He chuckles. “See? That’s the kind of toughness I want to see you use. You’ll be running this place one day…” He hesitates. “If you want to.”
It’s my turn to mock him. “If you want to,” I repeat. “Who’s the sucker now?”
He all out laughs at this, getting to his feet. “You want to have lunch together today?”
I quirk an eyebrow, and he already knows my answer. It’s hard enough for the people I work with to consider me their colleague, let alone friend, and me—having lunch with their boss’s boss’s boss? That would only make things worse.
“All right,” he says, arms up, palms out in surrender. “No lunch. But make sure you eat, okay? I don’t want you skipping meals again.” He raises a single eyebrow, and maybe I am more like him than I want to admit.
All humor gone, I answer, “Yes, sir.” Because I don’t want him to worry about me the way he used to.
Before he gets to the door, my phone rings—my cell, not the office one—and he looks down at it vibrating on the desk. The only people who call me on that are him and Tammy, and Tammy has Benny today. I look down at the phone, my eyes widening, heart skipping a beat when I see Leo’s name appear on the screen. “It’s okay. It’s not them; it’s…” I trail off, not knowing what to say.
Dad cracks a smile. “Your gentleman courter?”
A giggle erupts. “Get out!”
“Ooh, you’re blushing, Mia!” As far as he knows, Leo is just some guy from home who wants to reconnect with me. He hasn’t put two and two together yet, which is weird considering he sees Benny daily, and Benny is all Leo. My dad is clueless.
The phone stops ringing.
“Shoot,” I mutter, then glare at him. “Get out!”
He chuckles. “Want me to lock the door?”
I chew my lip before nodding, and he cracks a knowing smile as he leaves.
Standing, I dial Leo’s number and start pacing my office. For some reason, I feel exposed with the stupid glass walls, and so I lower the blinds as the phone rings and rings. “Hello?” Leo answers.
“Hey!” I almost shout, then mentally kick myself. In an attempt to calm my nerves, I close my eyes, focus on breathing. “You called?”
“Yeah…” His voice is a lot quieter than mine. “Um… I’m sorry it’s taken me a while to get in touch.” It’s been ten days. Ten whole days, and every single time my phone rang, I jumped, thinking it was him.
“It’s okay,” I say, settling in my chair again. “Like I said, no expectations.”
“I hate that you say that,” he murmurs, and I feel my chest tighten. “There should be expectations, Mia. I’m his dad.”
I release a breath slowly, hoping he doesn’t hear it.
“I want to meet him, I do. I just…” He trails off.
“You’re not ready?” I ask, just above a whisper. “I understand.” I don’t know why I’m disappointed. I spent so many years telling myself—convincing myself—that I was doing the right thing by not telling Leo. And it’s not like I know without a doubt which direction would be best for Benny. I guess it’s selfish—to want Leo to be part of his life, because maybe then he’d be a part of mine, even if we were nothing more than parents to our son.
Parents.
Our son.
The words are so foreign, even in my thoughts.
“It’s not even that, Mia…” He exhales into the phone. “I just… I feel like I can’t give him what I want when I still have so many questions, and I need you to answer them for me.” He pauses a beat while my mind spins in circles, and I work my bottom lip until it stings. “I don’t want to go into this blindly. I don’t want to fuck it up. I feel like I only have one chance to make it right, and I just… I need you, Mia. Before you can trust me with him, I feel like I need you to trust me with you.”
Well. That’s a lot to process, and it’s not at all what I expected him to feel. And the fact that he’s even verbalizing this… “Okay…” I still don’t completely comprehend what he means, but okay is the best response I can give him.
“I was thinking... maybe we can meet for dinner or something? If you have someone to watch him…”