Reconnect

Matej looked up from his seat near the reception area, acknowledging the increasing flow of parents arriving and students coming down from the upper floors to meet them. Glancing at his watch, he saw that school ended just a few minutes ago, leaving him two more hours to kill before calling it a day and heading out of the elite private school that employed his services since the terror attacks in Paris a few months earlier. He stood up and began walking around. He hadn't yet learned the faces of all the parents of the school's 500 students, so any visitor entering the building was a potential threat in his book. And besides, he wouldn't want to be caught sitting around, playing with his cell phone while he was hired to keep the school's students and staff safe. Nice joke. With him not wearing a weapon in school - thanks to the school owner's ridiculous preference -  he could only hope never to run into an armed aggressor or else he'd be the first dead body in the building if someone drew a weapon and he had nothing but his massive built to put between these kids and a potential threat.

A sudden impact on his lower back had him whirl around, switching from complete boredom into fighting mode within a quarter of a second, getting a wider stance and raising his arms to meet the unexpected force hitting him from behind.
"Matt!"
Matej recognized the steel grip around his waist as the arms of a young girl from Grade 5, his friend Sarah.
"Jesus!", he drew in a breath, lowering himself to meet the girl at eye level. "How many times must I tell you not to sneak up on me. I have to assume it's bad people who do this. You're not bad people, right?", he said, grabbing her shoulder, trying to make her understand. Her eyes dancing mischievously instead.
"School's out!", she laughed, not acknowledging his reprimand.
"As it is each day at 3, hon", Matej said patiently, getting back up, looking around, scanning the many faces now entering and leaving the building. He hated this time of day. People walked in and out in a never-ending flow and he could just rely on the receptionist knowing whether anyone coming in was a stranger or a parent.

"Any plans for tonight, Sarah?", he asked the girl standing by his side, while his eyes jumped from face to face, trying to find something that might be off the mark. He wasn't in this line of work for nothing. He had a knack for reading people's intentions, which often helped him diffuse a situation before it even started, back when he was still bouncing at night clubs in Slovenia,

"Watching a movie with daddy!", she said and began to shriek when she spied someone - probably her father - in the bunch of people coming in. Matej's attention shifted immediately to a man with a weapon entering the building. He quickly walked towards him, finding himself slightly relieved when he recognized the man's Austrian police uniform - so not an obvious terrorist at least - and was surprised when the man turned his back to Matej, going down on his knees to catch a blond whirlwind in his arms, hugging her tightly to his chest.

Sarah's joyous squeal relaxed Matej. That was just the girl's dad. And a cop on top. Interesting. Matej continued to walk around the reception area, stepping aside when people went for the door, his eyes simultaneously scanning anyone who entered in between. The parents were supposed to carry ID cards and he sometimes stopped a few of them randomly, asking them to show their ID, but he could not do a thing if they didn't carry the card with them. They were rich businessmen and employees of international organisations. They dealt with many things in their busy lives, a top priority being that their kids were safe and protected, but they definitely did not care about carrying a school ID card with them for Matej's sake. He figured with the amount of money they paid for their children's education, they expected to be recognized by school staff upon entering the school. So he kept shut most of the time and was determined to get to know people as quickly as possible.

"Daddy, this is Matt, our bodyguard", Sarah said behind him, obviously trying to introduce him to her father. Matej turned around, looking at the impressive uniform on the tall man in front of him.
"I'm not a bodyguard, Sarah, I'm a security officer", he said patiently, before raising his arm toward the man in front of him.
"Hi, my name is Matej. Sarah's the only one who calls me Matt. Nice to meet you, Sir" He grabbed the man's outstretched hand and found himself looking into a pair of familiar brown eyes, pupils widening in surprise, the grip of the hands continuing a second longer than was strictly necessary.
The officer quickly shook off his surprise and left only Matej flustered and shocked, his mouth hanging open and eyes wide with terror.

"Eric? You're a...", Matej began, suddenly running out of words, feeling a flush of heat rise in his face.
"A cop?", the officer prompted, flashing white teeth in a well trained smile that told of how many times Eric had to put on a poker face in his line of work.

Matej swallowed, painfully aware that a group of Al-Kaeda terrorists could storm the building now and he wouldn't even notice, not with the man in front of him smiling like this, the peaked cap on his head covering the dark hair that Matej had liked so much.

"A... a dad", he finished, spluttering like a fool. He squared his shoulders and narrowed his stance, trying to get into a more impressive posture to impress the uniformed man in front of him.

"You two know each other?", Sarah inquired, looking curiously up, her gaze jumping from one man to the other. "He's my friend, dad."
Eric fished a coin out of his jacket and handed it to his daughter. "Would you get me a bottle of mineral water from the cantine, hon?"

He called her 'hon', just like Matej did when none of the girl's friends were nearby. Bad enough she was socializing with the brooding muscle man that most student steered clear off, except for a bunch of the testosterone fueled Grade 12 boys who asked him how he got so big. He tried not to disappoint them too much. Due to his lack of a social life, he practically lived in a gym. No wonder he got big.

Sarah stormed off and Matej wondered if she was even able to walk in a normal pace. Left alone with her father, he carefully raised his eyes to Eric's, afraid of what the man might say to him now.
The security guard in his daughter's school cruising at a gay sauna? Not the message he wanted to send to people at all. But then, the guy had been there himself. So who's throwing the first stone?

"You didn't have to run", Eric said calmly, his brown eyes never leaving Matej's, who couldn't hold his gaze longer than a few second, before glancing down at the man's badge and weapon holster.
Looking back up, he felt the need to make a statement.

"I don't usually do this. I was there because of the gym, but their gym is shit, man, and then I thought... I thought...", he started to fidget, hating himself for appearing like an insecure teenager when he had acted like a confident porn star during their first meeting. Pretense, he always knew that, but he didn't want Eric to find out the truth.

"Hey, hey", Eric stepped closer, moving to touch Matej's arm, but stopped, aware of the people around them. What a weird sight they were.  A cop and a security guard staring at each other like long lost brothers meeting for the first time after many years apart. It was crazy.

"I've been there too. What should I say? I'm a cop and a dad. You think I'm proud of myself?", he laughed, the smile lighting up his face, crinkling his eyes.

"And Sarah's mother?" Matej couldn't help but ask.
"We're divorced. She's a department assistant at the UN in New York. Sarah stays with me to finish Elementary School", Eric explained calmly, tilting his head to check on the hallway behind Matej, searching for signs that his daughter was returning.

He lowered his head again, finding Matej's confused eyes. "You really didn't have to leave", he repeated. Looking at Eric's inviting smile, Matej didn't know what to say. You reminded me too much of a previous lover, was not exactly polite. And 'It was just a hook up' was a downright lie. Matej knew that much by now. He hadn't been able to get their kiss out of his head for days, wondering if Eric would be at the sauna again if he returned to look for him. He hoped that wasn't the case.

"I'm sorry I left so abruptly. I didn't mean to insult you. Cold feet, I guess...", he mumbled, hearing Sarah's soft but fast paced footsteps approach behind him.
She bumped into her father, gripping his leg. Eric took the mineral water bottle from her hand and unscrewed it, lifting it to his lips and gulping down the sparkling water. Matej watched his lips close around the bottle neck, suddenly feeling the familiar rush of heat in his face again, taking a step back to save himself from further embarrassment.

Eric lowered the bottle, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes never leaving Matej.
"Hey, if you two know each other, why don't you come with us to the movie tonight? Karen says 'Zoomania' is really good", Sarah babbled excitedly.

Eric stroked her blonde hair back from her face and cradled her neck.
"Hon, I'm sure Matej has better things to do than watch a kid's movie tonight. But we're happy to have him if he wants to?" Brows rising in hopeful invitation, Matej felt himself cornered between the two pairs of brown eyes staring expectantly at him. Why hadn't he made the connection before? Standing right next to each other, it was obvious that they were father and daughter, judging from their eyes alone.

Going to a movie? With Eric? And his daughter? Speaking of weird.
"I..., I really need to hit the gym tonight", he lied. He always hit the gym, but that was mostly because there was nothing else to do for him.

"You sure? I know Sarah would love you to join us. And so would I." That warm smile again.
Matej stood up straighter, glancing around, just to make sure he at least appeared to be doing his job here.

"Please, Matt. You absolutely have to join us! No isn't an option", Sarah begged, practically jumping up and down with excitement.
Matej held up his hands in a placating gesture.

"You are a pushy young lady, Sarah. Okay, if I have to I have to. I'll be happy to come along, if it really isn't an imposition?" A glance at Eric.
"Absolutely not. We'll be at the Haydn Cinema at 7 p.m. Wanna meet for dinner at say 6 p.m. at Prater Stern?" Eric smiled, his white teeth shining in his tanned face, cheeks dark with stubble, eyes sparkling with excitement, just like his daughter's.

"I'd love to", he responded shyly, stepping another step back to let them pass.
"Awesome! See ya later, Matt", Sarah yelled, dragging her dad behind her who saluted Matej playfully and disappeared among a bunch of parents and kids leaving the building through the wide glass door.

Was this a date? Matej raised his hand to his forehead, wondering how he had stumbled into this situation. Eric. His Eric. Sarah's father. What were the odds?

Better not to dwell on that. Matej returned to his usual position near the wall, scanning the decreasing flow of people coming and going, suddenly anxious for 5 p.m. to roll around. He needed to get ready. For a date.