5. Bit Of Drama

5

BIT OF DRAMA

“ I don’t like that you can see that,” he said. Michael wasn’t used to anyone being able to read his mind or know that he might have more going on than what was on the surface.

“I understand. I don’t always like that people can see things I want hidden too,” she said. “You don’t have to share it. Just saying that I can see it.”

“First, I’ll say that the two points you were trying to make that I figured out fairly fast are good with me.”

“Meaning you’re looking for some kind of commitment from someone? Doesn’t have to be me, but just someone.”

“I’d like that,” he said. “But if it doesn’t happen, then it doesn’t. It’s not easy having a child I’m raising with his mother in the picture.”

“The fact that you have custody and it’s not shared means there is a bit of drama?”

He let out a breath. “Not like you think. Do you want to know about Ty and how he came about?”

Kelly finished chewing her bite of salad and leaned forward on her elbows. “I know about the birds and the bees,” she whispered.

He actually laughed. It felt foreign to his ears because maybe it’d been so long since he’d heard it. Could be the mischief in her light eyes. Her brown hair was pulled away from her face and he got a nice view of how good-looking she was. Not a lot of makeup, rather looking more natural the way he liked.

“That’s good to know. I suppose I should rephrase that to how I ended up with Ty and have custody of him.”

“I would like to know that if you want to share. And if you want to share why you seem a bit off, you can tell me that too. It won’t scare me away. I know you have a child and I have no issue with it. I’ve dated people with clingy or dramatic exes too.” She snapped her fingers. “I can put them out of my mind easily. I only focus on the man, not their outside drama as long as it doesn’t suck me in.”

“I’ll try not to,” he said. “I work hard not to have that happen.”

“It’s good you’re conscious of it,” she said. “That’s important.”

“The shortened version of Ty’s mother is that Electra and I met when I was at the bar where she worked. She’s a waitress. Been there for years. It’s her full-time job.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” she said.

“No, but it’s not an easy job,” he said. “We dated for about a month. It’s all I could stand to be with her. We were compatible in one way only. But once she was opening her mouth to talk, I couldn’t stand it and I know that sounds horrible.”

“Not if it’s how you feel. I’m sure I can figure out where you were compatible. Good to know that too. Sounds like you’ve got some skill there.”

He felt his face flush and didn’t know the last time he had that happen.

“Moving on. It’s more than Electra just being an airhead. She’s not even that smart. I’m not trying to be mean, but she’s not. She’s immature and childish and just wants to have fun. Like a thirteen-year-old and doesn’t think about the fact she’s an adult and there are responsibilities now.”

“I can see where that would be annoying. I’m not sure I could last a month with a guy like that. Not even enough to get to the bedroom.”

He cleared his throat. No reason to say he ended up in her bed on the first date they’d gone on. Electra was a sexual creature and made the move and he wasn’t going to say no. He realized soon enough she used sex to get her way, but he wasn’t falling for it.

“It lasted longer than it should have, but I was working and she was too so it wasn’t like we saw each other or talked daily. I finally had enough and we just parted ways. There wasn’t any drama, and she didn’t seem too bothered by it either.”

“Hmmm,” Kelly said, taking a sip of her wine. “Then she found out she was pregnant and you got that dreaded call?”

“No,” he said. “I didn’t get a call at all. My best friend, Owen, had met her. He’d gone back like six months later or something with coworkers. He noticed that she was pregnant right away. It was obvious. She’s a slim woman, but she had her belly on display in a tight shirt. He asked around and did the math.”

“You had to find out from your best friend?” she asked, her jaw dropping.

“He asked to meet for a beer at Fierce. I knew something was up, but he waited to tell me. We had our beer and dinner, then he went with me to see if Electra was working. She was. We went in and asked to be seated at her table. She walked over and got this huge smile on her face and said she was glad to see me and had news. She’d lost my number.”

“Nooooooo,” she said. “She was pregnant with your baby and for six months didn’t think to try to find you? Had she been to your place before?”

“Yes,” he said. The server came over and took their plates away and said dinner would be out shortly. “But she couldn’t remember where I lived either. She knew my name. Where I worked. Forgot it all.”

“Do you think that is true?” she asked.

“Sadly, it’s probably a fact. I told you she just wasn’t that smart. Fast-forward, we do DNA testing, she is pregnant with my kid. I’m not about to have her move in with me because then I might not be able to get her out. I took care of everything financially for her that Ty needed. I paid all her bills while she was out of work. It was tight, but I did it.”

“Because it was the right thing to do,” she said. “That was nice of you.”

“It’s not nice, it was for my son. That is why I did it.”

Kelly had this soft smile on her face and he felt a flutter in his stomach over it.

“Was she not a fit mother?” she asked.

“At first I wanted split custody. I figured that was fair. There was no reason to go after full custody just because she was irresponsible with me. Maybe she was better with a child.”

“I hope this isn’t a sad story that something happened to your son.”

“No,” he said. “She was out of work for six weeks and within three she was calling me crying almost every night to say she couldn’t do it. She didn’t know how. She needed help. I’d go stay with her and then she’d say she needed a break and she’d just leave me with him while she was gone for hours with her friends.”

“You’re joking?”

“No. We sat down and I asked her what she wanted and she said she didn’t want to be a full-time mother. She loved him, but she couldn’t handle much more than babysitting duties.”

“That’s horrible,” she said.

“It’s the truth and I’m glad she told me. I took Ty home with me permanently, and we agreed she would come and visit him at my house once a week. When Ty was about a year old, she decided she wanted to start to have him overnight every other weekend. She has him tonight, which is why I picked tonight for us. She gets Ty for four hours on Tuesday too. It’s one of her days off. She gets every other Saturday off and sometimes she takes an extra shift and gives up her night with her son.”

He never cared even if it was last minute. It was one less sleepless night with him worrying that his son wasn’t under the same roof as him.

“Did something happen today?” she asked.

“Nothing tragic. Ty was there on Tuesday. When I picked him up at seven, he said he was hungry. I asked if he ate dinner and he said there wasn’t any food. I asked him a few times and got out of him that he didn’t want a peanut butter sandwich.”

“Not all kids like what is given to them,” she said. “I’m going to assume maybe she doesn’t cook?”

“She doesn’t, but there wasn’t anything in the house other than bread and peanut butter. No milk or juice that he drinks. I don’t even care about that. I finally got the facts after calling Electra. She said that she didn’t have anything and wasn’t getting paid until Friday night. That she knew Ty would eat with me.”

He watched Kelly blink a few times. Her eyes were moist and he thought she was going to cry.

“Sorry, but that is horrible and tragic. I feel bad for Ty.”

“Electra is very happy and carefree. Nothing upsets her and Ty didn’t seem like much was going on other than he was hungry. I fed him and all was well in his world.”

“It had to be hard for you to bring him there today,” she said.

“We went with a week’s worth of groceries. There is no way I could bring him not knowing. I got a bunch of stuff I knew Ty liked and tried to think of things I remember Electra eating. She cried when I brought it over. She said she eats at work so she isn’t starving and she’s not fussy with food. She’d eat toast and peanut butter when she was home and it was fine.”

“That was so sweet of you to do that. Not just for your son but her too.”

“The truth is if she’s upset or off, Ty sees that. I don’t need him worrying or stressing going there. For good or bad, Electra is his mother and I want him to know I tried for them to have a relationship.”

“Michael, you’re a great guy. I can see where a lot of other women might not like the dynamic, but I find it very endearing and kind of sexy.”

He laughed. “Sexy?”

“A hot caring father. You will do what is right regardless of any history. That’s a big thing that most won’t do.”

“She wanted to repay me with sex,” he said. “How is that for drama?”

“Oh,” she said. “She told you that? Today? With Ty there?”

“She ran her hand down the front of my shirt and played her games like she always does. It’s all fun and childish to her. She’s not being mean. She’s just offering up what she knew I liked before.”

“I’m going to hope you said no?”

“I walked out. I’m not interested. But you need to know that about me just like you wanted me to know things about you.”

“Yeah, I’d say we’ve got some drama between us. And you don’t even know the biggest one I’ve got.”

“There’s more?” he asked. Jesus, he wasn’t sure he could get much deeper than this on one date.

But surprisingly, he wanted to.