“You slept with a total stranger right after we had breakup sex? Seriously?” Was that judgment in his tone? Was he scolding me just like he had done that morning when I had found him dead drunk?
“And so what? It’s not like you became a priest or a saint in the meantime, you know,” I spat out. The attack was the best defense, right? And I was nice to this son of a bitch.
Sean remained silent for a while, probably counting down to ten. I had all the important cards to myself and he could just bluff. “Okay, so why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, I couldn’t because, A, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that you were her father and, B, you became a playboy. Posing for underwear companies and such.”
“And so what?” he whispered.
“I thought it best that way. I don’t know. I might have been wrong. I tried to call you though. But there was something. Something indescribable pulling me back. I don’t know. I really don’t,” I said, playing with my nails in my lap.
“What’s done is done. Let’s look at what’s before us. A paternity test will solve everything?” He said, crossing his arms as if it was the easiest thing in the whole wide world.
“Really? A paternity test?” I didn’t expect him to say that. But what was I expecting in the first place? He might be the child’s father, for God’s sakes.
“If you have a better solution, please do tell.” He was being sarcastic which made me hate his tone.
I inhaled and exhaled. “A paternity test won’t change a thing, you know. Even if you are Mia’s father, it won’t change anything. You and I both know that.”
Sean’s face transformed into a mask of anger and frustration. “And why is that, Kayla? Tell me, because I don’t honestly know.”
I felt my insides boiling inside me. Was he saying this? To me? As if I were born yesterday and hadn’t coped with his shit for so long. “You want to know why? Because you’re unfit. As simple as that. You’re unfit to be Mia’s father.”
“What makes you think that, precisely?”
I didn’t give up. The bastard wanted me to go to the end. And I was. “You may be a pro football player, but you’re not a great father. Deal with it! You’re a playboy. You sleep with women, date five different models at the same time. The whole nation knows every detail of your body… You want me to go on?”
“How can you say that? You haven’t even seen me for eight entire years, fuck this!” he yelled.
“Believe me, I know you.”
You know nothing, okay?” Sean yelled, as the veins on his neck pulsed and he became red in the face from anger. “I’m doing what I’m best at. What I do for a living doesn’t affect my personal life. I can be her father. And if I am, you won’t be the one to take that right away from me.”
“How dare you, you idiot? You haven’t even met the girl! You haven’t seen her up close. You don’t know her favorite food or book or subject at school. You don’t even know the name of her school, God damn it! You haven’t been with her when she lost her first tooth, when she scraped her knee, when she had a fever. You’re not her father,” I shouted at him.
“Yeah, thanks to you,” he said calmly and that was enough to shut my mouth.
Silence.
“Okay. You’ll get a paternity test.” I sighed. It was the only thing to shut him up. And I didn’t plan to argue with him until infinity. Because our arguments could go on and on throughout the whole day.
“Thank you,” he said, angrily. “I’ll stay here and see you and Mia, okay?”
I thought to say no at first, but the one thing I learned about Sean was that he was the most stubborn man that had ever walked on Earth. Just like a mule.
“Fine,” I said, all frustrated. “Deal.”
Sean smiled at me as if nothing had happened just a mere second ago. What a man!
Sean
Sitting in my hotel room, I replayed in my mind the whole meeting with Kayla. I definitely didn’t expect all of that to happen.
First of all, I was surprised by how good Kayla looked. She was killing it, man. Slaying it. Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but want something more with her. However, she was a thing from the past and kindling up that fire would be impossible. I chased the thoughts from my brain. The important thing was that I could be the girl, Mia’s, father. And I was going to find out soon. Very soon.
A grin appeared on my face. Me? Sean Coleman? The professional football player? The star of the world? The playboy of the year? I was a father? Somehow it didn’t add up. But fate, it seemed, had its own games.
As if triggered by my own thoughts my phone rang. It was my agent. What the hell did he want now?
“What’s up, Brent?” I spoke in the phone. Brent Walsh had been my agent for so long and was undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best, in the business. His fat ass only wanted more and more cash and probably that was why he was so good at this. Yeah, he practically used me as a product for promotion, but that put bucks in his pocket and in mine, too. And the bucks were plenty. Like really plenty.
“Hey, Sean. In fact, that’s the question I’m supposed to ask you.” I detected nervousness in his voice. Was he going to yell at me like a teacher to a pupil? What a weirdo!
“What do you mean?” I sharply said.
“You stayed behind and didn’t notify me. I’m looking all over for you and I find out that you haven’t even returned home.”
“Yeah, and so what. Want me to say sorry, dad?” I didn’t know why I was so agitated. Hearing Brent’s voice triggered something in me. Something I couldn’t explain. It seemed that he was going to be the target of my negative energy. He was paid for that after all, right?
“Sean, calm down. We’re serious,” he said as he sighed.
“I’m serious from the start, Brent.”
Silence. He was surely rubbing his temples. He was always doing that when he was having problems.
“Shut the fuck up, Sean, okay? This was not in the contract, you know. You told the coach, but here I am, left in the dark. It was one call. You just had to call me and say that you won’t be coming back. Because they’re all chasing after me now.”
“Okay, I get it.” I was finally resigned. I wasn’t going to fight with my agent and representative. He landed me amazing deals and plus I had no energy left in me.
“I had to cancel events because of—”
“Get your shit together, Brent! You’re not talking to your secretary, but to your boss. I get it. Move on and stop crying,” I shouted. When did this guy start to get on my nerves so much?
There was silence again. He was thinking what to reply, calculating and analyzing. I smiled. Oh, you clever bastard.
“Tell me what happened?” Brent finally asked.
“Glad you asked,” I said sarcastically. “I saw my ex-girlfriend, Kayla.”
“Kayla Vaughn? The Princeton girl?” Brent said only to confirm. He was surely writing all of this down, knowing him.
“The very one. She was with a girl. An eight-year-old girl.”
“No way! Please don’t tell me what I think you will.” Brent’s voice increased again.
“She doesn’t know if it’s mine. She slept with some other guy and… It’s a long story. The short story is that we’ll get a paternity test to see if it’s mine,” I finished.
“Wait a minute! Sorry to break it to you, Sean, but that’ll ruin you,” Brent spoke resolutely.
I was bewildered. “And how will that happen, oh you mighty wizard?”
“Ugh, enough with the sarcasm. You need to get your ass back here. Like now. This instant. The situation will only grow worse. It will damage your reputation and image as the playboy of the year. Imagine the headlines. The playboy has a girl? It won’t work. You’ll be bankrupt,” Brent shouted, because he needed to squash every possibility of losing his money.
“You mean, we’ll be bankrupt,” I corrected him.
“It doesn’t matter. I helped you create this image. I made you
the nation’s darling and I got you contracts made in Heaven. It’ll all go down the drain, oh my God! What’s happening?” Brent was losing his mind back in my home and I could do nothing about it. I was staying here and I was going to tell him precisely that.
“I’m not leaving, Brent. Come Hell or high water. I have to know if I’m the girl’s father. It’s too important to me. I can’t. Sorry,” I said.
“Then you’ll do as I ask, okay? If you want to survive.”
I wasn’t sure where all of this was leading. “Okay. Shoot.” I trusted Brent in these kinds of situations.
“I’m making the most of the horrible situation here. You have to acknowledge that. There’s a new nightclub that has opened recently near where you are. I managed to squeeze in a spot for you. You have to attend. You simply must. We can’t lose this thing,” Brent said as if recorded, without a break or a pause. What a strange man!
“Sure. What time?” I asked, taking a pen and paper to write the details down.
“Tonight. Nine, but it’s preferable if you come at nine thirty,” Brent briefed me.
But that was when I was supposed to meet with Kayla again. I couldn’t go. Kayla would be furious and she would never let me see Mia. Never. The fuck, man? Why is all so complicated with me?
“I’ll be with Kayla then. I can’t.”
“Sean, you’re making me really mad here. Go there and pass some time. You don’t have to stay there the whole night. Just be seen and make hundreds of pictures. The media and paparazzi will be there. You have to attend and smile and show your body and you’re done.”
“Okay, okay. I got it,” I replied. “Thanks.” I hung up and caught my head in my hands. It was going to be a tough day. A very long, hard day.
The club was all lit up. Like seriously spectacular. The driver dropped me off at the entrance where a red carpet was waiting for me. I stepped out of the car and the flashes were instantly blinding me. However, I had gotten used to it by now. Everyone screamed my name, wanting for an exclusive quote on anything and everything that will get them more reads and more profit. My world was a cruel one.
I waved and entered quickly. The loud house dance music greeted me. The second my feet landed there, all lights were directed on me. My smile was from ear to ear. The motherfucking star. That was me.
“Ladies and gentlemen, here with us, we have the one and only the sexy playboy, Sean Coleman,” the DJ shouted in his mic and the crowd went wild. I was surrounded in minutes. Everything was moving so fast the time seemed to pass by in mere seconds.
I was a party guy. It was how I was born. It was in my blood. Sean was the life and soul of every party around the globe and everybody knew that. And that night I partied like crazy and as if it was my very last day.
The alcohol was flowing down my throat as the girls around me were only increasing in number. The beats hypnotized me. I lost track of time.
“Come on, Sean. Let’s go out on the dance floor,” one model said next to me. She was blond and had too much make-up on.
I drained the glass which a second ago had been full of tequila and was hauled up by the girl. I danced my heart out. And the model was certainly a great dance partner with the twerking and all.
As if in a dream, I remembered another more beautiful girl. She was dressed in a female suit with long curly hair and walked in heels that shook the ground beneath her. Kayla!
“What’s the time?” I screamed so that the model I was dancing with could hear me.
“What?” she shouted back.
“The time,” I yelled, motioning on my wrist.
“Oh,” she said and checked her watch. “Ten and something. Going towards midnight.”
“Shit!” I said and ran.
“Hey, where are you going?” she shouted from behind me, but I had no time for her. She could go and screw herself, for all I knew. I was late, terribly late. Kayla would never forgive me. I quickly found the backdoor and ran straight ahead. I ended up in a narrow alley. What was I doing here? I could so easily get killed.
My heart was beating loudly in my chest; I could hear it in my ears. My vision was clouded by the alcohol, but I managed to steady myself. I was an experienced drinker after all. I couldn’t feel my legs from the running and the dancing, yet I continued forward until I caught a cab. Telling the driver Kayla’s address, he sped up.
I arrived in front of Kayla’s door at eleven-thirty. Apparently it had been much later than ten something like the model had told me. I knocked on the door with my free hand. In the other I carried a big teddy bear for Mia. I had thought of that in the last minute. I was going to be a father. Or perhaps not.
I could hear Kayla’s footsteps. She opened the door with a scowl on her face. “Oh, no, mister. You’re not coming in.”
“Babe, I’m so sorry.”
“Enough, okay. I don’t know why I ended up mixing with you again. Get out of my life, you son of a—”
“Kayla, please. I’m begging you,” I said, lowering my eyebrows in sadness. I showed her the big teddy bear in my hands.
“So what? You think you can get a teddy bear and be done with it. Get away with it? I’m done with idiots like you.” Kayla slammed the door in my face.
I stood before her door like an orphan. I screwed up big time. No. I fucked up. I fucked up all of it. And I hated myself for that. My fists pounded on the wall. “Please, Kayla. I want to see Mia. Please.”
I could feel my emotions getting the better of me. What was happening to me, huh? I didn’t know. I was never this emotional. I guessed that nothing mattered this much to me previously. But now… Those two women behind that door meant everything to me, the world to me.
Kayla opened again. “You know that it’s well past Mia’s bedtime.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” I whispered as not to wake my potential daughter up.
Kayla scanned me from head to toe. Her eyes lingered on the giant teddy bear and I could see her eyes soften. They didn’t hold as much anger as they had a few minutes ago. “All right. Come on in.”
I entered the cozy apartment. It really felt like a home. With the corner of my eye, I spotted Kayla entering one of the rooms, probably to get Mia.
My heart sank as my stomach tied in a tight knot. What was seriously happening to me? I had never felt like this before. But it felt very good, I knew that.
And then from the room emerged Kayla and a small girl dressed in red pajamas.
Kayla spoke in a baby voice, “Mia, this is Sean.”
The girl was afraid of me. She shrunk into herself and was going backwards towards her mom. It was a natural thing to do. A tall, big man she hadn’t seen before was in the heart of her home. I would react like that myself if I had been her age.
“Don’t be scared, Mia. He’s a good man and mommy’s friend,” Kayla continued to persuade her to meet me. The girl shook her head and made a crying grimace. Kayla turned to me. “She’s just shy. That’s all.”
Then all of a sudden I knew what I had to do. Call it an instinct or something else. I came on my knees and I grabbed the teddy bear’s arm with my hand. It waved to her now and she smiled.
I used my baby voice as well. I didn’t know I had one, but I guessed every man did. “Hello, Mia. Do you want to meet me?”
The girl was laughing now, much to mine and Kayla’s surprise. She came to me and hugged the bear. My heart melted.
“Hey, Mia. You have a beautiful name; you know that?” I said, extending my hand.
Mia reluctantly accepted it. “Hello.”
It was the first word I had heard from her. Hello. So simple, yet it touched me in ways I hadn’t imagined possible.
“What’s your name?” she asked me.
“I’m Sean,” I replied.
“It’s a very nice name as well,” she said. I could sense my eyes getting wet. Were there tears in my eyes?
“Thank you,” I said with a trembling voice. Such a large man like myself, shaking before a small girl of eight
. The world was indeed a very strange and peculiar place.
I sat on the sofa and Mia followed suit. We placed the bear between us. “Do you like my gift?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said, hiding her pretty face with her hands. She was still very shy around me. I supposed it was a natural thing.
This time Kayla interfered. “Come on, Mia. What do we say to people who give us presents, hmm?”
Mia stared at her mother for a while and eventually said, “Thank you.”
“That’s right,” Kayla said and started clapping. I didn’t know why but I joined her. There was a whole other atmosphere in the apartment. The energy flowed like a current between the three of us. I felt at peace here.
“So, where do you study?” I asked her.
Mia stared at my eyes with her beautiful hazel ones. “In elementary school. It’s the best in the whole world.”
“Oh, how lovely,” I replied. “And what is your favorite subject?”
“I like Sports,” she said in a tiny voice. That hit too close to home. Kayla had never been that much into sports. Whereas me… Her possible father… No. I had to get those thoughts out of my mind. Whenever I saw her, I immediately connected her to me.
“That’s nice. Which sport do you like best?”
“Well, I like all of them…” Mia said. “Perhaps football.”
My heart started dancing in my chest. “Really? Why football?”
“Because mom and I sometimes watch it,” she said honestly. My look shifted towards Kayla who was red in the face.
“Okay, Mia, sweetie. It’s time for bed. Don’t you think?” she said.
“No, please let her stay a bit,” I pleaded with my puppy eyes.
I spoke to Mia for quite some time. In fact, it seemed as if it passed in only a minute. I learned that she had a lot of friends and one of her best friend was a girl called Monica. She apparently hated the English teacher, because she gave them books that were too long and boring to read. And she liked to read other books.
After half an hour, Kayla popped into the room and called Mia. “Come on, sweetheart. It’s well past your bedtime. You have school tomorrow.”
One Night With The Tycoon (Billionaire's One Night #1) Page 16
