Page 113 of Nathan
“Oh, obsessively.”
Nathan chuckled in his seat. “That’s funny. Did you ever meet him as an adult?”
“No. The few times I’ve seen him, I’ve avoided contact. I might be an adult now, but he takes me right back to being an insecure tween.”
“Should I be jealous of him?”
I squeezed his hand. “Not for a second.”
“Is that experience why you’re so sweet with all the kids?”
With a wink, I flirted, “I’m sweet to everyone, but no one more than you.”
The limousine rolled through traffic taking us to a fancy restaurant called Bleu. It was located on a covered rooftop terrace where strings of lights, green plants, white tablecloths, and candlelight on the tables made for a romantic atmosphere.
“Ahh, something smells delicious,” Nathan said as the lovely scent of food enticed our appetite.
Time flew by as Nathan and I flirted and talked about visions for our future together. When he excused himself to use the men’s room, I took a moment to give my mom the courtesy call that I’d avoided for days.
“So your phone isn’t broken?” she said when she picked up.
“Hey, Mom.”
“I promised your dad that I wouldn’t yell at you when you called, so I won’t, but is it really so hard to answer your phone or text me back?”
“Mom, do we have to argue about this now? I’m in a fancy restaurant, and I just wanted to tell you that I’m fine and that I’ll call you when I’m back from New York.”
“You didn’t say you were going to New York. Is it an audition?”
“No.”
“Then why are you there?”
Straightening in my seat, I told her the truth. “I’m with Nathan.” The last time we’d spoken about him had been when my mom and sister did their intervention. I had shortened my visit with my parents and left a few days later since all my mom could talk about was domestic violence and how women can’t be too careful about the partner they pick.
“Nathan came to New York to see you?”
“Yes, and I don’t want to hear any more warnings about him. He’s a good guy, and I love him.”
“Dad and I read that article by Kevin Davis and we thought he made some good points. Too many people judge without knowing the details. That’s why I always tell people to be critical of the gossip columns and not to buy those awful magazines. It’s nothing but filth, and if no one bought them, they would be out of business.”
“Butyoubought them… the last time I came to your house, you had your whole table littered with those magazines.”
“Oh, honey, that was a one-time thing. I’m big on not supporting any magazines who would write lies about you. Lola and I can’t believe the talk shows didn’t do more research before letting that awful Gomez spew lies about Nathan. We’ve told all our friends that you would never date a violent man and that we always knew something wasn’t right about that story Gomez was telling. Good thing those female colleagues of Nathan came forward to tell the truth.”
I arranged my silverware on my plate while letting my mom carry on with her version of what happened. “We’re just glad that you’re happy, sweetie, and that you didn’t marry Storm. It wouldn’t have been a happy marriage... with him being into men and all.”
“I was never going to marry him, Mom.”
“No, I know, but sometimes things evolve.”
Nathan sat down at the table again, placing his white napkin back in his lap.
“Mom, I have to go now, Nathan is back.”
“Oh, send him our love and tell him we can’t wait to meet him. It was a good thing he did when he defended those two women.”
“My mom says hi.”
