Size Game: A Single Dad Romance

by S. C. Adams

  “Alex!” She seems very happy. Then she starts going over party details and says that she’s found a few possible places where the party can be held that aren’t too bad. She lists off a few names, some of which I have heard of, but there are a few I haven’t.

  She continues on and Phil sits across from me making kissy faces. Then he turns around, wraps his arms around himself, and starts mocking me. “Oh, Alex. Oh, Alex!”

  I grab a nearby pad of sticky notes and throw it at him. It hits him square in the back of the head, and he spins around. He silently chuckles, and I give him the finger while still trying to listen to Claire on the phone. He just shrugs with a smug look.

  Claire talks about how she wants to meet Sadie, which surprises me a little at first as I have sort of lost track of the fact that we were talking about the party. I was just entranced by her voice and stopped processing words. Then she tells me that she always tries to meet the client first, unless of course it’s a surprise party.

  I laugh at the little joke, and Phil waggles his eyebrows at me. He then gets up and sits on the corner of my desk, then lies across it as though modeling for a bikini catalog. He looks at me and runs a finger down his chest and whispers, “Oh, Alex. Paint me like one of your French girls.”

  I grab a nearby magazine and start swatting him like a bad dog. He laughs and blocks a few of the hits as he rolls off the desk.

  “Do you have any days open so I can meet with the birthday girl?”

  “How does tomorrow sound?”

  Phil stands behind the chair in front of my desk, grabs either side of the back, and starts thrusting at it. Then he playfully smacks the top of it. “Oh, yes Claire,” he whispers.

  “Sorry, I’m doing a party for another client tomorrow. It’s her grandma’s eightieth birthday, and I’ve been doing parties for them since I started here. She was my first client, so I really can’t ditch it.”

  I grab for something heavier than a pad of sticky notes. A wire cup of pens—that should work. I throw it across the room at Phil and it hits him in the chest, scattering pens all over the floor.

  I know he’s doing all of this just to get a rise out of me. We used to do this all the time to each other in college, especially when parents would call. It was a game of ours. Try to embarrass the hell out of the person on the phone until they slipped up. He’s doing a good job. If I slip up, he wins.

  “No worries, Claire. How about Sunday?”

  “Sure!”

  “Cool, I’ll text you later about it. See you then.”

  I finally get the chance to hang up the phone. Phil is laughing his ass off while picking up pens from the floor and placing them back in the cup.

  “Fucking, really?”

  “Love you, dude.”

  “Asshole.”

  We laugh together and I get up to help him grab the pens and find my sticky notes. We talk a little more on the way down to our cars. He knows that there’s something there between Claire and me, but I won’t admit to it, not yet.

  When I get home, Sadie greets me with a big hug. I get myself into some comfortable pajamas, and Imelda dresses Sadie in her princess nightgown, unicorn slippers, and tiara. I order her favorite pizza and go into the living room.

  Sadie is sitting on the floor with a few movies in a row in front of her.

  “What do you want to watch?”

  “Uh…” She looks from one movie to another, then back again.

  I point to one. “How about this one?”

  “No.”

  “This one?”

  “No.”

  I point to each one in turn, and each time I am met with a small no. A few minutes later, she chooses the first movie I pointed to and hands it to me. I put it on just as the pizza arrives. She gets up on the couch and waits patiently as I plate it up.

  I grab her fluffy unicorn blanket and return with pizza in hand. She wraps herself up in the blanket and takes her pizza. The movie starts, and we sit huddled together, watching and eating. This is the first time we’ve watched this movie, but it feels like I’ve watched it a hundred times.

  They’re all the same really. A princess who happens to also be a pony has a social problem and she has to do some weird, meaningless task. There’s a song. There’s always a song. Then the bad guy does something dastardly. Another song happens and friendship was the answer all along.

  Sadie loves them, so I watch them with her. Finally the torture is over, and we head into the kitchen to put away the dishes and the rest of the pizza. I get out all the fixings for ice cream sundaes and watch her face light up.

  “Remember when I asked you what you wanted for your birthday?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Would you like to meet someone that plans parties?”

  “Yeah!”

  “You can tell her everything you want. Okay, Princess?”

  “Everything?”

  “Of course. We’re going to see her on Sunday.”

  “I want to be a princess! I want a pony!” She bounces up and down telling me everything that she’s already told me. I smile and scoop her ice cream into a bowl for her.

  She takes her bowl and starts making a mess on the counter. Some of the toppings actually make it onto the ice cream, but not everything. I decide that I’ll clean it up after she’s gone to bed, and we go back to the living room to watch yet another pony princess movie.

  8

  Claire

  I get to the venue early to make sure that everything is set up for the walk-through. I managed to find a decent-sized hall that has a ballroom, perfect for a princess party. The room is large with a big dance floor. The venue has options for pedestal stands for flowers, ceiling drapes, and colored ceiling lighting.

  After I walk through the room alone, I find the coordinator and ask if she’d show me some of the color options. She shows me some drape options and a few of the light colors. I ask her if I can show them to my client, and she agrees. She is nice enough to also give me the linen options.

  I get everything as ready as I can and wait for them to arrive. I’m a little nervous. We hooked up once and then again in his car, and now I’m meeting his daughter. I know this is for work, but still. It’s a little odd and actually kind of sudden. I thought we’d never see each other again, and now he’s hired me on to do his daughter’s birthday.

  The world works in weird ways sometimes, and it can’t be avoided. I know Hailey warned me early on about the horrors of using FLICK, but I never thought something would happen. Not that this is horrible; it’s actually rather nice. I know he likes me. I’m pretty sure that’s why he hired me without even looking through anyone’s portfolio.

  A few minutes later, a little girl wearing a tiara, butterfly wings, and a ruffled pink-and-purple dress comes running in. She runs right past me onto the dance floor and starts twirling around. I smile and look back toward the entrance where Alex is standing wearing a plain button-up shirt and nice slacks. Even out of the office he looks good.

  I can’t help but admire him. His shirt isn’t fully buttoned, so I can see just a little of his toned chest behind the fabric. His slacks are well fitting, and my eyes just barely glance down at his package.

  “Daddy! It’s a princess room!” Sadie yells from the dance floor.

  Alex walks up to me with his hands in his pockets and smiles. “Is that what it’s listed as in their brochure?”

  I giggle. “Not quite.”

  He and I sit at a table with a bunch of fabric swatches laid out. Sadie runs over and jumps up on his lap. He holds her and pats her head. Watching how he looks at her is so sweet. You can tell he really loves his daughter and would do anything for her.

  I start to go over the different linen options. Whenever I ask a question, he asks Sadie what she thinks, until soon she is just answering by herself. She tells me what she wants, and it’s clear that this is the fourth, fifth, and sixth time that he has heard this speech of hers. He just sits there with a smile.

&nbs
p; Sadie starts to pick up some of the swatches as though trying to match them together. She really likes pink and wants everything to be pink. I can see the headache starting in Alex’s face. An entire room of pink is enough to give anyone a migraine for days.

  I gently suggest white tablecloths with pink runners, the sparkly light pink ceiling accents, and pink ceiling lights. She gets really excited and starts talking about balloons. I tell her she can have balloons and flowers and even a piñata.

  She tells me she wants lavender balloons. Well, she said “pretty purple,” but Alex’s expression and mouthed words said “lavender.” Then I ask her about flowers. She tries to explain to me some extravagant, completely made-up flower. So, I pull out my sketch pad and hand it and a pen to her and ask her to draw it for me.

  She is quickly distracted, drawing a bunch of flowers all over the page. I look up at Alex, who is now smiling at me. We lock eyes and I smile back. There is a calm between us that makes this almost seem like a date. It’s clear that he loves his daughter, and I think it’s clear to him that I like her too.

  After a few minutes, Sadie has finished her drawings and hands me back the sketch pad. I look at the very vaguely flower-shaped scribbles on my paper and smile.

  “Do you like butterflies, Sadie?” I ask.

  “Yeah!”

  I quickly draw a little butterfly on the paper, and she is very happy about it. There is a softness in Alex’s smile as he watches me interact with his daughter.

  “Where do you want the table for your cake and presents?”

  Sadie hops off Alex’s lap and runs around the room, checking out different viewpoints. She stops at one corner of the dance floor and waves for us to come over. We approach and she tells us that they should be right there. Then I ask a few more questions about where she wants certain things, and we follow her around the room.

  After we are finish designing the room, Sadie seems fairly wiped out. She’s had a long day. Alex picks her up and turns to me.

  “You wouldn’t want to… maybe come over for dinner, would you?”

  “Yeah! Yeah! Come have dinner, Claire!” Sadie exclaims with her newfound energy.

  “I guess that’s a yes.”

  Alex smiles at me. “Do you need a ride?”

  “Yes,” I smile with a subtle smirk that makes him blush a little.

  We get into his car, and his driver takes us right to his home. It’s a lovely ride around the city. The houses start getting more and more extravagant until the car finally stops in front of a lovely three-story brownstone.

  I look at him in disbelief. He just shrugs and gets out of the car with Sadie in tow. I follow him up the steps into the house. There is an immediate smell of a home-cooked meal, and I get a sick feeling in my stomach. Maybe he found someone else.

  Sadie runs right in, and we dawdle after her. I feel immediately better after we round the corner and see an older Hispanic woman in the kitchen.

  “Nanny Melda!” Sadie exclaims, giving the woman a big hug.

  “Reinita!” She exclaims back, scooping up the young girl and kissing her cheek. Then she looks up at us. “Ay, señor, you didn’t tell me you were bringing home a pareja.”

  “Imelda,” Alex says in a clearly embarrassed tone. He goes to her and gives her the kind of hug you would give your mother. Then he tells her something that I can’t hear.

  I look around his home. Although extravagant, it’s surprisingly simple. It’s clear he cares for his nanny and his daughter. He has a few photos of the three of them out and about in the city. There are a few pictures of just Imelda’s family hanging on his walls.

  Without thinking I wander into his living room off the kitchen and look around at the décor and pictures. There is a lovely-looking fireplace with a bunch of pictures, knick-knacks, and an urn on the mantle. I admire the photo of his late wife sitting next to the urn. He really did love her.

  Imelda sets the table and serves food for everyone, then hugs Alex and Sadie. She smiles at me and gives me a smaller hug. Then she grabs her purse and happily leaves. Alex pulls out a chair for me and then for Sadie before sitting down himself.

  “Where did Imelda go?”

  “I told her to go have a nice evening on me,” he says without even a hint of hesitation.

  We eat and Sadie tells us all about her day at the park yesterday with Imelda. Then she goes on and on about the pony that Daddy is going to get her someday. Alex and I exchange a glance at that one. He’s clearly told her “someday” on the pony and not “no.”

  Then she starts telling me about her Uncle Phil and how he takes her to the movies and they play video games together. From the conversation I gather that she likes the shooting games. Alex keeps pretty quiet and lets Sadie and I talk with one another.

  After dinner, Alex gathers the dishes and heads into the kitchen to wash everything. Sadie grabs my hand and pulls me upstairs to go see her room, and I willingly follow. She shows me her favorite pony toy and her favorite princess dress. She shows me something else, followed by another toy, again and again. She’s adorable.

  I don’t know how long this has been going on, but now I’m having a tea party with Sadie, her pony, a doll, and a teddy bear. She pours the imaginary tea and starts a conversation with the teddy bear. So, I play along and start talking with the doll. The ear-to-ear smile on her face is just priceless.

  Alex taps me on the shoulder and I almost jump out of my skin. I had kind of forgotten he was even here.

  “Sadie, it’s time for bed.”

  Without a second thought, she drops what she’s doing and heads to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get her pajamas on with a cute little “Yes, Daddy.”

  I get up off the floor and stretch. He chuckles at me and leans against the wall.

  “Do you do this with all your clients?”

  “I’m sorry. This was an important business meeting. Trotters and I were having a very serious conversation about cake flavors,” I say, motioning to the toy pony sitting at the little plastic table.

  Alex laughs. Sadie comes running back into the room in her nightgown. Alex scoops her up and gives her a big kiss. Then he tucks her into bed and gives her another kiss.

  “Good night, Sadie.”

  “G’night, Daddy. G’night, Claire!”

  “Night.”

  We leave the room, and he shuts off the light and closes the door most of the way. We head back downstairs, and he offers me a glass of wine. I accept, and he pulls out a rather expensive bottle of rosé. He pops it open and pours us each a glass. We retire to a couch in the living room and get comfortable.

  I spend a few minutes thanking him for the job, dinner, and everything up to this point. He tries to brush it off as no big deal, but I can see he’s a little embarrassed. Then I start to talk with him about Sadie, asking him about preschool and all that.

  That little girl is just so cute. She’s incredibly smart too. I ask him if she’s in one of the nearby private schools, and he tells me that she’s in a public school. I ask him why and he tells me that that’s how he grew up and that’s what Mary, his late wife, would have wanted.

  We continue to talk and connect. I know that I have sexual desire for him, even right now, but this is more than enough. We are getting to know each other. This seems to be what we both want. We’re talking like old friends. What more could I ask for?

  9

  Alex

  She seems too good to be true. I haven’t had a deep, meaningful conversation like this with anyone in a very long time. I haven’t seen Sadie so happy in a long while too. She seems to really like Claire, and I don’t blame her.

  We finish our first glass of wine, and I refill our glasses. We continue to talk about life and work. I tell her about some new deals about to go through with other major gaming companies. She tells me that her manager has been threatening to retire for the past four years. She seems to fear when that becomes reality because she might be next in line to be manager, which would tak
e her out of the field.

  She asks me about Sadie’s “Uncle Phil,” and I laugh a little and tell her almost everything about my frat brother. I tell her about his love of strip clubs and other places where you can mix alcohol with pretty ladies. She asks if I’ve ever accompanied him to these places. I tell her no, but not because of a lack of invitation.

  “So, Phil got you onto FLICK?”

  “Pretty much.”

  We enjoy the hilarity of it all. Then I take a leap of faith and try to pull off as sly a move as I can muster.

  “Well, you saw Sadie’s room. It’s only fair that I show you mine.”

  She smiles. “Are you going to show me your favorite toys too?”

  I chuckle and stand, offering my hand to her. She takes it and I lead her up to my bedroom. I haven’t shared my own bed with another person in so long. I feel like I’m back in college as a freshman, finally bringing a girl back to my dorm.

  We get to the bedroom, and she smiles as she takes in the ambiance. I walk over to the bed and sit down, placing my empty glass on the nightstand.

  “But Sadie’s at the end of the hall,” she says while sauntering over to me after shutting the door.

  She sets her glass down and straddles my lap. I grab hold of her wonderful ass with both hands and smile.

  “Then I guess you better be quiet.”

  She wraps her arms around my neck, and I stand, lifting her right off the bed. Her grip tightens at the sudden movement. I turn around and lie her gently back on the bed. She looks up at me as I slip my hands up her shirt to gently caress her breasts while kissing her thighs.

  I hear a small gasp escape her lips, and I know I’m doing it right. Then I undo her pants and pull them off to reveal a lovely pair of black, lacy panties. My hands slide back to gently touch her rear and thighs. I plant a small kiss on her right knee, then her left. Then I kiss her lower thigh, then midthigh, then upper thigh, then hip.

  Each time my lips touch her skin, I can feel her shiver. I kiss down her other thigh, starting at the hip and ending on the knee. I lie on my belly and gently nuzzle my head against her inner thigh, gently easing her legs open for me. I can hear her breathing getting faster. Just this amount of sensual touching seems to be enough to get her going.