you. The thing is, you accept me for who I am, I honestly don't think grandma would have," Cassie explained.
"Am I honestly that bad?" Debbie took a prescription bottle from her pocketbook, twisted the cap and dumped a pill into her palm.
"Can we go, this is too depressing?" Cassie slid out of the booth, carefully smoothing down her dress. "It feels weird having free space between my legs."
"That's my girl," Debbie laughed. She swallowed the pill with a complimentary glass of water. "To Sally's?"
"Yeah," Cassie yawned while following Debbie to the car.
Debbie looked back while remotely unlocking the doors. "Don't tell me you're tired."
"Those pills make me sleepy, especially with alcohol," Cassie said.
"I shouldn't have let you drink, that was careless of me." Debbie pulled her prescription bottle from her pocketbook, inspecting the label. "How far does Sally live from here?"
"About two miles, why?" Cassie read the warning label noting the similarity. "Are you planning something dangerous?"
Debbie shoved the bottle into her pocketbook, and walked around the car. "I would call a taxi, if it weren't for the fact this Porsche is rented. Would Sally mind if I took a nap at her apartment?"
"If you don't mind being there alone till I get back from Kristine's. Well, it might be better to go straight to the hospital after, to get my session with Samantha out of the way," Cassie said.
"Don't say it like that, she wants to help you. Did you spend the first meeting, dramatically lamenting over your evil homophobic mother?" Debbie unlocked the doors, hesitant about taking the wheel.
"No, we mostly touched on everything." Cassie closed her door, recalling details of the session.
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