Rough Draft by Katy Tur

Author:Katy Tur
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria/One Signal Publishers
Published: 2022-06-14T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

On our second date, not long after that, we were walking down 14th Street after another round of daiquiris when Tony said he had something to tell me.

Just a few moments before, sitting on barstools inside, we’d shared our first kiss. Tony had almost imperceptibly leaned forward and I had almost imperceptibly held still, which for teenagers of the late nineties and early 2000s is the universal pose of should we kiss/yes, let’s. But Tony was a little quiet afterward.

I had a feeling I knew what he was going to tell me. On our first date, he’d left abruptly on a mission that definitely seemed like he had to relieve a babysitter. And then there was the evidence of his desk decorations. Other thirtysomething-year-old guys I knew didn’t have cards that said, “I love you more than Batman.”

Still, he needed to tell me. And so he did.

“I have two kids.”

I nodded.

“I’m gone for the next two weeks because I’m dropping them off in Israel. Their mom is moving there with them.”

This I did not know.

“Oh,” I said, searching for the right thing to say next. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I mean, I think so. It isn’t great and I’m not happy about it, but my ex wants to live there and my philosophy is happy parents, happy kids.”

“You sure?”

“I don’t really have a choice.”

“Okay.”

He paused. “Listen, I understand if this is a deal-breaker for you.”

I looked at him. The sad eyes now made sense. So while yes this was even more complicated than the already significant complication of having two small children, I said it wasn’t. There was just something about Tony that felt right. I wasn’t willing to walk away from that feeling.

Tony and I kept talking about it all the way back to my hotel. When we stopped to say goodbye, he kissed me again.

“Can I see you when I’m back?” he asked.

“I’d like that,” I told him.

“Even though I’m full of dents?”

“Maybe our dents will fit together.”

Back in my room my phone pinged. It was a text from Tony. A link to a song by the Happenings called “See You in September.”

He did.

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