Coffee Date Part II
“You’re in witness protection?”
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“Not anymore. I was. By the time everything settled, Darwin was thriving in school. He has his best friend. I have a damn good career at the hospital, and I can do a lot of work with the bigger hospitals remotely. I also found I really like small town living. Most of the people here don’t interfere in my business. My mother is nearby and happy to pop in at a moment’s notice. It’s a good life out here.”
“What happened?” she asked curiously.
“I was married. My wife had just had Darwin. She was shot. I was witness to it. She survived but the problem wasn’t the shooting but rather the reason behind it. She was cheating on me. Darwin is biologically mine, DNA proved it, but she was screwing around with a guy who was some kind of drug lord. She got shot during a drug and money exchange and I saw the whole thing go down. I have an affinity for details, being a scientist and all. I could recall with stunning clarity everything from the color of the shooter’s eye to the mole on her lover’s cheek.”
“Wow.”
“Darwin and I were whisked away from Los Angeles here2:34
Coffee Date Part II
“You were from LA?”
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“Right?” he gave a laugh. “I mean what I say when I tell you I like this small–town life way better. Anyway, it took three years before it went to trial. I went, testified, and watched them both get locked up. He was the leader and when he went down, his entire racket went down with him. I got sole custody of my son, and she got twenty–five years for drugs, murder, and all kinds of other things.”
“Murder?”
“Mm, her lover shot the man who shot her and then she took the gun from her lover. She was involved.”
“Crazy.”
“It was. So yes, I know what it’s like to have the government telling you to keep you head down.”
“Except it was lies. They actually had my entire house, phones, cars bugged. Also,” she looked at him curiously, “they were pulling Kaylee out of class to interrogate her. Gulliver had them fired in minutes when we found out.”
“He has clout then?”
Like I said, he’s a billionaire.”
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Coffee Date Part II
“How did you meet?”
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“I went to school with his sister. She’s quite upset I haven’t automatically forgiven her for her role in his duplicitous game.”
He gave a nod, “why did you ask me out for coffee?”
“I have the chance to live again. Kaylee mentioned that Darwin’s dad wanted to ask me out but was too shy,” she smiled as his cheeks burned red, “and I thought, I wasn’t going to waste one more minute of my life hiding. You called. I asked you out. I don’t know how this will go. I don’t know if we’re ever going to be more than the parents of two exceptionally wonderful children. I do know that I’m tired of living in shadows and pretending I’m okay with being alone.”
“Do you still love him?”
She contemplated the blunt question, “I love the version of the man I thought he was, if that means anything. He literally faked a wedding where my father gave me away and his sister was my bridesmaid. That kind of destroyed everything I believed him to be. The man though who brought me tea in bed every morning, was my first lover and begged me to have a family with him, that man, I think will always hold a part of my heart. The truth though, the man I know he actually is, the kind of man who would lie and scheme just to get what he wants, to encourage me to get pregnant thinking I wouldn’t
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Coffee Date Part II
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leave him if I found out the truth if we were tied with a child, that man,” she shook her head, “I’m having a hard time not hating that man.”
“That’s fair.”
“How did you meet your wife?”
“We met in college. I was studying sciences. She was studying law. We were both very studious people. I was quiet and she was loud and vivacious. Opposites attract. The man she was involved with was a client of the law firm where she worked. I
was new in my role as a Doctor of Laboratory Medicine and so money was tight. She used me for a full year as a cover and I didn’t know. When she got pregnant, she broke it off with him for a few months but then eventually they got back together. I knew she was cheating but I needed the proof. I left the baby with my mother, followed her downtown, and saw her in a shitty restaurant engaged in a drug deal and then I saw her get shot. I’m the one who called the police from my car. Told them everything I saw. The guy she was dating was a big fish so to speak so they kept me and my mother and Darwin safe.”
“You loved her?”
“I did.” He didn’t deny it. “It sure makes trusting anyone hard though, when someone you were with for nearly ten years just chooses to be with a criminal over your good life.”
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Coffee Date Part II
“Did you ever ask her why?”
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“Mm,” he nodded and sipped his coffee. “Turns out I was boring and he was thrilling. He apparently would have sex with her wherever and whenever the mood struck, and I preferred our home in our bed like some kind of freak.”
She giggled at his words, “has Darwin ever met her?”
“No. He knows she’s alive but that she’s away living her own life. When he’s older I’ll give him her name and the location of where she is being held. He can do his own research and decide what he wants to do but for now, he’s too young for such things.” He swallowed, “is he safe with Kaylee if your husband is around?”
“As I said, he’s put so much security on me, I’m surprised Moe isn’t offended. I trust him to keep her safe.”
“You trust him to keep her safe but what about you?”
“He burned that bridge.”
“Do you know what I think?”
“What?”
12:35
“I think, as someone who observes a lot and is good with the finer details in things, you haven’t quite reconciled that the
Coffee Date Part II
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man he is today isn’t still the man he was before you found out he lied, I think when it all lands and you sort out your true feelings; you might surprise yourself.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I’d take a bullet to the head before letting her near my son and you are trusting him with the most precious thing in your life. Deep down, January, you trust him. Regret and bitterness is tainting your heart. For my sake, I hope when you sort it out, you still don’t want to be with him. I like you and I’d like to have a chance to get to know you better, as more than Kaylee’s mom. I’m going to tread carefully though because I’ve had my heart crushed once before. I’m still not quite ready to do it again.”
