Love at First Spark

9 | September: The Date

We finally had a break about a month into school. Labor Day. Talk about a good holiday to have off. After all of the hard work us teachers had put in with our kiddos, this 3-day weekend was well deserved. One evening when I was sitting on my couch watching tv, Eloise walked over and stood in front of me, her arms crossed over her chest.

I hit the pause button. "What's up, El?"

"That puppy dog boy toy of yours keeps pacing outside our apartment," she said. "At first I thought it was kinda cute, but he's been there for like twenty minutes. It's getting a little weird now."

I frowned. "What?"

Eloise rolled her eyes. "Yeah. The guy from the bar with the daughter who's in your class? He's outside. With flowers."

I jumped up and ran to the window. Sure enough, Braden was walking around holding a bouquet. "What's he doing here?"

"Probably wants to see you," Eloise replied. "Although he should know better considering the way he's already gotten onto my bitch list."

A laugh sputtered from my lips. "Your bitch list? Like, the one we used to make about all those mean girls in middle school?"

El nodded. "Yeah. I told him not to hurt you and what does he do? He goes and keeps the fact that he has a daughter from you." She spread her hands out in front of her as if this made her point clearer. "Bitch list."

I shook my head in disbelief. "He's probably scared of you, El."

"As he should be." She fished the remote from the sofa then nudged me. "Go deal with him. You know you want to."

"You say that as if he's a nuisance," I muttered but went to pull on a sweater before hurrying outside to meet him. As I got closer, I realized he was murmuring something to himself, as if rehearsing a speech over and over again.

"...and I really, really want us to—"

"You know some people would get the wrong idea seeing somebody pacing outside an apartment complex like this," I called out.

Braden chuckled, turning around. "I, uh, I wanted to call you but I didn't exactly know what to say. So I somehow just ended up here."

I crossed the path to meet him, the damp grass soaking through my shoes. "Why are you here, Braden? You know we can't...you and I can't happen."

"I know. I do. It's just that I can't stop thinking about what we could've been," he said. "Or could still be."

I sighed. "Neither can I. But Braden, your ex is suspicious of us. She almost pegged us at the parent-teacher night and all we did was talk. So if she catches us together even casually, she could out us, especially because she is president of the school's board. And I can't afford to lose my job."

Braden shook his head. "Linda is like that. Her bark is worse than her bite."

"Are you defending her?" I crossed my arms over my chest. It was half from the cold, but mostly from the fact that Braden was clearly still hung up on his ex."

"Not at all. If it weren't for Lucy, she and I would've cut ties long ago." He ran a hand through his hair. It was damp as if he'd just taken a shower. Or had a swim.

I bit my lip. I wondered what kind of soap he used. From here, my nose detected hints of lavender and maybe honey? Something sweet for sure.

"Amelia." Braden's voice snapped me back to attention where I realized my gaze had wandered away from his face and down his body. His lips twitched into a smile. "My eyes are up here, you know."