Peggy Tells All

Shelby, Peggy, and I sat down at the counter for lunch at a sushi place close by.

"This place looks awesome," I said to Shelby and Peggy as I looked around at the calming decor and then down at the menu. "Shelby, how dare you hide this place from us," I teased.

"I'm glad we could finally coordinate this," Shelby replied back as she opened her menu and gazed with a loving look at their speciality rolls section.

I did feel kind of bad. If it weren't for the fact that I wanted the dirt on Pete from Peggy, I would've been eating the turkey sandwich that was still sitting in the staff fridge. But it's not like I didn't want to get to know Peggy better. She was a few years younger than me, and close to a decade younger than Shelby who is going to be 30 in February, but she seemed nice from what what little I knew about her. I really could use all the friends in California I could get at this point, since my visits with Scott felt like they were dragging out more and more. I thought I was going to get used to that?

"What are you guys going to get?" Peggy asked as she rapidly tapped her finger on the counter as she perused the menu.

"I think I'm going to get," I began before pressing my lips together and coming to a final decision. "A California roll and a Spicy Tuna roll. You?"

"Ugh, that's so boring!" Peggy replied with a smile. "I'm getting a Voodoo roll and a Picasso roll."

I laughed. She was right. My sushi order was pretty boring. "Okay, I'll get a Checkerboard roll instead of the California."

Peggy was happy with my shift in order and as we waited to order drinks, I decided now was a good time to dive into some gossip. After all, we didn't have all day to stay out for lunch.

"So," I began as I leaned in on my elbows and peered at Peggy and Shelby, with my real focus on Peggy. "I didn't know Pete had a daughter? And a beautiful baby mama?"

Peggy rolled her eyes at the mention the mother. "Oh, yeah. He does not act like he would have a six-year-old daughter."

"That's what I was thinking!" Shelby practically shouted. When she realized how loud her response was, I could see her cheeks becoming red.

"Well, I mean, it's not like he has a white picket fence or coaches little league, obviously," she responded as I caught her admiring her gel manicure. "I've never directly asked him, but from what I've gathered, him and that woman were dating on and off in college. She was a sophomore and he was a senior when she got pregnant. I think they tried to make it work, but from what I heard she's a psychotic bitch."

I mentally rolled my eyes at Peggy's dismissive nature toward the mother. I hate how guys can just call girls crazy and everybody automatically believes it. I can imagine Pete being a sweet talker in his day. I'm sure he wasn't the easiest guy to date on campus.

"So, she got pregnant at what, like 20? And they just decided to have the kid and figure out some sort of a system?"

Peggy shrugged but I could tell she was loving the attention. She was leaning back and had this proud smirk on her face. You could tell she loved having the information that Shelby and I both wanted. She was allowing us to have small pieces at a time, as if we were her pets and she was training us by giving us little treats for every properly worded question.

"Well, he moved to California when he was about 23 or 24 to work for Web Matcher. From what I heard, she was out here trying to model." Peggy rolled her eyes at this, which almost made me laugh because Peggy always talks about these small acting gigs she has. She moved out here to act, so I don't know why she would throw shade at a girl who literally looks like Tom Brady's super model wife for trying to be a model. "When it didn't work out, she decided to move back to Colorado. I wasn't working at Web Matcher yet, but from what people have told me, Pete was furious."

The waitress brought over a bowl of edamame and I started eating it like popcorn as I listened to Peggy continue with her insight.

"He was really bummed out when she first moved. He had to fly out there just to see his daughter for a day or two and whenever he proposed that she flew out here for a few days, on his dime, she would make it into a huge ordeal."

"Wow, good for him," I replied. I've heard of a lot of guys in similar situations who don't fight as much for visitation with their children. It's nice to see a guy who actively tries to get more time with his child.

Peggy continued talking about what she knows of the relationship between Pete and Cassandra, his ex-girlfriend. It was kind of cute but also kind of annoying how mean she was when talking about Cassandra. I'm just not a huge fan of girl on girl hate, especially when you don't know all the details. You feel?

"There have been a couple times where I've been asked to get Pete for something and I walk in on him fighting with her on the phone. I never hear him yell as loud on the phone as he does when talking to her."

The lightbulb went off in my head. I wondered if he was talking to Cassandra the day I heard him yelling on the phone. It would make sense.

So, I knew the story of Pete and his daughter. I still couldn't really believe it, though.