CHRIS
The last two weeks have been absolute hell. I never knew there were so many ways to embarrass yourself, but apparently, I’m the new king. I can’t believe I took her to meet my family; clearly that was a great fucking idea.
I’ve only had to stop myself from calling Red twice this morning, so that’s progress I guess. The caveman part of me wants to beat on my chest and claim her completely, but how do I fight for something I may have never had in the first place. I mean, every part of me believed that every part of her felt the same way, but if that were true, she wouldn’t have been able to walk away, right?
The only good thing about this week is its ending and Monday is my court date. Finally, all this shit will be sorted out. Since they’ve been back from Florida, Shayla and I have been splitting our time evenly with MJ. I don’t know what the hell went on in Florida, but she’s been a lot more reasonable. Hopefully her mother knocked some sense into her. Unlike Shayla’s Dad, her mother ruled with a no-nonsense approach to life. Her father believes, Shayla is the queen of the world, but her mother kept her more grounded. I don’t know, hopefully it won’t matter after tomorrow.
I’ve been combating the ‘suck’ by keeping busy fixing up the auto shop. It’s actually coming along great. We’ve completely gutted out the waiting room, updated it for comfort and added an additional fifteen feet to the garage space. At full capacity, we’ll be able to house seven cars at once, which will be great for productivity. We are beginning the interview process Monday for mechanics and if all goes well today with the electrician, we will have the rest of our equipment delivered and open our doors next month. It will be right on time too. Watching my bank account go only in the downward direction is depressing. If we don’t get this thing open, I’ll end up with a day job sooner than later. Oh, and the name, Frog’s Automotive. I originally wanted to name it Michael James Automotive, but he insisted on Frog and my father thought it was catchy. So, Frog’s, it is.
I help Lent, one of the construction workers, carry in two tables and a work station before he goes to assist his foreman with hanging our new glass front doors. After I line the tables against the garage wall, I step back to make sure they are placed evenly, clumsily tripping over a crate of tools and nearly toppling over.
“Fuck!” I yell and kick the crate.
My phone rings in my pocket and that annoys me too. I grab it out and see JJ’s name.
“Yeah?” I answer.
“Hey, man, what’s up?”
“At the shop.”
“Oh. Are you coming by here today?”
“Probably not,” I say, curtly. I’m being a dick but that’s the best I can do right now.
“Are you okay?”
I huff, but I don’t answer.
JJ holds the silence for a beat then speaks up.
“Just go fucking talk to her, man.”
“And say what?”
“I don’t know. Everything. Anything that will stop you from walking around with your dick between your legs.”
I scoff, “Yeah, okay.”
“I’m serious Chris. Handle that shit.”
I look up and see my father walking into the garage.
“Alright. I got to go, I’ll call you later.”
“Okay, later.”
I end the call, but when I go to slide my phone in my pocket, I miss, and it hits the floor.
“Fuck!”
I retrieve my phone, and turn to walk back toward the tables I had been placing, forgetting about the crate of tools at my feet. I trip again, I curse them even louder and kick them even harder.
Fucking hell!
“You’ve been a ball of damn sunshine recently,” my Dad says, entering the space.
I sigh, removing my glare from the crate with the death wish.
He stops in front of me, placing his hands on his hips.
“Worried about MJ?”
“Nah,” I huff, “I harassed Mitch enough. He explained my rights, with my business being here and MJ’s life, school and all that, he thinks things will go in my favor.”
“What do you think?”
“I think the biggest pain is going to be having to deal with Shayla after all of this. She’ll probably throw a fit and find a way to be even more annoying,” I say, dismissively.
“You two have got to figure out how to work together.”
“Yeah,” I sigh.
“Well, if that’s not bothering you, then what is?”
I laugh, “I’m crazy about a girl, I can’t have.”
“Liz?”
I nod.
He frowns, “she seemed really into you.”
“Yeah, well tell her that. When I did she jumped out of my car crying.”
My dad shifts on his feet.
“Why?”
I tell him about our conversation in the car.
“Do you believe that she doesn’t feel the same way?”
“I know she cares for me, but really don’t know what else to do. I poured my soul out to the girl.”
“Come on. I taught you to be a fighter, you can’t give up that easily,” he nudges me.
I run a frustrated hand down the back of my head.
“Tell her how you feel.”
“She knows.”
“Well tell her again until she knows how much, and then afterward show her. The only thing that can be worse than letting her get away, would be feeling like you didn’t fight for it.”
I let out a large breath and nod. Maybe he’s right.
I know he is.
My father’s eyes pierce mine as he stares, cementing his stance. I nod again.
“Thanks Pop,” I say and walk toward the door.
Fuck it. I’m going to her. Why not? Can’t embarrass myself any worse. Even if she turns me away again, Pops is right. I wouldn’t be able to face myself in the mirror if I just walked away from her without a fight. I love her like I’ve never loved anyone and its worth all the humiliation in the fucking world.
Side stepping the guys at the door, I walk quickly toward my car, fishing my phone out of my pocket. I notice then that she texted me earlier, and my heart races. I scroll through my screens in search of her number. Before I can hit send, a blaring horn pulls my attention from my phone as a white car comes to a stop mere feet from where I’m standing.
“Sorry,” I wave and step closer to my car.
The phone rings in my ear as I wait to hear her voice on the other end. In the distance, a car door shuts, and I begin to hear a ring tone bleed over, mingling with the sounds of the receiver.
Liz walks toward me with pained gaze and a ringing phone. Suddenly it feels a lot harder to breath. My heart beats too fast and my mind floods with everything I want to say to her. I could just pull her against me and carry her away, but that is probably the quickest way to end up in jail.
“Can we talk?”
I nod and lead her back toward the building and into my office, shutting the door behind us.
“Sorry. I haven’t had all the furniture delivered just yet,” I say, gesturing for her to sit in the only chair in the room. I don’t know why I felt the need to say that.
“It’s fine. It looks like the place is coming along,” she smiles, peering out window facing the garage.
“Yeah.”
“So listen, Red. I feel like a jackass for shitting all over our… relationship, but I meant every word I said to you in the car. I don’t give a shit about Sean, and I know for a fucking fact that he can’t do to you or make you feel what I can. You’ve shown me your heart every time we’ve touched for weeks now, and it doesn’t get better than us, sexy. Now, I don’t know why you ran off, and maybe I was wrong. Maybe I should have ended things before it got too deep, but now, not giving us a try feels like the worst answer.”
She pulls in a deep breath, and I swallow hard, wiping my palm against my jeans.
“You weren’t wrong, Chris, I was.”
“When I first met you that night in the club, I was lost and hurt. I wanted so badly for the pain to stop, I thought having a fling would take my mind off things. The more we got to know each other, the more my heart started to rip in two. I didn’t expect to feel the way I did when I was with you. I loved Grayson and I loved Sean but with you, things were more. Every touch was more real, and my feelings were out of control intense; unfortunately, the guilt I carried with the way my sister died still owned me. She exhales a jagged breath and my heart hammers as I try to keep up with her.
“If you would have never walked into that club that night, I would have stayed asleep, fighting a made-up battle, thinking I was winning it. I convinced myself that my love for Sean is what fueled my feelings to win him back, when actually it was my love for Della that fueled those feelings in the first place. Fixing things with him felt more like a requirement than a necessity.”
“I’ve been stupid, so, fucking stupid. Your hands are the only ones I want to touch me. It’s your lips I crave after it’s been too long, and it only feels hard to breathe when I’m missing you. I have never felt like this for Sean.”
She takes a deep breath and faces me. “I—I guess what I’m trying to say is… I’ve been so lost in love with you that I don’t even remember falling. I just…”
Her words stop when the kissing starts. I couldn’t hold off any longer. I crash into her and she melts into me. Every bit of tension she has releases as I lose myself again and again in the girl I’m completely in love with. Her smell, her feel, all of her, getting all of me. This was something I never expected, never knew I was missing until I found it. I didn’t know my plan was flawed until she showed me the error, or that my life wasn’t perfect until she was no longer in it. I’ll gladly give this girl my balls and any other fucking part she wants, just as long as I can have her.
I don’t stop kissing her and we don’t break apart for a long time, as if we are making up for every kiss we missed over the last two weeks.
“Wait. So you broke our code too?” I tease.
“After our first kiss, that code didn’t have a chance,” she laughs.
I smile as I hold her against me and watch the light dance in her eyes and I know I never want to let go.
We hold hands as we leave my empty office and enter the garage. My father, who’s talking to Jeff, our electrician, smiles when he sees us. Jeff passes him a paper and walks toward his truck.
“Looks like someone’s in a better mood,” my father says, noting the big ass grin I can’t seem to put away.
“Yeah. So, what just happened? How did everything go?” I ask.
“Great. Just a few quick fixes, but Jeff thinks we should be good to open next month.”
“Perfect.”
“Hello, Liz. It’s great to see you again.”
“Hi, Mr. Preston.”
“Greg,” he says.
“Greg,” she corrects herself, smiling brightly.
My eyes fall to her smile. I plan to do everything I can to keep that smile on her face… to keep the sexy sad girl I met at The Lounge from ever returning.
“Dad, I think we’re going to get out of here. Is that cool?”
“No problem.” He gestures to the Lent and his foreman, who are giving the new door a ‘once over’. “Soon as they’re done, I’ll lock up.”
I nod, and Red says goodbye after agreeing to join my family for dinner tomorrow night. We silently get in the car.
“So how did you know where to find me?” I ask after we’d been driving for a while.
“I went to the house, I had hoped you were there, but JJ gave me the address to the shop. He said he would call to make sure you were still there. Did he?”
I smile. “He did.”
We swing by her apartment so she can pack a bag then stop by a burger joint before heading to my duplex. MJ is with his mother, and I’m happy to have only her to focus on tonight.
“Oh, so, my best friends are in love,” she says, randomly.
“Ros and…”
“TANK! YES!” Her eyes widen.
“How’d that happen?” I laugh at her obvious discomfort.
“God, I don’t know,” she sighs, “it’s so weird, but I’m happy they are happy, I guess. They said it was unexpected, but once it started, they couldn’t make it stop.”
“Hmm.”
“Yeah, I don’t know why they kept it from me.”
“Maybe they were still trying to figure it out?”
“It makes sense though. Tank and my relationship have always been different than theirs. She always seemed funny about the girls he dated. She would never call them by name, only ‘the girl’ or ‘the girlfriend’. I always thought it was just Ros being Ros.”
“I can see how it would make you feel weird though. Have you and Ros been friends with Tank since childhood?”
“No,” she shrugs, “Tank was Grayson’s best friend; we all met in high school.”
“Oh,” I nod.
We talk the rest of the drive to my house. She tells me about how Sean lied and how Tank had found out the truth. I knew the guy was a pussy, but I didn’t realize how much. Fucking awful. She smiles as we pull into my street and I savor the feeling of her hand in mine, barley recognizing what this girl has turned me into but loving every damn second. We don’t stop touching and when we make it to my duplex, I don’t stop touching her for the rest of the night.
With kiss swollen lips and just fucked hair, Red rushes past me in the bathroom as I put the finishing touches on my tie.
“I’m almost ready.”
I watch as she dances her barely dried body into a dress and somehow begins her hair and makeup at the same time. I laugh and move in behind her, lightly kissing the side of her jaw.
“Slow down, sexy. Court doesn’t start for two hours,” I say, between kisses.
“I know babe but there’s breakfast and… and… today is so important,” she huffs.
“You’re right. It is. We’ll grab a quick bagel and a coffee.”
She turns to face me, “but I’m not worried, so neither should you.”
“You’re not worried?” she says, giving me a knowing look.
“No. I’m fucking thrilled. The judge will make it so she will stop shitting all over my time with my son. It will all work out.”
She sighs and nods.
We make it to the court house forty minutes later with bagel in hand as people buzz around us in all directions. I take a deep breath, give Red’s hand a squeeze and begin through the sea of people in search for my lawyer. Mitch approaches up from behind tapping me on the shoulder, sporting a large smile.
I turn to him and exhale a large breath. “Ready to do this?”
Red looks nervous as hell so I give her a reassuring wink and turn my gaze back to Mitch.
“No,” he says.
My brows crease, “What do you mean, no?”
“Follow me.”
We wind through the people and long hallways as I bite my lip praying for patience. When I’m two seconds from stopping Mitch and making him explain, he slows and enters a conference room. I give Red a quick kiss as I leave her to a bench in the hall and follow behind Mitch. Shayla and her father are seated, much like the last time we met, at a very large table with too many chairs. Shayla’s eyes soften when she sees me enter as her father muddles through paperwork.
“What the hell is this Shayla? What are you trying to pull now?”
“Nothing.”
“We need to be downstairs getting seated, why are we up here?” I ask, shooting daggers at both her and Mitch.
“It’s a good thing, Chris,” Mitch says.
“We don’t need court. My father was able to get us off the docket because I agreed to change the terms.”
“No. You can’t just decide that on your own. Mitch what the fuck? Now we’ll have to wait weeks to get in front of another judge.”
“Just listen,” Shayla’s father says.
“I don’t want to fight. If you’ll have it, I want us to share custody of MJ. Physical and legal. We will work together to raise MJ equally, splitting time with him evenly, and I’ll be staying here with you two in Georgia.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
I’m confused as fuck.
“And what about child support?”
“No child support,” she says, quickly.
My confusion deepens and I’m beginning to wonder if I’m fucking dreaming.
“Wait… so just like that?” I say, my eyes bouncing off the three faces in the room.
“Yes, just like that,” Shayla sighs.
Before I can ask more questions, Mitch pipes in and he and Shayla’s father begin their lawyer jargon. My eyes don’t leave Shayla as they cycle paperwork in front of us and we sign.
“What is this about? Why did you change your mind? Was it your mother?”
“No. Actually, it was MJ.”
My brows furrow as I wait for her to continue.
“It was when we were at Disney World. MJ and I had just gotten off a ride and we were waiting for my mother and nephews to finish their ride. MJ sat on a bench to tie his shoe, and he noticed the little girl sitting next to him looked sad. He told her she was at Disney World and she shouldn’t be sad at Disney World. The girl told him she was sad because her daddy was a solider, but he had to go back to work a few days early, so he couldn’t come with her and her mother. My heart broke for the little girl, but MJ smiled and told her that it was okay. “The best daddy’s always want you to have fun, they never want to leave, and they love you everywhere you are.” The little girl nodded and smiled then mother called to her and they left.”
Warmth spreads through me as enormous pride fills my chest.
“I was shocked. I know MJ probably has no idea how much his words may have affected that little girl, but it was amazing. I’m no monster, but, Chris, that was all you. MJ is kind, caring, and sweet; he gets it from his father. You have done an amazing job with him, and I can’t even pretend to take the credit. I made the decision right then that I didn’t want to cause him to have to spend any less time with you if I could. He needs you, he needs both of us. As far as the child support goes, I talked to my father about working at his office. I was lucky that he could set up a receptionist job for me. I still may need your help with MJ financially from time to time, but I think we can work together to figure it out when we get to those moments.”
I’m lost for words as I stare at my ex. Maybe I am dreaming, because if not, it would mean that Shayla is finally growing the hell up. My smile is large, my heart is larger.
“Thank you,” I say, “…for making this so much easier.”
She nods.
“I know we have our issues, but I’ve only ever wanted MJ to have to best of us. It was hard being so young and growing up so fast but that’s not his fault. We can be better for him Shayla. We have to be.”
He eyes become misty this time when she nods, “you’re right.”
I stand, and we hug.
Before leaving, Mitch and I set a meeting to finalize the custody agreement and we all leave. Red stands as soon as she sees me exit the room and smiles.
“So how did everything go?”
“It couldn’t have gone better.” I smile, brightly.
“Alright, so Tuesday?” Mitch says.
I nod. “See you then.”
Shayla and her father exits next, and when Shayla notices Liz she smiles.
“Hello.”
“This is my girlfriend, Liz Thatcher. Liz, Shayla Hunter.”
The girls exchange polite greetings then Shayla follows her father. I let out a breath of relief, happy that nothing weird happened.
“Your girlfriend. I like the way that sounds,” Red says.
“Oh yeah?” I pull her against me. “Well, I love the way it sounds.”
We savor the rest of the day in bliss as I try to figure out how in the fuck I survived so long without this feeling.
Love…
MJ.
Liz.
It doesn’t get any better.