Chapter 2

Kevin slammed the door to his car and hit the steering wheel.

"Fucking bitch!" he screamed. The next thing he knew, he was sobbing. The last time he had cried was when Ryan was born. He didn't even cry when Melissa walked out of his life forever. Stacia, however, seemed to have a huge affect on him. He thought that maybe it wasn't just Stacia he was crying about. Maybe it was pent up emotion from the stress of his job and Melissa leaving him alone to raise Ryan.

He couldn't fathom how Stacia could have used him like she did. He saw the look on her face as they tenderly made love in one another's arms for nearly an hour. He saw her tears as she booted him out of her house. He suddenly realized that there was something else behind her façade of throwing him out. Maybe she felt something for him. Maybe there was another reason why she tossed him out. Maybe she was married. Maybe she had a boyfriend already. Maybe she was hurt so badly by someone else that she resolved not to let someone else in her life. He could understand that because Melissa had nearly done the same thing to him. His crying diminished to small sobs, a small glimmer of hope becoming his guiding light.

Kevin started the car and then drove away from Stacia's place, making a mental note of the exact address for future reference. He was only ten minutes away from his mother's place, a drive that would normally be thirty from his place. As always, he parked out on the crowded street in front of the tiny ranch home deep in the city. Kevin had offered to get her a better house when his law career took off, but she refused, wanting to stay in the house that his dad and she had bought so many years ago. The problem with living in the small 1940's cracker box house was that the low real estate prices brought in people looking for cheap rental property. Cheap rental property brought cheap rents, which brought a more dangerous neighborhood than the one that Kevin grew up in.

Kevin walked down the driveway to the side door of the house. His mom was so trusting. She always left the side door unlocked. Kevin always took advantage of that fact when walking into the house, but still lectured her on occasion about the growing crime rates in the neighborhood. Kevin walked in the door and was nearly bowled over by his four year old son, Ryan.

"DADDY!" squealed Ryan as he hugged his father tightly.

"Hey, big guy!" exclaimed Kevin as he hugged his son just as tightly.

"I missed you last night," said Ryan.

"I missed you, too," said Kevin. "Were you a good boy for Grandma?"

"You bet," said Ryan proudly. "She said that she would take me to the zoo today if that was okay with you."

Normally, Kevin had him in daycare during the day, feeling that it was important to have him socialize with other kids and not burden his mother with watching him all the time.

"We'll see," said Kevin. "Why don't you run along and watch cartoons while I talk to your grandma."

"Okay!" squealed Ryan as he tore off for the living room.

Kevin walked out of the small foyer by the door and into the kitchen. His mom was at the table, reading the paper.

"Hi, Mom," he said.

His mom put down her paper and looked up at him. Her expression became one of concern.

"You okay, Kevin?" asked his mom.

He nodded.

"You sure? I can tell you've been crying."

Kevin sighed deeply and sat down at the small 1950's era Formica table that his mom was sitting at.

"What's wrong, Kevin?" asked Kevin's mother soothingly.

"Mom, I lied to you last night."

"About what?"

"I didn't work last night. I was supposed to, but I went out to a bar instead."

"Is that all?" asked Kevin's mom. "You don't have to lie to me about things like that. I'm always happy to watch Ryan for you."

"But I went out for selfish purposes and that wasn't fair to you or Ryan," said Kevin.

"Kevin, you need a little time to yourself once and awhile. I think it's great you got out last night."

"Yeah, real great," sighed Kevin.

"What happened?"

"I met a girl last night, Mom."

Kevin and his mom had a strong relationship. He could always talk to her about anything, even sex. He confided all the details of his awful marriage to Melissa and the horrid details of their sex life to her. He had told her about many of the girlfriends he had in college and law school.

"I take it you went home with her?"

Kevin nodded.

"So, what's the big deal?"

"I fell in love with her, Mom. I fell in love with her and it turned out to be a one night stand."

"How do you know you're in love with her?"

"Mom, I have never felt like this about anyone in my entire life. If feels like we are connected somehow."

"Obviously she wasn't too connected to you," said his mom.

"She was though. I could tell she was. I saw the love in her eyes last night while we were making love. She was crying when she threw me out this morning."

"You're giving yourself hope where there may be none, Kevin."

"Isn't that small sliver of hope still worth fighting for? Wasn't it worth it with Dad?"

Kevin's mom shifted in her chair a bit and then looked out the window. She tried to choke back a tear. "Yes, even though there was no hope. It was still worth it."

Kevin remembered how positive she had always been around his dad when he was dying of cancer. Her spirit and enthusiasm kept his dad happy until the end of his days.

"Can you keep Ryan one more day?" asked Kevin.

Kevin's mom nodded. "Of course, Kevin. He wanted to go to the zoo with me anyways."

"I'm taking the day off work and I'm going to go find her and talk to her," said Kevin.

"Just be careful, Kevin. You wouldn't want to be accused of stalking her."

"Mom, I have a feeling she feels the same way about me as I feel about her. I just need to help her realize that."

"Just be careful, Kevin."

"Thanks, Mom, for watching Ryan," said Kevin as he stood up. He walked over to his mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll keep him here as long as you need," said Kevin's mom.

Kevin walked into the living room and picked his giggling son off the couch.

"You and Grandma are going to the zoo today," said Kevin.

"No school?" said Ryan.

Kevin always called the day care center where he went 'school' so Ryan would feel more grown up.

"No school," said Kevin. "You be good for Grandma."

"I'm always good for Grandma," said Ryan with a huge smile.

"Yes, and never for me," said Kevin with a chuckle. He tickled his son's tummy, causing him to erupt with laughter.

"See you later, big guy," said Kevin. He gave his son a kiss and put him back on the couch.

"Bye, Daddy," said Ryan as Kevin walked back through the kitchen.

"Bye, Mom," said Kevin as he walked out the door.

"Good luck," said his Mom.

Kevin walked out to his Lexus and hit one on the speed dial. He got Avery Lyndon's secretary. He asked her to patch him through with Avery immediately. Avery was the partner that he worked for.

"Hi, Kevin," said Avery as he came on the line.

"Hi, Avery. I'm not coming in today."

"Yeah, I noticed you left early yesterday, too. Is something wrong?"

"Just not feeling good," lied Kevin.

"Come on Kevin. You can't bull-shit a bull-shitter. I saw your files scattered over your office floor last night."

"I just wasn't feeling real well last night," said Kevin, lying again.

"The stress finally got to you, didn't it," challenged Avery. "You've been working non-stop to make partner ever since Melissa left you. You've been taking on more work than you can handle just so you can impress me and the rest of the board."

"It's okay," lied Kevin. "Really, I'm just not feeling well." Kevin didn't want to admit that Avery had hit the nail on the head; that he had weakness.

"You and I both know that's bullshit, Kevin. You aren't in any trouble. You're already a shoe in for partner. I plan on recommending you personally the next time we add a partner. Hell, even Blain Peters has been singing your praises. You need to learn how to balance things, Kevin. Work isn't everything. So, why are you really not coming in, and don't bullshit me this time."

"The truth?" asked Kevin.

"The God's honest truth, no matter how stupid it sounds."

"I met a woman last night and I want to pursue things further," said Kevin.

"Hot damn!" exclaimed Avery. "Bout damned time you found someone to get you out of that funk that Melissa left you in. I'll tell you what. You take the week off. With pay of course. Make sure you land this girl and come back refreshed. I will see what I can do to hold off the Wilson contract until you get back."

"I can come back in tomorrow," said Kevin.

"You do, and you're fired," said Avery light-heartedly. "One week. If you need more time, give me a call and I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Avery," said Kevin with every ounce of gratitude that he had.

"No, thank you, Kevin for doing such a bang-up job for us. You deserve this time off. Good luck with this girl."

"Thanks again, Avery."

Avery clicked off the line. Kevin dialed information to get the numbers for all the area Toyota dealerships. There were only three of them. He managed to find out that she worked at the second one he called by asking the receptionist for her and hanging up. More importantly, it told him exactly where she was.

Stacia was a wreck when she got to work. She hadn't stopped crying all morning. She knew she threw the man of her dreams out on the street. She also knew that she couldn't keep him. She couldn't bear the heartache of a man that wonderful breaking her heart even more than it was broken now. She was only just now getting over Bobby and that was three years ago. How long would it be broken with Kevin if she got serious with him?

The fact was that Kevin was the most amazing man she had ever met. He made her feel like she had never felt before. Not only was he the best lover she had, he made her feel important, loved, and safe. Throwing him out was the hardest thing she had ever done because she desperately wanted to tell him to come back the next evening; and the next; and the next. Instead, she threw this man out in a heated argument. Even if she did change her mind, she probably angered the man too much for him to ever agree to see her again.

"Rough night?" asked Jack Donahue, one of Stacia's fellow salespersons, as she plopped down at her desk and sighed deeply.

"You could say that," said Stacia.

"You gonna be okay?" asked Jack.

Jack was another nice guy in her life that was totally off-limits to her. He was happily married and never let Stacia forget that fact. Still, he listened to Stacia anytime she was down in the dumps about something. In many ways, Jack was more of a best friend to her than Becca was.

"Yeah, I think so," said Stacia.

"So, did you bring a guy home last night?"

Stacia was never able to answer the question. She got a page to meet a customer at the front of the store.

"I'll tell you about it later, Jack," said Stacia as she stood back up again and smoothed the gray business-suit she was wearing.

Stacia walked up to the front, wondering who could be visiting the dealership so early in the morning. She didn't have anyone scheduled until the weekend.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Stacia as she saw who it was that was waiting for her. It was Kevin.

"I need to talk to you," said Kevin.

"You need to leave now," said Stacia.

"Well, see, you might not want to do that. You kick me out and I have a little talk with your manager telling him that you kicked out a customer that was trading in a Lexus to buy an MR2."

"You wouldn't do that," spat Stacia.

"Listen, you may think I'm stalking you. I just want to say my piece and I will leave when I know for one hundred percent sure that you don't want me in your life."

"I don't want you in my life," said Stacia shakily.

"That wasn't very convincing," said Kevin. "I bet you sell a lot of cars talking like that."

"Why are you doing this?" asked Stacia.

"Because you are the most amazing woman I have ever met. I felt a special connection with you that I have never felt with anyone ever in my entire life."

Stacia swallowed hard. She had felt the same kind of connection; a cosmic kismet that he belonged in her life.

Kevin looked around and saw that several salespeople and a sales manager were staring at them.

"Show me the red MR2 there," said Kevin pointing to a red sports convertible on the sales floor.

Stacia led him over to the car and started showing him the features of the car. When they got into the car to pretend to look at the stuff in the dash, the conversation turned back to matters at hand.

"Look, Kevin. You're really a nice guy. You gave me some of the best sex I've ever had. I just don't date guys more than once. I'm sorry."

"You didn't feel a connection with me?" asked Kevin.

"I... I... um... shit..."

Stacia collapsed back in her seat with a look of defeat on her face.

"I felt it, too," said Kevin.

"I just can't do this, Kevin," sobbed Stacia.

"Why?"

"Because you're a guy and guys always fuck girls over in the end," spat Stacia.

"I would never do that to you," said Kevin.

"You would eventually," sobbed Stacia. "Please, Kevin. Just go. Don't make this harder on me."

Kevin sighed and opened the door to the car. Before leaving he turned and faced Stacia. He put his hand on the back of her head and guided his lips to hers. At first she struggled, then she melted into a hot passionate kiss.

"Something for you to think about," said Kevin.

He quickly got out of the car and walked out of the dealership. Stacia stayed in the car and sobbed for another couple of minutes until Jack came up and opened the driver door of the car and got in.

"You need to talk?"

Stacia had tossed and turned the entire night as she tried to sleep. Kevin's smell was still on the pillows and in the bed. The room still reeked of their joining twenty-four hours ago. Everything reminded her of him. She kept replaying the kiss he left her with at the dealership. It was a kiss that left her panties soaked and her resolve weak. If he would have asked her then for another date she would have agreed on the spot. Then again, she would have cancelled once she got her wits about her.

The entire way into work she thought about Kevin. She wondered if he would be back. She actually knew that he'd be back. It was just a matter of when. She just hoped that he didn't make another scene like he did the day before when he decided to pop in unexpected.

Stacia walked into work looking just as haggard as she did the day before. As always, Jack greeted her cheerily.

"Good morning, Stacia," said Jack. "There's a package up front for you."

"A what?"

"Seems this man of yours isn't gonna take no for an answer," said Jack with a smile.

Jack had been no help to her the day before. Jack was on Kevin's side. He said it would do Stacia good to have a steady man in her life. Jack had always been a strong family man and thought that Stacia's life had lacked order because she didn't have a family of her own.

Stacia walked up to the receptionist hesitantly. She didn't want to know what was waiting for her. A long, white box was sitting up on the shelf of the receptionist's desk. There was a gaudy red bow tied around the box. She knew instantly that he had sent her flowers.

"You're a lucky girl," said the receptionist in an all too chipper tone for Stacia's taste.

Stacia grabbed the box and stormed back to her desk without saying a word. She opened the ribbon carefully and then pulled the box open. Inside the box were two dozen red, long-stemmed roses. Tears were streaking down her cheeks as she grabbed a white envelope that was on the top of the flowers. Stacia opened the envelope carefully and removed a small card with a pink heart and the words, "I Love You", on the front. She opened the card and openly wept when she read what it had to say.