Page 17 of Only for Tonight
“It’s fine,” I tell him when he starts, not wanting him to feel guilty about choosing one kid over the other, especially since I’m in my thirties. “Next time.”
“How you doing?” he asks me.
“Okay,” I answer, smiling. “I got an email from Erika’s replacement yesterday.” I pull onto the highway, right along the coast. “He’s going to come out on Thursday to have a meeting with me. Annoyed me that he emailed me instead of picking up the phone and talking to me.”
“I heard he’s a good kid,” my father reports, “been with Erika and Becca for a while.”
“I’ll meet with him and see how we vibe. It’ll be a waste of time for both of us if we don’t get along. Which could have been done on the phone before he flew out to meet with me.”
“You kids and the vibe test. Fuck the vibe. If he gets the job done, that’s all that matters.”
“Yeah, but if he doesn’t have the same goals as me or if he doesn’t really think he can do anything for me, I’m not just going to sign with him. With Erika, I knew she would go out there and fight for me, even if I was wrong. She would tell me to my face, but then smile and pretend I was perfect.”
“She’s fucking good at her job.”
“Exactly,” I say, “it’ll be an adjustment for sure. Plus, I heard this guy isn’t really a hockey guy. His clients are more golf and football, but he wants to break into the hockey clientele. I’m not going to be his test subject.” I sigh.
“Listen, give him the benefit of the doubt. Meet with him, check the vibes.” I can’t help but chuckle silently when he says that. “Then call me after the meeting.”
“Like I’m not going to talk to you tomorrow before the game,” I tell him. “I’m playing Dallas tomorrow.”
“I really wish I was coming out with Nico,” my father says. “I’m going to see if maybe?—”
“Dad,” I reply tightly, “it’s more than okay. If anything comes up and I need you, you can come out this weekend and we can hang together.”
“Fine, twist my arm.” He laughs. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Talk to you then, Dad.” I disconnect the phone at the same time I pull into my driveway. Pressing the button to open the garage door and watching it go up slowly, I drive in and shut off the car before closing the door again. Grabbing my phone, I get out of the car and head into the house.
I got this house, near LA, for six point five million dollars almost ten years ago and literally gutted it, putting in another three million in renovations. The only reason I bought it was because it was right on the beach. It had panoramic views of the ocean and I loved sitting out there and watching the water. There is something relaxing and therapeutic about sitting and watching the waves hit the shore with the rumbling sound. After most games, you can usually find me sitting outside and just relaxing. In the morning, I’m usually having my coffee looking out into the horizon.
Stepping into the house, I face the open door to the downstairs bathroom, which is right next to the spare bedroom my sisters usually stay in when they come to visit. I head left past the formal living room I never fucking use but, apparently, have to have. A conversation that my mother and the realtor had with me when I was picking out the house. Especially when I gutted it and then started to rebuild it. Thinking of the resale value was the only thing that made me agree with it. Ten years later, I still hate the room and I regret it, but if it wasn’t a formal living room, I have no idea what I would have made it.
I pass the staircase before taking two steps down into the family room in the back of the house. The back wall of the house is totally glass, opening out into the ocean.
The deep L-shaped couch in the middle of the room faces the fireplace and giant-screen television on top of it. Walking over to the big square coffee table, I grab the remote and turn on SportsCenter. I make my way toward the kitchen, pulling open the fridge. I’m about to get out one of the prepared meals I have in there when the front door opens and then I hear it shut. “Jaxon!” I hear Tiffany’s voice.
I close my eyes and whisper out, “Fuck,” before I hear the sound of her heels on the floor. “In the kitchen,” I mumble as I look over and see her walking in.
Her blonde hair is perfectly styled and her face is in full makeup as she takes off her black sunglasses, placing them on the counter along with her little black purse. “I was wondering if you would be home.” She walks around the island toward the fridge as I grab the pre-prepared chicken meal out. She’s wearing a short tan skirt with a tucked-in white button-down shirt .
“I just got back,” I mention, moving around her toward the microwave.
“Do you mind if I go take a quick shower? I got my spray tan done this morning and I’d like to wash it off.”
“Yeah, go ahead,” I say, instead of asking her why she bothered to come here instead of her house.
She leans up and kisses my cheek as she turns to walk toward my bedroom. The minute she’s out of my view, I close my eyes before my head falls back and I open them to look up to the ceiling. She called a week ago, asking if we could talk. I should have said no, but I didn’t. I said yes for the simple reason that maybe if I saw her again, I could see if she was the one. You know, the whole thing with not seeing someone and then you see them and it all makes sense. Or at least that is how it plays out in the movies. I thought if I saw her, it would click something into place inside of me. But it didn’t. It just made it even more clear that she is not the one for me. I should have said something, but I left to go on a road trip for three days and, somehow, she thinks we’re going to get back together.
Forget the fact I haven’t been intimate with her, or even kissed her, for that matter. I’ve not called her, or even asked her to come over, she just simply shows up. It’s blatantly clear she isn’t the one for me. It’s also blatantly clear I’m not the one for her, and no matter what I say, she isn’t getting the message. It’s time to pull on my big-boy pants and just come right out and say it. She’ll be hurt now for sure but she’ll get over it in time and, who knows, maybe she is going to thank me.
I shake my head, knowing she is definitely not going to thank me, instead she’s going to literally want to burn my house down with me in it. “You have no choice,” I mumble to myself, “or else she’ll never stop coming by.”
I put the chicken in the oven before turning and deciding to make myself a protein shake while I wait for it to be done. I’m gathering all the items I need to do this when the doorbell rings. I walk out and head toward the door, only seeing the silhouette of a person standing there. I pull open the door, and never in my wildest dreams do I expect it to be her. Her back is to me, but when she turns around and I see her face, I can’t help but smile when I see her looking at me. “Ariella!”
eight
Ariella
