Change of Hart

by M. E. Carter

  “So, where’s Elaine?” I asked, taking a sip of my water.

  “She’s back at the house. There are a zillion things to coordinate for my schedule right now, so as much as she wanted to come to dinner with us, you know how it goes. When a manager has to choose between fun and organizing a project, they always go with the project.”

  I grinned. It was true. Elaine had been Sara’s manager for a long time and kept her as organized as she could. Sometimes her OCD was a bit out of control. But hey, I was OCD about my job, too. So I wasn’t judging.

  “So,” she said, leaning forward on the table, smiling sweetly. “I’ve seen it all over the internet. Tell me about this woman you’re seeing.”

  I leaned back in my chair and smiled. “Addison? She’s great. What do you want to know?”

  “Well, how did you meet her?”

  I chuckled. “That’s actually kind of funny. I met her son first, at a pep rally at a local elementary school. He and I sort of hit it off. I met Addison when I invited him to come tour the stadium with me. And that was it.”

  She cocked her head to the side and furrowed her brow. “That was it? What does that mean?”

  I took a deep breath and thought for a minute. “I just don’t have any interest in anyone else, Sara. You know me. I’m so wrapped up in football that no woman has ever kept my attention for long.”

  Sara raised an eyebrow at me and cleared her throat.

  “Don’t go pretending to be all offended,” I joked. “You know you’re different.”

  She smiled at me as I continued.

  “But with Addison . . . I just can’t get her out of my head, ya know?” I leaned forward on the table so she could hear me without the people at other tables being privy to our conversation. “I just . . . I don’t know, Sara. I think she’s it for me.”

  Sara’s eyes got wide and her mouth dropped open, right before she squealed and grabbed my hand. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you!”

  I laughed and squeezed her hand back. “I so, so am. Can you believe it?”

  She pulled her hand away and started clapping her hands excitedly. “I knew it!” she said, trying to keep her excitement somewhat contained. She liked her privacy as much as I did and didn’t like making scenes in public. “I told Elaine, I said, ‘Jason is never seen with a woman more than once. And he certainly has never called one his girlfriend. He’s in love, Elaine!’ I did! I said it! You can ask her!”

  My smile widened as she spoke. “So I take it you’re happy for me?”

  She leaned forward and grabbed my hand again. “So, so happy for you, Jay. You are a wonderful man. You deserve this.”

  I kissed her knuckles in appreciation as the waiter came over to deliver our appetizers. I hadn’t had anything to eat since before the game, so I ordered several to tide me over until our meal came.

  Sara and I continued to talk about anything and everything. It really was nice to be around her again. She was one of the few people that seemed to stay genuine despite her fame. I honestly couldn’t wait for Addison to meet her. I knew they’d get along just great.

  On our way to the movie theater, I realized Addison had responded to my text.

  Addison: I’m kind of disappointed you won’t be home tonight, not that we would have seen you until tomorrow anyway. Hope everything is ok.

  I tried calling her again but still didn’t have any luck.

  Me: Yeah, it’s fine. Just some publicity stuff I forgot about.

  “Everything ok?” Sara asked as she reapplied her lipstick.

  “Yeah, I just forgot I was staying here tonight,” I said, locking my phone and shoving it in my pocket. “Addison and I are playing phone tag about it now. No biggie.”

  She closed her lipstick and put it in her small purse, while chastising me. “It’s a good thing you have Adam to keep you straight. You would never remember anything without him. I hope you gave him Addison’s birthday so he can remind you to get a present.

  My eyes widened. “Oh, shit. I don’t know when her birthday is!”

  Sara just laughed as we pulled up to the curb. We could see the flashes of all the cameras through the dark tint of the car. “Told ya. You may want to get on that when you get back, stud,” she said condescendingly as the driver opened the door. “Get that look off your face. It’s show time.”

  As soon as she exited the car, questions started being shouted her direction, which she handled like a champ. She was a pro after all.

  For the next several hours, I played the role of perfect escort. I guided her to all the staging areas of the red carpet for all her pictures. I smiled for the cameras. I even held her purse when she took individual shots for all the fashion critics to judge tomorrow. When one of the reporters started asking me questions, I politely declined to answer, reminding him that this was Sara’s night, not mine.

  Yes, she and I had done this more than once, which is why I was her go-to man whenever she needed a date for something like this.

  After the movie was over, we hobnobbed for a while. Sara had to make conversation with her director and producer, as well as all her co-stars. They always say, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” and that couldn’t be truer in Sara’s chosen field. So I let her talk to anyone and everyone she wanted to without complaint, even though I was exhausted. Game days were tiring, anyway. Not just from the physical exertion, but from the adrenaline as well. You can run high on that stuff for several hours. But once the game is over, your body crashes and crashes hard.

  She must have recognized that I didn’t have as much energy as normal because she tore herself away from someone important, an executive or businessman or something—I don’t know, they all kind of look alike to me—and she made her way to my side.

  “You look bored,” she whispered in my ear as she threaded her arm through mine.

  I smiled down at her. “Nah, just really wiped after the game. But I’m good. How many more people do you need to talk to?”

  She looked around the room. “Um . . . I think I hit up everyone I needed. Shall we go? We’ve got a private party to get started at my place.” She waggled her eyebrows at me.

  I chuckled. “You’re a mess. Let’s go.”

  We said our goodbyes and made our way over to the waiting car. Once we got settled in, I pulled out my phone again. This time, there was no response from Addison. So I tried calling her again.

  “Still no answer?” Sara asked after the phone rang twice on Addison’s end and went to voicemail. “Is everything ok?”

  “Yeah,” I said, feeling a little deflated. “She and Jax are at her father-in-law’s anniversary party. I guess they’re just partying a little harder than I realized. I’m sure it’s fine.”

  “You really like her kid, don’t you?” she asked with a look of understanding on her face.

  A small smile played on my lips as I thought about the message Jaxon had left me earlier. “Yeah. He’s a great kid. No matter what’s going on he always brightens my day. I really just love him as much as I love Addison. In a totally non-creepy way, of course.”

  “You love him like a dad,” she said.

  “I . . . I wouldn’t . . . I mean,” I stumbled over my words.

  “I don’t mean you’re trying to be his dad, Jason. Don’t get flustered. I just mean, you love him like a dad would love his child. That kind of love. Not the creepy kind.”

  “Oh,” I said, relaxing a little. “Yeah. I guess that’s about right.”

  “It’s normal. I mean, you’re gonna be his stepdad so it stands to reason you would love him like that.”

  My head whipped in her direction to look at her. “Whoa there, Sara. It’s a little too early to be talking about me becoming his stepdad. I mean, I’ve only been dating his mom a couple months. It’s too early to pop the question.”

  As we pulled up to her building, she turned and looked me dead in the eyes. “Is it? She’s the one, Jason. You said it yourself. So I’m not sure it’s
too early for anything.”

  With that, she opened the door of the car and stepped out, only to find more paparazzi standing on the sidewalk talking pictures. I climbed out after her, still a little stunned by her words. Was it too early to be thinking about marrying Addison? Could I really have her as my wife so soon? I mean, my mom had always told me that she and my dad were married within nine months of meeting. But I always chalked it up to it being a different era back then.

  Huh, I thought to myself. Maybe Sara’s right.

  I was jolted out of my thoughts when the elevator doors opened to one of the three penthouses in this building. Sara had told me at dinner that since her next two shoots were both set in New York, it made sense for her to buy something here and build the equity. It was a nice place. Huge open floor plan with a living room, dining room and kitchen overlooking some great views. It was definitely bigger than my place, but cost a whole lot more, too.

  “Well, look who finally came for a visit.” I looked over to the left to see Elaine coming down a hallway that I assumed led to the bedrooms.

  “Hey, girl! How the hell are you?” I asked as she kissed me on both cheeks, European style, and pulled her in for a tight squeeze.

  “Busy,” she replied, squeezing me back before pulling away and waving us to follow her into the kitchen. “This one has been keeping me on my toes,” she said, pointing her thumb at Sara. “I swear, every time I think I’ve got her calendar organized, her fan sites sorted out and her shoots scheduled, she goes and finds another project to throw into the mix. How was the movie, anyway?”

  “It was great,” Sara said, plopping down on a bar stool and tossing her purse on the counter. “Jason was a great date, as always.”

  “She really did a great job in it,” I said as I pulled my tie loose. “Did you know she was gonna go all psycho on her best friend at the end? I didn’t see that coming!”

  Elaine chuckled. “It’s great, right? Best ending to a chick flick I’ve ever seen.”

  “I hope you make it through our private party, Jay,” Sara said as she took her shoes off and dropped them to the floor under the stool. “He’s looking awfully peaked. I’m not sure he’s gonna last.”

  “Don’t you dare bail on us, Jason,” Elaine said sternly. “I got popcorn and chocolate chip cookie dough and those nasty Pico de Gallo chips you like so much.”

  “Hey . . . don’t make fun of the chips,” I joked, unbuttoning my shirt. I was about done with this monkey suit. “And don’t worry about me. Now that I can just sit on the couch, I will be just fine for a while longer. What are we watching, anyway?”

  “Oh!” Sara said excitedly. Elaine and I exchanged a knowing glance. “There’s this new Nicholas Sparks movie out . . .”

  “NO!” Elaine and I said in unison.

  Sara crinkled her nose and her jaw dropped open in shock. Although, she shouldn’t have been too shocked. We had this conversation every time. “You guys are just mean! How come we never watch what I want to watch?”

  “Because you always fall asleep during the movie,” Elaine replied without missing a beat.

  “Seriously, how did you get into the movie business when you can’t even stay awake during one?” I asked her.

  Sara stood up and stomped off toward the hallway, grumbling the whole time about why she was even friends with us, and other such injustices.

  “You already got a movie, didn’t you,” I asked Elaine.

  She snorted like it was a ridiculous question. “Of course I did. You think I’m gonna sit through some crappy movie while she sleeps?”

  “What’d you get?”

  “Did you see that new action flick yet? That one with those alien-looking things?”

  “Nope. It was on my list.”

  “Perfect,” she said, opening a box of popcorn. “I put your stuff in the first bedroom on the left. She’s been using it as an office, but there’s a queen-sized bed in there so you should be ok. You’ll have to sleep at an angle though, unless you don’t mind your feet dangling off.”

  “Thanks, Elaine,” I said as I made my way to the bedroom to change. Thankfully, I had an extra pair of running shorts and a t-shirt with me since I hadn’t planned to stay an extra day. By the time I was changed and back out in the living room, the girls had already settled themselves on the couch and were munching on popcorn. I plopped down on the couch next to Sara and grabbed a handful while Elaine lifted the remote and pressed play.

  This is what we did whenever we got together. We lounged around and ate a bunch of junk food. Years ago, some dumb reporter had mentioned the three of us having a “private party” and speculated about what kinds of things were really going on. We all got a good laugh about it so the phrase kind of stuck. Now, whenever one of us mentioned getting together to “party,” we knew it was time to break out the cookie dough and Sara’s footie pajamas.

  No, it wasn’t terribly manly. But I didn’t see them very often so it was nice to just hang out and relax. Besides, Elaine and I had the same taste in movies and two against one meant we always had the majority vote.

  Thirty minutes into the world of guns and explosions and I looked down to see Sara asleep, her head on Elaine’s lap, her feet on mine.

  I looked over at Elaine who apparently had just noticed Sleeping Beauty as well.

  “Every time,” I said with a smirk.

  “Every time,” she repeated in agreement, taking another handful of popcorn and turning back to the movie.

  I had wanted to try to reach Addison again last night, but by the time the movie was over it was two o’clock in the morning. That’s one a.m. at home. On a work night. So I figured I’d call her when I woke up.

  As I peeled my eyes open, I could see some light flurries outside the window. Gotta love the first day of December in NYC. I rolled over to glance at the clock.

  10:00.

  Time to get up and at ‘em if I was gonna make my flight. No telling how long it would take to get to La Guardia if the snow got any thicker.

  I grabbed my phone, hoping I could catch Addison on her way to work. Instead, I found twelve missed calls and three text messages. I darted up in bed and started reading.

  Mom: Jason, honey, I don’t know what’s going on. But I hope it’s not what it looks like. Call me when you can. I love you.

  What? What’s she talking about?

  Lindsay: Jay, I love you. But you are SUCH a fucking douchebag! I have NEVER been so disappointed in you. I’ll stop leaving you nasty messages when you call me back so I can say it directly to you!

  Oh shit. What happened now?

  Adam: Relax. I’m on it.

  Once I read Adam’s text, I knew I was in deep shit. Something was going on and I needed to find out what. I threw the covers back and stood up, pulling up the internet on my phone as I headed out toward the kitchen. Before I even made it out the bedroom door, the first picture from my google search popped up.

  It was of me and Sara. And her kissing me on the lips as I grabbed her.

  The second was from the restaurant. We were both leaning over the table toward each other, smiling and holding hands.

  And then, of course, a picture of me kissing her knuckles at the table.

  Fuck.

  I dialed Addison’s number, frantic to reach her, but it went straight to voicemail. No ring. Just voicemail.

  “Sara! Elaine!” I yelled toward the kitchen as I made my way down the hall. They were both sitting at the breakfast bar working on their laptops. Sara was sipping on a cup of coffee. Elaine was typing away at a rapid pace.

  “Good morning, Sunshine,” Sara cooed at me. I ignored her.

  “Did you see this?” I asked, holding up my phone so she could see the photo collage someone had made of us with all the pictures from last night.

  She squinted her eyes until she recognized what she was looking at.

  “Oh yeah. The paps are still downstairs,” she shrugged.

  “What?” I said, running toward the win
dow. Sure enough, there were about a dozen photographers milled about. “FUCK!”

  “Jason, this happens every time,” Elaine said in her no-nonsense manager voice. I have no idea how she and Adam could stay calm when things like this happened. “Adam and I already put out our usual generic statements. Why are you freaking out?”

  I sighed, trying to calm myself down. After a few deep breaths, I looked up at Elaine.

  “I forgot about meeting up with Sara until after the game yesterday,” I started, putting my hands on my hips. “I’ve been trying to reach Addison since yesterday but haven’t been able to. So she has no idea what’s going on or why I’m here. Except for what she’s probably seen all over the internet by now.”

  Elaine’s eyebrows shot to the ceiling. “You didn’t tell your girlfriend you had a fake date with a famous actress?”

  “I didn’t mean to,” I said, rubbing my hands down my face. “You know how I am with remembering this kind of thing, Elaine. But I know her. And I know she is freaking out right now, thinking I cheated on her.”

  My phone beeped again. I ignored it as I walked over and dropped down on the couch. I wasn’t in the mood to get bitched out by Lindsay or my mom again.

  “So just call her, Jay,” Sara said. “You can even put me on the phone. I’ll tell her there’s nothing going on.”

  I rested my elbows on my knees, face in my palms. “I already tried, Sara. It went straight to voicemail. This is really, really bad.”

  The blue flashing light of my phone caught my attention again so I decided to suck it up and look at the message.

  It was Addison.

  Addison: I get it, Jason. I really do. She’s beautiful and talented. You guys look great together. I’m not mad, just hurt. Just, do me a favor and stick to your promise. You promised that no matter what happened between us, you would always be Jaxon’s friend. Please, please don’t go back on that promise. He can’t lose you, too, just because I wasn’t what you needed. I’ll have Mick or Samantha take him to you whenever you want until I feel strong enough to see you again. And thank you, Jason, for making me feel special. I’ll never forget that.