Page 28 of Perfect Date
“Of course, I do. They’re on my profile too. You didn’t see them?
Shaking my head, a feeling of disbelief begins to wash over me.
“What kind of parent would I be if I didn’t have any photos of her?”
“That’s true,” I laugh but it’s forced.
He takes a few minutes to swipe through this phone, I’m assuming choosing the photo he wants to share. Turning his phone toward me, it takes me a minute to completely take in what I’m seeing.
There’s T.J. smiling ear to ear in the photo, his dark eyes shining, he looks great. And there, perched on his shoulder is a gray and blue…oh my god.
”Rebecca is a bird?”
“Yes, she’s a very rare Anthracite parakeet. Her coloring is caused by a genetic mutation and they are very hard to find.”
“A parakeet,” I say feeling shock.
“Yes, did you know that parakeets are very smart and can learn tricks fast?”
“A parakeet,” I say again.
“Being small doesn’t limit their trainability at all. Rebecca can fly to me, dunk balls in a hoop, put rings on a peg, and right now we’re working on her doing a somersault in my hand.”
“A bird…” I repeat yet again, my mind still spiraling.
“She’s far more than a bird. She’s beautiful, loves to sing and talk, and provides me endless joy and entertainment. Plus, she’s so smart. I’m such a proud parent.”
“Parent? Are you kidding me?”
“What do you mean?”
“How in the world can you talk about Rebecca like she’s a human child? How in the world do you have the audacity to go on about the trials and tribulations of being a single parent when you’re talking about abird? How dare you compare raising a bird to the hard work real single parents have in raising ahumanchild alone.”
“Look raising Rebecca is still difficult, yet rewarding, and-“
I stand and reach for my purse and begin rifling around inside.
“And I worry about her when I’m at work and she’s alone and I love her just as much as-“
“Is everything okay here?” Justin appears at the table looking from me and T.J. curiously.
Pulling a bill from my wallet, I hand it to Justin, “Here’s for my tab. I’m out of here.”
He shakes his head, “Not needed. Don’t worry about it, I’ve got you.”
“I’m too annoyed to argue with you right now, but I’ll pay you back later.”
“What do I need to do about this guy?” Justin asks pointing at T.J., the look on his face apprehensive because he’s not sure what T.J. has done to upset me.
“Ask him about hischild. As for me, I’m out of here.”
As I make my way to the door, I hear T.J. say to Justin, “I don’t get it, all I did is show her a photo of Rebecca…”
“A bird? Rebecca is a bird?” I hear Justin say in surprise as I walk out the door.
Shaking my head all I can think about is how embarrassing it is that I’ve provided them all entertainment yet again. I think it’s safe to say T.J. is strike three in more ways than one. I’m so over this dating thing.
I can only imagine what Kimberly will have to say about that.
