Kimberly's Daughter: A Modern Day Romance

Kimberly’s Daughter: A Modern Day Romance
Part Two: Frogs

She’s always lived for tomorrow, she’s never known how to live for today.

“Cocktail dress, cocktail dress.” Kimberly actually had three cocktail dresses. One was so eighties it nearly made her cry and she threw it back in the closet as soon as she saw it. “God, we were fashion rejects then.” The other two were more promising. One was red, with spaghetti straps and a plunging neckline. She had worn it on a date with Katie’s father when they first started dating. The second was black, with thicker straps, lace, and didn’t expose as much cleavage. Her mother had bought it for her a few months after Katie was born.

Kimberly bit her lip, holding each up to her in turn. “Katie?” She turned to her daughter, who was sitting on her mother’s bed with a coloring book. “Which dress is prettier, baby?”

Katie put her crayon up to her mouth as if she were thinking, something her mother often did when studying, only with pencils. “Black. Prettier.”

Slipping out of her jeans and shirt, Kimberly worked her way into the dress. It was only slightly tighter than it had been when she tried it on the first time. She had only changed a dress size since she had lost her baby weight. It was pretty. Formal, but not stiff. Cute, but still mature. Sexy, but not slutty. She logged into her memory that she would ask Matt exactly how dressy the dinner date was before she bought new heels.

“Mommy?” Katie asked. “Why were you talking to that TV boy today?”

“TV boy?” Kimberly hung the dress back up, returning to her day clothes. “What TV boy?”

“The one who’s nice to me. He’s a TV boy.”

Kimberly smiled, kneeling on the floor in front of her daughter. “What’s a TV boy, sweetie?”

“They’re on TV. They work inside of it and make TV shows. Tausha watches the TV boy’s show. He wears glasses sometimes.” Katie reached for the remote control as if to prove her point, but when she turned the TV on it was a commercial for Windex.

“Well, I’ll ask Tausha about Mr. TV boy tomorrow.” Kimberly said. “But that man I was talking to today is named Matt. He and Mommy are going to have dinner on Friday, so you’re going to stay with a baby-sitter, okay?”

“Okay.” Katie said. “Is it going to be Tausha?”

“I don’t know. I’ll find out tomorrow. But now it’s bath time, ‘kay?”

“Nooo.” Katie’s lip curled into a pout. “No bath time. All clean, see?” She smiled and held her hands out. “All clean.”

“Nice try.” Kimberly said, smiling.

* * *

“So, how dressy is this thing?” Kimberly asked the next evening, leaning against her car while Katie struggled to get out of her car seat.

Matt shrugged. “Normal dressy, I guess.”

“Well, what are you wearing?”

“Slacks and a blazer.” he shrugged again, taking a drink out of his coffee mug. “It’s not that dressy or it would be in one of those restaurants where you have to pay five hundred dollars just to sit down.”

Kimberly laughed, reaching into the car and unbuckling Katie, who scampered out and onto the sidewalk. “Wait right there,” Kimberly said, “until Mommy’s finished talking.” She turned back to Matt, smirking. “Oh, and by the way . . . Katie was kind enough to share your nickname with me last night.”

“Oh, really? And what’s that?”

“TV boy.”

Matt laughed, bringing his hand up to his mouth. “TV boy?”

“Yes. Apparently you live inside of our television and make TV shows there.” Kimberly laughed, but both of them knew the question underneath her words.

Matt’s hand played on the side of his coffee mug. He looked across the street at his apartment, biting the side of his lip. “Yeah.” He looked back at the woman in front of him. “I do work on a TV show, yeah.”

“Well, so long as I know Katie’s not—Katlin Veronica Cratin, you put that frog down right this second.” Kimberly shut the car door and stormed up to the grass where her daughter was clutching the struggling amphibian. “Put him down right now.”

“But, Mommy—“

“Right now, Katlin.”

Katie frowned and started to cry, but put the frog down. It hopped away immediately, only adding to her displeasure. Kimberly sighed, turning to tell Matt she would talk to him the next day, but he was kneeling next to her in front of Katie.

“Did you know that frogs used to live with dinosaurs?” he said, causing the girl to blink.

“Dinosaurs?”

“Yeah. Really really old frogs used to live with dinosaurs.”

Kimberly turned to him, an odd smile on her face. “Where did you come up with that bit of information?”

“I saw it on the Discovery Channel one day in college.”

The woman shook her head, smiling. “You are so weird, Matt.”

* * *

Friday and five thirty came faster than Kimberly expected. She was putting on earrings when Tausha opened the door for Matt. “Miss Cratin! Your boyfriend’s here!” she yelled, disappearing into the living room.

“He’s not my boyfriend, Tausha, and quit calling me that.” Kimberly hurried out of her room, nearly tripping. She smiled at Matt, an embarrassed sort of smile. “Let me say good-bye to Katie.” She hurried into the living room, this time without stumbling, to give her daughter a hug and a kiss. “Be good for Tausha, sweetie.” She hurried to the door and followed Matt out.

“That’s Matt. He likes frogs.” they both heard Katie inform Tausha before the door shut.

He laughed, holding the complex door open for Kimberly. “You look really nice.” Matt said, smiling at her. A very faint blush grazed Kimberly’s cheeks as Matt lead her around his building to the parking lot that was behind it. He opened the car door for her and she smiled, teasing him about chivalry being dead.

The drive to the restaurant was full of jokes and teasing, mainly about music. Kimberly was a rock music fan and Matt’s evident shock caused her middle finger to go up. “I’m a mom. I’m still twenty-two. I like good music, not that shitty stuff my mother listened to. Or the shitty stuff you listen to, apparently.”

“I like that shitty stuff, I’ll have you know.”

“That’s why we’re having this discussion, isn’t it?” Kimberly said, laughing. “So,” she said as they were pulling up to the restaurant, “who exactly is the business meeting with?”

“Someone my agent works with, I think.” Matt rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. All he said was ‘dress nice, bring a date, and try not to screw me over’.”

“How helpful.” The valet opened Kimberly’s door and Matt walked around the car to meet her, giving his keys and a twenty dollar bill to the man. He took Kimberly’s hand very gently and walked with her through the door. It was romantic, though not at the same time.

Both of them felt the electricity between their skin, however.

Kimberly took a deep breath. Men couldn’t be trusted. However funny and sweet and charming this one was . . . men couldn’t be trusted.

* * *

The valet brought the car around and Kimberly grabbed her date’s arm before he could get in the vehicle. “You can’t drive. You had six drinks.”

“I’m fine.” he assured her, patting the hand on his arm and giving her a look that clearly meant she had no idea what she was talking about.

She grabbed his hand and bent one of his fingers backward. “You aren’t driving. Understand?”

“Jesus Christ!” he yelped, yanking his hand away from her. “I understand, I understand. You drive. Jesus, Kimberly.” He tipped the valet again, sliding into the passenger seat. “Do you always use physical pain to get your way?”

“Most people aren’t stupid enough to argue with me in the first place.” the woman said, adjusting her seat and the rearview mirror.

“I’ll log that away.” he said, edging away from her.

“Quit being such a pussy.” she informed him. “If I had really wanted to hurt you, I would have.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “You’re a little bundle of sarcasm and cynicism under that dress.”

She smirked. “I’ll let you think that seeing as how you’re not really going to know what’s under this dress.”

“Aw, come on. Haven’t I said enough nice things to your kid?” he teased, leaning across the seat and giving her a peck on the cheek. Once again, an act that was meaningless but shot off sparks between the pair of them.

It grew silent for a moment before Matt’s voice broke the quietness, this time serious. “Can I take you out again? A proper date this time, no business. Just two adults exchanging verbal foreplay at dinner without any hope of sex.”

Kimberly smiled, despite her brain telling her this wasn’t a good idea. “All right.”