Daddy?

After working at Web Matcher for a while at this point, I had a pretty good feel for the type of person Pete was. He would come in hungover on a Thursday because his college buddies wanted to go out drinking on Wednesday. I'd walk into his office while he was watching one of those YouTube videos of people pretending to lip read NFL players. He never wore any jewelry, especially not a wedding ring. He didn't have any family pictures, even of his parents, on his desk. He'd complain if it was going to rain on Saturday because he wanted to surf or play golf. There was never any mention of a wife and definitely no mention of him being a father. I feel like that should've came up at least once in our cordial chit chat.

Like, "Hey, Pete! What're your plans for tonight?"

"Oh, just going home. The wife's cooking her homemade lasagna."

Or

"Hitting the town, tonight! My daughter has her first dance recital."

But nothing.

I tried to peek at the situation unraveling while maintaining discretion. Pete was smiling wider than I think I've ever seen him smile as he embraced the child and rubbed her back.

"How's my little rugrat doing?" He asked as he pulled away. She started rambling on about something and he put on his most attentive face. He's always been sexy, but seeing him in this setting was making him even more attractive.

Soon, the girl's chaperone with model looks was back by her side. As soon as she greeted Pete with a polite, but distant hello, I gathered that they were not actually a couple. Pete was in his later twenties, but with my calculations his daughter would've been born when he was still in college. That seemed pretty young, but of course, he might not have planned this particular pregnancy.

I wheeled my chair back a little in fear of getting caught. I looked at Shelby who seemed just as stunned as I was. "What the fuck?" I mouthed to her.

Her eyes widened. "He's a fucking dad?" She quietly asked. I shook my head in disbelief and laughed. "Why wouldn't that have come up?"

I shrugged and then a lightbulb went off. "Let's ask Peggy."

Shelby bit her lip and leaned over to see if Peggy was sitting at the receptionist desk. Ever since the first day, it's been clear that Peggy has the hots for Pete and since she worked at the company longer, she might have the scoop.

We didn't want to run over right away, so Shelby and I both went back to working. We decided to ask Peggy to come with us for lunch. I had sat with Peggy in the cafeteria and we always discussed coordinating a lunch outing, but it was one of those things that never really seemed to work out. I hoped that pushing for lunch today and then grilling her about Pete's life wouldn't come off as selfish.