by BK Harrell
By the time April rolled around, Sarah had been able to put most of her doubts and fears to rest except for the one that always stayed in the back of her mind, graduation. She knew where she would be in the fall, but given Harrison’s talent, she knew he was going to be a high draft choice and would have no choice in where he ended up. No matter how much she loved Harrison, she had to go to medical school and follow her dreams, and she wouldn’t want him to give up his dreams for her.
Sarah finally felt secure in their relationship, and gave herself to Harrison. She never knew that the coming together of two people could be so wonderful. That was the night she lost her heart to Harrison forever. Sarah silently cried as she lay in Harrison’s arms afterwards, knowing that in a few weeks she would have to say goodbye.
The night they made love for the first time sealed his heart to her. The love and passion they shared was like nothing he had ever experienced before. Even as his soul felt bonded to Sarah’s for eternity, he still had a niggling feeling in his head that their time was coming to an end. Despite the plans that he wanted to make, Harrison knew he would have to let Sarah follow her dreams while he followed his.
With graduation fast approaching, Sarah grew more melancholy with each passing day. Although she tried to hide it around Harrison, she could sense that he was feeling the uncertainty as well. Wanting to celebrate the end of classes and the week before their final final-exams, they went to a party at Harrison’s fraternity house. Dressed in her sluttiest outfit, Sarah smiled at the way Harrison doted over her and would barely let her out of his reach. He was so affectionate towards her that she almost believed that everything would be okay.
As they stood there, Harrison leaned down and whispered that he was going to get them a drink. No sooner had Harrison left than the queen of the bitchy Barbies moved over beside her. Sarah couldn’t remember her name it was Tracy or Tricia or Trixy.
“You look pretty happy with yourself. You think you won the lottery with him, but you just don’t know the truth yet. He’ll be mine in the end because he’s my baby’s daddy and he wouldn’t abandon his child.”
Sarah nearly collapsed at her statement. She knew in order for that to have happened, he would’ve had to cheat on her, and she refused to be treated like her mother was by her father. Gathering her composure, she watched as Harrison walked back up to them holding a drink for her. Before he could speak, Sarah reared her hand and with all of her might she slapped Harrison across the face before turning and running out of the fraternity house.
Sarah sat on the bus, crying as she had never cried before. How could she have been so foolish to have trusted him like she did. He was just a player like everyone had warned her. She finally stumbled her way back to her apartment and collapsed on the couch, continuing to sob uncontrollably. She stayed like that until her roommate Bianca found her. After explaining what happened, she was able to generate a small smile when Bianca threatened to find him and cut his balls off.
The next few days passed in a haze as Sarah was barely able to get out of bed. She turned her phone off after one hundred plus calls and texts from Harrison. She talked to her mom and roommate and was thankful that Bianca was so strong willed and turned Harrison away every time he showed up. Thankfully, Sarah had completed her speech class and had no final. Fortunately, she wouldn’t have to see Harrison because she just didn’t know if she was strong enough to face him.
With her final completed, Sarah moved out of her apartment and back home. She hated saying goodbye to Bianca, but it was time for her life to move on. As shitty as it was at the moment she still had medical school to look forward to. Sarah felt like a zombie through graduation. It should have been one of the happiest moments of her life, but without Harrison to celebrate with her, it all seemed so empty. Sarah had been so distraught over the past few weeks that she failed to notice the absence of her monthly visitor. It wasn’t until she woke up on Memorial Day sprinting to the bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach that she realized she was in trouble. She made her way to the pharmacy and bought a pregnancy test even though she knew in her heart that the answer was going to be positive. After taking the test twelve times, all positive, she simply sat on the floor rocking herself back and forth until her mother found her like that when she got home from the hospital.
Her mother held her as she cried and relayed the story of Harrison Cooper and her love affair. To her credit, her mother never said anything negative and supported her unconditionally especially in her decision not to tell him about the pregnancy.
Sarah decided to postpone medical school for a year and have her baby, and on January 29th, 2003 she welcomed a baby boy of 9lbs 8oz and 22in long. When she held her baby, all she could see was Harrison in her arms so she named him Harrison Cooper Buckley.
“So, there you have it. The long drama filled story of my life and my son. Thanks for listening.”
Lincoln shook his head. He thought his life had been complicated but this seemed to take the award for complicated, and he sensed it was only going to get worse. “Thanks for trusting me enough to tell me. Just remember we’re all here for you and will protect you. If you need me to stay and finish out the night I can.”
Sarah reached out and took Lincoln’s hand. “Thanks, but you need to take Nicole home and keep her happy. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of whatever else comes in. I will however avoid the Akers until in the morning.”
Lincoln got up and hugged Sarah. “Just call me if you need anything.”
Sarah smiled as she watched Lincoln walk away realizing how lucky she was to have a great work family.
Chapter Two
Harrison walked into Alexa’s room to see their new bundle of joy and to congratulate them. As he walked in, his hand was still absentmindedly rubbing his cheek from where Sarah slapped him. Before he could say anything, he saw Rhett look up at him and smile.
“So, I see you found Sarah.” Rhett said as he tried to suppress a laugh.
“Yeah, you could say that. Why didn’t you warn me?”
“Last minute change. Dr. Montgomery was supposed to do the delivery, but apparently his wife went into labor as well, so Dr. Buckley did the honors. Since we were a little preoccupied, I couldn’t send you text to alert you. Seriously though, do you think it would have turned out any differently when you finally saw her? What did you do to that girl to make her so angry with you?”
“No, it wouldn’t have made a difference, and as to your second question just as it was ten years ago I don’t know. She was there and then she was gone. You know I’ve tried to find her over the years, but she has no Facebook account and is otherwise MIA on all social media. Well, at least I know where she is now. Anyway, enough about me. Congratulations to both of you. So, did you decide on a name?”
“Thanks. Yes, we did. Come over and meet Emily Rose Akers.”
Harrison walked over to the bed and stood in awe as he looked down at Alexa and Emily. Mother and daughter were so beautiful. Suddenly, his mind could only show him pictures of Sarah lying in that bed holding their child as he stood by, a proud father accepting the congratulations of his friends and teammates.
After saying goodbye, Harrison drove himself to his palatial home in Windemere. Harrison grabbed a glass of bourbon and walked out on to the balcony overlooking the golf course. Why now? He thought. Everything was finally going his way. Sure, he was disappointing his mother because he wasn’t getting married nor did he have any desire to. He was leaving all the getting married and having children to his brother and sister. Seeing Sarah tonight had done him in. No doubt about it, he was still head over heels in love with her. Harrison knew that he had to atone for whatever he’d done, but she was going to have to talk to him first and give him some clue about what he’d done. They should’ve been married for several years by now. He would have supported her through school and been with her when he wasn’t playing ball.
That damn party. That seemed to be the key to figuring this whole t
hing out. Everything was fine until…what the hell had Tracey said to her. I knew she was a conniving bitch, but what could she have said that would set Sarah off like that, and never speak to me again.
Ten Years Ago
Knock, Knock, Knock. Harrison Cooper grumbled as he heard someone beating on his bedroom door.
“Harrison, get your ass up. You’ll be late for class, and you know coach said if you missed the first day of class the entire team would have to run the football stadium stairs twice.” Rhett, his best friend and roommate said.
“Five more minutes…”
“No, dammit. Now. I’m not running because you were too lazy to get your ass out of bed.”
“Fine, princess. I’m up.” Harrison sat up in bed wiping away the sleep that still threatened to pull him back under. Damn, why did I choose such an early class in my last semester. Oh yeah, it was the only one that fit my schedule and baseball. Harrison sat there thinking about the last hurrah he was about to begin, but something felt different this morning. He couldn’t put a finger on it, but somehow, it felt like his life was going to change today. Dragging himself out of bed and into the shower, he readied himself quickly. Grabbing his coffee as he left, he smiled at all the possibilities that lay ahead.
Harrison slid into the back row hoping that none of the girls in the class saw him come in. I don’t need cleat chaser Barbie deciding that I’m going to be her spring semester fling. Maybe I can get those five extra minutes of sleep I was craving before class starts. Just as he was about to get comfortable when the door flew open and this angel fell out of the sky and into his lap after tripping on his chair. Even though she spilled coffee on him, he still managed to catch her.
The lecture never seemed to end. Syllabus this, expectations that, blah blah blah. Jesus Christ, this is the first day of class, we should have been here a few minutes at the most. Harrison had to talk to this girl, if nothing else just to make sure she was real. Reaching out his hand, he grazed her shoulder. Yep definitely real. He got a sense she was a bundle of nerves, and he wasn’t sure if it was him or the class. Class was finally dismissed, and Harrison bolted from the classroom hoping to catch this girl before her next class.
Harrison waited outside trying to avoid the cleat chasers and hoping to catch this angel before her next class. He was so excited when he was able to corral her into coffee at the Tate Center. After shaking her hand, he still felt the pure electricity that passed between their simple contact. Walking to the Tate Center, Harrison kept sneaking a few glances at Sarah, thinking how beautiful she was. He hoped that she didn’t catch him staring at her. She seemed a little timid and as skittish as a newborn colt. He couldn’t take his eyes off her though. He was mesmerized by her beauty.
After a couple of hours of conversation that seemed to fly by, Harrison knew he had to see her again, but when he asked her out, the unthinkable happened. She turned him down. Harrison stood there, mouth agape, wondering what just happened. Not since he was a gangly high school freshman and dared ask out the head cheerleader, had he ever been remotely turned down, but yet, here he stood knowing that is what just happened. The only promise he had was that he would see her again in class, and that was just too far away. He had never experienced anything remotely as explosive as when he touched her, his entire body lit up. The feeling was better than hitting a bottom of the ninth walk-off grand slam homerun.
Harrison realized that she must have been a little shy and bookish, but he had meant every word he had said to her concerning her beauty and brains. However, he couldn’t let it go as his mind screamed at him that everything happens for a reason, and she fell into his lap like an angel from heaven. Harrison was still standing there when Rhett Baker, his best friend and the catcher on the baseball team, came up and thumped him on the back.
“Yo, dude. What gives? I’ve been calling your name for like the last five minutes, but you’ve been staring at the door and not moving.”
“Wha…wha…what? No, I wasn’t staring at the door. The girl’s ass who just left maybe, but not the door.”
“Oh shit, bro. That’s it. You have that love-sick puppy dog look on your face. Sorry I missed out, because for you to look like that she must have been HOT HOT HOT.”
“Don’t talk about her that way.” Harrison snarled.
“Shit dude. Sorry. Why is this one so special? I mean you’ve thrown me your castoffs before, I was just going to get in line if she was hot.”
Exasperated, Harrison needed to punch something, because of all the confusion surrounding this girl in his mind, and Rhett’s general jackassery, he opted to use Rhett’s shoulder and nailed him as he turned to walk away. Harrison heard Rhett jogging to catch up with him, but tried to ignore him. The truth was, Harrison didn’t have any responses to the questions Rhett asked. He’d never been effected on such a visceral level before by a woman. Sure, he was a jock, and a stud, and had plenty of women in his life, but this one felt different. She was probably one of the few girls on campus that didn’t know who he was. That, he thought, was an added advantage. For once, he could be himself with someone and try dating without the other person having expectations of riches and stardom. Finally, stopping to face his friend, Harrison turned around and looked Rhett in the eyes. “To answer your question, I don’t know what it is about her. I just know it’s something. If you had asked me this morning if I would meet “the one” today I would have laughed my ass off at you, but I always remember my momma telling me the story of her and my dad. I always thought she was respectfully full of crap, but after meeting Sarah, I think there’s a lot of merit too, you just know.”
“Well, I wish you the best, but we better get our asses going, or coach will have us running the football stadium stairs for being late to the weight room.”
Harrison found himself anxious for the next day of class. He never felt this way, and he knew it was because this girl, no woman, had him all tangled up in knots.
Harrison watched as Sarah smiled and took the seat next to him. To say that he was shocked by her transformation would be an understatement. Who was this girl? The only thing that Harrison knew for sure right now was that he was going to get to know her better and hope that she was as interested in him as he was in her. Finally, class was over, he hurried out the door so that he could intercept Sarah before she could get away. As she walked out of the door, he sidled up beside her and whispered into her ear. “So, how about some coffee?”
Thankfully after their coffee, Sarah agreed to go out with him. Harrison was on top of the world and couldn’t wait for the weekend. He wanted to plan something special for her. Thankfully, she had been very talkative about the things she liked. He didn’t know if he would get another chance, and he couldn’t blow this with some cheesy date.
Harrison stood at third base on Monday afternoon. His mind was still consumed with the kisses that he shared with Sarah. For someone who had never been kissed she seemed like a pro. His mind was definitely not into practice. He was having trouble fielding the simplest groundball and hitting just wasn’t his forte today. Suddenly, he had to dive to the ground to miss a line drive hit straight at his head.
“Wake-up Harrison. Damn, you need to get your head in the game or it’s going to be missing.” Rhett yelled.
“Whatever, asswipe. That was a lucky shot.” Damn he had better get his head back in the game. He wished Sarah was here, but it was a good thing that she wasn’t watching him make an ass out of himself.
As the days passed, they became inseparable. Whether it was class or practice, she always seemed to be by his side. When they finally made love, his heart was attached to her for an eternity. He couldn’t imagine his life without her.
Classes had ended and Harrison decided it would be fun to take Sarah to his end of the year fraternity party. They were having a great time. He went to get them something to drink and as he returned, he was greeted with a vicious slap to the face.
“What the fuck just happened?” Harrison said as
he rubbed the stinging spot on his cheek. He’d been slapped by several women in his life, not that he was proud of that, but Sarah had a helluva arm on her for such a little thing. Because he was momentarily stunned he stood flat footed before taking off to chase Sarah. Unfortunately, he was a step too slow and watched the bus pull away with Sarah on it.
Present Day
Harrison shook his head, that was how it always ended. He still couldn’t figure out what happened, but as he finished his bourbon, Harrison found himself wondering what he needed to do to fix it. Before he could catch himself, he chucked the Waterford Crystal glass out over the balcony, watching it shatter into a million pieces like his heart. Harrison resolved to himself that he’d win her back. He’d atone for his sins, and he would marry her. Since he knew where she worked, he’d start off with some peace offerings, maybe some flowers, some candy, a few edible arrangements because he remembered her love of anything covered in chocolate. Hopefully she would throw him a bone and agree to meet with him for coffee. A smile drifted over his lips as the perfect plan came to him. It might be a high stakes game of chicken, but he had to win.
Several days later, Sarah sat at her desk finishing up the charts from the last two days. She always hated call nights just because it took several days to get her body back to normal sense of being. A knock at her door caused her to look up as her assistant Jim came bounding into her office looking way too happy for this hour.
“Delivery for you.” Jim said in his singsong voice.
Sarah looked at the huge arrangement of pink roses. Inwardly she groaned because she knew who they were from. Sarah wasn’t prepared for this. In all her thoughts about seeing Harrison again, never in her mind did she see him sending flowers to her.
