by Anne Leigh
Kieran came up to me and shook hands, “Happy birthday, dude.”
“Thanks,” I said.
He was a cool guy. He and Sedona were truly like brother and sister. They bickered like one too. I witnessed this one too many times. Usually, it was Sedona who started it. But I would not admit that to her. He pointed to Sedona’s direction, “Never thought I’d see the day, you know.”
Kieran was grinning.
I was intrigued, “What day?”
He tapped me on my back.
“You bring it out of her, you liven her up. I’m happy for you, dude.”
Kieran, who’d known her half of her life, was telling me that he was happy for me. That meant a lot. In a way, he was giving me his blessing. The first few times I saw Kieran, I thought there was no way this dude was only friends with Sedona. But there it was, they were truly the best of friends. He didn’t look at her the way I did, with heat and passion. He looked at her the way a brother would, with caring and open honesty.
I must’ve had a stupid smile on my face the whole night. My teammates teased me about retiring as a quarterback because I was so old. John even commented that my gift was a crutch outside the door. Assholes! That’s what they were.
The girls had gifts for me. The guys? Not one of them. Guys didn’t give gifts. They ate the food, drank the booze, and left.
Tanya winked at me when she handed me a gift bag, “She is going to make you very happy tonight with my gift.”
My face must’ve turned red because she added, “You’ll thank me later.”
The last of the guests left around 11 PM.
Sitting on a small lounge chair, Sedona stretched her legs on top of mine as we watched the restaurant crew clean the room.
“How did you plan this all out?” I asked. I was massaging her feet as she let out a huge sigh.
She grinned, “Tanya’s party planning abilities, your friends’ amazing texting talents, and Kieran’s negotiating abilities.”
I sighed, “Thanks babe. You couldn’t have given me a better birthday present.”
She smiled again, her eyes wistful, “The sex wasn’t good enough?”
I laughed, “You know what I mean.”
She stretched her arms out wide and rotated her neck to the sides. She must be tired.
“Don’t you have an early class tomorrow?” I asked. We needed to go back to her place so she could get some rest for her clinicals.
A small grin lit up her face as she nodded, “It’s ok. It’s only once a year that my boyfriend celebrates his birthday.”
I smiled at her. She was such a great girl.
I whipped my head back, “Did you just say ‘your boyfriend’?”
She leaned closer to me. “Oh that,” she paused, her violet eyes peered into mine, “I’ve been meaning to ask you, ‘Zander, will you be my boyfriend?’ ”
Chapter Eleven
“The best things in life don’t come easy. The fight to get them is what makes them ‘best’.”
Zander
Having Sedona as a girlfriend was awesome. For me, at least. I was now able to tell the world that she was mine. No more hiding.
For her, though, it was like a nightmare turned into reality.
The minute that Chatty Pepper website got wind that she was my girlfriend and posted it on the site, people hounded her like crazy!
Sedona hated being in the limelight. She got freaked out when people took pictures of her. Especially when she was caught unawares. It was one of the reasons why she was skeptical about giving me a chance. Now, everyone wanted a piece of her.
Tanya was my personal source of information on what kinds of stuff were being posted about Sedona. She sent me texts about Chattypepper.com postings. There were pictures of Sedona walking to class, smiling at her friends, putting money in the parking meter, and studying under a tree. Normal shit like that! I couldn’t believe people were so fucking bored with their lives that they took pictures of her and made it seem like the news of the day.
The website even had a contest on who the Hottest Girlfriend in College was. The site posted a picture of her in her yellow bikini along with pictures of her in casual clothes, tagged with:
It takes a beautiful girl to make a “Mighty” one fall. With her long, brunette locks, gorgeous gams, and have you seen her eyes?! It’s no wonder Zander keeps this hottie in check. If you think she’s hot enough for our QB, vote for her now!
She came in at # 3 out of 50. To me, she was # 1. Two blonde girls got # 1 and #2. I guessed the voters liked blondes. I had nothing against blondes. I’ve dated a few of them. I just disagreed with the results. The only reason why I even checked out this online contest was because my frat brothers commented about it. I had no idea they checked that stuff out. Most of them said that my girl was ridiculously hot and that she should’ve won. I was pissed that they were even checking her out in the first place, but there was no point denying her attractiveness. Other men weren’t blind.
My only concern was for Sedona. I constantly treaded on thin ice. I felt that at any point in our relationship, she would say, “Screw this, I don’t want to deal with this hoopla anymore,” and break up with me.
There was that time when I was scared shitless when she called. She had this tired, helpless voice, “Zander, why do you have to be so popular?”
I knew that something was terribly wrong. She told me that some girls were taking pictures of her in the cafeteria of the hospital where she was doing her rotation at. She couldn’t even catch a break. I told her I wished I could make everything better. She dejectedly said, “I know.”
Kieran had the guts to ask her what she was feeling about all the paparazzi crap. She was leaning on my shoulder at that time. She didn’t answer right away. When she finally did, she shrugged her shoulders and had a faraway look in her eyes, “There’s nothing we can do about it.”
Unease crept through me with that statement. She sounded weary of it all. That night, after a couple of rounds of passionate sex, I kissed her and told her, “I wish I could make everything better, babe. I wish I could make the stupid website go away.” I must have sounded as desperate as I felt.
She stared at me and took a deep breath, “I knew what I was signing up for when I became your girlfriend.”
Was she regretting her decision?
I spoke before I thought of it.
“I don’t want to lose you.”
She kissed me and said, “Oh babe, you’re not going to lose me. It’s just difficult sometimes, you know. I’ll never get used to it. I think I’m learning how to deal with it.”
She nuzzled her head against my chin and fell asleep. It pained me to see the shimmer in her lovely eyes go away because of other people’s unfounded interest in our private lives.
The next morning, I called my dad. For a favor.
My dad and I have a good relationship. Good, because he was always busy. It could be better. I was his son. He loved me. But I held different interests from his. He liked business; I liked architecture. He created software; I created plays on the field. I kept in contact with him and mom because I loved them. Although, I talked with Mom more than him.
The last time I asked anything from my dad was when I was 14 years old. I had asked him to spend a weekend with me. We had fun fishing, jet skiing, and surfing. Just the two of us. It was then when I told him that I wanted to keep playing football. He vehemently advised me not to play football. In the end, he just wanted me to happy so he accepted my decision.
So for me to call in a favor, it was a big thing.
My dad’s secretary patched me through his personal line the moment she identified my voice. Ms. Kearnes was a lovely, 50 something year-old lady, who has been with my dad’s company from the beginning.
My dad’s steady, firm voice answered, “Hi son, this is a nice surprise.”
I grinned, “Hey dad. Am I disrupting a meeting?”
“No. Even if I was in meeting, you know you’d never be a d
isturbance.” He was a good father.
“Dad,” I hesitated for a second, “I’m calling because I need a favor.” I was doing this for Sedona.
His voice did not waver, “Sure, son. Whatever it is, you know my answer is ‘yes’. As long as it’s legal.”
“I was wondering if you could buy a company for me.” Breath rushed through me.
“What company?”
“It’s actually a website.”
“What’s the name?”
“Chatty Pepper.”
“That’s a shitty name.”
I laughed, he was right. Shitty name. Shitty site. I mustered up the bravado to continue, “So can you?”
“I’ll get Dave on it.” Dave was our family lawyer.
No questions asked. I knew my family was wealthy. My dad’s company has ranked in the Top 5 Wealthiest Companies in the United States for 10 years running now. He was a respected businessman across the globe. He had very little time to spare, but he never failed to let me know that I was his son. I was important to him. Whatever he could give me, he would.
“Son, what do you want me to do once it’s bought?”
“Put it out of commission,” my voice was hard.
“Interesting,” he paused for a breath and asked, “Does this have anything to do with the fact that your girlfriend does not like being photographed?”
Shock made me unable to speak. How did he know?
He proceeded, “Just because we don’t talk about these things doesn’t mean I have no idea what’s going on. Ms. Kearnes keeps me updated. Your girlfriend’s a very pretty girl, by the way. Your mom and I would love to meet her,” his voice now held a teasing quality.
“Dad, you’ll meet her.” I muttered, “Yeah, the site keeps taking pictures of her and it’s really bugging her.”
“Son,” he started, “You must really like this girl.”
There was no point in hiding that fact, “I do.”
“I will buy this site for you. There’s no problem with that, but I want you to think about this. What if another site posts pictures of her? Or she gets on the news because you’re associated with her. What would you do then?”
I was at an impasse. My dad had valid points.
“What do you suggest, dad?”
“I think, son, you need to show to everyone that whatever stuff they post of her or of you, it doesn’t matter to you. Tackle this head on. Show them that you guys are young and free and happy. Trust me, news come and go. Eventually, they’ll leave you alone.”
How I wished for his words to come true.
Sedona
“My boy really likes you.” Xavier’s voice interrupted my blatant perusal of my extremely attractive boyfriend, who had just arrived. He waved his hand at me while he stopped to talk to a bunch of guys by the entrance of this restaurant.
It was our thing now. Thursday and Friday nights were ‘out with our friends’ night. There were times when I hung out with just the girls. At other times it was with Zander and his friends. Sometimes, both.
I smiled at Xavier, “It’s a good thing I really like your boy then.”
“Yeah,” he downed his second rum and Coke and said, “I haven’t seen him this happy in a long time.” His voice had a retrospective tone, “Enough to call his dad for a favor.”
“I’m glad.” Did he just say what he said? My head turned towards him, “Did you say he called his dad for a favor?”
He shook his head, avoiding my eyes, “Nah. Forget it. Not my place to say anything ‘bout it.”
He was not getting off that easy. He started it, he had to finish it.
Zander’s gaze caught mine across the restaurant and the look he gave me warmed me all over. It was always like that with him. He only had to look at me and I burned.
I edged closer to Xavier, “Come on what are you talking about?”
Xavier looked uncomfortable, but he must have sensed that I would not stop until he said something, “I can’t say -ok, you didn’t hear this from me.” He looked straight at me, searched my face, and continued, “Let’s just say, Zander never calls his dad for anything. But, he may have asked his dad to buy a pesky, little company called Chatty Pepper.”
Oh god. Did Zander really do that?
I’ve come to accept that his father was powerful. Zander never talked about his family’s power and wealth. He didn’t brag about it. My mind reeled with the knowledge that his father could actually buy out a company just because his son’s girlfriend didn’t like to be photographed. I haven’t even met his parents.
Zander was now headed towards us. His eyes lit up, his lips touched my cheek, as soon as he reached me.
His hand held mine under the table. I had a feeling he wanted to do more, but he knew I was very uncomfortable with people taking pictures of us. So, he settled to holding my hand and kissing me minimally and very, very tamely in public.
I gazed at his profile as he talked to Xavier. His blue-green eyes were magnetic, his smile was electric. Everything about him oozed confidence and sensuality. I saw how beautiful girls blatantly approach him and hand him their numbers. He always politely said, “No, thank you.” The disappointment in those women’s eyes almost always turned to hatred or annoyance towards me for my presence at his side.
I hated being photographed because I liked my privacy. Those girls would not hesitate to be photographed with Zander or have their names be linked to his. I also hated being photographed because I didn’t want people to judge me or us, based on some random pictures. Lately, I was getting so tired of it all. Zander must have sensed all of these and wanted to make it stop.
I was his girlfriend, but I felt like the other woman. Always touching him, under the table. Kissing him, when I felt that no one was looking. Stealing glances at him, after checking if someone was going to take pictures. When did I become so paranoid? Zander’s hand held me tighter under the table.
“You ok, babe?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I grinned at him. He always asked if I was ok.
The server came in with our appetizers; chicken wings, spinach and artichoke dip, salmon tempura, and bruschetta. Zander took 2 slices of the bruschetta, topped them with tomato and cheese, and slowly placed them on my plate, just the way I liked it. These were the little things that he did for me.
He always put me first.
If I called him and he was in practice, he called me the first chance he got. He always tried to deflect those paparazzi-like people into taking pictures of him instead of me. Now, Xavier just revealed that Zander, who didn’t like to ask favors, asked his dad for something because of me.
It was time I took back what was mine. My privacy, questionable. My life, definitely.
I just knew exactly where to claim it.
Zander
This fraternity/sorority mixer was a doozy. I couldn’t figure out why I liked these things before. It was only because of my unfailing sense of responsibility and loyalty to my frat buddies and friends that I was even here. I saw Tanya running around earlier. She was the head of the planning committee. Her sorority was my fraternity’s sister organization. Tonight, fraternity and sorority members across Northern California campuses attended the party.
I would have rather spent the night with my girlfriend. She was probably having a better Friday night than I was. The only thing I was really looking forward to was the end of this mixer, when I could spend the night with Sedona. In three more hours.
I was on my way to the bar when Tanya caught my arm, “Hey handsome, you enjoying yourself?”
I raised an eyebrow, “I know you’re part of the committee for this event so if I said no, you’d probably smack me in the head.”
She laughed, “Yeah, yeah whatever. What do you think?” she glanced around the room.
“It’s pretty cool here. Great job , Tanya. You and your cronies are masters of these great parties. I know if it was up to my frat brothers, it would just be a bunch of keg stands lining up the room and they’d
call it a party.”
The sorority sisters really did a great job with the place. The food was great and everyone looked like they were having fun.
She winked at me, “You’ll have a better time later, trust me,” Something caught her eye, “Alright, and off I go. My cronies are calling.”
That was odd. She must have been referring to me stopping by at their apartment later.
“Man, that girl is hot!” I heard my frat brother, Trace, say. The only girl who I was hot for was having fun with her friend, Nalee, at some bistro tonight.
