Public Relations

After work Sid drops me off at home and I have only an hour until James will be at my house. I go into the house and Reid comes running from the living room. He jumps into the air and I catch him. I give him a big hug and spin him around.
“There’s my big boy.” I say.
“Mommy.” Reid says. I put him down and kneel in front of him.
“How was your day baby?” I ask.
“Greaaaat!” Reid says with excitement.
“What did you guys do today?” I ask.
“Park wif Lily.” Reid says.
“That’s fun.” I say.
“It was!” Reid screams.
“Why don’t you go play with your toys?” I say.
“Okay.” He says. I give him a kiss on the cheek before he runs off to the living room. I walk into the kitchen. Lily is peeling potatoes.
“Hi Alex.” Lily says.
“Hey.” I say putting my purse and some folders down on the counter. “Are you making dinner?”
“Yeah.” She says pulling another potato out of the bag.
“I’m having a friend over tonight for dinner so let me help you.” I say.
“Alright.” She says. “I was going to have dinner out with a friend tonight.”
“Go get ready, I will finish dinner.” I say smiling.
“Are you sure?” She asks.
“Yes.” I say. “Just tell me what I have to do.”
“Alright.” She says. She gives me instructions on how to finish making the chicken and potato dish she started and then she leaves the kitchen. I follow the instructions she gave me and finish the prep. I leave the pot on the stove. I won’t turn it on until James has been here for a bit and we’re almost ready to eat. I have about a half an hour until James gets here. Lily left about 5 minutes ago to meet her friend and Reid is watching television and playing with his cars. I decide I would try and do a bit of work I had to finish before James gets here. I sit down at the table and get to work. I finish a press release and look up at the clock on the wall. I have about ten minutes till James gets here. I clean up my work and go into the living rom.
“Reid I need you to come upstairs and change.” I say.
“Why?” Reid asks.
“We’re having a guest tonight.” I say.
“Okay mommy.” Reid says dropping the two cars in his hands and standing up. He runs up the stairs in front of me. I shake my head and follow him upstairs. We go into his bedroom and pick out a pair of dark jeans and a nice button up short sleeve red shirt. I help him get dressed.
“Okay can you sit here and colour while mommy changes?” I ask.
“Okay.” Reid says. He sits down at his little table and chairs and starts colouring on a blank piece of paper. I smile at him and watch for a couple seconds before turning and walking down the hall to my room. I close the door leaving only a crack in case Reid needs me. I go into the closet and pick out a simple black strapless dress. I change into it quickly before slipping into a pair of white wedges. I check my hair in the mirror. It’s gone a bit wavy from when I straightened it this morning, so I run into the bathroom and turn on my straightening iron for my hair. I look at the clock. Luckily James is a bit late. I brush my teeth while I wait for it to heat up. Once it’s hot enough I quickly run it through my hair. I finish just as I hear the doorbell ring. Reid runs into my room as I come out of the bathroom.
“Door!” He yells.
“I know baby.” I say. He takes my hand as we walk down the stairs to the front door. When I open the door Reid moves behind me.
“Hey Alex.” James says.
“James.” I say. He comes through the door and I close it behind him.
“Reid, I want you to meet my coworker James Neal.” I say.
“Hi.” He says quietly. He came out a little from behind me.
“Nice to meet you Reid.” James says crouching down in front of him. He extends his hand to Reid for him to shake. It took Reid a couple seconds, but he reluctantly shook James’ hand.
“Come in.” I say taking James’ coat from him. I put it over the side of the chair in the hall. Reid ran into the living room ahead of us.
“I don’t think he likes me.” James whispered.
“Stop it, he just doesn’t know you.” I whisper back. “He will warm up, I promise.”
“I hope so.” He whispers. He gives me a quick kiss before he follows me into the living room.
“Have a seat.” I say. “I’m going to turn on dinner.”
“Thanks.” James says sitting in an armchair to the right of the couch. I walk toward the kitchen. Reid follows me into the kitchen. He doesn’t say a word as I turn on dinner. I mix the stuff in the pot for a minute as it starts to heat up.
“Let’s go back into the living room and get to know James.” I say. Reid looks at me, but doesn’t say a word. “Come on.”
We go back into the living room. I sit on the couch and Reid climbs up on my lap. I put my arms around him and give him a big kiss on his cheeks. He squeals.
“James, I’m so happy you could come tonight.” I say.
“I’m glad I could come too.” He says. “In fact, I brought you some stuff Reid.”
“Wow that’s so nice of you James.” I say. Reid doesn’t say a word. James leans over and passes me a medium size blue gift bag. I put it between the arm of the couch and my body.
“Open it Reid.” I say. He moves off my lap and on to the ground in front of me. I place the bag in between us. He pulls out the first thing in the bag. It’s a jersey with Davis on the back above the number eighteen. Good guess James, I think.
“Why this one?” Reid asks looking questioningly at James.
“Well Davis is your last name and eighteen is my number.” James says looking proud. “I thought we could be number buddies.”
I smile at James. Reid doesn’t say anything for a couple minutes he just studies the back of the jersey. Finally he looks at James with a huge smile on his face.
“Cool!” Reid screams.
“Yeah.” James says looking relieved.
“Put it on. Put it on.” Reid says jumping up and bringing it to me.
“Okay.” I say laughing. He throws his arms up in the air and I pull the jersey over his head.
“So cool. I can’t wait to show Sid.” Reid says. I look at James and he looks confused at first then upset. He doesn’t say anything though.
“Why don’t you finish opening your gift?” I suggest.
“Okay.” Reid says. He pulls out a Neal shirsy and a custom shirsy with Davis on the back. “So cool.”
“Very.” I say. The last thing he pulls out is an envelope. He brings it over to me.
“Open please.” He says.
“Alright.” I say taking the envelope from him. I open it and produce two tickets.
“Tickets!” Reid screams. I smile at his excitement.
“I thought you could like to come to the first preseason game.” He says. I smile. I had mentioned yesterday on the phone that I needed to get tickets for the first game still.
“Tank you!” Reid screams running over to James and giving him a huge hug.
“You’re welcome bud.” James says. Reid runs over to me next.
“When’s Sid coming? I have to show him my new stuff.” Reid says. I glance at James. He looks mad again. I can tell he’s thinking everything through.
“Maybe another day baby.” I say. “Why don’t you go play with your toys in the den?”
“Okay mommy.” Reid says. He runs off to the other room. We sit in silence for a couple minutes. I look everywhere in the room, but at him.
“Are we going to talk about this?” He asks.
“About what?” I ask finally looking at him.
“Sid.” He says.
“What about him?” I ask.
“He met your son before me obviously.” James says.
“Yeah, he did.” I say simply. “Want to know why?”
“I do actually.” He says.
“He’s my closest friend here.” I say. “I had to move my life from my home country to this new place. I had to move my son away from his father not just across a country, but to a different country. Sid was the first person I met here. He welcomed me and made me feel comfortable.” James was silent for a minute.
“If you like him, just tell me.” James says. I stand up and start pacing.
“How many times do I have to tell you?” I ask.
“You keep telling me, yet you’re always with him.” James says. I scoff.
“That doesn’t mean I like him.” I say. I stop walking. “You want all the cards on the table?” I ask.
“Yes.” He says.
“Fine.” I say. I take a deep breath before continuing. “We slept together.”
“Oh.” He says. He doesn’t say anything for a while and I don’t dare to say anything first.
“When?” He asks finally.
“The night of the team party.” I say. “When he drove me home.”
“We went together.” James says.
“I know, but I met your ex.” I say. He puts his head in his hands. “She told me to stay away from you. I was drunk. I know it’s not an excuse, but it’s the truth.”
“First thing, my ex is a crazy bitch.” He says.
“I know that now.” I say.
“Second, you should have told me.” He says.
“I agree. I should have.” I say.
“And third, it’s over.” He says. I feel tears well up in my eyes. It’s over because of this.
“We’re over?” I ask. He looks up at me.
“Of course not.” He says standing up and walking over to me. He wipes the tears from my eyes.
“It happened, it’s over. As long as you promise there is nothing between Sid and you, I can move on.” He says.
“There is nothing between us. I promise.” I say.
“Good, because I really like you.” James says before kissing me.
“Can we eat now?” I ask. We both laugh.
“Sounds good.” James says. I get Reid from the den and we all go into the kitchen. I serve dinner and we all start eating. Reid talks excitedly about the first game. He decides he will wear his new number eighteen jersey to the preseason game and his Sid jersey to the first regular season game. I just hoped this night would end better than it started.

Notes

A little Halloween treat!
Yeah tbh its a bit late, but i didnt have an internet connect then my laptop died.
BUT here we go!!

Oh everything is in the open now!!!

Enjoy xoxo;