Treasure Box

Chapter 12

Louis' POV

You know you love a person interminably when they can tell you to drive to a certain place at a certain time without saying why and you do it. Michael told me to be at the house by six thirty and wait outside for him and refused to tell me why. And how did I respond to the request? With a childish eye roll and obedience. During my self-reprimanding, I couldn't emphasize enough that I was obeying a nine year old. It's probably important to add that I was reprimanding myself as I drove to Franco's apartment so, in a way, I was ignoring every logical thing that was coming out my mouth.

I pulled up to Franco's apartment in time to see him get into his car and leave. Then, a second later, another car pulled up and Michael jumped out, stopping briefly to kiss the driver on the cheek then rushed my car. He dived into the back seat and yelled, "Hurry, follow daddy. I'll explain in a minute."

I sighed and drove in the direction Franco went. He hadn't gotten too far so it was easy to keep track of him. "Michael, what is this about?"

"Daddy is going on a date," he said as if that explained everything.

"No, Michael, that doesn't explain why I'm following him."

He pouted, "He can't date Pat so we're following him to the restaurant for dinner."

"Just a normal dinner with me and his kid?"

He nodded, "We just have to make sure it doesn't go too well so they won't go on another. We can even join their table."

I groaned, "He's going to know we came to crash his date right away."

Michael nodded and shrugged, "We weren't going to get away with it anyway. Daddy's too smart to not see what we're doing."

I looked at him in shock. He was doing all this knowing that he'd be caught? My shock turned into disapproval. "You know, Michael, I hate to say this but Franco might be a little too lenient with you. He's your father. You accept and respect his wishes. You do not pull little schemes like this because you don't like the decision he made."

Michael pouted and deflated in his seat, totally disheartened by my scolding. "Okay, we can go back home then."

I cleared my throat guiltily, fully aware that I didn't want to go home for my own selfish reasons. "Well we're already on the road so we might as well go."

The delight almost made it to his face but after a sharp glare, he contented himself with a faint smile.

We ended up following Franco all the way to Pat's house then to the restaurant. It was a family restaurant, not too luxurious or uncomfortably formal. It made sense, considering Franco appreciated simplicity. Anyone he dated would have to appreciate it too if they were to last more than a month. I began to wonder if Pat liked simplicity and if I should have listened to Michael and taken him home. There was no point in going in if Franco was serious about this. If he accepted then he must have liked Pat. What wasn't there to like about Pat?

"Louis," Michael broke through my thoughts, "What are we waiting for? Let's go in."

I sighed, "Michael, I think this was a bad idea. Pat is exactly the type of guy that Franco needs in his life."

"Oh, don't worry. Uncle Troy said he isn't," he simply said.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Why not?"

"Because Pat is wishy-washy," he explained, "And Uncle Troy said that daddy is too so it wouldn't work out. It'd just make things awkward. Like two negatives on a magnet, they would push away inside of coming closer."

"You believe Troy?" I asked, kind of irked by the insult.

"Yes," he answered clearly even after noticing my irritation and continued pointedly, "Because Uncle Troy loves daddy and wouldn't say anything just to be mean. It's just like when grandma called you moody."