She was my neighbor, and since she’s the only person I had a real and normal conversation with in years, I wanted to make sure I showed her my appreciation.
She’s a new friend, but I couldn’t be too pushy and intrusive.
“Okay!” Ira replied, holding up his little thumb. “Can I play now?”
I leaned in to kiss his forehead, then nodded down the hall.
“Go get your toys and bring them into my office. Dad has to work a little.”
I watched him run to the living room, and while he relocated all his toys into my office, I prepared his snack and filled his bottle with water.
“All done!” he called out, and I carried the plate and water over to him and set in onto the small table I put into my office for situations like these.
Ira sat down on his chair and started eating the peach, dipping it into the peanut butter next to the slices.
“Is it good?” I asked.
That’s something he never asked for, but he seemed to enjoy it.
“It’s good,” he replied.
Perfect.
I sat down in my chair and turned on my computer to check if I received any emails from either of my co-workers who liked to send me shit even when it was my day off, but if I handled their requests now, I could leave earlier on the weekdays and spend more time with Ira.
That’s what I always aimed for.
Strangely enough, there weren’t as many emails as I had thought there’d be, so I quickly worked through them and spent another hour on the new project while Ira played with his toys after having eaten his snack.
It was getting dark outside, and when Ira walked up to me with his hand covering his stomach, I knew it was time for me to stop working and get to the kitchen.
“You’re hungry again, hm?”
After getting up from my chair, I picked him up and walked over to the kitchen to check what we had left in the fridge.
“How about I make tacos tonight? You think Rooney would like that?”
Ira nodded and pointed to the chicken breast in the fridge. “With chicken inside?”
“Chicken, avocado, tomatoes. Whatever you wanna put in it. Sound good?”
“Yes!”
“Great. Let’s go see if she wants to come down to eat with us.”
We headed out and walked up the stairs to get to her door, and once Ira rang the bell, we waited a few seconds before the door opened.
It wasn’t who I wanted to see, but if I wanted to get to Rooney, I had to talk to her.
“Hey, Evie,” I greeted.
As annoyed as I was because of her most of the time, I wasn’t a dick.
“Going out?” I asked, looking down at her skin-tight dress and high heels.
“Yes. Is there something you need?”
Her brows were raised, and with that much make up on, she was slightly scaring Ira as he stepped behind me with his arm around my leg.
“Is Rooney home?”
Evie sighed and turned to walk back into the apartment.
I looked down at Ira and brushed through his curls, then looked back up as she came back.
“She’ll be right with you.”
Evie grabbed her bag and walked past us, and with a quick bye, she walked down the stairs to head out.
Perfect.
So no loud music or people dancing tonight.
“Hi!” Ira squealed and waved as he saw Rooney come down the hallway, and I smiled at her after taking in the comfortable looking loungewear she was wearing.
“Hi, Ira. Did you have a good day at the park?” she asked, reaching out to caress his cheek gently.
“It was fun! I played with Benny,” he explained.
“That’s amazing! I wish I had the time to play with my friends,” she said with a sigh, then looked up at me with a smile. “Hi.”
“Hey, Rooney. Ira and I wanted to invite you over for dinner. We’re making tacos. Wanna join?”
“Please?” Ira said.
“Well, I can’t say no to you.” She chuckled, looking back at Ira. “Sounds great! I’ll have to change into something more appropriate though,” she added.
“Oh, don’t bother. We’ll change into our pajamas before dinner anyway. You look great,” I told her, taking another look at her body.
Even in a sweatshirt and messy bun she looked pretty.
I’d take her over any other girl every time.
“Okay, but give me a moment to put away my things and I’ll be right down.”
I gave her a nod and picked Ira up, then pointed toward the stairs. “We’ll see you in a few then.”