***
Joy had never been very good at multitasking. As she sat at the shelter's dining room table putting the finishing touches on some intake paperwork for a new girl, she had a hard time focusing on anything other than the peculiar way Esther kept looking at her from the couch.
"Can I ask you something?" she asked the older woman.
Joy shrugged. "Go for it."
"Why don't you got a man?"
"Have," Joy corrected. She'd been on her about her grammar for weeks, but that didn't mean she was immune to the occasional slip up. "And that's a bit personal, don't you think?"
Esther snickered. "Maybe. It's just … I've known you for almost three months now and I've never seen you with a man aside from the one at your friend's office. I guess I was just wondering why that is."
Joy looked up from her paperwork then, pausing with her pen pressed against the tabletop. "He wasn't just any man," she admitted, looking the young girl in the eye. She'd shared the story of her daughter's stillbirth with Esther as a means of gaining her trust, but she hadn't mentioned Silas until now. "He was actually the one who got me pregnant."
Esther's eyes widened. "Wow," she said, letting out a low whistle. "Now I see how it happened. He's sexy as hell."
Joy cringed. "Yes, well, he also happens to be very engaged," she said, turning her attention back to her work. "Anyway. Moving on. Have you given any thought as to how you're going to handle school once your daughter's born?"
Esther shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't been to school in awhile. Not since my mom died anyway."
Taken aback by the confession, Joy abandoned her work and made her way into the living room to comfort the young girl. She'd become a sort of surrogate mother to her in the short time she'd known her, which was why it especially pained her whenever she brought up her difficult upbringing.
"Well you should at least consider getting your GED," Joy offered up instead. "It'll mean a few weeks of hard work, but I'll be there to help you every step of the way."
Esther looked skeptical, but her daughter gave her a firm kick in the bladder before she could protest. "I guess that's a yes," she said with a smile. "Where do I start?"
Chapter 13
Silas had been staring down at Joy's business card for what felt like an eternity. She'd handed it over to him on a whim on her way out of Blair's office, and he'd been working up the courage to dial the number on it ever since. Pulling his cellphone from his pocket, he began to finally do it, but another call came in on his landline before he could get the chance.
"Silas Sullivan," he answered, sighing inwardly.
"Hungry?" a female voice inquired on the other end of the line.
Silas frowned. "Sorry?"
"Are you hungry?" the voice repeated. "Because you never did get back to me about that pitch, and I'm finally starting to run low on supplies. I was wondering if you wanted to discuss it over lunch."
"Oh, right, Blair," Silas said, finally recognized her voice. "Sorry … It's uh, it's been a hectic few weeks."
"It's cool. So … lunch?"
"Yeah, lunch sounds good … but um … will anyone else be joining us?"
Blair laughed. "You mean like Joy?"
Silas rubbed his neck. "Yeah … "
"She was actually my next call," Blair responded. "Why? Is that a problem?"
"Of course not," Silas said, not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to see her again. "There's this nice little Italian place on Wisconsin Ave if you'd want to eat there … "
"Filomena?"
"Yeah, that's the one."
"Great," Blair responded, speaking in a voice that made it clear that she was smiling. "I'll call Joy now. We'll meet you there in about an hour."
***
Joy had just taken a seat at her desk when her own phone rang. "Joy Harris," she answered, speaking formally.
"Hey, it's me," Blair said. "You busy?"
"Nah, I'm just finishing up some paperwork," she said, glancing over at Esther, who was seated in the front row of her classroom flipping through a GED manual. Being that it was Christmas break, no other students were around, giving the duo the opportunity to work without any interruption. "Why? What's up?"
"I was just wondering if you had any plans for lunch," Blair responded. "Silas and I are meeting at Filomena if you want to join us."
Joy clammed up at the mention of Silas, but she couldn't bring herself to turn down the offer. "Uh … sure," she agreed, albeit reluctantly. "What time should I be there?"
"Anytime within the hour is fine," Blair responded. "I'm on my way there now. I'll make sure to have plenty of wine and garlic bread waiting."
Joy agreed to the time and hung up. After dropping Esther back off at the shelter, she grabbed her make-up bag from the glove compartment of her car and set about on giving her face a quick touch up in her rearview mirror. Satisfied, she smiled at herself, silently thanking the universe that she'd thought to get a blowout done the night before.
Joy spent the rest of the afternoon gorging herself with wine and pasta in the company of two of her oldest friends. The trio had just walked out of the restaurant and were about to part ways when they bumped into Lara leaving a baby boutique across the street.
"Seriously?" she called out as she approached, palming Silas's chest. Her voice was high pitched and shrill, and the wild look in her eyes as she sized up two women he was with made it clear that she wasn't happy. "You blew off our appointment for this?"
Silas's ears reddened as he waved a hand for her to keep it down. "Of course not," he hissed, pulling her off to the side. "It's like I told you earlier. I had a meeting. Blair didn't call me to meet for lunch until it was over."
Lara didn't look convinced, but eventually she softened enough to allow him to make the introductions. "I have to go," she said as soon as he was done, pulling her gaze from the women to look him in the eye. "But this conversation isn't over. Not even close."
She crossed the street to her car then, leaving Silas awkwardly staring after her.
"Well, Silas, you certainly know how to pick them," Joy muttered. "She's lovely."
"Lovely?" Blair snorted. "Yeah right-she's a bitch!"
"Blair!" Joy reprimanded, giving her friend a pointed look. She'd always been honest to a fault. It was both her greatest strength and biggest weakness.
"It's fine," Silas interrupted, waving off the remark. "I'm sorry she came off like that. She's just been under a lot of stress lately."
"Well it's not like she doesn't have a reason to be upset," Joy reminded him, trying her best to empathize with the woman. "She did bump into you leaving an expensive restaurant with two women she doesn't know … "
Silas shook his head. "Trust me, this has nothing to do with you two," he insisted. "That was just Lara being … well … Lara."
Joy and Blair exchanged a look, but it went unseen by Silas, who continued walking to his car.
"I'll catch you guys later," Blair called after him, hiking her purse up higher on her shoulder. "If I'm not back in the office soon my secretary will start canceling appointments … "
Joy and Silas stood back and waved goodbye to her, and Joy was quick to ask him if he was alright once they were alone.
Silas shrugged. "Are you?"
Joy picked up on the underlying message in his words and swallowed hard. "Yeah," she whispered, shifting on her feet. "I wasn't right after it happened … but I am now. Life's too short to live in the past, you know?"
"What about us?" Silas challenged, taking a small step towards her. "You really wouldn't change anything about the way we ended?"
Joy dragged her tongue over her bottom lip, inhaling a ragged breath as his eyes burned brightly against her own. "Maybe," she whispered. "But it doesn't matter. It's like I said. The past is exactly that. The past … "
"No it isn't," Silas retorted, silencing her with his lips.
Joy tried to fight the kiss at first, but it ended up being a losing battle. He felt like going home after being gone for far too long, and regardless of the repercussions, she wasn't ready to leave again just yet.