For Our Son: A BWWM Parenting Romance For Adults (25 page)

With that, Erica stormed off and headed for the coat check.

"Erica, hold on!” Griffin called out as he ran after her and grabbed
hold of her arm. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

"Don’t,” Erica warned with finality. “You've already said enough.”

Recognizing that tone, Griffin immediately removed his hand from her arm.
Dismally, he watched as she stalked outside and rushed to hail a taxi. Feeling
powerless to stop her, he watched as she disappeared.

Shit,
was all Griffin could think.
What
have I done?

After getting home, Erica changed out of her party dress, prepared for
sleep, and climbed into bed. Only after snuggling under the covers and turning
off the light did she allow her tears to finally fall. She was so disappointed
in Griffin. Never once had she asked him to be anything other than himself, and
yet here he was punishing her for his own insecurities. She loved him, she
really did, but tonight had proven that he didn't recuperate those feelings.
Burying her face in her pillow, Erica sobbed until sleep finally overcame her.

Chapter ten

"So how’s your man doing?" Jade jokingly asked Erica during
their weekly long-distance Skype session. Jade didn’t know that Griffin and
Erica were on the ousts. As far as she knew, they were still a happy couple.

"I have no idea,” Erica replied. “I haven’t seen him in days."

Jade could tell by Erica’s less than enthusiastic tone that things
weren’t going well. "Well?” she probed. “What happened?"

After sighing deeply, Erica told her friend in vivid detail about the
horribleness that was her company Christmas party.

After take a moment to digest Erica’s words, Jade finally spoke.
"Well has he tried to contact you at all since then?" she inquired
softly.

"Yes, he’s left me a bunch of messages and he even came by my office
a few times. I’m not ready to talk to him though. He acted like an idiot. I’m
not a superficial woman, yet that’s exactly how he treated me." Erica
could feel she herself getting angry all over again.

"Well had this ever happened before? I mean, what prompted this?"

"I have no idea. All I know is that I want Griffin for
Griffin
.
Not for some kind of payout." Erica suddenly felt weary as she thought
about just how out of control this whole situation had gotten. It was so
ridiculous. She didn’t even like Tom as a person. How could Griffin ever come
to the conclusion that she was into him romantically? And after one
conversation, no less!

"Well I think it's pretty obvious that he feels intimated by the
people you work with,” Jade pointed out.

"I know that. I just don’t understand
why
. I mean, who cares
what a bunch of uptight corporate types think? He needs to get over it, or
else…" Erica trailed off without finishing her thought.

"Or else
what?
” Jade probed. “Would you really end it with
him over this?"

"I think so,” Erica confirmed, but her voice was laced with
uncertainty nonetheless.

"That’s crazy talk. Look, Erica, you’re not thinking straight. You
know what you need? Time off. Come out and stay with me for a few days. All
that sunlight out in Cali most be muddling your judgment."

Jade’s attempt at a joke failed to make Erica laugh.

"I don’t know…" she trailed off.

"Come on,” Jade urged. "You work so hard. I think you can
afford to take a few days off, don’t you?"

"Yeah, I mean...I guess so..."

"Of course you can. All you do is work. You must have a ton of
vacation time saved up,” Jade reasoned. “Come on,” she pleaded when Erica
didn’t recuperate. “We’ll have a great time. It'll be just like the old days.”

Throwing caution to the wind, Erica accepted the invitation. After that,
the conversation quickly fizzled out and she headed off to her computer to book
a nonstop flight to D.C. for the end of the week.

At work the next day, Erica told her boss she’d be taking a few days off
and was surprised when he didn't inquire as to why. All he said was that she
was one of his hardest working employees and that she’d earned it.

Later that night, after getting everything organized for her trip, Erica
sat down on her couch and picked up her cellphone. After dialing a familiar set
of numbers, she sat back and waited.

"Hello?" Griffin answered.

"Hey, it’s me,” Erica greeted. She suddenly had a lump of anxiety
lodged in her throat. “Um…could I speak to Avery for a second?"

"Avery?” Griffin repeated. “Seriously, Erica? You've been dodging my
calls all week and now you want to speak to
Avery
?"

"Yes, can you put her on please? I haven’t seen her in awhile and I
want to make sure she’s okay."

"What about me?"

"What about you?"

Griffin sighed heavily. “Fine. Hold on. Let me go get her.”

Erica held her breath, but her heart rate returned to its normal speed
the moment she heard Avery giggle and say hello. "Hi sweetie!” she
exclaimed. “How have you been?"

"Auntie Erica? Where are you?"

"I’m at home honey. I’ve been really busy lately. That’s why we
haven’t seen each other in a while."

"Okay." Avery accepted Erica’s explanation easily. "Are
you coming over?" she asked next. Anticipation brightened the child’s
voice.

"Not tonight. I called because you won’t be seeing me for a few days
more. I have to go away for a bit, but I promise to stop by to see you as soon
as I get home."

"At my house?" Avery asked with delight in her voice. She loved
the novelty of showing off her bedroom to guests – especially Erica.

"Yep,” Erica confirmed with a smile.

"Are you mad at me? Is that why you’re going away?" Avery asked
in a sudden switch of emotion. Erica could hear the sadness in the child’s
voice.

Straightening in her seat, Erica answered quickly, "No honey. Of
course not. I could never be mad at you. I love you. I don't want you to ever
forget that, okay?"

"Okay,” Avery said joyously. She was obviously feeling better.
"When you come back can I come sleep over at your house again?"

Unsure of how to respond, Erica hesitated before answering, “Of course.
So long as your dad’s fine with it, that is…"

Avery cheered even as Erica worried over her promise. She didn’t know
what the future held for her and Griffin. All she hoped was that he’d be mature
and would at least allow her to continue seeing Avery.

“Avery, I have to go, but when I come back I’ll call you first thing,
okay?”

"Okay,” Avery sang into the phone.

"Bye honey, I love you."

"Love you too."

With that, Erica disconnected the call. She was unaware that Griffin had
dove for the phone when Avery said goodbye. It was just his crappy luck that
the only thing he heard was the buzz of the dial tone. Muttering a series of
expletives under his breath once out of earshot of his daughter, Griffin hung
up the phone before reentering the living room.

"Av, what did Auntie Erica say to you?"

"Nuffing. She's going away but we’re going to have a sleepover when
she comes back!” Avery’s voice was full of excitement as she spoke to her
father.

"Well did she say where she was going?" Griffin asked as he
cleared his throat. He was suddenly very worried, but he knew he couldn’t alarm
Avery.

"I don’t know." Avery shrugged and then started playing with
her Barbie’s on the floor.

Feeling entirely defeated, Griffin walked back into the kitchen and threw
the dishcloth he was holding across the room in frustration. He’d screwed
everything up with Erica over an asinine insecurity, and now it seemed like she
was on the verge of taking off on him again.

Looking out the kitchen window, Griffin tried to think of a way to fix
things before he lost her again – this time for good.

Chapter eleven

Jade retrieved Erica at Dulles International Airport and immediately
showed her friend a great time. Though she had to work during the day, the
nights were an entirely different story. As soon as she got home each
afternoon, she and Erica hit the town. They went to all their favorite
restaurants, they saw a few plays downtown, and they even hit up a few
nightclubs that they’d all but lived at throughout college.

Jade seemed to have boundless energy, and Erica left D.C. feeling
refreshed, alive, and ready to get back to normal.

Griffin, on the other hand, had been out of his mind with worry the
entire week Erica was gone. As upset as he was with himself, he quickly
realized that he pretty furious with Erica too. She never even gave him a
chance to rectify the situation. She just left. How was that fair?

Desperate, Griffin went over to Erica’s parents’ house with the hope that
they’d be able to help him through his blunder. Once there, Erica’s mother
answered the door and invited him in warmly.

"So, Griffin, how’s Avery?" Erica’s father, Malcolm, asked with
a huge grin on his face.

"She’s great,” Griffin said distractedly. He was pacing back and
fourth across the living room, and his jittery manner made the couple look at
each other with concern.

"Griffin what’s going on?" Erica’s mother, Rhonda, asked. He
was really starting to make her nervous.

"Nothing, it's just…I might have screwed things up with Erica.”
Griffin was rambling now. "I’ve been trying to fix it all week, but she’s
so stubborn. She refuses to even answer my calls...” Sighing heavily, Griffin
collapsed into an armchair and looked toward Erica’s parents. “What am I going
to do? I can’t lose her again. I just…I can’t.”

Malcolm and his wife looked at each other briefly before returning their
gaze to the desperate man seated in front of them.

"Griffin, calm down,” Malcolm said sternly. "Why don’t you
start by telling us exactly what happened and we can go from there?"

At this, Griffin relayed the story of what had happened at the Christmas
party to them. He also went into detail about how isolated he felt during all
of Erica’s company functions. Bowing his head, he continued, “She tries to make
me feel welcome, but I don’t know…I guess I’ve never really made an effort to
accept her colleagues. They’re all just so...sophisticated. How can she want
someone like me? I don't get it. The most luxurious thing I do everyday is make
Avery organic Mac and Cheese instead of the Kraft stuff.”

Griffin voice dropped to a whisper then, and for a moment Rhonda swore
she could see tears in his eyes. "Well I guess that explains why she
called saying she had to get out of town for a few days,” she said to no one in
particular.

Malcolm nodded before turning to address Griffin head-on. "Griffin,
trust me – my daughter has loved you for quite some time now." He paused
in search of the right words. "As I’m sure you probably already know, I
wasn’t very fond of you when Erica first brought you home all those years ago,
but…you've come a long way since then. You and my daughter…you share a special
bond. Not too many people can say they know what it’s like to lose a child,
stillbirth or otherwise. That’s one hell of a thing to overcome, and yet, you
and Erica have done it. So take my advice – don’t let it fizzle out again over
something as trivial as this."