My computer was set up with three monitors so I could watch the financial news, look at stocks, and have financial graphs all going at the same time. Josh had helped me get the set up organized and working; it made me look the part, even if I hadn’t figured out all the details of day trading yet.
“Have you been trading without me here?” Josh asked as a red flag popped up on my account when we logged in. “You know you shouldn’t be doing that. There are a lot of rules, especially since you just sold your company.”
“Yeah, but nothing too crazy,” I said. “I’ve been sticking to the stocks we talked about and the rules for trading.”
“Something’s wrong. It looks like your account might have been flagged by someone outside of the trading platform. We better not do any investing until I get this figured out.”
“They think I’m doing illegal trading?” I asked, a little nervous at the assumption.
“Not necessarily,” he said. “You could have just had a really good investing day and they flagged you. I’ve had my account flagged before, and it was removed the next day. Sometimes it’s for a silly infraction, like not taking enough time between trades and they think you have some software program attached to your account. Let’s just give trading a rest for a couple of days.”
“I haven’t done anything illegal,” I protested. “Really, I’ve stuck to the stocks we researched – and only those. I know there are a lot of companies I can’t invest in right now.”
“It’s not always about that. Between the trading platform and the dozens of federal agencies out there, it’s better to just give them a day or two to clear the flag,” he said.
“Should we call someone?”
“No, they will contact you if they have concerns or questions. Instead, tell me about this hot piece of ass you went out with.”
“She was hot, but not in the traditional way,” I said. “She was sweet and had a raunchy sense of humor. Within five minutes of meeting me, she was making a joke about women creaming themselves when I’m around. It was really funny.”
“Sounds like my kind of woman.”
I went on to tell him a little bit about Delilah, without going into too many details. It wasn’t necessary to tell him about her past and her loss; I felt like she had told me that in confidence, and I didn’t want to tell Josh just yet.
Although, it was clear that all those things from her past had made her into the person she was now. Delilah was much more put-together than the women I typically ended up going out with. It had been a refreshing change of pace for me.
“She’s a single mom, and I think she said her son is six. No, five, he’s five and his name is Connor.”
“Have you ever dated a woman with a kid before?”
I had to laugh. The idea that I would have dated a woman with a kid was preposterous.
In fact, up until I found out that Delilah had a son, I would have vehemently denied ever being willing to go out with a woman who had a child. It just seemed way too hard for me to deal with. I still had to deal with the loss of my son; I didn’t think I could handle a woman having a kid.
Yet, I hadn’t even thought about ending our date when Del told me she was a mother. The thought hadn’t crossed my mind at all because I was enjoying my time with her so much.
“No, I’ve never even thought about dating a woman with a kid. It always seemed a little too close to home for me. Plus, I’m not really the dating type, and I wouldn’t want to hurt someone who had that type of home life.”
“Are you sure this girl isn’t looking for a free ride?” Josh asked as concern crossed his face. “Let me play the devil’s advocate here for a second. Let’s say she looked you up and found out about your son. She plays off of her attractiveness and makes up having a son to play off of your sadness. Soon she has her claws in you and your paying for her rent and buying her a Mercedes.”
“Oh, now you’re being a little dramatic,” I said. “I’m not going to be paying her rent or buying her a car. She has a job and drove a very reasonable vehicle to meet me for our date.”
“What kind of car?”
“I don’t know…an Infinity, I think.”
“Brandon, how can a single mom in Los Angeles afford a car like that? What does she do for work? I think you’re not seeing the big picture here. This girl sure seems like she’s looking for a sugar daddy.”
I was excited to answer this because Del’s job was pretty damn impressive to me. There weren’t that many women who worked in technology, and I really thought it would impress Josh enough that he would back off his criticisms of her.
“She’s in computers. Helps with websites and coding and stuff. It sounded like a really interesting job, and I think she seems like she likes it a lot.”
“Oh, man. Seriously, you are totally getting played here!” He burst into laughter. “A girl that hot is not working on computers.”
“Okay, enough, Josh. I like her. I’m not going to let her steal all my money. Let’s just leave it alone,” I said as I started to get frustrated with him.
“Sorry, dude, I just smell something fishy going on, and I can’t put my finger on it. Just be careful around her. You know those professionals are really good at their jobs. I’ve heard they can practically convince a guy it’s his idea to give her his money.”