Miles Away

I sat on the balcony waiting for her to finish getting dressed. The boys were ready to go, playing cards at the table. She emerged from the bedroom and I couldn’t help but stare. She had a dark brown sundress on with sandals that were at least three inches high. The dress came down to the middle of her things and accentuated the round curve of her backside as she reached on the top of the TV for her keys. Her long hair was left in waves down her back. She had makeup on, but it wasn’t much and was more of a neutral color. “Let me go drop them off. Do you want to go with me?” she asked.

“Yeah, after we leave there we can go to Jeff’s so I can shower.” I said and I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards my car. “You are so not driving, so put the keys away.” I said to her and the boys climbed in the back of my car.

We dropped her sons off and headed towards Sea Isle. She was quiet in the car and I figured she might be nervous going to a house she didn’t know. I reached for her hand and squeezed it. “You ok?” I asked and she nodded.

“I’m good” she said quietly and gave me a smile. I exited the highway and drove towards Jeff’s street. I pulled into the driveway of the house with the huge Canadian flag hanging from the upper deck. “Wow, this house is huge.” She whispered in awe.

“Jeff is little ostentatious. It is just who he is. It looks like they are all still out at the beach. A few of the guys from Philly came in today and a few will be by tomorrow. Jeff's wife and kid will be here tomorrow too” I told her.

I showed her to my bedroom and I went into the bathroom to get a shower. She sprawled across the bed, laying on her stomach, playing a game on her phone while I showered and shaved. I came out of the bathroom in a towel once I was done in search of clothes. I paused looking at her on the bed and had to smile. She was so into the game she didn’t even hear me come out. I dressed quickly and pulled her off the bed. “Let’s go out to dinner.” I suggested and she smiled in response.

We walked downstairs and went climbing into the car as the cars started returning from the beach. I pulled out of the driveway quickly, trying to avoid having to wait for anyone to get ready to join us. I took her to a tiny restaurant Jeff had recommended to me last night. It was intimate and the food was terrific.

We shared dessert as she told me how crazy and hectic things were in her house. “I work four twelve hour shifts a week. I work on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays six o’clock in the morning until six o’clock at night. It’s a little crazy but I have a really good babysitter that takes them to school and picks them up during the week and takes them to their practices where I meet them. She is really reasonable which allows me to be able to rent in Voorhees and keep them two in better schools.” She took a sip of her wine and I took the opportunity to ask her a few questions.

“So what sports do the boys play?” I asked her and her face lit up.

“They both play baseball, dek hockey and football. Baseball in the spring, football in the fall and dek hockey in the winter. It’s a little rough with two of them now playing all three but they love it.” She looked up at me and I couldn’t help but grin at her.

“So you are super sports mom and run around to their two different teams all the time?” She laughed and shook her head. “Do they like hockey?” I asked because the boys surprisingly hadn’t mentioned it.

“Yeah, definitely Matthew’s favorite sport to play. Michael is more of a baseball fan. Matthew has been torturing me to play ice hockey already and I keep diverting him to the dek hockey. I don’t know how people do it. It is so expensive.” I felt for her. She wasn’t asking for pity, but she spoke freely and didn’t try to cover up the fact that she was doing it on her own. She was definitely a good mom, who would give anything to her kids before doing anything for herself. I vowed to spoil her senseless this week knowing it didn’t happen often for her.

I paid the bill for dinner and we exited the restaurant. I wasn’t in a rush to get back to Jeff’s. They took forever to get ready and go out. “Come on, do you want to walk on the boardwalk for a little bit?” I asked and she nodded. I grabbed her hand and we walked the two blocks to the boardwalk. “So what do you do for fun?” I asked her and she smiled at me.

“I don’t usually get my sitter other than the nights I work but the boys and I watch a lot of sports and go to parks and swimming and stuff like that. They love the aquarium and zoo so I try to take them to one of those at least once a month. If I get a sitter, I like to shoot pool and go to concerts. I’ll listen to pretty much anything. I also go to sporting events when I get the chance.” She said and looked up at me. “What about you Mr. Busy?” she asked.

I told her a little about my lake place in Kenora and how peaceful it was. “Jeff and my places are completely different. Jeff is happy being surrounded by people, I’d rather it be a few people or just me. The off-season is the only time I get to relax so I try and enjoy it.” We walked for a while hand in hand silently. I saw a photo booth in front of an arcade and pulled her towards it. “Come on let’s take some pictures." I walked up to the cashier and grabbed a roll of quarters.

I stepped inside the booth and pulled her in next to me. After the depositing the money, the little countdown thing started and we both smiled for the first picture. The second one I stuck my tongue at her and she looked surprised. The third I leaned in and kissed her gently and it kind of lasted through the fourth picture.

I pulled away and she looked a little stunned and I thought maybe I shouldn’t have went there. I put more quarters in and we took the first two pictures smiling and the third with our tongues out. She leaned into me for the fourth and took complete control, running her tongue slowly along my bottom lip. I swear I could have continued kissing her for hours but a few minutes into it I could see a little’s kids feet. “Mommy, when is it our turn?” she asked and Ava pulled away from me and laughed.

She pushed me out the empty side of the booth and she went out and collected our pictures, handing one to me and putting one inside her bag. We walked back towards the car and I drove us back to Jeff’s place. I pulled up in the driveway and we quietly sat in the car for a few minutes before I leaned over and kissed her again. “Come on, I want to introduce you to some people.” I said, opening the car door.

Notes

:) Happy Friday .. just finished watching the Rangers win in OT