July 08, 2005 Cleveland, Ohio
Nick was done with all the waiting. He had given Tina three years to do whatever it was she needed to do and he now planned to pick up the pieces of his family and put them back together again.
His first step had been finding somewhere to live in the meantime. Rather than flying into Cleveland earlier that morning as expected he’d arrived a full week ahead of time to get settled in. He’d rented a condo in an upscale end of town, had it furnished and filled with everything and anything he and the kids could need; money was not an object.
As they made their way through the city streets Nick did a quick check of the back seat where both kids were strapped into their car seats. Zoey was staring out the window quietly and Parker was engrossed in a book.
“What are you reading?” Nick asked, still finding it amazing that his son was reading. In his mind he was still a baby not a six year old boy gearing up to enter first grade.
Parker swung his legs, kicking his feet against the back of his father’s seat, “James and the Giant Peach,” he answered, sounding out the words. It was one of the first actual novels he had read but his kindergarten teacher wanted him to be able to hit the ground running once school started since he was such a confident reader. She had given Parker a bag full of books to read before September.
Nick grinned, “I read that when I was a kid!” he exclaimed excitedly, glad to have that in common with his boy.
Parker laughed, “Daddy if you read this when you were little then this book must be SO old!”
The older man feigned shock, “I am not old! I’m only 25!”
“Dad,” Parker said matter-of-factly, “25 is really old.”
Nick was about to retort when Zoey suddenly started squealing excitedly from her seat. She had one of Jerome’s little horns stuck in her mouth but she was staring out the window wide eyed.
“What’s wrong Princess?” he asked as they came to a red light. He swung around in his seat but her head was turned back looking at the building they’d just past.
“She’s looking at Mommy’s work,” Parker said and Nick whipped around to look at the boy with lightning fast speed.
“Where’s Mommy’s work?” he asked, taking a quick check to make sure the light was still red in the intersection.
Parker didn’t even look up from the book, obviously used to ignoring his sister, “The place with the flowers.”
Sure enough there was a shop in the middle of what appeared to be a large strip mall with flowers on the sign. Nick couldn’t believe the chances. He was barely a few blocks away from the condo he’d rented. He immediately pulled his rental car, a black Cadillac Escalade, into the nearest parking spot along the road and took a deep breath. He didn’t even know if Tina was working just then, but if she was he was going to see her for the first time in three years and it terrified him.
He didn’t even know where Tina and the kids were living. His only contact was through Lynn and surprisingly they didn’t live together. At any point he could have hired a private detective and found out the information he needed, or shown up at her parent’s doorstep demanding to know her phone number and address but he hadn’t.
He wanted to talk to her, he really did, he just hadn’t expected for it to be so soon.
“Daddy is we getting something to eat?” Parker questioned, staring out the window at the golden arches of McDonalds across from the car and Nick was broken from his reverie.
“Uh,” he stumbled, running a hand through his hair quickly, “It’s are we getting something to eat,” he corrected the boy’s grammar before nodding, “But... yeah let’s get some food and maybe visit Mommy at work.”
He shut the car down and unstrapped himself before getting both kids out of their seats and onto the sidewalk. He instructed Parker to stay close as he hiked Zoey onto his hip and they made their way towards the restaurant. He didn’t know if they had already eaten lunch but given that they probably would have eaten if they’d gotten on the plane he didn’t see the harm in letting them have a treat.
While the kids devoured their happy meals Nick couldn’t bring himself to eat. He had been hungry before but now he was too nervous to think about eating. In his mind he was full of confidence, gusto, and machismo when he was finally in front of Tina. He wanted to be able to tell her what a mistake she had made and show her what she was missing. He wanted her to fall at his feet.
But as he sat watching Parker get ketchup over most of his face he realized that he was none of those things. He wanted to fall at her feet, beg her to take him back, and grovel for forgiveness.
~*~
The bell above the door rang but Tina didn’t look up from her conversation. It was a slow day and there were more than enough employees to take care of anyone who came into the store.
She had never really pictured herself working in retail but with very little qualifications and her only experience being that of a stay at home mom there wasn’t a lot of options when she had been out on the job hunt. She was grateful to have landed a job at Pretty Posey’s, and had worked there for nearly three years. The owner was a wonderful woman who was independently wealthy, she just liked home decor enough that she wanted to be able to buy for herself at a wholesale price and still make a little cash on the side, and she had been willing to take a chance on a girl that really had nothing going for her.
Child support money from Nick was enough to cover rent, utilities and food, so she was able to put a little bit of her paycheque away every month to buy special gifts for the kids and a little something for her now and again. The concept of having her own money to buy herself spontaneous gifts was foreign to Tina. She had spent years with a man that had an unlimited amount of money counting her pennies, and now that she was working 9-5 at a job that didn’t pay much over minimum wage she could actually do more than just window shop.
Tina had tried to avoid Nick’s press over the past couple of years but it had been hard. She read the stories about the revolving door to his bedroom, and the countless women who had been in and out of it. She on the other hand had only been on her first date that spring. She wanted to take things slow because she’d never really been out in the dating world before. She went from her parent’s house to Nick’s house and with two kids to worry about she didn’t want to jump into anything.
Ryan had been the first person she’d finally caved to, accepting his offer to have dinner after months of his asking. He worked at the store with her, had met the kids from the times they’d been in with her mother, and was an all around great guy. He didn’t know anything about Nick, and Tina was sure that he wouldn’t know of him because his musical tastes were a bit more eclectic than the run of the mill Top 40 pop music. One day she would probably tell him the full story but for now they’d only been on a couple of dates so she was saving that story for when they were a bit more serious.
She laughed at Ryan’s joke, reaching out to put a hand on his forearm. He wasn’t nearly as good looking as Nick aesthetically but Tina found that his personality made up for what he lacked in the looks department. He was about average height, thin and a little geeky. He had mousey brown hair, wore black framed glasses, and his favourite colour was plaid.
“Mommy!” Tina heard and she gasped. Parker was making his way to the front of the store and she stood by wide-eyed.
“Parker!” she exclaimed in panic, “Didn’t grandma take you to the airport? Did you miss your plane?!”
“No,” Parker laughed, peering over the counter at her, “Daddy picked us up!”
“Daddy...” she breathed and quickly looked up to see Nick standing a few feet away.
He’d gained more weight, she noticed as she gave him a once over, and he was trying to hide it with a pair of way too big jeans and an oversized t-shirt. He had a ball cap firmly on his head but it didn’t hide the look in his eyes. She recognized it as being jealousy and she quickly gave a glance towards Ryan before moving away from him.
“Nick,” she said cautiously, her heart pounding beneath her chest, “What are you doing here?”
“Hey Babe,” Nick said steadily, trying to keep his aura of confidence about him, “Long time, no see.”
