With everything that happened with Nolan’s father, I all but gave up on dating. At least for now. It was Nolan and me against the world. I would actually envision us standing on a cliff, holding hands with our fists in the air and my mom cape blowing in the wind as the sun went down. I know it soundsridiculous, but with what I went through, I felt I needed that mom-superpower status to protect my little boy.
I’m finishing up with my last client when I hear the door chime and a male’s voice respond with, “I’m here to pick up Christy,” when asked which of us he was here to see.
Margo, our front receptionist, pops her head around the wall that separates me from the entryway. Her voice is as normal as possible, but her facial expression is anything but as she says, “Someone is here to pick you up?”
I grin, trying to act unfazed. “That’s Evan. Tell him I’m almost finished.”
She raises her eyebrows, tilting her head as she whispers, “Who’s Evan?”
I let out a small giggle as I wave her away and whisper back, “I’ll tell you later.”
“Hell yeah, you will,” she teases as she moves back behind the wall. Then she tells Evan, “She’s just finishing up. Have a seat, and she’ll be right out.”
I look at my client in the mirror, who is waiting patiently for me to spill the beans. When I don’t say anything, she raises her eyebrows in the same way Margo did, making me stop and laugh under my breath so he doesn’t hear.
“Who’s Evan?” Amber, a longtime client of mine, asks.
“Nobody,” I singsong with a cheesy grin on my face as I get back to work.
“Nobody, my ass. Do you have a date?” she asks with so much excitement in her voice that I laugh out loud. “Is this why you needed to move me up today?”
I grin. “I’m going to help him pick out furniture.”
“Furniture? I’m confused. Is this a thing now?”
I shake my head as I grab some finishing spray. “No. He just moved here and doesn’t have anything, so he asked for my help.”
“And how did you meet him?” she asks in a playful tone.
I match her tone. “He came in for a haircut.”
“How awesome! So, he sought your cute ass out.”
“Hardly. His sister made the appointment. He just showed up.”
“So, what, he just asked you to go furniture shopping as he sat in your chair for the first time?”
I think about the first time we met and then how I ran into him at the baseball park, but don’t feel like sharing all of that, so I just respond with, “Yeah, something like that.”
I place my hands on her shoulders and look at her in the mirror. “You’re all set.”
She shakes her head around with a big smile on her face. “Love it, as always.”
I undo the drape around her shoulders and start to clean up as she stands and gathers her belongings.
She hands me cash, and we hug our goodbye as she whispers in my ear, “Have fun. You deserve it.”
I grin as she pulls back and pats my hand, giving me a knowing smile. She was here through it all with Nolan’s dad, so hearing her say that means more than it should.
“Love you, girl.”
“Love you too,” I respond.
I finish cleaning up, then poke my head around the corner to where Evan is sitting. The smile he gives me when his eyes meet mine makes my heart dance a little bit.
“Let me just grab my things, and we’ll get out of here,” I say.
He nods, and I turn to head to our staff room. After I make sure I’m presentable and I don’t have color smeared on my face somewhere, I make my way out to him.
