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“What did you and Rene do today?” Hyde asked Parker, as he gently put him down on the sofa, then seated himself right next to him.
Rene remained standing. She would be going in a few minutes, there was no point in getting too cozy. Despite all the fun she’d had, she was exhausted. She felt pressured to do her best and make it a fun day for Parker and, hopefully, she’d managed to obtain that goal.
“We found the longest worm ever!” Parker squealed in delight, and Rene couldn’t resist the temptation to laugh out loud.
“Oh, really?” Hyde glanced at her, and they smiled at each other. “Was it really the longest worm ever?”
“It really was!” Parker’s excitement was infectious.
He spread out his arms wide to the side, in a sweet effort to show Hyde how big and long this enormous giant of a worm was.
“And, it was all wriggly!” Parker added excitedly, moving his body left and right, trying to resemble a worm.
“So, a wriggly worm, huh?” Hyde asked, feigning shock and awe at this amazing animal.
“The wriggliest!”
“The wriggliest, you say?”
It was all so sweet, and Rene just couldn’t stop smiling, watching them.
“We were inspecting it under the microscope,” Parker continued, all important.
It didn’t escape Hyde’s attention to hear Parker use a new word. Inspecting. He smiled, patting his son on the head.
“I see,” Hyde nodded, “it sounds like you really had a fun time.”
“It was great! Can Rene come again tomorrow?” Parker said, so effortlessly that he caught both adults off guard.
Hyde glanced at Rene. She was gleaming with pride. Her eyes glowed and, for a second, it seemed as if she was about to start crying.
“I think you and I both would love her to,” Hyde hugged his boy, and their eyes were glued to Rene, waiting for her to reply.
“Of course,” she finally said, smitten with the attention she was receiving.
For a second, it looked like Hyde was about to say something else. The smile on his face revealed more than a thousand words could, but as soon as that flame appeared, it equally quickly died out, and in its place, professionalism and composure appeared once again.
“Alright then,” Hyde suddenly got up, still holding his son’s hand in his own, “let’s not keep Rene any longer. I’m sure she’s had enough of us and she wants to go home now.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Rene waved at Parker and he shyly waved back.
“I’ll see you out,” Hyde quickly added, letting go of his son’s hand, who rushed back into the room to play with his toy trains some more.
Rene slowly walked towards the door, feeling Hyde’s presence closely behind. She had to admit to herself that it’d been a while since a man’s presence made her feel like this. Her palms were getting clammy and she felt a need to wipe them against her pants. She stopped by the door, and waited for Hyde to open it. His hand passed by hers, brushing it softly and accidentally, and that touch made her shudder. It was a strange feeling, a sensation of excitement mixed with fear so powerful that she wanted to open the door herself and run away. But, she couldn’t do that. She was done running away from her past, from all the things which threatened to drown her.
“Do you need a ride?” he suddenly asked.
She eyed him strangely. Didn’t he know she had a car? A lousy one, but at least it still worked.
“No, thanks,” she replied, strangely grateful for the offer. “I’m parked just down the street. That crappy Caprice.”
She laughed at her own comment, but it was true.
“I wondered whose it was, because I haven’t seen it before,” he grinned.
“Yeah, mine,” she repeated, feeling unburdened by the fact that she just admitted to owning the crappiest car in the street. Somehow, it didn’t bother her as it usually did when she had to tell people this.
“Could be a real beauty, if you pimped it up a little,” he suggested.
