Authors: Anne Leigh
"Would you want me to go to your games?" I turned my face towards him. I couldn't see his eyes; I heard the unspoken request in his voice.
"It would be ni
ce, sometimes," he admitted.
"Babe, you know I get nervous." I was trying to make an excuse. But the main reason was that it never really occurred to me to go his games. I waited for him at a couple of his practices. I didn’t even remember him asking me to go to one. Or maybe he did and I just forgot. I was too busy with school that he might’ve a
sked me before and I forgot.
"I know. It's ok, babe,"
as he drifted off to sleep.
I had a gnawing feeling that it wasn't ok. He was like Kieran in some ways. Kieran told me once before that when people whom he cared for watched his competitions; it brought out the best in him. Zander was a competitor. To have his girlfriend watch him do what he did best would make him really h
appy.
The next day, I looked up the team's next game on the school football team’s website. Just my luck, they were playing against San Francisco Rivers, who just happened to be my ex-boyfriend’s team, in 4 days.
Chapter Sixteen
“You have to make peace so you can let go.”
Sedona
I asked Kieran to go with me since Tanya and Nalee bot
h had sorority commitments.
Kieran easily acquiesced. I noticed how relaxed he was with Zander. They almost had a friendship going on. I think it was largely because they found a lot of common ground with each other. Kieran respected Zander's athleticism and Zander respected Kieran's commitment. They both shined in their respective sports. Once or twice, Kieran mentioned to me that Zander was a good guy. Zander, on the other hand, said tha
t Kieran was a great friend.
As predicted, Kieran won the 50 and 100 meter individual medleys handily Wednesday night. Zander wanted to attend too but he had a group work meeting that ran late and he had to pick his parents up at 2 AM from the airport.
He invited me to join them for breakfast the following morning. I couldn’t, because as usual, I had clinicals. In the span of 7 months, I had mentioned Zander twice to my dad. My dad said he'd love to meet him. Before saying that, he asked me if Kieran approved of him and once I s
aid, ‘Yes,’ he was all ears.
Zander's parents were always busy on business trips. Their schedules were so packed that meeting them was almost close to impossible. In a way, I’ve met them multiple times already. In the front pages of San Francisco Daily. His father, being a prominent businessman and tycoon, was always in the front pages of the Technology Section and his mother's pictures were in the Society Pages. I could tell Zander was a great combination of both. He has his father's height and bone structure while his eyes and nose could be large
ly attributed to his mother.
I worked really hard on convincing my instructor to let me off early that Thursday when his parents were in town. Unfortunately, in Nursing, if you missed a clinical day, it was really hard to make it up because of the school’s contracts with the hospitals. So, it was a no go for me.
The weekend came and went. Zander had no idea that I was going to attend his game.
Monday night. Game day. Zande
r texted me before his game.
Zander: TTYL, babe.
Me: Ok, just call me when you're here. Goodluck.
Zander: K, thanks.
I wanted to look extra special for Zander. Nalee told me that there were a bunch of women there who threw themselves at the football players. Since I was the home team's star QB's girlfriend, I should represent well.
Tanya actually helped me pick
out my outfit - a strapless yellow top to show team spirit, with a denim mini skirt about 5 inches above my knees, and espadrilles that highlighted my long legs. I had a beige jacket, in case it got cold. It didn’t make sense to me that I was going to wear a jacket and a short skirt. I told Tanya that since I was wearing a mini skirt, my legs would get cold. I was planning on wearing skinny jeans. She shooed me and said, "Your legs can't catch pneumonia. Your lungs can; only protect what's necessary."
When Kieran picked me up at 4:30 in the afternoon, he let out a small whistl
e.
"Ace, you sure
you want our team to win?"
"Huh?"
"Well, let's just say you dressed like that
would only distract Zander."
"He
won't even know I'm there."
"Sure,
” he didn't sound convinced.
Kieran found great seats for us. He asked his buddy to hook him up and save us some seats. We
sat in the 5th row; I counted 10 rows above us.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw Zander in his football jersey. His butt looked so tight in spandex. Number 10 was smoking hot. He had a helmet on so there was no way I could see his face.
This was his domain. This was where he reigned. I looked around. There were crowds of people in front and around me and I thought to myself, "These people know this part of Zander and I haven't even tried." It was different watching his ga
mes on TV and in real life.
Kieran was busy chattin
g up a brunette to his left.
I knew Zander
; his quirks, his likes, his dislikes. I knew him intimately. I also knew how proud he was of me. I’ve never really shown how proud I was of him, as a football player. Football was his passion. This football field was his home. This was where he was at his best.
I felt the tears forming in my eyes when Kieran elbowed me, "Ace, what's going on?" Why was I so emotional these days?
"I understand now. I understand why he
wants me to come watch him."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
The game started and by the second half, I was on the edge of my
seat. Score was tied at 10.
I texted Zander, I didn't know if he'd be able to read it during halftime.
You look really good in ur uniform, babe. Btw, stop trying to remove that wedgie on ur butt.
I didn't get an answer. After halftime, the opposing team was on the field. Zander and the offensive line were waiting for the defensive lin
e to get the ball for them.
On the sidelines, I noticed that Zander took off his helmet and scanned the crowds. I ha
d a feeling he saw my text.
He kept scanning the crowd and then he leaned to John and said something. Now, he and John were scanning the crowds. I knew he was going to find me because I was sitting next to Kieran. It was kind of hard to miss a 6'2", blonde guy, wea
ring a bright yellow shirt.
From across the field, I saw his face break into a huge smile. It was one of those smiles that showed off his right dimple, if I was
standing close enough. His teeth were gleaming and he said something to John. He didn't point at us. He saluted to Kieran and kept smiling. He put his helmet back on and a few minutes later, Zander and his offensive line got their turn on the field.
Zander was on fire in the red zone. He threw 2 touchdowns in the 4th quarter and got his team close enough to the goal line for a field goal. The final score was 27-17.
After the game, Kieran saw a friend of his so he stayed down by the bleachers to chat with him. I told him I was going to wait for Zander by the side of the tunnel where the players entered and exited from the locker rooms.
While waiting, I saw the visiting team; San Francisco River’s football players came out and filed themselves on the opposite end of where I was standing. They were waiting for their team bu
s to come and pick them up.
One of their players, Dan, recognized me. He was Kieran's camp buddy. He was an Asian-American guy who had a charming demeanor. He and I started talking about Kieran w
hen I heard Brennan's voice.
"Well, look who have here, Ms. Sedona McKenzie, my ex
-girlfriend extraordinaire."
The tone of his voice warned me of impending trouble.
I excused myself from Dan. I had to get away from Brennan before he caused a scene, or worse, a fight. His team’s loss was fresh on his mind. Any emotion that he was feeling would be magnified
ten times. He had that same, menacing voice that made me shut my door on his face, when he stopped by my apartment, a few months back. At that time, he demanded that he wanted to talk to me, after confirming that Zander and I were dating. Chills ran up my spine.
Before I could take a step, Brennan was standing in my personal bubble. Dan stepped away, his eyebrows furrowed.
"You know
Sedona?" Dan asked Brennan.
Brennan, in his maroon shirt, khaki pants, and sneakers looked good. I'd give him that. It was the look on his face that gave me the creeps. He was not the Brennan I dated. This Brennan was someone whom I didn't know. He looked meaner.
"Do I know her?" he was addressing Dan but his eyes were on me, his face masking the underlying anger in his voice, "I was with her for a long time until she left me for Zander!"
Dan, trying to deflect the anger rising from his quarterback, said, "The bus is here. Let’s go, dude.” Dan walked towards the bus, hoping his teamm
ate would follow behind him.
Brennan ignored him. I took three steps towards the tunnel's entrance. What was taking Zander so long? Where was Kieran? I really needed to get away from Brennan before this
situation got out of hand.
I thought I was going to be able to walk away. I was about to take two more steps when my whole body was spun around. Brennan pulled me,
maneuvered me into his arms, and yanked my face to his. I struggled to get him off me.
His lips were rough on mine. I kept trying to push him off and kept my mouth closed. One minute, I was struggling to keep his face away from mine. The next minute, he was fl
ying onto the cement floor.
It was the
sight I was trying to avoid.
I saw Zander lifting Brennan from the ground and banging his body
against the wall. I have never witnessed Zander's anger like this. Nor would I ever want to see it again. His eyes were mad with fury. I heard a loud smack as Zander's right hand connected with Brennan's nose and blood gushed out of his nose. Brennan retaliated with his own punches and kicks.
I screamed to make
them stop; neither one of were hearing me. Brennan's teammates hurried off the team bus and tried to pull them away from each other. Three of Zander's teammates were holding him back to stop him from throwing more punches.
"Fuck you, Zander! You fucking stole her from me! What does he have, Sedona? What does he have that I don't have?" Brennan's rant could be heard across the field.
Tears streamed down my face. Was this the Brennan I liked? I didn’t even know this guy. The Brennan I knew was decent, caring, and loving. Who was this guy in front of me? Embarrassing himself because I broke up with him? Because I didn’t take him back aft
er he cheated on me?
"I bet she didn't tell you, Zander. I bet she didn't tell you how good she had it with me. She had me wrapped around her fingers but she wouldn't put out! Did she tell you that I fucking begged her to take me back? I fuckin’ begged her in her apartment but she shut the door on my face because she said you were coming over! I bet she didn't tell you that I came over, huh?!" Brennan continued to scream obscenities as his teammat
es pushed him into the bus.