Ahmed simply said “of course” like it was the most reasonable request in the world. Michelle looked at me more suspiciously, but nodded with a grin. I suspected there would be a grilling later.
We bantered back and forth like that while the waiter came and took our orders. I had mostly given up drinking, but Michelle asked if I wanted to split a bottle of wine. I looked over and Daddy nodded, so we went ahead. It was my birthday so I figured a little wine would be ok. Daddy and Ahmed chatted, a bit about politics I think, which was kind of boring. Michelle and I gossiped about my school, modelling, cosplaying, and how boring our men were, which eventually caught their attention.
Once the wine and drinks were brought to the table, Michelle held up her glass. “A toast to the birthday girl!” and everyone at the table held up their glasses, tinked them together. I blushed, but I loved it.
“So, I need your ‘meet cute’ story,” Michelle said, taking a sip of her wine. “Everyone has one, give me yours.”
So between Daddy and I, we managed to recount meeting at the con and how I “almost killed him”, which made me roll my eyes because I seem to hit him harder every time the story gets told, and everything that happened afterwards. Michelle was shocked that when we met her and Ahmed on Halloween it was only our second weekend together as a couple.
“I would have thought the two of you had been together for a year, at least. The two of you looked so comfortable together,” she said.
I hugged my Daddy’s arm and he kissed my head.
“She’s the reason I’m relaxed for the first time in years. She’s an amazing woman,” he said. I felt like I was going to melt and slide under the table. Fortunately, Daddy switched the conversation before I started getting little in the middle of dinner.
“So, fair’s fair. That’s our ‘meet cute’. What’s yours?”
“We met at a con as well,” Ahmed said. “When we were in university.”
I untangled myself from Daddy and leaned on the table.
“Really?”
“Really,” Michelle said. ” I was at this con with my boyfriend at the time. I wasn’t cosplaying or anything. I kinda only was there to be with him, but he blew me off for some video game demos so I got bored and started wandering around the con…”
“Back up,” Daddy said. “A guy took you to a comic con and then ignored you to play video games?”
She nodded. “Oh those wild Friday nights of my 2nd year, when I would go to his dorm room and watch him play video games until 3 am.”
“I am fortunate that her last boyfriend was the dumbest son of a bitch in Canada,” Ahmed said. Daddy laughed, and the two of them toasted “To dumb sons of bitches who don’t know better.”
“Anyway,” Michelle said “I’m wandering around and debating bailing when he comes up to me dragging along camera gear and politely asks if he can take my picture.”
“I loved going to comic cons and taking pictures of the cosplayers. It was good practice for getting portrait photos and most cosplayers are so obliging to pose for photos,” Ahmed said.
“But she said she wasn’t cosplaying,” Daddy said.
“No, but she was the most beautiful woman at that con and I knew if I didn’t get at least a picture of her, I would doubt forever I had actually seen her. So I took a chance and asked, fully expecting to get turned down.”
I knew it worked out, but I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened next.
“So he asks, and he wasn’t giving off a creepy vibe. So I thought why not, and posed and he took a few pictures. And honestly, if he had been weird about it, or flashed me a card to contact him about modelling or anything like that, I would have just walked away. Instead he politely thanked me and told me he hoped I enjoyed the rest of the con.”
“And as I was walking away, priding myself for having the courage to talk to such a woman, she taps me on the shoulder and asks if she can see the photos. And after a second of being shocked, I showed her what I had shot…” he said.
“And I’m like ‘oh, I can give you much better pictures than that. We need some natural light…'”
“So I’m being dragged outside, and she’s posing for me, and we’re both having so much fun and I’m really just enjoying being with her and taking pictures.”
“That’s when my phone buzzes and it’s my idiot ex-boyfriend wondering where I am. So I decide to break up with him, right then and there, and I tell Ahmed I seem to be free and would he like to go for a coffee.”
“And that was 10 years ago. And here we are,” Ahmed said. He then took Michelle’s hand and kissed it. And I couldn’t swear to it, but I think she blushed a bit.
“Wow,” I said, genuinely amazed.
“To comic cons,” Daddy said, and we all agreed to toast to that.
That’s when Michelle decreed it was time for a bathroom break. She stood up, causing about a half dozen men and at least two women to swivel their heads, grabbed my hand, and we headed to the bathroom. There was no one inside, so I could crack up laughing.
“You’re going to cause at least a quarter of those relationships to break up out there tonight,” I said.
“Hey, if they’re not strong enough to handle a little bit of this passing by,” she said, waving her hands down her body, “then it was too weak to survive and I did them a favor.”
Then she gave me the stare. “Kit, eh. Would that be short for Kitten?”
Despite knowing it was coming and trying to prepare, I blushed. “Yes,” I said in a quiet voice.
“You might want to start telling people you’ve started using your middle name, which is Katherine, and you’re shortening it to Kit. Fewer embarrassing conversations,” she said.
I thought she was going to laugh or make fun of me, but that was good advice. She came over and hugged me. Once again, boobs right in front of my face.
“However it’s not hard to see you as an adorable little kitten. His idea or yours?”
I decided that I actually did need to pee, so I went into one of the stalls. I figured this conversation might be easier if her boobs weren’t constantly there. “Honestly, ours. I wore cat ears our first time together. Later on, the cat… theme, kept coming up, so Kitten just seemed to work. I’m still Ashley at school, because I don’t need that drama, but for everyone else, we’re going to start introducing me as Kit.”
I heard her go into another stall. “The sex must be spectacular.”
“Oh my god, it is. I didn’t want to come out tonight. I’m depriving myself of orgasms right now by being here with you.”
“Ha!” she roared. “Well, we appreciate your sacrifice.”
“Thank you.”
“So everything is good. No troubles at all,” she said.
She was obviously fishing for dirt, but I did have something that had been playing on my mind for awhile, and Michelle was older, so maybe she had some advice or could see something I didn’t.
“Well, he was married before for over 20 years, and she died about two and a half years ago in a car accident. A drunk driver killed her…”
“Jesus,” Michelle said. We both flushed and came out of the stalls.
“It’s just, I don’t know how to deal with it sometimes. He’s happy, and he tells me all the time that he’s the happiest he’s been in years and I know he loves me, and I love him, it’s just sometimes…”
“Sometimes he’s sad and misses his wife,” Michelle said, washing her hands.
“Yeah. I mean, he went back to Vancouver over Christmas and told his parents about us, which is cool. I’m really glad he did. But I think he went and talked to Beth, that’s her name, Beth’s mom. And he hasn’t said how that went, so I worry. I think he has photos of her out and puts them away before I come over. Men, you know, not always the best at dusting. I can see there was a picture there and now there’s not.”
She dried her hands and began touching up her makeup. I did the same. I think it gave her a moment to consider what to say.
“I don’t doubt for a second he loves you. I’ve seen a few older guys with younger girls, and please don’t take offence to this, the girls often look starry-eyed like you do, but they guys are always ‘hey look what I got.'”
“I’ve dated a few older guys, I’m familiar with the look,” I said.
“Exactly, but every time he looks at you it’s like you’re this amazing mythological creature and he can’t believe his luck. It’s easy to see he adores you.”
I felt like I could cry hearing that, but it would ruin my makeup. So I just nodded.
“But, yeah, he had a whole other life before you. But what you have to remember is that Ben missing his wife doesn’t mean he loves you any less. I bet he’s still having moments where he’s completely sideswiped that she’s gone,” she said.
“I wish I could help,” I said.
“Oh sweetie,” she said, taking my hand. “You help him every day. I’ll bet money on it.”
This time I hugged her. Face away from the boobs.
“Thank you, Michelle. That helps a lot,” I said, as I finished fussing with my hair. We were getting ready to rejoin the boys at the table. She paused at the door like she had a thought, was debating saying it, and then decided what the hell,