It happened on a Friday. It was a gorgeous day in New York City and I had just picked my daughter up from school. As we walked hand in hand down the tree-lined street, she regaled me with tales of her “tiring” day, told me how her little hands ached from coloring too much, and begged me for a cup of hot chocolate from the Starbucks on the corner ahead of us. Normally, I wouldn't indulge her, but with the slight chill in the air and autumn leaves crunching beneath our feet, I found myself giving in. Before I became fully aware of how rambunctious my little angel would be later, I had managed to rattle off our order to the barista and located a quiet table by the window all in record time.

As we sipped our warm beverages, talked about boys and how one is far too young to start dating at the age of six (no matter how “in love” one might be), he walked in.

At first I thought I had seen a ghost, but then I remembered that I wasn't Ebenezer Scrooge and couldn't have possibly been that lucky. To make matters worse, he looked good…almost too good. While I wondered if my eyes were deceiving me, he traipsed up to the counter. Even though he came in alone, I couldn't help but wonder if he would be ordering for two. Was he meeting someone or by himself? More importantly, why was he here?

Now, it's not like I own the place, but out of the thousands of franchises around the city, why this particular one and why today? As my contemplation began driving me further into my unavoidable madness, he glanced at the window and panic immediately began to set in. Shit. He saw me. I closed my eyes and hoped that by some small chance he maybe hadn't seen me, but by the time I opened them he was walking towards our table. It was too late to plan my escape. He was getting closer every second.

“Kurt? Is that you?”

And just like that, Blaine Anderson walked back into my life.

He looked me over for what felt like an eternity, stepping even closer before I was actually able to throw a sentence together and compose myself.

“I---Yes. It's me. Hi.”

He gazed at me, almost longingly or so it seemed. The unsure countenance he once held slowly began to fade away into something softer as a tiny smile took its place.

“It's been a while.”

I laughed. “You could say that.” I smiled cordially and wondered why my heart was beginning to beat a little faster.

He chuckled, the slight wrinkles on his face becoming a tad more defined, and gestured to our table.

“Would you mind if I---“

The table was originally built for two and at the moment, both chairs were occupied, but something inside me told me not to send him away.

“No!” I said a little too enthusiastically. “Not at all. Of course not. Pull up a chair.”

As he moved to grab an empty chair from a nearby table, my daughter, distracted as ever by her “Petunia's Pretty Princess Boutique” app on my iPad, absentmindedly kicked me in the shin. It wasn't until I felt the small shoe collide with my pant leg that I remembered Blaine was a guest at our table and we weren't alone.

Once seated in his makeshift spot at the table, she looked up to see who was responsible for causing her to smudge hot pink rouge all over Princess Magnolia's cheek. Much to my surprise, she seemed to have left her usually inquisitive nature in her other backpack and returned to her game, almost completely uninterested in the fact that someone was infringing on “Daddy time”.

He smiled at her when she momentarily gave him her attention and then turned to me.

“Yours?”

I nodded.

“She's beautiful.” He paused. “She's got your eyes.”

“And my temper.” I grinned and so did he.

“Is that right?”

“Oh yes.” I replied.

Blaine laughed, the tiny crow's feet at the corners of his eyes digging a little deeper into his skin.

“Well, I'll try to stay on her good side.”

I smiled. “You better. She's very protective of her daddy.”

He smiled again, this time more fondly than the first. 

“It's easy to see why. I'd be protective of him too.”

There was no question about it. This man was going to be the death of me. Foolishly, I had thought that by some miracle he might not be as charming as he was in our youth, but I was wrong. Wrong doesn't even cover it. No, wrong barely scratches the surface of where I was. As he grew older, so did his good looks, his charm, and his wit, but like finer things often do, they also got better with age.  

We talked for what seemed like hours, going on about what we had missed in each other's lives; where our lives had taken us, where we ended up with our careers and families.

Something deep inside me tried to stop the words from coming out, but before my good judgment had a chance to kick in, they were spilling out of my mouth.

“So…” I paused, bracing myself. “Are you married?”

Blaine seemed taken aback by my question, but whether or not it was due to being offended, surprise, or pure coincidence, I'll never know.

“Um…I…No. Not—not anymore.”

“Not anymore?”

He cleared his throat and toyed with the empty paper coffee cup on the table.

“No. I—uh—I'm divorced, actually. For about 6 years now.”

My heart sank. He had moved on. He married. He fell in love. I don't know why it hurt me as much as it did when I had done the same, but it did…because it was him.

I swallowed hard. “I'm so sorry.”

“Don't be. I was the one who filed. It wasn't meant to be.”

I nodded. Quickly, I tried to think of some other topic, but my mouth refused to let me.

“Do you have any children?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Just—just me.”

I took a deep breath and wondered if he ever got lonely. My mind went to a time in the past shortly after he and I had ended things for good. Rachel moved out, leaving me to my own devices in what had been our shared loft, and that night I cried. I cried for what seemed like days because I wished he was there, but I had never picked up the phone, too scared of what could happen if I truly let myself just be happy, damning the consequences.

I must have been consumed in my own thoughts for a while because it took a warm hand gently caressing mine to snap me out of it. I could feel his eyes on me. I looked up to meet his gaze and was welcomed by the warmest smile I had seen in a very long time. He was staring at me the way he used to when something would bother me. Blaine gave me a half-smile as his thumb lovingly brushed over my hand.

There in that moment, I knew. There was so much I wanted to say, so much I needed to say and hear and I would have…if it weren't for my damn phone. My hand moved from underneath his to retrieve it to silence the alarm and as it did, I saw his smile fade and watched him shift in his seat. As I read the alert that flashed across the screen, I was in disbelief. We had to leave.

“I have to go.” I muttered softly as I rose from my seat.

“S-so soon?”

I leaned across the table and lightly tapped on my daughter's hand. She removed her earbuds and gazed up at me.

“Come on, sweetie. We've gotta go. We have to run home and pick up your bag for dance class.”

Blaine remained seated as I packed up our things and rose only as I started to move from the table.

He seemed hesitant.

I grasped my daughter's tiny hand in my own and turned to say goodbye.

“It was really great to see you ag—“

“Can I see you again?”

Awestruck, I tried my best to speak clearly.

“You want to see me again?”

“Please?”

I stumbled over my words. “H—why?”

He stepped closer, his eyes almost pleading.

“I want to—I just—please? My words aren't coming out how I want them to now and—would you just consider having lunch with me?”

I glanced at my phone. If we didn't leave soon, we were going to be late. Against my better judgment, I nodded quickly.

“Okay…but how will I get in touch with you?”

“Meet me here? Tomorrow around---12:30?”

I nodded.

“I'll see you at 12:30.”

He seemed relieved and the smile that had once fled slowly returned. I gave my daughter's hand a light squeeze, shifting our bags over my shoulder as we turned to leave.

“Come on, Lila.”

Blaine's eyes lit up in surprise at the name and before he could speak, I made sure we were close to the exit.

In the last few moments of our time together, he had done something so small, yet so telling; a gesture so tiny that most wouldn't think anything of it, but I knew. His touch so warm and stars in his eyes had spoken volumes and made my heart pitter pat from deep within my chest. They told a secret that had been long foretold and in that moment as I walked out the door, I shared one of my own. Now two hearts were tangled. I just never expected one of them to be mine.