“It’s definitely an experience, that’s for sure,” Freddie responded diplomatically. Andy and Simon slid into the booth next to us, and we chatted a while as we waited for a server to come by and grab us another round of drinks.
The longer we sat there the more I realized I wasn’t the same person who left town when I’d gotten the phone call from my sister. I wasn’t having as much fun and part of that was because I knew I’d much rather be at home with Freddie.
Eventually, Simon and I dragged our men out to the dance floor and shoved our way through the sea of writhing bodies. I inserted myself in front of Freddie, my back pressed against his chest and eventually the beat of the music washed through him and his moves became more fluid and graceful. For as much as he said he wasn’t into the bar scene, the man was a damn good dancer. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised; I knew how talented he was in bed.
We wound up staying at the bar until a little after two, when I was the one who decided it was time for us to head home. The four of us walked down the street until Andy and Simon reached their stop and parted with promises to get together at least one more time before we left. They seemed to understand at some point I would be relocating. As much as I’d miss the city, this wasn’t home anymore; my home was wherever Freddie and Sophia were.
15
Freddie
Monday morning,I was still half asleep when Peter rolled out of bed for the day. I pretended to sleep as I watched him tiptoe around the room, getting ready. It seemed exhausting to me that he put in so much effort, but I understood he couldn’t just pull the first clean clothes he found and head out the door. What really struck me was the way his personality morphed as if he was preparing himself for battle. And I supposed, in a way, he was because, from what little I knew about the fashion industry, it was a cutthroat business and I still worried about what damage he’d done to his career by spending so much time with us.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on my chest as he bent down to kiss my forehead. “Hey babe, I have to get going. If you’re bored later, I left address for my job on the nightstand. I’ll leave your name with one of the assistants so they’ll let you in and you can see what I do.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine. I don’t want to cause any problems and you don’t need me hanging around getting in the way.” In truth, I had no clue what I was going to do today. Sightseeing held little appeal for me unless Peter and I were enjoying it together, but I wasn’t sure how much time he’d want to spend doing that when he wasn’t working since he lived here.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he scoffed. “If I thought you were going to be in the way, I wouldn’t have offered. But I want you to see what I do so that hopefully you’ll understand a bit more about my life.”
Not ready to say goodbye yet, I wrapped my hands around Peter’s back and pulled him down on top of me. He put up a halfhearted fight, telling me he really needed to get going, but that didn’t stop him from pressing his lips to mine for a steamy good morning kiss. He ground his hips against mine, turning my morning wood into an arousal-borne erection. “You keep that up, and you’re going to be late for your first day on this job.”
“You’re right,” he conceded with a sigh. “Is it horrible that I wish I didn’t have to leave today?”
“Now you know how I feel every day when I have to get up and go to work and you’re the one lying around in bed.” I’d never told them how much I’d come to resent the time I spent at the restaurant. I harbored more than a little guilt because I didn’t even feel that way when I could be spending time with Sophia.
Then again, it wasn’t uncommon for Mama to bring Sophia down to see me at work, but I didn’t have the same luxury with Peter. If he’d come down before he and I told Mama what was going on between us, my brothers would’ve figured it out and they’d have teased me mercilessly about it. As much as I loved all of them, they sometimes tended to take things a little too far.
I pushed Peter off me and slid my feet over the edge of the bed, following him out to the front door. “Have a good day at work if I don’t see you. I’m probably going to walk around a bit more, but I’ll try to get down there to visit you around lunchtime. Do you want me to bring anything?”
“Yeah, if you find anything that looks interesting go ahead and grab me something. You know what I like,” he said with a playful lilt to his voice that told me he was talking about more than lunch. “Just make sure it’s something I can reheat if I have to because this isn’t the type of job where we all punch out and take a break for lunch.”
With one final kiss, Peter reluctantly left, and I locked the door behind him. I rummaged through the fridge and found myself some fresh fruit and an English muffin for breakfast. It’d been so long since I had a day off with nothing to do and no one to take care of, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. I wound up kicking back on the couch with a cup of coffee and the TV remote, flipping through channels, trying to find something to watch. The morning news held little interest for me, and there was nothing else on this early in the day.
Once the caffeine kicked in, I grew restless. I got dressed, laced up my tennis shoes, and headed out using the key Peter had left when he went to get his hair dyed to lock up behind me. I had no clue where I was or where was going, but as I took in the summer sun, I challenged myself to keep an open mind and see where the day took me.
Because it seemed like the thing to do, I wound up taking the subway to Times Square, figuring that was as good a starting point as any. Even during the day, the area was alive with people rushing in every which direction, some on their way to work, others obviously tourists like me. I ducked into a couple stores even though shopping was usually a special form of torture for me, figuring it was a good chance to pick up a few things for Sophia.
With the help of a police officer patrolling the subway station, I figured out which lines I needed to take to get to Peter’s job site. The building wasn’t anything like I expected; it was basically a rundown warehouse in an industrial area. Everything changed as I stepped inside and waited at the security desk for the guard to verify that my name was on the list of approved visitors. It took long enough that I was considering turning to leave when I heard a familiar voice. “Freddie? What are you doing here?”
My heart sank as I spun around and laid eyes on the woman who’d so easily walked out of our lives. What stung the most is how good she looked, as if she’d blossomed once she abandoned her obligations. “I’d ask you the same question, but I’m not sure I’d believe the answer anyway.”
When I’d admitted my fear of running into my ex to Peter, never in a million years had I thought it’d be possible they’d work together. My stomach flipped like an out of balance washing machine on the spin cycle, and I started looking for the nearest garbage can, certain I was going to be sick. This was beyond the worst case scenario.
“Is everything okay with Sophia? How did you find me? Is she here with you?” Her questions were rushed, and for a split second, I allowed myself to believe she was sincerely worried about her daughter’s well-being. Well, that sucked for her because if anything had happened to her daughter I’m not sure I could bring myself to tell her. She hadn’t been interested in staying around to see Sophia grow up, so what point was there including her now? She pursed her lips as she waited for me to answer, giving me the first glimpse of the woman who come in and out of our lives more times and I could count.
“Don’t worry,mydaughter is fine,” I replied sarcastically, not giving a damn about her crestfallen expression when I referred to Sophia as my child rather than ours. Hell, at this point she was more Peter’s than Angela’s; at least he showed interest in her day-to-day life. “If you must know, I’m here to see a friend.”
“A friend, huh? And you expect me to believe it’s a total coincidence that this so-called friend is working in this building? You really need to come up with more believable lies.” She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and cocked out one hip. It seemed ironic that I was telling her the truth and yet she was convinced I was lying.
Peter chose that exact moment to step around the corner, stalling when he noticed my ex-wife and me in a glaring contest. I waved him over, instinctively sliding a hand around to the small of his back and leaning in to kiss his cheek. I didn’t think anything of it the gesture because Peter told me everyone up here knew he was out and accepted him exactly as he was.
“I’m the friend,” Peter clarified, fitting himself against my side.
“Well, I have to say this is unexpected,” Angela sneered “What? Was I such an evil bitch that you decided to swear off women for good?”
“For your information, I haven’t sworn off women, but I’m bi. I’ve always been bi,” I explained. “And right now, I’m ridiculously happy being with someone who knows how to treat the people he loves instead of a selfish bitch like you.”
Peter’s eyes widened, and his gaze darted between me and Angela as realization hit. He turned, inserting himself in front of me, creating a shield between us. He reached behind his body, placing a hand on my hip. “Angela, I think Michael was looking for you.”
