OLDER MAN: The Secretary's Secret Baby (Best Friend Brother Pregnancy Romance) (New Adult Sport Comedy Romance) (2 page)

I opened my eyes and looked around the room. For a second I did not know where I was, this had become a common occurrence in my life since I became a professional basketball player. As I awoke I felt the heavyweight of an arm on me. I looked over to see the cover model of the latest sports illustrated issue naked on top of me. I had only just met her the night before at a party, and we had been partying in this hotel room ever since we met. It had all been a blur. I pushed her off of me and went to the bathroom sink to wash my face. I stared at myself in the mirror, "Matthew, you have to get your shit together. You can't keep doing this," I said to myself.

I picked up my cell phone and called my driver to come pick me up. Maybe it was rude to leave without saying goodbye, but this wasn't exactly a romantic interaction. I had already garnered a reputation for being a player, and not just a basketball player. I knew that the women expected this kind of behavior from me, used to enjoy it and indulge in it but for the last few days something had hit me. I knew exactly what it was but I didn't want to admit it to myself. I didn't want to admit that a famous basketball player like myself was shaken up by the idea of having to go back to my small shit town where I grew up. I would have to go because my sister was getting married to a rich and famous New York banker. For some reason she wanted to have the wedding in the church we attended growing up. Now this meant I would have to go back home.

I put on my clothes, my shades and a hat and made my way out of the hotel room into the elevator.

"Matthew! Over here! Over here Mr. Jenison! Do you think he will win the next game question?" The paparazzi snapped photos and yelled at me as I exited the hotel and into the waiting black town car. I smiled and did my duty as a celebrity athlete but I was in no mood to answer questions and talk. I quickly glided into the car and shut the door behind me.

"Where to Mr. Jenison?" My driver asked.

"There is going to be two stops today. I need to go home to freshen up, and then I need to be on set for a commercial," I said to the driver realizing that I had a terrible headache. "Actually can we pull through somewhere and get a large coffee and aspirin?" I added on.

"Of course I will grab those things for you right away," he said as he put the car in gear and drove away from the flashing lights of the photographers.

With coffee in hand I entered my mansion in Los Angeles and went about my normal routine after I had been partying for several days. I hit the sauna and sweated out the alcohol and drugs followed by a hot shower. Then I was ready to go be the celebrity athlete I had turned myself into onset. As I was driven to set I had time to think about my hometown. It had been three years since I had been back to the residential area in which I experienced my childhood and grew up in. The most recent three years felt like one year in light of the fact that everything happened so quick in my career. I had left my residential community with the expectation of returning after was over for one reason, Gina. She was my sister’s best friend. I had grown to know her well when we were growing up, but when she was a senior she blossomed into a beautiful woman. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was older than she was by a few years and when she and my sister were graduating from high school, I went home for the ceremony.  That’s when it happened, I seduced the innocent young Gina because I could not keep my eyes or hands off of her. After that night, I knew that she was going to college on the East Coast and I was on the West Coast so not much could be done. I had always fantasized about her moving in with me when she was done with college, but after a while we lost touch. She had become very distant over that summer and then stopped all communication. Then when I discovered that I had been drafted into the NBA after college I couldn't turn that down. That part transformed form and  it had been three years. The other reason was that while I was dealing with the NBA I had heard that Gina was pregnant. I accepted it was not mine since she didn't reach me to let me know, and I expected that she had found another significant other. It was something that had made me extremely upset at the time and I managed the anguish the way some all famous athletes do, I began celebrating too hard. My life was consistently brimming with models and medications and liquor just to numb the torment. This had turned into my way of life and it was greater than me. I soon quit thinking about Gina at all. However now I would need to backtrack to the small town on the grounds that my sister Melissa was getting hitched, and she had picked the little church we grew up going to have her wedding in. I thought about whether she would request that Gina be in the wedding since they were closest companions when we were growing up.

"Five more minutes Matthew!" A voice called from the opposite side of my trailer entryway.

"Much obliged to you! I will be there in no time flat!" I hollered back. I was onset of my most Nike commercial for Nike athletic sneakers. I was happy for the work and the diversion in light of the fact that the wedding was a month away and I required something to distract me.

The time came and it was two weeks before Melissa's wedding. Even though the official wedding events were not happening until the following week, Melissa wanted to meet up and introduce me to her fiancé and to catch up. I was very nervous because I had to keep my secret from them throughout the entire conversation and wedding week, and that is what catching up meant. Then I felt very awkward and not confident at all because Melissa had finished college and was marrying a very rich New York banker while I was struggling in a low paying job. What was worse was that I would have to lie about my son, as everyone knew that I had a three-year-old child, but no one knew who the father was. That was something that I had to lie about, I would be burying myself in lies and in feelings of defeat that I did not have a successful life and everyone else around me did.

I put on my best dress and curled my long brown hair. My sister Jessica had just arrived to babysit Jared while I went for coffee to meet Melissa and her fiancé. I was so anxious that my stomach was hurting.

"How do I look?" I asked my sister.

"You look exceptionally beautiful," she said standing up and helping me zip up the back of the dress. "You have nothing to worry about. Just calm down, and it's just coffee," she continued.

"I know, I know. I should not be this nervous. It is just coffee, and it is just an old friend from high school. But you and I know that it is so much more than that. What I have to hide," I said as I turned and looked at Jared as he played on the floor with a basketball.

"Yes, I guess that is a very stressful situation, but try not to think about it and keep the conversation light. They know that you have a son so that is a good excuse to say that you have to get home early and keep the coffee short. Just have one cup and then you can be on your way," Jessica said to me as she straightened out the hem of my dress and then gave me a hug.

"Yes, that is a good idea. I will say that. The babysitter can only be around for an hour and a half or so that way I can leave in a timely manner," I said as a grab my purse and my keys. I went to Jared and gave him a big kiss and a hug and then I was on my way.

I took a deep breath as I entered the coffee shop. I looked around and immediately saw Melissa standing next to a gorgeous man in a gray suit. She looked just as stunning as ever with long legs and long blonde hair. She had not changed much other then to look a little more sophisticated and grown-up. The man standing next to her had dark black hair and a mysterious New Yorker look to him. I stepped towards them as she caught sight of me.

"Gina! I am so glad to see you," Melissa said as she practically ran to me and gave me a big hug. "This is my fiancé Danny," she said as he held out his hand and I shook it.

"It is nice to meet you Danny. Melissa it is good to see you again," I said.

"Come sit we already ordered three coffees," Melissa said as she grabbed my hand and led me over to a table.

"Thank you," I said in regards to the coffee. Then as though to keep the spotlight off of me I started in with the questions. "What made you decide to get married in our small town? Where did you meet Danny? How did he propose? How is living in New York?" I went on and on with the questions. Melissa enthusiastically answered each question with a very long story about how her and Danny met. How he proposed, and why she insisted that she get married in the church that she grew up in. I smiled through all of the stories and asked follow up questions. It was just like high school all over again with Melissa talking a lot and me listening. This worked well for us in high school and it was working well now. Then she brought up the bridesmaid situation.

"I have the dresses all picked out and you just need to stop by the tailor shop sometime in the next two to three days so that they can alter the dress for you. I am so happy that you were going to be one of my bridesmaids, I know we have grown apart these last few years but you are one of my best friends and I miss you," Melissa said in a very heartfelt and genuine manner.

I held back tears as I did not want to start crying in the coffee shop but I felt the same way about her. I had always enjoyed her friendship, and it was my secret that had forced me to distance myself from her and I had always regretted it. Now talking to her it was like no time had passed at all and we still had that connection that we had for so long.

"I feel the same way Melissa, and I will go get the dress altered I promise," I said as she grabbed my hand and squeezed it. Then the worst thing that I was dreading happened. She started to ask me questions.

"So when do I get to meet your son, I am so excited to meet him. I can't believe you have a family already. You are way ahead of me, "she said enthusiastically. I was surprised at her demeanor and seeing my single motherhood as a family and a blessing. It was how I saw it also, except for the secret part.

"Oh you are so busy with the wedding and everything I don't think he will have time to meet him. But hopefully at some point during the next two weeks you can," I said with a very vague way of answering her question. I feared that if she saw Jared she would know who the father was because the resemblance was unmistakable. However, I did not want to be rude.

"You are right, we are very jam packed with the schedule and getting things done, but I'm sure I will get to see him at some point in the next two weeks," she said.

"Yes, and actually now that you mention my son I think I have to get going as the babysitter will need to leave soon. I'm so sorry that I can't stay around much longer, but that's part of being a mother," I said as I stood up and gave her and her fiancé hugs.

"That is fine we can catch up more at the luncheon," she said.

"Luncheon?" I said.

"Yes it is in two days, it was in the email I sent you with the wedding event schedule. Take a look at it when you can because I want you out all the events. My entire family will be there and I want you there too," she said.

As soon as she said whole family, a flash of Matthew's face came to my mind. I tried not to show it on my face and I was not sure if I flinched or not.

"Of course, I will be there," I said with a smile and then I made my way out of the coffee shop. I sat in my car taking a deep breath's and was excited that I had got through the first round of talking about myself and catching up with someone from my past. It was not easy and I knew that it was only going to get harder. I drove back home and I was relieved that my sister Jessica was able to hang around for a while and talk about the coffee meeting. I needed to get it off my chest.

I sat at a long table brimming with my relatives and Melissa's fiance's family feeling extremely on edge and apprehensive. In spite of the fact that I couldn't demonstrate it since everyone's eyes were on me, being the celebrity and what not. Individuals were gradually arriving and filling seats and I couldn't quit looking toward the front door thinking about whether she would stroll in, then I saw her.

"Gina! I am so happy you came!" My sister said as she stood up and gave her a big embrace. I was flabbergasted that Gina's great looks had not transformed one piece. She looked pretty much the same as she did in school. Her long brown hair was sparkling and her brown eyes were almond and lovely. She wore a fitted maroon dress that embraced her tall curvy figure. I couldn't quit looking at her and afterward her eyes met mine. She was by all accounts in shock and afterward she grinned. I grinned back as my sister walked her over to me.

"Matthew, it’s good to see you," she said as she embraced me. I embraced her back wrapping my arms around her little waist and feeling recognizable emotions surge back to me. I was not envisioning feeling along these lines so quickly.

"It’s good to see you too Gina," was everything that I could say.

"If it's not too much trouble come sit by me Gina. We have such a great amount to get up to speed with," my sister said to her and pulled her away. I couldn't believe just how anxious I was feeling.

The whole lunch I stole away looks at her, and got caught a couple times by her. She would simply grin and lower her lashes and I felt myself reignited in the sentiments that I used to have for her. Since I had left for Los Angeles I had not had a genuine relationship, and Gina was my last genuine passion.

After the lunch everybody stood up and mingled and I at long last had an opportunity to corner Gina without anyone else.

"You look very good Gina," I said is I took a look at her all over.

"You do too Matthew. Congrats on your career you are doing so well. I am extremely proud of you," she said holding a glass of champagne as she took a small sip. She was generally as apprehensive as I was and I kind of loved that.

"Much obliged to you. How have you been? I heard you had a child," I said.

Crash! Was the sound of the champagne glass that dropped from her hand and blasted into little pieces on the floor.

"Whoa! Are you okay? Get back don't walk on the glass," I said moving her far from it.

"Yes, sorry it slipped from my hand," she said as she ventured far from it.

"It happens," I said with a grin. In any case it didn't get away from my notice that she dropped it when I got some information about her youngster. Maybe she would not like to discuss it. I wanted to know whether she was with somebody, in the event that she had a beau or partner. I could tell by her hand that she was not wearing a wedding band but rather that did not mean anything in this day and age.

"So tell me about your child. What is his name?" I solicited not giving up from the subject.

"Yes, I’m sorry. His name is Jared," she said squirming.

"I would love to meet him. Will he be at the wedding?" I inquired.

"No he is excessively too young for such things," she said attempting to step far from me.

"Well then I will simply need to drop by your place to meet him," I said.

She didn't reply. She just remained there, dazed.