Page 52 of Something New

"I’m great. Missing you. How are you?"

"I'm good. Are you coming here?"

"Yes. I'm flying. I should be in Miami by 7pm. It was the earliest thing I could find without leaving first thing in the morning and flying all over."

"Yeah, anytime is great. Thank you."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I have the outfit that the staff is wearing. I put one aside for you."

"Is someone going to be missing it? Because I got black stuff together, like you were saying. Molly helped me get a black mask."

"I'll take a picture of what I have, and you can tell me if it's similar," I said.

I put him on speakerphone and proceeded to lay the clothes on the bed. I took a couple of photos of the clothes and mask and sent them to him.

"I did good," he said. "But do I have to walk in with that mask? I'll feel like a goober, walking up to the door with that on."

"Go around to the back of the house. You'll see a big basketball court and there is an entrance near it. It's where the servers come in. You will probably get stopped, but I am going to leave your name. I'm actually going to leave the outfit in a bag for you also. If he has a problem with your clothes, you can change. You will be listed there as my assistant."

"Got it. That sounds fine."

"Oh my gosh, John-Michael. Thank you so much for coming here. If I think of anything else, I'll text you."

"Mom and Dad had some friends over earlier tonight."

"I know, you were talking about that. How did it go? Did you guys have fun? Are you spending the night at your mom's tonight?"

"Yeah, Ethan and I are both here for tonight. I'm going to leave in the morning and Mom will keep him. We were here the whole time their friends were here."

"What about your return flight from Miami?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm glad you asked. I was able to get on the same one as you."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's one of the three things I wanted to tell you."

"Three? What are the other two?" I asked.

"It's about their friends coming… that's what I was starting to say. Ethan is like a little sponge with you. He has been singing all of those songs you teach him. My mom's friend is a music teacher, and she knew them all. She was so impressed that Ethan knew so many songs, and I told her he makes you teach him a new one just about every time you hang out."

"I think it is every time," I said, laughing.

"They videoed him singing with her. She said he's got talent. She complimented me on my parenting skills."

"That's amazing."

"I told her that was all you."

"Aww," I said, feeling speechless. My heart was all the way back in North Carolina with them.

"That's not all."

"What?"

"That same lady saw the photo my mom has—the one with E and his dinosaur. I showed her your social media, and she wants you to come shoot photos at her school—a part-time job. She works at a really nice place. She works with the elementary ages, but it's an all-ages academy—St. Joseph and Peter."

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