"Which one is yours?"the woman seated next to him asked and he wondered what to tell her.

Should he have mentioned to her that her staring at him for the last thirty minutes creeped him out? Or the fact that she had her hand on his thigh the whole time the play went on? The whole thirty minutes had been pure torture to him. Seated in a crowded room, with a bunch of people he didn't know and worst of all was seeing Romeo and Juliet kiss on the stage.

"Neither," he muttered,"my son works with the lighting"

"Aah, that's nice. My son is the one playing Romeo,"she smiled.

Aah, the guy who was kissing his son's girlfriend, totally no coincidence, he thought. He remembered how Seth didn't even want to be part of the play in the first place but when Tessa got the role of Juliet he worked day in day out trying to get the lead role of Romeo. Too bad he didn't get the part and ended up being the guy working with the lights and the stage effects.

"You must be proud and so is his dad,"Roman said hoping the woman would get a clue that the proximity between them could barely make him breath and that she possibly had a husband nearby to take her away.

"I'm proud can't say much about his sleezy dad. Yeah, the guy abandoned us for a younger woman but eeh we didn't need him anyway. We are better off, don't you think?"

"Yeah,"he said uneasily.

"I mean one could always run into love anywhere anytime. Like at a school play perhaps?"

"Yeah, good luck with that"

And his eyes once more fell on the pair standing on the stage. It must have broke his son's heart seeing Tessa with another guy. Quite frankly he couldn't understand why Seth hadn't stopped the play right there and then. His girl was being taken away from him right under his nose but eeh-who was he to intervene?

It was a highschool crush and pretty soon Seth would get over it, he hoped. The kid acted strong for a seventeen year old but even he knew that Seth would never be the same since Mick's death. They didn't talk about it, they never talked about it, and even if they moved on the emptiness in their hearts was still there. No one would fill the void that Mikaella left. She was irreplaceable.

And while his mind drifted away, the sudden applause and whistles from the people around him startled him. The freaking play was over and boy was he glad. Ever since she died, he had been the father and the mother to Seth. Making sure to attend all his meetings, every parent teacher conference, every meeting with the principal concerning fights and fits of misconduct. He was there. It was Roman and Seth against the world.

Well that was until puberty took a toll on him and in nowadays his new words were 'not cool dad' or 'you are embarrassing, dad' or 'that's so old school dad' but again it was just a phase just like the phase he when he was ten of blaming everyone for Mick's death.

After the whole show was over, he went backstage to look for his son and there he was, his tall frame leaned against one of the cardboards used in the frame. Brooding eyes, saggy broad shoulders, ticking jaw, his hands into fists, his knuckles turning white. All these were an indication that the play annoyed Seth just as more as Roman thought it would.

"You did great,"Roman patted his shoulder.

Tucking his hands in his jeans pockets, Seth stared at his dad.

"I did nothing, dad. Just pressing some buttons and watching some guy kiss my girl"

"Well since you did nothing, you might as well get over it"

"I did nothing?" Seth chuckled,"Dad what did you want me to do? Run there like a fucking clown and punch the guy? Dad, this isn't the 80s"

"Hey. I'm not that old,"Roman retaliated as they walked from the backstage theater headed towards the parking lot.

"Yeah you are not that old if you managed to make Mrs Jefferson drool over you"

Mrs Jefferson, that was her name? The woman wouldn't stop talking since the play started. The woman had a mouth on her. A chattering one at that matter.

"Believe me, she's the last person I would mingle with"

"What about the date?"

"What date?"

"The date I set you up with. The date you agreed to go to. That date"

Right. The date with a famous Ms Carter aka Seth's teacher. What in the world was he thinking to agree to the date? Ms Carter was beautiful no doubt but he wasn't ready. Seth seemed to have been eager for him to be with someone. To love again. Bit he couldn't, he simply couldn't betray Mikaella. He still loved her. As stupid as that sounded, he still loved his wife whether or not she was dead.

"I know that look. Are you thinking of bailing on her?"

Maybe. Yes.

"No. I have some pending work back at the office...I think my secretary forgot to put the date in my schedule"

"Really? It's... good for you. To move on... like I did"

Which is why, from that simple statement, an hour later he was outside the restaurant staring at it's large glass windows. He could see Ms Carter check her watch, wondering whether Roman would show up or not. He wasn't a bad guy but quite frankly he didn't want to go into the restaurant, sit and have a conversation with her. He wasn't even interested. Seth had talked him into this, he on the other hand didn't want this.

So like a coward, he took his car keys from the valet hopped into his car and headed straight home. Heading to the office was a bad idea, he didn't want to run into Kevin. He didn't want to confront him at the moment. They still talked but their relationship was strained and not like it was before.

Roman blamed Kevin for everything and even though he had repented his sins, confessed what he did to his family and to the police, Roman couldn't quite find it in his heart to forgive him.

His car pulled in the driveway, noticing Seth's jeep there too.

He opened the door swinging the keys in his fingers.

"W-what about your dad?"

Came the first voice, almost like a whisper and when he took steps closely to the living room and past the living room to the dining room. The image of Seth shirtless with Tessa seated at the edge of the dining table startled him. He had his hands on her butt kissing her neck. He was angry no doubt, surprised even, but an image of him and Mikaella on that same table years ago making out came to mind. They almost made love on that same table.

Seth pulled Tessa's hair to the side kissing the back of her neck, only after opening his eyes did he notice Roman.

"D-dad?!"

He asked in surprise with Tessa getting off the table fast and pulling her blouse down.

"Looks like you two are having fun"

"It's not what it looks like,"Seth stated when it was exactly how it looked like!