Chapter 18
Tori
The next week saw me with a better mood than I’d had in ages. Not only had I been talking to Ross every night that he wasn’t working, and we’d even had a hot phone session, this time through video chat, but we’d made plans to hook up again soon.
Even though neither of us had committed to a relationship, I was confident we were well on our way to having one. I had even bragged to Jackie about us, telling her all about the night I’d finally lost it, which was a discussion she and I had waited for ages for.
“It was perfect,” I said to Jackie as I drove across town for lunch. We liked to leave campus at least three days a week for a decent meal and were debating where to go. We had a good hour and a half to burn since I was using part of my conference time.
“You think everything is perfect, Tori.” This time I wasn’t referring to sex with Ross, but to the salad, I’d had for lunch the week before.
“It was. You’re just mad I don’t want to go to Grayson’s again.” She’d wore me out on the new Deli in town, and we’d debated on whose salads were the best.
“It’s my favorite, and you can’t tell me that iceberg salad was better.”
“I like it, but we need to decide on a compromise because neither of us is going to give in and I need to go pick up a birthday gift for Katie. Can you believe her party is Saturday and this is the first I’ve heard about it?”
“That’s kind of strange if you ask me. Are you sure he wants you to go?”
“I’ve got an invitation.” I opened my purse and took out the pink glittered card and passed it to her.
“This was written by Katie, not her father. Do you think he knows about it?”
“I think he was just letting her surprise me. He’s like that with her. He likes to let her be responsible. She probably had it in her bag for days and only just remembered.” I couldn’t see a reason Ross would have kept it from me otherwise, and things had gone so well between us that I was determined to think positive thoughts.
“Let’s go to Burn’s Kitchen. I love their soups.”
“The soup is okay, but their plate lunches are no better than the school cafeteria’s.” The place had to be operated by people without taste buds, and I’d had nursing home food more flavor.
“Come on, I’ll let you pick next time, and we can even go to the Salad Emporium again.” I was going to give in, but only because it was much easier to drive to Burn’s in lunch hour traffic. We pulled into the parking lot and were headed across to the building when I spotted someone familiar out of the corner of my eye at the hotel parking lot which butted up against the one for Burn’s.
A man who looked an awful lot like Ross wearing a hat and sunglasses was headed from the lot to the hotel with a young woman walking briskly beside him. They looked as though they had business together, but then he put his arm around her waist, and when they got to the door, he held it open. I froze.
“What’s the matter with you?”
“I thought I saw someone.” I wasn’t sure it was him or if my eyes were playing tricks on me. I had daydreamed about him so much that I saw him everywhere. “Let’s hurry and get our order in.”
“I’m not sure you should go to that party, Tori. I still think that Katie made that invite for you and what if Ross isn’t expecting you?” My stomach lurched thinking that if it were him I saw, what if he was seeing someone else and she was there? Perhaps I was only Katie’s preference and not Ross’.
I pushed back the thoughts. “I can’t let Katie down. Besides, I’ll hear from Ross later, and I’ll mention it.”
“Why not message him now?” I thought of doing so the minute I thought I saw him with someone else, but I couldn’t message him out of the blue when I knew he spent his days in interviews. He’d told me he had an important meeting about a job. Maybe he’s going to be a hotel manager?
I pushed the thought out of my head as I placed my order and waited for Jackie. We took a seat at the nearest table and waited for our food.
Against my better judgment, I let my curiosity get the best of me. “I guess I could.” I pulled out my phone and dialed, but there was no answer. “He’s probably in a meeting for work.”
We had our lunch and talked more about what to get Katie. I had a few ideas based on what the kids at school were all into and knowing that Katie loved to read.
Burn’s took longer than expected and we’d already burned a good hour there. “Do you think we could head to the bookstore? Do we have enough time?” I checked my phone for the time and noticed there was a text from Ross that read: Interview starting call u when it’s over. It was from two minutes before, and I let the nervous feelings subside.
“Ross is in an interview. He said he’ll call me when he’s—
I looked up, and there he was. He had been the man from earlier with the woman and as he stood there holding the door to the car open, his pants not quite tucked in, and her lipstick and hair mussed, my face turned pale.
Jackie looked up and saw him too. I’d shown him to her at the school one morning when he’d come through the line, and she’d seen the selfie he’d taken for his contact photo.
“Wait, isn’t that him?” Jackie motioned in his direction, and Ross put his head down after giving me an apologetic look and got in his car without saying a word. My mouth hung open, and I didn’t quite know what to do as my heart was beating out of my chest.
“Yeah, that was him. And as far as I can tell, he wasn’t in any interview.” I’d seen him go into the hotel the hour before, and it only made sense the two of them had engaged in some sort of sex act. My lunch threatened to reappear as bile rose in my throat.
“See, you need to stay away from that party, Tori. He’s playing you. If he’d wanted you to go, he’d have said something. From what you told me about the fish incident, I’d say someone is trying to play matchmaker for her daddy. He probably saw an opportunity and jumped on it. Be careful.”
I had to admit that he wasn’t interested in me until he’d found out I was a virgin and then he was all over me. But I wasn’t going to let him get away with it so easily. I was going to make him explain it to me face to face. I was going to that birthday party.
“I’ll be careful. Don’t you worry.” I walked around to the passenger side of my car and passed her the keys. I couldn’t drive. I couldn’t think about anything but how I’d been so foolish.
I watched him drive away with the woman, and though his face remained stone-like as if he were fighting back some kind of urge, perhaps the urge to tell me to fuck off, the woman next to him smiled. It was the same smile I’d had on my face after my first time.
We headed to the bookstore, and I bought Katie an electronic reader that was on sale, and though Jackie said it was too much, I knew it was the perfect gift. I was going to take it out and load it up with free children’s books as soon as I got back to class.
Jackie was angry the entire way back to school, and I knew it was because she was worried about me. “You can’t seriously be going to that party. What if that woman is there?”
“I’m going for Katie. She’s bound to be heartbroken if I don’t go.” I didn’t want her to feel the same way I did. Like her heart was being ripped free from her chest over and over again.
I spent the rest of the day with my class being a bit more quiet than usual. Katie came up to my desk to sharpen her pencil. “Mr. Bloom, are you coming to my party?”
“Of course, I am, Katie. Did you do the invitations all by yourself?” I wanted to pry a little if I could.
“No, ma’am. Mia and Daddy helped me.” She lifted her chin with pride and smiled. I remembered he’d said that Mia was the babysitter—or was she?
“Well, they are beautiful; you did a great job on them.” I gave her a sweet smile, and she hurried off to her desk. My heart fell to my gut like a stone, and I glanced at my phone. There were no new messages. I doubted I’d hear anything from him until the party.
I spent the rest of my afternoon getting Katie’s books loaded, and I had created an account for her using the password: two fish. I wrapped her present with the funny papers, which was something my aunt had always done and I thought of how wonderful it would be to have a daughter like Katie. Someone to wrap presents for all the time, someone to spend a holiday and go shopping with and care for. I guess a small part of me had hoped to be more to Katie too. She was a bright child and as sweet as they come—everything you’d want in a daughter. But that would never be. It was a stupid fantasy, and I’d have to get used to the fact that it wasn’t meant to be.