“Yeah, sure, I could eat something,” she said, as she ran a hand through her curly dark hair and shrugged off her coat and tossed it into the living room. “You want some help?”
“Yeah, grab some forks and napkins; we’ll eat in front of the television,” I said, as I put the food on plates and grabbed a bottle of syrup out of the cupboard.
We sat down on the couch and I flipped on ESPN as Kendra doused her pancakes in syrup. We ate in silence as the commentators ran through the results of all the sports events the night before, and cheered silently as they, again, announced that the Celtics were leading the NBA and looked like they might win the championship this year.
“How are the kids?” Kendra asked, as she leaned ran her finger around the edge of the plate and then offered her finger to Howard, who had jumped up between us and was now acting like we didn’t exist. He sniffed Kendra’s finger, blinked once, and then turned and walked away. KO laughed. “Wow, picky little bastard, isn’t he?”
“He’s his own person,” I said, as Howard curled up at the far end of the couch and licked his paw before putting his head down and closing his eyes. “The kids are good. I met with one of my students’ fathers this week.”
“Oh yeah? Helicopter parent come to read you the riot act about his precious angel?” she asked dryly.
“No, actually he was a divorced dad who came to find out why his daughter is failing history,” I said, wondering if I wanted to tell KO just how hot Blake Gaston was.
“Was he hot?” she asked, cutting through my question.
“Unbelievably,” I said, grinning as I fanned myself.
“Why didn’t you ask him out?”
“KO! Are you kidding? That would violate about ten of the clauses in my teaching contact!” I protested.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she shot back. “That’s utter bullshit. I mean, I can see you not dating students, but their parents? Bullshit.”
“Well, I don’t think there’s a specific rule against dating a parent,” I admitted. “But it would feel weird to date a student’s dad, don’t you think?”
“I don’t know, Em,” KO said, as she leaned back and laced her fingers behind her head. “We live in Waltham; it’s a small freakin’ town, and there are a limited number of eligible men around here. My theory is that if you like him and he likes you, you should go for it!”
“I have no idea if he likes me,” I admitted. “I just can’t stop thinking about him, but there’s no way I’m going to just call him up and ask him out.”
“What’s he do?”
“Firefighter,” I said.
“Oooh! That means he probably comes into the Clover!” KO said perking up. “You should come in and watch the game tonight! Maybe you’ll run into him! No harm, no foul if you meet him out on the town, my friend.”
“You’re so bad,” I laughed.
“We’re going to have the Celtics game on the big screen,” she teased. “And the drinks are two-for-one until 9!”
“Fine! Fine! I’ll come sit on a stool at the bar and watch the basketball game while you work,” I laughed. “How pathetic is that?”
“It’s only pathetic if you stay home and watch the game with your cat,” KO said. Howard opened one amber eye and looked at her disdainfully before rolling over and going back to sleep.
That evening, I put on jeans and my Celtics jersey in anticipation of the game.
“Sorry, buddy,” I said, as I flipped off the space heaters. From his spot curled up on the couch, Howard lifted his head, blinked once, and then curled back up and ignored me. “Can’t leave these things on if I’m not around. Stay curled up. I’ll turn them back on when I get home, okay?”
I pulled up in front of The Lucky Clover and immediately found a front parking spot.
“Great, this is pathetic,” I muttered under my breath, as I made my way across the room and sat down at the far end of the bar closest to the television screen and the back door. KO smiled and poured me a beer without saying a word as I sat waiting for the game to start.
“Hey, darlin’,” a voice from behind me said halfway through the first quarter. “You waiting on your husband?”
“Huh? What the—” I said, shifting my attention from the game to the guy now standing next to me.
“You alone, darlin?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah,” I said, scanning the bar for KO. She was at the other end pouring drinks for a group of guys who looked like they’d already had one too many.