Line of Sight - 7. Chapter 7

“Just give me a minute, please.”

I sent an apologetic glance at Tony before answering the phone.

“Hey buddy, you having a good time?” I listened as my son told me all about his night with Paul, starting with how Paul had let him pick a movie and then sat and watched it with him. “That sounds like a lot of fun. You getting ready for bed?” I glanced at the clock. If he had been home he’d just be getting in the tub after begging me to fill it with bubbles.

“He bought the wrong bubbles, Daddy. I told him I couldn’t take a bath in the wrong bubbles.”

I tried my hardest not to laugh and had to bite my lip to keep the chuckles back.

“Well, why don’t you take your bath and then tomorrow night, you can have extra of the right bubbles.”

“Why can’t I just come home for my bath?” Even through the phone I could tell he was pouting.

How could I tell my son that he couldn’t come home because I was on a date with his teacher. I knew I shouldn’t, but I was starting to feel a bit guilty about sending him to Paul and Jamie’s for the night. I was about to give in and tell him he could come home when he started talking again.

“Okay, I guess I have to go take my bath now. Paul wants to talk to you. Goodnight, Daddy.”

“Goodnight buddy, I love you.” I had barely gotten the words out when Paul was on the phone.

“Don’t even think about it, Brad.” Paul seemed to know exactly where my thoughts had gone. “He’ll be fine and tomorrow I’ll take him to the store to get the right kind of bubbles.”

“Sorry, I forgot to tell you that he picked new bubbles. They’re the same kind, just the green bottle instead of the blue.” Ever since coming to live with me, Jake had needed things to be a certain way. I was sure it was just because there was so much that was out of his control, not that he realized the reasoning behind it. Paul, Jamie, and I did our best to make sure that certain things stayed the same at both homes.

“It’s fine and we’ll go get the right ones tomorrow. Now, go enjoy your night and we’ll see you sometime tomorrow.” Paul didn’t even wait for me to answer before hanging up.

“Everything okay?”

I jumped when Tony’s voice sounded from behind me and I turned to find him only a couple feet away.

“I guess they bought the wrong kind of bubbles, though they were the right ones only a couple of weeks ago.” I shrugged and led the way back to the table and our waiting dinner. “Mainly he was calling to tell me good night.” I decided against telling Tony about Jake asking to come home and tried to put it out of my thoughts. I knew Jake was in good hands and that I had nothing to worry about. “So, where were we?”

I slipped back into my chair and took a bite of the enchiladas that Tony had ordered for me. They were actually really good and I made a mental note of the restaurant. I’d have to try something from there again.

“We were trying to make small talk over dinner.” Tony smiled as he sat back down and took a drink of his soda.

“I’m sorry; I was with Dave for the last four years and haven’t really had much dating experience.” I wanted to smack myself for mentioning Dave. I may not have dated in a long time, but I did know that bringing up an ex wasn’t the best topic of conversation. Especially not on a first date.

“It’s not just that though, is it?” Tony took a bite of his dinner, a delicious looking chimichanga.

“No, it’s not.” I sighed and set my fork on my plate.

“You’re still having issues getting over me being Jake’s teacher, am I right?” I nodded. “I know that I’m the one who originally asked you out, and maybe I should have waited until I wasn’t his teacher, but the first time you picked up Jake, I noticed you. I told myself to get you out of my head; it wasn’t going to happen.” He gave a little smile, but what it meant I had no idea. “I didn’t even know if you were gay at the time and then when I found out, I had to come to grips with the fact that you weren’t available.”

“Until Dave left.” I had an idea where he was going with this and tried to just hear him out, but I couldn’t just not say anything. More to let him know I was listening than anything else.

“Exactly. If you guys hadn’t broken up, I’d have continued to try and put you out of my mind and move on, but suddenly you were available again.” He shrugged. “I decided to take a chance.”

“I’m actually glad you did. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t noticed you too. It was easy to pretend I didn’t when Dave was in the picture, but once he was out of it….” He didn’t look convinced and I hurried to reassure him. “I think I just need to stop thinking of you as Jake’s teacher. I mean, even if we had waited until Jake was out of your class, it wouldn’t change how we met.” I shrugged and hoped I was making sense. “So as my date, not Jake’s teacher, what made you go into teaching?” The irony of the question didn’t escape me.

It apparently didn’t escape Tony either as he chuckled, but he did answer.

“I like kids and since I doubted I’d ever have any of my own, it seemed like a good choice.” He took a drink of his soda. “I like knowing that I get to help shape the next generation in some small way.”

“Sounds like a good reason to pick a career.”

“Yeah, I enjoy it. So, I’m not sure this will come out right, but what do you do?”

The question didn’t surprise me, nor did I take offense. I was used to being asked that question in a much more judgmental tone. A lot of people assumed that, since I was always available for Jake, I didn’t work. I knew Tony was asking, not because he was judging me, because he was actually interested in my answer.

“I’m a photographer. I have a studio where I do photo shoots for customers, and then I do on site photos for weddings and things like that.” I pointed to some of the pictures of Jake on the wall. “I took all of those.”

I was actually surprised when Tony stood and walked over to study the pictures. I walked over to join him and found him looking at a picture of Jake on a carousel.

“That one is my favorite. I took it right before he came to live with me full-time, before we knew that all of our lives were about to be turned upside down.” He looked so happy, his small hands wrapped around the pole connecting the horse to the rest of the carousel and a look of absolute joy on his face. “I love having him with me, but having his mom suddenly gone was hard on him.” I hadn’t seen that look on his face again until we got Murray.

“You just want him happy.”

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see it. The lump in my throat prevented me from doing anything more. Tony turned and I didn’t know what he saw in my face but suddenly he stepped closer. I held my breath as he dipped his head slowly towards mine. He paused, just before his lips made contact, as though asking for permission. I didn’t pull away and his arms slid around me and pulled me close. I swallowed nervously as his lips finally brushed against mine.