Public Relations

I wasn’t thinking when I told James I would go out with him on a date. I had told Lily a couple days earlier that she could take the night off and see a couple friends that moved to Pittsburgh for school. When I remembered I called Sid right away and told him the problem. He said he would babysit Reid for me. At first I was a bit hesitant, but I realized that I trust him with my life and that I trust him with Reid. They get along well and I can’t deny that Reid loves him. I told him that he could babysit, but he had to text me all the time and call me if he needs anything at all.
It was about half an hour until James would be here. Sid was sitting on my bed. I was standing in front of him in a black lace bra and a black lace pair of panties. I was holding up two dresses. One was a strapless blue dress that was plain. It came with a thick black belt that had a big circular buckle. The other was a short black dress that has thick sheer straps. The top is sparkly and has a sweetheart neckline. The bottom of the dress is plain black and tight. The waist has a thick gold sparkly piece.
“I don’t know which one to wear.” I say.
“I think the black one.” Sid says.
“Why?” I ask.
“James told me you should be dressed a bit more formal.” Sid says. I lay the black dress down on the bed next to Sid.
“Okay.” I say.
“What shoes?” Sid asks. I go into the closet and put back the blue dress. I pick up a pair of gold heels with jewel studs that Brad bought me one day when we were shopping together. They were one of my favourite pairs. They were really expensive, but he bought them anyways. I pick the shoes up off the ground and I found a sheer wrap hanging in the closet. I brought both the shoes and the wrap out of the closet and over to the bed.
“I thought these ones.” I say holding them up for Sid to see.
“Sparkly.” Sid says.
“Brad bought them for me.” I say.
“That was nice of him.” He says.
“They are my favourite shoes.” I say. I unzip the dress and step into it. “Can you help me?”
“Sure.” Sid says. He stands up and he slowly zips up my dress trailing his fingers up my back, making me shiver a bit under his touch. I turned toward him.
“Thanks.” I say.
“You’re welcome.” He says. We stare into each other’s eyes for a couple seconds before I finally break the eye contact. I walk over to the end of the bed and slip on my shoes.
“How do I look?” I ask.
“Breathtaking.” He says. I smile. We go downstairs to the living room and wait for James. We’re only sitting on the couch for a couple minutes when the door bell rings. I look at Sid. I have to admit I’m a bit nervous for this date. Lily took Reid out for dinner before James got here and Sid parked his car in the garage. It’s not that I didn’t want James to know Sid was here I just wasn’t ready to tell him why until later. I was still looking for the right way to tell him and I figured that a fight about Sid wasn’t the best way. Lily was going to drop Reid off for Sid before she went out for the evening. Both Sid and I stood up. I gave him a hug.
“Thanks for watching Reid tonight.” I say. “Call me if you need anything.”
“I will. I promise.” He says. “Everything will be fine.”
“I know.” I say. “You will understand more when you’re a parent.”
“I’m sure you are right.” He says. I smile and pick my clutch and phone up off the table. I walk toward the door. I stop at the mirror by the door and quickly check my hair and makeup. Once I fix a couple stray hairs, on my otherwise perfect lose curls I open the door.
“Hey.” James says.
“Hey.” I say back.
“Ready to go?” He asks.
“Yeah.” I say closing the door behind me and locking it. James takes my hand and leads me down the stairs.
“You look beautiful.” James says when we get to the car.
“Thank you.” I say. “You look very handsome.”
“Thanks.” James says as he closes my door. I watch him walk around the car and open the door. He gets in and starts the car.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“It’s a surprise.” He says as he starts driving. The whole trip we make small talk about the up coming season. Finally we pull up in front of a place called Eleven. I had hear of this place, but I haven’t had a chance to come here since I moved to Pittsburgh.
“I’ve never been here.” I say.
“Good.” He says. “I was hoping you hadn’t.”
“I haven’t been in Pittsburgh that long.” I say.
“That’s true.” He says parking the car and getting out. I check my phone before he gets to my door. There’s a text from Sid. I open it.

87: Lily just dropped Reid off and we’re having a great time. Have fun.

I smile and quickly text him back. James opens the door and I step out of the car.
“I got us a great table.” James says.
“Sounds great.” I say. We go inside and the hostess hurries over to us.
“Good evening Mr. Neal.” The young girl says.
“Hello Val.” James says.
“May I show you to your table?” Val asks.
“Thank you.” James says as he takes my hand and we follow Val to a private room at the back. We walk through the door and I notice the table in the middle of the room. The lights are dimmed and there are candles lit all around the room. The table has two chairs and flowers on it. It looks beautiful. It looks like someone worked hard to make it beautiful in here.
“Enjoy your meal, the first course will be served soon.” Val says. James leads me over to the table as Val leaves the room closing the door behind her. He pulls out my chair for me and I sit down. He walks around the table and sits down across from me.
“This place is beautiful.” I say.
“It is.” He says. After a couple minutes the waiter comes into the room carrying a bottle of wine. The waiter pours each of us a glass and puts the bottle down on the side of the table. “I had them plan out a whole menu for us.”
“Sounds perfect.” I say smiling.
“How are you liking Pittsburgh?” He asks.
“I love it here.” I say. “I miss my old team, but you guys make me feel comfortable.”
“That’s good.” He says. “How is the job going?”
“It’s hard work.” I say. “But I love it. It’s my dream job.”
“That’s great.” He says. “I do my dream job too.”
“Wow I wouldn’t have guessed. I honestly thought your dream job was construction or something.”
“Very funny.” He says.
“I thought so.” I say. We talk a little bit more about work and the job. He asks me a bunch of questions and we talk a bit about the upcoming schedule.
“I need to talk to you about something.” I say when we are half way through our meals.
“Sure, anything.” He says. I put my fork down on the edge of my plate and took a long sip of wine.
“I haven’t really told many people this yet, not because I’m embarrassed, I just wasn’t ready.” I say pausing.
“What is it?” He says.
“I have a son.” I say looking down at my plate, not wanting to look up at him. James takes my hand into his.
“That’s fine.” He says.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“Of course it is.” He says.
“I was nervous to tell you.” I say.
“Why?” He asks.
“I thought you might not want to be with me if I told you I have a child.” I say.
“There is no chance that I don’t want to be with you because of that.” He says. “I’m sure he’s just as amazing as you are.”
“He’s pretty amazing.” I say smiling.
“You should have told me earlier, but I’m not mad.” He says.
“Good.” I say. “I want you to meet him.”
“When?” He asks.
“He should be asleep by the time you drop me off tonight, but maybe one day this week after work?” I ask.
“Sure.” He says.
“I’ll let you know what day for sure.” I say. We talk about Reid as we finish up dinner. He asks questions about Brad and our relationship. Then he asks questions about Reid. Things he likes, and things he dislikes. He seemed happy I was sharing that part of my life with him and he seemed like he wanted to be a part of it. I was nervous about Reid meeting James, but I figured I would just introduce him like I did with Sid until I knew what was going on between us. When we finished up dinner James paid the bill and we went back to the car. On the way back to my house we were making small talk at first.
“Are you going to the team event at the bar on Thursday?” James asks.
“Yeah, I think so.” I say.
“Do you want to go together?” James asks.
“Sure.” I say smiling.
“Awesome.” He says. We pull up in front of my house and James parks the car. He gets out and opens my door for me. I hook my arm with his as we walk up to the front door. We stop in front of the door.
“I had a great time with you.” I say.
“I had a great time too.” He says. He takes a step closer to me and kisses me. I kiss him back. After a couple seconds he takes a step back.
“I better go.” He says.
“Why?” I ask trying not to smile.
“If I stay here any longer you might not be wearing clothes in the next couple minutes.” He says.
“Well then I guess you should go.” I say. “I have a son sleeping somewhere in this house.”
“You’re right.” He says. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
“See you then.” I say. He gives me another kiss then he goes down the stairs and back to the car. I open the door and walk into the house. I close the door as James drives away. I walk through the house into the living room. It’s dark in the house and very quiet. I put down my clutch. I don’t want to wake Reid up so I kick my shoes off by the living room table and walk over to the stairs. I quietly walk up the stairs. I look in Reid’s room, but they aren’t in there. I feel a bit of panic and worry. I go to my room and stop as soon as I see them. Reid is in the middle of the bed half a blanket on him. He’s sprawled out. Sid is on the side of the bed on his side curled toward Reid, protectively. I smile and watch them for a couple minutes. I snap a couple pictures before sneaking over to my closet to change. I quickly got changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top. I quietly went over to the bed and crawled in. I fell asleep playing with Reid’s hair.

Notes