Walking on Sunshine: A Sweet Love Story (Seasons of Love Book 1) (11 page)

“Hey, sorry I'm late, hit every red light here,” he said with a smile, running a hand through his hair. I tried my best not to make eye contact.

“Not a problem.” I waved my hand dismissively, even though I knew I was going to be late to work. I had this strange idea that if I looked at him, Ben would know something was up.

I grabbed my keys and kissed Ben on the head. “I'm out of here. Bye, Ben,” I said, walking quickly and avoiding Cee's gaze. I knew I was blushing, and the last thing I wanted was to discuss our kiss, or anything remotely close to it, in front of Ben. So instead, I just took off running for work.

***

I
t was the Friday from hell. I didn’t know if it was the lack of sleep, or the fact that every muscle in my body ached from sleeping on a cramped couch, but I was not a happy camper. I was too old to do that. I made a mental note that I needed to add pillows to that couch. It didn't help that I was crazy busy. I was ready to yank my hair out by lunchtime. The only thing that kept me sane was the reminder it was Friday, and that I replayed that kiss on the cheek.

He had kissed me. I had kissed him. What was going on between us?

I was having a late lunch of a vending machine sandwich when my cell started buzzing. It was Richard. I prepped myself for a fight.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Jes, I'm sorry to bother you at work. I was wondering if it would be possible to take Ben this weekend? I know it isn’t my weekend, but I would love to take him to a professional lacrosse game and spend some quality time with him,” Richard asked.

I was shocked. He was actually being civil with me over the phone. “Um... sure, not a problem. I think Ben would love it. I'll call Cee and let him know that you will be over to pick him up. What time are you thinking? Five?” I asked. Maybe he really was turning over a new leaf in regards to his son.

“Five works perfect.” Richard hung up the phone.

I sat there for a moment, trying to think about what I should do next. Before my mind had finally decided on what to do next, I got a call on my cubicle phone.

“Hi, Jes, this is Steve. I was wondering if you had sent over the reports that I asked for last week?” Steve asked. My stomach dropped. I could feel the panic start to make my heart to beat out of my chest. I had forgotten about the report. I filed it away early last week and hadn’t done it yet.

“Hi, Steve. Yes, I remember seeing it. I'll send it to you shortly. I think my email might have corrupted the file,” I lied. I knew I could send it to him before too long. I would rather fib then have to deal with being reprimanded, particularly with how awful this day has been.

“Oh, no problem. That's been happening to me too. Just try and get it to me before end of business today. Thanks!” Steve hung up the phone.

I looked at my watch to see it was one o'clock. I quickly opened my email and started creating the spreadsheet, thinking only of keeping my job and forgetting that I needed to call Cee about Ben.

F
inished.
I saved it and clicked send. The clock said it was almost four o'clock. I let out a breath. That was a close one. I only had a half hour left till I got to end my day and see Ben.
Ben
. He was going with his Dad for the weekend and I had forgotten to tell Cee. I grabbed my phone, pressed my speed dial and waited for it to connect.

“Hi, Jes,” Cee answered smoothly. The way he said my name sent a shiver up my spine and I instantly thought of waking up beside him.

“Hi, Cee. I'm so sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner, but Ben’s dad called me. He wanted to take him for the weekend, and I said he could, so he’ll be there at five.” I pressed my fingers into the bridge of my nose, trying to make my brain keep everything straight. It was hard, though, remembering the quick kiss from this morning.

“Not a problem. Glad he took our advice seriously.”

“Could you please help him pack a bag for the weekend?” I asked. “He has his lacrosse game tomorrow and he is also going to a professional lacrosse game as well.”

“Sure, not a problem. I'll help him pack now. We were just making dinner.”

“Don’t worry about finishing it,” I said. “I can just eat take-out tonight since it will just be me.”

“Okay. Please don't pick up anything. We'll see you in a little bit.” He hung up the phone. I was unsure if it was just me, but he sounded a little disappointed. I shook it off as I gathered up my stuff and headed out the door. I wanted to be able to catch Ben before he left.

As I pulled up to the house, I saw Richard’s gleaming BMW. He always kept it in such pristine condition. I always used to joke that he loved that car more than me. As I looked at how beautiful he kept it and how he let our relationship fall into the mud, I knew it was true. Ben, Richard, and Cee were all standing at the door as I came up the driveway.

“Thanks for letting me go with Dad this weekend,” Ben said as he beamed at me. I knew he was excited to spend time with his Dad, and I was glad that Richard had kept a promise. Maybe this was the first step to helping Ben get his father back.

“You have fun, and don’t stay up too late tonight. Remember you have a game in the morning. I'll see you there tomorrow.” I bent down and kissed him. He grimaced, and I knew he thought mom kisses were “uncool”.

I nodded toward Richard and turned to watch them get into his car. It had been months since Richard took Ben for an overnight. I grinned at the thought of the sudden freedom. I could go order some sushi, which Ben hated, and watch some of my trashy TV.

Richard's car purred to life and the two of them disappeared out of the driveway. I turned toward the door and saw Cee staring at me. He rapidly looked away.

“How was your day?” Cee asked, leading the way inside and holding the door open for me.

“Not too bad, just ridiculously busy. Glad to be able to put my feet up and take it easy.”

I walked through the door and was met by the most amazing aroma I had ever smelt. I set my bag down gently, inhaling deeply.

“What is that smell?” I asked, looking around. I half expected a chef to be standing in the kitchen.

“You like it? It was going to be your and Ben’s dinner. I guess now it's just yours. Ben wanted to make something special for you because you've been at your job for a month.” Cee motioned to the kitchen. “He recruited me to cook. He was even willing to try something new. I was surprised to hear him give up his preferred menu of chicken fingers. He came up with most of the choices, actually.”

I looked at the kitchen. I saw a fresh green salad with fruits and nuts in it, and vinaigrette on the side. There was a bowl of mashed potatoes with a giant slice of butter sitting in it, scallops wrapped in bacon propped up on a plate, and something boiling in the pot. The light of the oven was also on.

Cee continued. “For dinner tonight, we made garlic mashed potatoes, a berry almond salad, and scallops wrapped in bacon. The main dish is crab with melted butter.” He pulled the pot lid off the pot and let the steam escape.

My jaw was on the floor. I couldn’t believe he had made all of this. The oven dinged, indicating something else was done cooking.

“What’s in there?” I asked, wondering what other amazing thing he had created.

“Oh, I forgot about that.” He opened the oven and pulled out a cookie sheet with chicken fingers on it. “While I went shopping with Ben, he said he would eat everything I made,” Cee explained, placing the pan on the counter to cool. “I doubted it, though, so I made him some chicken strips so he wouldn’t go hungry. I know kids and seafood- they don’t mix sometimes.”

I laughed. I couldn’t believe Ben had been so thoughtful that he would try new foods for me. I knew how much he didn’t like seafood, even though I did. It was moments like this that I knew I was doing something right.

“I'll let you go at it. You can stuff yourself silly.” He finished pulling the two crabs out from the boiling water, put them on a plate, and brought them to the table.

My kitchen table was set for a queen. There were spoons, knives and even crab breakers. I could tell Ben had tried to make the napkins fancy, like they do in restaurants, but they had turned into more of a folded ball. In the middle of the table were yellow roses in a clear vase, and candles. I laughed when I saw them. They were giant round glass ones that I kept in my bathroom, dusty from misuse, and of the more fragrant variety.

Cee followed my gaze when I giggled. “Ben said it wasn’t fancy unless there are candles. These were the only ones that he could find.” Cee chuckled as he brought over the crab. “I'm not sure that ‘Very Vanilla’ and ‘Tropical Dream’ really set the mood for dinner, though.”

I looked, at the feast laid out before me. There was no way I could eat this all.

“Would you like to stay with me? I mean stay and have dinner with me?” I blurted out. “I know you usually have plans, but there is no way I can even attempt to eat all of this food by myself. I could try, but then you would get a call letting you know your employer exploded.” I gazed at him, trying to not look to hopeful.

He laughed and checked his phone. “Sure, let me check real quick. I'll make a call.” He walked into the other room. I perked up my ears to try and hear something without being an obvious ease-dropper. For as much time as we spent together, or that he spent with my son, I really didn't know much about him.

“Hey, how are you doing...? Well, I wanted to see if we were still on for dinner tonight? No? You are going to watch a movie with your friends... yeah that is fine... you deserve a night to relax and have some... yeah, I'll see you tomorrow night. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Cee hung up the phone and turned back to me, his footsteps alerting me to his presence. I quickly made myself look busy by organizing the table.

“It looks like my plans were canceled as well,” he said with a grin. “I can partake in the spread. Would you like some wine?”

“Sure, there’s a bottle of Moscato I have stashed in the cupboard. We'll just have to put in some ice cubes in it.”

“I already grabbed it and stuck it in the fridge,” he said, looking a little sheepish. “I was searching for your spices, and it almost fell off a shelf and killed me. You really have no organization to your kitchen,” Cee joked.

He strode confidently over to the fridge and grabbed the bottle and two glasses. As he opened the wine, it made that resounding ‘pop’ sound that I loved so much. He carefully poured the clear sparkling liquid into the two glasses.

“Let us feast!” he declared in a loud voice. It made me giggle.

“Wait, we can’t forget these.” I got up from the table and grabbed the plate of chicken fingers still left on the counter. “These really bring class to the whole meal.”

I sat them down on the already overflowing table. I started filling up my plate with heaps of food, motioning for Cee to join in and do the same. He wasted no time, his plate piled high.

Everything looked so good I didn’t know where to start. I wanted to eat it all.

“So, how was shopping with Ben?” I asked as I loaded up my for a first bite.

“It was fun, except Ben wanted to buy ten pounds of King Crab for some reason. He was under the impression that you eat that amount on a daily basis.”

I snorted embarrassingly. “You know, he wasn’t lying by a huge stretch. I entered into a lobster eating contest when I was younger, and yes, it weighed ten pounds with shell on,” I said with a grin. It was a little known fact that I rarely shared with people.

I watched in delight as Cee’s mouth hung agape. It was nice to be on the receiving end of that gesture.

“I was in my early twenties and couldn’t tell when I was full. A gift and a curse.” I smiled and shoveled another heap of mashed potatoes in my mouth, basking the buttery goodness. “Now, I want to know where you learned to cook like this.”

“I've always cooked like this,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders, like his skills weren't worthy of praise. “I just normally don’t show off my gourmet skills because kids like macaroni and cheese, not smoked halibut.” He paused and took another bite of food. “When I was a kid, I helped out by cooking when both my parents worked late. I had to get creative with what we had in the pantry. We didn’t always have the finest ingredients, but I guess I managed a good meal. They never complained.” A smile flashed across his lips at the memory. “As I got older, they let me cook more fancy things when we could afford it. They even let me take some culinary classes at the community center.”

“Why didn’t you go into cooking?” I said in-between bites of scallops. The juice dribbled down my chin. I wiped it away, reminding myself that I was eating with an adult, not my son. A handsome and charming adult. I picked up my knife and cut my next bite smaller.

“I got that lacrosse scholarship to California State University and couldn’t turn it down. My family couldn’t afford to send me to any other school at that time. Besides, I love lacrosse.” He held up his fork and his hand as options. “It was either move to California or stay in my little town and go nowhere.”

“What did you study?” I asked, curious and excited to learn more about him. I had read all of this information on his resume before but, it was different hearing it instead of just reading it on a piece of paper.

“Business. It seemed like the most practical thing at the time.”

“I didn’t see you have a Bachelors listed on your resume?”

“Yeah, I dropped out my senior year and never finished.” He cracked a crab leg, focusing intently as he did it. It made him difficult to read. Was he ashamed of not finishing? Or was it something to do with the reason why he didn't finish? I wanted to probe further but he started talking again.

“I really wasn’t the college type, though. Or maybe I was, and that was the problem. Partied more than studied.” He cracked another piece of crab, using more force than was really necessary. “Finally decided in my senior year that I needed to do my own thing and drop out of school.”

“Oh.” I didn’t want to show my surprise, but I knew my face betrayed me. I never imagined Cee was anything but perfect, like he was now.