by Liza Brown
I removed my hand from his leg. “But we’re ok, right?”
“We’re perfect, Mae. Don’t worry one of those beautiful little hairs over this. I’m not quitting us. I’m not quitting ball. I have to learn to balance the two.” He placed a finger on my chin and kissed me sweetly. “I love you.”
I smiled at the words. They were magical. “I love you too, Mount Elsu,” I said.
“You ready to go?”
“Yep,” I stood and readjusted the sweater.
“Shit, Mae. Those jeans are amazing on your ass. I thought I liked you in leggings. I was wrong. You need more pairs of these.”
I lifted the back of my sweater over my butt and left the room, wiggling as I went.
“Now you’re not being nice!” he said as he followed behind me and pulled my sweater back to cover my rear.
“I thought you said you liked them,” I said.
“I do, but I can’t do anything about it right now!”
“We can stay home,” I said, secretly hoping he’d agree. I really didn’t want to go out.
“Nope, we’re going out. You two ready?” he asked Millard and April.
They both stood and we headed out, assisting Arnold with his laundry cart to the elevator. “Did you talk to Elsu?” I asked him.
“Decided against it, Mae. But if he loses like he lost last night, I’ll be back.”
“Well then,” I said. I waited with them as the elevator arrived but took the steps to the first floor.
“You are going to drive me nuts, Mae!” said Elsu as he exited the elevator.
“You’re probably right, but I have issues and now you know how I deal with them. I won’t put stuff in a car trunk still to this day. So let’s just say it may be a while.”
Elsu opened the car door for me, and Millard and April took the front seat. “Where are we going, anyway?” I asked.
“It’s a surprise,” he said.
We drove downtown and back to B Dubs where I had watched the first away game with friends. “I got all dressed up for this?” I asked.
“Come on,” said Elsu as he helped me out of the car.
Once inside, the hostess recognized Elsu immediately and showed us to the back room where upon entering I realized the room was filled with people I knew. My employees, Colette, Aaron, Jason, Candice, and even my dad and Margaret were all there. The basketball players and some of the wives were also there. They all cheered when I walked in and I looked at Elsu.
“What’s with the surprise?” I asked.
“Well, someone forgot to mention to me that her birthday was this past Monday. So I’ve been planning this for a few days, with the help of Colette.”
I hugged Colette and tears started to prickle my eyes. “You are the best!” I said into her ear.
“I know,” she giggled. “Now, tell me which of these guys is single!”
Elsu laughed and started pointing to different teammates. Colette made her way across the room to introduce herself.
“You didn’t have to do this, Elsu. I don’t usually celebrate my birthday,” I said.
“Why is that?” he asked.
“No one ever has. I usually forget until I look at a calendar and it’s gone by.”
“Wait, you’ve never celebrated your birthday?”
I looked at my dad who was sitting with the rest of my family. “No, mom said it was a waste of money. So she never did. Max was treated the same way. Now the twins, on the other hand, they got grand affairs nearly every year. Bouncy houses, pony rides, balloon-sculpting clowns…” I was suddenly depressed. Things I thought were ‘normal’ behaviors all my life were really just my mom being inconsiderate and unloving to my brother and me. “She’s really hated me all these years. I just never saw it. Or I saw it and just didn’t want to believe it.”
“Hush, we’re not here to talk about her.”
I gave him a hug and kissed him. “You’re the best a girl could ever ask for.” I smiled at him.
“I’m going to make it my goal in life to live up to that title, Mae. Happy birthday.” We kissed again and the room filled with whistles. I knew those whistles by now, they belonged to his teammates.
We spent the rest of the evening reminiscing with old friends, making new ones, eating, and drinking. I took a seat next to my dad and thanked him for coming. Margaret had chosen to visit with a friend instead of visiting for the party. I was ok with that. I couldn’t believe so many people wanted to spend their Friday evening with me. Elsu had made sure this happened and I was so grateful for that. I watched him mingle with his friends and teammates. I even saw him whisper something into Tonesha’s ear and point in my direction. She smiled at me and gave me two thumbs up.
“Is your phone ringing?” asked Gina as she put her ear to my purse that was laying on the table.
I opened it to see I had missed a call and a text.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAE. I HOPE YOU LIKE MY PRESENT.
THANK YOU LETTER FROM THE AUTHOR
Dear Readers,
Thank you for reading The Point Guardian. I hope you enjoyed it! I am still in disbelief over the publication of my first book, Center Courtship, so you can only imagine my feelings about Point Guardian.
I love writing about Mae’s adventures into the world of celebrity. She couldn’t make it in life without the many people in her life. Just like I know I couldn’t make it in my life without my friends and family.
If you enjoyed this book and don’t mind taking a second to review it on Amazon, I’d really appreciate it.
You can also follow me on all sorts of social media sites.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lizabrownauthor
Instagram: www.instagram.com/liza.brown.author
Twitter: www.twitter.com/lizabrownauthor
@lizabrownauthor
Snapchat: Lizabrownauthor
You can also email me. I’d love to hear from you. [email protected]
Sincerely,