Page 8 of Taking The Shot

“Definitely,” she chuckled. “If it’s not sucking completely, then it’s dabbling in the ‘what now?’ or ‘let’s make things weird’ factor. My favorite category of life, though, the one that leaves you completely sideswiped which is the ‘Hold my beer’ moments. Now those…” she drew out and sucked in her breath. “Those moments leave you spinning. I can do without those.”

And Keith hesitated. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. The insanity spinning in his own mind from the phone calls and pressures coming was effectively forcing him to alter his path, to change teams, and with those changes would come a ‘Hold my beer’ moment – for sure.

“I get it,” he murmured. “I get it completely, and it would be nice to get a little warning – wouldn’t it?”

“Very,” she chuckled and paused. “So, when should we plan this mysterious coffee or impromptu dinner at my place? I’d like a chance to clean up because… well… children.”

“You don’t have to do anything special for me.”

“There’s a pile of peeled crayon papers on the floor along with every pot and pan that I own scattered across the kitchen floor. If you had called three minutes earlier, you might have missed the drum solo from Kayla.”

“My timing’s always been off…” he joked and was rewarded with another laugh that made him feel good. Constance seemed really nice, and while this wasn’t what he anticipated, if she said no to his crazy questions, then he needed a moment to figure out how to save his career some other way – and it had already been three days since he’d met her.

Time was ticking away.

“Have you eaten dinner tonight?”

“Um, hello? Did you not hear the warning about the crayons?”

“I did – and I’ll pick up another package so the kids can peel to their heart’s content while we talk. In fact, I’ll pick up something for dinner on the way so the drums can remain where they are without disturbing anything.”

“Keith…”

“What’s your address – and don’t say no.”

“I wasn’t going to,” she whispered softly, and he heard the shy note in her voice that made him swallow in awareness. “Do you have a pen, and I’ll give you my address – and start frantically cleaning.”

“No need. I promise you, I’m just a normal, easy-going guy…”

“Somehow, I don’t think so,” she murmured. “But I’ll see you soon.”

“See you soon,” he promised and ended the call after jotting down her address, staring at the piece of paper in disbelief. “I’ve got a date… unbelievable.”

An hour later, Keith was standing in front of an apartment in an older neighborhood that had several cars parked on the street – a few with flat tires. There were bars on the windows and graffiti on the community mailbox, and he heard a massive dog barking in the distance from one of the other apartments.

Knocking, he held his breath – waiting.

This is crazy… this is crazy… this is crazy…

And the door opened slightly revealing Constance’s eyes – and a chain. She had the door chained for safety which did not sit well with him either. He was glad she was trying to protect herself and the kids, but none of this was deterring him from his goals; if anything, it was shoving it to the forefront of his mind.

“Hey,” Constance smiled openly, briefly shutting the door before opening it wide. “You found the place…”

“Google maps.”

“Oh mercy, it’s the dork – Kurt.”

“Keith,” he corrected looking at the pint-sized human that was peevishly looking at him like he’d completely ruined her day. “Hello Paige. How are you?”

“I was better two seconds ago and how did you know my name?”

“Your mother told me your name and Kayla’s.”

“Mommmm!” the child hollered, clearly annoyed. “Can you please stop talking about me with freaking weirdos?”

“Weir-yos…” Kayla chimed in, holding up a dustpan – and Keith couldn’t help it, he laughed. It was just so strangely fitting in his mind that nothing would go smoothly, and some little tyrant was going to make things difficult for him.

“Girls, please behave,” Constance interrupted, tossing him an apologetic look. “Keith, please come in. You’re my guest, and Paige, how do we treat our guests?”

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