"Sure, sounds great," I lied. Benson had finally invited me to the Monday Night Football game. I wasn't much for watching sports, but I knew that this weekly ritual was about more than just the game. It was an exclusive club. Benson, Dwight, Sam and our regional director, Cary, never missed a week, and no one beneath them was invited to join. Then Sam moved across the country and there was a spot open. None of the guys in the office were sure which would come first, the promotion or the invitation to the game. We all knew that they were one and the same.
"Glad you are free. There's one problem though, we couldn't get any of our houses free from the ladies. You know how wives are," Benson laughed, "Any chance that your house is empty tonight?"
"Yeah, no problem."
I knew how wives were. I had been divorced from mine for ten years. I could definitely understand their need to get away from their spouses and let lose a little. That's why I didn't really consider it anything outstanding when Benson slipped me a paper with a phone number and instructed me to call for a waitress for the evening. I figured we would kick back, drink a few too many beers, flirt a bit with a cute young college girl, and in the morning I would wake up with a little more responsibility and a lot more pay.
I had a well-stocked bar at home, a big-screen television, and a comfortable living room. The only thing that I was missing was some cold beer, so I stopped at the liquor store on the way home and was feeling rather smug about the evening. But as I pulled into my driveway I saw a powder blue Datsun and my smugness dissipated.
"Well, fuck," I grumbled as I turned my car off. However, my voice was only half disappointed. My daughter would put a snag in the evening but I was always thrilled to have her visit.
"Hey there!" I grinned at Jessica as I juggled two twelve packs of beer. She was lounging against the kitchen counter, lovely as usual, and just smirked at me. "You could help, you know?"
"But you are so much fun to watch struggle, daddy," she teased.
I rolled my eyes and put the beer down on the counter. Then I turned to Jessica and held my arms open. She immediately collapsed into an affectionate hug. It had been too long since I had seen her. I had dropped her off at her university in August. She had chosen to spend Christmas vacation with her mother in Hawaii and so I hadn't seen her in nearly a year. She seemed to have blossomed even more and was beaming up at me with a perfectly precious smile.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"It's spring break," she told me, as if I should have known. I probably should have but to be honest I usually only skimmed the long emails that she sent to her mother and me to let us know that she was surviving collage.
"Of course it is," I agreed, "And we planned for you to come here during spring break?"
"Um, no," Jessica bit her lower lip and looked away for a second as if she actually believed that I was going to get angry with her, or turn her away. I laughed and rolled my eyes. That was definitely Joyce's doing.
"I was supposed to be going to the beach with Ryan, but I sort of caught Ryan getting ready for the beach with another girl, if you know what I mean." I always knew Ryan wasn't much of a boyfriend, but I had let Jessica make her own decisions about him. I tried not to show my relief. "So, I thought that since I didn't get to see you during Christmas I would just drive down. You don't mind, do you daddy?"
"No, of course not, sweetheart," I assured her, "And I am sorry about Ryan. It's just that tonight I am having a few co-workers over, and it is kinda a guy's night. Do you think that you might be able to spend the evening with Missy?" Missy was Jessica's high school friend. I didn't really like the girl and I had no idea if she was even still in town, but I hoped that she was at that moment.
Jessica bit her lip again, "Um, daddy, Missy is who I caught Ryan with."
"Oh," I said, blushing and trying to cover my tracks, "Well, then..."
"I am sure I can think of something to do, don't worry," Jessica stood on tiptoe and kissed my cheek, then returned to the counter. I hadn't even realized that I had been holding her during the entire conversation. It felt comforting to have my little girl back in my arms. "So, what kind of party are you having tonight?"
"Now, I didn't say anything about a party," I protested. Jessica nodded towards the beer I had carried in and I blushed again, "Ah, yeah. Well, help me put these away," I cracked open one of the cases and started handing her beers to put into the refrigerator, "It is nothing big. It is just a few of my co-workers coming. But if things go well then I might have a promotion as of tomorrow."
"Congratulations," she beamed at me. I was always happy that Jessica had never lost her pride in me. "What are you doing, playing cards?"
I laughed, "Watching football." Jessica joined me in my laughter, knowing how much I hated sports.
"Well, I am sure it wont be that bad. You have plenty of beer, you can distract yourself with that."
"Oh, that reminds me!" I exclaimed, taking out my cell phone. I had almost forgotten to call for a waitress.
"Ohhhh, are you guys having another type of distraction?" my daughter teased. She knew too much for her nineteen years. I rolled my eyes at her.
"It isn't like that," I explained, "It is just a waitress, to serve drinks and snacks and stuff."
"Oh, really? Does it pay well?"
"Well, I hadn't thought about it. Cary is paying. I suppose it does."
"Can I do it?"
I was taken off guard. The last thing that I had expected was my daughter offering to cater my football party. I looked down at her and for the first time realized that she was quite attractive. She had dark red hair, like her mother's, pale skin with a sprinkling of freckles on her nose, and bright green eyes. She was in shape from walking to class daily, and had perky young breasts poking towards me. I shook my head, wondering how on earth I had started looking at my daughter's breasts.
"I don't think that is such a god idea, sweetheart."
"But daddy," she whined, "I have been a waitress before, and I could really use the money to get me through the end of the semester. Besides, it'll be fun."
"I just don't think it is really professional for me to hire my daughter for something like that."