The Wright One

HANNAH

I have been staring at my phone for a full ten minutes and counting. After another botched interview this morning I knew that I needed to call Justin, not for his sake but for Caden. I know I need to call him but I am scared to death to do it. When my phone starts ringing in my hand I actually scream a little.

Caden looks at me like something is wrong. “Mom, are you ok?” He looks confused and panicked.

I nod, with the ringing phone still in my hand. “Yeah, just, never mind.” I shake my head trying to seem like it isn’t that big of a deal. How do I even begin to explain that to him? I slide the icon over to answer. “Hello.”

His husky voice fills the line. “Hannah, I want to talk to you. Please meet me at my new office.”

“Are you sure?” I’m not sure I am ready for all this. Can’t we wait longer?

“Yes, and bring my son.” His voice is commanding and clear. “I’m not going to let you walk away this time.”

“Well, you didn’t exactly let me walk away last time, I just did it.”

“I know I could have stopped you if I tried hard enough, but I was a jerk and didn’t. I know there is no excuse for the way that I acted that day. But that is completely different from what is going on now. That is my son, Hannah, and I want to be a part of his life. Please, bring him.”

I’m not exactly sure what to think about what he is saying right now. “What time do you want us there?”

“Whenever you’re ready. I’m already here. Just soon please. I feel like I am being stabbed in the heart the longer this takes.” I blink a few times, not really sure I heard him right. Justin has never sounded vulnerable to me, ever. He was always so sure and confident, even when he was failing something. I’m not sure if I am ok with this new side of him.

“I’ll be there soon.” I ended the call. I’m not really sure if I should say bye or just end it so I went with the latter. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t care right now.

I look up at Caden who is playing a video game on the TV. He looks happy. I don’t want to interrupt him. But I did tell him that I would help him see his dad. “Caden buddy?”

“Yeah mom.” He doesn’t look away from the screen as he jumps and flips over his opponent.

“Remember how last night you asked me about your dad?”

He pauses the game and looks over at me. “Yeah, mom.” I guess I have his full attention now.

“Well, that was him on the phone. He wants to meet you.”

His eyes get really wide. “Really? He really wants to meet me.” He looks so excited. I didn’t think I was keeping that much from him, but it must have bothered him a lot more than he let on that his dad wasn’t in the picture.

“Yes, he demanded it, actually. So, are you ready to go meet him?” That didn’t sound scary did it? Shit, I don’t want him scared of his dad before he even meets him.

Caden looks like he is going to vibrate out of his skin. “Yes. Hold on, let me grab some stuff.” I have no idea what he is grabbing but he seems pretty excited about it. He is running up to his room like if he doesn’t get there on time he is going to lose the level or something. Seeing him like that makes me feel happy. I just really hope that Justin doesn’t disappoint him. I couldn’t stand to see him sad because of his father.

Caden has a backpack slung over his shoulder with all the things he collected, he has a big smile on his face. He loses it a little when he sees where we are going. “Um, mom, weren’t we here yesterday?”

“Yes, this is your dad’s new company.”

“Wait, so you saw him yesterday?”

“Yes. It was a shock to him and we both needed a little time to think about things. Then you asked me about him last night, so I made sure we could do this. He was very eager.” I am hoping that doesn’t sound bad. I don’t want him to think bad about Justin. He doesn’t know him. Justin is a good guy, he is just terrible when it comes to women.

He stops walking. “So he doesn’t want to see me?”

I start shaking my head before he even finishes that thought. “No, honey, he wants to see you. I promise. He called me as soon as we got to the park. I made a mistake. I promise that your dad wants to see you.”

His smile seems a little nervous now. “Ok.” His walk isn’t as excited as it was. I think he might think his dad is some angry person who isn’t going to want him around. Justin doesn’t seem like he thinks that. At least not at the moment.

I open the door for him and he walks in. Justin is right there in the lobby, it looks like he was pacing. When he sees us he pauses and smiles. “You came.”

“I said I was.” I point out. Trying to school my emotions. He is just as attractive as he was yesterday. Maybe more so since he is casual right now. Jeans and a t-shirt that hug that body that he has spent years sculpting.

He shrugs. Acts like he wants to say more but decides it would be better to jump right in. “Hey, so this is weird huh?” He is talking to Caden.

Caden shrugs. “Kind of.”

“Well, I’m your dad, if you don’t want to call me dad yet I understand. You can call me Justin if you want.”

Caden looks up at Justin. “Am I the reason you didn’t give my mom a job yesterday?”

Justin shakes his head. “No, buddy. Actually I didn’t tell your mom that she didn’t get the job, she just assumed. Sometimes your mom likes to do that. Anyway, I checked her references this morning and she is perfect for the job. So, yeah, she has the job if she wants it.”

Caden smiles and looks up at me. “You hear that mom. You have the job.”

I force a smile. “Yeah, that’s great.” I don’t want his pity job.

I look over at Justin and I want to punch him. He knows we can’t work together. What the hell was he thinking? I kind of gave him that look. He shrugs. “We will talk about the specifics later. So, buddy, your mom never told me your name.”

Caden seems happier now. “It’s Caden Mason.” He proudly introduces himself.

“Well, that sounds like a great name. Caden, what would you like to do today? I have the whole day set aside just for you.” Justin looks seriously happy to be hanging out with his son.

Caden’s eyes light up. “Really? Can mom come too?”

He shrugs. “Well, if she wants to.”

Caden looks up at me with those big eyes that mirror his dad’s. “Please mom.”

Now there are two of them looking at me like that. I sigh because it is clear I am out numbered here. “Alright, where to first?”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

The glimmer that they both share should have been my clue that I was in for a crazy day.