Next Door Daddy

by Amy Brent

  A smug grin spread across Jake's face. “Yeah, but that was amazing.”

  She shot him a stern, annoyed look. “That is not happening again. When we're at the office, you keep your hands to yourself, mister.”

  He smirked and took her hand. “Oh, come on. You know you liked it. The thrill. The risk of getting caught.”

  Chanise pulled her hand away, her face heating up despite her annoyance. “I'm serious. I don't want to risk my job or get my father angry with me. Please.”

  Jake sighed, but he nodded. “Sure. I'll keep it in my pants when we're at the office.”

  “And I think you should talk to my father on Thursday about needing a new counselor,” Chanise said.

  “Already?”

  “Yes. I don't want to spend the next few weeks sneaking around. I had to be evasive with him yesterday when I was dropping off Deena. He wanted to know about the guy I'm dating. And I want to be able to tell him. To be honest with him. Not to sneak around like I'm some teenager who has to date behind her father's back.”

  “I guess that makes sense.” Jake shrugged. His shoulders slumped a bit.

  “Is that a problem?” Chanise asked.

  “Not really. It's just...”

  “Just what?”

  “It's just that I really like talking to your dad.” Jake frowned and looked away like he was too embarrassed to talk about his emotions in front of her. “I never had anyone who could make me feel so comfortable. Make me open up so much. I'm just worried that if I go see someone else, it won't...work the same.”

  “I'm sure it will,” Chanise said. “Dad knows some excellent counselors. He can recommend someone. I'm sure it'll work out fine.”

  “What am I supposed to tell him, though?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well,” Jake spread his hands, pausing a moment to search for the words, “you said you don't want him to know about us yet, right? I mean, do you want me to go in there and tell him I need a new counselor because I'm fucking his daughter?”

  “Dating his daughter,” Chanise said, crossing her arms.

  “Dating his daughter. Right. So should I say that?”

  “Well...no, I guess not.” Chanise frowned.

  “So what should I say? I mean, I don't really want to lie to him. But if you think we shouldn't tell him we're dating until after I'm already seeing a different counselor, then we need to tell him something.”

  “Could you just tell him you feel like your sessions would go better with someone else?” Chanise asked.

  “I don't want to insult him. I mean, he's been really good to me. And he's a real cool guy. Plus, I kind of want to stay on his good side.” He gave Chanise a bashful grin. “I mean, I want him to still like me when he finds out I'm...dating his daughter.”

  Chanise sighed. She leaned her elbow on the table and propped her chin in her hand. “This is kind of a messy situation. If he gets the wrong idea about us before we get a chance to tell him the right way, it might not go well. He's a bit overprotective.”

  “Lots of dads are like that.”

  “Yeah, but I think it's a bit more than that. My dad has always been the one to think about people's motivations. Psychoanalyzing them and all that. He used to interrogate the guys I wanted to date in high school, and if he thought they were just horny little teenage boys with no future, he wouldn't approve.”

  “He didn't let you date them?”

  “Well, no,” Chanise said. “He always let me make my own decisions. But he would make it quite clear when he didn't approve of someone. And I always had a hard time dating someone my father didn't approve of.”

  “Well, I really hope he approves of me.”

  Chanise smiled at Jake and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I'm sure he will. We just need to figure out the right way to approach this.”

  They discussed it for a bit longer, but they were unable to come up with a good way to broach the subject with Chanise's father. They decided to discuss it more, later since Chanise was running late to pick up her daughter.

  She drove back to her father's house to pick up Deena. When she got there, her father took her into another room and asked. “So, how are things with this young gentleman of yours?”

  “Good,” Chanise said. Her chest started to feel a bit tight. She wasn't sure how to talk about Jake with her father without revealing his identity.

  “Did you have a nice time?” He put his hands in his pockets and raised his chin, studying her face.

  Chanise started to sweat a little. She knew this look. It was the look her father got when he started analyzing her, trying to gauge her reactions to things. “We had a good time, yes. I'm going to be seeing him again.”

  “Good, good.” Her father waited for a moment, watching her face. His foot tapped impatiently on the ground. “So, Chanise, is there anything you want to tell me?”

  Chanise held her breath, trying to figure out if her father already knew what was going on, or had some reason to suspect. Had he seen Jake the other day at the office, when they were fooling around? Had she done or said something to give it away. “What do you mean?”

  Her father gestured into the living room, where Deena was watching a video. “Well, your daughter told me all about how you and her had dinner with your young man the other day. She was all excited about going into Philly and going up in the tall building.”

  Chanise pressed her lips together in a thin line. She hadn't thought that Deena would blab about Jake to her Grandpa. Though she should have expected it. The child always did speak her mind.

  “She said you were dating the man she saw on TV,” her father said. “I was curious about that, and I asked her who. She told me it was one of my patients. Jake Stone.”

  Chanise nervously rubbed her hands on her pants. “Yes. Yes, that's right. I was going to tell you, Dad, but...”

  “But you knew I'd be upset to know you were fooling around with one of my patients behind my back. Do you have any idea the position this puts me in? Especially considering Jake's situation with his coach. If they find out there's a conflict of interest, you understand what could happen to him?”

  Chanise hung her head. “Yes, I know. I was talking to Jake about it today. We wanted to tell you. He was going to ask to be transferred to another counselor.”

  “Hmm.” Her father crossed his arms, studying her. “And you thought it better not to tell me about this? Even though it could affect my career and my reputation?”

  “It's not like that, Dad. I wanted to tell you. But I wasn't sure it would even work out. If it was just going to turn out to be a onetime thing, we didn't think it would be worth bringing up.”

  “A onetime thing.” Her father frowned. “So, you're saying it's not a onetime thing? Are you getting serious with this boy?”

  “Maybe,” Chanise said.

  “Maybe?”

  “We're not sure yet. But we want to keep seeing each other.”

  Her father rubbed his chin, studying her. I really would have appreciated being informed about this before you got involved with Jake. You're a grown woman, and what you do with your life is your own business, but when it involves one of my patients, it becomes a part of my affairs. I'm going to have to stop counseling Jake immediately.”

  “What about his coach?” Chanise asked. “If he doesn't meet his mandatory number of sessions...”

  “I'll make some calls tomorrow,” he said. “I'm sure one of my colleagues will be able to take him in. There'll be some extra paperwork involved since we need to submit reports to Jake's coach, proving that he has been attending his sessions.”

  “I'll help out with the paperwork,” Chanise said.

  “No,” her father said. “I'd rather you didn't.”

  “Dad, it's my job.”

  “I don't want to do anything that could lead to my practice being compromised. That means you need to stay away from this. I'll handle the paperwork, and I'll get Jake transferred to another counse
lor.”

  “All right.” Chanise chewed on her lip for a moment. “Dad, are you mad at me? You know I wasn't trying to do anything behind your back.”

  He frowned at her, not saying anything for a long moment. “I'm not angry with you, Chanise. But I am disappointed. I thought you were more responsible than this.”

  “I guess I deserve that.”

  Chanise got Deena ready to go, then drove her home. As soon as she got home, she called Jake and explained what had happened. He seemed both worried and relieved when he found out that her father knew about them.

  “He said he'd take care of the transfer?” Jake asked over the phone.

  “That's what he said. But you'll have to talk to him about that yourself. He said he doesn't want me involved with any of the paperwork. I think he's afraid of getting in trouble, or having his reputation affected if any of his colleagues finds out that his daughter is dating one of his patients.”

  “Well, at least it's in the open now,” Jake said. “We won't need to hide anymore.”

  “I suppose so.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I guess. I'm still a bit frazzled. I wasn't expecting Dad to find out like this.”

  “But it's going to be okay now. There's nothing to worry about.”

  “I hope you're right.”

  But even after she got off the phone with Jake, Chanise's worries wouldn't disappear. She didn't know what was going to happen, or whether there would be trouble or drama caused by the situation. The one thing she did know was that she'd made a mess of things with her father, and she would need to smooth things over as soon as she figured out how.

  * * *

  A few days passed without much incident. Chanise's father refused to talk about Jake while they were at the office, and he wouldn't tell her anything about the new counselor he had recommended for Jake. He said he was trying to maintain confidentiality since it was inappropriate for him to reveal a patient's information to anyone else. Though on some level, Chanise felt like her father was simply pushing her away, at least until the situation passed and the emotions settled down.

  On Thursday, Chanise had a slow day, since Jake's appointment had been canceled, and there weren't usually many other patients on a Thursday. Her father ended up closing the office early since there were no appointments after two o'clock that day. Chanise gathered her things and got ready to go home; trying to decide what she might do with her extra time off.

  She left the office and crossed the parking lot to her car. But halfway there, she was interrupted by a young blonde woman who approached and shoved a microphone into her face.

  “Excuse me, Ms. Johnson? Is it true that you've become romantically involved with Jake Stone during his NFL suspension? Do you have any comment on the report that his suspension might be extended due to inappropriate circumstances surrounding his mandatory psychological leave?”

  “What?” Chanise stared at the woman, dumbfounded. A cameraman stood off to one side, pointing his camera right at Chanise. “Who are you? What are you talking about?”

  “Veronica Newton, Channel 5 News,” the woman said. “Can we get a comment from you regarding your relationship with Mr. Stone? Is it true that you're his therapist's daughter?”

  “What? Who? No...” Chanise shook her head, looking between the woman and the cameraman. “Excuse me, I have to go.”

  She pushed past the woman and got into her car. The reporter kept yelling questions at her the entire time, and the cameraman kept on recording her until she pulled out of the parking lot.

  Chanise drove with both hands clutching the steering wheel. Her entire body was shaking. She had never been confronted like that before, especially not in front of a TV camera. She felt like she was going to be sick. It felt like her privacy, and her relationship with Jake had been violated.

  She only drove a few blocks before she had to pull over to the side of the road to compose herself. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves. Then she pulled out her phone to call Jake and see what was going on.

  She paused before she dialed the phone. Something the reporter woman had said had only just sunk in. She had said something about Jake's suspension being extended.

  Chanise opened the web browser on her phone and Googled Jake's name. Immediately, a news report came up with the headline, “Suspended Quarterback Faces Possible Trouble after Sex Scandal.”

  “Sex Scandal?” she said aloud, staring at her phone in shock. She started shaking; trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

  She read through the article, then read it again to make sure she hadn't misread anything. The article described her relationship with Jake, or at least an abridged version of it. She had no idea where the writer of the article had gotten their information, but it talked about how Jake had gotten involved in an “affair” with his therapist's daughter, and it went on to list some basic information about her: her name, her occupation, the fact that she was a widow. The article even listed the college she had graduated from, and it described her as a “widow and single mother.” Along with the article was a picture of her. It took her a moment to recognize it as her Facebook profile photo.

  After the intrusive details about her personal life, the writer continued to say that there were allegations that the “affair” was a conflict of interest in Jake's mandatory therapy and that NFL officials were investigating to see whether this constituted cause for his suspension to be extended. The writer also reiterated the details of the fight that had led to Jake's suspension in the first place.

  As soon as she finished with the article, Chanise called Jake. He didn't answer the phone, so she left a voicemail. “Jake, it's Chanise. I just read about what's happening. A reporter tried to get to me in the parking lot at work. Please call me back. I need to know what's going on. Are you in trouble? Call me, baby.”

  She drove the rest of the way to the daycare, looking over her shoulder the entire time. Anytime she saw a car that seemed to be following her, she worried that it was another reporter, trying to invade her life. Though each time, the car eventually pulled away, and she realized she was just being paranoid. Though it was hard not to be, considering everything that was going on.

  She was in tears from the stress by the time she picked up her daughter. While she was buckling Deena into her car seat, Deena asked, “Momma, what's wrong?”

  “Nothing, baby,” Chanise said. “It's nothing you need to worry about.”

  “Why are you crying?” Deena looked up at her, her own eyes starting to tear up.

  Chanise took a deep breath to calm herself and she wiped away her tears. She didn't want to upset her daughter by crying in front of her. “I just had a bad day, baby girl. But it's okay. We get to go home now.”

  Chanise had trouble focusing on anything after she got home. She ended up making Deena peanut butter and jelly for dinner, just because she couldn't focus on cooking anything more complicated. It wasn't until later in the night that she finally got a call from Jake.

  “Jake?” she asked, heading into the other room so Deena wouldn't overhear the conversation. “Are you okay? What's going on?”

  “It's complicated, babe,” Jake said. “Might be too much to talk about over the phone.”

  “Jake, I need to know what's going on. There were reporters camped outside my office today. I'm scared that they're going to come stalk me at my home.”

  “Don't worry about that. I'll take care of everything.”

  “But what's going on?” Chanise asked. “Are you still being suspended?”

  “I can't talk about it over the phone. Can I come over?”

  Chanise chewed on her lip. With all the drama that was being stirred up, she wasn't sure if having Jake come over, and possibly having a reporter follow him to her home, was a good idea. But she was worried about him, and she wanted to see him. “Okay. You can't stay too late. I've got to get Deena to bed soon.”

  “I'll be right over,” Jake said.

/>   When Jake came over, Deena rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around his legs. “Hi, Jake!” she said.

  “Hey, kiddo.” He reached down and patted her head. “How've you been?”

  “I'm good. Momma's been crying.”

  Jake looked up at Deena with concern on his face. “How’s she now?”

  “I'm fine,” Chanise said. “I just had a long day, that's all. Deena, Momma, and Jake have some stuff to talk about. Will you be okay with your books for a while?”

  Deena let out a dramatic sigh. “I guess so.”

  “We'll spend some time together after Jake and I talk,” Deena said. “I promise.”

  “Okay.” Deena trudged into the living room and sat in her rocking chair, sorting through her storybooks.

  Chanise took Jake back into the bedroom. They sat on the bed together, side by side. Chanise took both of Jake's hands in hers and squeezed them tight. “Is everything going to be okay?” she asked. “Are you in a lot of trouble?”

  “Not really, I don't think.”

  “Not really it won't be okay, or not really you're not in trouble?”

  Jake chuckled. “The second one. I don't think I'm in too much trouble. There's just going to be an investigation is all. They'll need to interview your dad. As long as he tells them that he didn't know we were dating and that I really was keeping up with my sessions, it'll be fine. Plus I already told my coach that I transferred to a new counselor. So I think this will blow over.”

  “Oh thank God.” Chanise leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Jake, pulling him tight against her. “I've been so worried all day. I thought I had messed up your career.”

  “No, I'm the one who did that,” Jake said. “When I got into that fight. It was a stupid mistake. I should never have done it.”

  “But you're paying your dues now,” Chanise said. “We all make mistakes. And I don't believe you ever really meant to hurt anyone.”

  “I didn't. I was just having a hard time dealing with things. And tensions can get pretty high on the team, especially during the playoffs. Lots of the guys have almost gotten into fights before. You get that much testosterone all pumping in one room and it's kind of inevitable.”