Standard disclaimers apply.
Second Chance
When Kaitlyn awoke, it was to the sound of the telephone ringing and not her alarm clock. She groggily rolled over and picked up the receiver.
"Mamma, I'm fine. There is no need to worry. Safe and sound." Kaitlyn rolled onto her back.
"Kaitlyn, I told you to call me when you got in. I was worried."
"Mamma, it was late. I didn't want to wake you. I'm fine really. Are the girls up yet?" Kaitlyn's alarm clock went off and she leaned over and shut it off.
"No the girls are not up yet, it's only 6:30." Lily observed. "You know the girls couldn't stop talking about what a wonderful time they had last night. I think Casey has a serious crush. Are you gonna see him again?"
"Actually, I don't know. He said that he would call me later. We might go to dinner." Kaitlyn sat up in bed and let her feet touch the floor. "I really gotta get going. I have a conference call at 7:30."
"I'll bring the girls home this afternoon sometime. Are you sure you don't wanna go with us?
"No, I wish I could. I have to get some work done." Kaitlyn sighed.
"Oh, Megan stopped by last night. She said that she is taking Ben to Dave & Buster's tonight and she wanted to know if the girls could come. Make sure you give her a call later."
"I will. Have fun swimming." Kaitlyn smiled.
"I love you sweetie."
"I love you too." Kaitlyn pulled herself out of bed and headed for the shower.
Marissa was pouring herself a cup of coffee when she heard a whistling Gary come into the kitchen.
"Good Morning, Mrs. Brown!"
"Well you are sure in a good mood this morning. I guess that means your date went well?" Marissa smiled.
"It went very well, thank you very much. If fact, it went so well I believe I will be seeing Kaitlyn again this evening." Gary said as he grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. He opened the paper.
"Well tell me about it?" Marissa said.
Gary could tell that the suspense was all but killing Marissa. He smiled. "Well we had a very nice time. Her kids are great Marissa, your gonna love them. Not only is Kaitlyn beautiful, but she's smart and she loves baseball. She's a book editor, ya know."
"She mentioned something about that yesterday." Marissa took a sip of her coffee and waited for Gary to continue. She enjoyed seeing him so happy. It was a definite change of pace for him.
"We came back here after the game. You had already left. We just talked about a lot of things. She is so easy to talk to. I even told her about my marriage to Marcia. I think the paper is actually going to help me out here today. I only have a few things to take care of and I should be done in plenty of time for dinner. "
"Where are you gonna take her? Marissa asked.
"I don't know. I was thinking maybe Charlie Trotter's. You think I can get a reservation."
"You would have to wear a jacket." Marissa joked.
"I'm not a cave man, Marissa, I can wear a jacket." Gary groaned.
"I'm just kidding. Emmitt knows the owner over there. Do you want me to see if he can help out?"
Gary's face lit up. "That would be great." Gary got up and grabbed the paper. "Tell Emmitt I said thank you ahead of time. I should be back early today. I gotta go stop a woman from being hit by a bus over on Michigan Avenue. I'll see you later." Gary headed out the door.
"Bye. Be careful." Marissa screamed after him.
Gary's day went extremely easy. He walked back to McGinty's with a smile on his face. He had called Marissa earlier in the day and she told him that Emmitt was successful in getting him a reservation for dinner. He hoped that would be okay with Kaitlyn. She insisted that she owed him a dinner. But, he wasn't going to let her pay for their first official date alone. What kind of a person would that make him, he thought.
Gary walked into McGinty's and went directly to the office. He looked at his watch. It was a little after 3:00. Gary pulled the piece of paper with Kaitlyn's number out of his front pocket and picked up the telephone.
"Hello." Casey answered.
"This wouldn't be Cassandra Lee Kelly would it?" Gary asked.
"Gary! Mommy, Gary is on the phone." Casey screamed to her mother who was upstairs.
"Gary, guess what? Aunt Megan is taking us to Dave..and…and…and. Mommy what's the name of the place Aunt Megan is taking us to?" Gary could hear Kaitlyn in the background answer her daughter. Casey got back on the telephone. "She is taking us to Dave & Buster's. Have you ever been there?"
"No Casey, I can't say that I have. But I'm sure you'll have a fun time." Gary laughed.
Gary heard Kaitlyn say. "Okay Casey tell Gary goodbye. You have to go and get changed."
"I gotta go Gary. See you later." Casey said.
"Bye Casey."
Casey handed the telephone to Kaitlyn. Gary could hear Kaitlyn say, "I put your clothes on your bed and don't forget to brush your teeth."
Kaitlyn put the telephone up to her ear. "Hi Gary. Sorry about that."
"It's okay, I like talking with Casey. She sounds really excited about tonight."
"Yeah, she is. But then again, it doesn't take much to get a 3-½ year old excited. Kaitlyn laughed. "Are we still on for dinner tonight?"
"Yeah, I hope you don't mind…I a…I got us a reservation for 7:00 at Charlie Trotter's. Is a…is that okay?" Gary stuttered.
Kaitlyn smiled. She thought it was sweet that he stuttered when he was nervous. "Charlie Trotter's is great. Do you want me to come to McGinty's?"
"No, I can...can pick you up. 6:30 okay?" Gary asked.
"6:30 is good. I guess I had better give you my address. I actually don't live that far from the restaurant. It's 1220 Willet Street."
"1220 Willet Street. Okay." Gary smiled. "I'll see you then."
"Okay, see ya." Kaitlyn hung up the telephone.
Gary headed upstairs to his loft. He figured he would just lay down for a while and rest his eyes. He thought about Kaitlyn and smiled. This would be two nights in a row that the paper would give him the opportunity to spend some time with her. He wondered how long that would last. When he entered the loft he kicked off his shoes and proceeded toward the bed. He lay down, grabbed his pillow, and settled in for a little nap when the telephone rang.
He sighed and got up out of bed to answer it.
"Hello." He said.
"Gary, honey how are you?" He heard the cheery voice of his mother. "I'm so glad I caught you at home. I haven't talked to you in what seems like forever. Are you eating okay?"
"I'm doing fine Mom." Gary smiled. He received these calls from his mother every few weeks. She liked to check in on him and make sure he was okay.
"I called earlier this afternoon and spoke with Patrick. He told me you were out."
"Yeah, I had to take care of the paper."
"I had a nice conversation with Patrick. He told me something interesting." Lois waited for her son to respond to her statement before she continued.
"Oh yeah what would that be?" Gary asked.
"He told me you had a date tonight." Lois smiled.
Gary swallowed hard and didn't say anything. He rubbed his hand over his eyes.
"Gary honey you know I think that is wonderful. Who is she? How did you meet her? How long have you known her? Is it serious?" The questions just flew out of her mouth.
"Mom her name is Kaitlyn. I helped her the other day and well…she's nice." Gary smiled.
"Oh, Gary I am so happy for you. I can hardly wait to meet her. Maybe your father and I can come down next weekend and…"
Gary cut her off. "You know what…I gotta go I have some things I have to take care with the paper. Can we talk about this later?"
"Okay honey I won't keep you. I'll call you tomorrow to see how things went. Bye honey." Before Gary could respond, Lois hung up. Gary looked at the telephone in his hand and mumbled. "Patrick."
As Gary hung up the telephone, there was a knock at the door. "Just a minute." He opened the door to a smiling Marissa.
"Marissa." Gary said grumpily.
"What's wrong with you?" Marissa asked.
"Oh, nothing. I just got off the telephone with my mother. It seems she called earlier today and Patrick filled her in on my date with Kaitlyn." Marissa winced. Gary continued. "How do you think it is that he found out about my date Marissa?" Gary asked, although he knew the answer.
"Well he came into the office when I was talking with Emmitt. He started to ask a lot of questions and you know how he is when he wants to know something. He wouldn't leave me alone. So I told him that I was making reservations for you." Marissa smiled meekly.
"Well thank you Marissa. Telling my mother I have a date is like telling her I'm getting married. Because you know in her mind that is what she heard. You know how overexcited she gets at the thought of me dating someone. She is going to call me tomorrow and I'll have to go through the whole story. She is already talking about coming here to meet Kaitlyn. It's just all too soon." Gary let out a breath.
"I don't think you give your mother enough credit. Just explain to her that it was only a first date and that you need your space." Marissa suggested. "Gary she is your mother. All she wants to do is be a part of your life." Marissa smiled. "I think your best bet is to just be honest with her."
"That's easy for you to say." Gary groaned.
"Listen, the reason I came up here was to tell you to have a nice time tonight. Try to enjoy yourself and don't worry about your mother. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Thanks Marissa. I will." Marissa left and Gary went back over to the bed and tried to resume his nap.