It had been a couple of days since the dinner and he’d done the exact same thing when he showed up at her house the previous times, disappeared for days or even a week and not said anything. It was starting to look like Ceaser had upped and left – run would be more fitting.
Who could blame him though? But it sure did take him a long time before he came to his senses and realized Ivy and her weren’t what he wanted in his life.
Jules thought.
She was just a little worried about Ivy because the name ‘Dada’ had stuck with her and she hadn’t stopped saying it.
Jules sighed as she tried to get her head into her work. She hadn’t been able to focus for the past hour and the knock on her door made her completely snap out of her thoughts so she couldn’t go back to it, which she was thankful for.
“Come in.” Jules said still focused on the papers on her desk.
“You never take a break.” Jules looked up at the sound of Andy’s voice.
“Hey” Jules greeted smiling.
“C’mon get your ass up. We’re going for lunch.” Andy said.
“Is it lunch time already?” She checked her watch to confirm.
“Yep.” Andy answered.
“Darn, I lost track of time.” Jules began to organize the scattered sheets of papers on her desk.
“Or yourself.” Andy mumbled knowing her friend.
Jules rolled her eyes which made Andy smile.
“What about Sofi?” Jules asked grabbing her purse.
“She already left with Ivy.”
“Right. Let’s go” They walked out of Jules’ office and went to join Sofi and Ivy in the restaurant right across the company which had been their favourite spot to hang out since they became friends after Jules joined the company. The bell rang as Andy and Jules entered the noisy restaurant.
They made their way to their usual table which was reserved for them during the week days due to the fact that the restaurant was always crowded around lunch time and it was hard to get a table. So, they had asked for the table to be reserved for them.
Andy and Jules slid into their seats. Their table was next to the floor to ceiling glass window.
“Already ordered for us.” Sofi said.
“Momma.” Ivy said from Sofi’s lap.
“Hey beautiful” Jules smiled as she reached over to pick her from Sofi’s arms. Jules settled her in her lap and kissed her all over her face which made Ivy giggle.
“Momma” Ivy said when Jules stopped and just stared down at her adorable daughter.
“So, I heard Mr. Thompson hasn’t been to work since Monday because of that Russian model he’s seeing.” Sofi said.
“I know for a fact that he isn’t seeing anyone right now and besides he has other companies to run Sofi.” Andy said
“Or he has some family matters to handle.” Jules suggested.
“Why am I even contributing to your office gossip. You guys are a bad influence on me.”
“It’s not gossiping.” Andy said “How many times do you want us to tell you.”
“It’s just sharing…” Sofi began.
“…sharing information, you got from someone else.” Jules completed “Yea, you told me a billion times but it still doesn’t change the fact that it’s still office gossip.”
Their food arrived then and they dug in. Jules feed both herself and Ivy.
“Not fair” Sofi said. “You take the fun away from everything.” She sighed giving up on Jules’ inability to talk about news that travel in the office.
“That’s just typical Jules. Party pooper, Buzz kill, Fun ruiner Jules” Andy said.
“You need a man in your life.” Sofi said.
At that, Ceaser came to mind and Jules couldn’t help but smile.
Andy wolf hummed.
“Somebody’s blushing.” Andy said.
“I’m not.” Jules smile fell as she let Ivy play with her fingers.
“That’s what the guilty ones always say.” Sofi said.
Jules looked up at Sofi, shocked.
She was always on her side. What happened?
Jules glanced at both of them, back and forth.
“Okay. Maybe.” Jules finally said after the stare-down contest.
“Hee!” Sofi squealed with a clap.
“Spill.” Andy said nearing closer to Jules like she was about to tell them a top-secret information about the Avengers.
Jules gave up and told them. She hadn’t wanted to tell them because they would make the situation a big deal when it wasn’t but they knew something was up.
“I met him the night we had the sleepover at your place.”
“Wait.” Sofi said “Is it the same hottie that dropped you off?” She asked.
“The one and only.” She said.
“You two have been seeing each other?” Andy asked.
“Well… yes. I mean, no. Not really.” Jules was confused.
“Which is it?” Andy asked.
“Just a couple of times.” She answered.
“And you didn’t bother to mention it to us?” Sofi asked.
“I didn’t think it was going to go beyond him coming over to the apartment.”
“Whoaaa!” Andy said “Stop, Rewind and Freeze. He’s been over to your place?” Andy asked.
“Well seems like he’s done more than gone to her place.” Sofi added.
Well, Sofi caught on to what she had said.
“Okay. He came over the day after he dropped us over at your place. Then he came a few other times and we went out to dinner on Friday.” Jules confessed.
“It’s Wednesday, how are you just telling us now?” Andy asked.
“Well what happened?” Sofi asked when she remained quiet.
“Nothing. I haven’t spoken to or seen him since then. Looks like he couldn’t handle it.” She said with a frown “But he was so good with Ivy. That was the one thing that made me sort of like him and there was this weird tension between us.” Jules stopped talking as her mind drifted back to when she had gotten ready and walked into her living room and the way he had looked at her.
“Wow! He really got to you.” Andy said.
“Just a little.” She said not wanting to meet their gaze.
“Uhm-hmm.” Sofi hummed her response which dripped with sarcasm.
“Okay, maybe more than a little.” She said truthfully this time.
Andy and Sofi chuckled which got her to release her breath. She was out of the woods with them, for now.
“So, what are you going to do now?” Sofi asked.
Jules shook her head.
“There’s nothing to do.” She said “This happens every time, I date a guy, he takes off after learning about Ivy. But the different thing about this one was he already knew about Ivy before he took me out, took ‘us’ out.” She corrected “But, I don’t need a man. I have Ivy.” She smiled down at her daughter.
Sofi and Andy couldn’t say anything because they had been there every time a guy walked out on Jules after finding out she was a single mum but they also knew no one had done what this new guy had done, taken their best friend and their god-daughter out and made them both happy. They couldn’t do anything but hope Jules found someone that would finally take care of her. She was so used to taking care of everyone around her she probably had forgotten what it was like for someone to take care of her.