Love Child

18- Exist

Micah takes me on a date the next day.

Neither one of us have any other plans for the entire Sunday so he picks me up at one to go to lunch and then from there, I'm not sure what we're doing. I wasn't aware that we were going on a date today, I thought that we were just hanging out so this is a pleasant surprise. It's been a while since I've been on a real date and that I've gotten to wear casual clothes on a date.

I'm wearing skinny jeans and black ankle booties with barely any heel. My shirt is a cropped blouse with wide cold shoulders so it's kind of sexy but also casual and then a leather jacket to stay warm. I look really cute but I don't look overdone.

He takes me to a cute little deli for lunch and they have the best fries so I get a BLT with a side of fries and a chocolate milkshake. Micah orders a turkey club and a Pepsi with no ice. I can't stop looking into his eyes because they're so beautiful and he looks so happy right now. He's smiling a lot; he has a really beautiful smile. But I can't stop looking into his eyes.

"How are your classes going?" I ask him as I dip a fry in ketchup and then pop it into my mouth.

"Tough," He sighs. "But that's expected, you know, it's law school. I feel like by the end of this year, I'll have read an entire library of books. My property law class is as painful as stabbing myself in the asshole with a serrated knife."

His analogy makes me snort with laughter which is a bit embarrassing so I pretend to cough to cover it up. "That sounds pretty painful then. If you don't like it, why are you taking it?"

"Well, I don't really get to pick which classes I take so I'm stuck for now. But next year, I'll get to choose more classes for my specialization."

"What's your specialization?" I ask him.

"Business law. More specifically, small business. I know this all sounds really boring, are you sure that you want to sit here and listen to me talk about law school?" He looks skeptical about how interested I really am in this conversation. But I really am interested in it because I want to know about him. Everything about him. And what he's studying, what he wants to study, that says a lot about him. Clearly, if he's going to school for it, he's passionate about it so it says a lot about him too. Then again, I love his voice so much that I would hang on his every word no matter what he was saying.

"Yes, I'm really interested. It's not boring, I promise. So what's small business law? You're talking to somebody who dropped out of high school, I'll remind you."

"It's pretty much helping people create a business, making sure that they are doing everything legally. It deals with stuff like tax classifications, how to hire employees, proper zoning and licensing, stuff like that," He explains to me. "It's kind of hard to make friends there because the classes are graded competitively, so if you do better than your classmates, your grade will get better. It's brutal in there."

"But you really like what you're doing?" I wonder curiously.

"Yeah, I really like it," He confirms with a nod.

"Then you'll kick ass," I assure him, eating another fry. "I've been taking less shifts at the factory so I've been thinking about getting a second part time job to get some more money."

"I can get you something at my dad's office," Micah is quick to suggest. "Like an assistant or a receptionist or something like that if you wanted. It'd pay better than something like fast food or Walmart."

"Wouldn't that be weird? Me working with your dad?" I ask him.

"Well, he's not there all of the time. If it's weird for you though, I can understand that. It was just a thought."

"I'll think about it. I haven't decided if I even want to get another job yet, I'm just considering it. Thank you," I smile at him. I wouldn't mind working in his father's office. There is the threat of seeing Jay or Silas around but if the pay is good, I think that it could be worth it.

As if he can read my mind, he adds, "You wouldn't see Silas or anything. They're in the same committee but they don't work together very often in their offices."

"That's good. Hey, did I ever tell you that he bought me a car?" I say before I take a big bite of my sandwich.

"Silas did? Wow, that's... big."

"Yeah. I didn't give it back. I know that I should have because it sent the wrong message, that I am okay with talking to him about things, but I really wanted a car," I explain the story to him. "It's shallow, I know. But it's a nice car."

"After how he's treated you, buying you a nice car is the least that he can do," Micah informs me.

"I guess so. I feel like he'll want me to talk to him now, about... I don't know. My feelings or something. Anyway, I don't want to talk about my dad. Where are we going after lunch?"

"I was thinking a movie or something," He tells me with a shrug. "Unless you have a preference. I'm sorry if you wanted a big romantic date, I dropped the ball. I'm so busy with school though."

"I wasn't expecting anything, don't worry about it," I assure him. "What about the botanical gardens? It's really beautiful. I used to take Casey all of the time because it's always an adventure and it's free."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Micah goes along with my on-the-spot idea so we finish eating and he pays. I offer to pay for my food but he insists so I just tell him that I'll pay for our next meal.

The United States Botanic Garden is right in the middle of Washington D.C. and close to a lot of other really common tourist attractions. It's right across the street from the Capitol building and there are a few national museums around too. I've taken Casey to all of the big museums in the city throughout the years just so that he could learn because learning in Cynthia and Davis's house was chaotic. There were always kids running around, babies crying, and it was just crammed.

There are monuments for everything in D.C., so when Casey was studying World War II in school, we'd go sit at the World War II Monument while he did his homework. Or the Smithsonian museum for American history to do his history homework. So I've gotten to know the museums pretty well and because they were free, Casey loved going, and it got me out of the house and away from Davis, we went very often. Even after we left the foster home, we would still visit the museums all of the time.

My favorite one of these spots is the Botanic Garden and I haven't been here in a while so it'll be nice to go back.

Once we get to the museum, we walk around holding hands like the couple that we are. Since Micah has never been here before, I show him around. The plans are always changing so I don't know exactly what's in bloom but they have different themed rooms.