Impress Me Not: The Handyman

Chapter 66

"So, let me get this straight," Maya said. "You went over to his baby mama's house before, watched over her kid, and Niko didn't tell her?"

"Not a word," Solomon told her. "And don't call her his baby mama. That's rude."

"What else am I supposed to call her?" Maya said. "His surrogate?"

"I don't think that term exactly fits," Solomon frowned. "Her name is Matilda."

"Yeah, you already told me," Maya rolled her eyes. "It's kind of cool that she's got a movie named after her."

"It's not named after her," now it was Solomon's turn to roll his eyes. He had just picked her up from school and he really needed to talk about this to someone. It just so happened that Maya was right next to him for him to talk to. "Anyway, we're getting off track here."

"Why didn't he tell her that you came to babysit?"

"I have no clue."

"Sounds sketchy," Maya slitted her eyes. "I'm gonna call him and ask."

"No!" he tried to snatch the phone away from her. The last thing he needed was to bring him into this. It had already been settled, and Matilda, thankfully, wasn't completely pissed off at him. He didn't need to keep this thing going.

"Okay, fine!" Maya laughed as they fought for the phone. He was lucky that the road was dead around where they were. He had decided to snake through some neighborhoods to avoid traffic. It was always bad on Fridays.

"Look, it's already been settled."

"Then why are you still talking about it?"

"Because," he sighed. "I just thought it was weird. He always tells me everything. And he can't tell the woman who had his child that there was someone else at her house that night?"

"Maybe he was worried that she would yell at him?"

"Probably," he shook his head. They parked in their usual parking lot and got out of the car. "All I know is now I have a whole dinner to get ready for last minute."

"Where's it going to be at this time?"

"Her house."

"What's it look like?" Maya seemed full of questions today.

"It's pretty cozy, actually," he smiled just thinking about it. "It reminds me of grandma's house."

"Really?!"

"Yeah," he told her. Maybe he'd try and look for a house like that sometime. He always wanted to eventually have a house of his own. There was a point in time where he lived with Somner's dad, after he apologized. He always came off as the most strict and brutal, but he truly wound up being the most understanding person when he finally apologized to Somner. The two still brought out the worst in each other though.

The headaches were worth it.

As much as he wished he could have a little house of his own, though, he never wanted to live alone. The thought of Maya eventually moving out, even to live in a dorm, still terrified him. He had never lived alone a single day of his life. And there had been days where even being alone was crippling.

There wouldn't be any chance of getting Niko to move in with him. He lived in a mansion, and Solomon doubted he would ever want to give that up. Niko had been spending a lot of time over at his house, but that was just because Solomon didn't want to go over to Niko's all the time. No matter whether he was dating or not, he was going to take care of Maya.

No. Niko probably wouldn't want to move to just a simple house like that with him. He'd probably wind up living alone.

"Hey Solomon?" Maya interrupted his thoughts.