I'll Be Seeing You

1. Chris

"Hurry up!" I hear Chris yell from the living room. I roll my eyes as I finish putting on my mascara and brush my teeth. I hear him pacing back and forth as I rinse my mouth and wipe down the counter. I make sure to take my time. Not to make us late, but for the simple fact that he's never on time for anything. It's not like we are going to be late anyways.

"Alyssa!" He yells again.

"Give me a minute!" I yell back. I can hear him throwing things around the room, clearly out of anger. It's something I've grown quite accustomed to. We still had an hour before we had to meet Lilly Ann's mom to pick her up for the weekend. This would be the first time Chris would be with me and I didn't pick her up alone.

When I first met Chris a year ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had just gotten out of a bad relationship and was trying to figure out what I wanted in life. My best friend invited me to a party one weekend that some of her work friends were throwing, and as my luck would have it, Chris and I were the only two single ones there.

I wasn't looking for a relationship. In fact, I had my heart set on saving up to get my own place and living the single life for a while. I had never been on my own and thought maybe it was time I gave it a try. But once everyone realized that Chris and I were both single, it became their mission to see that we hooked up before the night was over. We didn't, but not by his choice. I had never hooked up with a stranger and wasn't going to start now.

We did, however, see each other every other weekend. I was spending more time with Rene and partying on the weekends, which meant I would be seeing more of Chris. We talked a lot and got to know each other better over the next couple of weeks. Then the weekend came when I met Lilly Ann, Chris's six-year-old daughter. He shared joint custody with her mom Lisa, and it was his weekend with her. She was the sweetest little girl. She had the most beautiful, long, red curly hair and bright blue eyes you would ever see.

Lilly took to me the second we were introduced. She was such a ray of light and so polite for her age. But as kids do, she asked a thousand questions. Her favorite being, "are you daddy's girlfriend?" In which I would laugh and say no. Little did I know, Chris was sitting across the room whispering things to come say to me in her ear. I finally caught on when she ran across the room and jumped on my lap and asked, "do you want to be my daddy's girlfriend?" as she turned and smiled at her dad sitting across from us.

"Oh, I see what's going on here." I laughed.

"And what is that?" Chris asked from across the room.

"Using Lilly here as the middleman".

"So, what do you say?" Lilly interrupted.

"Well, I'm still getting to know your daddy right now. But he and I can be friends".

"Best friends?" She asked

"Best friends." I smiled.

It was nearly evening when I told Rene it was time for me to head home. Chris must have heard me because not even five minutes later, Lilly was asking if I would spend the night with her and her dad. I tried to talk my way out of it, but she kept naming off all the fun things we could do together, and my heart just couldn't say no.

Well played Chris. Well played.

I must admit, the way Chris was using Lilly to get to me was kind of cute. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love kids, so he knew I wouldn't be able to say no. Everyone whistled and cheered as I grabbed my things, and we said goodbye. I just laughed and shook my head as I followed Chris and Lilly to the car.

"I'm so excited!" Lilly squealed as she hugged me and climbed into the backseat.

"Me too!" Chris said as we pulled out of the driveway.