by Cee, DW
Which parking lot?
Lot 6
Stay right there at the entrance. I’m coming to get you.
You don’t have to come. I’ll go home with Elle.
STAY!
“Damn man! He thinks I’ll ask how high if he tells me to jump.” I grumbled.
“Damn, is right! Where have you been hiding him, Laney? I’m in love with Eric, but in lust with your man.”
“He’s not my man. He’s just a family friend.”
“He doesn’t look like any of my family friends. Shit, he can be my family friend, any time!” I slapped her on the arm and started laughing.
“I’m going to tell on you next time I see Eric.”
“I already told Eric I’d give him a bye if Donovan asked for a night with me.”
I rolled my eyes at that incredulous statement. “Shut up and go home. Drive safely.” We hugged good-bye.
“Get in!” I heard the damn man yell from the other side of the parking lot.
“See ya,” Elle winked. “I say do whatever he wants. Let loose and go for it!”
“Go home!”
Donovan honked a few more times to get my attention so I walked as slowly as humanly possible to his car.
That pissed him off enough for him to get out of his car, carry me over his shoulder, and plop me onto his convertible.
“Seriously?” I yelled.
“Seriously! Let’s go eat.” He smiled
“Mr. Taylor. I’m exhausted and dirty. Can you just take me home?”
“I’m hungry too,” he whined. The moron that I was, I found his whining adorable. “I haven’t had dinner either and I don’t want to eat alone.” Who could possibly resist this man?
“I tell you what. Let’s go back to my house. Let me shower, then I’ll fix us something to eat.”
“Can I shower, too?”
“You are more than welcome to use Doug’s bathroom. You can even borrow some of his clothes if you need them.”
“Naw. I brought a change of clothes with me. Hey, I have a great idea.” He called his voice-person in his car and had her dial Jake’s number.
“Hello?” My cousin answered.
“Hey. It’s me. Can Delaney and I bum off a meal from Emily tonight, in about half an hour?”
“You do know food makes my wife ill?”
“So did she starve you and the kids today?”
“Of course not.”
“Jake. I’m sorry to bother you. Forget what Mr. Taylor just said.” I then turned my attention to Donovan. “What a stupid request. You know she has morning sickness all day. Don’t bother her.”
“What are you two doing together?” my cousin inquired. “Come over. I’ll order a pizza for you.”
“I knew there was a reason why I kept you around as a best friend. We both need to shower and change at Delaney’s. We’ll come over after.”
“Delaney’s parents are out tonight and so is Doug. Why don’t you shower and change at our place, and she’ll meet you here for pizza after she’s done grooming at her house.” The way Jake said those few sentences made me blush.
The pizza had just arrived when I got to Jake’s; it smelled heavenly.
“What is this delicious smell?”
“Hi Emily!” I gave her a hug. “The pizza smells good to you, too?”
“Oh my gosh, those sausages smell divine. Let’s eat.”
The three of us stared in wonder as we saw Emily polish off half a box of an extra large pizza. Good thing Jake had no idea how to order a pizza for two, because Emily went to town.
“You think it’s wise to eat so much, Love?”
“I’m starving. I haven’t eaten a complete meal in weeks. This is so...” She suddenly got up and ran upstairs.
“Shit! I knew I shouldn’t have let her eat so much.” Jake ran after her.
“You think we can eat the rest, now?” Donovan whispered with a laugh. “I had to stop eating for fear Emily might chop off my hand for taking her slice.”
I laughed with him. I, too, had stopped eating and just stared at Emily.
Jake came down, without Emily, and joined us in a slice of pizza.
“She’ll be all right?”
“She’ll be fine, Laney. This seems to be de rigueur with her. Neither of you told me how you ended up together.”
“We are on a co-ed softball team at the University,” Donovan answered because I was too busy eating.
“How’d that happen? Was it planned?”
“Nope. I went to visit Kevin, and there Delaney was, signing up to play IM softball.”
“Kevin doing well?”
“He’s married, with a kid on the way. He’s happy.”
“Good to know.”
I watched two of my favorite men conversing, and I couldn’t help thinking that Donovan would fit perfectly in our family.
February 13, 2013 First Game, Another Argument
Our first game was against a local junior college team not far from our school. We all got matching “uniforms”—white pants, maroon shirt, and a maroon baseball visor. I arrived on the field and found Donovan, already there, strategizing with Kevin. I’d never seen fitted white pants look so good on any man as they did on this man. Standing next to Kevin was a beautiful blonde with a slight bump on her stomach. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that she was Kevin’s wife.
“Hello.” I called out to everyone.
“Hey, Laney.” Kevin patted me on the back. “How’s my star pitcher feeling today?”
“Um...I’m OK, I suppose.”
“Have you met my wife, Isabella?”
“No. Nice to meet you,” I said with a smile. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go put my stuff down and get ready for the game.”
Donovan had that disgruntled face, again. This was becoming commonplace with him. “Would it kill you to say hello to me as well?”
“Hello, Mr. Taylor. How are you today?” I asked as formally as possible. To the best of my ability, I tried not to fraternize with this man. He had no idea how much I wanted to be his friend, his best friend, his girlfriend. I couldn’t just be an acquaintance, so it was better I didn’t get friendly, lest I fall back in love with the man I’ve wanted to marry since I was ten-years-old.
“Are you majoring in pissing me off?”
“Sorry.” Anytime Donovan got upset with me, that feeling of hurt resurfaced, and I didn’t need to go there again. “I’ll just go get ready.” I couldn’t do anything right where this man was concerned.
Throughout the six innings, I saw Donovan with a myriad of women who kept coming up to him during our time in the dugout. He greeted all of them, laughed with them, and charmed them to the utmost.
“I’m glad Elle told me about this co-ed league. This is fun getting to hang out with you weekly.” William enthusiastically said.
“I’m glad to be here, too. This is more fun than I expected, and everyone on the team is super nice.”
“I have to thank you for pitching for us because had you not, the guys would have forced me to pitch.”
“You played ball?”
“I was a pitcher for my baseball team in high school, and these guys think it all translates. No matter how hard I try to explain to people that it’s not the same, they don’t understand. I think it’s especially harder for a male pitcher to change to underhand pitching. You want to grab a bite to eat after this?” That was a weird transition, but I suppose I should’ve expected it.
“Um...”
“She can’t.” Donovan came out of nowhere and answered for me.
“Why not?”
“Because, Miss Reid, I told your dad I’d take you straight home after this.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. I drove today so you don’t have to take me anywhere.” I wanted to see how he was going to work around this one.
He took out his phone and texted someone, then waited...
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His phone buzzed, and upon reading the text he proudly announced, “Your brother’s on campus, and he’s dropping by the game right now. We can all go out to dinner after this is done.”
Why? I didn’t ask. I’d let him know in private that I didn’t need another older brother in my life.
“Would you like to join us, William? My brother went to undergrad here, and now he’s in business school. You might know him.” Donovan was peeved. “In fact, let’s invite Elle, Eric, Kevin and Isabella, too.”
We ended up at dinner with a large group of players, both from our team and the opposing team. I made it a point to sit as far away from Donovan as humanly possible.
“You play pool?” William asked and challenged.
“I’m afraid not. That’s one of those games I’ve always wanted to learn, but never got around to it.”
“Come on. I’ll teach you.” He put out his hand and helped me out of my seat. We walked over to the pool table and after teaching me the gist of the game, he began showing me ways to hold the cue stick and to sink a ball into the pocket. It was harder than it looked. Either I missed the ball entirely or I kept sinking the wrong ball. This was not my game, but it was fun learning. “You’re not bad for a first timer.”
“And you’re a terrible liar. I sucked. I think I’ll stick to softball.”
“How come I’ve never seen you on campus before this year?”
“Um, because there are like 30,000 students here on campus?”
“What will you do after you graduate?”
“I’m going to...”
“Time to go,” Donovan rudely interrupted us.
“No it’s not.”
“It is. Doug says he needs to leave and he’s catching a ride home with you. We’ll see you next week, William.”
With his hand on my wrist, Donovan pulled me away from the pool table and took me outside. He didn’t even give me a chance to say a proper good-bye to everyone.
“What the hell? Why’d you do that?”
“Your brother says he needs a ride and he needs to leave, now.”
“Next time, I’d like for my brother to tell me. And next time, I’d like for you to stop acting like my older brother. One big brother is enough, Mr. Taylor!”
“Can you please stop calling me that? It’s damn embarrassing when you call me that on the diamond.”
“Then stop acting like a Mr. Taylor!” I walked off and hoped I wouldn’t see him again, any time soon. OK, that was a lie. I was pissed, but if he wanted to see me, I’d make time for him again in the next minute. Gaaawwwddd! I was so pathetic.
February 14, 2013 A Day of Love
I have to be the only girl alive who has never had a date on Valentine’s Day. No, I guess the more correct way to say this would be, I’ve never gone out with a boyfriend on Valentine’s Day. But then again, I was a loser all around—always dating, but never finding the right man. William asked me to go out with him tonight, but I thought it’d be too serious to go out with a guy on a night like this when we weren’t together. Plus, Jake had asked me to babysit tonight, months ago. I couldn’t turn him down when I knew he went through so much trouble to get Emily a spot at a charity event where she was one of four people cooking with Mario Batali.
“Are you ready to go to bed now, my sleepy heads? You’re both rubbing your eyes and yawning.” I said to the twins, whose eyes had turned red. “Which book shall we read tonight?” I went to pick up James, then attempted to pick up Ellie, but didn’t quite know how to hold both. This motherhood stuff wasn’t easy. Then of course, there was a knock at the door.
“Don...Mr. Taylor.” He was busy finishing a call, so he didn’t hear me slip and almost call him by his first name.
“...all right, I’ll call you when I get there. See you. Bye.” He ended the phone call and without thinking, kissed Ellie—who was in her chair, James—who was in my arm, and me—who was...just a part of the package, I suppose. “Oh!” He even surprised himself with that kiss to my cheek, quite close to the edge of my lips. In all honesty, that’s where he had kissed both kids, and he was working his way down the “assembly line” without any thought or meaning. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I just thought of you as one of the kids.” Of course he did!
“No worries. I didn’t take it any other way. What would possess you to kiss me, otherwise?” Now, why did I have to say that? I had a serious case of diarrhea of the mouth where one Donovan Taylor was concerned.
“Hmmm. I don’t know. Have you been thinking about what would get me to kiss you?”
I stammered for an answer while he grinned. “Well, I...of course not! Why would I think about that? It’s not as though...”
“Easy, Delaney. It was just a joke.”
“Oh.” That ended that awkward conversation. “What brings you by? Jake and Emily aren’t home.”
“I know. Jake called me earlier and told me to stop by and make sure you and the kids were doing well. Plus, I still have a bone to pick with you.”
“And what could you do if the kids and I were not doing well?” As though I had trained them, both kids started crying. They were tired, and they wanted their mother. “You want to pick up Ellie and show me what you can do?”
He could do absolutely NOTHING! He made Ellie cry even harder by over-stimulating her with his crazy “let’s see Ellie fly” antics. Ellie sat perched on his shoulders and he zoomed around the house pretending to be an airplane. She enjoyed it for about two minutes, then started howling, which made James unhappy.
“Bring her to me,” I commanded while sitting on the rocking chair in the kids’ room. He obeyed immediately and put her on my lap.
While I started on One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Donovan tried several times to ingratiate himself into our comfy position. He sat on one arm of the rocking chair and almost flipped us all back and got the kids crying again in fright. “Obviously, you’ve never been in a rocking chair, before?” I whispered an admonishment. “Sit over on the couch.”
“It’s too far from you three,” he whispered back while I was calming the twins.
“Then sit on the floor,” I answered.
“Are you crazy? Do you know how much this Dolce & Gabbana suit costs? I’m not plopping on this rug. Who knows what kind of shit” he whispered really softly, “is on this thing.” I choked up in the middle of, “Some are sad. And some are glad. And some are very, very bad,” and added, “that’s you,” staring straight at him, since I had no fingers left to point as they were holding two very cuddly little ones, plus a book.
“Not I, said the fly,” he whispered while deliberately pulling us off the rocking chair and seating all of us on the couch. We fell together like a group of kids cannonballing into a swimming pool together.
“Why are they sad and glad and bad?” I kept reading.
“I do not know. Go ask your dad,” Donovan finished without skipping a beat. “I think they’re down, even with the Chinese fire-drill,” he said, gingerly prying Ellie from my arm.
We laid both kids down, took turns kissing each one, turned off the light and scampered away fast.
“Man, those buggers are a lot of work. Thank God for women like Emily, who choose to stay home and take care of them. I, for one, could not do it. And I know Jake agrees.”
“It is hard work, but when you look at them and they look back at you with those trusting eyes, you know it’s all worth it. There’s no way I’d want anyone else raising my children, but me.”
“So you won’t be one of those corporate ladder climbing women? No high-powered job in your future?”
“I doubt it. That’s not my thing. I want to be happy, not stressed.”
“But many women are happy in their big offices, bossing men around.”
“And more power to them...that’s just not me. I want to create a family and a home, not a fancy office.” Donovan stopped and stared. He probably thought I was acting naive a
gain. He was so used to working with high-powered, genius women, my idea most likely sounded lame and very 1950’s. “Must sound pretty stupid to you...” I left it at an open-ended statement and walked into the kitchen.
“Sounds...” He stammered for the right word. I knew I came off like some idealistic collegian living in the throwback days of June Cleaver. “...refreshing...”
The clock struck seven, and it dawned on me that today was Valentine’s Day. Donovan was here with me and we’d spend Valentine’s Day together. Emily had made a wonderful roast chicken—which she didn’t get to eat because she had no idea Jake was taking her out. Donovan and I could bake a red velvet cake together—my personal favorite, and while the cake was baking, maybe we could sit and talk, or watch another scary movie. What a surprisingly fun night this was turning out to be. Never in my craziest dreams did I think I’d spend this day of love with him.
Remembering the beautiful flowers Emily received earlier; I brought them out from the bay window and refreshed the water, then placed them in a prominent location on the large kitchen island. I turned off the oven, which was keeping the chicken warm, and brought out the delicious smelling dinner. Taking out two plates, I started placing vegetables and rice on both plates and began carving the chicken while Donovan was in the other room taking a phone call. Donovan’s footsteps neared the kitchen as I was almost done plating our dinner.
“OK. I’m off. I have a dinner date in half an hour. I’ll see you again, soon.” He spoke those words as he entered the kitchen and the only thing I could think of was how to hide the second plate I’d prepared for him. How moronic was I, thinking Donovan was dateless tonight. How stupid of me to think he’d want to spend the evening together. I quickly put his plate in the sink and threw a dishtowel on top of it.
“Um...yeah...sure...I’ll see you again...” The words came out in a jumbled mess. I was a mess, but I wasn’t going to show him how much he affected me. “Have a great time.” I put on a big smile and opened the kitchen door for him.
He said nothing of the plate he saw on the kitchen counter, or the plate he might have seen me throw into the sink. He left with nothing more than a good-bye.