"Nowyou want to talk?"
"It's an olive branch but a very short one, so don't push me."
"How generous of you," she said sarcastically.
"So, are you coming?" I asked impatiently.
"Until I hear a please somewhere in that 'request,' I am not moving."
"Why do you always have to make everything so difficult?" I snapped, pinching the bridge of my nose. I could feel a headache coming on.
"Me?! You are insane if you think I'm the difficult one in all this."
If we were to progress in this, I had to come down to her level.
"Will youpleasecome to my hotel?"
She was quiet for a second before replying. "Only if there are no more threats, Michael. And you are ready to talk like a normal human being."
She had a lot of demands for someone in the wrong here, but I let her have herhumanmoment. People put a lot of stock into the whole being human thing. Maybe we all needed to be better at being human.
"Fine. How soon can you be here?"
"Seven. Some of us have jobs, you know."
"Okay, dinner it is then."
"Fine," she answered before hanging up.
I was relieved to have gotten that out of the way, which helped me have a clearer mind for the rest of the day. I managed to get work done and was shocked when I realized it was almost seven. I quickly ordered some food before taking a shower. Jade came in at the same time the food was delivered, and we got the awkward greetings out of the way as the table was set.
When we were finally alone, I took some time to look at Jade.
She wore a jumpsuit that fit her well, showing off her curves. Her hair was in her usual ponytail but looked curled and beautifully styled. She had very little makeup, a little touch to the eyes, and a light hint of lip gloss. It was difficult not to look at her when she looked so damn appetizing, but a part of me knew that I would have wanted her even if she showed up in a trash bag. I reminded myself why she was here, and it was not to end up naked on my couch like last time. I was still mad at her, but we had to start acting like two parents.
"You are welcome, by the way." She started, taking a sip from her glass.
I frowned in confusion. "Welcome?"
"That's just a response to 'thank you for coming, Jade.'"
"And why should I thank you for coming here?"
"Because after the way you treated me, I shouldn't even be here. Speaking of which, you can also throw an apology in there while we are at it."
"I'm not sorry for anything, so you can stop waiting for an apology and enjoy the food."
She rolled her eyes and made a show of stabbing a potato. "So, what do you want to talk about?"
"A custody agreement."
She scoffed. "You've been here for two minutes and want to discuss custody? I am not giving you my son."
"Ourson," I corrected. "You remember that I also participated, right?"
That was the wrong choice of words because now I was thinking about said 'participation,' and judging by the blush on Jade's face, she was thinking about it too. Maybe after we were done discussing this, we would have to discuss some ground rules too, like no more getting naked with each other.
"How about we start with visiting arrangements? You two get to know each other before we start throwing the word custody around," she proposed.