"Thank you so much, Heather" a woman smiled as her son bounced off of the chair.
"You look really handsome, Alex" Heather complimented the boy before turning to his mother, "It's no problem! After all, his grandparents are coming to town and he really needs to look sharp"
"I know it was completely last minute, Heather" the woman replied.
"Again, it's not a problem" Heather waved her off.
"You're a lifesaver" she complimented one more time.
"Just as long as you send me some pictures of how he looks next to his grandparents" Heather smoothed out the boy's hair.
"We will!" the woman smiled.
"Am I going to have to dress up in that sweater again?" Alex complained, "It itches. And grandma always makes me wear them all the time"
"Boys, Heather, do you have any children of your own?" the woman inquired, "I hope yours isn't as rebellious as mine"
"I have a daughter named Maria" Heather nodded. "She can be a hassle at times"
Heather let out a little laugh as she led the two to the front of the desk. A slight tingle came over her head as she felt suddenly craving a piece of candy. When his mother was turned, Heather nudged Alex and handed him off a lollipop that he was eyeing from behind the desk. Alex gasped and looked up to her with a huge smile as she smirked at him.
"I look forward to seeing you guys again soon" Heather smiled as she handed them off to the receptionist.
"Thank you" Alex smiled up to her.
"Look at that! He's never said thank you to anyone" the mother looked down to her son, "I guess I'll treat you to lunch. How about MacDonald's? We can break the rules just for now"
"I don't know how you do it, Heather, you seem to be reading everyone's minds today" her boss said, "Maybe you should get a lotto card on your way home?"
"What makes you think that?" Heather replied, "Maybe you're just barely noticing my work now"
"That woman is always so picky about how her son looks" the boss pointed out, "She usually complains about something but today she wasn't"
"I guess I got the charm" Heather shrugged.
"Hence why you should get a lotto ticket" her boss tapped her shoulder, "Or maybe even a raise"
"Now you're just teasing" Heather rolled her eyes.
Heather looked up to the clock and noticed that she had stayed a little bit too late, in 15 minutes Maria was going to get out of school. She moaned and rushed over to her station and started to get the broom. All this time she was practicing her skill of reading emotions and she completely forgot about her own daughter. Heather already could hear Maria crying about not wanting to leave daycare once she comes into the room.
She quickly swept up the section as she felt her phone buzz off in her pocket, just thinking that it was just some random e-mail that means nothing to her. Heather continued to work quickly, ignoring everyone around her. Her boss already knew that she was going to take a slight break to pick up her daughter so she didn't bother about that. Heather sighed as she dumped out the hair into the ever growing trash can.
"Heather, you should take the rest of the day off" her boss said.
"Michael, I already told you- I will be back in a half hour" Heather told him.
"I'm sure Maria wouldn't like to sit around in a barber shop until 5" her boss responded.
"She's not paying the electric bill, Michael" Heather responded.
"Which is why I offered a raise" Michael said.
"After one day of excellent work?" Heather inquired.
"Why can't you just accept that something is going your way for once" Michael countered.
"Because it never does. Everything happens for a reason" Heather responded.
"That could mean a good thing" Michael told her, "Have some fun for a little bit"
Heather turned to her boss and was about to say something when her mouth was just left hanging open. Maria pushed through the door, ran past the men in the room, and hugged Heather around her waist, almost making her lose her balance. Heather gawked as she slowly pet her daughter's light blonde hair and wondered how she even got to the barber shop on her own. She looked up and then noticed Josh standing at the entrance with a smile on his face.
"Take a break, Heather" Michael told her then turned to Maria, "You must be starving!"
"Do you have those noodles here, Michael?" Maria asked, "I've been wanting to eat them all day"
"Oh, Maria, I have a whole wall of them" Michael said as he led her over to the back.
"Josh" Heather said as she came up to him.
"I was going to surprise you two at the school. Then I realized that you never showed up so I brought her here" Josh waved to the barber shop, "It was a lucky guess. If you needed someone to pick up Maria then all you had to do was ask"
"I didn't mean to, Josh. I was practicing" Heather said in a lower voice.
"You were-"Josh asked.
Heather all of a sudden felt a wave of emotion come from him, so much that her body actually acted on its own. She gently cupped his face and kissed him lightly on the lips as the warmth spread throughout her body. Josh lightly placed his hands on her waist and slowly brought her closer to him as he kissed her back. Heather's eyes popped open as she heard applause erupt all around the barber shop as she broke the kiss.
"Wow" Josh breathed out, "You were doing that all day? Should I be concerned? Heather, was that my emotions or yours?"
"I don't know, Josh. I think it was both of ours" Heather replied, "I'm so sorry. Josh, I didn't mean to do that"
"Heather" Josh shook his head.
"What?" Heather asked.
"It was bound to happen sometime" Josh smiled, "Thanks to your gift none of us would've made the first move"
"You do have a point" Heather responded.
"I know he would've wanted this" Josh whispered.
"Are you reading my emotions now?" Heather asked.
"It's been going on through my mind as well" Josh placed a hand on her waist, "Whether or not he would've liked this. I think he would've wanted no one else to find better happiness but with the three of us together. Unless, he would want to rip my head off right now. I don't really like that idea"
"I don't like it either" Heather shook her head.
"I would like to try this out" Josh finally said.
"I do too" Heather smiled, "When should we tell Maria?"
"I think she knew long before we even did" Josh chuckled.
"She talked about you asking me out?" Heather asked.
"In a way. More like she drilled it into me" Josh shrugged, "That girl really knows how to demand things out of someone"
"She got that from her father" Heather pointed out.
"I didn't say anything" Josh laughed.
"She'll be very thrilled about this"
"I probably will need to take her on the dates"
"Now that might be a problem"
"You don't like competition"
"I'm not in competition with my daughter" Heather glared.
"Maybe, maybe not" Josh shrugged.
Heather smiled and brought her lips back up to Josh's and slowly closed her eyes as she felt Josh's lips touch hers. She often remembered Stu's lips upon hers and daydreamed of the day that she wouldn't have to feel so guilty. Ironically enough, kissing Josh didn't bring back any memories of his best friend into her mind. Heather leaned her head back and smiled back up to Josh.
"I knew it!" Maria shouted, "We are going to be the best family ever! You, me, mommy, Uncle Aidan, and Auntie Sally! It'll be perfect! You just wait and see"
Hey Everyone! I just wanted to let you guys know that I made a poster for this story and would like you guys to see it! Just go onto my homepage and get a hold of that link at the bottom of my bio page. Sorry about how it looks on this site but I'm not really quite used to adjusting the poster to a perfect size just yet.