Beautiful Mistakes

Matt smiled. "You're a complicated woman, aren't you?"

"Not especially," she said, watching Anna steal a fry. Then she cracked a smile. "Well, maybe a little," she conceded, "but only to a mind that can't handle a little complexity."

One black eyebrow shot up. "Are you insulting my mind?"

"Not insulting, challenging," she corrected, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course. Well, in that case, I admire and understand your complexity."

"Good man," she said with a nod, taking a bite of her sandwich.

He chuckled. "Do you have a boyfriend who also admires your complexity?"

The mere mention of her boyfriend caused her smile to droop. "No, my boyfriend… was one of my ill-fated distractions.”

Matt nodded. "I see."

On reflection, she couldn't quite believe she said that aloud, so she tried to backpedal a little. "I'm—That must sound so terrible to you.”

"No," he said, shaking his head, glancing up at her with the tiniest of smiles. "I understand completely."

Strangely, she believed that.

"Just… may I give you a word of advice?"

Julie nodded. "Sure, but if it's good advice, I probably won't heed it," she half-joked.

"You're young," he told her. "It's okay to have a distraction once in a while, but make sure you don't end up getting stuck with your distraction. When you're ready, discard it and look for something real before it's too late."

Privately, she thought that sounded like very good advice.

She was also honest enough to admit she probably wouldn't listen to it.

Matt finished off his last fry and began gathering their trash on the tray. "Well, I should probably be getting the little one home.”

Anna was rubbing her eyes with her little fist at that point.

"Aw, is she tired already?"

"Already?" he asked with a smile. "It's 35 minutes past her bedtime."

Julie's eyes widened and she looked at her phone, seemingly not believing him. Sure enough, it read 9:35. "Oh my God, it cannot possibly be 9:35. Didn't we just get here ten minutes ago?"

He flashed her a playful smile. "Time flies when you're having fun."

And Jack got off work at ten.

Inwardly cursing, Julie ate the last bite of her sandwich and grabbed the tray while Matt helped Anna get her sweater on.

"Did I run you late for something?" he asked, watching as Julie quickly deposited the garbage into the trash receptacle.

"No, not at all. I just have some assignments that I need to finish, so I should probably get home so I can…"

"Finish them," he offered.

"Yes," she said with an emphatic nod as he lifted Anna out of the high chair.

"Sorry," he said, offering a lopsided grin. "Didn't mean to distract you."