The Pearl of the of Sea

Chapter 15

Friday night comes again and Jeff is at Tom's apartment. Jeff brings over another suit and holds it up in front of Tom who is in his boxers and a wife-beater "So how's this look?"
"Jeff, you know, I much prefer to wear maybe a collared shirt, I think the suit thing is too much."
Jeff puts the suit down, "Oh, ok." He then pulls out a white collared shirt, "Is this one better?"
Tom nods his head and puts his thumb up, "Yes, much better."
Jeff walks up to him and pulls out a bottle of cologne, "Alright now let's make you smell nice!" he sprays it all over Tom.
Tom covers his eyes, "Owe! Jeff, you got it in my eyes!"
Jeff steps back, "Oops! Sorry, Tom!"
Tom stops rubbing his eyes, "It's ok."
Jeff and Steve help Tom get dressed for his second date with Annemarie. Steve puts his hand out at Jeff as he looks at Tom, "So how much are you paying my son for this one?"
Jeff pulls a wallet out of his back pocket, "Is fifty dollars good?" Jeff pulls out a fifty dollar bill.
Steve takes the money from Jeff, "Sure, thank you." He looks at the fifty and gives it back to Jeff, "You know how about you just give me a twenty, you paid for the movies last week."
Jeff takes back the fifty dollar bill and hands him a twenty-dollar bill, "Alright, if you say so."
A knock is heard at the door so Tom answers it and it's Annemarie, "So, you want to go to Seaside or Point Pleasant Boardwalk?"
"Well Point Pleasant is closer, but Seaside has a pier that goes out into the ocean."
"How about we go to Seaside? Jeff likes Seaside better."
"Wait Jeff is going out with us again?"
"Yeah, his buddy Jeremy works every Friday night and it's hard to get me in and out of the car with just one person."
Annemarie pushes Tom up to her car and Jeff follows them to the car. He helps Annemarie get Tom into the car. As they get Tom into the car, Steve pokes his head out the door, "Hey if you guys happen to see Neenah, tell her I want her to come home immediately!"
They get Tom into the car and Jeff turns to Steve, "Alright, we'll tell her."
Later on, they arrive at Seaside Boardwalk and Annemarie is pushing Tom down the boardwalk as Jeff follows behind them. As they head towards the pier they pass by the swan ride and Tom looks up at Annemarie, "See that ride over there?"
Annemarie looks over at the swan ride, "You mean that swan ride? My cousin and I went on that one time and bumped into a horny teen couple and the girl threaten to fight me."
"Yeah, yeah cool, but that was where I proposed to Angela Leonardo, then she dumped me after I became poor and lost my ability to walk."
"Oh that sucks, but hey you got to know me better," Annemarie says as she parks Tom at the end of the pier next to a bench where she sits next to him.
"Yeah, I guess, but I wish I could walk again." Tom looks up at the sky and turns to Annemarie, "Hey, Annemarie do you think there's a God?"
"Sure, but sometimes I do wonder if he's watching over me or just ignoring me. I mean I was born with Aspergers and it's hard to live a normal life."
"Yeah, and I wonder why he let me wind up in a wheelchair. I mean people often say things happen for a reason, but I don't see the point of taking away my ability to walk and my fortune."
Annemarie places her hand on Tom's hand, "Maybe it's so Angela would leave you because he thought that you should be with someone better."
Tom takes her hand off his, "Listen, Annemarie, I like you as a friend, I am still in love with Angela."
"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just I really like you." She then turns around and sees a young man pushing a baby carriage with a pregnant woman in a tank top walking towards her, "Oh God I hate when pregnant woman walk around with their bellies hanging out!"
Tom turns around and sees the man rub the woman's belly, "Yeah, I'm not into the whole baby belly thing, but I would love to have children someday."
Annemarie then faces the ocean again, "Yeah, I can't stand kids, they're so annoying!"
Tom turns to Annemarie, "Well, they can be annoying, but they can also be cute and loving."
Annemarie rolls her eyes, "Whatever so can puppies and kittens." Then the pregnant couple gets closer and the child in the carriage starts screaming and Annemarie covers her ears, "Oh, my God stop screaming, you stupid kid!"
The couple gets offended and approaches her with anger in their eyes. The woman starts to yell at Annemarie, "Hey, don't yell at my son you ignorant bitch!"
Annemarie puts her hands on her hips, "Well, then shut your stupid kid up, you stupid breeder!"
The woman goes to hit Annemarie, but Tom rolls in front of her, "Hey lady, come on take it easy, she's just having a bad day, she didn't mean it."
The man then gets up in Tom's face, "Hey, stay away from my girlfriend you freak!"
Annemarie pushes the man away from Tom, "Leave him alone! Also shouldn't you be married before you have children?"
The man gets angrier and then picks up Tom and throws him off the pier, "What now you stupid child hater!?"
"TOM!" screams Annemarie as she jumps into the ocean to save him.
"Help!" Tom yells as he struggling to keep his head above water. A wave then comes and he is pushed into one of the poles holding up the pier so he grabs onto it. He sees Annemarie swim towards him so he grabs onto her, "Ann! I can't swim!"
"Yes, I can see that." She pulls Tom closer, "Here hold onto my shoulders, I'll swim you to the shore!" She swims to the shore and crawls with Tom on top of her back up the beach and places him down on his back. She then looks into his brown eyes as he is coughing from the saltwater he swallowed, "I'm really sorry about that."
Tom stops coughing and looks into her blue eyes as he holds both her arms, "It's ok, Jeff often does stupid things that get me into a lot of trouble too." He then closes his eyes and slowly leans up towards her, then he hears Jeff run up to them so he stops and turns towards Jeff, "Hey, can you get my wheelchair for me? It's on the pier."
Jeff goes to run and get the wheelchair, but he sees the man throw his wheelchair into the ocean, "Well, I guess you'll have to buy a new wheelchair."
Tom throws himself back into the sand, "Oh, great. How am I supposed to get around now?"
Annemarie looks over at the pier, "I'm so sorry Tom."
"No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry that I stood on those jetties." Tom starts to move with his arms, "Come on let's just go home."
"Alright!" says Jeff as he grabs Tom's arms and drags him off the beach.
After he gets Tom up on the boardwalk he looks towards Annemarie, "Hey, Ann, you mind carrying his legs?"
Annemarie runs up and lifts Toms's legs, "No problem!"