The Good One (The Ones)

“Yes, please.”

I spend the morning finishing up my story on the animal shelter, hoping that it brings some donations for their organization. Abigail and I head to lunch at the little café across the street.

“So spill, girl. How are things with Mr. BDE?” She cracks up at her nickname for Donovan.

“Oh my gosh, Abs, I can’t even explain how amazing he is. It’s like I went from this boring by the book adult to this sex kitten in a matter of days. And the things he does to my body on the regular? Holy shit, he would make a porn star blush.” I wave my hand in front of my face as we both laugh. I tell her about my weekend and about him showing up at my apartment last night. No details on exactly what happened, but she’s pretty good at filling in the blanks.

“It’s about so much more than the sex. We have this intense connection. He gets my sense of humor and I think, or at least I hope, he feels like he can be himself around me. I get the sense he hasn’t been able to do that with many people. And we laugh so much together. I can’t believe I ever thought he was boring.” I shake my head at the completely off-base judgments I had before meeting Donovan.

“So are you getting to the meet the family and friends stage or what?” she asks, taking a sip of her ice tea.

“We haven’t really talked about it yet, but I’m having dinner at my mom’s tonight, so I figured I would tell her I’m seeing him, but to keep it quiet. He has so much going on with his campaign and the story I did just came out. I want to give it a little while longer so people hopefully won’t put two and two together.” It makes sense in my head, even though I feel like we’re so far past just having met each other. It’s crazy to me and I’m the one living it.

“Is Lindsey going to be there? I’ve tried to text her a few times, but she hasn’t responded.”

Now that she’s mentioned it, I realize she never responded to my text about dinner at our mom’s either.

“I’m not sure. She was in a mood the last time we were over there. Something’s up with her and she doesn’t want to talk to me about it. You know how she can get.” When my sister doesn’t want to face something, she is a master at ghosting. “If she’s there, I’ll try to talk to her again. I just know I can’t push her.”

Abigail nods in agreement and we finish our meal and head back to the office to finish out the day.

I get to my mom’s for dinner at about six. I still haven’t heard from Lindsey, so I assume she won’t be here tonight. I walk in and my mom is in the kitchen just taking some baked chicken out of the oven. Why couldn’t I have inherited her talent for cooking?

“Hi, Mom. Smells great.” I lean in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Hey, sweetie. How are you?” My mom is busy finishing up the last of the meal while I take a seat at the kitchen table and tell her about the animal shelter story I’m working on and updating her on the last week.

“Have you heard from Lindsey?” I ask her.

“No, but she has a lot going on right now. I talked to her a few days ago, I think? She was in a pretty bad mood last week. What’s going on with her?”

“I’m not sure, to be honest, Mom.” When Lindsey is working something out in her head, even my mother isn’t immune to the silent treatment. It’s just how she deals with things sometimes, then she'll show her face about a week later like nothing happened. So frustrating.

“So, Mom… I’ve been seeing someone,” I begin.

“Really? Someone from the office?” She motions for me to come fix a plate, which I do. My mom’s baked chicken is delicious. We both sit back at the table and I continue.

“No, he doesn’t work for the paper, but I did meet him through work.”

“Are you going to give me a name?” she asks, raising her eyebrow at me.

“Donovan Hayes.”

Her fork stops on the way to her mouth for a moment, and she looks at me with wide eyes.

“You just did a story on him. Is that how you met?” She continues to eat her dinner. I’m certainly not going to tell her about making a fool of myself the first time we saw each other, or later that night when he saw me dancing at Club Noir. She doesn’t need all the details.

“Pretty much. We had a quick bite after the interview since it was past dinnertime and we just kinda hit it off. He asked me out, and I said yes. We’ve been seeing a lot of each other.” That’s putting it mildly.

“So, is it serious? Have you met his parents? Do I get to meet him?” Lynn Albright is the master at peppering anyone with questions. It’s no wonder where Lindsey and I get it from.

“Yes, I think it is serious. No, I haven’t met his parents and you can meet him soon. I just wanted to tell you, well, because you’re my mom and I have to say, I’m really excited about him.” I have the usual smile on my face anytime I can talk about my relationship with someone.

“Just don’t say anything to anyone yet, even Lindsey. It’s still new and, like you said, I just did a story on him. I don’t want people to get the impression that I’m dating him for an exclusive or something.”

“Good Lord, Kasey. No one is going to think that. It’s not the 1950s. Women are allowed to date or sleep with whoever they want without judgment these days.”

I about choke on my chicken. I don’t want my mom telling me about sleeping with anyone. She and my dad met in high school and had only been with each other. I don’t even know if she’s dated since his death. She definitely never brought anyone over to meet us girls.

She sees my reaction and rolls her eyes at me.

“I’m not an idiot, sweetie. I know what you mean when you tell me you’ve been seeing someone. I assumed if you're mentioning it, it’s getting serious, which I’m also assuming means sex.”

Good Lord, lady, are you trying to make me as uncomfortable as possible?

“Hey, I may be old, but I’m not dead. I see the look you’re giving me. I have a vast library on that device you girls got me for Christmas last year. You wouldn’t believe some of the books people write these days. About melt the screen right off.” She laughs at her joke and I find myself mildly amused and wholly uncomfortable about having this information now. I mean, good for her, but some things a daughter just doesn’t need to know about her mother.

“Can we stop talking about this now?” I laugh uncomfortably. “I just wanted you to know what was going on and at some point very soon I’ll bring him for dinner or something.” We finish our meal and before long, it’s time for me to get home. I still have to work in the morning. I hug my mom goodbye and tell her I’ll get in touch with Lindsey this weekend, even if I have to post up at her door to catch her.

I get back to my apartment and get ready for bed. I still smell Donovan on my sheets and pillows. Way better than a T-shirt. I’m all nice and comfy in bed and decide I want to see his handsome face.

“Hey, gorgeous, I was just thinking about you. How was dinner?” he asks when he answers my FaceTime call.

“Good. I told my mom about you tonight.” He gets a huge smile on his face. I guess he’s glad.

“I was planning on talking to my parents sometime this weekend, too. I’d love for you to meet them. My mother will adore you.” The idea gives me butterflies. We’re really going all in.

“I’d love to.” I can’t keep the smile off my face.

“I’d like to take you somewhere tomorrow night where you can wear a sexy as hell dress like you did the night I saw you dancing. What do you say?”

“I say sounds exciting. I can’t wait to see you.”

“I can’t wait to see what you pick out for me.” He gives me an exaggerated, playful wink. I laugh at his silly flirting.

“Sounds good. I’ll see you tomorrow, handsome.”