what if

Sally didn't want to even mention it to Char when they met up at the bakery before it closed for the day. It was pointless with Micah. No calls. No text. Nothing. She guessed he was back at Char's and Diago's.

Besides, there was Tony by her side. He was like a constant star always there to help with Ava and classes.

"Oh, we met before," Tony smiled and shook Char's hand. He was now at the Campus Coffee Shop during the lunch rush.

"Oh, that's right-" Sally looked at him a bit side-ways, thinking he would say in the next breath how he was friends with Micah. But Tony was just a little bit cowboy. He'd lived on a ranch and new about horses and the prairie. Even so, he'd fit right in at the coffee shop and still had time for her.

She kept wanting to put him off, but then she liked his babysitting skills with Ava and it just sort of happened. They were together.

"Not together together," Sally said to Char when Tony went to chat with Diago who was in the kitchen prepping for tomorrow.

"I see, well, don't you want to get to know him?" Char brought Sally some de-caff coffee.

"Well, he's not a thief or anything," Sally winced.

"No, that's not what I mean," Char looked at her wide-eyed. "Do you even really like him?"

Sally didn't want to be pressed for information. It was true, she so needed someone she could trust with Ava, but she hadn't really thought about Tony as anything more. She didn't mean to use him.

"He's a nice guy," Sally shrugged. "Nice guys really aren't my forte...evidently." She didn't really see him as a boyfriend. "Besides, I'm like almost five years older than him."

"But, he's no Micah," Char knew who Sally was in love with.

"I don't want to miss him." Honestly, she hadn't thought about him with Tony around. "Who knows if anyone can actually make him happy." She knew she couldn't. "I just hope he finds someone who isn't a liar and appreciates him, you know."

Char nodded, but she said she didn't see him very often. Sure, he had a room at their place and he always paid rent on time, but his schedule was completely different from hers. He wasn't taking classes this semester. He'd got a job helping at a recording studio. He was a musician now.

"He hasn't brought anyone home," Char told her.

Sally couldn't help but be happy about that. Still, she wasn't waiting for him anymore.