My friend Monica begged me to put her story on my page, so here it is. If you have any questions, or comments or anything, just e-mail me and I'll forward it to her. Happy Reading!
"Smile!" I said to my daughter's birthday cake was cut. When I had a Polaroid, I was dangerous.
It was Camron's sweet sixteen birthday, and so far it had been not-so-sweet. First, the dress she was going to wear was a little to short for my standards, so I took out some hem, causing a tear to form on the left side. Let's just say, we found a nicer dress at Bergner's. Then, the cake we ordered was not quite ready, the baker was a little occupied, so I tried to make one myself, starting a small fire in the oven. We went to Kroger's yesterday to get one made. I always knew I'd never win the Good Housekeeping award.
I left he room to get the cute birthday napkins we bought when we made our little trip to Kroger's, and when I retuned, the cake was gone except the candles and some crumbs. I knew inviting hungary boys was not a good idea. Imagine, I didn't even get to taste my own daughter's sweet sixteen cake. Oh well, there were always my Godiva Chocolates.
They made me leave the room while they played games, and I had a pretty good idea of what they were doing, because it was exactly what I would be doing at a party when I was sixteen.
As all Cameron's guests left, one girl was left over, and that girl was Cameron's best friend Ashley.
"Thanks for the party, mom! It was so much fun!" Cameron said as she gave me a hug. "By the way, did I ever tell you that you're the awesomest mom in the world?"
"Okay, what do you want?" I asked jokingly.
"Can Ash spend the night? Please?" she asked.
"Well, I don't see why not. Ash, call your mom and see if it's alright with her. If you can, she can bring all your stuff." I said.
"Cool, thanks!" and Ash called her mom. Five minutes later, she was done. "Well, my mom said it was okay, but you know, this weekend I have to go to my dad's, so he'll have to pick me up in the morning. She's gonna bring all my junk over in about ten minutes." Ash's parents were divorced, and she was just getting used to this parent-to-parent moving. My husband and I are divorced, so Cameron would go through the same thing, but her dad lives 1,000 miles away, so every holiday she leaves and visits him.
"Awesome! We can watch movies, and talk about boys, eat junk food,-" I started excidedly, but was cut off by Cameron.
"Actually, a few of our friends were gonna stop by later, so after that, maybe." I was crushed.
"Oh, okay. No problem. But they need to be home before ten o' clock." I said as I started to clean up the kitchen.
"Mom, it's eight now, that's only two hours!" she whined.
"Then you'd better call them!" and I walked away leaving them alone with a huge mess. "Oh, and since I spent a lot of money on that party, I'll let you clean up the mess!"
An hour later, my house was clean, and once again there were people in and out of my house. About three times as many than who came to her party.
"Okay, everyone! Out! It's ten, now go home and get some shut eye!" I yelled to everyone at ten.
Groans came from all over, and somebody had the nerve to throw an empty pop can at me, but they left, and I was so tired, that I went to bed, leaving the millionth mess of the night and Cameron and Ash giving each other makeovers. So much for girl's night in.
The next morning, I woke up at an unearthly hour, cleaned the mess up, made my coffee, and still had time to watch the six am news.
I read some of my book, went on the internet, got ready and came downstairs just in time to see a black jeep pull in the driveway. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was noon. I knew it was Ash's dad. He came to the door and I opened it before he could ring the doorbell.
"C'mon in! I'm Cameron's mom, and they're still sleeping. Can I get you some coffee?" I asked in one breath.
"Great! I'm Ash's dad, Taylor." he stuck out his hand, and I shook it while I said,"I'm Monica."
"What kind of coffee do you like? We've got about everything." I said to him as he sat down on our plaid couch.
"I'll drink any kind you give me." he smiled.
"Really? That's the same with me, too!" I ran out, made two hazelnut coffees and brought them out to us.
"So, what do you do for a living?" he asked me.
"Well, I work at a college and I'm an art teacher. How about you?" I asked him as I slowly sipped my coffee.'He's not bad!' I thought.
"I'm a music producer." he said."And your husband? How about him?"
"We are divorced." I said, looking down.
"Same with Ash's mom and me." we were quiet until we heard Ash and Cameron coming down the stairs, chattering.
"Hi daddy!" Ash said as soon as she saw Taylor.
"Hi sweetie!" He said. "We'd better be going, I've gotta show you what I did to the house!"
"Bye, Ash. Call me!" Cameron waved as they left.
"Bye, Monica! Thanks for keeping the runt!" Taylor yelled out the window as they drove off.
"Are you in love with Ash's father? He sure is a hottie." Cameron sighed.
"No, I'm not in love, I just met him this morning, and what did you mean by saying he's a hottie? He's twenty two years older than you!" I gasped.
"Look under the saucer he used. That's the way he started dating his ex wife. Ash thought he's do that to you." and Cameron waltzed upstairs in her shimmery nightie.
I looked under the saucer, and sure enough, there was his buisness card. In gold letters, It said Taylor Hanson, 732-5489 and a bunch of things about his position of work.
I looked around the room, thinking 'Cameron was right, he is a hottie. Maybe I'll call him later.'
I did get the nerve to call him Monday, and we went for coffee that afternoon while we were on our lunch breaks. It was great, and I felt that I could tell him anything and he could understand. It's like music notes on a page. When you look at them without knowing the melody, you can only imagine what it would sound like, but when you play them, you get the real picture of how they work, and you can get lost in it. It's like, I knew Taylor was Ash's dad, but I didn't really know him. When I met him, I finally saw his personality, and when I talked to him, I could get lost in his mind.
"You know, we've been at this coffee house 91 times? I'll bet I know almost everything about you." he said.
"You think so?" I asked him,and I playfully pushed him. Instead of pushing me right back, he grabbed my elbow and kissed me*Author's Note- Think the movie Clueless*. Right in Java World Coffee House with everyone looking on, he kissed me. I couldn't believe it, but I've been kissed before, so I just ignored the awesome feeling that swept over me and tried to tell myself it was just the Altoids in my mouth.*Author's Note:If you don't know what Altoids are, they're really strong breath Mints.*
He pulled out a velvet box and opened it to a rock of a diamond."I think I'm ready to marry again, and I want to marry you. So," he got down on one knee,"Will you please be my wife?"
I couldn't believe it. We've been on 91 coffee dates and ten formal dinner dates, and he asks me to marry him. I couldn't deal with it, so I ran out of Java World, into my car and drove back to my house, a thousand emotions blocking my brain.
For the next week, a red rose came for me every day from Taylor. Why did I tell him they were my favorite? It was eating me up inside.
"Mom, what were you thinking? Ash lives with her dad all the time now, so me and her would be step sisters! And roses are expensive, so if he sends one a day, he must be loaded. And if you ask me, I think you saying no because you're scared of getting hurt the way dad hurt you." Ash told me one night at dinner.
I thought that over for the longest time the next month, and I finally made my desicion.
I sped to the coffee house, hoping to see him there, since it was his break time. He wasn't. I looked at the mall, he wasn't there either. It started raining, and I didn't even care if I got soaked while I was outside. I finally saw his car in his office's parking lot, so I called from my cell phone, and gave his secratary a message.
"Tell him Monica said Yes." I told her. "It's urgent."
She promised to give it to him he second we hung up, and in about a minute, he came running out of the building, up to my car where I greeted him with a kiss. We stood in the splattering rain, hugging, and kissing for what seemed like an hour. But maybe it was only the Altoids in my mouth.
If you didn't understand the "Altoids in my mouth" thing, remember in the coffee house where they first kiss, and she blamed the Altoids for the good feeling from the kiss. If she didn't want to get hurt again, then she wouldn't let herself fall in love again.
