“You guess? I believe that it’s been eventful,” I said and smiled.
“Yeah, you could say that,” he said.
I could clearly picture Sean, drumming his fingers on a table or something like that. He always did that when he was anxious or was talking on the phone. A pang of sadness hit me.
I had nothing else to say. The pain and memories were too real. Luckily, Sean spoke again. “You know I saw you today at the airport.”
I was taken aback. Had he seen Mia as well? What would I tell him? Oh God! “Really? You’re here as well?”
“Yup. And you had a small girl with you.”
In an instant I knew where all of this was heading. What the fuck? The fear I dreaded, the fear that had haunted me for so long now had become a reality. I had to think of something and fast. To hell with this guy! “I-I-I… You know what? I’ve got a lot of work left for the day. And I’m dead tired at that. Can we meet up tomorrow, maybe? To chat?”
“Yeah, okay. Works for me. The café near the theater at noon,” he said. His voice was somehow more mature. However, he definitely didn’t look like it. Perhaps he was more serious with me.
“All right. See ya there,” I said and hung up without any more questions. Oh, God, I had had enough for the day. I had had enough of all of this. Why did I have to torture myself again with him?
I sat down on the sofa and was ready to fall asleep like that. Dressed in a suit and with make-up on my face.
“Mommy, who was it?” Mia came by my side. Aww… Such a sweetie.
“No one important, honey. Just mommy’s friend,” I said in a light voice. The one I always used when I was talking to her. I realized then that she was too innocent for this cruel world. That was why I had to hide all of my distress, so that she wouldn’t notice. It was the best like this. Yeah.
“Okay. Will you help me with my homework? Those awful tasks are killing me.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, sure, honey. Always for you. Come on now. Let’s see those awful tasks that bother my lovely daughter.”
Mia ran, chuckling. I smiled sadly, looking at her.
I hadn’t managed to close my eyes that night. I had constantly envisioned scenarios and had written various scripts for tomorrow. What would he ask me? What would I tell him? What should I wear? How should I sit? Everything. It had been a long, terrible night. And when morning had come, all I wanted was for everything to be over. We had to move on and be done with it. I had had enough of all of these secrets and lies.
The café Sean chose was a comfy one with tables placed both outside and inside as well. Knowing him, he would pick an outside one. Why did I still remember stuff like that? I scowled at myself.
As I headed for a table I noticed a tall, broad-shouldered man waving at me. I squinted to see well. It was Sean. Sean Coleman dressed in a cream cashmere sweater and white pants. I could already feel my insides squirming and turning. What was happening to me, damn me?
I smiled and approached him. My whole body was trembling as if I were going to meet the President. He had put his black glasses on top of his head. Sean was a heartthrob. He had been back in the day, but now he was a bigger hotshot. Ah, I could fall for him again.
“Hey,” I said, extending my hand. I had put on a white dress and red stilettos.
And then Sean hugged me. Like he had done when we were together. As if we were a regular good-looking couple who stopped by for a cup of coffee on a sunny day. His masculine, muscular arms engulfed the whole of me and I found myself lost. His strong, potent cologne hit me; it was spell-binding.
His shaven face touched mine and I felt that instant connection. That electricity. That vigor. What was happening to me? To us? What was I doing? Was it right? Thousands of questions flooded my mind as I felt a bit light-headed.
I returned the hug by placing my hands on his back. His whole body shivered under my touch. Just like mine was. We had been through a lot. And all of those memories were playing again before our eyes. It was almost like magic. Almost.
We finally sat, staring at each other. Eight years had done very little to age his face. I noticed one line next to his mouth that wasn’t there previously. I was being paranoid, like a fan obsessing over her favorite celebrity. His body, I observed was in a better shape. If that was even possible in the first place. His biceps were more pronounced and so were the muscles on his neck. But he was still the Sean I knew and used to love. Used to? I wondered what he thought about me.
“So,” I said, looking for something to talk about. “How are you? It’s hard to catch up on things after an entire eight years.”
“Yeah,” he replied. “But I’m happy to see you. I can’t put it into words really.”
“And here I am, thinking that it’s only me.” I chuckled. He did as well. His chuckles were always sexy and they had always turned me on.
“No, no. It’s definitely not just you. My heart is beating like crazy. Like on our first date in that restaurant. Do you remember it?” he said and smiled. A shadow passed across his face.
“Of course I do. Somehow over the years, you know, I erased the bad scene that happened there. The last time we went there.”
“I’m glad for that,” he uttered. “And you look divine, bab—Kayla, I mean.”
I giggled. “Thanks, Sean. You’re looking fantastic yourself.”
“Just fantastic?” he teased me, chortling.
“You haven’t changed a bit, have you?” I asked through laughter.
The waiter came over and we both ordered a cup of espresso at the same time. We giggled and looked down. Awkward!
“About yesterday,” he began. “I saw you with a girl. She’s very lovely. And you look alike.” Besides for a small smile, his face bore a steely expression.
I breathed in. I could hear my heart in my chest. My hands were getting wet. “She’s my daughter, yes. Mia.”
“What a wonderful name for a wonderful girl.” He smiled and I knew what he was about to say, so I said it first.
“I don’t know who her father is. I really don’t.”
That seemed to strike Sean like a bolt of lightning. “What do you mean? How can you not know who her father is? Who can it be?” His voice grew higher.
“Calm down, okay?” I was quick to reply, because the people around us were starting to notice us. “After I moved to the city I had a one-night stand, okay? It was right after… you know what happened in our apartment.”
“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 f
ather, 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!
10
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 h
ave 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.
Line of Scrimmage: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (Pass To Win Book 2) Page 6
