by Kitty Parker
Spencer really likes her. That's obvious. And it feels nice. To have a man actually like her and be nice to her and seem to actually be happy that she's in this world, it all feels nice.
Daisy reminds herself of all of this. She wishes she didn't have to. Spencer and Jack are different in every way that she can see. She has to remind herself of this, too, though that's something that she shouldn't have to remind herself of either.
And she reminds herself that she definitely shouldn't have to remind herself that there is only one man who she should want anywhere near her.
…
"Da-ryl! Da-ryl!" The call is loud and like a steady tolling of a church bell.
Daisy rolls over on her side to look at the clock on the table beside her bed. It's just after two and she doesn't care if she works from home and can technically start work whenever she wants. She has a young son she has to get up and get ready for school in just a few hours and she wants sleep and Jack's girlfriend is really making that difficult at the moment. At least, she's assuming it's the girlfriend.
With a sigh, she pulls herself from the bed and tugs on her cotton housecoat, leaving the bedroom. She stops and pokes her head into Matty's bedroom across the hall from hers but she's not surprised that he's still asleep. The boy could sleep through a marching band in their hallway. But still, that's not the point. The point is it's a weeknight and some people are trying to sleep for their days tomorrow.
Peeking out the door's peephole, Daisy's initial thought is confirmed. It's that blonde girl that had been coming down the stairs with Jack that one morning, holding onto his arm and smiling up at him and Daisy doesn't even know her but in that one moment, this woman had successfully crushed her heart. This woman and Jack.
The need for sleep wins out over wishing she could just ignore her and she unlocks the two locks on the door and pulls it open. The woman is wearing a short ruffled skirt and a tight tank top and Daisy knows that it's finally beginning to feel like spring again but it's not that warm outside yet.
"Jack's not home," Daisy speaks up and the woman immediately stops knocking her fist on the door and spins around to look at Daisy.
But clearly that was the wrong thing for her to do because she instantly groans and puts her hands to her head and leans heavily against the door. She's swaying a little and even if she's never been, personally, Daisy can recognize when someone has had too much to drink.
"I saw him leaving this morning with his crossbow. Sometimes, he takes a three day weekend to go hunting," Daisy says and she actually only knows this because Matty was with her this morning when they saw him and Matty has no problem talking to him and asking him questions and Jack has no problem talking with him.
"Shoot," the woman mumbles, still holding her head. "I left my car at the bar."
And Daisy has no idea why she does it. She really has absolutely no idea but she makes the offer before she can fully stop herself and think things a bit more through.
"Come on," she steps aside and opens the door a little wider. "I'll get you some water."
"Thank you." The woman pushes herself off of Jack's door and stumbles through hers.
As Daisy gets her some water and a couple of tablets of Aspirin from the bathroom, the woman sits on the couch, holding her head once more while mumbling about vodka shots. Daisy returns to the living room and the woman sighs with relief and smiles before downing both pills and nearly the entire glass of water.
"You're wonderful," she says and Daisy can't help but smile a little. "I'm Carolina."
"Daisy," she says and she stands there for a moment, not too sure what to do now that she has Jack's girlfriend sitting on her couch. Should she get her a trashcan? She doesn't have Jack's phone number to call and tell him that Carolina is here. She doesn't even know if he has a phone. She's never asked for a number and he's never offered to give her one.
She looks at Carolina. She's leaning back into the couch now, eyes closed, glass still in her hand, and Daisy doesn't know which bar she has just walked from but Daisy knows she can't send a drunk woman out there by herself again. Anything can happen and Daisy will not be responsible for that.
Mind made up, she leaves the room and returns a moment later with an extra pillow and a blanket. "Lie down," she says and Carolina cracks her eyes open to look at her. "You can sleep here tonight. My son and I get up around seven to get him to school. Do you need a trashcan?" She asks and Carolina keeps staring at her.
"You don't even know me," Carolina then reminds her.
Daisy shrugs her shoulders slightly. "You're a friend of Jack's. You can't be bad."
The words cause a lump to grow and lodge in her throat and she tries to swallow it down. She can't imagine Jack sleeping with or spending time with a girl who's anything but nice. Someone who's nice and clearly someone pretty and closer to his age. Someone who actually has the body of a woman because even after giving birth, Daisy still doesn't have that much of a chest or hips to her. Carolina seems to have an ample amount of both. This is clearly what Jack likes in a woman.
"You're the best person in the whole world," Carolina sighs, slipping her shoes off, and Daisy can't help but smile a little even though she knows that Carolina won't remember probably any of this the next morning.
She lies down, her head landing heavily on the pillow, and Daisy covers her with the blanket. She then goes back to the front door, making sure the locks are turned once more and she turns off the couple of lights she has turned on.
"Good night," she whispers but Carolina's only response is her snoring.
…
"Mama." Daisy's eyes open to Matty on her bed, leaning over her, whispering in her ear. "There's a woman sleeping on our couch, mama."
And Daisy almost laughs but instead, she just smiles before breaking into a yawn.
"That's Carolina. She's a friend of Jack's and needed a place to sleep last night," Daisy says, sitting up, forcing Matty to sit up, too. His blonde hair is sticking up in a few directions and she smiles, trying to smooth it down for him. "Did you sleep alright?" She asks him.
He nods but then he frowns. "I don't like her. She doesn't seem nice," he informs her.
Daisy's smile slips from her lips. "Why would you say that, Matty? You haven't even spoken with her."
Matty shrugs. "You're prettier than her, mama."
"Being pretty has nothing to do with whether a person is nice or not. You know that," she tells him and he's still frowning but he's looking down to her bedspread now, not wanting to look her in the eyes anymore. "Come on," Daisy leans in and kisses him on the head. "Let's get ourselves ready for the day."
After getting Matty dressed and watching as he does his best to make his bed, she then follows him into the kitchen. Carolina is just starting to stir and Matty looks at her as he climbs onto a stool at the counter. She sits up and yawns and Daisy pours Matty a bowl of Cheerios – dry with no milk – with a side glass of chocolate milk. She then pours Carolina another glass of water with a side of one more Aspirin tablet and takes it over, setting it down on the coffee table.
"I have to go get dressed," Daisy tells her in a quiet voice. She has seen both Shawn and Maybelle with hangovers and she knows it's best to speak in a lowered voice around Carolina for a while. "This is my son, Matty."
Carolina looks to the boy and smiles a little but Matty eats his cereal, looking at her in return and not saying anything.
Daisy gets herself ready as quickly as she can – washing her face and brushing her teeth and then deciding on jeans and a light sweater that day before pulling her hair up in a braid, pinning it around her head. When she steps from the bedroom again, Matty's cereal bowl is empty and he's just finishing the last gulp of chocolate milk. Carolina is still on the couch, looking around the small apartment as she sips at her water.
"You all done?" Daisy asks Matty as he nods, setting his glass down. "Go on and brush your teeth and get your schoolbag."
Matty slides down from the stool and le
aves down the hallway as Daisy takes his bowl and glass, loading both into the dishwasher.
"He's a cute kid," Carolina speaks, surprising her for a second. "He looks just like you," she then notes, looking at a framed picture of Matty and Daisy on the end table next to the couch. "Why Matty?" She then asks.
"Why his name?" Daisy asks and Carolina nods. "It's silly," Daisy then says, already smiling a little just as she thinks about it. "Well, when I was younger, my friends and I would always talk about our futures. Our dream jobs and dream places to live and what we'd name our kids. I always wanted four sons. I have no idea why. I grew up on a farm and I think I just liked the idea of living there, too, and having all of these little boys running around and making my life wonderful and crazy at the same time."
Carolina is smiling a little as she listens. Daisy has no idea why she's telling her all of this.
"My family's religious and we go to church and I always wanted to name my sons Matthew, Mark, Luke and John," Daisy says, almost laughing, and Carolina is smiling wider, too. "And Matty's just a nickname until he grows into Matt, I guess."
"You got just three more to go," Carolina says and this time, Daisy does laugh.
She shakes her head at herself as she grabs a chocolate chip granola bar from the cabinet and brings it around the counter, holding it out for Carolina to take. She does – quite eagerly and gratefully, unwrapping it and taking a rather large bite.
"After giving birth to one, I'm cringing at three more times," Daisy says. "What about you? Do you have any children?"
"Nope," Carolina shakes her head. "When I was younger, I thought I probably would have a couple when I was older but now, I just don't see it for myself. I like it being just me."
Daisy does her best to nod and smile even as she feels her stomach drop. There's another reason why Jack probably likes her more. No child or baggage that comes with her.
…
It rains almost the entire weekend but that's alright because she's gotten all of her errands done earlier in the week and she has a large order of cupcakes to get done by Sunday afternoon for the local animal shelter adoption event they are having.
She's in the kitchen, working on the dog bones and balls of yarn for decorations, and Matty is in the living room, sitting on the floor, playing with his train set – currently attacking it with two of his T-Rex dinosaur toys and watching Home Alone on television. When there's a knock on the door, Daisy looks to the clock on the stove. It's almost four o'clock and she's not sure who it is because she's not expecting anyone and her family usually calls before if they plan on stopping by.
"Matty! Can you see who that is?" Daisy asks, in the middle of piping and not able to stop.
Matty hurries to the door and drags over the little stepping stool they keep nearby so he can look through the peephole. Once seeing, he jumps down and turns the lock.
"Hi, Spencer," Matty greets him with a smile.
"Hey, Matty," Spencer smiles in return and holds out his hand, Matty slapping it. "I hope it's alright with me just stopping by." He steps into the apartment and closes the door behind him, poking his head into the kitchen.
"Of course it is," Daisy smiles at him. "We're just having a lazy Saturday at home."
"Nothing much better in the world than that," he says and he's still smiling and Daisy really does think that he's a handsome man.
But… he's handsome in the obvious way. A person looks at him and does have to think twice about thing that he's a handsome man. And she can't stop herself before her mind goes to Jack. It took her a little bit before realizing just how drop dead gorgeous that man is. He's not in the conventional obvious way, she supposes, but now, she always thinks to herself – never to be admitting out loud – that Jack is much more handsome than Spencer.
Not that any of that matters because Spencer is her boyfriend and she doesn't exist to Jack. She has met the kind of woman he likes and after spending the morning with Carolina – the woman walking with her and Matty to the elementary school and then the two women going to get cups of coffee after – Daisy has found Carolina to be perfectly nice. There's no reason not to like her – except that she's sleeping with Jack and Daisy isn't.
Not that that should matter either anyway. Carolina is perfectly nice. And Daisy has discovered that that's pretty much the only thing she and Carolina have in common.
She finishes piping and sets her icing bag down. "I'll take your coat."
She goes to him and he takes it off and she hangs it on the hook on the wall. And as she steps past him to do so, she feels his hand on the small of her back. She waits for shivers as she does each time Spencer is close or touching her but they never seem to come.
She smiles up at him. "Hi," she greets in a quiet voice.
"Hey," he greets her in his own lowered tone and then he slowly guides his head towards her and their lips meet in a soft kiss.
And just like Spencer, his kisses are nice… but that's all they are. Still no butterflies.
"Would you like to stay for dinner?" She asks. "We're just having spaghetti and garlic bread but you are more than welcome to join us. It will be in a little bit."
"That sounds really good. Thank you," Spencer smiles. "What are you playing, Matty?" He then asks, turning towards the boy who has returned to the floor of the living room.
As Matty explains to Spencer about the train that has gone back in time and is now being attacked by all sorts of dinosaurs – Spencer siting on the couch and not with him on the floor, Daisy notes; not that that's a big deal – Daisy begins pulling the things out for dinner.
Just as the water in the pot on the stove is beginning to boil, there is another knock on the door and Daisy goes to the door this time to see who it is. She peeks through the peephole and the instant she sees who it is, she feels her heart stopping in mid-beat in her chest.
She slowly turns the lock and opens the door, looking at Jack standing there. His too-long hair and his backwards baseball cap and the jeans with a hole in the knee. And Spencer has been here almost for a half hour but the second she sees Jack, the butterflies in her stomach seem to wake up from their hibernation.
"I thought you were gone this weekend," she speaks the first words to him longer than one syllable since he came to Matty's birthday party weeks earlier.
"Had a good day of it on Friday," he shrugs. "Rain made me get back earlier."
He keeps standing there and Daisy looks at him, waiting for his explanation as to what he's doing there. He doesn't come over here anymore – not since she kissed him and she was quick to learn just how big of a mistake that was.
"Ran into Carolina. She told me what you did for her Thursday night," he then says.
Ran into? That seems a little weird considering she's his girlfriend. He probably means he talked to her on the phone or went to go see her at her place.
Daisy shrugs. "She was very drunk and I didn't feel right leaving her alone."
She hopes her tone comes off as showing to him that it isn't a big deal – because it isn't a big deal – but Jack is staring at her and the butterflies are flapping uncontrollably now and she has never hated the way she's looked but looking at Jack right now, she wishes she had a little bit more of what Carolina has.
"Jack!" Matty suddenly exclaims, appearing at her side, grinning up at the man.
Jack's eyes leave Daisy's and he looks down at Matty, smiling a little. "Hey, kid."
"Are you done hunting? Did you catch anything? Did you come over for dinner?" Matty fires questions at him in quick succession, not giving Jack to answer any of them. "Mama, can Jack stay for dinner?"
Jack stay for dinner with Spencer here?
Daisy opens her mouth to tell Matty that that probably isn't a good idea but she stops herself. Why wouldn't it be a good idea. She's dating Spencer. Not Jack. Jack has absolutely no interest in her whatsoever so it shouldn't matter to any of the three adults if Jack does stay. And Matty is so happy and excited as always to see him.
<
br /> Daisy swallows before nodding her head. "Sure," she says, doing her best to smile.
Matty grabs Jack's hand and before Jack can say anything else to her, Matty tugs him into the apartment and straight into the living room. Spencer stands up from the couch at the sight of him but Jack doesn't say anything to him. Instead, Matty hands Jack one of his pterodactyl figures and Jack sits down on the floor with him.
…
Daisy has no idea what's going on. All she knows is she didn't think Jack was capable of talking as much as he's now talking at dinner over their plates of spaghetti and garlic bread. It's almost as if he's interrogating Spencer but that doesn't make sense. Why would he do that? But he's asking about his family and job and all sorts of questions that might be considered personal but Spencer is answering them all, smiling a little as if he's in on the joke that Jack's doing.
"So, lawyer. That's fancy," Jack is saying. "Got your own secretary and office and everythin'?" He asks.
"It's not a huge office. More like a shoe box but yeah, it's all mine. And my secretary's name is Helen," Spencer says and seems to have no problem answering Jack's questions.
"Lawyers work a lot of hours, don't they?" Jack keeps going. "Helen always work those late hours with you?"
And suddenly, Daisy knows exactly what he's doing. She sets her fork down on her plate and lifts her napkin from her lap, wiping at her mouth before standing up. "Jack, may I speak with you out in the hallway for a moment?"
Jack blinks up at her and she keeps staring down at him, just daring him to say something else. He then stands up, too, and his body is so close to hers – so big and strong and firm – and the butterflies are flapping but she refuses to let the butterflies win right now.
She walks out of the apartment, Jack following her into the hallway, and she closes the door behind them so Matty or Spencer can't see or overhear them.
"What the hell are you doing?" She demands in a quiet voice. "Why are you asking Spencer all of those questions?"
Jack shrugs and has the nerve to look actually amused right now. "Jus' wanna get to know the guy. He gonna be around a lot?" He then asks her.
