Blue Plaid

Private Eye

In which Stella is good at getting honest answers.

Tyson was acting weird.

Not that Tyson wasn’t generally a strange individual, but he was being weirder than normal. It was as though he was keeping something from me, an idea I hated partly because if we were going to have a healthy relationship, we shouldn’t be keeping secrets from each other, and partly because my curiosity was getting the better of me and I wanted to know whatever it was that he knew and wasn’t telling me.

Unfortunately, he was becoming somewhat of an expert at avoiding having a serious conversation. Whenever I tried to ask what was going on, he’d say it wasn’t something we should discuss in front of Cooper, but whenever I brought it up after Cooper was asleep, he’d change the subject or distract me, usually with s*x. As much as I enjoyed the physical aspect of our relationship, I did want him to know that I could be there for him emotionally as well, so I decided I needed to take action and confront him, once and for all.

But first, I needed someone to watch Cooper for the afternoon, which was where Dani came in.

“Thanks so much for doing this,” I said as I let her into our apartment, calling over my shoulder to Cooper, who was playing on his mat in the common area. “Hey, Coop, look who’s here.”

Looking up, Cooper’s face lit with excitement as he pushed himself to his feet and toddled towards the door as fast as his little feet would carry him. “Dan Dan!”

“No worries. It’s not like playing with your kid for a few hours is such a chore,” Dani replied as she squatted down as the toddler raced towards her, scooping him into her arms and pressing a kiss to his cheek as she stood up straight again. “Hey, Coop! Guess what? We get to hang out today!”

He clapped his hands together in excited response and I laughed as I shut the door, following them over to Cooper’s play area, where Dani set him down and he returned to building castles with his blocks.

“So what’s going on?” Dani asked, plopping down on the floor beside my son and stretching her legs out to her front, leaning back on her flattened palms. “What’s with the last minute need for a babysitter? Where’s Tyson?”

“With some friends,” I explained, raking my hair back from my forehead and using the hair tie on my wrist to twist it into a bun at the crown of my head. He had gone to a buddy’s house to watch that morning’s English Premier League games, so I’d texted him not to come home right away and suggested we meet at our favorite dim sum place for lunch, to which he’d heartily agreed. “I’m about to go meet him.”

“Everything alright?” she replied, lifting one eyebrow, apparently sensing the fact that I was a bit off kilter. “You seem stressed.”

“I don’t know,” I admitted with a sigh, twisting my torso to pull my coat off the barstool it was hanging off of and stick my arms through the sleeves. “I just feel like something’s up with Ty; like there’s something he’s not telling me. I’m hoping that maybe he’ll be more willing to talk if it’s just the two of us.”

“Fair assumption,” she nodded. “It’s probably nothing, though. Like, he’s probably just stressed out about being unemployed.”

“Maybe,” I shrugged, squatting down in front of Cooper and lifting my lips into a smile. “Hey, buddy, I’m gonna go meet your daddy, so you be a good boy for Auntie Dani, alright? Can I get a kiss?”

Nodding, he leaned forward and smacked his lips against mine, waving one hand happily as I stood up straight again. “Byeee, mama.”

“Bye, sweetie,” I laughed, glancing towards Dani once more. “Thanks again, Dan. It won’t be too long.”

“Take your time,” she assured me with a shrug. “Cooper and I will have tons of fun. Congratulations on fashion week, by the way. You must be stoked.”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise as I hadn’t really had a chance to tell her about my amazing news since finding out about the offer a week and a half ago. She sensed my confusion as to how she’d stumbled upon this knowledge and smiled sheepishly, lifting one shoulder in a half shrug. “It was in the news. I’m a fan.”

That was quite possibly the cutest thing I’d ever heard, so I did my best not to make her feel embarrassed, puckering my lips to blow her a kiss as I buttoned the last of my coat buttons. Lifting my hand in one last wave, I grabbed my purse off the seat of the barstool and headed towards the door, blowing them a kiss as I stepped into the hallway. Fifteen minutes and one subway ride later; I was entering the front area of the restaurant at which I was meeting Tyson to find that I’d arrived first. Shooting a grateful smile at the hostess, I followed her through the tables in the middle of the mostly empty restaurant to a booth in the back corner, shrugging off my coat and tossing it on one side before sliding into the leather bench on the other.

I had read the entire menu and selected what I wanted to order when I felt a pair of cold lips on my cheek and looked up to see Tyson standing up straight, a sheepish smile lighting his expression.

“Hey,” he said as he unbuttoned his coat, his voice coming out haggard as though he’d run from the nearest subway station. “Sorry I’m late, I missed the first train. Where’s Cooper?”

“With Dani,” I replied, scooting over in the booth. “I thought it might be nice for us to have some time alone.”

“Stella St. Clare,” he smirked, peeling his coat back from his shoulders and tossing on top of mine on the other side of the booth. “Are you trying to seduce me?”

Lifting one side of my mouth into a smile, I patted the empty portion of the leather bench beside me. “Why don’t you take a seat and find out?”

Laughing, he adjusted his olive green beanie over his curls and did as he was told, leaning in to kiss me properly on the lips and only pulling away because the waiter approached to take our order, his lips curving into a smile as he whispered, “Hello, beautiful,” before turning his attention to the waiter before I could respond.

It still astounded me that Tyson Kingsley of all people could give me butterflies, but I was slowly but surely starting to accept that this was my life and I couldn’t be happier about it.

“You know what I realized?” he said, stretching his legs out beneath the table once our menus had been returned and order was taken. “We’ve never been on a date before.”

My lips parted to emphasize the absurdity of that statement before I realized he was right. Tyson had been my date to functions before, but all of those events had occurred before we officially became a couple and although there had been a lot of acting like a couple physically over the past few weeks, we hadn’t actually gone on a date. Maybe this spur of the moment lunch meet up so I could figure out what secret he was keeping from me counted.

“Yeah, what’s up with that, Kingsley?” I teased, nudging his shoulder with mine. “You’re losing points in the boyfriend department.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” he promised, reaching out for one of the glasses of water that had been set on the table. “I need some time to plan out a really awesome date, though.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” My smile widened as I reached for my glass as well.

He smiled as he sucked up some water through his straw before speaking again, one arm stretching along the back of the booth so I could snuggle closer into his side. “You know what I have been thinking about? That you’ll be in Paris for fashion week on Valentine’s day.”

“Will I?” My eyebrows lifted in surprise that he knew my schedule so well. I’d been so excited and nervous for my fashion week debut that I hadn’t really thought about the dates. Or maybe because Valentine’s day wasn’t a holiday I had ever really celebrated, I had forgotten it existed. In the past, I hadn’t dated anyone I was serious enough about to want to go out with them on Valentine’s Day, but Tyson meant a lot to me, so if he wanted to celebrate it, I wouldn’t say no.

Nodding slowly, he scratched his fingers lightly up and down my upper arm. “Yeah, and I was thinking, what if Cooper and I came with you to fashion week? That way we could all be together.”

That sounded like an amazing idea and I expressed exactly that sentiment by leaning forward and pressing my lips to his, grinning like an i***t when we pulled apart. “Valentine’s Day in Paris. Way to set the bar high, Tyson. There’s no way you’re gonna be able to top that next year.”

Despite that his arm stiffened around my shoulder, it still took me a good five seconds to realize what I had said; how I had just assumed that we would still be together in a year, how I had assumed that Tyson and I had a future. I parted my lips to speak, but fortunately found I didn’t need to clarify my statement, because he was already whispering in response, the corners of his lips lifting into a small smile.

“Next year. I like the sound of that.”

“Me too.” We weren’t ready to have the conversation about the emotions which went along with what would undoubtedly be the longest relationship either of us had ever had – or at least, I wasn’t ready – so I used my response as way to segue into the real reason I’d asked him to meet me for lunch. “Cause, like, this who relationship thing has been going well so far, don’t you think? I know I’ve definitely learned a lot about being open and honest.”

If the rate at which I spoke didn’t give away that I was making some sort of point, the fact that I had reached out and was picking at the neckline of his sweater certainly did. Narrowing his gaze, he tilted his head to the side and twisted his torso to face me. “Is something wrong?”

“You tell me,” I lifted my eyes to match his stare, keeping my voice low and steady. “Because you’ve been acting weird all week and I get the feeling that there’s something you’re not telling me.”

Pursing his lips, he nodded, lifting the hand that had been on my shoulder to push back a strand of hair from my forehead and tuck it behind my ear. “There is, but it’s probably not what you think.”

“What is it?” I asked, reaching out to grab the hand in his lap and squeeze it in support. “You know you can tell me anything.”

“I know,” he sighed, pausing for a moment before continuing. “I applied to this prestigious culinary program and I’ve been a little stressed about finding out whether or not I got in and I didn’t want to jinx it by talking about it.”

It occurred to me that I didn’t really know much about how Tyson got into the culinary profession in the first place and I made a mental note to learn a hell of a lot more about the guy I was dating. Still, I was slightly relieved that the cause of his odd behavior hadn’t been something much more life altering.

“You’ll get in,” I assured him, stretching my lips into my most supportive smile. “You’re a badass chef.”

“Thanks, babe,” he laughed, seeming a little more relaxed as he leaned forward to press a quick kiss to my lips. “I appreciate the support. And I’m sorry if I’ve been freaking you out.”

“No worries,” I grinned, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. “I’m just glad everything’s alright. We’re all good, right?”

“Yeah,” he smiled softly, moving in to kiss me again, “We’re more than good.”