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Standing in front of the mirror a half hour later, he was slapping aftershave on when his doorbell rang. He looked at his watch; it was almost nine. He pulled sweatpants on to answer. It was Adam Marchand.
“Hey, Adam! Is everything okay?”
“Yes, it’s fine. Can I talk to you?”
Dan stepped aside. “Come in. Are you going to Pam’s party today?”
“No, I’ll have the coffee shop open, but maybe I’ll pop in after it closes. Alison’s mad at me.”
“Ha! Yes, god forbid life go on.”
“So to get to the point. I’m guilty of a faux pas with your girlfriend. It just slipped out that Ryan was Morgan’s dad. She already knew Ryan is Alison’s brother.”
“She called me, up in arms. I’m sorry she’s so narrow-minded. I’m glad for my sake that the situation is coming out now before we get serious.”
“I’m asking for your help in getting her to leave it alone. I have that feeling she might be looking to make trouble for me. I’m ready to fire her if she does.”
Dan looked at the floor, thinking about the situation. “You have every right to fire an employee if they interfere with your personal life. Yesterday, I wouldn’t say that it would be a problem; today I’m not sure.”
“You mean she might retaliate?” Adam asked.
“Yes. I can’t believe I just said that. Lily doesn’t strike me as being the vindictive type. She’s justofftoday.”
“What I’m learning about women since marriage is that hormones play a huge role.”
“Oh god, that’s too funny, Adam. Don’t let any feminists hear you say that. They’ll string you up by the balls.”
“I’m headed home to say hello to the wife, but wanted to confess my stupidity. I even used the wordsbaby daddiesto Lily, and if she repeats that to Alison, I might be found dead.”
“I’ll tell her she needs to keep it confidential or she’ll lose her job.”
“Thank you, Dan. And congratulations. That’s how the whole conversation got started. Lily saying you hadn’t had the conversation yet about your children.”
“Ugh. This is sounding worse and worse,” Dan said. “I might have acted in haste.”
Adam left for home, leaving Dan in a quandary. How could things change so fast from absolute passion to wanting to tell her to take a hike?
“A stiff dick has no conscience,” he mumbled, going back to get dressed.
He’d call Lisa and see if he could come over before going to pick up Lily. Maybe she could shed some light on the problem. Lisa was wise for her years, and he trusted her judgment, secretly hoping she’d tell him to ditch Lily.
“Hey, you busy?” he asked.
“Trying to get your children ready to go to a party is all. What’s up?”
“Can I pop over? I have a dilemma.”
“I saw Adam walking up to your door. Does it have anything to do with Alison?”
“No, not directly. All’s well there.”
“Yeah, you can come over. Ryan will listen to you whine.”
“You’re all heart, Lisa.”
“See you soon.”
“Boys, let me take a look at you,” Lisa said, grabbing a shoulder of each boy, who were wearing T-shirts with the local Babylon surf shop logo on it. “You look like surfer dudes, for sure.”
