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The Ugly Girlfriend(14)

By:Latrivia Nelson




“Can I have a sandwich?” he asked.



“Sure, let me see what your dad has. You wanna stop playing that and come downstairs for a minute.” She motioned towards the door.



He put down the control on his entertainment cabinet. “What are hypnotics?” he asked, looking up at her under heavy eyelashes with a curious gaze.



“Those computer games put you in a state of um...oblivion about the world. You should try reading a book.”





He walked beside her. “A book? You don’t have kids, do you?”





“Nope. You can tell?”





“Yeah,” he said, cracking his knuckles.





***



Right before dusk, tired mentally and physically, Mitch put his key in the front door of his home and opened it. As he entered the house and closed the door, he heard something that he had not heard in a long time. Laughter. It was his son and LaToya. Their voices blended to make a blissful melody of happiness that rang through the halls. Unexpectedly, it sent goose bumps up his arm. He hadn’t heard his son laugh like that in a long time. And there was something else he hadn’t had in a long time. The smell of food cooking in his kitchen, emanating through his house like a fragrance of pure love.



The glow of the sun setting in the horizon made the house appear to be literally alive. The dancing flickers of light beamed brightly through the windows as its blaze faded into the distance. The burnt yellow walls topped with white crown molding, decorated with beautiful art and low, receding lights under expensive tile floors, adorned with elegant furniture seemed like a real home tonight. It was the first time that he felt like he had actually walked into his life again. The house was clean. His son was laughing. Food was cooking, and there was a woman waiting for him after a long day at the office.



Quietly, he put down his briefcase, dropped his blueprints at the table in the foyer and walked slowly down the hall, trying hard not to be detected. As he got closer, he heard his son asking LaToya a question.



“So you’ve read it?” Zach asked.



“Yes,” LaToya replied.



“Well, what happens? I’ve got an assignment in class on Moby Dick. It’s supposed to be a classic or something, but if you ask me, it blows. No one wants to read it. I want to read Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but Ms. Clementine won’t let us.”



“You should read Moby Dick. It is a classic. And if I tell you what happens, then you won’t read it. And then you’ll have missed out.”



“I won’t read it anyway,” he joked. “Why don’t they just make every book into movie? It’s so much easier.”



“Some books are better in print, Zach. I’ve seen the Moby Dick movie. It’s lacking.”



“What does that mean?”





“It’s better on paper.”





“No, it’s not.” He paused. “How many books have you read anyway?”





“Thousands.”





“Thousands?” Zach asked in disbelief. His voice sounded exasperated at the thought. “Why?”

“Because,” she hunched her shoulders and smiled. “I love to read.”



LaToya didn’t want to tell him that single people had to find a serious hobby to make up for the time that they weren’t spending with a mate, and many like her preferred reading to get away from the life that they currently had to go to a place that they’d never been. It was one of her favorite hobbies. In fact, she had turned her spare bedroom into a full library, where she had collected over 2,000 books.



Mitch stood in the doorway watching the two as they talked. Zach sat on the island beside LaToya while she stood cutting up vegetables and preparing their meal. The two had only just met, but it seemed that they had known each other for a lifetime. Their chemistry was pleasant and easy, unlike how he’d seen his son with the pediatrician. Zach liked her. He liked her.



Dipping his head to hide the emotions that he was sure he wore on his tired face, he looked down at his brown boots to fight the pain of what he missed, what he longed for. He wanted someone there doing just what she was doing on a permanent basis, not cooking, not cleaning but nurturing. More than his son needed it. He needed it. It was such a shame that he had lost it not to being a cheat or a bastard, but by being a good man.



“Oh, you’re home,” LaToya said, looking his way. She cast a bright smile at him and waved her silver spatula. “Come help us. You can take the bread out of the oven while Zach sets the table.”



Obediently, Zach jumped down from the island and went to the cupboard to retrieve the plates. “Hey dad,” he said in a chipper tone.