by Leigh, Anne
I broke to him my disapproval. “Babe, I can handle them. I know the best routes to take so I can avoid them. Yesterday they just caught me at a really bad time.”
“Sedona, I need to protect you and our baby,” he countered. “If they’re camping out at the apartment, it will only be a matter of time until they start chasing after you.”
“I don’t need a bodyguard.” This was crazy. It wasn’t like I was the first lady or a celebrity. The last thing I needed was someone to follow me around as his job.
Zander looked like he was about to say more, but then I said, “I miss you. I can’t wait until I’m done with my internship so we can start our lives together.”
A small smile escaped his mouth. “Me too. I just want to wake up right next to you every day.”
“Uh-huh.” I grinned. “It’s kind of hard waking up next to you every day.”
“Why?”
“Because when I wake up with you next to me, something hard and big is always trying to poke me and penetrate through my undies.”
His face turned red and he laughed. “Well, that something hard and big only wakes up when you’re right next to me.”
I let out a sigh and said, “I miss you so much.”
“I miss you too. More than you’ll ever know,” he said, his facial expression communicating with me just how much he missed me.
Chapter Sixteen
“We are not perfect. What we make of the world around us, therein lies perfection.”
Zander
Sedona had no idea I was going to be here.
I almost blurted it out last night during our nightly video chat.
I wanted to surprise her. I missed her so much, especially after the misunderstanding that we had about Inna.
I had texted Brynn earlier to let me into the unit. Brynn was working at another floor, but she was nice enough to tell the security personnel that I was a welcome guest. I could’ve waited for Sedona in the hospital lobby, but I wanted to surprise her and the staff in the unit. I had found out that the hospital staff liked treats, so this time I went in carrying two boxes of assorted desserts. The treats were my passes to get into good graces with Sedona’s co-workers.
I still haven’t caught a glimpse of her. I saw nurses and doctors walk past me as I sat on the chair that was a few feet away from the nursing station.
Sedona must be busy with her patients. She didn’t even respond to the text I sent her an hour ago.
I stretched myself on the chair and started browsing through the Sports Magazine I bought at the airport. She still had an hour to go before her shift ended.
I was flexing my neck left and right, trying to remove the kinks that I’d gotten during the flight, when I caught sight of a tall dude who was probably a doctor, since he was wearing one of those crisp, white lab coats. He was standing in front of the desk and was staring at something intently. He looked like he just found dessert.
I followed his line of vision.
His gaze landed on a figure that was so familiar to me. Mine.
Who was this dickwad?
He kept staring at her. She was wearing her loose, pink scrubs with her off-white clogs. Her long, dark locks were pulled up into a ponytail. She was talking to another nurse.
Sedona must’ve sensed the guy’s stare because she looked straight at him and quickly turned her face the other way.
What the hell just happened?
I didn’t recall her mentioning to me that she worked with a guy who stared at her like this.
As much as I wanted to wait for her shift to end, I could not stand this fucker anymore. I stood up from my seat and slowly walked towards Sedona. The nurse whom she was talking to recognized me and pointed at me.
Sedona turned her head, and when she caught sight of me she almost skipped towards me.
“Hey babe!” Her smile was so big and her eyes shimmered. She looked delighted to see me.
She kissed me on my cheek. “When did you get in?”
I hugged her tightly to my side. “Two hours ago.”
She stayed in my hug and said, “Let me give my report first, and then I’m all yours.”
I nodded. I walked with her to the nursing station.
The idiot was still there. His gaze flared back and forth between Sedona and me. I was quite familiar with most of her co-workers by now, so I smiled at them, and they greeted me and smiled back. I informed them about the dessert boxes and their smiles got even bigger.
Sedona introduced me to two ladies I haven’t met, and then to the dickwad. “Zander, this is Dr. Klinefelder.”
The dickwad reached out his hand and said, “Nice to meet you.”
I didn’t think so, but if that was how he wanted to play this that was fine with me.
I grabbed his hand and shook it – hard and way longer than necessary.
“I’m her fiancé.” My left hand was still on Sedona’s waist. Most of the people in the station were giving reports, so it was pretty noisy.
Sedona excused herself. The nurse who she had to give report to had just showed up.
“Fiancé, huh?” This guy emanated preppiness like he was born with it. “Sedona never mentioned it.”
The way he said Sedona’s name fueled my desire to tear his preppy face up and smash it against the wall. Or a chair. Or the counter where he was resting his hands.
“Yes,” I said. “And I don’t appreciate it when my fiancé is being stared at like she’s the main course.”
He tightened his jaw. If he misread my message before, then I was helping him arrive at the right conclusion now. Stay away from her.
He looked at me with a hard stare and said, “Got it.”
“Good,” I said, firmly.
*****
Sedona
While I was giving report to the oncoming shift, I kept sneaking glances at Zander and Dr. Klinefelder. I called him Dr. Klinefelder in my head, because Leonard was too personal, too intimate. It gave me the creeps just to think of that arrogant mug of his in that way.
My excitement in seeing Zander could not be contained. My internship was extended because of the time off that I took when Zander got injured. Even though he was cleared to play, I stayed with him for more than two weeks after that because I could not stand to be away from him, especially after seeing his motionless body on the field.
I had no idea that he was going to be here. The last time I talked to him, which had been this morning, he said he was at a team meeting and that he was going to be really busy. Sneaky guy.
As we walked towards our apartment we talked about how his team was doing. He was excited about the way they ‘gelled’ together now. I thought that he was finally feeling at home with the Minnesota Fox. Early on he had encountered some issues with his teammates. Now it seemed like everything was going smoothly. I shared with him what I have been doing for the day – the kinds of patients I had and the most interesting part of my day – inserting a Foley catheter into a limp penis. He winced at that. I said that to make him laugh. I did have to insert two dislodged urinary catheters today, but to female patients, not male.
After changing into more comfortable clothes, we decided to check out a small café in downtown New York. He casually asked about the doctor whom I had introduced him to. I responded with, “He’s just another staff member.”
I knew better. Nothing escaped Zander, especially when it came to guys who showed the slightest interest in me. His brows were furrowed and, with his eyes greener, he quizzed me.
“How long has that preppy doctor been checking you out?”
I was munching on a slice of delicious carrot raisin bread. Before I could filter out the words in my brain I said, “A while now.”
His brows shot up, “A while now?! You never mention that guy when we talk.”
Crapola. This bread made me break my concentration. I didn’t want to make this into a big deal. Zander’s jealousy sometimes unnerved me. Didn’t he know that I was his? That no matter how ma
ny guys looked at me; my eyes would only be for him?
“He wasn’t worth mentioning. He’s just one of those arrogant doctors who think that women should fall at their feet.” I reached for my iced lemonade and took a long sip.
His tone was speculative as he said, “I’m just curious as to why you never said anything about him to me.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Sedona, does he bother you at work?” Oh man, he was going to go into that.
“Zander, I can handle it.”
“What do you mean you can handle it?” Now he was bubbling with annoyance. His jaw muscles were ticking overtime.
I let out a huge sigh and told him about the instances when Dr. Klinefelder made passes at me. Zander’s jaws gritted and his hands were clenching and unclenching at the same time.
This was why I didn’t want to tell him. I could handle it, and Zander was simply being overprotective. He often forgot that I could look out after myself.
As soon as I finished my story he downed the rest of his drink and wanted to leave. He said something about filing a sexual harassment charge against Dr. Klinefelder.
I did what any sane woman would do in this situation.
I looped my right hand against his neck and pulled his mouth down towards me. We were in a public place, but the only thing that could distract Zander’s anger was his hunger for me. I gave him a long, burning kiss and said, “Are you sure you want to waste our time together by walking back to the hospital and filing a case against him when I said that I could handle him?”
He took a long look at me, deciding if he was going to trust my words. Finally, he said, “Has he ever touched you, in any way?
“No.” With determination in my voice, I followed it up with, “Zander, no one touches me but you. If he touched me inappropriately, his butt would be gone faster than he can say hello. I am on to him. If he crosses that boundary of professional behavior, I would sock a lawsuit on his insolent face.”
He rubbed my back. “I forget that you are such a kick-ass woman and that no one can mess with you.”
I touched my nose to his and said, “I am. And if that’s not enough, I have a kick-ass guy who will defend me and blow their preppy faces to smithereens.”
The evening went by so fast. He had to leave early in the morning. Zander and I spent a lot of time canoodling and watching an action movie at our apartment. He was psyched to feel our baby move in my stomach. Every time our baby moved he said, “That’s a quarterback in the making,” or, “That’s a genius in the making.” Before I became pregnant, Zander’s favorite place was in my arms. Now, his favorite place was by my stomach, because he said, “It houses Z and Sedona’s precious by-product.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Chapter Seventeen
“Because of you, I became a woman. With our love, I became a mother.”
Sedona
Was this going to be my life…to always be on standby? Waiting for my future husband to get out of the locker room after every game?
I scanned the room. There were other women here, all waiting for their significant others. I waved and smiled at some of them. I never thought that this would be me; a football player's wife, or a football groupie. Pregnant, unmarried, and hormonal.
I loved Zander. But sometimes I wondered how my life would have been without him. Would I have been in another city? Would I have been content with another person? I couldn't imagine my life without him, now. He was my world. Maybe it was my hormones that made me feel like this. Maybe it was the fact that I had to fly over here to watch his last home game, after working an eight hour shift. I had to get clearance from my OBGYN to fly, because I was now nearing my eighth month of pregnancy.
Zander's team won, which meant that his team would be going as a wild card to the playoffs. His last three games were all wins. I was not able to attend the last two, but this one I couldn't miss. Zander was hesitant for me to fly to Minnesota because of my condition. I had to have my doctor talk to him to say that it was okay before he agreed.
I stood up from my seat and went to the bathroom. My bladder could hardly contain an ounce of pee these days. When I came back, I saw a voluptuous woman whose face and body was catalogued all over the world, sitting a few seats away from me — Inna Posey. She was dressed in an off-shoulder, ruffled blouse and jeans as she chatted up another woman.
Sitting back on the metal chair, I thought of Inna Posey's increasing hold over my life with Zander. I've never met her in person. Zander has been telling me that Inna was a fan and that she regularly hung out with the team. I had my own reservations and opinions about it. Zander knew that it made me mad that she was always hanging around. But he couldn't kick her out, because that would be rude, and it wasn't like she was doing anything that was of a security threat. She was a celebrity and she brought the limelight to the Minnesota Fox.
What time was Zander coming out? I wanted to put my feet up on the couch and rest in our townhouse already. I felt so tired. These days it was a huge struggle to get up in the early morning and stand on my feet for long periods of time. I only had two more weeks remaining for my internship.
I rummaged through my purse, found my cell phone, and started playing my favorite Chemistry app game. Ah, the sight of numbers and equations calmed me. My brain was busily working on the structural and molecular formula for hydrocarbons when I heard a woman’s voice ask, "Are you waiting for someone Inna?"
I heard Inna reply, "Oh yeah. I'm waiting for my hottie quarterback."
My ears went on instant alert at that statement. Her hottie quarterback? There was only one quarterback, discounting the back-up QB, for the Minnesota Fox, and that one was mine.
"Are you waiting for Zander?" the woman asked.
Inna's nasal voice said, "Oh, yeah."
"I heard he's engaged."
Inna replied, "So? Engaged or married, it doesn't matter. I like to tease him. He's such a challenge. He's always trying to avoid me, but I think he likes me."
I could probably blame my hormones for my subsequent actions, but I would not. My reactions came from the deepest part of me, the one that needed to claim what was mine and herd off anyone who planned to take it away from me. I seethed in anger and it brought back to my mind the time when I hung up on Zander because of her. It wasn't even about jealousy. I was secure in Zander's love. It was about this obstinate woman's disrespect for another woman's man.
I got out of my seat, walked towards her, and tapped Inna on her right shoulder since her body was turned away from me.
Her blue eyes stared at me in confusion. Obviously she didn't know who I was. Did I look that different from the pictures that those paparazzi posted on the internet? Maybe I did, because now I looked like the balloon-sized version of me.
"You're Inna, right?" I asked.
With her famous, camera-ready smile, she said, "Yes, I am. Do you want my autograph?"
Bitch. I want your face in front of a punching bag, and then I'll shove your autograph in it.
"No, I don't want an autograph."
"Oh, okay." The woman whom Inna was talking to recognized me. If I remembered it correctly, her name was Janelle. She was one of the girlfriends of the receivers. I didn't get to hang around Zander's teammates' wives and girlfriends because of my schedule. Most of them knew me or had seen me hanging around after a game.
"How can I help you?" Inna asked.
I raised my left eyebrow and said, "You can help me by staying away from Zander, who is my fiancé, and my husband in a few weeks. I don't appreciate you chasing around after him like a dog in heat."
Inna's blue eyes got wider and her mouth opened up to say something.
I stuck my right finger out and waved it in front of her face. "Zander will never look your way the way you're imagining he will." I pressed my left hand half an inch away from her smug face. "See this? This ring means that he's mine." Pointing to my stomach, I added, "and this is the reason why I cannot grab your hair r
ight now and push your face on the floor as much as I want to. You stay away from him. He's been trying to push your advances away, but he's too nice to do it. I am not as nice as he is. If you don't stop whatever you're doing, I'll make sure all your antics are posted online so everyone will see what you are — a desperate, home-wrecking slut! Consider this as your only warning. Next time I won't be as generous."
Her mouth remained clamped shut. I was waiting for her to say something when a hand touched my side.
"Hey, babe." It was Zander. His voice was soft, as if he was assessing the situation. A bunch of his teammates were around him, and most of the women who were sitting and minding their own business earlier were now looking at us. I didn't realize that I had caused a scene. I had been too caught up in the moment.