Page 10 of Rise & Fall
I don’t miss Jessica. Not one bit. But I do miss the comfort of having a partner. I do sometimes wish things could have been different.
“How have you been?” She breaks the silence. And I regret not ending the call before. I knew it would come to this at some point,the small talk.
“Busy.” I decide to be short with her because I don’t want her to get the wrong idea. I look at the clock and notice the call has been five minutes long and I need to rush out the door now. Thank goodness the school is only ten minutes down the road.
“Listen, I need to go. See you Sunday.” And without letting her have time to say anything else, I hang up the phone.
I pull up to the school just in time. I find the closest parking space and walk toward the kindergarten deck. The afterschool bell had just rang as I approach the door to Aria’s class and that’s when I notice her. DJ. She’s standing with her shoulder leaning against the brick wall of the school near the classroom door. She doesn’t see me, but I see her.
Mrs. Peppermill opens the door to her classroom and lets the class of five and six year olds spill out to all the family members waiting to pick them up. Aria’s one of the first; she comes flying at me with papers in her hand and a grin that stretches across her face. She melts my heart with her sweet smile.
“Daddy! Daddy!” she yells as she runs at me.
“Hey, sweetie.” I reach out for her and pull her up to me, yanking her into a hug. “How was school?”
“Fun-tastic!” she giggles. “Can I play on the playground with my friend?” She points over to the wall, and I see another little girl doing the same thing; pointing in our direction. That’s when I realize that she’s pointing at Emsley.
“I don’t think that’s a problem, but we’ll have to ask her sister.” I say as I set her down back to the ground.
“Come on then!” She pulls me into her direction. Thankful I didn’t have to dress for the site today, I was able to wear my nice jeans and a clean-for-once white v neck. Otherwise, I’d have to tell her no so that I could go home and shower. I hate being dirty all the time, but it comes with the job.
We approach Aria’s friend and her sister who are now looking in our direction.
“Hello again, DJ,” I offer as her pink lips curl into a perfectly shy smile. “Seems our girls here made some plans for us while they were at school today.” I look down at Aria who is distracted with her friend.
“Seems so,” DJ responds, her tone is soft. Her hair is now in a messy bun, red strands fly free around her face. But she’s still in her sweatpants andDef Leppardband tee from this morning.
“I’m Nolan, by the way. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself this morning.” DJ seems to be timid, nervous.
Kids and families find their way around us and shortly, the deck seems to be clearing out. When she doesn’t respond to me, I decide to speak up.
“Well, maybe we don’t have to do this today. We can always do this a different day after school when you’re not busy?”
“Please, DJ. Please! I want to play with my friend,” her little sister cries out.
“I’m not busy. I don’t mind,” she finally responds, and our girls don’t even wait for the official okay before they drop their backpacks and run toward the field.
I laugh at them. DJ leans down to pick up her sister’s backpack and reaches for Aria’s the same time I do. Our hands touch briefly, but she pulls away so fast, I don’t even have time to remember how her skin feels.
“Sorry. I was going to hand it to you,” she says, and I just give her a smile in response.
We both walk, unintentionally together, toward where the girls are playing. A few other kids join them as their guardians sit on benches or on the grass to watch them. DJ continues walking over toward a tree and I think to follow her, but I opt to stand where she turned from. She’s only a few feet away from me, but I can sense her looking at me from her peripheral when she stops.
The sky is still bright and the wind is minimal, but the free strands of hair from her bun still swirl around her face as she leans up against the thick trunk of an oak tree in the middle of the field.
I sneak a glance at her, and I can see her head turn straight slightly. I chuckle under my breath and turn my attention back to my daughter who is playing on the monkey bars with Emsley.
“Careful, Em.” I hear DJ shout and Em turns and gives her sister a pouty face.
“Monkey bars make you nervous?” I project my question over to DJ.
She looks over at me briefly before looking back over at her sister. “Everything makes me nervous,” she responds. I like the honest answer. It’s a big responsibility to watch a kid so I know how she feels. But something tells me that she wasn’t just talking about watching her little sister.
A few minutes go by as we watch the girls play together. It’s nice that Aria found a friend so soon.
“Daddy! Daddy!” Aria catches me off guard as she and Emsley run in my direction.
“Can Emsley come over for a playdate? Pretty please, daddy?” I look down at the little girls who are both looking at me. Aria with her deep brown eyes and Emsley with her hazel ones.