“It was actually Emma’s dad with us. Mom left them last year,” she explains, while I hear things slamming from her end.
“Is this father hot?” I ask, anger shooting out of me.
“Um, I don’t really look at him like that.” I hear a door close. “Why would you ask that?”
“No reason, just wanted to know who you were spending time with, since it wasn’t with me.” Holy fuck, am I sulking? Is this me sulking?
“I wasn’t with anyone. I was with Rachel, who was playing with a friend. I didn’t go there on a date with him. What is this really about?”
“Nothing,” I breathe out my frustration. “I just missed you today.”
“I missed you, too. A lot,” she whispers. “Like to the moon and back.” I hear a smile in her voice.
We continue talking till we drift off to sleep. I haven’t done this since high school, but smile when she sends me a text before I wake up.
Have a great day! Kisses in special areas!
I laugh to myself while I get ready and start another day that flies by. I won’t say that Bruce is better than Lauren, but he is filling her shoes better than anyone else.
I try calling Lauren during the day, but the conversations are all short. Then after she gets home to the kids, it’s almost impossible to get through to her.
I sit in my living room that night, holding my phone, wondering what she’s doing. Wondering if Rachel brought home more math homework. Wondering if Gabe is thinking hockey or soccer. I even wonder if Kaleigh is driving them crazy with tofu.
By the time she gets back to me, she’s yawning and on her way to bed.
I toss and turn all night as sleep evades me. My mind plays through different scenarios in my head. What if I’m not good enough? What if she doesn’t want me in her life with her kids? What if I fuck up and we fight about it?
The questions are endless, the answers never coming. I’m about to throw my phone out the window when Noah comes waltzing into my office.
“Hey there, stranger.” He goes to my couch, unbuttoning his jacket and sitting down. I look at him looking at Bruce. “Well, at least you won’t try to bang your new PA, right?” He laughs, brushing his hands into his hair. I notice that he has pink nail polish on.
“That really isn’t your color.” I point to his hand.
“Rachel painted my nails yesterday.” He inspects his nails. “You should see what she did to my feet.”
I throw my pen down and sit up straighter. “You saw Rachel yesterday?”
“Well, we had to babysit Rachel and Gabe so Lauren could bring her car in to get the radio fixed.” he says it as if it’s no big deal, and I’m suddenly pissed off.
“What?” I yell.
“A CD of Frozen was jammed in her player and was stuck on repeat, so it played it all the time. You know this,” he reminds me as if I’m dumb.
“I know what you mean. What I don’t understand is why you were babysitting.”
“She needed help,” he says with a pointed look at me.
“Why didn’t she ask me?”
“I don’t know, maybe because you hightailed it right out of there the minute family shit started happening on Sunday night?” He stands up.
“Fuck off!” I yell back at him. Bruce sits up in his chair a little straighter. “She was busy, so I left.”
He glares at me. “You left or you took off, it’s the same thing.”
“Is that what she said?” I look at him, waiting for the answers. Did she think I didn’t want to be around her kids?
“She didn’t say anything. I just found it weird that she would ask us and not you. Kaleigh said to drop it, so I figured you didn’t want to.”
“I wasn’t asked.” I hold out my hands to the side. “I didn’t even know.”
I grab my jacket, ready to run out of the office, when Noah grabs my arm. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going to tell her that I’m not scared of her kids.”
“Think about what you’re doing. You are planning to go barge into her workplace to profess this to her. Dude.” He shakes his head. He grabs his phone and dials someone. “Babycakes, are you home?” He smiles and nods his head. “Okay. Austin needs to come over and do something. Can you go to my place? Pack a bag, or better yet, just bring everything with you.” He smiles and then hangs up. “Okay, Kaleigh is leaving the door open for you. Go woo your girl.”
“Woo?” I ask him.
“A meal, rose petals, champagne, lingerie, vibrators, cuffs. You know, romance.”
“This, I can do.” I make a list of everything I need to get. “I’m going to woo the fuck out of her.”