“Saturday
night? A baseball game with three of the most gorgeous bachelors in
Southern California? I think I can manage that,” Anna answered
Gabe’s invitation. “I get home from working about 5:30p. We can
drive up then.”
“How
about we come and get you guys that way we can feed the boys before
we get there?” Gabe suggested. “And with the Deluxe Box tickets
we can park in the back lot, closer to the entrance.”
“Great,
we’ll see you then,” Anna skipped a step after she hung up.
Her
phone rang again, but she didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”she
answered.
“Hi,”
she recognized the voice but couldn’t place it, “This is Matt,
Gabe’s friend from last week?”
“Hi,
how are you,” she responded politely.
“Great,
I hope you don’t mind, I stole your number out of Gabe’s phone,”
he laughed hoping she would be impressed with his efforts to contact
her.
She
paused a second then shrugged it off, “Of, course not. How can I
help you?” She wondered why he called.
“I
just really enjoyed talking with you and I wanted to make sure that
you weren’t too put off by Adam that you wouldn’t like any of
Gabe’s friends?” Matt tried to put her at ease.
“No,
I think his bark is probably worse than his bite. If Gabe is willing
to ignore his opinion of me, then I can too. I think he’s actually
just too intelligent for his own good,” Anna tried to remain
positive, still unsure of Matt’s motives for calling.
“Are
you working now?” Matt asked, trying to find a way to get her to
open up and talk freely like she had before.
“Yes,
just finishing an organizing appointment. I’ve got to drop off the
donations and trash and then head home to finish a sewing job,” She
rattled off her list of to do’s.
“You
take away their donations and trash?” He asked skeptically.
“I
make sure to haul it away. Too many times if I leave it for them to
do, they will fish back through things and half of it ends up back in
the house I just spent days cleaning up,” She smiled as she talked,
letting him know it wasn’t as bad as it sounded, but still
ridiculous that people would pay her to do work for them that they
would turn right around and undo.
“Wow,
maybe you’ll have to come over and help me get straightened out,”
Matt added with a little too much charm.
Unfazed,
Anna responded, “You probably have a bachelor’s apartment with
the least amount of everything possible, except over sized
televisions and take out containers.
Matt
laughed off her suggestion, knowing it hit a little too close to
home. “I’m not as bad as that. I actually have a very nice home,
but yes, it definitely lacks a woman’s touch.”
Anna
started to understand that maybe Matt called for more than just a
chat. It usually took being hit with an 18 wheeler truck for her to
begin to guess a guy was interested. Suddenly she felt flattered that
he went to the effort to call, but confused if Gabe gave him her
number or if Matt really got it without his knowledge. She wasn’t
sure which was worse. She didn’t want Gabe giving out her number,
but Matt going behind his back did not impress her. She gave him the
benefit of the doubt and continued the conversation.
“Well,
I have the number of a few designers, if you ever want some help with
that,” she willing played along, but she did not promise more than
she was willing to deliver.
“Actually,
you could give them to me if you wanted to go out to dinner
Wednesday,” he said.
I walked right into that one,
she thought kicking herself, not for him asking her out, but she
didn’t like to be talked into anything. Control
Freak
“Yes,
that would be nice,” she agreed, “but not on a school night.”
“You’re
still in school?” he teased.
“Thankfully,
no, but there is homework and sixth grade takes a lot of getting used
to for a boy who hates homework,” she explained. “Saturday’s
are best? But not this Saturday,” she added remembering the
previous conversation. “Sorry, to be so difficult, that’s just
the life of a single mom. Next Saturday would be perfect. Does that
work for you?”
“No,
I really don’t want to wait that long to see you again, but I’m
willing to make the sacrifice.” She could tell he was teasing again
and her heart beat a little faster at his boldness.
“Patience
is a virtue,” she teased back.
“I’ll
have to get some of that. I’ll add it to my grocery list,” he
laughed now. Abruptly he added, “I need to go, but next Saturday,
9pm, you’re all mine.”
“Nine?”
she was confused, hadn’t he said dinner?
“Nine’s
good, unless you need to make it later,” he commented
accommodatingly.
“Uh,
no, nine is fine. See you then, bye,” she hung up the phone
wondering what she had gotten herself into and how she will stay
awake through dinner. The life of a single mom is often less than
glamorous.
She
dropped her phone in her purse and dropped Matt from her thoughts as
she drove to pick up Chris from his friend’s house.
Saturday
afternoon Gabe loaded Sean in the car and headed south toward Long
Beach. He found himself thinking about things he wanted to talk to
Anna about. Articles he read that morning and the Dodgers chances in
the playoffs. All summer they had continued talking and texting,
sharing small moments through the day. Often when he read a piece of
news or heard a funny story he wanted her to be the one he talked to.
She was becoming like the female version of Matt, someone he turned
to when he wanted a second opinion or wanted to share his.
Sean
spoke up, explaining his latest attempts at Pokemon domination and so
Gabe’s focus centered on that for the rest of the 40 min drive. Her
car wasn’t there when he pulled in front of the small, well kept
home Anna and Chris rent. It really impressed him that she did so
well as a single mom trying to be home with her son as much as
possible.
Chris
stood in the gate struggling to get his bike through while it shut on
him. Sean jumped out and ran to help and the two of them disappeared
inside. Gabe walked to the front door and stood there for a few
minutes waiting for the boys to come let him in. It became apparent
that they had completely forgotten about him, so he rang the
doorbell. A sheepish Chris answered the door, apologized, and let him
in. Sean sat, already on the computer, talking about the latest
challenge on his game. Chris returned to the couch to continue their
conversation.
Gabe
interrupted them, “Chris, dude, no offense but you stink,” he
said with a smile fanning the air around him. “Why don’t you go
clean up a bit while we wait for your mom?”
“Yes,
we were running around a lot and I’m pretty sweaty. Do I have to
get in the shower?” Chris asked tentatively.
“I
think you should, and get some clean clothes,” Gabe added. He
walked to the kitchen and got the small red tomato timer and set it
for 5 minutes. He knew the tendency of boys to drag their feet to get
in, but then never want to get out. “You have 5 minutes, so wash
quickly.”
Chris
ran off to get his clothes and headed into the bathroom, resetting
the timer for the full 5 minutes. Gabe waited a few minutes and then
knocked on the door and asked Chris if he knew when his mom would be
home. Chris’ voice came muffled through the water so Gabe knew he
had actually gotten in. Sometimes you have to be smarter
than the average bear to raise kids.
It
surprised Anna how much she looked forward to the game. Since their
explosive visit to the Aquarium she and Gabe had become real friends.
She wasn’t surprised anymore to receive a text message or email
from Gabe and Sean and Chris constantly asked to hang out together.
At
5:15pm she dropped off a load of boxes at the thrift store near her
home. Anna tried to support the store. They raise funds to help out
abused mothers so they can finish school and establish careers. Anna
maneuvered toward home mentally planning what needed to be done
before they could leave. Hopefully, she could work in a shower and
clean clothes before Gabe and Sean arrived. Chris would ride his
bike home from a birthday party and would need to change too. I’ll
remind him to wear his Dodgers cap.
Anna
came around the corner and saw Gabe’s car in front of her house,
her heart sank a little that she wasn’t going to be able to get
ready. She walked in the house carrying an armful of organizing and
cleaning supplies. Gabe and Sean sat on the couch, but Chris was no
where to be seen. “Is Chris home?” she asked Gabe.
“No,
we randomly broke into your house because we had a huge desire to sit
here on your couch and stare at your walls,” Gabe’s sarcasm
dripped heavily.
“If
I had known you were so interested in my walls I would have touched
up the paint for you,” she threw right back at him.
“So
you’ll know for next time.” Gabe threw her a sarcastic look.
“Chris is actually in the bathroom washing up and changing. He was
pretty sweaty.” Just then Chris walked out and before Anna could
even say hello Gabe asked “Did you remember deodorant?”
Chris
hung his head and silently turned around and walked back in the
bathroom. For a second Anna felt a little uncomfortable with someone
else telling her son what to do in her own home. Then she realized
she should be grateful for someone else to reinforce what she tried
to teach him. It felt nice to have someone else be the adult. She
smiled at him appreciatively.
“I’m
going to take a quick second to clean up too. I’ve been hefting
boxes and dusty clothes and things all day. But it should just take
me a couple minutes,” she explained to Gabe, hoping he wasn’t in
too much of a hurry.
“No
problem, How about I take these bottomless pits out to get burgers
and we’ll be back in a few minutes?” Gabe offered.
Anna
nodded and then headed to her room to get clean clothes. She heard
them leave and she quickly jumped in the shower. They hadn’t
returned yet when she finished and dressed so she added a little make
up and earrings. Make up and jewelry were nice but not essential to
her and usually only applied in the car as she drove somewhere.
She
heard the door and walked out to meet them. “Wow, you clean up
well,” Gabe joked, “and fast. I figured we’d be back, eaten,
and waiting.”
“Well,
when you are as naturally beautiful as I am…” she flipped her
hair behind her and smiled a horribly cheesy grin. “Actually, all
the make up and hair supplies in the world don’t do much, so I
don’t bother.”
He
assured her that was definitely not true. She was closer
with her first comment. She’s not gorgeous like the women I work
with, but she is so natural and happy that she really is beautiful.
Out
loud Gabe said, “Let’s get going then,” and they piled in the
car.
The
drive to the ballpark took about 45 minutes and when he pulled up to
the gate of the parking lot he showed the attendant his tickets. The
attendant slipped a bright salmon colored piece of paper under the
windshield wiper and directed them to drive around to the farthest
lot. Anna had never been back there, she usually ended up parking
with the masses in a lot that spread down the hill.
The
nearest entrance was located behind third base and they stopped to
get sodas, water, and popcorn for the boys who were already hungry
again. Instead of climbing up to the seats where Anna usually sat,
they snaked around down to the boxes behind home plate. As they sat
down she was surprised by how close they were.
“Wow,
we can actually see faces on the people,” she joked to Gabe who
gratefully realized, once again,all the opportunities he took for
granted.
“The
players don’t usually have faces?” Sean asked confused.
“Where
we usually sit is so far away, you can’t see anything more than the
numbers on the jerseys to identify people,” Anna explained.
She’s not bitter about it, she says it as though it’s matter
of fact.
“Why
would you sit there?” Sean asked innocently.
“Because
season tickets for these seats would cost more than my house,” Anna
laughed kindly. “Not
everyone is lucky enough to be as spoiled rotten as you,” she
teased, wrapping her arms around him, throwing him gently side to
side.
“Oh,”
he responded, suddenly understanding, “We are pretty lucky. Aren’t
we, dad?”
“It’s
not just being lucky. Your dad works hard for what he earns. He has
to be away from you most days while he’s filming and he’s lost a
lot of privacy,” she told Sean. Gabe looked at her admiringly. Then
she jabbed Gabe in the ribs, “For a Pretty Boy Actor that is,”
she added with a smirk.
Gabe
admired her levelheadedness when it came to wealth and money. She
didn’t sound resentful like so many people. He knew he had
advantages in life that others did not, but he also worked very hard.
He had taken jobs he didn’t like and roles he hadn’t wanted
because a job is a job and the more you are out there the more of the
right kind of opportunities come your way. No one is going to hire a
nobody in this business.
The
Announcer started, the National Anthem sung, without too
much over singing this time,
the first pitch thrown out and the game began. It was the last home
game of the regular season and the Dodgers were on a 17 game winning
streak, so the seats were pretty full.
It
threw Anna off a little sitting down so low and behind the plate. She
almost preferred the birds-eye-view of the cheap seats. She focused
hard to determine where the ball was going and whether it was fair or
foul from that vantage. It did give a better view of close plays at
the base and she could see that the umpire had made a lousy call at
third which she wouldn’t have been able to notice sitting somewhere
else.
The
fifth inning was half way over and the boys were a little antsy. Gabe
took them to get refills and walk to the memorabilia shop to get some
of their energy out. Gabe was stopped by a guy who he had met on one
of his visits to troops over seas. He didn’t remember the guy, he
had met so many over there, but he stopped to talk with him. He made
sure the boys shook his hand and they all took a picture together. He
even signed his hat. Gabe shook the man’s hand again and thanked
him for his service before saying good bye and walking toward their
seats.
Sean
teased his dad, “Maybe I should get your autograph on my hat, just
in case I’m poor one day and need to sell it.”
Gabe
tussled Sean’s hair and told him he could have his autograph on his
emancipation papers when he made Sean live in the field behind the
house. He then had to explain Emancipation and that is what they were
discussing when they returned to their seats.
“Gabe
is going to emancipate Sean, so he will be poor and then he can sell
his autograph to pay for food,” Chris blurted out to his mom in
explanation of their strange conversation. Anna laughed silently and
looked at Gabe with a questioning glance, as if he was crazy.
He
just smiled back and confirmed, “Yep, as soon as we get home, boot
to the gutter, baby. You’re out on your own.” Sean, obviously
unruffled by his dad’s announcement, rolled his eyes and sat back
in his seat.
The
sixth inning had started and the score board showed pictures of
couples surrounded by a heart and the words “Kiss Cam” beneath
their faces. The camera stayed on the couple until they gave in and
kissed. First a young couple, then an older couple, then the former
soldier Gabe had just spoken to. Finally the background changed and
the words “Major Kiss Cam” appeared on the screen and Gabe
realized the camera pointed at him.
Anna
was so focused on the game she looked around suddenly when the crowd
let out a cheer. There isn’t anything going on, what are
people looking at? Just then
Gabe bumped her elbow and pointed at the Score Board. He leaned over
and kissed her on the cheek before she had even figured out what was
going on. Maybe that will satisfy them. The
crowd let out a boo.
“Don’t
worry about it,” he whispered in her ear. She had finally figured
out what he saying.
Gabe
saw her eyes open wide in surprise and she looked around at all the
people in the stadium. She’s
probably horrified. She
actually considered what his fans would think if they didn’t kiss
or if they did. Will
they think he’s too stuck on himself to play along? What will the
media publish if I did kiss him? Will they think we are actually
dating? What will Chris and Sean think?
She
glanced at the boys and they both had a look of horror on their
faces, as though their parents had been asked to eat cockroaches. For
twelve year old boys, eating bugs might be considered cool, this was
much worse. She only took half second to think through what she
should do and she turned smiling toward Gabe with a plan.
She shocked him when she faced him,
removed his hat and covered her face with it. He deduced her plan as
she leaned toward him and he bent his head to hers happy to play
along with the ruse. His heart jumped a little and warmth spread
through his chest as her lips touched his briefly. He started to
close his eyes, but she quickly pulled away. Her
lips are fuller and softer than they look.
She
had planned to only hide behind the hat, make it look like a kiss,
but not actually touch him. She wondered what had made her do it.
Maybe, the fact that he
leaned in close to her, maybe, the realization that the fans sitting
behind us would be able to see we hadn't actually kissed, maybe, that
last minute whiff of Cologne that made her heart melt, or maybe, I
really did want to kiss him. Definitely
the fans sitting behind us. Definitely! I'm going with that one. Anna
looked him in the eye, smiled and then looked away toward the game.
“Go
Dodgers,” she cheered loudly, but instead on the next pitch the
batter grounded out. She turned to look at the boys and they were
staring back as if she’d grown three heads.
“Ewww,
Mom, you kissed him?” Chris said incredulously.
“On
the mouth,” Sean put in, “in public,” as if she’d just kissed
a bubonic pig.
“Well,
they were expecting it,” she waved her hand at the stands. Then,
she raised her eyebrow, “you two are just jealous.”
She
made an exaggerated pucker and kissed Chris twice on the cheek. Then,
she added loud smacking kissing noises and pawed at Sean. She grabbed
him and got in a kiss on the forehead and another on the cheek by his
ear as he squirmed.
She
noticed that Sean complained and squirmed but didn’t move away.
Does he miss having a mom
to kiss him? She stole
one last kiss from Chris, pinned between Sean and her, and released
them both. Chris exaggeratedly wiped his hand on his face and then
wiped it again on her jeans.
“Aw,
Man, now I’m jealous. I only got one kiss, you guys are so lucky,”
Gabe joked. Anna glanced at him and knew she was forgiven for the
kiss. He leaned over and whispered, “You’re hat stunt guarantees
that it will appear on the sports reels. Every gossip outlet is going
to be trying to figure out who you are.”
Her
face dropped, apologetically she stammered, “I’m so sorry. I
didn’t thinking about that. I just tryied to get them to stop but
not have pictures out there.” She leaned forward to rest her head
in her hands.
“It’s
not a problem, Anna,” He assured her, “any good media is free
advertising, right? I think it’s kind of funny. I’m so used to
it, it’s second nature, but there isn’t any way you could really
have known.”
She
peered between her fingers at him and she only raised her head once
to assure herself he was being honest. “You’re a lot of trouble,
but Sean likes you, so I guess we’ll let you guys hang around with
us,” Gabe smiled, put his arm around her shoulders and shook her
gently in a mock hug.
The
next two innings passed quickly and the top of the ninth ended in a
double play that continued the winning streak. They gathered their
trash and followed the crowd toward the exit. As they approached the
parking lot gate, Gabe looked at the people around them and spoke to
the attendant who nodded at him. Instead of following the line of
cars through the exit, Gabe
circled back and went out the entrance, past the attendant who waved
at him, and into the throng of cars leaving the other lots through
the narrow streets in the hills.
“If
anyone tried to follow us, they’ll have gotten lost in the crowds,”
Gabe explained as he turned onto the main road and headed for Anna’s
house.
The
boys were lost in a conversation about their latest gaming
adventures. Anna and Gabe were content to listen to the music on the
radio, talking from time to time, but relaxing in the silence as
well. Soon they arrived at her house and Gabe jumped from the car to
open their doors and walk them to the porch.
Chris
waved good night and headed inside. “Thank you for inviting us,”
he said when his mom grabbed his arm and turned him back around to
face Gabe. She let him go in.
“Yes,
thank you. It was a lot of fun,” she echoed.
“Sorry
about the whole kiss cam,” he interrupted.
“I’ve
had worse things happen to me then having to kiss a cute guy at a
baseball game,” she laughed. He smiled back, said good night, and
walked back to the car. She waved before walking into the house. With
any luck Armageddon will start so the gossip shows have something
else to focus on. Just
for added protection she got on the computer and shot out a post
about: not actually dating anyone, the whole thing being for
publicity, and please not sharing her name or contact information
with anyone. Hopefully,
that ends it.
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