Best Friend’s Li’l Sis

by Kaylee, Katy

  “Mhmm,” she replied, walking him to the elevator.

  “Will my daddy ever come back?”

  Amber’s heart broke right then and there with guilt. She didn’t even know what to say, so she just wrapped her arms around her son and squeezed him tightly. While Logan was over there blaming himself for everything, Amber was doing the same. Everything had led up to that point because she never told the truth. The question she had always dreaded from her son had just become a reality, and she didn’t know where to turn.

  Logan

  “Hey, sweetie,” Lisa said kindly, kissing Logan on the cheek.

  Matt reached out and apprehensively shook his hand. “Good to see you.”

  Jordan and Melissa were already inside Lisa and Matt’s dining room. They were having a family dinner again, and Logan knew this one wouldn’t go by without some sort of questions. Logan didn’t know what to say, though. He had barely talked to Amber at all. Work had been crazy at the end of the week, and everything else was just a blur. He had spent Saturday at home, sleeping half the day, and then answering back emails just to get his mind off of everything.

  Logan knew he could have called Amber, or even stopped by, but he didn’t know how to talk to her. He felt like she was lying to him, and about something that was really big. He wasn’t even sure, no matter what happened, even if they ended up together, if he would ever get the honest truth from her. That was what was bothering him the most; the fact that she wouldn’t be honest with him. Who knew, maybe she was being honest and it was all in his head, but he had never felt that way around her before. It was heart wrenching.

  On one hand, he wanted to be around her, by her side. He always wanted that, it was part of the connection that they had. At the same time, though, that connection felt almost dishonest when he couldn’t just look at her and get a straight answer out of her. He wasn’t sure what to do but to continue on the same course he had ever since he arrived. Things would either work out with Amber or they wouldn’t, and in the meantime, he had a company that he was desperately trying to hold together. The investors were not happy, especially with the reports of him possibly having a child all that time. It made him look like a dead beat to the public, and the public was letting everyone know exactly how they felt.

  Between the posts, the articles, and the drop in stock prices, it was obvious that no one was interested in hearing what he had to say about it. The investors listened and took what he said into account, but when it came down to it, they didn’t care whether he had a kid or not, they cared if they were making money. They cared if the stories were pushing down stock prices. He may be worth millions, but the company was relatively new in the grand scheme of things. It was really in its infancy and hadn’t even begun to touch the depths of what was possible. If they were going to jump ship, they were going to do it when they could still make a profit on it, not when everything blew up in their faces.

  Just then, Amber walked around the corner holding Bradley’s hand. Her mom got up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Before we have dinner, we want to talk. Aunt Melissa is going to take Bradley in the other room and show him the new toy Grammie got for him.”

  Bradley’s eyes lit up. “I love toys.”

  Everyone chuckled, including Logan. Lisa kissed Bradley on the cheek as Melissa took his hand, walking him into the other room. Logan watched every step the little boy took, and he couldn’t tell if it was his mind playing tricks on him or just things he hadn’t noticed before. Now that he was paying attention, he couldn’t help but see the massive similarities between the little boy and himself.

  Amber took off her light coat and hung it on the back of the chair. She glanced up at Logan and then sat down. Logan could almost see the nerves pulsing through her, and he couldn’t figure out why. She had faced her parents before and they pretty much already knew what they were going to tell them.

  Lisa sat down and nodded at Matt. Matt took in a deep breath and crossed his arms. “There has been a lot of news floating around and we would really appreciate it if we could get the truth of what is going on from the source instead of reading it online each morning. We aren’t angry, I want you to know that.”

  Jordan grumped. “Speak for yourself.”

  Lisa tossed her napkin at Jordan. “Stop being so dramatic. This isn’t your life.”

  Jordan pouted but sat up, paying better attention. Matt shook his head at his son and looked over at Logan and then Amber. “It’s obvious that there is something more than just friendship going on between the two of you. Unfortunately, these pictures are out there from the restaurant last week. As much as I think it is despicable that the media is interfering in your private lives, I also want to say that I’m glad things are coming to light. We are your family, we support your decisions, and we will respect them. The problem is, we feel deceived. We feel like we’ve been left in the dark.”

  Amber sighed. “I’m sorry Daddy, and Mom, and Jordan. There was no evil scheme behind it. We weren’t purposefully trying to keep you in the dark. There were things we were trying to figure out before we came to anyone. It doesn’t do much good to come to you with something that we hadn’t even figured out ourselves. Then the picture came out, and the stories, and it all got blown out of proportion. Like I told Jordan when I talked to him the other day, neither I nor Logan have had a chance to sit down and take a deep breath. We haven’t had time to process anything before or after the pictures were put up. After that, everything started to explode.”

  Matt nodded his head. “And now that you’ve had a moment? Can we have an explanation of what is going on?”

  Logan spoke up. “Nothing is really going on. It’s obvious that I care about Amber very much and there is obviously something going on, but there hasn’t been enough time to explore those feelings. It happened out of nowhere. There was no plan behind it. I wasn’t chasing Amber down, and she wasn’t doing the same to me. Things came naturally between us, organically.”

  “That is often the best way,” Lisa said, winking at Amber.

  Matt rolled his eyes at his wife. “I read an article the other day that talked about the possibility of Bradley being your child. The timeline, I have to say, is pretty convincing. You left and then a few weeks later, Amber finds out she is pregnant. Those things don’t just show up overnight, and we didn’t even have an inkling that Amber was seeing a soul.”

  Logan put up his hands, glancing over at Amber’s panic. “All of that is the media trying to pull at straws. I’ll be honest, I don’t know the story behind Amber’s pregnancy and I have no right to because it has nothing to do with me. Nothing ever happened before I came back this last time…”

  Amber sighed and slammed her hand on the table. “Enough. Just stop. I’m tired of the lies, I’m tired of the hiding. I’m just plain tired. You all want to know the truth? I fell in love with Logan that summer when he left. He fell in love with me too. It came out of nowhere and just happened. We made plans to be together, to build a life together, but he left. In a letter he wrote to me he left because he felt he had to make a life in order to be able to support me and give me what I deserved. He asked me to wait for him, but I was so angry…”

  Lisa put out her hand and touched her arm. “Honey.”

  Amber shook her head, tears streaming down her face. Logan could feel the anxiety building inside of him. She continued. “I was so angry that I refused to ever see him again. A few weeks later I found out I was pregnant. It’s true. Bradley is in fact, Logan’s child. I was too afraid to tell you all, and too afraid to tell Logan because of how he left me. I wanted to protect Bradley from anyone and anything that could ever hurt him. But when Logan came back into our lives, I knew it was only a matter of time until the truth had to come out.”

  Logan’s hands gripped into fists as he sat there staring down at the middle of the table. Everything felt like a dream. Amber leaned forward catching his eyes. “I’m sorry, Logan. I’m so sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I lied to ever
yone. I let my fear cloud my judgment.”

  Logan had thought for days that it might be the case, that Bradley might be his son. That didn’t stop the haze and fog from entering his brain. It was a lot to take in all at once, and with everyone silently staring at him. He had to wrap his head around the entire concept, he had to understand what was happening. He stood up from the table and looked around at everyone. “I’m sorry. I need to go… I need some air.”

  He took off from the table, not even waiting for anyone’s response. His thoughts were rushing through his mind. Visions of Amber and him, visions of Bradley, visions of a future he never thought he would have, they were all meshing together. He ran through the door and straight out to the car waiting for him. He jumped inside and the driver hurried into the front seat. “Done already, sir?”

  Logan nodded. “Yes, please take me home, and hurry out of here.”

  The driver nodded and pulled out of the driveway. Logan was too scared to look behind him. He didn’t think he could handle Amber chasing after him. He had been stomped out of his own son’s life for four years. He knew that part of it was his fault. He had left, abandoned Amber, and all after she had given up her dreams for him. At the same time, she could have told him at any time since he had been back, and not just that time, but the dozens of visits he had paid over the years. But she had hidden away, too afraid of him to come out with the truth.

  “I’m a father,” he whispered to himself as they drove along through LA.

  He stared at the lights, thinking about all the times he had ridden with his father through those same streets. He had been so young, and felt like the world was so big. In that moment, though, Logan felt like the entire world was crushing down on him. He felt like there was a million pounds sitting on his chest and another million on his shoulders. He didn’t know what the right response was, and he didn’t know how he was allowed to feel about it. He just wanted the air to return to his lungs.

  The car pulled up in front of his complex and he climbed out. Instead of going inside, though, he pulled on his suit jacket and started down the block. The fresh, cool night air hit him in the face and for a moment, he wanted to run away. He didn’t want to run from Bradley or from the truth, just the pain he was feeling for being deceived, for being tricked for all those years.

  He stopped for a moment on the sidewalk and watched the cars going by. That was when he realized that the feeling he had, was the same feeling that Amber probably had when he abandoned her. He was getting just what he deserved.

  Amber

  Amber swallowed hard and clutched her purse in front of her as she rode the elevator to the top floor of her office building. She had fought with herself all morning on whether to even go in or not, but she figured she had already dug one hole, and she might as well not make it even worse. The truth was out. Logan was Bradley’s father, and her whole family knew it. Logan hadn’t taken the news well, not that Amber had expected him to. She wanted to chase after him when he got up to leave, but Jordan told her that he would need some time to process. She had kept his child from him for four years, that wasn’t something that he could just process in an instant and be ready to face.

  Amber understood, so she hadn’t bothered him. She didn’t talk to him that night or that morning. She got up, got Bradley ready, took him to school, and then headed to work like she always did. She had no idea what to expect from Logan with all of it. She wanted to think that once he calmed down, he would be excited and want to be in Bradley’s life, but at the same time, he had shocked her before. She didn’t even know what to think about it all. For the last five years she had gone through it all on her own. She had been satisfied with the idea of being the rounded parent for Bradley, but now Logan was in the picture.

  Just driving to daycare that morning had made her feel bad, looking back at Bradley and knowing the fate of his relationship with his father was hanging in the balance. She didn’t know if he would accept or reject it, but at least at that point Bradley didn’t know so if he rejected, Bradley wouldn’t feel a thing. It was the first time in her life that she had no idea what she was doing. She was feeling around in the dark and hoping that something caught ahold of her.

  Amber went to her office and put her things down, greeting her new secretary, Bridgett. “Morning. I’m going to be waiting to speak to Mr. Townley, so please take messages for any calls I get. Unless, of course, it has to do with my son. I’ll be down in his office.”

  Bridgett nodded and smiled. “Of course. And Ms. Stark?”

  Amber turned and looked at her. “Amber, call me Amber please.”

  Bridgett chuckled. “Amber, are you alright?”

  Amber took in a deep breath. “I will be eventually.”

  She nodded and headed down the hall turning into the waiting area of his office. The secretary nodded. “He’s in a meeting, but you can wait if you’d like.”

  Amber took a seat, bobbing her foot nervously in front of her. “Yes, please. It’s pretty important.”

  “Of course. The investors showed up unannounced this morning, so it might be a minute.”

  Amber’s heart beat faster hearing that news. The investors had flown in from all over the country just to show up and talk to Logan. That didn’t seem like a very good sign from where she was sitting. She felt like if they were going to have good news, they would just tell him over conference call. She sat there impatiently, trying to hear the voices inside, but they were too muffled. Her nerves were completely on end, and she really hoped that her choice all those years ago didn’t ruin everything that he had worked so hard for.

  After about fifteen more agonizing minutes, the doors flew open and investors started exiting the room. They didn’t look happy in the least, and several of them whispered back and forth to each other as they walked out, shaking their heads. This wasn’t a good sign at all, Amber knew it. When the last had come out, she dipped into the office and shut the door behind her.

  Logan was standing at the window looking out, his hands behind his back. Amber cleared her throat, carefully walking forward. “What happened?”

  Logan lifted his head and turned around, looking at her with a straight face. “It looks like we might have to shut this location down. The full scale of this location hinged on the support from our investors. We wanted a standalone that could support itself and not drain the resources of the initial company. The initial one is young, well off, but young and could easily be taken down by a wrong move from this one. The investors are pulling their money from this project.”

  Amber started to panic. “They can’t. I mean, there has to be something that can be done. There is so much hope in this side of the company. It shouldn’t all be ruined because of a few rumors in a newspaper.”

  Logan looked at her, furrowing his brow. “Amber, those aren’t rumors. They are the truth. I was with you, we have a son together. They don’t care that I never knew about him until last night. They care what the people think, because those people buy stock in the company. That stock is where they make their money. If people aren’t buying, they aren’t making a wise investment. Because of public opinion, they no longer think that this side of the company is a wise investment. We have the main company still, but I am not sure I will be able to come up with a feasible way to keep it open without possibly damaging the other company. That is just how it works. I hate it just like you do, if not more. That is just how business works.”

  Amber covered her face. “God, this is all my fault. I lied to you, I lied to everyone, and now you are catching the shit end of the deal because of it. You didn’t even know what was going on… wait. That’s it.”

  Amber turned and ran from the room, ignoring Logan’s call out to her. She raced down the hallway and put her hand out, catching the elevator door before it could close. All of the investors looked up at her, immediately recognizing her face from the papers. “I’m sorry, I know you were on your way out, but if you could give me just five minutes of your time.”<
br />
  They all looked at each other and shrugged, stepping back out and standing in front of her. She gulped, feeling the enormity of the power standing in front of her. “My name is Amber, and I am the girl in all the media stories. The truth is, we are seeing each other, and it isn’t the first time that we have, either. The media got it right on the nose. They are good detectives. We do have a child together, but the truth is, he didn’t know that until last night. I have hidden our son from him and not for any reason of his own fault.”

  They glanced over at each other and back at her. The older gentleman narrowed his eyes. “Why are you telling us this?”

  She put her hands out. “Everyone is looking at the media attention as something that will ruin him. However, if you look at it from another perspective and take control of the story, it is actually something that could create an entirely new image for him. People could see him as a father, a man who stood up even though he had been kept in the dark. Instead of being the perpetrator, he could become the victim. He could be the underdog, and you how much America loves an underdog. The truth is, I want to make him look as good as I can to the public. I want them to love him, even if they hate me.”

  “And you think this can be done?” one of the board members asked.

  Amber nodded. “I know it can be. All I’m asking is that you give me a chance to make that happen. Give Logan another chance. Don’t pull out yet. Put it in my hands and let me work my magic. I think that by the time I am done, you will see that it was wise of you to stay with this company. If you still feel the same way when I have done all of this, then I won’t chase you down in the hall again. This was my doing, and I want to undo it. I want the public to want to be part of this company by investing in stock because the owner has high morals. He isn’t perfect, but he does the right thing every time it is asked of him. Will you let me try?”