Tonight's not over

Chapter 5

I'd had a busy day at work. The stress with deadlines were really catching up with me and I felt I had to break my everyday routine and decided to grab a coffee heading home. Just to get a minute where I only thought about what I wanted, not what my work demanded me to do. I found a cafe and walked in and placed my order. I was just waiting for my coffee when I heard a deep voice behind me
"Mia...?"

I span round to see Chris stood behind me.
"Chris! Hi" I said, surprised to see him "I didn't expect to see you here."

"I'm just here with my boys." he said pointing over to three boys sat at a table. The oldest seemed to be around 15 and the youngest around 10. "We've had an afternoon out so stopped for a coffee."

I hadn't thought about Chris having kids or a family until now.
"Your wife's not with you?" I asked politely.

"My wife...? Oh no... No I'm not married anymore. We've been divorced for about two years now."

"Sorry." I looked away a little embarrassed at asking such a personal question.

"Don't be, it's fine. It was a long time ago now. And we have shared custody so I get plenty of time with the boys." His eyes were smiling when he looked at me. "So are you meeting someone?" he asked.

"Me? No. Just decided to treat myself with a latte before going home."

"Why don't you join us then? Save you sitting alone."

"Thanks but I don't want to intrude." I shook my head.

"You're not. Come on." At that moment the barista placed my coffee on the tray in front of me so Chris picked it up and carried it over to his table giving me no choice but to follow. As we reached the table he said
"Mia I'd like you to meet my sons Liam, Dash, and Eamon. Boys this is Mia."

"Hi" I said.

They all looked up muttered hi and then went back to their conversation looking at something on a mobile phone. I was surprised at how relaxed they were. I'd been worried they might think I was trying to date their dad but I guess with Chris being famous they were used to lots of people being around him.

Chris laughed a little "Kids eh?" he said as he placed my tray on the table. "Take a seat."

I sat down next to him feeling a little bit awkward. It seemed weird being sat with him and his boys like I was one of the family when I hardly knew him. But Chris was so friendly as usual that I soon relaxed and it wasn't long before we were chatting like we'd known each other for years. After a while he even had the boys joining in too. They seemed so close to their dad it was great to see them together.

We'd been chatting for about an hour when Liam said "When are we going home dad?"

"Why?" Chris asked.

"Adam has just text to ask when I can join him to play online."

Chris gave a little laugh and looked at his watch. Then he turned to me.
"I guess I should think about taking them home and preparing some dinner. It was lovely bumping into you Mia."

"Yes I've really enjoyed chatting with you all." I said and at Chris as I got up from the table. Everyone else stood too and Chris gave me a quick hug.

"Well hopefully I'll see you again soon." he said as he picked up his things and started to walk away. He'd only walked a couple of steps before he turned back and said "Unless you fancy joining us for dinner? It won't be anything complicated. But the boys will no doubt disappear in their rooms when we get back so you could keep me company."

"Erm...." I muttered a little shocked. It wasn't that I didn't want to go with him I was just surprised he'd asked and I was meeting Taylor later.

"It's OK. Don't worry about it. It was just a thought and you've probably got other plans anyway." He looked a little uncomfortable like he thought he'd said something wrong.