Rex

Anger continues to swirl in my chest as we exit the parking ramp. I punch the accelerator and burn the tires for the first hundred feet. I glance over at Felicia and curl my lip just a bit, signaling that my mood has nothing to do with her. Stopping for a red light, I punch the button to retract the roof. “Another sunny day in Seattle is beginning to convince me that global warming is for real,” I say, avoiding the topic that I know is on her mind.

“You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to,” she says, placing her hand on mine. “And I’m sorry for not talking to you again before changing the name on the catalog. I know we only talked about it briefly one day last week.”

“Yeah, you mentioned something about it, but we need to think about it in the overall context of our brand. We might have to make it more of a magazine format,” I offer, wanting to throw her some kind of a bone. “I just can’t give it any bandwidth at the moment.” I know she’s wondering what just happened between Jessica and me, but I don’t really know where to begin. Jessica is a self-centered narcissist who has been trying to trap me into a relationship. When I rejected her manipulation, she made my life extremely difficult and my career impossible. I turn my hand, taking Felicia’s in mine. “Jessica is pregnant with my child,” I toss out there like a live grenade, knowing that she will inevitably find out sooner or later.

“Oh,” she says, looking like she just bit into a lemon. “Barb mentioned that she’s the reason you quit being a surrogate.”

“She purposely impregnated herself,” I reply, feeling a twinge of gut-wrenching pain. “When she realized she couldn’t trap me into a relationship, she started posting crap on social media. She was encouraging others to do the same thing. I had no idea until things totally blew up.”

“But how could she impregnate herself?” she asks with a pained expression.

“By pulling my discarded condoms from the garbage can after I left, I guess. I don’t know all the details,” I admit, feeling another wave of anger. “I had no idea, but apparently, this happens to professional athletes.”

“So why were you two arguing today?”

“She’s asking for a lump sum settlement in lieu of child support.” I cringe at the thought of her latest offer.

“Isn’t there anything you can do about it?” she asks, her shocked expression turning to concern.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. When this has happened to professional athletes, they’ve ended up paying through the nose. It’s hard to prove that she purposely got pregnant.” I press down on the accelerator and take a sweeping curve as we enter I-90 going west. “Do you have anything you need to be back for this evening?”

“Not really. I was just planning on doing laundry,” she replies with a look of disdain. “It’s my Monday night routine.”

“That sounds crazy boring.” I shoot her a sideways glance. “At least now I don’t feel guilty for kidnapping you.”

“So you’re telling me that I won’t have any makeup tomorrow and will be wearing the same clothes again?” she asks with an adorable sigh.

“Small sacrifices,” I reply, shifting into fifth gear and blasting well past the speed limit. “Whenever I get this stressed, I can’t resist the urge to flee the city. That’s why I’ll keep the cabin for as long as I live here.”

Felicia

Watching the road ahead of us, my mind is partially crippled by repetitive thoughts. How could this woman do this to him? It has to be illegal. Are there other women? Does he even know? I’m going to call my father as soon as I have a moment of privacy. He’s a master at getting out of sticky situations.

My mind begins to ease as the industrial complex gives way to a quiet tree-lined road. “I see what you mean. It’s beautiful out here.” I try to focus on the moment, on the trees and the beauty of the coastline instead of the mess Rex has gotten himself into, but it’s not easy. “This all started because Jessica wanted to get serious with you?”

“Yup.” He shakes his head as if he’s still in disbelief. “I’ve always known that there are plenty of sociopaths in this world, but it’s often hard to spot one until it’s too late.”

“Yeah, she dresses nice and is quite striking.” She comes off as a successful businesswoman of some kind.

“I should’ve picked up on it,” he says, continuing to shake his head. “She kept booking appointments after I rebuffed her advances. I assumed that she had come to terms with paying a thousand bucks a lay, but she was obviously collecting my sperm. Since the court awards child support strictly based on paternity tests, she’s very confident that I will be paying dearly for the next eighteen years unless I agree to settle.”

“Wow, that’s harsh. There’s no way to prove that she did this on purpose?” I ask, completely floored by the concept.

“If she claims it was the result of a faulty condom, it’s pretty hard to prove that she inseminated herself. My attorney is looking into it.” He turns toward the driver window and takes in the view of the Hat Island in the distance. “What a fucking nightmare. I never imagined that someone would steal my sperm and impregnate themselves, and there wouldn’t be a thing I could do about it.”

“There has to be a way to catch her, especially if she has been talking about it online,” I assure him. “If your attorney doesn’t find anything, then you need to hire a better one or a private investigator. My dad was always good at getting out of sticky situations, so I’ll see if he has any advice.”

“Do you even know where your dad lives?”

“No, but I have his cell number.” I hesitate for a moment, wondering if I really want to share any of this with him. “As long as he hasn’t changed it.”

“I’ll let my attorney work on it for now,” he says, placing his hand on my knee. “I’ll get him to hire a PI to go through everything she’s been up to, including all the social media posts. So don’t contact your dad if it’s going to make you uncomfortable.”

“I decided last Friday that I needed to start living outside my comfort zone,” I tell him. “Seeing Becca and Kip together made me realize that no one truly has my back. No one really cares about me, and it’s up to me to create my own life experiences. I’ve always tried to please everyone, to be a good person, to do the right thing, and look where it left me. Living by myself in a crappy little studio apartment.”

“Wrong. It led you to me,” he counters with a stern look in his eyes. “I knew immediately that you were different from anyone I’ve ever known. That you were special. Don’t change who you are just because of a few bad things that have happened.”

“Says the man who’s currently running away from everything.” I give him a wink so he knows I’m joking, even though I’m actually serious.

“Shut up,” he replies, narrowing his eyes and cracking a subdued smile. “I just need to get out of the city and clear my head. You’ll see.”

“Oh, I already see,” I assure him as we head west through open country, trees, and farmland with Livingston Bay off to our left. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live in the country. I’ve never spent any time away from everything. Even when we went on vacation as kids, it was always to a busy tourist trap.”

“You’ll like my spot on Camano Island. It’s very quiet and serene.” He squeezes my hand and his eyes fall away from mine. “I’m sorry I’m in such a mess right now.”

“Well, none of it is really your fault,” I tell him honestly. “You just got played by a sociopath, like you said. You haven’t done anything wrong, so I think it’ll all work out.”

I realize that it’s difficult to deny paternity results, especially when you have a track record of sleeping with hundreds of women. Which is why some athletes have such an issue. In this case, though, Rex has several witnesses who can attest to the fact that Jessica has been blackmailing him. The whine of the turbo chargers combined with the wind blowing through my hair begins to clear my mind. “Let’s focus on something positive,” I suggest, squeezing his hand once again.

“I consciously left all of my problems behind when I punched the accelerator on the bridge back there,” he says with an easy smile. “I know you’re right. There’s a solution. I just have to be creative.” He eases back in the seat and lets out a long breath. “That woman has caused so much chaos in my life that I tend to overreact to her threats.”

“Yeah, I’ve let people do that to me in the past too,” I admit, feeling a temporary flash of anger. “But I’m through being a victim.”

“You’re inspiring me,” he says with an appreciative look in his eyes. “It’s been a while since I’ve been around anyone who made me feel the way you do. I could definitely use more of it.”

He traces his fingers along the top of my hand as we wind our way across the island. Eventually, we emerge from the trees and turn onto North Sunset Road. Within a few miles, he pulls off into another grove of trees and presses a button to open a garage door. It’s a little smaller than his place in town, but it looks new and is completely surrounded by pine trees, making it feel like we’re completely isolated. “No wonder you like coming out here. You really are getting away from everyone.”

“Yeah, it’s great for the first day or two,” he says with a smirk. “I’m glad you’re here with me this time. I’m also glad that you’ve gotten into doing things that make you uncomfortable, since you don’t have a swimsuit.”

I narrow my eyes and shake my head, knowing damn well that I’ll be skinny dipping before the day is over. There doesn’t appear to be another soul around, so maybe it’s the perfect opportunity to do something else that has always been on my bucket list. “Is it always this quiet or is it just because it’s Monday?”

“It gets busier out here about noon on Friday, but it’s really quiet during the week. I’ve never even seen my neighbors,” he says as we enter the house.

“I don’t think you realize just how lucky you are,” I inform him, walking toward the windows that once again face the water. “You’re spoiled rotten!”

“I know. I’ve been blessed with good taste in housing,” he replies with a devilish grin. “Now if I can just keep from losing it all.”

“Remember, you left those worries back on that bridge,” I remind him, slipping off my shoes and opening the door to the deck. “Let’s go out and get some sun.”

“I’ll grab a bottle of chardonnay and be out in a minute.” He punches in an alarm code. “Eight, eight, eight, eight,” he says with a smile. “Just in case you ever need it.”

“So, eight is your lucky number?”

“You think?” He laughs. “The luckiest day of my life was my eighth birthday. It was my double golden birthday since I was born on August eighth.”

“My golden birthday is this December twenty-third.” Something that had occurred to me only recently. I remember that when I was young and first heard of a golden birthday, I thought I would be ancient by the time I had mine. It’s funny how our perception of age changes as we get older. “How old will you be in August?” I ask out of curiosity, knowing he’s in his early thirties.

“Thirty-two.” He pulls two wine glasses from the rack, setting them on the counter. “I’m getting old,” he says with a frown.

“That’s the perfect age,” I counter. “You’re almost old enough to know better.” I shrug my eyebrows and turn to find a comfortable spot on the deck.

“Nah, I’m a slow learner,” I hear him reply from inside. I think most guys are slow learners, at least the ones I’ve known. “I’m going to throw on some shorts,” he adds, leaning out through the doorway. “I’ll be out in a minute.” Sitting in a chaise lounge facing the sun, I’m surprised by how warm it is out here. I look both directions and don’t see any signs of life, so I decide to shock him by slipping out of my dress and hanging it over the railing next to me. This way, it will stay clean for tomorrow, I reason.