No ifs.
No buts.
I’m bringing justice to the so-called Night Ops Guard.
Now, let’s get to work…
“I told ya, you need to get some rest,” the waitress says as she stalks past my table once more. “Come on, don’t make me kick you out.”
I know she’s only messing around, but it might actually help me if the waitress did in fact kick my butt out of here. It’s 01:30AM and I’m so deep in my research that I might not actually be able to function like a normal person at this point.
But there’s something else too.
For the last forty minutes I’ve been dealing with the strangest feeling. A tall, rugged man walked into the diner nearly three quarters of an hour ago, casually ordered an espresso, and has been sitting over in the corner by himself, just behind the old-timers playing chess.
No big deal, right?
Well… maybe yes, maybe no.
There’s something about this guy. He’s been quietly sipping his espresso—I think he’s on his third one now—reading his Kindle, and occasionally glancing out of the window like he’s some kind of philosopher king.
To be honest, I think he’s full of himself.
Sure he’s handsome as hell, and sure he probably is reading some kind of pretentious philosophy book, but does he really need to be so obnoxious about it?
Pffft.
Whatever. I think the fact he’s distracting me from my work so much is more down to the fact that I’m overworked, tired, and need to get my butt back home—just like the waitress said.
“Okay, I take the hint, I’m going home,” I chuckle, half to myself and half to the waitress as I gather my things, pack my bag, and turn to leave the diner.
As I’m walking toward the exit though, the bell above the door jingles and in step two more big, hefty dudes alongside two boys, a little younger than me, probably in their early twenties.
Wait.
Are they?
Could they really…
I glance over my shoulder and watch the two couples head over and take their seats alongside the smug espresso drinking poser. There’s something very obviously Daddy about all three of the men on the table, but I’m getting serious Little vibes from the younger guys too.
It’s more than their cute hair and sweet t-shirts too. The way the boys are laughing with each other, their sassy energy, their giddy excitability around the bigger, gruffer men…
“Okay, I’mwaytoo tired,” I mutter, turning back toward the door and heading out onto the floodlit city street.
The chances of me seeing not just one, but two Daddy and Little couples in the very same late-night diner as me doesn’t seem even remotely realistic. I mean, most people don’t exactly promote the fact that they’re Littles either, so the fact that they were being so openly bubbly and out there in the diner more than likely means that this is more a case of me wanting tosee something that just isn’t there than me actually seeing two Littles and their Daddies going for a late-night diner stop.
“Urgh,” I grumble. “Home.”
With that, I take the short one block journey from the diner to my apartment building and before I know it, I’m up in the cozy snug of my fifth floor slice of heaven…
“They probably weren’t Daddies and Littles,” I say, ten minutes later, my stuffy Bean tucked under one arm and my favorite coloring book in the other. “I think it was my eyes playing tricks on me.”
I put my coloring book down on the thick rug beneath me and give Bean a big cuddle. I’ve had Bean—the world’s cutest cow—in my life for a few years now. I bought him as a little gift to myself after I graduated college and we’ve been inseparable ever since. With his brown and white fur and the most endearingly boopable nose ever, Bean is always there for me when I need cuddle, company, or a little reassurance. And best of all, he can be warmed up in a microwave to give me the best and most snuggly cuddles ever.
Sure, it would be cool to have a Daddy to provide those things too, but as far as I’m concerned I’m more than happy for it to be me and Bean.
But as I lie on the floor and get to work on coloring in a big elephant and his little baby in all the brightest colors I have at my disposal, I can’t stop that silly poser and his Daddy friends from coming back into my mind…
