Love Unexpected (20 page)

After the shower, she told me to hurry up and to get dressed. I felt used. In a good way.

She said something about a restaurant reservation.

It was Wednesday. School night. She never went out on a school night. Super serious college student that she was, she stuck to her rules.

Tonight, she was breaking her rules for me. That made me smile.

After quickly drying her hair, she changed into a white blouse and beige pants and put on some lip gloss. I watched her while she did all these things. She was very low-maintenance. She didn’t wear any jewelry. The only piece of jewelry I saw her wear was a digital watch that she had to have when she did her clinical rotation, if that was even considered jewelry. She hardly put on any makeup. She didn’t need any. Hers was a beauty that makeup would only cover up. Her violet eyes twinkled at me. I was tempted to tell her that we should just stay here and not go anywhere.

She read my mind because she said, “No, we’re not staying here. Let’s go.”

When we started dating, I told her that I’d always drive. So she let me drive, all the time. She, however, bossed me around, all the time. Tonight, my bossy Sedona said we were going to Green’s Bar and Grille. The place where I first met her.

Once inside the place, the maitre’d led us to a private room. Wow, she had this all planned out. Intimate dinner. Great sex. Quality time with each other. She couldn’t have thought of a better birthday present.

I was wrong.

As soon as we entered the darkened room, the place lit up and I saw a big ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY!’ banner against the wall, amid cheers from our closest friends. Xavier, Dom, John, Tanya, Nalee, Kieran, Jackson, and around 20 guys from my football team were here.

Her eyes sparkled as she greeted me, along with everyone else, “Happy, happy, birthday, birthday boy!”

I was flabbergasted! This was a complete surprise. No one has ever done anything like this for me.

Friends and teammates came up to greet me. The room was filled with familiar faces and they all seemed excited and happy to be there. The guys said all sorts of shit while they wished me happy birthday.

I looked for her. She came out of my hold earlier and she was now talking to her friends.

“Dude, you’re fuckin’ old!” Xavier exclaimed. He was holding a beer for me as he approached. I took it and bumped fists with him.

The whole room hopped to the sounds of my favorite club music. Man, my girl had this whole thing planned out.

A buffet line was arranged on one side of the room. My football team was already lining up on that side. The room was probably 1,000 square feet, but the presence of football players made it look like it was a third of its actual size.

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?’ ”

“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 disturbance.” 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?”