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A Day Off
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Asking for a Friend Father Figure
MARISSADenise and Annie were at Annie’s school collecting some things for the market day the kids would be hosting soon. After Layton left, I dragged myself out of the hole I’d been wallowing in all morning and headed over there to meet them.I had tossed and turned for hours after Layton had fallen asleep last night, but I was unable to get that nasty, nagging thought out of my head. Eventually, I was feeling as cheap as a girl who was sleeping with her boss, when all he wanted was to keep her around for the business.The feeling very nearly broke my heart, since things usually felt so right with him. I couldn’t get over it though. I was suddenly not a woman sleeping next to a man who liked her and had more than worshiped her just hours before, but an employee lying next to her sated boss.My entire outlook on our situation changed and became ugly. As if the walls were closing in on me, I felt like I couldn’t breathe in his room anymore. Desperate for oxygen in my lungs, I quietly g
Asking for a Friend Always Yours
MARISSAEspecially since my relationship with Layton was so new in many ways. It had only been a few months in all, so it was way too early for her to be imagining him as her father. If she did and it didn’t work out between us, it would be so much worse than simply losing a male friend we used to spend some time with.Unsure of how to handle this latest development, I said gently, “Sweetheart, it’s nice that you drew the picture of Layton spending time with us, but you he’s not your father, right? He’s not part of our family.” She nodded, and thankfully there was no sadness in her expression. “I know.”“Why did you draw him with us then? Why not draw Denise?” I probed, wanting to get into her head. I needed to understand what she was thinking before I could figure out what to do about it.Annie pursed her lips in thought. “I didn’t really think about it. The teacher said to draw your family doing something you love together and I loved fishing with you and Layton, so I drew that.”G
Asking for a Friend Touched
LAYTONOn Friday afternoon, I took Marissa out to lunch. We were at a small Mexican restaurant near the office, bundled up in a booth in the back corner. It was below freezing outside again today and we managed to snag a booth near the roaring fireplace.The restaurant was decorated in rich colors and dark brown wood. A Mexican flag hung above the bar and it smelled like tortillas and spice.Marissa had shrugged out of her black coat and was wearing red jeans, black boots and a fitted black shirt with her usual array of jewelry. She was snuggled under my arm in the back of the booth, smiling and raving about the plate of tacos we’d just demolished.“That was incredible,” she told me, staring wistfully at the empty plate in front of us.“We have another order on the way,” I reminded her and was rewarded by a bright smile.“How could I forget?” She buried her face in her hands and shook her head. “That’s the best news I’ve had all day.”“What about the news we got on the Linderman accou
Asking for a Friend My Own Pocket
LAYTONIt was touching that Annie had chosen our day out to draw a picture of, even if she had taken artistic liberty like the rod in Marissa’s hand and the whole basket of fish we caught. I knew it meant something to her and that meant something to me.It didn’t bother me in the least and I wanted to prove it to Marissa. If I got some extra time with Annie out of the deal, that was good with me too.“Tomorrow should be fine,” Marissa agreed, and a warm, excited feeling flooded my insides. Despite what Craig had said about his mom never letting a man in again, there was no doubt that Marissa was letting me in. It felt like we were making progress on a daily basis now. “That’s a great idea. She’s going to be so excited when I tell her.”Our second order of tacos interrupted our conversation and we both dug in. Almost as soon as we were done eating, Marissa let out a little yelp when she saw the time and rushed back to the office to finish a report she promised to get over to one of the
Asking for a Friend Baking
MARISSAGetting home on Friday afternoon, I found Denise and Annie baking cookies in the kitchen. There was flour on every surface, a half melted block of butter next to the microwave, several mixing bowls filled with batter and a bag of chocolate chips on the counter.But it also smelled divine in the house, so at least that was something. I grinned when I found them wearing the novelty aprons I got them for Christmas last year. Denise’s said ‘Queen of Everything’ and Annie’s read, ‘The Remix.’ The one I got for myself read ‘The Original.’ Annie’s and mine were meant to be worn together, so I immediately got mine out of the cupboard and joined in with making the mess.“How was your day, ladies?” I asked, tying the apron’s strings behind my back.Denise cast an eye across the kitchen and jerked her head in the direction of the oven. “We’ve been baking, so it’s been great. We’ve got bran muffins, chocolate chip cookies and oat-crunchies made so far.”“Who was hungry when you got home?”
Asking for a Friend Being Nosy
MARISSADenise stuck her tongue out at me when Annie wasn’t looking and pulled a tray of cookies out of the oven. While I transferred them to the cooling rack, she went to work getting the next batch in. “You know you were curious, too. Besides, I’ve asked him those questions now, I’m not going to ask them again.”“I can think of a few questions you haven’t covered yet,” I teased. Heaven knew, I shuddered to think what she would come up with given half a chance. His underwear size, current bank balance or the phone numbers of his best friends for references came to mind.Denise seemed to know where my thoughts had gone, because she nodded her agreement. “I could be more subtle with the next round of questions.”“Unfortunately,” I winked at Annie. “We’re keeping my dear boss all to ourselves tomorrow. Sorry. We’re going to have our own party with only the three of us being invited.”Annie cheered at that, abandoning her cookie batter in favor of coming to hug me. “I think that’s a fabu
Asking for a Friend Stubborn Mother
LAYTONWhistling cheerfully, I stepped out of the shower. I was due to leave for Marissa’s in twenty minutes and I couldn’t wait to see her and spend some more time with her and Annie.As unlikely as it seemed, I was more excited for the day than I had been for anything in a long time. It sucked that I wouldn’t get to kiss or hold Marissa, or really even touch her while Annie was around, but I was willing to suffer through that particular brand of torture if it meant getting to spend time with them. I told myself there would be plenty of time for all the touching I wanted to do later on. Eventually, I was sure Marissa would feel more comfortable with telling Annie about the true nature of our relationship. All I had to do was be patient.Patience was something I had in spades. I had to learn how to be patient working in the industry that I’d chosen to work in. Having to wait for a building to take shape from the first meeting with a client until the eventual ribbon cutting taught me h
Asking for a Friend I Know Him
LAYTONI was mesmerized by his telling me about my mom. I couldn’t remember hearing him talk about her once. Leaning forward, I got even closer to the screen as I absorbed every word he spoke. “The day I met her, I knew she was special. She wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met before. It would be lying to tell you that I knew it was love. I didn’t. Love doesn’t work that way, at least not for me. All I knew was that I wanted more of her. I wanted to know what made her tick and how she could be so bubbly when she’d been through so much before she even met me.”What? I hadn’t known my mom had gone through anything before she met my dad. On the off occasion I allowed myself to really think about her, I’d not given it more thought beyond acknowledging that she’d had a life before she met him. Everyone did. I’d never thought there would be anything sinister in it, though.“I don’t know how much you remember about your mom, but I imagine it’s not much. The thing is, Layton, by now you’ve already
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