Imperfections

by Shaniel Watson

  "He sees a lot of women." I have to put the emphasis on women. "He's not seeing anyone exclusively. He doesn't do relationships anymore. Be careful."

  "Who says I'm looking for a relationship."

  "Like I said, be careful for your own sake. Don't get your hopes up for something that won't happen."

  "I won't. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."

  "I know you can."

  Thirty minutes later we hug and I walk her out. Before Cat came back, the last thing I thought about at night was my case load. Since she's been back the only thing I think about is her and being with her before I close my eyes. Tonight, the only things I can think about are the mistakes I've made. How those mistakes could make me a father and tear us apart before we even begin.

  It's useless to regret what you've already done; regrets are a weak man's excuse for their shortcomings for not being able to step up and take what they want. I have few regrets in life. The biggest is not going after Cat when I had the chance and sleeping with her sister. You can't undo what's already been done. You have to move forward, step up and take what you want when the opportunity appoints itself. This is one opportunity I'm not letting pass me by; as slim as it is, I'm going to use it to my advantage.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Cat

  I like winter; it's one of my favorite seasons. Not because my birthday is in December and on Christmas Day. It's everything about it. I love the lights everyone puts up all over the city; people are in a jolly mood. Christmas trees and decorations all around making everything look like one big shiny Christmas present wrapped up in a bow. Candy canes and Christmas carols all month long. It feels exciting and special, it brings everyone closer together. I love the warm feelings you get when all your friends and family are gathered around together. It's even better when it snows on Christmas Day, it makes it extra special like French vanilla ice cream on top of warm apple pie; it just looks so good it makes everything better. Who doesn't love a white Christmas?

  That's one of my favorite movies—White Christmas. I used to watch that movie every year with Sophie and my mom. That's one thing me and my mother have in common as it's her favorite movie too. How ironic is it that her favorite part in the movie is when the two sisters sing the song "Sisters" together. She would sing along till the end; her favorite part was the end, "and lord help the sister that comes between me and my man!" Boy, if she only knew that song could be the theme song to my life right about now.

  I walk across the street into the café where I'm having lunch with Chloe. I see her sitting in one of the booths lined up against the window talking to a guy leaning over the table. He has a muscular build like he could be the quarterback on a football team or something like that. She sees me and waves me over to the table.

  "Hi, Cat."

  "Hi."

  "Cat, this is Richard. Richard, this is Cat, the friend I told you I was waiting for."

  Richard straightens up, turns to me and takes my hand. I can see why Chloe was smiling from ear to ear. He's so beautiful he almost takes my breath away; it's more of a masculine than feminine beauty. Talk about a Colgate smile. I can't help but smile back at him.

  "I didn't believe her when she said she was waiting for a friend that's equally as beautiful as her."

  "Thank you." Cute and charming. I move in to the seat across from Chloe and take my coat off and he turns back to Chloe.

  "My apologies. You weren't trying to get rid of me."

  "No, I wasn't."

  "Do you accept my apology?"

  "I don't know. Cat, what do you think, should I accept his apology for doubting me?"

  I look at her and at him and shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. Why should my friend who has never told me a lie a day since I've known her accept your apology?" Chloe and I look at each other then turn and look at him, our hands folded on the table doublemint twin style waiting for his answer.

  He looks at us up and down with a warm smile that reaches his eyes. He sits down in the booth next to me. "Excuse me, Cat, can I sit here?" He doesn't wait for me to answer. "I know you're going to say yes already. I can tell you like me and you think your friend and I look good together. For that reason alone she should accept my apology because I'm going to be her future husband and the father of her future kids with her caramel brown skin and my green eyes."

  Chloe and I look at each other eyes wide open giving each other the look, the is-this-guy-serious look. He has to do better than this if he's going to get anywhere with Chloe. One, the guys she dates are usually more rugged. And as rugged as they are, they better have the money to finance her or be on their way to getting that money if they want to last past one date. As if he can read our minds he starts giving us a rundown of his résumé.

  "I don't think I'm that much younger than you, I'm perfectly healthy, I'm a soon-to-be graduate with a 4.0 GPA majoring in computer engineering. I was raised by a single mother who taught me and my brother to respect women and treat them right. I've never spent a single night in jail or been arrested, my record is spotless. I'm on the rugby team and I'm also an RA at my school. So I'd like to know when I can pick you up, for the first date that's going to lead to our future epic great love story that we will one day be telling our kids about."

  Smooth. Smooth. Smooth.

  "If you have any doubts about anything that I have said you can always Google me and I will gladly introduce you to any and all of my friends and family to verify everything I've said. I wouldn't do that for just anyone, but I'm so intrigued and captivated by your friend's beauty, Cat. If she forgives me, we can have a beautiful future together."

  I shake my head up and down at Chloe. I'd say yes. He has me hooked.

  "Richard, I accept your apology. Give me your number. You can pick me up tomorrow at seven sharp. If you can't make it, date's off. I will be Googling you as soon as I leave here. If I see one thing I don't like you will never hear from me again. Everything you told me better check out."

  He picks up the pen and paper Chloe was using and scribbles his number down for her. He pulls out his phone and she gives him her number and her phone rings. "Don't answer it, I was making sure you have my number twice. Lock it in, you'll be using it often. I'll pick you up at seven sharp. You won't be disappointed."

  "I better not be."

  "It was nice to meet you, Cat. I hope to see you again."

  "I hope I see you again. Good luck on the date with the General here." He flashes me his infectious Colgate-winning smile leaving the table walking out the door. "You pick them up wherever you go, young, old, rich, poor."

  "Not this time. As you can clearly see, he came over here and picked me up."

  "He's cute."

  "I know, but he's a little young…well, younger than the men I usually date. He's in college; that means, he doesn't have much in the way of finances."

  "That doesn't matter, you like him. I can tell you do. He seems like a nice guy. You never know what could happen. He might be your Prince Charming."

  "If I believed in fairytale endings. I'm a realist, real shit happens to real people. I create and write my own stories, they end the way I want them to."

  "Cynical much?"

  "Yes, all the time." She takes a sip of her Coke.

  The waitress comes to take our order. Chloe orders a chicken salad with chili cheese fries and extra cheese. She says it balances out. Like her you get the good with the not so good. I order a cherry Dr Pepper with a chicken Caesar salad.

  "So how are the rug rats you're teaching?" Chloe pushes away her half-eaten salad and takes a bite of her chili fry.

  "My kids are not rug rats, they are very entertaining young individuals. I haven't started teaching yet. Mrs. Smith is due to go on maternity leave any day now then I'll take over the class for her until the end of the year."

  "Good luck with that. I don't have that maternal thing like you and Isabel. Spending more than a day with all those kids would be torture to me. They'd fire my ass aft
er the first day for drinking on the job."

  "You would not." I laugh and wipe my mouth.

  "Cat, wouldn't I?"

  "Yeah, you would. You would be the last person I would call to babysit for me when I have kids. No offense."

  "None taken. Speaking of kids, I saw your brother's wife Vanessa with your niece Sasha yesterday."

  "Where?"

  "They came into the store. She was shopping for a dress to wear to a cocktail party."

  "Yeah, my parents, Jay, and she are going to a charity event tonight. I'm babysitting Sasha for them."

  "Sounds boring. Why aren't you going with them instead of sitting at home changing shitty diapers?"

  "I haven't spent a lot of time with my niece since I've been back. I like spending time with her and she's out of diapers. Besides, it's better than spending the night with my mother, forcing what she believes are suitable well-to-do gentlemen on me every time I turn around."

  "That doesn't sound bad to me. All my mother forces on me is food and opinions I don't want or ask for."

  "I'd take the food over the men any day."

  "Have you switched sides?"

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Are you waving the rainbow flag? Since you've been back I haven't seen you go out on one date. The closest I've seen you come to a guy is Richard."

  "I have not switched sides."

  "It's cool if you're a lesbian now or if you're bi-curious. We've all been there, no judgment."

  "I'm not a lesbian, bi-curious, or any other type of curious when it comes to my sexual preferences. I like men. I'm attracted to men."

  "Okay, so why haven't you been with any?"

  "Who says I haven't?"

  "Have you?" she asks, putting her head closer to me over the table.

  "Maybe."

  "Who was it?"

  "I can't say."

  "You can't say? You would only be this secretive if it was someone I knew."

  "It is someone we know and for that reason I'm not going to say anything else about it."

  "This must be big. Is he big? Does Ava know? If Ava knows, then I should know too."

  "I'm not going to say another word about it."

  "Fine. Speaking of Ava, why is she cock-blocking?"

  "What?"

  "You heard me; she won't give me her cousin's number. I was feeling him; I think he was feeling me too. We could get together and feel each other out to see how good we can feel together."

  My fork stops in midair then I put it in my mouth.

  "Cat? Did I say something wrong? You're looking at me funny."

  "No, I'm not."

  "Yes, you are. You look upset. You said Nick and you were only friends."

  "We are."

  "Are you sure you're not interested in being more than friends with him? If you were, I would totally understand, he's a hotty. I don't know how you made it this long without jumping him. I would have ridden that like a cowboy, Wild Wild West style, raw, bareback and all."

  I almost choke on my salad. I can't stop coughing. Who chokes on salad? I'll tell you who, anyone having a conversation with Chloe from the things that come out of her mouth. She races from her side of the booth next to me. I go from being a choking victim to being assaulted from the blows she's administering to my back.

  "Cat, are you okay?"

  "I would be better if you weren't making my back black-and-blue!" I was able to croak out after dislodging the lettuce stuck in my throat. "More importantly, stop drawing attention to us." The few people in the café are casting concerned looks in our direction.

  "I don't want you to choke to death, it would ruin my lunch."

  "Thank you for being so concerned."

  "No problem, what are friends for." Her phone rings. She looks at it and puts it back down. "I have to cut lunch short, the wicked bitch of the east has summoned me back to work."

  "You're supposed to be off for the rest of the day."

  "Yeah, well I'm an on call personal shopper. The money says I'm working, I'm working."

  "Since when are you on call?"

  "I've been promoted for the day. Apparently, an absurdly rich sheik has requested me to be his personal shopper for the day."

  "Maybe this could be your mister right. He asked for you personally so he must be interested. Sounds like he's an older gentleman with lots of money. Sounds like your type."

  She grabs her bag off the table, pulls out a twenty dollar bill and puts it on the table. "I don't think so. Men like him don't like women with smart-ass mouths that back talk. I don't like no man telling me what to do unless it's in bed."

  "Are you sure? He could be a nice guy. He could be a modern-day sheik who believes in women's rights."

  "The novelty with a woman like me wares off pretty fast with men like that.

  "I like the freedom to do and say what I want to. If he takes me back to his country, I know what I'm in for. No, thank you! I've seen Dateline. I don't want my mother to have to smuggle me back out of a foreign country."

  She's right; with her mouth, I know what she's in for too.

  "You know what my plans are for the rest of the day. What're yours?"

  "I'm headed home. I'm on babysitting duty, remember?"

  She stands and slings her bag over her shoulder. "You should have chosen door number two, the cocktail party with all the men." She wags her eyebrows up and down at me.

  I smile at the face she's making. "I'll talk to you later."

  She kisses me on the cheek before she leaves. "Later."

  I look out the window of the café after Chloe leaves. I try not to do it but I can't help it; I find myself thinking about Nick. I haven't seen or talked to him since the morning I left his house in a hurry to get away from him. The day after Ava went to see him she called me. She didn't have much to say, which is not like Ava. She didn't even try to force the issue of me and him getting together. The only thing she said was he wasn't as upset as she thought he was going to be. She hasn't said anything else about him since then. He hasn't texted or tried to call me. Maybe he's really upset with me for leaving the way I did. I know I should call him and at least give him an explanation for the way I left.

  I need to be honest with myself. I miss hearing from him. I'm disappointed he didn't call me, I thought he would. I want to hear from him. I miss hearing his voice.

  I change into my sweats and make myself a sandwich. I wonder what's on, it's six fifteen on Thursday night, let's see what's on. I flip through all the channels twice like something I want to watch is magically going to appear. It's like looking in the fridge over and over again when you're hungry. Nothing new is going to be there but for some reason you keep on doing it. I give up, I'm going to watch the news.

  My daddy walks into the living room dressed in his tux.

  "Hey, kit Cat!" He comes over and gives me a hug.

  "Hey, Dad, you look good."

  "Thank you, thank you. I had to pull it together tonight for a good cause—Sickle Cell Anemia. I don't go to too many of these things but your mother bought the tickets for a good cause."

  "Where is your other half?" I brush a piece of lint off his shoulder.

  "She'll be down in a minute. I didn't know you were here."

  "I was in my room."

  "I haven't seen much of you lately. I thought I would see more of you now that you're back."

  Since Kate's moved back I find any excuse possible not to be here.

  "I have both my girls under the same roof again and I hardly get to see the both of you in the same room."

  Thank God. "Well, Dad, we're not little girls anymore; our schedules don't always coincide."

  "No matter how busy you are you should make time for family. I was thinking maybe we should start doing every other week Sunday dinners again since you're home, all my kids will be there."

  "We haven't had one of those since Chris and Jay went off to college." I brush an imaginary piece of lint off his jacket this time.
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  "Now would be the perfect time. Our family is growing. Jay would bring Vanessa, it seems like they're working things out. Kate could bring Nick, it'll be great."

  "Oh great, sounds like fun times," I say enthusiastically. He hugs me again and I fake a smile for him. That is the last dinner on earth I want to be at. Talk about uncomfortable.

  "What sounds like fun times?" My mother walks into the room dressed in a black-and-white above-the-knee strapless dress with the matching short sleeve shrug jacket. Her hair is pulled up off her face. She looks sophisticated. She's fifty-seven but looks ten years younger.

  "I was telling Cat we should do Sunday night dinners again."

  My mother walks over, air kissing me on the cheek so she doesn't ruin her makeup.

  "I think that's a good idea, darling. Don't you, Cat?"

  If my mother likes it, it's definitely going to happen. No way to get out of it. The doorbell rings. That's Vanessa and Jay.

  Sasha runs straight to me jumping into my lap. "Auntie Cat!" She wraps her chubby little arms around my neck. I hug her back tight, she's so soft.

  "Hey, baby, I missed you!"

  In her cute little voice she says, "Miss you too."

  She is too cute. She's exactly what I needed. She doesn't want a thing from me. She doesn't care who I'm seeing, we're just happy to be together. No guilt and no one's heart is going to get blown into a million pieces from us being together.

  I take her little cheeks in my hands. "We are going to have so much fun tonight."

  "Cat, don't corrupt my baby and have her up all night out on the town. Let's leave that to you."

  "Hi, Jay." That little joke is because Mom was complaining about me staying out all night and not calling. Chris didn't get the text message Nick sent from my phone the night he picked me and Ava up from the club till late that morning. Vanessa and Jay give me a hug and I sit back down on the couch with Sasha's arm still around my neck. They look good together, like their wedding day all over again. Jay in his tux and Vanessa in a white-and-black off-the-shoulder cocktail dress. I'm happy they're working things out.

  "Thanks for watching her for us, Cat. Jay and I were going to stay home until you offered to babysit."