Ronnie
After I finish working for the day, I leave to pick up Amy from school. On the way there, I think about Solomon. He may be married, so I will definitely have to keep my distance. But I can't stop thinking about those gorgeous green eyes and that tousled brown hair. I shake my head. I can't think about him like that. I don't even know him. I pull up into the school and find a parking space. Once I get out of the car, I walk over to where all of the other Kindergarten parents are waiting.
I feel someone come up beside me, and I already know that it's Solomon. I turn to him, "Hi." I know, lame.
"Hey, how was work today?" He inquires.
"The usual. How about yourself?"
"Good. Accomplished a lot." He says vaguely. So much for small talk. I notice a couple of the moms looking at him. Their eyes have hunger in them and I immediately want to warn them off. I try to shake it off as they make their way over to us. When they stop in front of Solomon, I feel him move closer to me. I touch his hand in reassurance.
"Hello, we haven't seen you around here before," a blond bimbo purrs. Because this is a school and not a club, ho.
"Do you have kids in this school?" the red headed one reaches to run her finger down his arm and I feel him jerk back from her, moving closer to me. No, he just likes hanging around schools with small kids you idiot.
A third one comes hurrying over, "I'm Samantha," when he doesn't say anything, she prompts him, "and your name?" They have all completely ignored me up to this point.
"I'm Solomon," he shoves me in front of him, "and this is Ronnie." They all look at me like they just noticed that I was there. Shocking.
The blond recovers first, "I'm Beth and this is Rebecca," she nods in her direction, "Is this your wife?"
"Uh-" he stammers, his hands tightening on my shoulders.
"No we're not, just really good friends. How many children do you have in this school?" I ask.
Beth frowns, "I have three. Seth is in fifth grade, Marie is in third and my youngest Andy is in the kindergarten.
"What does your husband do for a living?" I ask.
She swallows a couple of times before she answers, "He's the Regional Manager for the Safeway stores in the area. She seems to shrink inside of herself a little.
Rebecca steps up next, more confident, "I have two children here, Mason is in fifth grade and Molly is in Kindergarten. I'm not married.
"Oh really, how long have you been divorced?" I ask.
She glares at me, "About six months. It just didn't work out."
"I'm sorry. How long were you married?"
"Ten years," she mumbles. I start to feel Solomon's hands relax some on my shoulders.
"Do you work?" I ask.
"I don't," she glares at me.
I give her concerned eyes, "How do you support yourself? If you need a job, I can help you." She glares at me even harder.
"Are you married?" Samantha says triumphantly.
"I'm not and never have been. I have one daughter in Kindergarten and I'm counsel for my law firm." I tell them honestly. The Grandfathers did give me five-percent of the firm when they retired.
They shrink back some, and then Samantha still asks to my relief, "Are you married Solomon?"
"I'm not," he responds curtly.
"What do you do for a living?" Samantha asks.
"Why?" He asks.
"Uh. Just wanting to get to know you," she tries to purr.
"How many kids to you have?" He asks.
She frowns again, "Five."
He seems to take the cue from me, "Where is your husband?"
"He's at work," she mumbles.
"And what does he do?" His hands start rubbing my shoulders and arms. I feel myself literally start to purr inside. I know he feels the vibrations.
Before she can answer, the bell finally rings and the kids come pouring out. One of the other dads makes his way over to us, "You handled them perfectly, but they will be back. They're vultures. If you want them to stay away from you, then stand over there with us. He points over to an area where there are a few people standing. They wave at us and we wave back.
"Thanks. We'll see you tomorrow," Solomon tells him. I nod in agreement.
When he walks away, I hear my name being called. I look up and the teacher is waving me over. I turn to Solomon before going over there, "It was nice seeing you again. I'll see you later."
He grabs my hand, "Thank you so much for helping me out with those women. I don't like to be rude, so I unfairly thrust you in the middle of it. I'm sorry for that also."
"No problem. It was actually a pleasure. See you tomorrow."
I walk over the teacher, Ms. Snow and greet her. She jumps right into what she needs, "I'm sorry to bother you on the first day of school, but I'm in a pickle. I'm supposed to have two parent helpers per week and both of them bailed on me this week. Amy told me that you work from home and I was wondering if you would be able to just put in two hours a day this week. It would be from one pm to three pm."
I pull out my phone and look at my schedule for the week and find its clear, "I definitely can do it for you."
"Great. Thank you so much. Do you know anyone else who can help also? Another one of the parents?" She asks hopefully.
"I just met some of them today. I may be able to bring my sister-in-law tomorrow and if I come across any parents who can help, I'll ask." I tell her.
"I really appreciate this. Thanks. Amy should be out any second. She volunteered to help me put things away." She runs her fingers through her light brown hair, "I'll see you tomorrow at one." She walks away.
I step back and look around, everyone is gone. I stand at the door for a few minutes before Amy comes blowing out the door, "Hi Mommy! I got to help the teacher today."
I lead her to the car and put her in her booster chair in the backseat of the car, "Really, that's wonderful. I'll be in class with you for the rest of the week, helping out also. Did you make any friends today?"
"I made a few friends, but I really like one girl. Her name is Megyn. She says the she likes me too. We're going to be best friends," she chatters excitedly. I'm glad she's made some friends. She's such an outgoing little girl.
We pull up to home and I help her get her things inside. I have her sit down and give her a small snack and talk to her about her day. After she's finished, I send her upstairs to change clothes and put her things away. While she's doing that, I call Frankie.
"Hey Ronnie," she sounds rushed.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
"Nothing. I was in the kitchen and I left my phone in the living room. So I had to run and look for it when it started ringing. What's up?" She says.
"I need a favor and an ear," I tell her.
"I've got them both. I'm at your service," she tells me. She's always there for everyone. I ask her to help out at Amy's school with me and she agrees, "What are you not telling me right now?"
"I kind of met someone. I met him this morning and then this afternoon." I go on to tell her about him and what happened today.
She listens quietly and then asks the pertinent question, "Are you interested in him?"
"I think so, but the vultures were surrounding him," I tell her.
"And yet, he chose to hide behind you. If he wanted any of them, he would have completely forgotten about you. But he put you front and center. Ask him out." She tells me.
"Like you asked out my brothers?" I counter.
"It's not the same at all. My situation was completely different from yours and you're not shy or unsure of yourself like I was. It was you and my guys who brought me out of it. When I walk into an uncomfortable situation now, I ask myself, 'What would Ronnie do?' every single time. It's what gets me through most situations. So ask yourself, what would you normally do and then do it." She says.
"What if he says no?" I ask.
"Ronnie, you are a gorgeous woman. You make any woman out there look dumpy when they stand next to you. You also have a beautiful personality. He would be an idiot to refuse." Of course, she's always on my side.
"Okay, I'll show him to you tomorrow when we leave the classroom and then we can come up with a game plan for me."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll talk to you later. Love you," she hangs up the phone before I can respond. She's always on the go these days and she hasn't even found a job yet.
Solomon
"How was your first day of school honey?" I ask.
"It was fun! I made a new friend. Her name is Amy. We said that we're going to be best friends." She tells me from her booster chair in the backseat of the car. I didn't even get to see which one is her daughter. The teacher called her over right when the rest of the children left the building. Megyn came straight over to me and it would have looked creepy to hang around and wait for her.
We talk the rest of the way home and when we walk inside of the house, Tyler is waiting for us, "Meggie! How was school?"
I watch them walk away as she hugs him and starts chattering about her day. I look up and Greyson is standing in front of me, "What's going on? I see something happened today."
"I met someone this morning and then again this afternoon," I go on to tell him about Ronnie and what happened today.
After he finished laughing at me for using her as a shield, he got serious, "She really handled them like that? She's a keeper. You need to ask her out."
"I was thinking about it. Maybe she doesn't want to go out with one of her daughter's classmate's parents. It could be uncomfortable if it doesn't work out." I set Megyn's backpack on the table and sit down on the couch behind it.
"If it doesn't, you can still be civil to each other until the end of the school year. It's not rocket science," he makes sure that I'm paying attention before he continues, "You have been raising Megyn since she was born. You've only focused on her all of this time. It's time that you focused on yourself some. When was the last time you got laid?"
When I give him a blank look, he says, "Exactly. You don't even know the last time that happened. We have your back. We've had it since before that little cutie upstairs was born. Figure out what you want for once and make that happen."
Tyler chimes in as he walks into the room, "I agree one hundred percent. Rubbing one out every morning isn't the same as a warm body. Time to get out there and circulate dude."
"Okay, I'll feel her out and see if she's receptive," I agree.
"And if she isn't, one of those shark mom's would do for a one night stand." Tyler jokes. Grey shudders and I laugh.
If only touching her didn't make me feel the way it does.