Spellman Ch. 07

"I just don't know what to do. I've never been in anything even close to this situation before. Right now I'm letting them take the lead on things. So far they've set the rules and it seems to be okay."

"I'm sure it is, for now, but that's not a stable situation, hon. This has got drama written all over it. Hope I'm wrong, for your sake, but I don't think I am. I'm usually not." Roman grabbed a small mirror and then spun me around in the chair. "Here we go, what do you think?"

I glanced at the mirror, surprised to be done so quickly, but then I realized I had no idea how long I had been in the chair. Time had flown by while Roman and I had chatted. I took in my new haircut. Wow. I look good.

"Wow. That's incredible, Roman."

"Yes I am, thank you." He gave a little curtsey. "You'll have to let me know what Tori and Melissa think too." Oh yeah, somehow during my haircut Roman and I had exchanged phone number so I could call or text him directly to schedule my next appointment.

"I'll do that." Roman walked with me back to the front and I paid for my haircut. It was surprisingly not as expensive as I would have expected given the quality of the salon, but I left an extra large tip for Roman.

Ivy gave me a wink and a wave as I made my way out. "See you next time, sugar!"

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My dad had returned my text. He seemed excited that I was reaching out and asked if I was free to drive up to L.A. tonight. I told him that I was, and he sent me the address of a restaurant to meet at for dinner and said I was welcome to stay at his apartment for the night if I wanted to.

Melissa had also texted me while I was getting my haircut, asking for a picture. I sent her one of me, but from the neck down.

Ryan! I want to see your hair!

You'll see it tomorrow.

Ryannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. She sent me a pouty selfie with puppy dog eyes.

Sorry, cutie. You'll just have to use your imagination.

Maybe I'll just show up at your apartment tonight.

You're welcome to do that, but I won't be there.

What?! Where are you going to be?

Going up to LA to see my dad.

Oh, okay. Well that's nice. You seriously aren't going to send me a picture of your hair?

Nope.

I did take a selfie and send it to Tori, though, with instructions to delete the photo as soon as she saw it. She told me that she thought it looked great and that she couldn't wait to see it in person. Melissa was not very happy, however.

You butthead!

This is your punishment for teasing me earlier. Just enjoy the anticipation.

Fine.

I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe we can even sneak in a bit of kissing in the parking lot ;-)

We definitely can not! There will be parents and students and staff everywhere tomorrow!

Oh, well I guess I'll just have to kiss Tori instead.

Grrrrrrrrr. I'm going to get you for this, Mr. Dillon.

Can't wait. I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Dixon.

I drove back to my apartment to throw together an overnight bag for the trip up to Los Angeles to see my dad. It would be roughly a two hour drive up the 5 to get there depending on traffic, which should be pretty light on a Wednesday afternoon as long as I didn't wait too long to leave. If I did then there was no telling how long it could take. With nothing much to do around here, I figured I might as well just hit the road and get there early. I could always kill time walking around downtown. Certainly better than getting stuck in traffic on the 5 and being late.

The drive up was very pleasant. I wished I had a convertible to enjoy the beautiful California weather. The 5 wasn't the most scenic drive in the world, but it felt really good to be back cruising the freeway that had featured in so many of my youthful adventures. I cranked up the radio and grooved along with the greatest hits of "the '80s, '90s, and today." It was just after four when I arrived in L.A. My dad had said to meet him at the restaurant around five, so I found some parking in the general area and walked around for a bit before heading in that direction. I was still a bit early, so I hit the bar to grab a drink while I waited.

The bartender was a good-looking Vietnamese girl who gave me a very nice smile when I sat down. It was pretty slow at the moment so she spent a good amount of time near me and we flirted back and forth a bit. She asked if I was meeting someone and seemed pleased when I said that I was waiting for my dad and not another woman. When he texted me that he was nearly at the restaurant I settled my tab and thanked the bartender, Mai. She smiled when she handed me back the check, upon which she had written her phone number. I thanked her again and got up to leave. I doubted that I would be giving Mai a call, but it certainly felt good to have an attractive bartender give me the opportunity when I hadn't even really been trying to pick her up.

Waiting at the entrance, I saw my dad come in. He smiled and boomed out "There's my boy!" before coming over to wrap me in a strong hug, giving me a few manly pats on the back. My dad had always been the fun, affectionate extrovert. While my mother insisted on being "Mother", never "Mom", he hated being called "Father". Mother always wanted my friends to call her "Mrs. Dillon" but Dad hated to be called "Mr. Dillon" and allowed my friends to call him by his first name, Alan, or "Mr. D" if they felt weird about calling an adult by his first name. In retrospect it was just one of the many disagreements and incompatibilities between my parents that I was blind to while growing up but were pretty obvious in retrospect.

It was obvious at a glance to anyone that I was Alan Dillon's son, but it wasn't like I was his spitting image. The differences in our appearance were pretty well summarized by the two different positions we had played in football. I was, of course, the quarterback to his linebacker. I was a couple inches taller but he was bigger. Dad was a bit rougher looking, more classically masculine and bearded like a lumberjack while the genes that I had inherited from my mother's side gave me more of a clean-shaven and preppy—maybe even "pretty boy"—look.

We followed the hostess to our seats and sat down. Dad gave me a huge smile. "So how are you doing? It seems like months since we've talked."

"Probably because it has been. With everything that happened, quitting my job, the breakup with Amanda, coming back down to San Diego, it's been pretty crazy. I'm just now starting to feel a bit settled. It'll be better once the school year starts and I get into my routine."

My dad nodded. "That's good. A routine definitely helps. I think you also need to just put yourself back out there again, get back on the horse."

"Funny you should say that."

"Oh? Already dating a bit? You've been down in San Diego for what, a week?"

"Not even that, but yes, I guess you could say I'm dating."

"What's she like?"

"I'm actually seeing two girls at the moment, I think? It's honestly a little unclear what exactly the situation is right now. But you know one of them. Someone from my past."

My dad frowned. "Did your mother try to set you up with Beth again?"

"Both Mother and Mrs. Mitchell are trying to push me at her, but I haven't even seen her yet. I thought you liked her, though."

"I do like Beth. I know she always had a thing for you. I just never thought the two of you would work together like Stephanie and your mother did."

"Well, I agree with you. But anyways, it's not Beth. I met up with Tori the other day, she works at the same school I'm starting at."

That brought a smile to my dad's face. "Tori! I always liked that girl. What an athlete. You two were great together. Not quite as good at sneaking around with all the sex you were having as you two thought you were, though." He laughed and punched my shoulder.

I could feel myself blushing. "You...you knew that Tori and I were having sex?"

"Ryan, come on. Give your old man some credit. I was a high school kid once too. I knew all the tricks myself. I didn't think it was a big deal. You were a good kid, responsible, hard-working. You were a star athlete with a pretty girlfriend. Of course you would be having sex. Hell, I was just amazed that it was only Tori you were having sex with. I wasn't as big a football star as you were when I was in high school and I went through ten girls my senior year alone."

"Guess I didn't seen the need when I already had the hottest girl in school. Quality over quantity."

"I hear you, but I have to say, sometimes quantity has a quality all its own."

"I really don't need to be hearing this from my dad. Aren't you supposed to be telling me to be responsible, honorable, to commit to one woman?"

He shrugged. "You need to do what makes you happy. Your mother and I were both unhappy for a very long time because we tried to fit ourselves into a model that didn't work for us."

"You didn't seem all that unhappy to me growing up. I thought we had a great family."

"Your mother and I both loved you, and it's not like we disliked each other as people. Being married just didn't work well for us, but we stuck it out for you."

"Part of me appreciates that. The other part wishes you wouldn't have stayed in an unhappy situation just because of me."

"That's what parenthood is, sometimes. You sacrifice your own happiness for the happiness of your children. I wouldn't trade the years we had as a family, even if it wasn't personally my ideal situation. The last several years have shown how difficult it was to maintain a good relationship between all of us after the divorce. I know that you stayed away largely because you didn't want to figure out how to balance things between me and you mother. It would have been even more difficult when you were a minor, I think, trying to figure out how we would handle custody. At least waiting until you were on your own let you control your own life. But we're getting off track. So you're back together with Tori?"

"I don't know. It's only been a couple days. Before Monday I hadn't seen her since we broke up years ago, but I felt that connection again with her instantly. She's just as beautiful as ever. Even more, if anything."

"But you said there was a second girl?"

"Yeah. Melissa. She's actually Tori's roommate."

"Oh boy, how'd you manage that?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I met Melissa first. Well, first since I've been back in San Diego, you know what I mean. She's a teacher at the school too. So far they've been okay with figuring out how things are working between us, but like I said it's only been a few days. I love Tori, even after all of these years, but part of me worries that all I'm doing is trying to recreate the past, plus her life is a bit complicated right now. Melissa is new and exciting. There's a lot of potential there, I think. I don't know how it's all going to work, especially given that we will all be working together and the two of them live together. I've never had to navigate something like this before."

"Well, as long as everyone is being honest and open, I think you'll be okay. I'm not saying it will be easy or that it will just continue being fine forever, but at least no one should be getting hurt too badly. You don't want to start doing things behind anyone's back." He had a sad, far-away look as he said it.

I realized then that this was the first time I had really even come close to discussing my parents' divorce with one of them since it had happened. "Dad, did you ever cheat on Mother?"

He sighed and pursed his lips. "Yes, I did, technically."

"Technically?"

"Fine. Yes. Our marriage was basically over at that point anyways, but it doesn't excuse it, or change the fact that I slept with someone else while I was still married to your mother."

"How did it happen?"

"I'm sorry Ryan, but this isn't something I really want to discuss in too much detail with you. I had been stuck in a dead marriage for years, there was a temptation, an offer that I found too good to resist, and so I didn't. That's all I'm going to say about it."

"That's fair, sorry. I had just never really thought too much about what was going on at the end there."

"It's fine, son. Just not something I'm particularly proud of or really want to get into."

We shifted to lighter topics as we ate dinner. He told me about his new job at a bank downtown, we discussed the Padres and the Chargers, and he asked about my new apartment and job at Spellman. I could tell he wanted to ask for more details about what had happened to make me leave my old job and break up with Amanda, but just like he didn't want to discuss the details around the end of his marriage to my mother, he could tell that I didn't want to talk much about the end of my engagement. He did ask if I had any pictures of Melissa or Tori. I found some appropriate ones and showed him and he gave me a thumbs up.

After dinner I followed him to his apartment. It was small, only a one-bedroom, but much nicer (and more expensive) than my apartment, well-appointed with furniture and decorations. It was definitely a bachelor pad, but much more refined and mature than mine, which made sense. As I got ready to crash on the couch I did find some evidence of at least one female visitor. It didn't seem to be of the one-night stand variety, either. My dad had done his best to clean up, and I didn't go into his bedroom, but a drawer in the bathroom had some bold lipstick and a few different colors of nail polish, plus there was a bottle of women's shampoo in the shower. I certainly didn't think any of those belonged to my dad.

I asked him about it as we each drank a small glass of bourbon before bed. "So, dad, have you been seeing anyone?"

"Too busy with work. There is someone who I'll see when she's in town, but it's nothing regular."

"How'd you meet?"

"Just an old friend from San Diego."

I could tell I wasn't going to get much more than that out of him, so I let it drop. "Well, I think it's about time to crash. This has been nice though, thanks for having me, Dad."

"My pleasure, son. You know you're welcome anytime."

"Even if your friend is in town?"

"Okay, maybe not then. Call ahead first, at least."

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My body woke me up at 5:45 even without my alarm. I was a bit disoriented by waking up on the couch in a strange apartment, but it only took me a few seconds to get my bearings and remember where I was. Then I remembered that I was supposed to be meeting Paul at the gym and hadn't told him about my impromptu trip to Los Angeles.

Hey man, forgot to tell you I drove up to LA last night to visit my dad. Crashed at his place, obviously won't make it down to the gym in time. Catch you tomorrow.

All good. See you tomorrow.

With no workout to rush out the door for, I spent half an hour trying to see if I could convince my body to go back to sleep for a bit, to no avail. I scrounged around in my dad's kitchen for some food, eventually settling on making myself an omelet with cheese and spinach. My dad emerged from his room while I was cooking.

"Morning, son. Sleep well?"

"About as well as you could expect on a couch I guess. You want me to make you one of these too?"

"Sure, that would be great, thanks," he answered and then entered the bathroom so he could shower and get ready for work. I cooked up his omelet as well and then took both plates to the table and dug in to eat. My dad joined me about ten minutes later.

"So what's on the agenda for you today?"

"Head back down to San Diego. I missed my workout this morning, so I'll probably hit the gym for a bit when I get back. I need to be at the school tonight for Meet the Teacher appointments. My first one isn't until five-twenty but I'll get there by five, then I'm there until eight. That's really it."

"And the weekend?"

"Second Meet the Teacher tomorrow night, then Tori and her roommate Melissa are coming over so I can make them dinner as a thank you for the meal Melissa cooked for me on Monday. No real solid plans beyond that for the weekend." Well, my plan was for Melissa to stay the night on Friday and spend as much of the weekend in bed as possible, but I didn't need to share that part with my dad.

"Sounds fun."

I nodded. "What about you?"

"I'll golf with some guys from work on Saturday. I think the Dodgers are home this weekend so I might go see a game. That's about it." We each focused on our breakfast for a few minutes before my dad stood up. "Well, back to the grind. I'm glad you came up, it was great to see you."

I stood up to give him a hug. "You too, dad. I'm sorry it's been so long."

"Don't worry, I get it. Don't be a stranger now that you're closer again though. I understand that you can't make it up here all the time, but I'm glad to have you. I'll try to get down to San Diego every once in a while myself. Maybe I'll take you and Tori out to dinner for old time's sake."

"I'd like that, and I'm sure she would too, thanks dad. Have a good day at work. I'll be out of here shortly, I can lock up behind myself."

I decided to skip showering before I left. My plan was to hit the gym first thing when I got back down to San Diego, so I'd just shower after that. I should make it down before ten, and after about an hour at the gym I'd still have quite a bit of time to kill before I had to be at the school. I pulled out my phone to check if I had any emails on my school account, but it was empty. There were still two families who hadn't registered for a timeslot yet. I didn't want to pester them, so I held off on sending another reminder, but I'd send one more follow-up if I didn't hear from them by the time I wrapped up my appointments tonight.

The drive back down to San Diego was uneventful. I swung by my apartment to change into some gym clothes and then went to workout. It was just about ten when I walked in, the gym much quieter than I was used to seeing during my morning workouts. No Paul and no Miss Triple G either, of course. I settled in to stretch and lift. About twenty minutes into my workout I noticed a couple of girls giggling together between taking turns on the leg press machine. They kept sneaking glances over at me, whispering to one another, and then laughing. They were both cute girls, one a taller Latina and the other a pint-sized blonde, even smaller than Melissa, but they were definitely young. Too young. They gave off strong high school cheerleader vibes, still on summer vacation for a couple weeks. I did my best to ignore them, but their twinkling laughter kept drifting over. I really should have grabbed some headphones, but I was used to working out without them because Paul usually wanted to talk while we lifted.

I had just set the bar down from my last deadlift when I heard a voice behind me. "Excuse me." I turned to find the Latina standing there, doing her best to look confident but still obviously a bit nervous.

I didn't want to be rude, but I also really did not want to be dealing with this right now. "Yes?"

The girl shifted her feet awkwardly. "I've never done that kind of lift before. I was wondering if you could show me how it works?"

It was a decent approach, I had to admit. I had a feeling she knew exactly how to do the lift. Probably would have worked on a lot of guys, but I had less than zero interest in opening the door to any flirting with a high school girl. I made a show of pulling out my phone to check the time. "I'm sorry, but that was my last lift for the day and I really need to get going."