Married to my Dad’s Best Friend

The line finally starts to dwindle to just a few customers. It’s enough to keep from overwhelming my coworkers, so I don’t feel guilty for taking my break.

My legs are soggy noodles and I float toward him on numb feet. I’m mindful of every step so I don’t trip and make a fool out of myself. Lonnie stands when I approach, and I’m once again overwhelmed by the towering size of him. He pulls out a chair for me to sit. It’s an old-fashioned gesture, and this is only one of the reasons I find him irresistible. The guys my age don’t even know what manners are anymore. I’m lucky to have a door opened for me on a date.

“Can I get you a drink?” he asks.

I could’ve made one for myself, but if I drink caffeine right now, I’ll end up launching out of this chair. I’m far too nervous for that.

“No, thank you. I’ll stick with this,” I say, gesturing to my water bottle.

He sits down across from me. My foot starts to bob maniacally under the table, and I’m picking at my nail polish. I’ve never been so weird around him like this before. It’s such a foreign feeling. He used to be the person I was most comfortable around. I could always be myself in his presence. I didn’t have to be the perfect, pristine honor student that everyone expected me to be. These years between us have changed everything.

“How have you been?” he asks with genuine concern. The flecks of grey in his hair and the stubble on his chin make him look distinguished, important. He’s the kind of man whose presence demands attention. It’s an understated importance that needs no words. When Lonnie is in a room, everyone is aware of it. He doesn’t seem to have any clue just how strong his magnetism is.

“I’ve been well. Just really focused on school. Consumed by it, really. I was able to graduate a year early.”

He gives me the most mesmerizing, playful smile. “No time for boyfriends?”

How does he do that to me with just a simple smile? He’s a vortex, pulling me toward him. I’m leaning forward, trying to catch my breath as he pulls it from my lungs.

My cheeks heat and I smile back at him. “Not really. A few dates but nothing that stuck.”

His blue eyes sparkle in the pale light coming through the tinted windows of the coffee shop. They’re such a striking color that I can’t possibly look away. They’re a work of art. Looking at them, you can’t help but feel something. They evoke emotion, they tell a story. Seeing those eyes again, I remember when I first really noticed them. I was sixteen and he was with my family on our houseboat at the lake. His skin was tan which made his eyes stand out all the more.

I miss those days, secretly watching him while he was shirtless, the way his skin would glisten when he got out of the water, how his wet swim shorts would cling to his body, showing off the shape of his manhood. My imagination would run wild. I always wore the skimpiest bikinis despite my mom’s complaints and objections. I know he noticed me, but he always tried hard not to.

Thinking about those houseboat trips has me wet and aching. Those adolescent fantasies hit me with full force. I have to keep my eyes locked on his and force myself not to let them roam all over his body.

“With such great accolades, I can’t believe a firm hasn’t snatched you up yet,” he says.

I’m sweating. It’s so hard to be this close without touching him and flirting the way I did when I was younger. I’m twenty-five now. It should be easier than it was then, but it’s not.

“There’s a lot of competition out there,” I say to make myself feel like less of a failure. But it doesn’t work. He’s right. I can’t believe it either. I was sure I’d have a great job in a firm by now.

“I can’t let that kind of talent go unnoticed.” He leans back in his chair and knocks his fist on the table like a judge making their final ruling. “I want you in my firm,” he says.

I’m so taken by surprise I choke on my water and start to cough. “What?”

I’m not sure I heard him right.

“It’s a perfect fit,” he says. “I’ve been looking someone I can trust, someone I can teach from the ground up, who doesn’t already have bad habits they’ve learned from other lawyers. I want an apprentice. My firm is in the city so you would have to relocate. The signing bonus you’ll receive should be enough to get you a decent apartment to start with …”

He keeps going, talking about bonuses, insurance, benefits, money I can actually live on without starving. My head is spinning. Somewhere in the deepest recesses of my mind I know my parents would freak. When Lonnie first stopped coming around, they warned me they didn’t want me talking to him, though I didn’t know why, and they wouldn’t say. I never pressed the subject because it seemed to really upset them, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.