Jack (Secret Revenge #1)

by Robin Edwards

“Way!” Sean joked with the kid.

  “Ever since last summer. He’s been obsessed with the place.” a familiar voice said. Sean turned around and it was Bridgette. She sat down next to kyle.

  “Hello Bridgette.”

  “Hi Sean.”

  “So I take it that kid is yours?” Sean asked surprised.

  “Yeah, for the last ten years. I think I’ll keep him.”

  “Mom, I can hear you. She’s supposed to take me to Water Zone this year. Want to come?” Kyle asked Sean.

  “Yeah, I’ll go with you. I’ve never been there. Thank you man.” Sean said patting Kyle’s head.

  “Mom, can I go play with the copy machine?”

  “Hands only, buddy.”

  “Alright…” Kyle walked away pouting.

  “You may not want to bring it up or he’ll be all over you. He never forgets.” Bridgette warned Sean.

  “Neither do I.” Sean joked.

  “I do believe someone owes me some drunken singing.”

  “Be careful what you wish for.” Sean teased.

  Beth finally joins them and says, “Why do I always find you two together.” She turns to Sean and says, “Ready for basketball?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Have fun guys.” Bridgette says to them.

  “Bye.” Both say in unison.

  Several hours later after the basketball game, Sean and Beth decide to go to an Italian restaurant for dinner.

  “That was one of the best games I’ve ever been to. Thank you for inviting me.”

  Sean orders Chicken Alfredo and Beth orders grilled, boneless chicken with a side of vegetables in a light sauce.

  “I’m trying to lose weight.” Beth explains.

  “Don’t tell me that, you’re perfect.”

  “What else do you think you know about me?” Beth asks.

  “You’re bright, ambitious, very capable but most likely you’ve gotten by because of you are beautiful. Despite your beauty and numerous friends, at the end of the day you just want true love and you realize it is more difficult than you thought because most guys find you out of their league and they decide to not even try. You are currently trying things outside of the box and seeing where it leads. Was I close?”

  “Pretty good.” Beth says flattered

  “Yeah?” Sean said surprised.

  “Yeah, definitely.” Beth gushed.

  Monday morning…

  “It’s weird, it’s like Sean knows me, knows my soul.” Beth reminisced.

  “Sounds like he’s a very sensitive guy.” Monica guessed.

  “He seems to like me for what’s inside.”

  “What’s on the outside, is what’s motivating him.” Monica joked.

  “This one may be different, Monica.” Beth said and jumped off the break room counter and headed back to her cubicle.

  “What about you? You haven’t mentioned internet guy lately.” Monica said to Bridgette.

  “That’s because he’s stopped emailing.”

  “Maybe he’s out of town or waiting for you to email him.” Monica guessed.

  “Oh come on. Let’s face it, Monica. I’ve been having feelings for a guy I’ve never met, now nothing about and he could be anyone. I have a son to think about. I can’t bring strange men into his life.”

  “That hasn’t exactly been a problem for you.” Monica said sarcastically.

  “Whatever, I’m ending this right now.” Bridgette jumped off the counter too and headed to her cubicle to end all communication with her internet guy.

  Bridgette went to her computer, opened up her email account and typed her ‘Dear John’ email. The subject line read: I’ve met someone.

  I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, but I’ve met someone and I think I need to move on. I’ve met someone real, someone I like. He’s from the party I mentioned the other day. I think it’s best if I focus on him right now and see where it goes. I hope you understand. All the best. B.

  Later on in the afternoon, Bridgette respond a response from her secret admirer. It read:

  I totally understand, he sounds like a great guy. Good luck B.

  Beth came up excited as Beth was reading her secret admirer’s response over and over.

  “Sean just called. He sounded very excited. He said he wanted to take me camping this weekend. I’ve never been. What about you, what are you doing this weekend? Going to finally meet your secret admirer?” Beth teased.

  “Hardly, I just dumped him.” Bridgette shrugged.

  “I have a lot of guys I can fix you up with, besides the guys from the party.”

  “No. I’m not good on blind dates.”

  “How do you expect to meet someone? The internet? I’ll tell you what, let’s go on a double date. Me and Sean with you and the guy I set you up with. But before we go do this, you need to get some sort of makeover.” Beth said excitedly.

  The next morning…

  Bridgette and Beth both arrive at work the same time, this time with Bridgette post-makeover. She looked like a different person and she was feeling beautiful and sexy.

  “Vince, you remember Bridgette.” Beth says to Vince.

  “Wow, great comeback!”

  As Luke starts to pass by, he doesn’t notice that it was Bridgette standing there, “Beth are you going to introduce me to your…” he stops mid-sentence before he says, “Bridgette, wow. This is unbelievable.”

  “Was that a compliment?” Bridgette asks Beth.

  “Only if you want it to be.” Luke says as they walk away from him quickly until they run into Monica down the hall.

  “Oh my god, Bridgette. You are looking sexy!”

  “Beth’s the makeover queen.” Bridgette said.

  “No, she’s got it going on.” Beth said to Bridgette. “I guess that means, Operation: Bridgette is dating is on. What are you doing tomorrow night?”

  By the next evening, Beth managed to set a blind date up for Bridgette and refused to tell her anything except where and when to meet them.

  “Mom, you look pretty. I’m glad you did a makeover.”

  “Thank you honey. I’m starting to feel kind of pretty.”

  “Are you going to bring home a new dad?”

  “I’m going to go on a date, not a shopping spree.”

  “That’s too bad.” Kyle said dejected.

  “Look honey. One day you might have a new dad but for now all that matters is that I love you very much.”

  “I know mom.”

  “Be nice to your babysitter.”

  Thirty minutes later, Bridgette meets everyone at the restaurant and sees her date for the first time. Not bad looking, she thought.

  “Hi Bridgette.”

  “Hi Beth.”

  “Beth, this is Gabe. Gabe this is Bridgette.”

  Sean comes running in several minutes later and says, “Sorry I’m late. Bridgette you look amazing. Beth so do you.” He sees Bridgette’s date and introduces himself.

  “Hi, I’m Sean.” And holds out his hand.

  “I’m Gabe.” He shakes it in return.

  While eating pasta, several minutes later Bridgette noticed Sean having an easier time eating the noodles.

  “I have never gotten the hang of twirling pasta. How do you do that.”

  In a mock Italian accent, Sean shows Bridgette how to twirl Spaghetti while Beth goes on to tell Gabe more about Bridgette.

  “Gabe, Bridgette has the most adorable 10 year old son.”

  “Oh yeah? What does he do for a living?” Gabe teases.

  “In his mind, he’s a pro athlete. But in reality, he’s just learning to play ball. I’m not the greatest teacher.”

  “Bridgette, I’d be up for teaching him.” Sean said suddenly.

  “I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “It’s not a problem.” Sean shrugged.

  “Are you kidding? I’m sure he’d love that.”

  “It’s a date then.” Sean shrugged again.

  After dinner, Beth and Sean
continued their date at a local park to watch the stars.

  “Tonight wasn’t so bad, was it?” Beth asked.

  “I’m not sure if Gabe is the right match for Bridgette.”

  “It was the best I could do on short notice. You have to kiss a bunch of frogs before you will find the prince.”

  “Because you believe in true love right?”

  “I believe in true luck, at least that’s how its always worked out for me.”

  “You said you wanted true love the other night?” Sean asked surprised.

  “No, you made the assumption about me. Besides, just because I want it, doesn’t mean it actually exists.”

  “That’s not very romantic of you.” Sean stated.

  “Oh really?” Beth leans in and gives Sean a long first kiss on the lips.

  Chapter 5

  The next morning while playing basketball…

  “So, she’s dating random guys. Maybe I should date her.” Patrick joked while playing one-on-one basketball.

  “I don’t think so. She’s a good girl. She’s nice, sweet and kind. She’s practically the perfect woman. She shouldn’t date cynical men like you.” Sean said before she shot the ball at the hoop and it bounces off and misses.

  “Unbelievable! Well, maybe she should be dating someone more like…say you?” Patrick suggested.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means that it seems like you are very fond of a woman that you aren’t even dating.”

  “I’m allowed to have a friend and a girlfriend. It’s called multitasking.”

  “It’s called being weak. How’s Beth doing, by the way?” Sean inquired.

  “She’s really hot. That’s how she is. I think she may have a problem sharing personal details in person.”

  “What happened now?” Patrick said as he rolled his eyes.

  “Last night, she had a different take of true love than she did online. She’s confusing to me.”

  “It’s one thing saying it online versus saying it in person.” Patrick says as he shoots the ball into the hoop and misses the basket entirely.

  Monday morning…

  “Sean and I stayed up all night looking at the stars, which was fun for about an hour. Here’s a picture of him making a fire with sticks. We ended up toasting marshmallows, but I made him eat them. We even stopped at the outlet stores on the way back.” Beth said as she showed pictures to Bridgette.

  Beth’s phone rings and it’s Sean on the other line. “Kyle keeps asking when Sean is coming over.” Bridgette whispers to Beth.

  Several days later…

  It was the following Saturday morning and Sean suggested they meet him at the local park so Sean could show Kyle how to throw and catch.

  “Okay, let’s see what you got Kyle.” Sean said as Kyle tossed the baseball, barely making it halfway.

  “Okay, that wasn’t bad.”

  “That was so bad. I throw like my mom.”

  “Your skills far surpass hers.” Sean teased. “When I was your age, I didn’t play well either. But I practiced and I eventually did.”

  Sean showed Kyle how to position his fingers and how to angle his arm when he threw.

  “Give it a try. Watch this mom! Watch this, I have got a good feeling about this.” Sean says to Bridgette. Kyle throws the bar and it head straight for Sean. It was a great pitch.

  “Whoaaaaaaaaaa. One less and he got it. I’m a great coach!” Sean shouted and had Kyle throw him the ball again.

  “Alright, right down the pipe.” It was a great pitch again.

  “Yes...”

  Few minutes later, Sean decided to take a break while Kyle continued throwing and catching to himself.

  “I can’t thank you enough for this.” Bridgette said.

  “Are you kidding? I’ve had a great time. He’s a great kid and you’re a great mom.” Sean said. “I don’t want to be intrusive, but where is his father?”

  “Uh…he left when Kyle was one years old.”

  “So he’s not in his life at all?” Sean asked curiously.

  “No. It’s his loss and Kyle’s of course.”

  “At least it’s good that your dating again, right?” Sean said.

  “Yeah….right now I’m kind of stalled in that department.”

  “Get out of here! You are a great catch. You deserve a great guy. I’m sure you’ll find him.”

  Monday morning…

  “Hey!” Sean snuck up behind Beth at her cubicle.

  “Sean! You surprised me. What are you doing here?” Beth asked.

  “I’m here for Bridgette’s thank you lunch.”

  “Oh, I totally forgot. You know what, I have a lot of work to day. I’ll just order in, you two just enjoy yourselves.” Beth apologized.

  “Are you sure?” Bridgette asked.

  “Yeah, go.”

  “Okay alright. We’re still on for tonight, right?” Sean asked.

  “Absolutely.” Beth confirmed.

  “Alright bye.”

  At lunch, they decided to play 20 questions and ended up asking little questions about each other. Sean went first and Bridgette asked him in return.

  “What’s your favorite dessert?” Sean asked.

  “Cheesecake, of course. We talked about that already.”

  “Oh, we certainly did. What about your favorite childhood memory.”

  “My favorite child hood memory? Oh it’s a big one. That would have to be, riding bikes with my dad at the beach, really early in the morning. Just the two of us.” Bridgette confessed. “My turn. Favorite color.”

  “Blue.”

  “Favorite moment in the last three months.” Beth asked.

  “That would be at Beth’s singles party. I met a new friend that night.” Sean answered.

  Meanwhile, back at the office…

  “Interesting. Is the new and improved Bridgette getting awfully cozy with your new man?” Luke whispered in Beth’s ear.

  “What? No, Sean and her are just friends. He did her a favor and she’s just repaying it.”

  “Does that mean you are free to join me for lunch? I’m buying. Be ready in five minutes.” Luke said and walked away quickly.

  As Sean and Bridgette were walking back to her office, Bridgette wanted to thank him again for spending time teaching her son things that a father normally would do with his son.

  “Thanks for boosting his confidence lately. With all of your talking, he’s going to want to call you again.”

  “That’s okay we can move on to basketball.” Sean said as they ran into Luke and Beth in the parking lot, also walking back.

  “Hi Guys, we were just out for a quick lunch.” Beth confessed quickly.

  “I thought you had a lot of stuff to do?” Sean asked

  “Well you know what they say. All work and no play, makes her no fun for Sean.” Luke joked.

  “We can’t have that now can we.” Beth said uncomfortably.

  “Yeah, I guess we can’t have that. Well, bye Bridgette and Luke. See you soon, Beth.” Sean said as he headed back to his parked car.

  That night, while on their date cuddling up in front of her cousin’s out door fire pit. Sean was starting to come to a realization about how much Beth may not know about him like he had been sharing with her through their email exchanges. He had to say something.

  “I want to know what drives you and what makes you tick. What thrills you and what you value. Maybe those are things that you would want to know about me too.”

  “I’m very interested in you.” Beth said looking Sean in the eyes.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What’s my favorite color?” Sean started firing questions at her.

  “What?”

  “What’s my favorite color?”

  “Red.”

  “It’s blue, actually. What’s my favorite band?”

  “The Sean Martin Band.” Beth joked.