A Change of Heart and Mind

I didn't get to ring the bell because a voluptuous 50-ish woman with dyed blonde hair jumped up from one of the desks and beat me to it, approaching the window with a smile. She handed me a sign-in sheet on a clipboard with a pen attached to a string and asked who I was here to see while looking me up and down.

I told her I was here to see Charles Brown for an interview.

That surprised her. Me too, really. "An interview? I didn't know he had an open position at this moment."

I smiled and replied, "I'm actually interviewing for the position of being his girlfriend. I do hope that position is still open."

I could almost hear the simultaneous 'crack' as every woman at their desks snapped their necks in my direction. The woman standing at the window opened her mouth in shock, "Uh, yes, I believe so."

"Well, I thought if he were free for lunch, I could get started on that right away."

My greeter nearly jumped out of her skin, splitting a smile from ear to ear. She ripped open a door adjacent to the window, grabbed my hand and pulled me into the office and then down a short hallway.

That led into a large room that was ringed with tall cubicles that held barstool high chairs and computers. In the center there was a giant table that had plans and what I assumed prototypes spread out in disarray. Leaning against the table were about 6 people, an older gentleman wearing a shirt and tie, while a woman and 4 men of various ages were wearing jeans and a polo shirt with the company's logo like what Charlie was wearing when I met him. One of those people was Charlie himself and as a group, they were intensely going over a large technical drawing laid out before them.

Still holding my hand, the woman I now know is named Kelly as she excitedly told me while pulling me to the center of the office, loudly cleared her throat. The group around the table now had our attention, and Kelly announced, "Sorry to interrupt your meeting but Charlie has a visitor."

Charlie's eyes caught mine and I was relieved when it registered on his face that he recognized who I was. "Holly?"

"Hi, Charlie. Sorry, I know I don't have an appointment, but when I talked to you on Thursday, I thought I would take a chance that your schedule might be clear. Do you have time for lunch?"

I really had put him on the spot. He got the look of a deer with his eyes stuck in the headlights. Kelly was beaming expectantly and let go of my hand so that the older guy in the tie could move right up to me and pump mine vigorously.

With a big smile he said, "Hi, I'm Andy, Charlie's boss. We have a meeting going on but nothing that I can't fill Charlie in on later. You kids go have a nice lunch." He went over to Charlie and nearly pushed him into me.

Charlie shook his head like he was trying to clear it of something, but he had no choice now that I had pulled this stunt on him in front of all his peers and so he led me out of the building.

+++++++++++++++++

After following him to a place we walked to just a couple of blocks from his office, we got seated in a booth and looked at each other. We walked mostly in silence, he didn't even ask me if I was OK with his choice of restaurant. It was a place known for fried chicken but I didn't mind, the food really wasn't on my agenda. Maybe he was going to try and scare me off by choosing fried food, or test me to see if I was going to order a salad with low fat dressing. That thought made me smile. I wondered if it was because I wore a dress.

After seating ourselves in a booth, the waitress approached, addressing him first with enthusiasm, "Hiya, Charlie. The usual today?" He nodded his head and then she addressed me, sizing me up and with fake enthusiasm this time.

I ordered the fried chicken special, done spicy, extra crispy, with a side of onion rings and a Coke. Charlie didn't seem to notice he just stared at me and waited for the waitress to leave.

"What the hell?" The first words out of his mouth.

"I wanted to thank you for buying me and my girlfriend's drinks on Thursday."

"Really." It wasn't really a question.

"I don't get it either," was all I could reply.

"What do you mean you don't get it either? You don't even know me. How did you even find me?"

"Oh, um, I'm a detective with the LAPD. I'm in the TID, the Technical Investigative Division. I'm pretty good at it so finding you was a snap."

"I find that hard to believe. Female cops are only beautiful on TV and in the movies. You walked right off the front cover of Vogue."

I thanked him for the compliment, glad he didn't cite Playboy as the magazine cover that I usually get, and then sheepishly told him how I found him. It was make or break time and I knew exactly how he was going to take it.

"You stalked me?" He asked accusingly.

"How about this," I offered, "I used my resources in order for us to finish the conversation we started at the bar."

He stuttered, not knowing what to say. Squinting at me, trying to read me hard.

I saved him the trouble. "OK, I know it sounds bad. Just hear me out. The first thing you need to know is that I'll always be honest with you. You have no basis yet to trust me on that, but later I hope you will and then you'll have faith that I'll never lie to you. The second thing you need to know is that until 5 days ago, until after I met you in the bar, I wasn't looking for anybody. I had avowed myself to live a life of being single and sworn off men altogether."

"Um, where do I fit into all that?" He questioned.

"Charlie, I don't really know. I don't know why I did what I did today. My thoughts are seriously muddled and this is totally unlike me. But there was something you said to me at the bar that totally got through the walls I've built up, and until now, I thought them to be impenetrable."

I continued with what I had gone over and over in my head the last few days, "I get hit on constantly by men. Because of my training and experience, I can pretty well read what their intentions are. Even so, I would still date and some led into relationships, and all were disasters even though I knew they would be. I began to think there wasn't a man alive that would like me for me, that I was just nothing more than tits and ass. Something to score with. Someone they wanted to fuck."

I had to wait for the waitress to drop off our drinks before I continued, "On top of that, I literally put a lot of men behind bars. It has left me so jaded that other than my Father, I didn't think there was a man alive that wasn't a pig. I didn't think there was a man alive with honesty and integrity. And then I met you. Do you remember what you told me about how much you cared for your wife? After running that around in my head, I thought maybe there is actually a good guy out there on this planet. It jolted me, and then suddenly I felt so alone."

He shook his head, still confused, "I'm hardly a catch."

I laughed a little at that. "This doesn't come from me being a detective, but from being a woman. The waitress here, she has the hots for you."

"No she doesn't."

"Yes she does. And the woman at your meeting table in your office, she also has the hots for you."

"Julie?! No way, she just got her engineering degree, she's practically a kid."

"Well she has the hots for you, I'd explain how I know but you being a man, would never be able to read the signs for what they are. And it's not in my best interest to train you on that. There's a few other girls in the office hot for you too, you should have seen them shoot daggers at me with their eyes when I went into your office lobby and asked for you."

"I don't believe any of that." He resigned with a sigh and changed the subject, "Bottom line is that you don't even know me."

"That's right," I admitted, "and I might not even like you once I do. There's a bigger chance that you won't like me at all. So let's get to know each other and find out. What can it hurt?"

"I could agree to that, but... you know I have a daughter. All of my free time I spend with her. I just don't see how we can get to know each other. It just won't work."

"I'm glad you brought your daughter up. That's the perfect place to start. What are you doing this weekend? Any chance you and your daughter would like to have a picnic with me?"

He squinted his eyes again in thought, but I was two steps ahead of him and read him like a book. The first thing that went through his head was that he wasn't going to win this one (a point in my favor, but one that slightly rattled him). Then he thought that if I spent time with a precocious 8 year old, that I would run for the hills (a point squarely in his favor). And finally, he wondered to himself what his late wife would think of all this. In all of this, no matter how it played out, that was what worried me the most and there was no way I was going to get a read on that.

He looked down at his fried chicken that was just placed in front of him and acquiesced. "OK, sure. Mandy and I are free on Saturday."

At that we tucked into our food, spending the rest of the lunch hour mostly in silence, occasionally making eye contact and smiling at each other. What fucking excellent fried food, I hope he brings me back here someday.

++++++++++++++++++

That Thursday I had Charlie on my mind all day. I couldn't wait until Saturday, and I was pretty sure that Charlie would try to wiggle out of it so I needed to somehow reinforce the idea. I got out of the precinct at a reasonable hour and on a whim, decided to crash Charlie's 'boys night out'. Some pub grub and a baseball game in the background sounded like a great motive.

By the time I got to the sports bar, Charlie was already there with his friends. I made my way to their table and motioned to the empty 4^th chair at the pub table, which all three boys scrambled to motion that it was available to me. Charlie didn't look surprised to see me in the least, but his companions had wide eyes and goofball grins.

Charlie made the introductions. "Gents, I would like you to meet the proverbial 'bull in a China shop', Holly. Holly, please meet Bill and Frank. What brings you here tonight, Holly?"

"The Dodgers got Kershaw back tonight from the DL. The game started early since it's in New York, so I thought some wings, some beer, some baseball, and some Charlie sounded like a good combination. Plus the Dodgers are facing Thor tonight, a great pitcher's matchup. How's Kershaw hurlin' tonight so far?"

Bill and Frank looked at me, not at all expecting that. Charlie though seemed to have gotten with the program and started expecting the unexpected. He filled me in, "I didn't get here until the top of the third, but it looks like Kershaw has settled down after throwing a lot of pitches to get the first 6 outs. Doesn't seem to matter much, Noah Syndergaard can't find anything off speed tonight. Cody Bellinger and Joc already each took him for solo home runs."

I boisterously pumped my fist and cheered the Dodgers on while we made a little small talk. I clearly took the boys off their game plan, but Charlie didn't seem to mind. I caught both Bill and Frank checking out my tits whenever they could, but Charlie would look me in the eyes and smiled a lot. The wings were good, the game was clearly in the hands of the Dodgers, and after a couple of IPAs, I excused myself and readied to go home.

The rest of the guys also said they had to go home to their families and we split the bill despite Charlie's protest to cover mine.

In front of the pub, before parting ways, Bill said, "Hey, Holly. I'm having a barbecue a week from Saturday. Charlie's coming, would be great if you could come too."

Charlie butted in, "Before you answer, know that because their wives have never met you before, you'll be under a lot of scrutiny if you come."

I had to laugh at that, "Don't worry about it Charlie, I can take it as well as I can dish it out. Bill, if I pass the test this Saturday that I'm spending with team Charlie-Mandy, then hell yeah, I'm there. Looking forward to it."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On Friday night I went home to my apartment after work and caught the last few innings of the Dodger game, which went off the rails in the 9^th when the Mets scored on a walk off home run. I hate it when that happens. I called Dad to commiserate a little bit, knowing that he never missed a game on TV from his easy chair. I promised to visit soon and after hanging up I went into the kitchen to make some kind of dinner but ended up just picking at things from the fridge and cabinets but never really eating a regular meal. Cooking for one was always depressing, so I grazed. My apartment felt so alone.

I opened a beer and brought it to the couch with my Kindle, preparing to pick up on the novel I was reading but not really into it very much, when I started thinking of Charlie again. He really was handsome though he didn't know it. He was tall, just over six feet with broad shoulders and only a little soft in the middle, certainly no beer belly that starts to show so prominently on most guys his age. His age, which I knew from stalking him to be 35, just a few years older than myself. With no signs of a receding hairline, it looked like he'd be lucky enough to keep his mop of wavy brown hair as he got older. It was his smile and gentle demeanor that really made him stand out, and with that I was betting he could make any girl he wanted drop her panties if he were to get them alone. I wondered how quickly he could make me drop mine, which were starting to get wet just thinking about it.

I was broken from my thoughts of Charlie when my phone on the coffee table in front of me pinged, signaling a text. It was Charlie himself. I had been adamant about exchanging contact info after fried chicken, but that might have been a mistake. I was sure he was going to cancel tomorrow's picnic with a text.

Charlie: Hi, Holly. Did you catch Dodgers?

Me: Last few innings. 9th really sucked. <angry face emoji>

Charlie: No shit. <poop emoji>

Charlie: Not Y I'm texting though.

Charlie: R U open to change of plans tomorrow? Supposed to be real hot. Up 2 swimming instead of picnic?

Charlie: I'll supply pool.

Me: Want to see me in a bathing suit already, huh?

Charlie: Ha. Of course. <devil face emoji>

Me: U R testing me. Hmm.

Me: OK. Game on. I'll bring bikini if U take your blood pressure meds. <fire emoji> <bikini emoji>

Charlie: It was Mandy's request, but I think I need meds now just thinking about it. <sweating face emoji>

Charlie: See you tomorrow.

Me: You'll be seeing a lot of me tomorrow, sport. <winking face emoji>

++++++++++++++++++

Charlie's neighborhood was typical of an older Southern California suburb outside of the city. The houses were on relatively small plots of land and the original homes were showing their age, being built in the late 50's and early 60's. What made it an unusual sight for out of towners is that these little old houses were worth a fortune, but not because of the house, it was the land that was valuable. Californians that wanted to cash in would sell their property, and there was a long line of millionaires ready to knock the house down and build a brand new one on the lot. The result was a neighborhood that was mixed with single-story old beater homes that resembled small and simple boxes, old homes with a variety of additions and upgrades, or brand new homes on the land that didn't come close to matching the style of the original homes.

When I pulled into Charlie's driveway just before noon, I was pleasantly surprised to see his home was well maintained with nice landscaping that made for great street appeal. It sported a full width front porch and a second story that was probably added in the 80's and the carport converted to an attached garage. That left little driveway to park my old Jeep Wrangler in, making me wish that I hadn't removed the doors and that I had a hard top instead of the soft top convertible, though I never left anything valuable in the Jeep to steal anyway. I did lock a steering wheel club in place to deter theft of the entire vehicle.

I rang the doorbell which was answered by Charlie. He had his signature smile on his face which made me a little weak in the knees, adding more noise to my muddled state of my mind. He was wearing a T-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it and had on boardshorts style swim trunks. He looked from me to down just behind his legs where a little raven haired cutie was trying her best to hide behind her dad and looking up at me with almond shaped eyes that were opened as wide as they could go. Charlie beckoned me to come in and I brought in with me a bag of picnic food in one hand and a bag with my bathing suit and change of clothes in the other.

"Holly, I would like you to meet Amanda. If you two get to be friends, she'll let you call her Mandy." Charlie winked at me, and I thought I would ask him about that later.

He then looked at Amanda and said to her, "Mandy, I would like you to meet Holly. She is the friend I was telling you about."

Amanda gave me a short wave and said, "Hi."

I replicated the wave and said hi back. This kid was as cute as they come. Maybe some Asian influence from her mom's side, she had beautiful long black silky hair and skin that leaned a little towards olive color, nothing like her dad. She appeared to be shy, but that had to be just temporary as there was fire in her eyes that told me this kid had spunk and spirit just waiting to come out. She was wearing a bathing suit that had graphics from Disney's Frozen animated movie, and it looked like she had already been in the water today.

Charlie gave me the nickel tour of his house. It was nicely appointed with a woman's touch evident in the furniture and paint colors, I am sure that it had been left unchanged since his wife had died. There were pictures of her and of her and Amanda on just about every wall, his wife was definitely a beauty and Amanda really had taken after her. In the backyard was a small swimming pool with an attached hot tub, a small swing set for Amanda, what looked like a small greenhouse, and all of that had been shoehorned into every square inch of the yard. We finished the tour in the kitchen which had been situated in the floor plan from the days before "open plans" were a thing, however it had been updated fairly recently with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops, and a small kitchenette table with views of the backyard completed it at the far end.

"Daddy," she looked up at Charlie with pleading eyes, "can I go back in the pool now?"

Charlie told her that we'd have lunch first, but I derailed that by holding up one of my bags. If we aren't going to have a picnic in a park somewhere, we can have a picnic, pool-side. Make-it-yourself-sandwiches with all the meat, veggies, and bread separated so everyone could build them like they preferred. Charlie smiled, I think he thought that when he texted the change of plans last night that it included him providing lunch, but he didn't put up much more argument and Amanda seemed fine with sandwiches. Whew!

Amanda motioned me to the couch and told me that we were going to have 'questions and answers' before we did anything else. It was more of an order than a request, her shyness had evaporated as I expected that it would. Charlie rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders at me, signaling that I was going to have to roll with it.

Amanda said, "How many dads and moms do you have?"

I hesitated, not knowing how to answer that. She prompted me with, "Some kids at school have 2 dads and 2 moms, some don't have any. I just have one dad."

"Oh, I see. Well. I have one dad, and I used to have one mom but she died when I was four."