Mid Life Love (23 page)

C
laire

“You looked sexy
at this morning’s meeting. I love when you wear black.”
Jonathan texted
me.

“Thank you :-).”

“Can I see you
tonight?”

I hesitated to
respond.
“Depends on if I finish all my reading or not.”

“Bring it with
you. I have work to do as well.”

“You seducing me
isn’t real work.”

His text came
back within seconds: “
You’re right. That doesn’t take much effort at all.
It’ll be strictly professional tonight. I was serious about that promise.”

“I don’t believe
you...”

“You should.
Greg will pick you up at eight.”

I set my phone
down and smiled. I was getting ready to finally mention Jonathan to Ashley and
Caroline. I’d been holding it off for long enough, and since our “exclusive
dating” arrangement was starting to resemble some sort of relationship, I
wanted them to be okay with it.

I set snacks and
drinks on the dining room table like I always did on family meeting nights, and
waited for them to get home from cheerleading practice.

“Mom! Mom!” They
both came running into the kitchen, talking at once. “Did I tell you about
this?” “Did you know the training was this Saturday?” “Can I borrow twenty
dollars?” “Can I
have
twenty dollars?” “If you give her twenty can I
have forty?” “What about—”

I usually waited
until they realized that I couldn’t understand them when they did this, but my
blank stare didn’t seem to be working today.

They were
blabbering at full speed, flipping their silky red hair over their shoulders at
the exact same moments—never stopping to catch a breath.

“Okay, okay! One
at a time, please. Who was talking first?”

“Me!” Ashley
clapped. “I think the first order of business tonight needs to be discussing me
and Caroline getting separate cars.”

“Okay.” I sat
down.
I have to hear this...

Caroline
shrugged and sat down across from me.

“So...” Ashley
said, smiling. “As you know, we’re sixteen years old and we’re
both
straight A students. We hardly get in trouble unlike most kids our age
and
we’re both members of the Junior Aviation Scholars Program—which is only open
to ten kids per year for the
entire country
! And we
both
have
spots!”

“Go on...”

“So, we need
separate cars.”

“
What
?
That’s it? That’s your entire argument, Ashley?”

“Um, yeah. That
sums it up pretty well I think. What do you think, Caroline?”

Her
co-conspirator nodded.

“Okay well, I’m
aware that you’re both sixteen and that you’re great students. It’s
your job
to be. I’m also well aware that you don’t get into much trouble, but it’s
because I don’t tolerate any. And I’m very glad that you’re part of the—” I
took a deep breath and paused. “
Junior Aviation Scholars Program
and I
recall buying you both new pilot outfits once you received those spots.
However, seeing as though you don’t pay your own insurance for the car you
drive now, are involved in the same exact activities, and aren’t trying to buy
your
own car
with your
own money
, you can either enjoy the shared
car or give it back to me. Your choice.”

Ashley rolled
her eyes and sat down.

“What about
letting one of us borrow your car on the weekends then?” Caroline scrolled
through her phone. “Would that work? What if we came up with a car sharing
schedule or something? I think there’s an app for—”

“
No
. Car
conversation is over... Now, I need to speak with you both about something very
important. I want you to know that I’m currently seeing someone—someone I think
I really like. I’m not sure if I’ll ever let him meet you or not, but—”

“Is he
hot
?”
“Where’d you meet him?” “Is that why you’ve been smiling so much lately?” “And
going out so much?” “You don’t
want
him to meet us?” “Is it because he’s
not
hot?” “You’re dating someone
ugly
?” “Why would you do that?”
“You’re so pretty!”

I sighed.
“Please let me finish...I met him at work, and just so you’re aware, he’s a bit
younger than me...”

They stopped
stuffing their mouths with junk and exchanged puzzled looks. Then they both
stared at me—like I was some type of art exhibit.

They did this
routine quite often—so often that I didn’t think they realized how intense
their joint stare-fest looked. Most of the time it meant that they were
thinking about something, and since I was convinced that they shared a brain,
it usually took them a while to formulate a verbal thought.

Caroline tilted
her head to the side. “When you say
younger
, do you mean younger like,
regular
younger
?”

“Or do you mean
you could go to prison if we called the cops on you younger? “ Ashley raised
her eyebrow. “Because if you want us to keep quiet we will, but you’re
definitely going to have to re-consider getting us—”

“
What
!
Why would you even—” I stopped. I didn’t need to stress myself out over their
warped line of thinking. “He’s eleven years younger than me...”

They looked at
each other and laughed hysterically. Then they started talking to one other as
if I wasn’t sitting in the room: “So... He’s basically
thirty
!” “What’s so
wrong with that?” “I don’t know...Isn’t thirty like
middle aged
? Or is
that fifty?” “I think people should stop counting their birthdays after they
turn twenty five. After that you’re pretty irrelevant and you just start
looking bad and letting yourself go...” “Do you think the guy she’s dating is
hot?” “Probably not. She didn’t
say
he was hot. If he was hot she
would’ve said that first...” “Did she tell us his name?” “It’s probably Taylor.
That’s a nice thirty year old name.” “Taylor? I like it. I wonder if—”

“Thank you both
for
listening...
” I cut off their ridiculous conversation. “You two are
okay with me dating someone?”

“Um yeah! It’s
about time! You deserve someone
amazing
.” Ashley stood up and hugged me.
“Whoever he is, I hope he can talk you into buying us separate cars for our
senior year!”

Caroline walked
over and hugged me too. “I agree. It’s good seeing you smile again—even if the
guy isn’t hot...”

––––––––

“S
o, the top
four ideas for the
s
Tablet slogan are—you know what? These are all
terrible, aren’t they?” Mr. Barnes laughed.

“Yes. They
really are.” I couldn’t help but laugh too. “Let’s just call it a night.”

“At
nine o’
clock
? Sure you don’t want to stay until midnight like yesterday? I’m
starting to feel like corporate is my second home.”

“Positive.” I
closed my folder and stood up. “I actually have plans for a change. I’ll see
you on Monday.”

I walked out of
his office and headed into mine, moving Jonathan’s latest flower arrangements
to one side of the room.

I’d given up on
asking him to stop sending them. He sent at least two hundred blooms a day.
He’d even hired a horticulture expert; she came in every day at noon to prune
the old ones and water the new ones.

I took off my
heels and changed into a pair of slippers, wishing that I could somehow fast
forward to the end of the
s
Tablet campaign. I was working double the
hours, and while the new “necessary overtime for managers” policy had been
quite beneficial for my savings account, it drained most of my body’s energy.

I put my head
down on the desk and my phone rang. Ashley.

“Yes, Ashley?” I
answered.

“Is it okay if
me and Caroline spend the night at Jasmine’s house tonight? I know you wanted
to watch a movie with us later, but it
is
a Friday. And I know you’re
already going to say something about us driving
late
, so Jasmine’s mom
said she could pick us up and drop us off tomorrow.”

“I thought you
two had a junior pilot seminar tomorrow. Didn’t you
beg
me to pay the
two hundred dollar registration fee?”

“It was pushed
back because a few people failed the simulation test.”

I sighed. “Is
this sleepover
coed
?”

“I didn’t say it
was a
sleepover
, mom. It’s—”

“
Ashley
...”

“There might be
a few guys there...”

Of course.
“Have Jasmine’s
mother call me. Then I’ll—”

“Hold on! She’s
right here!”

I rolled my eyes
and introduced myself to a soft-spoken Mrs. Hines. She was a few years younger
than me, but from what I remembered about her at the mother-daughter
cheerleading retreats, she seemed to have a good set of morals.

I made sure that
no boys would be sleeping in the same room with the girls, and after she
assured me that she and her husband would be taking turns to check on the
party, I gave in and agreed to let them go.

“Hello,
beautiful. What are you doing?”
Jonathan texted me as soon as I hung
up.

“About to head
home and take a long shower...”

“You’re still at
corporate?”

“Unfortunately.
What are you doing?”

“Coming
downstairs to see you.”

I shut down my
computer and stood up. I stacked all the
s
Tablet notes into a pile and crossed
another date off my calendar.

My eyes veered
towards the box that held the last Friday of the month, where the words
“Jonathan’s birthday” were written in small print.

I had no idea
what to get for him; he seemed to have everything already. As a matter of fact,
anytime I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he would simply change the
subject.

“Hey.” He walked
into my office. “Are you still
too busy
for me?”

“Actually, I was
supposed to be watching a movie with my girls later, but they just ditched me
for a coed sleepover. Can you believe that?”

“I can’t believe
you’re
surprised
.” He laughed. “What movie were you going to watch?”

“Some teen movie
about vampires, evil curses, and—I don’t know. They picked it out.”

“Hmmm. You
should spend the night with me then. You haven’t seen my house yet.”

How many houses
does he have?

“No thanks.” I
shook my head.

“
No thanks
?
Why?”

“Because I don’t
feel like having sex with you.”

He rolled his
eyes. “Even if that
was
true, we don’t always have to have sex, Claire.
You know that.”

I did know that.
And I was scared of that.

The days when we
didn’t have sex were more intimate than the days when we did. Jonathan had the
most thoughtful ways of showing his affection, and no matter what I did to try
and resist, I only ended up giving in and falling further into him.

Like this past
Monday, when I told him I skipped breakfast because I was running late and he
had the chef team of True Blue Café deliver me a plate of gourmet crepes and
fruit. Or Wednesday, when I wasted coffee on my favorite suit and he sent Greg
out to buy me two new ones. Or maybe it was yesterday, when he noticed I’d been
standing in heels all day and massaged my feet until I fell asleep.

“So, is that a
yes to coming home with me?” He smiled.

“No, it’s still
a
no
...I’m exhausted and I need to shower and—”

“
Hush
.”
He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and walked me out of the room.

We took the
elevator to the garage and he led me over to his newest car—a black Aston
Martin.

He opened the
passenger door and I hesitated.

I’d spent the
night with him before, but that was in his corporate bedroom—on his sofa
sleeper, not at his house where he would undoubtedly and successfully seduce
me. That was before we officially began dating, before our unexplainable
connection to each other was deepened with his thoughtfulness and late night
phone conversations—before I had to admit to myself that my feelings for him
were growing deeper and deeper every day.

“Is there a
reason you’re not getting into the car? Is something wrong?” He raised his
eyebrow.

“No...I was just
thinking...”

“About?”

“About how... I
need to catch up on some reading tonight.” I needed to figure out a way to get
out of this. He was getting too close—
way
too close, and we still hadn’t
discussed our thoughts on whatever this relationship was. “Maybe you and I can
meet up for breakfast tomorrow and—”

He scooped me
into his arms and placed me into the car, buckling my seatbelt like I was a
toddler. He flicked the child safety lock on the door before shutting it, and
walked over to his side.

“You are
unbelievable
.
Do you know that?” He revved up the car and sped away. “Do you get a cheap
thrill out of testing my nerves?”

“It’s more of an
adrenaline rush. I wasn’t joking about the reading...I actually am a full day
behind.”

“Would you like
me to make Monday a company-wide off day so you can catch up?”

“
What
?”

“I didn’t
stutter. If you need me to do that I will, because I can guarantee you won’t be
getting any
reading
done tonight.”

My cheeks turned
bright red. “Did you not hear me say that I don’t feel like having sex with you
tonight? Did you catch that sentence at all?”