Struggles of a Single Father (Book 1 of the Struggle Puff Series)

Chapter 5

Edited – 1/26/2020

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"You are an absolute lifesaver... No, really. It's fine... Okay. See you soon."

Once I put down my phone, I let out a heavy sigh of relief. It was thirty minutes before I had to go to work and Amy had called to let me know she had Tilisia's bag. Of course, my first concern was that she had my phone number, but then I realized I wrote it on the bag in case it got lost.

According to her, Ain had seen that she left it in her cubby hole and when he grabbed it to run it out to her, we were already driving off. He then decided that he had to return the bag before tomorrow and informed his sister of his predicament. Upon her telling me, I told her that I would be working that night, so she said she would bring it by and that she had to go grocery shopping anyway. Lucky for her, I worked at a grocery store.

It was six-twenty when I walked in and put my belongings into my locker. When I walked out of the backroom, I went to where Amy said she would be, near the produce. I immediately recognized her black hair and the protruding earpiece that she wore. Beside her was Ain. He was still wearing his uniform except, this time around, he was accessorized with a sparkly green Tinker Bell backpack.

"Hey guys." I called out as I approached them. Amy turned and smiled at me.

"Long time no see!" She chuckled. "I'm so sorry about bothering you here. Ain just really wanted to return it himself." She gestured for him to hand me the bag, and he stepped forward, watching me intently with his soul-searching eyes.

He jutted the bag in my direction, "Please tell Tilisia that I am sorry for not being able to bring it to her sooner." He instructed.

"It really isn't any trouble, Ain. Thanks for bringing it. I really appreciate it."

Ain nodded slowly, "Either way, sir. I was hoping that I could still make it up to her by having her accompany me to get ice cream this Sunday. If that's okay with you, of course."

I was baffled by his straight forwardness. For a moment, I thought my eyebrows had stretched beyond my hairline. I looked to Amy for some clarity, but she simply shrugged, obviously unaware of him wanting to ask this.

"Uh. Yeah. If it's okay with Amy, that is." I finally said, "How about we meet up at Double Scoop at three o clock?"

"That would be great, sir." He turned to Amy with an inquiring look, "Does that work for your schedule, as well?"

Amy simply nodded, still not sure of what was happening.

"Great. Thank you again, sir. I'm looking forward to it." He dipped his head before walking to look at the fruit baskets.

"I'm so sorry, Carter." Amy had finally found her voice, "You really don't need to do this. He'll understand if you can't. He's very reasonable."

I held up my hand to stop her ranting, "Honestly, I don't mind. Tilisia has been going on about him all day, so I'm sure she would love to see him outside of school. Besides," I added with a half-smile, "I really want to know more about you both."

"Well then... I guess it's a playdate!" She exclaimed with glee.

I nodded, "I suppose it is."

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It was one-thirty AM when I got home. Once I checked on Tilisia, I retreated to my room and began to look over the list of upcoming projects and assignments. After finishing that up, I changed out of my work clothes and into a pair of flannel sweatpants.