06

Author's Note: I want to make it clear that the real reason for the 3 months between the first and second post was because I'd received an email from a person who volunteered to edit my story. After sending the file over, I had waited for two months before deciding that maybe that person could not do it after all (they did not reply my email asking for an update). Hence I have given up on an editor and from now on the posts will probably be up every week or so.

Thank you, everybody, for the comments on each of my posts. I read every single one of them and I appreciate all the constructive criticisms. I am trying to improve my grammar without the help of an editor so thank you all so much for reading my story.

Love you all!

***

Chapter 5

On Wednesday night, Zoe asked Elle, "Hey, E, Liz and I are thinking of going to this new bar and grill downtown. Wanna come?"

"And become a third wheel? No, thanks," Elle replied.

"Come on, we want you to come with us," Zoe pleaded, her expression hopeful.

"I think I'm going to pass," Elle said.

"It's been ages since you came out with us on a girls' night out," Zoe said with a pout.

"I know," Elle said. "I've had a really tiring day at the office. I just want to crash."

Zoe groaned. "We hardly hang out anymore."

"I know and I'm sorry. It's the end of the month; things get busier in the department," Elle explained. "Besides, the nights' out are not really my scene, anyway."

Zoe raised an eyebrow in question. "You do know that your potential boyfriend owns a nightclub, right?" she asked, making Elle laughed.

"'Potential boyfriend' is too strong of a description at the state of my relationship. And it's irrelevant to whether I like going out at night or not," Elle said.

Zoe raised both hands as if surrendering. "Alright, alright, I won't bug you into going. Liz and I will scout out the place. If it's good, you will have to go the next time."

Elle knew Zoe was only trying to get her to have a good time so she agreed to it. "Okay, if the place is good, I promise I will join you guys next time." She helped Zoe to curl her hair and gave suggestions to different outfits.

Zoe fussed with the neckline of her dress. "Oh, that must be Liz," she said when the buzzer sounded.

"I'll go get it," Elle said.

After Zoe and Liz left the apartment, Elle went to her bedroom to sort out her dirty clothes to be washed. She heard her phone rang and she abandoned the hamper and hurried back to her room to answer it.

***

Ben was in deep trouble. He was supposed to work at the Chameleon tonight and Karen had dropped River at his place the last minute because her father had a health scare and was sent to the hospital. Ben's mother lived an hour away from here and by the time she got there, he would be late for work. Deciding quickly, he scrolled down the list of contacts in his phone to Elle's name and dialed her number.

"Hello?" Elle answered.

"Hey, Elle, it's Ben," Ben said.

She laughed softly. "Yeah, I know who you are. Your name's on the display."

He laughed as well. "I'm sorry about that. It's a habit I can't kick."

"What's up?"

"Oh, uh..." Now that she had answered the phone, Ben found it hard to voice out his request. "Um... do you have any plans tonight?"

Elle was quiet for a moment before asking carefully, "What do you mean?"

Ben silently cursed to himself; he sounded like he was going to ask her out. "Sorry, I mean, are you free tonight?"

"I am free, yeah," she said, sounding bewildered.

"Shit, that didn't come out right either," he muttered.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked.

"I meant to ask if you are free to help me babysit River tonight," he said at last.

Elle laughed again. "Well, why didn't you just say so?"

Feeling embarrassed, he replied, "I didn't want to sound like a presumptuous jackass, but it came out exactly like that."

"It's okay. I am free tonight; you were not being presumptuous," she said. "When do I have to be there?"

"If you could come over right now, that would be great," he said, feeling embarrassed all over again. "Do you need a ride?"

"Don't worry about it," Elle said reassuringly. "I'll see you soon."

When Elle arrived at Ben's house he was already waiting by the front door. "I didn't know you have a car," he said, surprised.

"That car's not mine. I borrowed it from my roommate," she explained.

He walked her through the kitchen, showing her where the food was kept in case he was late and she was hungry later. "And don't let River talk you into giving him chocolate," he said wryly. "He would put on his puppy eyes so make sure don't stare at them for too long."

"Okay, I'll make sure of it," she said with a smile.

"So yeah, that's about it, I guess. River had his bath and bedtime is at eight. He's waiting for you in his room, which means you will have to read him like ten bedtime stories," Ben said. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Don't worry about us here. I promise I will call you if we need anything," Elle assured.

"I'll pay you back for your trouble," he said.

Her eyes narrowed at his offer. "Are you trying to piss me off?"

"No, Elle, God, no," he said quickly. "What I meant was—"

She let out a giggle. "Oh, Ben, relax! I was joking."

Ben laughed once and shook his head. "Okay, I'll see you later then."

***

At the Chameleon, Ben kept glancing down at his watch, counting down the hours until he could be home again. He kept checking his phone too to make sure he hadn't missed a call or text from Elle and it was so far so good.

"Hey, Garrett. Yo!" Ben swung his gaze to the side and was surprised to see Matt Jackson sitting at one of the tables. Matt had been Ben's best friend since high school and they went to college together. He was also one of the partners of the Chameleon.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Ben asked as he joined Matt at his table. "You don't have to be Jessie tonight?"

"I'm getting married to that woman in three months; I have the rest of my life to keep her company," Matt replied. "No, I'm getting some down time tonight."

Ben raised an eyebrow sardonically. "By coming to your place of work. Yep, that totally makes sense."

Matt snorted at Ben's sarcasm. "You know Jess doesn't like me going out at night, especially to clubs and such. So, I try to the good boy and stay here where she knows I won't get in trouble. And I can have my smoke in peace."

"Yeah," Ben muttered distractedly as he looked at his phone again.

"Something's bothering you?" Matt asked.

Ben shook his head and put his phone away. "Not really. It's just that my son is staying at my place tonight."

"I thought River never stays with you when you work nights," Matt said.

"Karen's father is hospitalized and she needed to check on him," Ben explained.

"So who's looking after River now?" Matt asked.

"Elle Bronwyn." Ben watched as Matt frowned for a moment, then his eyes widened as he placed the name to a face.

"Elle Bronwyn is looking after your kid?" When Ben nodded, Matt waved a hand around, as if deciding which question to ask first. "How... how? I thought you two weren't talking. Are you guys friends now?"

Ben chuckled. "She works at Becky's, remember? We've never been 'weren't talking'. And yeah, we're friends."

Matt straightened in his seat and gave Ben a very skeptical, "Really?"

"Well, actually she's more like River's friend; they're like best buddies now since she helped us to adopt Colt," Ben said.

"And she volunteers to babysit your son for the night?"

"It's a favor, actually," Ben said.

"Somehow I feel like there's more to the story," Matt said and held up a tumbler of amber liquid and took a gulp.

"There are no stories..." Ben glanced down at his phone again.

"Look at you. Lighten up, will you? If you don't trust the girl with your kid, you shouldn't have called in her favor," Matt said.

Ben rubbed at the back of his neck. "It's complicated."

"Do you want to talk about it? I'm in the mood for men's talk tonight. Let's analyze the shit out of this complicated situation," Matt said.

"I can't talk right now; I'm working," Ben said.

Matt looked at his watch. "Aren't you supposed to be on a break now?"

Ben sighed and radioed one of the bouncers that he would be taking a break. "Come on, jackass. Let's take this into the office. I will not have strangers listening in to what's happening with my life," he said and got up from his seat.

Matt pretended to clap. "Yippee," he said.

Ben felt unsure of how much he could share with Matt when it comes to Elle. Yet he knew he needed some advices, or at least, some encouragement and it wasn't like Matt was a random guy; he was his best friend. Ben could talk to Matt about anything. In the office, they talked about the nightclub, throwing out ideas for upcoming events to attract more customers, a conversation which Ben was all too happy to go along with. It allowed him to organize his thoughts. Silence soon descended upon them as the topic dried up and Matt shot him a meaningful look.

"You know I have been attracted to Elle for a long time," Ben said without further preamble. Matt nodded slowly, allowing him to continue without interruption. "The thing is I don't know if she's the girl I thought she was."

"What do you mean?" Matt asked curiously.

Ben sighed. "On New Year's Eve, she was here with a group of people. She had a particular friend with her and she seemed quite intimate with him. That very same night she came up to me, drunk, and asked me what time I'd be heading off." Matt narrowed his eyes slightly but kept quiet so Ben continued. "When she came to my son's birthday party, we talked and I asked who the man with her was the other night. She told me he was a friend that she hooked up with."

"So, she's a grown up," Matt said. "I don't see a problem with this."

"It's not that I think she's a bad person," Ben said. "What she does is her right. But like I said: I don't know if she's the girl I thought she was."

Matt rolled his eyes. "It's called 'getting to know somebody on a deeper level', Garrett. You've been so busy building this perfect image of her in your mind that you were thrown off that she actually does have a life and there are some parts of it that you might not like. You got to trust her to do the right thing if you want to get more out of this."

"I know, I just... I don't want River to get hurt if this turns out wrong," Ben said.

"Is that why you asked her to babysit River? To put her through some kind of wacky test?" Matt asked.

Ben glared at him. "I'm not some shit-head, Jackson. It was too late to send him to my mother's house and Elle was the first person that came into my mind."

"See, you trust her already," Matt said smugly.

"She's a decent person and River knows her," Ben explained, more to himself than to Matt. "And she's the only one available tonight."

"And just because you were burned before doesn't mean it'll happen to you again," Matt reasoned. "Just ask her out for a date. If she's up for it, then you've got nothing to lose and an amazing girl to gain. If she's not, well, it's not like you'd never been rejected before right, with a face like yours?"

Ben ignored Matt's jab. "So you think it's a good idea to ask Elle out?"

"For a date, yeah," Matt replied. "Just ask her out like any other girl. And on that note," he looked at his watch, "Get your ass out of here and make sure the girl gets home safe."

"But it's still a couple of hours until close," Ben said.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Thanks for telling me, Mr. Einstein. I'm going to do my buddy a favor and take over his shift for the rest of the night."

Ben was surprised by the offer. "Wow, you're sure about this?" he asked.

Matt held up his watch. "The offer stands for the next two point one—" Ben slapped the radio onto the table and was out the door before Matt could finish the sentence.

***

Even though Ben had left early, it was already past midnight when he arrived home. He frowned when Elle was not in the living room as expected nor was she in the kitchen. Telling himself to remain calm, Ben headed to River's bedroom and came to a stop when he spotted Elle sitting on the floor with her head resting on River's bed, holding hands with him. Ben walked closer to the bed and knelt down beside Elle's sleeping form.

"Elle, wake up," he whispered, putting a hand on her shoulder to shake her gently.

She stirred and slowly straightened and from the light pouring in from the hallway through the partially opened door, her face was etched in a sleepy smile.

"Oh, hi, Ben," she greeted softly. "You are home."

"Yes, I am. Why are you sitting on the floor?" he asked. She stretched and indicated that they should talk outside. Ben helped her up and they headed down the hallway towards the living room.

"River had a nightmare. He was anxious when he couldn't see you so I promised to keep him company while he sleeps," she explained. She hesitated slightly before continuing, "I hope you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind, Elle. I'm glad you were there for River," he said. "I'm sorry for this last minute favor. Karen's dad was sent to the emergency and it was too late to call my mom, so..."

"Oh, don't worry about it. You know I'd do anything for you and River," Elle said without thinking. Instantly heat flooded her face and she could feel the blush from her forehead down to her neck. "I mean... I'd better go, now that you're home safe."

Ben grinned and decided to let it go for now. "Let me walk you out. I'm glad you thought of borrowing your roommate's car," he said as they walked down the driveway together.

"Yeah, I don't think there are any trains at this time of night," Elle said with a nervous laugh, feeling more than happy to divert the attention away from what she had said. "She's out on a date, and is not using it anyway." She unlocked the door when Ben decided that it was now or never.

"Elle," he said, effectively stopping her from entering the car as she looked back at him questioningly. "I was wondering if we could go out sometime. I want to buy you coffee, lunch, dinner..." He trailed off, mentally punching himself. "You know, as thank you for your help tonight," he finished lamely.

Elle's lips curved into a grin and she tilted her head as if she could see through him, which to Ben was what he felt all the time when it came to her.

"Just let me know when and where. I'll be there," she said before lowering herself into the car.

Ben ran a hand through his hair and let out a breath after Elle had driven off, relieved that it went better than he had thought. Elle had finally opened herself for him during River's party and her obvious affection for his son moved him. And now she had told him she would do anything for him and River, effectively putting herself completely out there. She must feel something for him and he was determined to find out for sure.

Chapter 6

"Good morning!" Zoe chirped when Elle walked into the kitchen the next morning. "Want some java?" She held up her mug in question. "I'd figured as much," she said when Elle responded with a yawn. She grabbed another mug from the cabinet and poured out some hot coffee and slid it across the counter to Elle. "What time did you get home last night? Or should I say, this morning?"

"Uh... one-ish?" Elle answered groggily as she poured sugar and creamer in the coffee before taking a fortifying sip. "What about you?"

"The bar wasn't much good. We took off early, like ten," Zoe said. "And you ended up coming home later than if you had gone out with us."

"Shut up," Elle said irritably.

"So, anything interesting happened?" Zoe asked, unfazed by Elle's words.

Elle shook her head. "Nope, just did some wholesome ol' babysittin'. I left as soon as Ben was home."

"Whoa. I'd presumed you guys would do some wholesome ol' shaggin' as well. He'd called for a last minute favor; he needed to pay for it," Zoe said.

"He's going to pay me back for sure, but not with sex," Elle laughed. "It will either be 'coffee, lunch or dinner'; his words. We haven't made any specific plan yet."

"Maybe something will happen then," Zoe said hopefully.

"I do hope so, actually," Elle agreed. "I really, really like him." A jittery feeling settled itself in her stomach as she entertained the thoughts of Ben cared for or liked her even. Zoe picked up on her mood immediately.

"You're thinking about dating him, aren't you?" she said teasingly. Elle merely shrugged and Zoe nodded as if she knew what that meant. "You get along fine with River, right? Maybe he wouldn't oppose to you dating his father."

She knew Zoe was right: Ben loved his son and looked out for his best interest. If River didn't like her, she wouldn't stand a chance with Ben. Not that she thought Ben would give up his own happiness for River's sake, but it would certainly make things harder if River didn't like her.

But what was she doing now, holding out hope that River might like her enough that he wouldn't mind her dating his father when she hadn't even started dating him yet, or even having the potential of going out on a date with him, for that matter.

"I think I'm going to just take it when it comes," Elle told Zoe decidedly.

***

Having River over on a weeknight meant that Ben would have to get him ready for school the next day. Since River was five, Ben started to have him sleep over. He had only ever had his son once before on a weeknight so he had a very busy morning preparing River for school.

"Come on, eat up," Ben urged his son gently. "You'll need the energy for school."

River used his fork to push the scrambled eggs around his plate and for a moment Ben thought he didn't like scrambled eggs.

"Is Granddad going to be okay?" River asked in a small voice.

"I don't know," Ben answered honestly. "But we can call Mom before you go to school and you can ask her then, is that okay?"

River nodded and took a bite of the food. Ben reached across the table to run a hand over his son's head. "Did you have fun with Ellie last night?" he asked, attempting to divert River's attention from worrying over his grandfather.

"Yeah, we baked some cookies," he said and pointed at the cookie jar.

"So that's where those cookies come from," Ben replied with a smile.

"I told Ellie about Granddad and she said we could make some cookies for him," River said. "She said he could eat them when he feels better." He leaned down to his backpack and pulled out a rumpled piece of paper. "See, I made a 'Get Well Soon' card for him too."

"You did a great job with it, kid. I'm sure Granddad will love the card and the cookies," Ben said with a surge of pride. He felt immense gratitude for Elle too, not only because she had taken care of his son for the night, but also because she had been there for River when he needed comfort and reassurance. "I'm sorry for leaving you with Ellie last night, though," he said.

River shrugged. "You had to work." For a moment Ben felt even worse, but then River added, "It's not your fault."

Ben was struck by how much his son had grown overnight and his heart ached for the child. The potential of losing someone that you loved, even the thought of it, would do that to you. River reminded him briefly of the time when his own grandfather died. Ben was a grown man by then, yet he had had a hard time dealing with his grandfather's death.

A part of him, the selfish part of him, wanted to shield his son away from all the tragedies and disappointments that came with life. But he knew it was impossible. Ben only hoped that he would know how to help River handle the downsides of life when that time came.

After breakfast Ben let River called Karen as promised. His grandfather had gotten better so Ben dropped off a much more cheerful-looking River at school.