Chapter 2
Charles ran his fingers through his hair nervously. Tonight was his first date with Erik. They were dropping Nina off at Erik’s sisters’ house before heading out to dinner at a small lounge that had rave reviews.
He hoped Erik he could entice Erik to dance with him. It had been two weeks after his fateful meeting with Nina and he’d taught her to make pancakes the weekend before while Erik watched and adamantly insisted that he would ruin the meal if he tried to help.
It had been a great morning; it had been a great day. Though Charles had promised himself he’d take this slow, he was falling fast and hard for the domestic charm of the Lehnsherr’s.
He tried not to let his overinvestment show, but knew he’d failed when he caught Erik smirking at him from across the breakfast table when he’d blushed to the tips of his ears at the clumsy drawing Nina had made of him at school.
“She carried it all the way home in her hand. She didn’t want it to get crumpled in her book bag,” Erik informed him somewhat nervously.
He’d been incredibly anxious for Nina to give Charles her artwork. He knew she was enamored of the other man, but someone without kids might see it as too much too fast.
Logically he knew that anyone who was scared off by the fact that Erik had a small child wasn’t the one for him, but try telling that to his fragile heart.
Fortunately, Charles was touched. The picture was wobbly and he was mostly eyes and scribbles. The laws of gravity clearly didn’t apply to the -kitchen utensils?- flying around his head and his mouth looked like a bloody smear.
It was a masterpiece.
“I’ll hang it on my fridge,” he promised, face hot with embarrassed joy. He had no idea he’d made such an impression on her already.
Nina grinned up at him from her place at his side, “Really? You promise?”
“Yes, I swear, you’ll see it in my next video,” he said, avoiding Erik’s searching eyes until he could control the emotions roiling within him.
“I can’t wait!” she cheered, bouncing in her seat like a little spring.
He finally glanced back at Erik to see him looking more relaxed than he had since Charles had arrived. They’d shared a small smile and turned back to their meal, happy to be right where they were.
~~
Charles nervously ran his hands over his neatly pressed jeans that showed his muscled thighs and toned ass to its best advantage. With all the cooking he did, his workout routine had to be strict or he’d have been 400lbs by now.
He was wearing a dark purple button up under a dark grey vest. His best friend, Raven, had happily helped him choose and outfit over Skype.
She had been right with him in the thick of things when it all went down with Sebastian. He’d never expected her to walk out with him when Seb fired him in front of the entire kitchen staff.
“If he’s going to treat you like that, in front of everyone, then he deserves to lose his sous-chef and his pastry chef all at once,” she’d snapped, catching up to him in the parking lot where he was making his shaken and dazed way to his car.
They’d spent their sudden and unexpectedly free weekend getting drunk and trash talking Sebastian, even going so far as to leave him negative reviews on Yelp and Glassdoor.
“I never liked him,” she’d griped. “He’s always so condescending. You were the only reason I stayed so long, there’s no way in hell I was working in that kitchen without you.”
Charles was touched, he’d had no idea he’d made such a professional impact on the talented young woman who had worked at the restaurant for nearly eight months.
They’d become fast friends as soon as she was hired and were thick as thieves after their first double shift together.
Sebastian had never liked her; Charles thought it was because she wasn’t impressed by his reputation or intimidated by his temper.
“You were the real talent there, Charles. You were the glue that held that kitchen together. You’ll see. Give it six months and he’ll be in serious trouble,” she’d said knowingly, sliding off the couch to lie in a boneless heap on his living room floor and gaze up at his entertainment system. “Hey, you have Cinderella?!” she demanded.
“Live action or cartoon?” he slurred smugly.
“Oh, Charles. That asshole never deserved you,” she'd warbled drunkenly.
~~
~Maybe he was a placeholder for something better~ Charles smiled at the memory and fidgeted nervously with his open collar. Raven had made it clear that he was not to wear a tie or button his shirt all the way.
“I’ll know, Charles!” she’d threatened him with a curling iron from the safety of her bedroom across town.
Normally she would have come over to help him get ready, but she had a date of her own. A fifth date to be exact, Charles had shamelessly teased her about her plans for the evening, knowing her ‘five date rule.’
“And what’s your rule? When can Mr. Sexy Neighbor expect to get a tour of your bedroom?” she asked with a suggestive lift to her eyebrows.
Charles had blushingly rushed her off the call and gone to pace by the door until it was time for him to meet Erik and Nina out front.
He glanced out his side window and saw Nina peering back at him from hers. He startled, wondering how long she’d been watching his house. He returned her eager wave with a warm smile and pointed towards the door before stepping back from view.
He was only a few minutes early, surely he couldn’t be faulted for being over eager.
~~
Erik tugged on a light jacket and nervously cracked his knuckles. He was wearing pressed khakis and a white button up without a tie. Hopefully he didn't look too square for the place Charles had picked.
“Nina? Come and get your coat on,” he called. She still had a hard time putting on jackets over long sleeves without getting hopelessly tangled.
“Papa! Charles is coming!” she yelled as she ran into the foyer and nearly knocked over the coat rack.
He sighed; his sister was not going to thank him for dropping off his hyperactive little girl.
“Yes, we only have a few minutes so let’s get your coat on,” he said gently, kneeling in front of her to help slip her coat on over her hot pink star patterned sweater. She looked like an 80s rock star.
“No, he’s coming now! I was watching him and he saw and-”
“Wait, what?” Erik snapped to attention at her words. “You were watching him?” his heart sank. “He saw you?”
“Yes!” she chirped brightly, “and he smiled and pointed and now he’s coming over!” she hopped in place, tossing her head back and forth to set her pigtails bouncing.
Erik glanced at the clock; it was only ten minutes before their set meeting time. That wasn’t so bad. Of course there was no telling how long Nina had been watching his house. So much for playing it cool, he sighed.
And to think he’d been worried about her scaring Charles away with the portrait she’d done of him at school.
Fortunately Charles seemed to take everything Nina did in careful stride. He’d explained to Erik that he wasn’t used to children so his method was to let them behave how they normally did and simply interact with them at their level.
It seemed to be a winning tactic when it came to Nina since Charles was rapidly becoming one of her favorite people.
“Are you sure he smiled?” he asked nervously.
She nodded earnestly, eyes wide. Giving him a gap toothed grin. “yes, papa. He looked surprised then happy.”
He breathed a sigh of relief and finished zipping her jacket as the doorbell rang. Nina squealed in his ear like she hadn’t seen Charles just a few days prior.
“Alright, settle down,” he quickly intercepted her so he could open the door himself.
“Charles,” he gave a carefully measured smile.
“Erik,” he breathed eyes bright with infatuation. “Hello, Nina. Were you playing spy?” he asked with a chuckle as she hurtled past Erik and clutched at Charles’ hand.
“Yes!” she giggled. “I wanted to see you.”
“Well, here I am,” he swung her hand lightly let her use him to steady herself as she bounced in place.
Charles raised his eyebrows at her energy level so late on a Friday night. It was going on six thirty; wouldn’t that usually be nearing her bedtime?
“Nina had a class birthday party at the end of today. Tell him what you had, Nina,” Erik said dryly.
“We had cupcakesandcandyapplesandsodaandchocolatemilk!” she cheered.
“Wow, no wonder your teacher waited until the end of the day for all that,” Charles chuckled, not wanting to imagine a room full of five years old hopped up on sugar.
“Yes,” Erik said grimly. “I’ll certainly owe my sister for this.”
Charles laughed out loud at that, “I’m sure she’ll forgive you with time.”
Erik gave him a crooked smile, “She’ll have to. I wouldn’t miss our date for all the sugar in the world.”
Charles returned his grin bashfully, “That’s good to know.”
“Let’s get a move on, I’m starving,” Erik ushered them out the door and quickly locked up before leading them to the car.
“You’ll like Armando’s. He makes the most amazing Asian/Caribbean fusion cuisine,” Charles gushed, watching as Erik buckled Nina into her booster seat as she listened to their conversation with bright eyed curiosity.
“Sounds great, I haven’t been out in ages,” he closed Nina’s door and grasped Charles’ hand in a firm grip. “Thank you for agreeing to come out with me,” he said softly.
“I was happy you asked. I’ve been looking forwards to this,” he admitted just as quietly. They exchanged a small smile.
~~
They dropped Nina off to terrorize her aunt, uncle, and cousins on her sugar high before what was sure to be an epic crash.
Erik sighed as he got back into the car where he’d left it parked in the shadows, knowing his sister would try to get a good look at Charles before he was ready for them to meet.
“For god’s sakes Ruth, this is our first date, don’t scare him away if Nina didn’t manage it,” he hissed as he blocked her view out the front door with his superior height and broad shoulders.
“If you make it to three dates I expect to meet him,” she subsided with a huff before shoving him playfully out the door so she could see to corralling the unruly heard of children thundering around her house.
“All set?” Charles asked eagerly when he made his way back to the car.
Erik nodded and quickly tapped the restaurant address into his phone and set the directions to play over Bluetooth. Now that they were here, he found he was more excited than nervous. It was shaping up to be a wonderful night. “Sure am.”