by Naomi Niles
He laughed. “Wow. Pepper spray? Did I really seem that bad over the phone?”
“No, you didn’t. But, these days, it is hard to tell by appearance. It was just in case, though. But judging by what I’ve seen and heard from you tonight, I think this is the last thing I would have to use with you.”
He smiled as we got to my car. I pressed the alarm to unlock the doors, and after that, he reached for the handle. “Well, since we are being honest, I must be honest with you, too.” My heart stopped. He’s married. That was the first thought that came to mind, and it was the most logical. Why would a man this successful and handsome still be single at his age? He had to be married. I prepared my heart for the let down as he continued, “I left something off my profile.”
I folded my arms over my chest, waiting for him to explain.
“I have a son. He is seven. Me and his mother will never be together. She is out of the picture, so I don’t want you to worry about anything like that. But, we had a son together, and he lives with me.”
I waited for him to say something else that would deter me from getting to know him more. “That’s it?”
“That’s it,” he said, solemnly. “That’s it.”
I put my hand on my chest and took a deep breath, “Wow.” I laughed at the fact that what he left out was minuscule to me. “That is a relief. I thought you were going to tell me that you were married.”
“Married? No. Not even close. I’ve never even been engaged.”
“Good. Well, your son? He is seven?”
“Yes.”
“I love children, Gavin. I don’t see a problem with the fact that you have a seven-year-old son. The fact that he lives with you already says a lot because most children live with their mothers. So that is not a problem. If the opportunity presents itself later, I would love to meet him.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I would like that.”
I stood by the door as crickets chirped in the midst of our silence. I would’ve been lying if I said I didn’t want him to kiss me on the lips. I felt that our chemistry was strong enough, and if he tried it, I would’ve allowed him the touch. As he leaned forward, my heartbeat sped up in my chest. I closed my eyes, and right after that, I felt his lips press against my cheek. I opened them in a world of surprise. “Goodnight, Bethany. Please call me when you get home so that I know you made it safely.”
“Oh. Um, yes. Yes, I sure will, Gavin. Thank you for the wonderful night.”
“You’re welcome.”
I got inside my car as he closed the door behind me. I watched him walk to his car, and once he made it safely, I pulled out of the parking lot. I wanted him to kiss me, but the fact that he took the safe route made me appreciate him even more. As soon as I drove away, I called April. Her voice was groggy when she answered. “Hello?”
“April, are you up?”
“Bethany. It is nearly 1 am. No, I am not up.”
“Well, wake up! The date with Gavin was AMAZING! I want to tell you all about it!”
I knew that I would be talking to myself halfway through the conversation because April was known to fall asleep at the drop of a dime, especially after she had gotten pregnant. But I didn’t care. I had to share my good news with someone, even if it was just me listening to my own thoughts.
Chapter Seven
GAVIN
I asked Mike to stay at my place with Vinny until I got home from my date. Vinny usually liked to stay home on Friday nights and stay up all night reading or playing video games. As soon as I got home, I saw Mike in the front room with his foot on the table the same way he relaxed when he was at home. “Mike, get your dirty ass foot off my shit.”
He laughed. “Oh, for Christ’s sake, man. You sound like my fucking ex-wife. See, that is why I prefer to stay single. I don’t need that shit in my life anymore.” I smacked his foot off the table and then took a seat next to him. “So, how was the date?”
I smiled when I thought about Bethany. She was nothing like what I expected, but then again, I went into this date blindly. I mean, I knew how she looked, and based on the phone conversation, she didn’t seem like she was anything out of the ordinary. But, what I got in place was someone who was not only beautiful, but charming and witty. She was a bit aloof at times, but that was okay. I didn’t mind the touch of silliness that came along with her. “It was good. I am happy I went.”
He tapped his finger on the arm rest. “And?”
“And what?”
“Geez, man, do I have to spell it out for you? Would you bang her or not? That’s what I want to know. I mean, don’t try to play this old ‘nice guy’ role with me. You may have to play it with her or somebody else, but I know you are not in this to settle down. No way.”
“Well, you might be wrong on this one, Mike. I told you that I am looking for something more stable these days. You’ve had the chance to experience married life, and that’s how you knew it wasn’t for you. I need that moment of clarity for myself.”
He sighed. “Alright man, but hey, when you get into that shit storm, don’t say I didn’t warn you. But tell me about the girl. Was she as cute as the pics?”
“Yeah, she was cute. Cuter than the pics I saw. I was very pleased with who she was. We were laughing the whole night, much like we did when we spoke on the phone the first time.” He folded his arms across his chest. “It was cool. Conversation flowed smoothly. It never seemed awkward or anything. It was nice. I asked her out again next week.”
“No shit?”
“Yeah, no shit. I want to keep this going and see what it turns into.”
“Yeah, I hear you.” He finished the rest of his beer, then stood up. “But, before you go making dates again, I think you need to check on Vinny. I was talking to him earlier, and I could tell that he wants to spend a little more time with you.” He crunched the beer can in his hand. “I told him that you are a busy man, and the kid is smart, you know, so he kind of picked up what I was saying. But, between me and you, I think you need to focus on him a little more.”
I sighed as he walked to the kitchen to toss the empty beer can away. Mike was right. Here I was planning another date with Bethany when I had just canceled quality time with my son this weekend. I should’ve been planning time to hang out with him instead of Bethany. When Mike came back, he grabbed his keys from the table. “Thanks for reminding me, Mike,” I said as I stood up.
“Reminding you of what?”
“About needing to spend time with Vinny. I should plan that before I take Bethany out again.”
“Well, I think that would be a good idea. I mean, if this chick is as good as you say, she’ll understand that your son should come before her right now.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure she’ll understand that.”
“Alright. Well, I don’t know about you, but I got some vagina on its way to my house. So, while you work on being in a committed relationship, I’ll continue having sex with every woman I want.” He laughed on his way out, “Man, I don’t know why anybody would willingly allow themselves to be locked down for the rest of their lives when there is SO MUCH MORE PUSSY OUT HERE TO GET!” He yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Mike, man, keep that shit down! You’ll have these folks calling the police around here!”
“Ooops. My bad, my bad. You enjoy the rest of your night, man.”
I closed the door as he got into his car and drove away. After he left, I locked the door and walked down the hallway to Vinny’s room. He sat on his bed playing video games while I leaned against the door frame. “How was your date?”
I folded my arms, “It was good. She seemed nice.”
“That’s good.” He pressed a few more buttons on his controller. “So, I heard you are going to see her again next weekend.”
“What? And how did you hear that?”
“Dad, you and Uncle Mike talk louder than you think. My door was cracked for a little while after you came home.”
“I see. Well, yeah, I was going to do
that, but then I thought about you, and I figured I’d rethink the plans with her and spend time together to make up for breaking our quality time together tomorrow. What do you say?”
He ignored me for a few seconds as I waited by the door. I expected that. I was sure he believed that I was just talking out of my ass again. “I’m serious this time, Vinny. I won’t break this date with you for anything. I don’t care if the damned president of the United States says he wants to do business with my company. I am going to tell him that he has to wait until Monday.”
Vinny finally looked in my direction. A smirk escaped the corner of his mouth. “Okay, Dad. BUT… if the president calls you, I think you better take that meeting.”
I laughed. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. But anyway, I’m gonna head up to my room. If you need me, that’s where I’ll be. Don’t stay up too late, alright?”
“Okay, Dad.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I left his door cracked and headed to my room to wait for Bethany’s call. I figured that she would wait until she got ready for bed until she called me. I regretted that I didn’t kiss her on the lips when I had the chance. In the back of my mind, I knew that there would be another opportunity for that to happen, so I didn’t rush it. A few minutes later, my phone rang. “Hello? Hey, Bethany, I was just waiting for your call.”
Chapter Eight
BETHANY
I arrived at work Monday morning, still high off my Friday evening date with Gavin. We had talked every day since then, but he told me that he was too busy for us to meet up. He had to entertain some business guests from overseas. I guessed that is why he had to sign up for The Right Click to begin with. I tried not to get my hopes up too high because of that. If he didn’t have time to see me, he probably wouldn’t have time for a relationship. April told me not to worry about that though and just take things a day at a time. “It’ll all work out if it is supposed to, but for now, just have fun!”
When I walked into the teacher’s lounge, Sharon was there, making herself a cup of coffee. “Hey, girl. You are lucky because Derrick just left this room about five minutes ago.”
“Oh, thank God. I don’t know what is wrong with that man. He just will not take no for an answer. It is sickening!”
“Girl, I don’t know why you are playing around. You may as well give him some time. It’s not like you are seeing anyone else right now. All you do is go home and read those corny love stories.”
“Well,” I said as I slid my lunch into the refrigerator, “That is where you are wrong. That’s not all I am doing these days.”
Her eyebrows lifted to the middle of her forehead, “Oh, really? Well, well, well, do you care to explain yourself, missy?”
“Um. Okay. I met this guy named Gavin off this website called The Right Click.”
“Oh, girl, I’ve heard about that website! You have to pay for it, don’t you?”
She grabbed a seat, then tapped the cushion on the one beside her, urging me to sit down. I obliged. “Yes, you have to pay for it, but I didn’t do it. In fact, I didn’t even want to sign up for it. My friend created my page and took care of all that for me.”
“Ugh! I wish I had friends like that.”
“Yeah, I am thankful for her. Anyways, she set my page up, and later that day, I got a hit. It turned out to be Gavin. This tall, sexy CEO from a watch company out here. I forgot the name of it, but so far, everything is good. I’m just taking it slow, you know? I don’t want it to turn out like my last relationship.”
“Well, I can tell you like him. You haven’t stopped smiling since you mentioned his name. Derrick is gonna be crushed once he hears you have another love interest.”
“Crushed? If he is, he will only be crushed because of his own actions. I told him that I wasn’t interested from day one, but he wanted to keep trying, so that is on him.”
Just then, the school bell rang. A few more teachers quickly stepped in and out of the teachers’ lounge, waving to us in the process. “Well,” Sharon said, “I need to get going before that second bell rings. I hope things go well with you and, um, Mr. Gavin. Find out if he has a sexy brother or cousin or something. Please?”
I laughed. “Sure thing, Sharon. I’ll ask.”
I went through the rest of my day thinking about Gavin and the things we could do on our next outing. I thought about planning something for the two of us to do with his son, but I figured that would’ve been too soon. I felt that when Gavin was ready to include me on something like that, he would bring it up himself. I didn’t want to cross any lines and make things uncomfortable. If they were going to happen, they had to happen naturally.
After work, I went to April’s house. She asked me to give her the details about my date since she was half asleep the night I called her. She was busy all weekend, so we couldn’t catch up the way she wanted to. I told her how much of a gentleman he was. “He held doors for me, pulled out my chair, and everything. But oh, that’s not even the most surprising part. When I expected a kiss on the lips at the end of the night, he kissed me on the cheek instead.”
“The cheek? Seriously? What kind of third-grade shit is that?”
I laughed. “No, it was fine. I mean, I wouldn’t have minded if he kissed me on the lips, but the fact that he went for the cheek showed me that he respected me. And you know, coming from someone who had a past like me, that is a big deal. I wasn’t ever respected in that industry, so it felt good that the first man I met since then treated me like a woman instead of an object.”
“Well, I guess you have a point there. I can’t remember the last time I was kissed on the cheek. Maybe it was like… second grade? It had to be Alex. That was my crush back then. I wonder what he is doing now…”
“Are you serious, April? You are thinking about your second-grade crush? I don’t know what’s worse: the fact that you are thinking about him or that you had a crush in second grade.”
“Oh, grow up. I think I’ve had a crush in every grade I’ve been in. Anyways,” she stood up from her seat, “I am going to start dinner. Come on; we still have some things to talk about involving Gavin.”
I followed her into the kitchen and helped her gather the things she needed to make dinner. April loved cooking, and she always tried to teach me a few things each time she started a meal. She believed that a woman should know how to prepare dinner for her family a few nights a week, and since she was always trying to hook me up with someone, she felt it was her job to help me iron out some of the wifely duties.
I wasn’t one of those women who felt that I always needed to cook and clean for my husband. I felt that those things should be balanced equally amongst a couple, but I didn’t mind learning a few tidbits here and there. She filled a pot with water and placed it on the eye of the stove, then grabbed a package of spaghetti noodles from the cabinet. “This meal will be easy tonight. You can make it in less than thirty minutes. Can you grab the salt out of the cabinet for me?”
I handed her the salt as she continued speaking.
“You want to sprinkle this in the water so the noodles don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. After that,” she grabbed a handful of spaghetti noodles and broke them in two like a pencil. “Drop these in there and let them cook until they are finished.” I took mental notes as she explained how to prepare the meal.
When she was finished, we sat at the kitchen table. “Okay, now about this Gavin. When is the next date?”
“Well, he said that he wanted to get together this weekend.”
“Really? Wow, he must know what he wants. That is a good thing. I guess I can remove my card from the website.”
Before I could respond, my phone lit up with a voicemail. It surprised me because I didn’t even hear it ring, but I hardly ever got a good signal at April’s house. I put my phone to my ear and listened to the message. “Hey, Bethany. This is Gavin. I know I told you that I wanted to hang out this weekend, but I didn’t realize that I canceled
plans with my son last weekend because of business, so I wanted to make it up with him. However, you are more than welcome to come along if you’d like. I know it may be a bit early for you to meet him, but if you are okay with it, then so am I. Either way, call me back and let me know. Talk to you soon.”
I ended the call as April stirred hamburger meat into a separate pot on the stove. “So,” she said without looking my way, “what did he say?”
“Well, there is good news and bad news. The bad news is that he had to cancel our date this weekend.” She narrowed her eyes at me as the steam rose from the pot. “But, the good news is that he canceled it because he had to spend time with his son… and he offered me to go along with him.”
“His son? Wait, he asked you go hang out with him and his son? After a fucking week? No way, Bethany, that is way too soon for you to be meeting his children. You’ve barely even met him, and now he wants to turn you into a mother?”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, April, he is not doing that. I mean, I don’t think it is a bad idea. It’s best to get it out of the way up front, you know? I mean, if his kid doesn’t like me, chances are that we won’t go any further. I would rather find that out now than find it out later down the line when I really start to like him. Well, if it gets to that point.”
She turned off the eye on the stove. “No. That is my opinion, Bethany. No, and hell no. I think you need to wait a little bit before that happens.”
I held my phone in my hand while April expressed her disapproval of tagging along on a date with Gavin and his son. As she went on, I dialed his number, then held a finger in front of my lips so she would quiet down. “Hello, Gavin?”
“Hey, Bethany. How are you doing?”
“I am good. I um, I just got your voicemail.”
“Yeah, I am so sorry about that. I promised my son last weekend, and we didn’t go, so I would feel horrible if I took you out and the kid was still waiting to hang out with his old man. But, like I said, you’re more than welcome to come if you’re up to it.”
