A Second Chance at a First Impression

A few weeks later, Oli was getting ready to go to his friend’s house for a play date. I was glad for a bit of free time; I was going to meet up with my best friend Eve.

“Oli? Are you ready to go honey?” I called into his room, as I put his favourite army men into his green back pack.

“Yeah mommy!” he teetered into the room, grinning up at me.

I beamed at him, “Alright then, let’s go!” I held my hand out which he gladly took, and we went off.

As we walked the short distance, I pointed out things and asked him what they were.

“What’s that, Oli?” I pointed to a shiny, bright red Ferrari.

“That’s a car! It goes vrooooooom!” he said proudly.

“Well done!” I smiled and ruffled his brown hair.

“Katy!” Mia smiled. Her golden hair flowed around her shoulders as she opened her arms and wrapped me in a hug.

“Hey Mimi,” I led Oliver into her living room, as soon as he caught sight of Mia’s son Harry, he ran wildly to play with him.

She ushered me inside, and gestured to the sofa, “sit down Katy. You’ve been here how many times and you still act as though you’re a guest,” she smiled warmly at me.

I sat down and we began talking. Mia was like a mother to me, she was my midwife throughout my pregnancy with Oli. I took an instant shine to her because she was one of the few people who didn’t look down her nose at me because I was 17 and pregnant. Although she was around 10 years older than me, we got on like a house on fire.

Since having Oliver, we kept in touch and it helped that she had a son who was only 6 months older than Oli and they were like brothers. I was comforting to me to know that I always had someone who was there for me – even when my own family wasn’t.

Losing track of time, I checked my watch and realised I was running late. I jumped up from my seat and Mia’s eyebrows raised in confusion.

“I’m so sorry Mia, I’m meeting a friend I am so late!” I explained the situation to her.

“Oh okay, I’ll see you tomorrow,” she kissed my cheek and walked me to the door.

I walked down the path, only stopping to call over my shoulder, “Thank you so much for taking care of Oliver.”

“It’s no problem at all.”

I smiled, power-walking down the road.

As I walked closer to Eve, I could see her standing with her hand on her hip, tapping her wrist in an exaggerated gesture. Once I got close enough, I playfully slapped her on the shoulder.

“About time Katy!” she grinned, hugging me.

“Sorry Evie, I lost track of time at Mia’s.”

“Oh, how is Mia doing?” she asked, after meeting Mia a few years before, they really hit it off and talked to each other whenever they got the chance.

“She’s great. So what have you got in store for us tonight?” I asked, she’d planned our whole evening, seeing as I had a rare night without Oliver.

“Well, there’s this great band playing in town tonight.” She said as we walked up to the counter at the coffee shop and placed our orders.

“Oh anyone I’d know?” I questioned, blowing on my coffee, in a vain attempt to cool it down enough so I could drink it without burning my mouth.

“Nah, I don’t think so,” she said quickly and rather suspiciously.

“Are you sure Evie?” I asked, eyeing her closely.

“No, really, you don’t know them.” She said, changing her demeanour swiftly.

I decided to let it slide, knowing that Eve was a very stubborn person and wouldn’t budge…but I knew she couldn’t keep a secret for the life of her. So I waited until she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Okay, its Panic At The Disco.” She stated, flinching away from me, waiting for me to erupt.

“What?” I said in utter disbelief.

“I know you don’t want to go and see them, but I don’t know why.” She said to me, taking a sip of her latte.

“Do you really want to know?” For the four and a half years I’d know Eve, I’d never worked up the courage to tell her about my connections with Brendon. Thinking about it, no one apart
from Mia knew.

She nodded her head vigorously, so I went on to tell her everything that had happened between Brendon and me. As I finished, she was silent, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

“That happened between you and Brendon?” she asked and I nodded.

“And he doesn’t know about Oliver?” I shook my head, confirming her theory.

“Then you need to tell him!”

“I can’t Eve, I just can’t…” I trailed off.

“Of course you can, imagine if you had a child and you didn’t have a clue. How would you feel? Not know that your own flesh and blood is walking around and you’re completely oblivious.”

I huffed in defeat, I knew she was right. “Okay then.” She smiled triumphantly. “Where’s the show?”

“It’s at the Roseland Ballroom,” she said, pulling me by the hand up and out of the door.