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“I had a call that took longer than expected. My job doesn’t afford me the luxury of being off at a certain time every day.”
She just glances at me and goes back to playing on her phone.
This bothers me.Why aren’t you giving me your undivided attention?It’s so damn rude to be on your phone while being on a date, especially with someone whom you have never met. I keep my mouth shut and try to stay positive. We make it up to the stand.
“Reservation for two. Brodie Hill.”
She grabs the tablet and swipes twice. “Okay, follow me, please.”
The hostess takes us to a table in the middle of the restaurant, and hands us the menus. Denise takes off her jacket, exposing her bare shoulders from her strapless green dress.
“So, your profile said that you were at the University?”
She doesn’t take her eyes off the menu. “Yeah, I do admin work there, and like whatever else they ask me. I don’t plan on staying there long. I might, like, take some time off and figure out what I want to do.”
Her excessive use of the word,like, is getting to me.Okay, I’m being a smartass now. How is this woman in her thirties? She acts like she’s early twenties at most. It’s like pulling teeth to have a conversation.
“And you are a firefighter, right? That’s, like, so hot.”
This will not work out, and staying here will not make matters better. If she says like one more time, I’m going to gag. I should’ve canceled.
I refuse to sit here for the next hour or two and listen to this woman talk. Is she unable to go two sentences without using the word like? She must be lying about her age, because normal thirty-year-olds do not speak in this manner.
“I’m going to use the restroom,” I say, scooting my chair out, making a bee line for the bathroom and then sneaking out the front door.
Online dating is a nightmare. I’m done with it. Tristan is going to get an ear full tomorrow.
Why is it so hard to find someone good-looking, intelligent, and wanting to settle down?
3
VANESSA
Sleep is something I’ve always had issues with, and couple that with sleeping alone in a bed for the first time in a decade - you get my drift. Going our separate ways is the right decision, but it will take time to get used to it. My days are different now. Normally, Lee’s alarm would go off around six in the morning, and would wake me up, too, but I forgot to set my own alarm, so I pop out of bed around seven. He would get Sherrie up, and feed her while I get in the shower and get ready for work and then we would switch. Now, I get her up and feed her. My morning showers are gone and replaced with doing them at night, so we aren’t running late.
I knock on her door and then turn the knob. “It’s time to get up for school. Rise and shine!”
Sherrie gets up the first time I wake her, which is unusual, and heads straight to the kitchen to sit down at the island. I don’t have to ask what she wants because it’s routine. So, I put the grounds in the coffeemaker and switch it on, while I put two pieces of bread in the toaster for her.
“How did you sleep, princess?”
She smiles. “My new bed is amazing. Didn’t wake up once.”
Lee and I agree to her bedroom remaining the same at his house, and he bought the bed for her new room. I was against it at first, but it’s for Sherrie.
The toaster pops, and I take the bread out and place it on a plate.
“I’ll get the butter and cinnamon,” Sherrie says, excited to make her own breakfast.
She grabs the butter out of the fridge and the cinnamon out of the drawer. Lee always reminds me to monitor her, or she will put way too much on there and then she’s wired for the rest of the day.
“That’s enough, sweetie.”
She takes the plate back to the island and begins eating, while I pour the fresh coffee into my mug and add a little creamer. I have no energy, but regardless I have appointments today, and can’t miss them.
The responsibility is all on me now, and that means getting as many appointments booked so the bills are paid. Before, I usually only worked four days a week, but now I’m going to open my schedule to service more clients. It’s common sense. The more clients I get in my chair, the more money I make. So, I’ll be reaching out to my clientele about the change in hours. The weekends are at my discretion only because I’d like to keep that as family time for Sherrie and me. Her softball games will be on Saturdays once the season starts, and it’s important to her for me to be there.
I sit down next to Sherrie, and check my calendar for today. My last appointment is at two-thirty and then I’ll have enough time to pick her up from school, and then she has her first softball practice of the season.
