“W-W-Well… It… Err… It’s on the news.”
“What’s on the news? My coming home? Don’t be ridiculous!” There was an undertone of rage and wrath in my voice. I was done living for others.
“You’re on the news, yeah. A report of some encounter with another woman. A nanny, to be more precise.”
And in that moment everything fit into my brain. Like a Rubik’s cube, I understood everything. The dark games and schemes for money and power.
“Brent, how could you?” I screamed. I was unrecognizable even to me.
“Sean, you’re out of your mind. What did I do? I just booked you for…”
“That’s the problem.” I exhaled. I thought that I had wasted all my energy, but I was surprised to find out that I had still that ferocity in me. “You weren’t surprised at all when I told you I was coming home early. You even booked me for events. Before I called you. You hired that bitch Danielle, right? You paid her to act like that! Admit it!”
Silence.
“Speak, you moron!” I yelled.
“Fine. I did, yeah. I did some research and found that some Danielle Rowen was working as Mia’s nanny. The power of cash beats everything, Sean. I contacted her and paid her to make a scene in Kayla’s apartment. I staged it all. You happy now?”
“Why did you do that? I… I thought that you were my friend and colleague. We’ve been through so much…” I was still in disbelief. However, the fault here was mine. I trusted him. I trusted a man driven only by money. Nothing more. Where there was money, there was Brent. I shouldn’t have trusted him.
Brent chuckled. “Simple. Because you had to continue your lifestyle. You still have to be that playboy football player that the girls love. That’s the only way I’m doing business.”
“You backstabbed me because of money, you bastard!” I shouted, spit flying all around me.
“You’ll thank me. Once you realize the good I’ve done to you. The fame and glory I brought to you. You’re still unaware of that.”
I had had enough of that. “Fuck you, Brent! Fuck you and your money and your playboy! You’re fired! Forget me and forget that you’ve ever worked for me.”
I hung up and breathed in and out. In and out. In and out.
This man ruined my relationship with Kayla. He distanced me from Mia. What I did to him was too merciful. He would get what he deserved. Eventually.
I resumed driving, inhaling and exhaling to calm myself. My heart was about to burst. I could feel it.
In and out. In and out.
21
Kayla
The rain continued for several days now without stopping. The skies were constantly gray, with occasional thunder and lightning illuminating them. The horrible weather started to worsen my already bad mood.
I had no job. I had no boyfriend. Yeah, I was hopeless.
How much my life had changed in just a few days. From being a single mom in love and an extremely successful lawyer, to now just being a single mom—a desperate unemployed mom. Yup. A desperate mom with thousands of job advertisements all around her.
The TV was on for the sake of hearing someone talking while I was buried inside the latest fat edition of the newspaper’s classified pages. I was more of an old school type of woman. Google was overrated to me.
In this situation the only thing I could be thankful for was none other than Mia. She was the loveliest daughter in the whole world. She was always quiet and played by herself in her bedroom. She gave me space when I was crying, because she knew that I would be even more upset if I knew she could see me crying. It was complicated, you see. But she understood me. Like a real grownup would. I was proud of myself for raising such a sweet creature all by myself.
Coincidentally, I raised my gaze to look at the TV. It was a talk show where the guest was a motivational speech expert.
“Get up, women. We’ve had enough,” she spoke. “It’s time to pull out a full stop, break the glass ceiling and take back what was taken from us. Fight! All of you at home watching us. Fight!”
Indeed. I had to put my life back in order. In addition to looking for a job, I had to find a new nanny for Mia. The previous one had proved too…inadequate for the job, to put it mildly. Danielle Man-seducer Rowen.
I thought of my boss’s suggestion again.
A few days ago he had emailed me that he had realized what had happened. He apologized profusely for his behavior back in the office and wanted me to come back. He also wrote that he understood finally what kind of a man James was. Here came the best part. He was offering me a substantial compensation, as he called it, for his behavior and, as well as a higher salary as an additional incentive.
But I couldn’t do it. No. My principles and morals wouldn’t allow it. It just wasn’t an option for me. I had to turn it down. I didn’t know why I thought of that email again in the first place.
Sighing, I returned to my classified pages search. With a highlighter and a pen in hand, I quietly circled and underlined key words in the listings. Several minutes later, I found an interesting ad. They were hiring an experienced lawyer who was willing to take chances and bring something new to the firm.
That was it! It was practically my personal description. I had to contact them. Luckily, they provided a number.
“Hello, my name is Kayla Vaughn and I’m interested in the advertisement you placed in the classified pages.”
“Hello, Ms. Vaughn,” a pleasant female voice replied. “I’m so sorry, but we’ve already hired a person for that position.” Oh my God, no! “However, We’re always looking for new people and ideas.” Blah, blah, blah. She was now just making me feel good.
“Me too. Goodbye,” I replied and hung up.
I rubbed my temples and sighed. This was going to be harder than I had ever expected it to be. I was in for a pretty long day.
Then someone poked my upper arm lightly. I knew who it was.
“Baby, how are you?” I asked Mia and hugged her.
“Mommy, can I ask you something?”
“Okay, sure” I replied, blinking. I had absolutely no idea what was going on in her mind.
“When is Sean coming back? I miss him. He’s really good to me,” she said with her hands behind her back.
That broke my heart. That cute little human being needed a father figure in her life. She loved Sean. And she loved him like a father although he may not be hers. I knew that. And that fact broke my heart even more. Why the heck was I making myself sad?
I breathed in and held my breath. Should I tell her what happened? Could she handle it? “I-I don’t know, honey. Probably we’ll never see him again.” I had to at least tell her that.
“What do you mean we’ll never see him? Did he move away?”
“Baby, it’s very complicated. It’s an adult thing. It happens. I’m so sorry. But he’s gone.”
Tears started to appear in her eyes. “But why? Tell me! I’m almost an adult, too. It’s not like I’m two. I’m eight years old! Do you know what that means?”
I smiled sadly. When I was her age I thought that the world was mine as well. “Mia…”
Tears rolled down her eyes. She was greatly upset.
“Oh, sweetheart,” I said and hugged her tightly, fondling her long hair. “He did a bad thing, that’s all. He was good to you, yeah. But he did a very bad thing with Danielle, you see.”
Mia broke the hug and looked directly at me with eyes the same color as my own. “It’s because of the thing with Danielle? Because of Danielle, right?” A smile appeared on her lips and she wiped away her tears.
I was bewildered. How did she know about it? What did she know? I supposed that eight years really did mean something. I voiced my thoughts. “Do you know something?”
“Yeah, I do. It’s not Sean’s fault.”
“Then whose is it?” I asked, stubbornly holding onto my opinions and what my eyes had seen.
“Well, Danielle was acting strange all around him. I noticed that since t
he moment he came in. Sean only wanted her to stop. That’s it.”
I stared into nothingness. Was this true? Could it be possible? But… I saw him. Danielle had been undressing herself. His hands had been all over her. Had he been stopping her from doing that?
No.
The Sean I knew would never do that. On the contrary, he would help her get naked.
Yea, the problem was that I still had that picture of him in my mind. I didn’t even for a second think that he had indeed changed. That finding out that he was possibly a father changed him. Dang! What did I do? Was I acting on my instincts now or just turning my back to the facts to make my life easier? I didn’t know. Everything was so complex. My mind was in overdrive and a strong headache was starting to form in the back of my head.
I had been so harsh towards him. As if he had been just an average guy I had picked up at a bar. Of course that he wouldn’t have cheated on me with a cheap woman like Danielle. He was so much more than that. He was better than that.
I started to rewind what had happened. After I had come in, I had been so overwhelmed by the situation that I hadn’t even heard his story. He had pleaded with me to do so. He had begged me to listen to him. He had told me plainly that it hadn’t been like it had seemed. What a bitch I turned out to be. I chased him away. Silly me!
And I knew. Maybe it was just my love for him speaking with a loud and clear voice inside me or the voice of reason, but there was only one thing left for me to do. I had to see him. I had to talk to him. I had to be with him. Because he really loved me and Mia. He had changed. He was a new man. He had become a new man for me and that almost brought me to tears.
I stood up abruptly and called Sean. He wasn’t picking up. His cell was dead.
“Shoot,” I whispered under my breath. He would be angry at me. He had every right to.
Then it dawned on me.
“He has a game in a couple of hours!” I exclaimed. He was surely preparing and I was well aware of their tough preparations which also included no phones.
“What are we going to do?” Mia asked me, all worried.
“Grab your giant stuffed teddy and come with me! We’re going to watch the big man play,” I said and smiled while Mia ran laughing. Our happy voices filled the walls of our apartment. I could feel excitement buzzing all through me even in the tips of my fingers.
22
Sean
It was D day. And in my vocab that meant game day.
On my way to the stadium all I could think about were tactics and strategies for the game. I was the captain, for God’s sake. And it was expected of me to come up with mind-blowing solutions to impossible problems. Yeah, that was everything there was to my job description.
A notepad was lying in the seat next to me on which I occasionally scribbled an idea or two. I had even managed to draw the stadium and the two teams with arrows containing descriptions and possible moves. You guessed it. Being a successful and popular football player wasn’t the easiest job in the world. Otherwise everyone would do it, right?
Anyway, I parked absentmindedly and got out of the car. I didn’t even remember how I had gotten there. Before my eyes were the guys from the team and possible scenarios. Nothing else existed.
Among those faces, I saw two females. They were out of the picture, but they were there in my mind. Kayla and Mia. My personal life was a wreck. I felt a pang of pain in my heart. They wouldn’t be here no matter how much I wanted them to. Life sucked. And people who said that it didn’t, hadn’t been through heartbreak and pain.
“Sean! Sean Coleman!” Several voices pulled me back from my thoughts. I realized that I was still standing in the parking lot. I turned to see a group of fans, dressed in the jerseys of my team and proudly wearing its colors on their faces.
“Hey, guys! How are you?”
“Excited,” they all said in the same voice.
The first one stepped out. “We believe in you, Sean. We’re so lucky and very happy that you play for this team.”
The others started chanting. “Sean! Seven! Sean! Seven!” Seven was the number on my jersey.
“Thank you, guys,” I replied. “I appreciate it.”
“A picture?” One of the girls said.
“Of course. I won’t go without one.” They all laughed and we all posed for the best selfie in the history of the league. They were all so ecstatic; their eyes gleamed and shone while their lips were constantly curved into the widest of smiles. “Thanks, guys! And make sure that you’re the loudest on the stands, okay?”
“Yeah!” they all screamed. “Sean! Seven! Sean! Seven!”
I waved to them and went inside. Their voices were still audible and rang in my ears. I smiled.
Frankly, I missed my team. Not as much as I missed Kayla and Mia now, though. Those two kinds of longing couldn’t be compared.
I knocked on the door of the room where we made all the strategies. I could hear all of their low manly voices conversing loudly. I chuckled. They weren’t expecting me; I was sure of it.
I opened the door. At once, all of them stood up and approached me for a hug and a pat.
“Oh, man. So glad you came back,” said one of my mates.
“Since you came, we can relax. We’re in safe hands,” another said and we all laughed.
“Okay, boys. We have a lot of catching up to do. But first let’s focus on winning the game.”
“Your wish, our command,” my best pal Henry said and bowed.
I hit him playfully. “Don’t be silly, old sport.” There was a booming laughter again. It was our inside joke. Calling ourselves old sport thanks to Fitzgerald’s famous novel.
Once the atmosphere subsided and the level of the euphoria decreased, I approached the white board with the field drawn on it. I took a deep breath.
“I know that I’ve been absent for some time. And this is a very important game for all of us. We can’t afford to lose it. Those guys out there… They’ll try to sabotage us and outrun us and beat us. We don’t want that, right? Never give up. I, as your captain, will make sure that we all stay on the field and leave our hearts there!”
“Yeah!” they all shouted.
“Now let’s move to the tactics. Paulson…” And so I began presenting them all the plans I had figured out these past few days. I tried to give it my all, to fully concentrate on the game without anything from my personal life coming into focus. That was hard.
I always wanted to keep things democratic. So, each of my buddies took turns and suggested their own paths to the problem or their own insight which proved immensely helpful. Piece after piece we all outlined the general strategy. And that meant shut down and not defense.
Halfway into the discussion, our coach came in. He came to me and whispered that he was glad to see me and that it was good that we already started working.
“Do you want to step in?” I asked him.
“No. I want to leave everything in your hands. The hands of the team are the ones that would give us the victory, right?” he said and patted my back. I smiled to him.
The hour for preparation was coming to an end. We had to go to the locker room to change and wait for the game to begin. And then it would be show time.
When all of the team had transferred itself to the locker room, I slipped out and headed for the announcer’s booth. I had to finish something.
I said hi to the man there. He was trying out the equipment with headphones around his neck.
“Can I ask you something?” I said.
“Sure, yeah. Go on!”
“At the start of the last quarter, I’d like to dedicate it to Mia. My bright and shining light. Can you do that? Announce it that way?”
“No problem. Anything for you, Sean,” he said and smiled. “Just a second so that I can write that down.”
I waited.
“Is she a special girl or something?” he asked me, looking up to see my expression.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Thanks again, pal
. Owe you one.”
Running I went into the locker room to change.
A whistle.
And the game began.
The fans were roaring as loud as they could, while we stared into each other’s eyes. Now came the real deal. Immediately we began with the pushing to get to the ball.
You could enjoy the game more from the stands than playing on the field. In my mind I always associated it with crowds and chaos and too many details to concentrate on.
Oh, how brutal it was.
A few minutes after the whistle sounded I found myself holding the ball and ran. As fast as my feet could carry me, I ran. Then I felt hands all around me. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Henry. He was free. With my free hand, I made a quick pass.
Henry accepted it and continued on the road to the touchdown. He scored the first points. We all cheered.
Unfortunately, it didn’t stay that way. After all, it seemed that we had underestimated our rivals. They were incredibly fast and worked great as a team. It was very evident that they practiced a lot. Bastards. Because of my absences, we weren’t as coordinated. But we wouldn’t make their path to victory easy.
No. Who was I fooling? We were amazing. The next moment all I could see was Paulson stealing the ball and scoring for us.
The crowd cheered; their voices mixing with the one from the announcer’s booth. The commentator was sharp and witty as usual.
“… And there he is, Sean Coleman, number seven looking for yet another score. This year’s sexiest man alive!” The girls screamed at that part. I laughed partly because of his words and partly because I scored. Woohoo! So far so good.
Not so good. The fact that the score was tied sooner than I thought it would be. These guys were keeping up, raising their game to meet ours. It was going to be one tough game. The drops of sweat, drenching my face told me that.
With the same vigor as in the beginning we continued to fight on. I passed the ball and was pushed to the ground. I took a deep breath, catching a glimpse of the blue sky. It was eerily peaceful and so big.
Line of Scrimmage: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (Pass To Win Book 2) Page 13