Page 22 of Rebound With Me
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
He shrugs.
“Anyway, you know how Sadie and I were dating? Which is why she was still coming around even though she didn’t work as your nanny anymore—I mean, she also loved to hang out with you, she wanted to see you. Anyway. Sadie and I aren’t dating anymore, so you might not see her much anymore. If at all.”
He stares at his plate and chews.
“I mean, we might run into her, or see her around the neighborhood,” my Dad offers.
“Yeah, for sure, but she’s just not my girlfriend anymore, you get what that means, right?”
He swallows and looks at me sideways. “It means you aren’t boning her anymore?”
My Dad groans.
“He learned that from Gabe, not me.”
“It’s just a matter of time before somebody calls social services.”
“That’s not funny.” I turn to Charlie, who’s totally stoic in a way that breaks my heart. “Do you have any questions about the situation? It’s okay for you to be sad or mad or whatever. You can cry if you think you might miss her or whatever.”
“Well. Not in public.”
“He can cry in public if he needs to, Dad.”
“Enh. It’s not like she’s dead, she’s just not your girlfriend anymore.”
I try not to glare at him. My dad and brother think I’m overprotective of this kid’s feelings because I’m such a big pussy myself, and I don’t think they recognize what a sensitive little guy he is.
“If you want to be mad at me, Charlie, you be mad at me. Right?”
“Okay.” He sighs and pushes back his chair. “I have to get dressed. Who’s taking me to day camp?”
My Dad and I look at each other. “Michelle?”
“She goes to work at eight. I’ll call Gabe and see where he’s at.”
We are not killing it as caregivers this morning.
* * *
Fortunately, my brother was free to take Charlie to camp, so that somehow worked out in the way that things always somehow do. I can’t help but feel guilty, even though I know it’s not totally my responsibility. I guess everyone was right when they told me not to bang the hot nanny and I didn’t listen—even though her quitting to take the better-paying job had nothing to do with me. At least I don’t think it did. If anything, she stuck with Charlie longer than she would havebecausewe were dating. I can’t believe she was the longest relationship I’ve ever had. The only girl I’ve ever dated exclusively for more than a couple of months. And how am I rewarded?...I can’t even feel angry about it right now.
I was rewarded with Nina.
Not that she’s mine.
I was rewarded with last night.
Last night was perfect.
After my meeting in Williamsburg I have about three hours free if I cancel lunch and let my partner Eve dine with our twin chef clients on her own (she will love that), so I stop by my favorite hardware store to pick up supplies and find my way back to Nina’s street. I have to park two blocks away, but it’s nice out and I feel like I can use the walk to get my head straight before seeing her again.
The restaurateur I met with this morning is a real player, a guy I hung out with a lot a couple years ago, and it’s been a while since I’d seen him. He immediately listed like nine women that I needed to meet. Women who’d asked him about me recently, women he’d been with that he thought I’d like, a woman who was passing by on the sidewalk outside the property I was showing him. I finally told him: “I’ve been in a relationship for a while, actually.” He was shocked to hear this and asked to see pictures of my girlfriend. Obviously I didn’t show him pictures of Sadie, I told him I didn’t have any of her on my business phone. I don’t know why I said that, but I was thinking about Nina and how I wish I had pictures of her, even though I’ve been seeing her face every time I close my eyes for hours and hours.
Which is nuts.
I need to just get in there, patch up the drywall, and get out. It was a one-time thing, we both got something out of our systems so we could move on from our own separate things. I need to be clear about that. Of course, I’m just assuming that she’d even want to see me again. I’m sure I’m not her type. Unless “guy who makes me come hard and often” is her type, but I have a feeling that was a first for her.
