Things had been busy, and time was moving quickly. It was now November 1st, and the changing seasons could be felt in the air. It was cooler today, a sharp wind making it feel more like the Pacific Northwest, not like sunny Los Angeles. It fit with Sharon's mood too, cold and almost dreary. That was how the day could be described-dreary in all ways. Besides the weather, which she continued to look out the window almost willing it to be a nicer day, Sharon's mood was dreary. She looked down at Ricky as he tugged on her hair, as if demanding her attention. She smiled at the now toddler, and he smiled back at her, drool running everywhere. He'd been eating some orange crackers, and the residue of those was running down his face and now onto Sharon's white blouse. She almost didn't care; she really didn't care. She'd do anything to have more drool all over her right now, and she clutched her sweet boy tighter and turned to look back into the ballet studio. Emily was hard at work, loving this new activity of hers. All the money in the world seemed worth it right now to see her little girl so excited. Sharon should be happy too; it was a day, though, she'd been dreading.
Jack. Just the mention or thought of his name made her cringe. Now, it was hard to believe she ever loved the man. He made her sick to her stomach now, especially that smirk of his. The last few weeks with Jack back in town had been a nightmare, except it was her reality. It was making her life miserable, and she knew he enjoyed doing it. She sighed as she thought about it. She hadn't slept in days with the mess he was causing. She couldn't figure out his game right now, but she knew he had one. Jack had gone to great lengths, pulled many straws, to get access to the kids. Now, even as Sharon sat there, she couldn't believe it, didn't want to believe it, but Jack was going to spend the afternoon with the kids. It sickened her. Yes, she knew he was their father, but he hadn't been a father to him in years. Ricky, he'd barely held, and now, he was going to spend the afternoon with him. She hated the idea, but Jack still had many powerful friends in town. She did not, not yet, at least. It was one thing she was learning with her job, the importance of having good connections. Jack was just that kind of man; he charmed people. People didn't forget Jack; Sharon could attest to that. Jack had pulled some strings, and sure enough, she found herself in court with him. Sharon knew she really needed a better lawyer. That was part of her problem too, but honestly, with the friends Jack had in high places, she wasn't sure it would help. He'd burn through them; she knew that. He'd burn bridges with these so-called friends of his. It was all coming, just a matter of time. Sadly, the kids were in the crosshair right now, and while she hated that he was going to spend time with them, she had a feeling it was only a matter of time before he left them too again.
Now, the afternoon was not going to be as carefree for Jack as he'd wanted. Sharon's attorney had been able to bring up the back child support while they were in court. Jack still hadn't paid that, but he'd promised the judge he would, showing him proof of some new job he had. On paper, it looked like he was getting his act together. His sad story of how alcohol had clouded his life made Sharon want to roll her eyes; in fact, she was sure she had done that in court. Jack, from what she could tell, did not want to improve his life. She still thought he was drinking. He was not trying to become a better person; he was nothing like what she was seeing with Andy.
Andy was still working the program and working his two jobs. He was doing well with things, even though he was still having some money issues. Money was extremely tight for him, but he was trying to keep pushing forward. The car he'd bought had required more work than he'd anticipated. He'd already replaced a lot of the engine. She knew it frustrated him. He'd told her he had plans to buy some real furniture for his room, but all of that had been put on hold to deal with this car he'd purchased. His hours at his second job had been cut slightly too, mostly due to budget cuts with that company, but still, it was affecting him too. The two often found each other up in the middle of the night, sitting at the kitchen table, wondering what life was going to throw at them next. He'd been a good friend to her, and she had been one to him. While their arrangement had started as strictly landlord-tenant to ease the financial burdens for both of them, it had brought about a very welcomed friendship.
"Mama," Sharon snapped her head at Ricky. He grinned up at her, and she smiled back at him while she grimaced. Her son had Jack's smile. She noticed it every single time she looked at her beautiful boy. Jack. There it was again, the thought of him. She sighed, shaking her head as she turned her attention back to Emily. Emily seemed extremely happy with her dance class. Paying for it had been a stretch for Sharon; money was still tight for her, and the class wasn't cheap, but seeing Emily so happy and well-adjusted was worth it right now. She sighed again, watching her daughter. She'd explained to Emily that she would be spending the afternoon with her dad, and Emily seemed excited about it. Sharon just hoped Emily wasn't disappointed.
The only thing that was easing Sharon's worry was that, like Andy, Jack was required to have supervised visitation right now. With his new job, he'd agreed to payments out of his paychecks. Sharon had her doubts, more of a "believe it when I see it" type of attitude. Jack still wasn't due to be paid for another month, as he was just starting his job, and even then, if she did get any money, she didn't think it would be much. Jack wasn't making a huge salary; this wasn't a great firm, and he didn't have a large caseload. Sharon really didn't know if Jack would stick around long enough for any of this to happen. She had a fear he was in town for money-money from her-and was using the kids for leverage. Sharon believed that if she'd offered to just pay Jack to go away, he might do that. She wasn't going to offer that; she knew that if she enabled him now, he'd come back for more constantly. So, she was just letting things ride for now, letting the court-appointed social worker tag along on this supposed outing today. Jack said he planned to get the kids from Sharon after dance-a neutral location-and take them to the park and then back to his apartment. That, his apartment, Sharon almost wanted to see. She had a feeling it wasn't great, but again, the social worker would be there. She glanced at Ricky, who now had his thumb in his mouth. She pulled on it, not wanting him to get into that habit. He looked up at her and grinned. She kissed his head and looked back at Emily. The class was finishing; the kids were minutes away from an afternoon with Jack. While she felt like things would be okay with the social worker present, Sharon wasn't sure what she would do; she was a nervous wreck. She looked at Ricky again and just smiled at him. There was that grin again, Jack's grin. Sharon closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and she stood. Ready or not, it was time.
15 minutes later, Sharon climbed into her car, alone and missing her kids already. She had not fallen apart; she'd remained calm and had stayed in almost her "work mode," going through the checklist of items with Jack and the social worker. She'd mostly addressed the social worker, who had assured her things would be fine. After seeing for herself that Jack had appropriate car seats, she reluctantly handed over the kids' things and then, the kids. Sharon had kept a smile on her face for Emily, encouraging her to have fun with her daddy and his friend, the best way to address the social worker. Ricky had cried. He was in that phase right now, crying for almost anyone. He did it often at daycare, and he even did it some at home . Ironically, he was better with Andy than his own dad. She'd wanted to tell that to Jack, but she'd held her tongue. Jack had barely been around his own son, something Sharon would never forget. He'd abandoned them before Ricky was born. Men who loved their family didn't do that.
Sharon glanced up, watching Jack's car leave the parking lot. Of course, he had a nice car, something she wanted to ask him about, but she also wanted as little contact with him as possible. She knew he'd probably used their savings, the savings he'd cleaned out, to gamble in Vegas. She suspected the nice car was the result of that and when Jack's luck had run out, he'd come back to Los Angeles. Sharon kept her eyes on the car until it was out of sight, and then, and only then, did she put her head on the steering wheel and let herself cry. It felt like she was losing her babies. She knew, she really knew, this was just a game Jack was playing, but Sharon couldn't stand people messing with her kids. She'd win, in the long run; she'd get her kids back, but right now, that seemed like a lifetime away.
A tap on her window had her jump back and look up, wiping at her tears. She wasn't sure how much time had gone by, probably just a couple of minutes, but she hadn't had a cry like that in a long time. She shook her head at the sight and opened her door as she continued to wipe at her face.
"What are you doing here?" Sharon asked, shaking her head again, trying to piece together everything.
He shrugged, "You know, just in the neighborhood, sitting around in a parking lot on a random Saturday afternoon."
"You're supposed to be at work, your second job today," she frowned. "You told me you were working all weekend."
He nodded to her and braced his arm on the top of her door, "I was," he nodded again. She noticed that he was in his work uniform and looked back up at him. "I decided that I needed to be a friend more-you needed a friend more-than I needed a paycheck today."
Her eyes widened, "You came here instead of working?" Sharon shook her head again.
"I worked this morning for a few hours. I got one of the guys to cover the rest of my shift. Look," he sighed and nodded toward the road, "I've been sitting across the parking lot over there for the last half hour. I knew this was the handoff location for Jack. I knew you needed support, even though you didn't need support. So, I got here just before Emily's class ended. I knew when it ended, and I wanted to be here for you. You've been such a good friend to me. I wanted to make sure Jack didn't do something stupid, that he actually came. I wanted to make sure that you were okay."
"I almost couldn't let them go," she said, tears still flowing down her face. She wiped them quickly.
Andy looked at the ground, still trying to give her a minute to regroup. He nodded at that, "Yeah, you watched your whole world ride away with that dirt bag. Sorry, but he is," he said, a small smile on his face as his eyes met hers. "Like I said, being a friend right now was worth more than a few bucks."
"It's more than a few bucks for you," she said rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "I'll be okay. You have a lot of money problems I know you are dealing with right now. Go ahead and get back to work. I'm fine."
"You're right," he nodded, looking at her again. "I do have money issues, but for today, I'm putting that out of my head. You have a Jack issue; I have money issues. Today," he said with a firm nod, "we're forgetting about that. I thought I might take my friend away from this parking lot," he said, his eyes sweeping the place, "and do something, anything, to take your mind off the kids and my mind off money."
Sharon gave him a small smile, the first one she'd had all day, "What did you have in mind?"
"We're not spying on Jack," he said gesturing at her. "He'll mess up on his own; I'm sure of it. It might not be today, but he will."
"I know," she said, letting out a long sigh. "I keep thinking the same thing."
"Guy isn't going to just turn into 'Mr. Nice Guy' overnight. I know he's treated your poorly, and he's an addict, plain and simple. He won't get help, and that will burn him in the long run. I hate to say that, but it's true," Andy explained.
"Agree," Sharon said with a nod as she closed her eyes.
"So," Andy said offering his hand to her, "let's go."
She shook her head, "Where are we going? My car, it's here."
"Yup," he said, nodding. "It's here. I'll bring you back here after we waste a couple of hours."
"What are we doing?" Sharon asked, still looking up at him.
"We're headed to the beach, nothing crazy, but hey," he shrugged, "it's not expensive. I mean, it's November. We're not going to exactly bake in the sun, but I thought we could maybe just go for a walk, enjoy the water. We live so close to the ocean, but we never take advantage of that. How does that sound?"
She gave him another small smile, "I love going to the beach."
"Great," he flashed a grin. "See, I didn't even know that."
"It's just a lot for me to get the kids there right now. They are so small and all," she said, the mention of the kids, causing her to look toward the road again.
"Come on," he gestured again, knowing she was thinking of them. "I'm guessing you haven't eaten. You've been worried about this day for days, and we're going to just walk on the beach and try to enjoy the afternoon. Oh," he flashed a grin and winked at her, "I'll even spring for a hotdog and milkshake when we get there. What are friends for, right?"
Sharon's eyes met his, and she started crying again. She shook her head and wiped her face, nodding at him. She looked up at him once again and accepted his hand as she stood, "I could really use a friend today. Thank you."