Sparks
"So Chris tells me you have a new honey," Rupert looked up from the papers in his hand to see a grinning dark haired young woman. "How come I wasn't informed of this?"
"Because there is nothing to inform you about, Jess." He replied, giving the papers one more glance before putting them behind the front counter. "And you should know better than to trust Chris when it comes to my personal life,"
He chuckled at the look she gave him as he made his way to the back room, looking into the room to make sure Addison was still taking a nap.
"You've been out to dinner with the same person at least three times a week in the last month," she followed him, determined to figure out what was going on with her employer. "That makes this person your new honey."
"First of all, stop saying 'person' like you don't know if it's a man or woman; I haven't been with a man since I was twenty-four, and I have no desire to be with a man anymore." Rupert corrected, hiding his smirk at the expression on Jess' face. "Second of all, I can go to dinner with the same woman and not be dating her."
She opened her mouth to reply, but closed it as soon as the bell above the door went off. They both looked to the front in time to see Nathan run through the doorway and towards his father, Chris right behind him. Rupert knelt down and wrapped his arms around the six year old, standing up once he was sure he had a good grip on his son.
"How was school?" he asked.
"It was good!" He squirmed as he tried to get back to the floor, giving Jess a quick hug before running to the table in the front so he could start his homework.
"I don't work here so you can treat me like a taxi for your kids," Chris complained as he leaned against the front counter, glaring at Rupert. "Jess and I are perfectly capable of watching Addie while she sleeps, you know."
Rupert just shook his head and walked over to his son, sitting next to Nathan and helping him when he asked for it. Jess walked over to Chris and leaned against him before lightly punching him in the stomach.
"What the hell?" he exclaimed as he shoved Jess away.
"Daddy….Chris said a bad word. Again." Nathan sent a glare back to Chris.
"Chris, don't use that type of language." The older man chuckled as he looked over at his employees, who were currently shoving and slapping each other. "And if you both don't knock that off…"
"You got in trouble!" Nathan giggled before going back to his homework, his gaze darting to the shop's front windows every now and then.
"We don't get in trouble, Nathan." Chris said as he trudged to the back room, muttering about checking on Addison.
Jess rolled her eyes and went to the second floor to shelve the stack of books she had placed up there earlier. Rupert watched his son do his homework, helping when he needed to and noticing the six year old repeatedly look out the fro t window.
"Who are you looking for, Rabbit?" he asked after the tenth time Nathan looked out the window in the same minute.
"She promised she would come by today," his tone was distracted as he stood up on his chair, craning his neck as he searched for the mystery person.
"Who said they were coming?" Chris questioned as he walked back to the front, going behind the counter and leaning over the surface.
"Miss Summers." Nathan looked at the young man like it should have been obvious. "She said she would come by and see the shop so she could meet you guys,"
"Are we finally meeting Nate's girlfriend?" Jess giggled as she looked over the railing, making a face at the boy when he stuck his tongue out at her.
"She's not my girlfriend! Girls are icky," he mumbled as he sat back down, finishing his homework.
Rupert shook his head as he leaned back in his chair. About two weeks ago, his employees had begun teasing Nathan about the small crush he had on the teacher and, as horrible as it seemed, Rupert enjoyed the teasing his son was receiving from his surrogate siblings.
"Besides, she's…" his eyes grew wide as he stared at Nathan.
"She's here." Rupert cut in, turning his son to look out the window as the blond approached the shop.
"Miss Summers!" the six year old jumped up, nearly falling out of his chair as he did so.
Rupert kept his gaze away from Chris and Jess, knowing the curious looks they wore due to Nathan's unfinished statement. But if they were going to say anything about it, they never got the chance as Nathan excitedly introduced them to his teacher.
"This is my brother and sister, Chris and Jess." He beamed. "'Cept, they aren't really my brother and sister."
Rupert shook his head in amusement as he listened to his son, keeping his eyes on the nearly completed homework.
"Buffy Summers," he heard her say as he finally stood up and watched as the three adults shook hands. "Hey, Rupert."
"Hello, Buffy." He smiled before making a gesture to let Nathan know that he needed to finish his work, much to the boy's nerves. "What brings you here?"
"I thought I'd stop by and see if you were telling the truth when you said you carry my books," she answered before looking around the building. "I thought you said there was one more to your extended family."
"There is,' Chris jumped in, smiling shyly. "Blake has an art opening tonight, but his friend can't make it since she's going out of town. So he's giving her a VIP sneak peak,"
"So he's an artist?" Buffy asked turning to look back at the other two.
"Yeah, but he's not like those big names you hear about." Chris explained.
"Blake's more into urban art, and he somehow manages to enough to have this be his career. Not that he's not good, because he is." Jess added before giving her boss a look. "But you didn't come here to listen to us talk about Chris' boyfriend. We should let the boss show you where your books should be,"
Rupert caught the look Jess and Chris shared, sending them a glare as he began to led Buffy up to the next level.
"Can I come with?" the six year old chirped, moving to sit on his knees in the chair.
"Have you finished your homework?" his father asked.
"No," he tried to imitate his sister's pout, but only succeed in making his father chuckle.
"Finish your homework, but don't rush through it Nathan."
When the first grader nodded in agreement, the two adults made their way up the small stairs and back towards the Horror/Sci-Fi section was. After explaining that he was currently waiting for the new shipment to come in, he saw the smug smirk on Buffy's face at seeing only a handful of copies of her book. They moved their conversation to the small sitting area in one of the corners.
"You're girlfriend's pretty cute, Nate." Chris' voice floated up from the shop front, quickly followed by Jess giggling and Nathan grumbling.
"Nathan seems to have um…a crush on you," Rupert explained when Buffy raised an eyebrow.
"Is that so?" Buffy asked, a smile on her lips.
"It seems to be," he leaned back in the armchair as he rubbed the side of his neck. "At least he has good taste when it comes to women."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a blush crept up his neck. Had it been six years ago, he was sure he would be polishing the glasses that he no longer wore- opting for contact lenses once Nathan was born. So instead, Rupert ran his hand throw his hair while drumming his fingers against his thigh. When he looked at his son's teacher, the small smile on her face caused him to chuckle nervously.
"If this is your way of flirting, it seriously needs some work." Buffy laughed as his skin reddened even more. "Otherwise, you will never keep a girlfriend."
"P…p…pardon?" he asked, wincing at the stutter.
"Normally when you compliment someone like that, you don't act like you regret it." She dropped her voice in a mock whisper, pretending she was letting him in on a secret. "I think we're to the point where you can openly flirt and not expect me to run away."
"Yes, well…" he gave her a shy smile before clearing his throat, hoping to gain control of his nerves. "I was wondering if you were doing anything tonight because Blake always invites me to his art shows, and I normally have no one to go with. So I was, um…hoping that you would accompany me."
The petite blonde tilted her head in thought, leaning back in the armchair she occupied. The longer it took to answer her, the more Rupert wanted to take back the invitation. While they had gone to dinner several times in the past month, this was by far the most obvious thing resembling a date.
"Throw in dinner and I'm game," The grin on her face grew at the surprise on his face. "What time is the art show?"
"It's at eight," he managed to say through the shock; although part of him wasn't entirely sure why he was shocked.
"I'll be ready at six, that way we can grab a bite to eat before." Rupert couldn't help the grin that appeared on his face, the boyish expression causing Buffy to roll her eyes. "If I'm gonna be ready in time, I need to leave now."
"Of course," they both stood up before Buffy made her way over to Rupert. "I'll see you in two hours. Roughly,"
"See you at six," with no sign of hesitation, she leaned up and kissed his cheek.
The Englishman stood there as he watched the young woman make her way to the lower level, saying goodbye to Nathan on her way out. It took him a few moments before he made his way down to the others.
"Daddy!" he let out a soft grunt as Addison threw herself at his knees, giggling as he picked her up.
"Did you have a good nap?" Rupert walked over to the table Nathan was still doing his homework at, sitting down next to the six year old. "How is your homework coming along, Nathan?"
"Yep!"
"Good!"
The siblings giggled when they answered at the same time. As Nathan did his homework, he did his best to explain what he was doing to his baby sister while Rupert stood up- placing Addison in the chair- and walked over to Jess and Chris.
"Can either one of you babysit tonight?" he knew exactly what was running through their minds, and he just shook his head.
"Still wanna tell us that you don't have a new honey?" Chris raised an eyebrow while Jess crossed her arms over her chest.
"Shut up," Rupert shook his head, a small smile on his face as he walked away. "I'll expect one of you at the house before six!"
Chris just looked at Jess and smirked.
