Coffee Date? Part II
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Lottie nodded her agreement, “I guess you’re right.” When January’s phone started ringing, Lottie grinned, “is that him calling to say he’s freaking out over skunks?”
“No.” January gave a grin, “Darwin’s Dad.” She nearly laughed as Lottie jumped up and down. She cleared her throat and answered the phone, “Ernst. How are you?”
“Hello January. I am fine. Thank you for asking.”
Lottie made a face at the very formal tone of the man on speaker and pulled her head back, gesticulating wildly at January to end the call.
January rolled her eyes at her friend’s silliness. “What can I do for you, Ernst?”
“Darwin came home from school this afternoon quite
distraught. There is a rumor going around the school she was kidnapped and he asked me to call and make sure she is not.”
“She is not kidnaped at all, Ernst. She is home right now.” She took a breath, “her biological father in a completely serendipitous event, wandered into my shop yesterday with his sister. He discovered the existence of his child and demanded to/spend time with her. I stayed with them last night___ ensure3 their first night didn’t leave her feeling overwhelmed or scared
Second Chance for the Mafia Prince
Coffee Date? Part II
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Lottie nodded her agreement, “I guess you’re right.” When January’s phone started ringing, Lottie grinned, “is that him calling to say he’s freaking out over skunks?”
“No.” January gave a grin, “Darwin’s Dad.” She nearly laughed as Lottie jumped up and down. She cleared her throat and answered the phone, “Ernst. How are you?”
“Hello January. I am fine. Thank you for asking.”
Lottie made a face at the very formal tone of the man on speaker and pulled her head back, gesticulating wildly at January to end the call.
January rolled her eyes at her friend’s silliness. “What can I do for you, Ernst?”
“Darwin came home from school this afternoon quite
distraught. There is a rumor going around the school she was kidnapped and he asked me to call and make sure she is not.”
“She is not kidnaped at all, Ernst. She is home right now.” She took a breath, “her biological father in a completely serendipitous event, wandered into my shop yesterday with hist sister. He discovered the existence of his child and demanded to/spend time with her. I stayed with them last night ensureз their first night didn’t leave her feeling overwhelmed or scared
Coffee Date? Part II
but today they are having their first time alone.
“How do you feel about this turn of events?”
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Lottie mimed his words and was doing a robot type dance and January threw a small rock off her table at her.
“I’m surprisingly okay. I mean, I’m still angry. He and I did not end on a good note, and I still harbor a lot of rage at him for
his lies but seeing him with her, I know he’ll be a good father to her.”
“Are you going to rekindle your romance with him?”
“Rekindle?” Lottie mouthed at her and sneered.
January flipped her off, “no. It is not my intention to rekindle anything with him. He is getting a second chance to know his child, but I am not part of the equation.”
“Why not?” He paused, “I apologize. You don’t need to tell me.”
“Do you really want to know, Ernst or are you simply being polite.”
“I do want to know. I want to be sure you are okay. Our children are best friends.”
2/6
12:34
Coffee Date? Part II
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“Would you like to grab a coffee with me?” January asked boldly. “I could really use someone who can look at this situation objectively and give me some pointers or their objective opinion. Would you be open to meeting with me?”
“Yes!”
The way he blurted the word out so quickly made Lottie freeze and then make a heart shape over her chest.
“Though,” he choked out a bit, “I don’t know if I could be objective.”
“No? Why not?” she watched as Lottie was chewing her nails exaggeratedly in excitement.
“You are the mother of my son’s best friend, and I consider you a friend. I am not great with the vernacular of the younger kids, but I believe the saying I have your back still means the same as when I was a kid in school.”
“It does and that means a lot to me Ernst.”
“At the risk of sounding very pushy, I am working the next four days twelve–hour shifts. My mother is coming here in about an hour or so. She stays at my place when I’m on my four twelves to make sure Darwin gets to and from school and I get sleep because often my twelves are sixteens. Would you be open to 3/6 meeting for coffee later this afternoon?”
12:34
Coffee Date? Part II
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“I would like that very much. As I said, Kaylee is with her father for the afternoon. They are playing with more baby skunks she found in my parents‘ back garden. A veterinarian friend of his is coming to health check the critters. I do not want to be anywhere near it.”
“Do you want to have coffee in the café, or would you like to get it to go and go for a walk?”
“A walk and a talk sound really nice. I’d like that, Ernst.”
“Excellent. I can meet you there in ninety minutes?”
“Lovely. I’ll see you there.”
She ended the call, and Lottie gave a squeal, “oh my god, you slick bitch!”
“I had no idea he was interested in me. If I’d know, I’d have asked him out a long time ago. He’s really quiet but he’s very attractive. Those horned rimmed glasses are sexy as hell. I never let myself consider it because I’ve been trying to lay low and not forge strong relationships with anyone because I thought I was hiding from the mob. Now,” January shrugged with a big smile, “I feel like I’ve been given free reign to actually live a little. I can do what I want. I can go where I
want.”
4/6
12:34
Coffee Date? Part II
“Okay, but your ex is still a mobster.”
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“Who told me that he’s going to make sure we’re safe and not in danger and he’s going to respect my need for space and not interfere if I’m dating.”
“He doesn’t mind you dating?”
“Oh, he minds.” She snort laughed, “but I don’t care if he minds. He has it in his head that I’ll go out with someone and find them incredibly lacking and be desperate for him. Instead, I feel like that kid in the movies that gets left alone for the first time and gets to go crazy. Gulliver was my first lover, but he doesn’t need to be the last one.”
“My first lover was my son’s father and now I’m gay.” Lottie grinned. “Too bad Gulliver didn’t turn you completely off men.”
January laughed at Lottie’s words. “No. I still like men. I still like dick. I just don’t want the one attached to that particular man. I’m hoping that now that I can live out in the open, my life will be freer.”
“I hope that for you too. Now, let’s do something about the rat’s nest on the top of your head. I’m all for the au–naturel look but you’re taking it to a whole new level with that. You should at least brush your hair before meeting Ernst for 576 coffee.”
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Coffee Date? Part II
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As January felt the titter of excitement coating her nerves, she refused to let her mind drift back to the man with the sad eyes who’d regarded her at the kitchen table today. It was her time to live.
6/6
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