We Meet Again II.
Danny could feel his breath being knocked from his gut. He felt his mouth run dry as he stared at her. He didn't even realize it when the word slipped from his lips.
"Lace."
That was all he could say in a low guttural whisper. Lacey didn't know what she felt. All she knew was it felt like time had stopped, the earth had halted spinning on its axis, everything froze into this one moment.
"Danny." Lacey stood as if it was a struggle against gravity. Her heart thudded loudly against her chest. She wanted to throw her arms around him yet she refrained.
Danny's eyes traveled Lacey's entirety before finally ending up on her lips. He stepped forward invading her personal space obviously lost in the moment. He would probably have kissed her had Charlie's hand not grasp his shoulder. After all, there was a rather large man next to Lacey, who could very well be her husband.
Trevor cleared his throat trying to bring his date out of her haze. Cole was the one to finally break Lacey and Danny out of their trance.
"Lacey." Cole stepped up quickly embracing her in a friendly hug. He let go. "How have you been?"
Lacey felt the fog clear from her head as she took a deep breath before answering Cole. "Fine." She remembered her date suddenly. "This is Trevor." That was all the introduction she felt any of them needed especially Danny. She was sure his wife and child or children were near. "Trevor, this is Cole, Danny, Charlie, and..."
Lacey made sure to put Danny's name in the middle of the introductions. She wanted to make sure he wasn't brought particular attention to. Bruce smiled as he looked between Lacey and Danny.
"I'm Bruce." He stuck his hand out to shake Trevor's hand. "It is nice to meet you both."
Trevor nodded uncomfortably as he watched Danny's eyes never leave Lacey. Cole and Charlie shook Trevor's hand as he offered it to them. When he offered a handshake to Danny, everyone thought Danny wouldn't notice since his gaze was still fixated on Lacey. However, Danny stuck out his hand and shook Trevor's hand as his eyes pulled away from Lacey.
"Nice to meet you." Danny firmly shook Trevor's hand. "Danny Desai."
Trevor had heard of Danny. Anyone that was anyone in the big business world had heard of Daniel Desai and Desai Industries. Although, Danny's young age caught Trevor off guard. The man didn't look a day over twenty five and that was stretching it. Trevor worked closely with students studying corporate law at the University where Rico was a Physics professor. Desai Industry's corporate take overs were used as examples of how to legally ruin people's lives, as Trevor called it.
However, there was something else Trevor noticed about Danny besides his youth and obvious infatuation with Lacey Porter. Thomas Porter was a spitting image of Danny Desai. Trevor couldn't deny there was something between Danny and Lacey. No one could. After all, the way they were staring at each other reminded him of what his oldest sister called eye sex when watching her favorite couple on any given TV show. Therefore, it was easily concluded that Danny Desai was the father of Lacey Porter's son.
Lacey looked down at her feet trying to advert her eyes from looking at Danny. He was still beautiful if not more so now than the past. She didn't need a reminder of how much she loved this man. Her son, Thomas, was already a constant reminder of that fact. On the other hand, Danny made no qualms about staring at Lacey. It was more than blatant that he was drinking every detail of Lacey in. He was like a man that had been lost in the desert taken over with drought. The men around him could tell Danny wanted Lacey to be the one to quench his thirst.
Lacey was saved by the buzzing of her cell phone. She glanced down. "It is Jo. It is probably about Thomas. I need to take this."
Trevor nodded as Lacey excused herself. Trevor felt uneasy and little bit perturbed at Danny's blasé attitude about hearing his son's name mentioned. Therefore, Trevor felt he should remind Danny exactly how ridiculous he was being.
"The son." Trevor said in an obvious pointed manner.
Of course, Danny thought to himself, he is reminding him about Lacey and he having a family. Suddenly, Danny felt like a total idiot. He didn't blame this man if he was angry. Danny had been more than obvious that he was smitten with Lacey. He was glad Lacey married such a gentleman. If it was Danny, he would have hit the guy for trying to move in on his wife.
"Tell Lacey that it was nice seeing her again." Danny raked his hand over the back of his neck. "I hope everything is alright with your son."
Trevor furrowed his eyebrows when he realized Danny had no clue about Thomas. He smiled weakly. It wasn't his place to tell the man this news." I'll give her the message. It was nice meeting you all."
Charlie smacked Danny's back in a brotherly way. He felt for his younger brother. Danny had to face Lacey had moved on when he could not.
Lacey walked back over after seeing Danny and his friends leave. She sat down followed by Trevor sitting. "That was Jo. She was letting me know that Thomas built a whole city from his Legos. She took a photo to save for me. Knowing Thomas, he'll tear it down and start building something else before I can see it."
Trevor reached over to clasp Lacey's hand, which was laying on the table. "Danny doesn't know Thomas is his son. Does he?"
Lacey bit her bottom lip. "That obvious that Thomas is Danny's."
"He looks just like him." Trevor squeezed Lacey's hand. "It is none of my business but if you want to talk about it."
Lacey drew in a deep breath. She did want to explain herself. She knew it looked terrible of her to keep a child from his father.
"Danny was engaged to a pregnant fiancé when I conceived Thomas. His fiancé was showing Jo and I her huge diamond ring bragging about their upcoming marriage. Danny didn't even let me know he was seeing someone no less engaged. We were high school sweethearts that let one night of memories get to us." Lacey bit her lip again. "To make a long story short, by the time I found out I was pregnant, Danny was out of the country married and happy. I saw a friend go through an emotional divorce due to a marriage based on a pregnancy. I didn't want Danny to feel obligated to me. Besides, the doctor didn't even know if I was going to carry Thomas full term. It was a rough pregnancy."
Lacey looked at Trevor trying to gage his reaction. She had no idea why she was telling him this. However, the guilt of keeping Thomas from Danny had eaten at her for years.
"It is your business. But I'd want to know." Trevor frowned slightly hoping he didn't offend her. "But you know Danny better than I do. Perhaps, he isn't like me in that."
"No. That's not it." Lacey confided. "By the time I had Thomas, my sister was very ill. It was difficult trying to take care of her and Thomas. My mind wasn't exactly on trying to find Danny at the time. By the time Thomas was healthy enough not to worry of him being sick, Clara died. One day I did try to find Danny and tell him. I had his last place of residency. But he left no forwarding address. I did run into his wife when Thomas was about a year old." Lacey had tears in her eyes at this point. "She said she and Danny had their own son. She bragged about how perfect their child was. For the first time, I questioned the imperfections of my Thomas. I hated myself for that. But when small children point at your child while you are walking in a park and question their mother what is wrong with that baby, it hurts." Lacey twisted her cloth napkin around her fingers. "I didn't want my son being compared to his perfect son."
"Would Danny be like that?" Trevor once again squeezed Lacey hand. He couldn't see Lacey being with a man so cruel.
"No. I don't think Danny would. But what about his wife and other child ? What if they treated Thomas differently?" Lacey swallowed. "Would it be fair to Thomas to have to be constantly reminded that he isn't good enough to be with his daddy every day while another child is. I know that isn't reality of the situation but what if my son saw it like that. I would never put Thomas in a position to feel unwanted and less than perfect. Thomas is highly intelligent. I see him staring out at nothing sometimes. I wonder if he is thinking about being different. It is one thing to be different to the world. Thomas knows I love him more than life. It is another to be different to your daddy."
Trevor shook his head. "Wow. I guess that would be a difficult decision."
"To be honest, by the time I knew my thinking was completely messed up, Thomas was two years old." Lacey rolled her eyes at herself. She felt ashamed for her thoughts of Thomas. He was perfect and she was sure Danny would've seen him the same. But she was so mixed up at the time with Clara's death and Thomas's diagnosis. "I knew Thomas would be fine with Danny as a dad. Perhaps, he would even bond with his brother. Danny would probably make sure of it. However, I had no way to find Danny. I tried and so did Jo. It went nowhere. So I lived with the bad choice I made. Today is the first time I've seen Danny since his mother's funeral."
"I'm sorry, Lacey." Trevor threw some money on the table to pay their bill. He knew that Lacey was done with their lunch date. "But from where I'm sitting, Danny Desai is still quite infatuated with you. Married or not. He'd want to know of your son together."