All She Can Take

T W E N T Y - N I N E

Sid tumbled through the revolving doors of Ito Hotel moist and tired and as soon as she approached the front desk, she became annoyed and panicky. Very annoyed and panicky. Her teeth ground into one another and her feet refused to move even though she pleaded with them to.

"Hey, Sid." Aiden was behind the check-in desk with two other guys Sid recognized as the Concierge and Hotel Manager. His gray suit was tailored to every angle of his body. Sid sucked her teeth. The two guys widened their eyes. Right. Aiden was a big deal around here. She etched a tight smile onto her lips.

"Hello, Aiden." She even threw in a shallow bow for good measure before pivoting and marching across the busy lobby and down the hall toward the restaurant. Even with the expensive carpet cushioning his footsteps she could hear him catching up. It's not often that one prays for a fire alarm, a swat team, absolutely anything to burst in and evacuate a space but right now Sid prayed with every fiber of her being that something unfortunate would happen to stop this conversation. There's no AJ in the middle to distract them. No Whitney to run interference. No Tomi to scowl and throw snide comments. And she's at work so she can not afford to go full baby mama and curse him out. A second later he was in front of her blocking her path to the restaurant doors.

"I'm going to be late for work." Sid sidestepped him and tried to continue on but his body was in front of her again a second later. She almost ran into him. The thought of pressing up against him was...bad.

"Sidney, come on. Can you please just chill for a second?"

"Why are you here?"

"I'm the regional manager. I'm managing...regionally." He met her eyes and a smirk played on his lips. Was he seriously trying to be cute? It was the last thing Sidney needed right now. With a shake of her head she tried to dodge left but again he blocked her.

"But for real, some Council Member is hosting a rally here tomorrow. Just wanted to make sure everything is in place. I did hope to run into you though." Aiden's eyes took on that endearing quality of theirs and Sid knew it was coming... "How are you?"

"You ask me that all of the time like you expect me to fall apart. I'm not falling apart Aiden. I'll send an email if I do."

"I'm not expecting you to fall apart. Tomi told me that you got into an accident last week and since you made me drop off AJ to Whitney I didn't get to see you. Contrary to what you may believe I do care about you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Sidney stared at him, furious. She was always bare in front of him. Recovering from a Citibike accident, three days removed from a jail visit, or raw and on the verge of a breakdown. Collapsing and broken. It wasn't fair that he always got to be the better person. The one who was always taking a step in the right direction even if that direction left her untethered and heartsick.

"And AJ caught a baseball last week. I wanted to show you...I'll just text it."

He was out of her sight as quickly as he had appeared. Her body twisted to go after him but instead she pressed against the urge and felt like crap for wanting to. Her body still had not learned how to unlove him. Her phone chimed a moment later. A video message from Aiden. She pushed through the double doors of the restaurant, happy to be early. Happy that no one was there. It offered her the chance to lock herself in the office and press play. Aiden tossed the ball to AJ who merely smacked it with the small mit that was on his hand. 

Aiden ran out of frame to retrieve the ball and returned to his stance. Coaching AJ to keep his eye on the ball. He was barely two and Sid was sure he didn't understand at all but Aiden spoke confidently and tossed it to him anyway. The ball sailed toward AJ, pass his little outstretched glove and landed on his chest, but AJ reacted quickly and crossed his arms to hold it there. Whether it was an 'actual' catch was debatable but the joy that erupted from Aiden and AJ was undeniable. Sidney wished that that was what resonated with her most. But instead she couldn't help but notice that her son and his father were fully in frame and the voice cheering them on off camera wasn't hers.