Crown's Chance at Love

by Mayra Statham

  Shit. I had forgot it was my birthday.

  I was now forty.

  How could I have forgotten it? You’ve been busy asshole, I think to myself. Usually I was busy with work, and I had been. But now it was about talking with Sabrina until one of us fell asleep, and catching a couple of little league games to cheer on Mark when my schedule coincided with Sabrina.

  “Hello Mike? You fucking there?” John asks, sounding irritated.

  “Yeah man sorry. Look I don’t think I can do anything tonight.”

  “What the fuck dude? Look I’m almost at your office. Tell your uptight assistant to let me in,” he barked before hanging up. Shit. John was back. He would know something was up with me with one glance. He would know about Sabrina and warn me off.

  I had met John in college, and we had been best friends since. John was an extremely hard working businessman, and extremely smart. Scary fucking smart. Those smarts had made both of us extremely wealthy. He had insisted I invest in his different ventures, and needless to say there was a reason I never questioned him. Business wise he always knew what he was doing. John worked hard but he also liked to play hard.

  Belle’s was short for Belle’s Beauties. A member’s only gentlemen’s club. It was also an underground escort service for the rich and famous in California. John loved women. Having the ridiculous wealth he had, John didn’t mind paying for what he wanted. He always said he didn’t have the time to date, and I knew that to be true. He worked extremely hard. Traveling back and forth all around the world, his hands in multiple different business ventures and industries, in each one he is disgustingly successful. But on the same token he always made time to play hard as well.

  With John having been away, it had been easy to forget the many ways I wasn’t a saint. I had been single since Holly and I had split. Women had come and gone; there certainly hadn’t been a shortage of women. I hadn’t been commited to anyone or anything. Having been single for the first time in ten years, plus adding on the guilt I felt for what had happened that morning with Patrick and Sean, you could say that I had drowned my sorrows in women. I had indulged and made up for lost time.

  Running my fingers through my hair I call Robin, my assistant, and give her a heads up that John was coming in. I could almost hear Robin rolling her eyes at the idea of John stopping by. Robin did not like John.

  Thirty minutes later, I’m still in my office, but now I am laughing my ass off with John. Hearing him tell me about his adventures in London. Each story reminds me of why John is my best friend, and how different we are.

  “Come on dude, we need to go out tonight,” he pleads with me starting to look annoyed.

  “I don’t know…” I start to say but I can see John start to frown at me. Right at that moment my phone rings. John knows the routine, so I answer without having to explain anything to him.

  “Crown speaking.”

  “Hi.” With one word, just like that my day brightens. Sabrina.

  “Hey,” I say smiling as I take in the funny glance John is giving me.

  “How’s your day going?” she asks. From the sound of her voice I can tell she is smiling.

  “Good, yours?” I ask. Stupidly I look at John, who is smirking at me. I glare back at him.

  “It’s not bad. You want to come over tonight?”John sneaks up on me, pushing speaker, and I give him a pleading look for him to keep his mouth shut.

  “Couldn’t keep me away sweetheart,” I say not looking at John.

  “Okay. I’ll see you tonight then.” As her sweet voice fills my office, I look at John, who has a raised eyebrow.

  “Okay, I have a meeting coming up, I better go okay? Umm do you need me to bring anything?” I ask. I know I’m lying about having to go, but I don’t want John to know shit about Sabrina. I’m worried about him opening his mouth and saying something completely inappropriate.

  “Oh no, I have everything. I’ll see you tonight,” she says quickly and we hang up. John starts to laugh.

  “You sly dog!” he goads and I shake my head at him.

  “Don’t!”

  “Birthday sex for Mikey! It’s okay after you get it in, leave and we can meet up later,” he suggests. Anyone after Holly I had a no spending the night rule, one I had broken with Sabrina not even a week after having met her.

  “Dude don’t,” I say seriously. My jaw is twitching as I start to get pissed at the way John insinuates Sabrina being like the rest.

  “What? Come on you can’t be serious about this one?” he asks as he stares at me incredulously, but I stay quiet.

  “Shit Mike. You really like this one don’t you?” he says looking a little surprised.

  “John,” I warn.

  “I can’t say I’m not surprised. I’ve seen her. Don’t get me wrong she’s pretty, but she isn’t a Holly or even that sweet little actress you were dating… what was her name?” he says.

  “Elle,” I mumble.

  “Yeah that one. She was a sweet piece… I mean shit man.” I shake my head hearing him talk. This was my best friend. He was a dog. I had grown accustomed to him talking like this, but when he referred to Sabrina like this, it rubbed me the wrong way. Extremely the wrong way.

  “Wait doesn’t Sabrina have kids?” he asks surprising me, taking me a little off guard.

  “How do you know this shit?” I ask.

  “Holly,” he says simply as if stating the obvious.

  “Yeah she does, two boys and a girl.”

  “Shit. How old is she?”

  “Thirty six.”

  “Older than your norm,” he comments and I roll my eyes. Had I really been that much of a perv dating significantly younger women?

  “Why does her name sound so familiar to me?” he asks and my stomach roils.

  John knew how I felt about what had happened with Patrick. I had shared everything I had found out about her the first time I had hired a private investigator during Patrick’s trial.

  “Sabrina Miller,” he repeats. ”It’s been bugging me. It sounds so familiar…” and I see it. I see when it clicks in John’s head. His eyes wide, surprise etched in his stubble filled face, “Shit Mike. What did you do?”

  “Don’t,” I growl looking away from him.

  “Mike.”

  “John.”

  “Mike does she know who the fuck you are?” he asks, sounding worried.

  “Yeah. She knows I’m the VP here. John she knows me. Who I am. She knows of all the shit you and I did in college. She knows I hate chocolate, she she even knows I used to DJ… she knows ME,” I start to explain. I see him run his fingers through his hair, which surprises me because he usually has too much product in there.

  “She know about Patrick?” he asks, his face serious, and I stay quiet.

  “Mike buddy, does she know about Patrick?” he repeats and I look at him.

  “No… not yet.”

  “Dude…”

  “I know.” The office is filled with silence for a long minute.

  “How did this even happen? I mean you hadn’t mentioned anything to me. When Holly told me she thought you were interested in this girl, I seriously thought she was full of shit. Then I saw her when I requested a video chat with her. I could see she was cute, but not your usual cup of tea.”

  “You requested to video chat her?” I asked almost rolling my eyes, surprised at how much of a gossipy schoolgirl John really was.

  “Not the point. So how far has this thing gone?” he asks; whatever easy going vibe he had quickly vanishes as business John appears.

  “We have just been hanging out,” I say trying to make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal, and that ate at me. Because she was a big deal, all four of them were a big deal to me.

  “Since when?” he persists and I give in.

  “April.”

  “Shit. Mike…” he says sitting back in his chair, hand resting at his chin.

  “I know. Shit dude. Why do you think I haven’t said anything to you? I KNO
W. I know I should stay away from her, but I can’t. I like her. I have never met a woman like her. She’s…”

  “Dude. Fuck it’s worse than I thought. You are in love with her,” John says as a statement not a question. As if somehow to John it was completely obvious.

  “John…”

  “You are playing with fire dude.”

  “J…”

  “You need to tell her the truth, before anyone figures out there is a connection. Shit dude she is working for Edwards Automotive for God’s sakes. Someone might slip up…”

  “No one talks about him. Ever. Plus she only comes here for an hour or two a week. Most of her work she does from her own office,” I say glancing to look out the window.

  “I don’t know dude. This sounds bad. Like a lot of unnecessary trouble,” John says seriously and I can tell he is worried about how all this is going to explode in my face.

  “You don’t know her John. She’s incredible. She’s beautiful and freaking funny. She doesn’t play games. She’s so fucking honest. I never question where I stand with her or what she wants from me…”

  “You know who doesn’t question shit either? One of Belle’s girls. You pay upfront and you know exactly where you stand with them. Come on man, didn’t you learn your lesson the first time with Holly?” he asks me, his voice starting to get frustrated with me.

  “John,” I say warning him.

  “What? You forget I was there? Ten fucking years and the bitch gets married a month after you end your engagement? Then nine months later pops out twin boys. To top it off, you two have to be all fucking civilized and stay friends. Shit Mike, I have been around you and them and their damn kids, I see how you look at them at times.”

  “John….”

  “I know that’s what you wanted for yourself. I mean shit doesn’t everyone? Now you are telling me the one chick who you really shouldn’t be mixed up with, you are mixed up with? Is it because you want to play hero?” he asks getting loud as he tries to make a point.

  “WHAT?”

  “You playing hero? Swoop in, help save the poor single mom who you think you hurt? Who got hurt because of your idiot half brother?” he continues to press me.

  “Dude seriously.” I’m not sure of what to say.

  “Is it Mike? I know you dude. You are a good guy. Out of the two of us I am the asshole and you are the good one. Is this what this is? You playing hero?” he asks looking me in the eye.

  “No.” I answer confidently. It wasn’t that at all. All the reasons he said about why I would want to play hero were all the reasons I told myself to stay the hell away from her.

  “Then what is it?” John presses on. I can see he is worried.

  “I don’t know. I … I care alot about her,” I say pathetically. It even sounds stupid when I hear it back.

  “You care about her?” he repeats, running his fingers through his hair leaning back in the leather chair. “Shit… talk about a mess,” he adds as he starts rubbing his face.

  “I know. I tried dude. I tried to stay away. I wanted to meet her. Patrick…dude Patrick had been up my ass about getting information on her. Fucking begging me to talk to her, a little too much. I just wanted to make sure he somehow hadn’t got a hold of her.”

  “What did you do?” he asks and I can tell he is trying to somehow find a way to fix all of this for me.

  “I hired the same PI you recommended for the trial. He got me info. I kept staring at her pictures. Shit John, she lives in Pasadena. Ten fucking minutes from me. Her life seemed like a freaking routine. Something about her eyes in the pictures he gave me. Shit, I couldn’t fucking sleep, she was stuck in my head. I just needed to meet her. So I took a chance and started going to the Starbucks the PI had noted she frequented. I went there a couple of times, and watched her from afar. Then I worked up the nerve to talk to her,” I tell him, stopping at what that day was like.

  “Dude I bumped into her really hard. I didn’t mean to and she almost fell, and when I grabbed her so she wouldn’t fall back, it was, it was like something clicked when I touched her. We had coffee. I’m not even sure how I let this shit get so out of hand to be honest.” I am rambling. I am not a man who rambles. John knows this. This is why he is looking at me like I am crazy.

  “How out of hand are we talking about Mike?” he finally asks slightly scowling as his body moves closer to the edge of the chair.

  I stay quiet. I don’t want to tell him how completely invested I am in her. In them. Because if I do, he will know what I want from them. He knew me well enough. I wanted everything.

  “Mike. Out of hand a couple of dates? Couple of late night booty calls? Or insanely and idiotically out of hand met her damn kids and family type out of hand?” he starts to ask as his voice starts to gradually get louder.

  “John…” I try to warn him, but his eyes go wide in shock. Which in any other circumstance would have been funny, because John was not a man who was easily shocked.

  “Shit. You have met her kids,” he says.

  “They are good kids John,” I add.

  “What once? Twice? More than that?” he asks and I stay quiet. I notice he closes his eyes, moving his head up to the sky as if he is looking for some kind of divine intervention, because he knows the answer already.

  “They are incredible kids dude. The little one is obsessed with football. You should see his book shelf, I didn’t even know they wrote that many books about football and the NFL. Then the oldest is a pretty great baseball player, and so fucking observant. You think he’s your typical thirteen year old in his own little world, but he is soaking everything up around him, it’s like watching a future CIA agent in the making. Her daughter is freaking hilarious,” I start to say but he cuts me off.

  “Fuck me dude,” he says both hands on his head, his dark eyes looking at me in a way he had never looked at me. “Mike… how do you even know what books this kid likes to read?”

  “I read to him one night…”

  “Fuck me! Do you know how bad this is?” he asks sounding seriously worried about me.

  “How this shit could completely blow up in your face?” He keeps going.

  “John…” I start to argue, but he cuts me off.

  “Mike! You are reading bedtime stories to her kid! Next thing you are going to tell me is that you have met her best friends and double dating and shit.” I stayed quiet, I hadn’t met them yet. I was going to meet them tomorrow, but John didn’t need to know that. I watched as John covered his hands with his face almost as if he was trying to find some patience.

  “John…”

  “No Mike you need to listen to me. Have you slept with her?” he asks and I frown. It was none of his business, but I knew where he would be going with this.

  “No,” I admitted and he almost looked relieved.

  “Okay good. You aren’t completely fucked,” he says as he sits up. “Just call her and say you can’t go tonight. Tell her you don’t think its a good idea to continue whatever you two have going on. It’s not her it’s you, and for her to have a nice life, because I know you Mike. You feel guilty about what happened that day. That shit wasn’t your fault that was all on Pat. ALL Patrick’s shit. He has a problem. But that shit was never on you. I’ve told you this a hundred times. Now all that guilt has somehow transformed into whatever you are feeling for her.”

  “That’s not true,” I say as anger starts to seep into my veins. I knew that what I felt for her was real.

  “Bro…” he starts, but I cut him off.

  “I genuinely care about her. I haven’t slept with her because I want her to get to know me before we go there. I’m going to tell her the truth before we take it there.”

  He looks at me like I am crazy, probably because I sound like a girl talking about feelings and using that as an excuse not to sleep with her. But he is also looking at me like he’s worried. John Davenport is like a brother to me. Shit we are closer than I had ever been to Patrick. It had been tough not
to tell him about Sabrina from the beginning. Even though his concern was clear, I was glad he knew. I was glad I finally had someone to talk to about this.

  He dropped the subject of Sabrina by making me go with him to grab some food. Giving in, I join him for a late lunch for my birthday. I couldn’t believe I had forgotten my birthday. My parents had forgotten, but that was to be expected from Walt and Gail Crown. If it wasn’t something that somehow ended up in the society pages, they didn’t bother. Well she didn’t bother, and since my dad’s balls belonged to her, he did what she told him to do.

  Mike

  After dropping John off at his penthouse in downtown Los Angeles, I headed to Sabrina’s where we had dinner and had laughed and joked with the kids. Then surprisingly the kids went to bed without a fuss. When I mentioned it, Sabrina said something about how long their day had been. They were also looking forward to swimming at Emmi’s tomorrow. Which only reminded me of John’s warnings and how close I was getting to her .

  Now we were sitting in her living room. Sabrina’s been fidgeting since we got the kids to bed, but I have no idea why.

  “I’m going to get something to drink, do you want anything?” she asks as she stands from the couch and looks at me.

  “No I’m okay.” I look at her, not able to hide my smile because that was impossible.

  She has a power over me. The usual cool exterior I was always able to keep without a second thought, almost like second nature, was completely diminished when I was around her.

  I watch her stand and stretch a little before she walks away disappearing into the kitchen. My eyes follow the sway of her perky round ass as she leaves. She’s so fucking sexy. I had no idea how John could say she wasn’t my cup of tea. Sure she wasn’t what most considered my type. Holly lookalikes, my assistant Robin had once called them, tall blondes with mile long legs.

  After Holly and I had split I had mostly dated women a lot younger than me. Mostly because I knew there was an expiration date with them. But now all those other women just paled in comparison in my mind. Watching her petite frame walk away barefoot. She was still in her work clothes and she was like a freaking wet dream to me. She was in a tight black pencil skirt and an emerald green satin sleeveless button down shirt that cupped her curves the way a satin sheet would fall on her in bed. Shaking my head, I willed myself to go back to watching the game the boys had left playing on the tv.