"So what are doing for Father's Day?" I asked as I popped the movie into the DVD player.
"Nothing." Chad said in a low tone. I turned around and stared at him curiously. We'd been friends since sometime last semester and I had never heard him speak like that.
"Why not?" I asked, I sensed I was stepping into dangerous territory but we had the kind of friendship that meant I didn't have to be careful.
"My Dad left when I was seven." He said flopping back on the bed.
I walked over and curled up next to him. "Do you ever see him?" I asked as the opening song began to play.
"Sometimes." Chad said and I knew he was uncomfortable when he snatched up the foam basketball and threw it in the air. He caught it and repeated the action twice more before I grabbed the remote and paused the movie. He looked over at me and donned a fake confused look, "What was that for?" he asked.
"Tell about him." I said.
"Tell you about him the way I made you tell me about your break with Zeek? He asked.
I nodded, Chad had made me talk about Zeek when he saw it was hurting my current dating scene.
He sighed and resumed tossing his ball in the air, "My Mom got pregnant with me and they got married." He laughed bitterly, "We all know how well those marriages work. I was seven when they decided they just couldn't stand each other. For a year it every other weekend hell. Mom wanted me to talk about all the stuff he was doing wrong and Dad talked bad about Mom. Then he met her…his new wife. They moved to Southern California and that was that."
"What? You never heard from him again?" I prodded.
"No, it's was slow. The first year it was every month and two weeks in the summer with a phone call every Saturday. Then one Saturday there was no phone call. Two months later he missed a visit. By the time I was eleven I only saw him in summer. When I started basketball that was the last of it. No more calls, visits, or two-week stays. He came to graduation and I call him at Christmas but that's it." He propped himself up on his elbow.
He was trying so hard to not show that it still hurt him that I couldn't help myself. I leaned over and pressed my lips gently over his. His hands grabbed my hips and he deepened the kiss. Before we could go any farther his phone went off. We pulled back and there was an awkward pause. Then I did what I had to in order to save our friendship. I laughed and tousled his hair, "Feel better now?" I asked as though I kissed him every day.
He grinned, "Yeah." Then he reached over and picked up his phone, "Hey baby," he said, "Tell this is you calling to say you're home." He teased and I knew that Taylor was on the other end.
I stretched out on the bed and turned to star blankly at the paused screen. 'I did not just fall in love with my best friend.' I told myself, 'My taken best friend.' I scolded as he laughed at something Taylor said. Just as I was about to convince myself that the kiss was a fluke he began to softly trace one of his fingers over the bare part of my back. I rolled slightly and looked up at him. He smiled softly at me despite the witty banter he was engaged in. I felt myself melt and I knew in that moment that someday I would sleep with my best friend.
It had been almost a year since Chad had discovered Tyler. He'd finished out his contract with the NBA and just like that he quit. He moved to Sandhill, Texas where I lived and went to work at a law firm. He'd been picking Tyler up every other weekend for months so I was scrambling to figure out why the sight of him and Tyler walking up my front walk invoked memories of our first kiss. I opened the door and stepped out on the front porch. When Tyler saw me he took off and jumped into my arms. As he chatted at a million miles an hour I let my eyes drift to his father who was slowly making his way up the stairs. "How about you go look on the table and see what I made for you and then after we say goodbye to Daddy you can tell me about your weekend?" I interupted.
"Okay!" I set him down on the ground and he took off into the house.
Chad chuckled and I smiled at him as I took the backpack he offered. "So," I said, at a loss for conversation.
"Can I have him Wednesday?" Chad burst out.
I blinked and frowned, "Why?" I asked.
Chad shrugged, "Father's Day." He muttered.
Suddenly it came rushing back to me, the conversation leading to our kiss had been about this day. "Oh," I said and trailed off.
"So, can I?" he prodded when I didn't say anything.
"Sure, of course." I shook myself slightly, willing myself to not get caught up in memories.
His face split into a grin and I found myself very glad I had said yes, "Do you want to pick him up from school?" I asked.
He sucked in a breath, "Umm, I don't think I'll be off in time so if I could pick him up?" he made a question.
"Yeah that's fine." I shrugged. A movement out of the corner of my eye caused me to look up just in time to see the passenger door of Chad's car to open. The woman that stood up was gorgeous, she ha long black hair that she had braided into several tiny braids. Her skin was the color of hot chocolate and her body was slim and curvy.
"Chad!" she called, "We're going to be late."
"Be right there." He called and when he turned back I knew he knew I was pissed.
"Who is that?" I asked in a tone I had rarely used since high school.
"Sharla." He said, "We're going out…tonight. Look I was going to tell you about her but…"
"What's the point of agreeing to met the people the other is going to bring into our son's life if you're going to break that agreement the first bimbo you meet?" I hissed.
"Hey!" he snapped, "I just picked her up, it's first time Tyler met her and it was only for the car ride over here. He won't even think about her after a few hours."
I glared, "He still met her before I did." I hissed.
"I don't have time for this." He sighed angrily and turned away, "I'll pick him up on Wednesday." He called over his shoulder.
As his car drove off I composed myself, I could cry later. Right now I had a son to take care of.
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On Wednesday I paced. I had sent Tyler to his room and I planed to talk to Chad. The doorbell rang and I answered it with a smile plastered on my face, "Come on in." I said as Chad eyed me with suspicion.
"We're going to fight, aren't we?" he asked as he dropped down on my sofa.
"Sharla…" I started and he held up a hand to silence me.
"Bailed when she found out about Tyler."
That surprised me and I paused then scoffed, "Nice taste in woman."
He glared at me, "You know, this sucks. It's hard being a parent, a weekend Dad. Excuse me for trying to move on."
"Move on all you want." I snapped, "But 1) have better taste and 2) next time abide by the rule of them meeting me first."
"Yes, because that is the first date of every girl's dreams. Come meet my crazy ex then we can go to a movie." Chad came up off the couch.
"You're exaggerating and I am not crazy."
"You over react to every woman I might be involved in." he hissed.
"I do not." I defended myself.
"What about my secretary that you accused me of sexing up? Or when you accused me of hitting on your babysitter when I picked Tyler up while you were at Parent Teacher Conferences?" his words infuriated me.
"Well excuse me for still being in love with you." I snapped without thinking.
"That's not a…what?" he started then stopped and a deafening silence crashed down on the room.
I looked at the love of my life, my ex best friend, standing in my living room. He'd obviously left his suit jacket in the car but his white shirt was still tucked in and his tie was hanging askew. His usually wild hair was pulled back in respectable corn rolls but he had already put his trade mark obsidian stud back in his ear. I took it all in and I felt the part of me that I had been holding together through sheer willpower break. "I can't do this." I whispered and fled the room upstairs to my bedroom trusting him with Tyler.
Whew!!! Sorry Christmas interfered and I started some other stories that wouldn't leave me alone but Panic is still my favorite one to write. So what do you guys think Chad should do? He either goes up to talk to her or gets Tyler and leaves quietly. Sorry about the time jump but I wanted to move the story along. If you guys really want let me know and I will write a one shot about Chad and Tyler's day they were suppose to have.