CHAPTER 21
DRAKE
I had spent a month in London, feeling like Georgia and I were newlyweds on a honeymoon. Everything had ended up even better than I had hoped for. We hadn’t just kissed and made up. We actually got to talk about our current issues and open up to each other about our fears and dreams.
She had a point about me not being able to understand how important her dreams were to her. I had my own ambitions, of course, but it wasn’t like how she acted upon them, given that she’d never lived as affluently as I had.
But because of her, my life was taking on a whole new direction. She’d inspired me in an amazing way that I now had much greater reason and motivation to do my best in everything. Even my parents were surprised by how significantly my attitude had changed toward the business.
While I’d been in London, I hadn’t wasted my time simply vacationing and enjoying with Georgia. Whenever she was busy, I was also preoccupied talking to various companies with which Walton Pharmaceuticals could partner. My parents were impressed by the progress I had made in a month. There were actually two that had responded positively, wanting to meet personally with my father. Soon these partnerships would pave the way for us to expand in the London market, too.
“Great job, son,” my dad had told me after his meeting with the first company. Those three words had meant the world to me.
I hadn’t gone back to professional football yet, but I’d begun volunteering for a local league, teaching kids how to play football better. More than that, it was very fulfilling to teach them how to dream big and to work as a team toward their goals.
It had been weeks since I’d last seen Georgia. I missed her terribly, though we talked online daily. I could have stayed longer, but I wanted to give her space to flourish on her own as she pleased. Besides, I had my own business to take care of.
It was still early morning and I had a few minutes left before the kids would start arriving. Sitting in the dugout of the public football field where we held our little league practices, I took out my phone and called up my girlfriend via social media.
She wasn’t answering. I checked the time. It would be around three in the afternoon there. Perhaps she was in a meeting or was researching in the library and had her phone on silent mode.
I was anxious to hear if she’d received my special surprise yet. How I wish I was with her today of all days—our very first anniversary as an official couple. But she’d insisted that I don’t go there and leave the kids hanging when it was almost their league’s championships. She’d convinced me to just stay put and visit the following month.
It was already past seven. I was wondering why nobody was coming when suddenly, one of the kids whose name was John came running to me, a terrified look on his face.
“Coach! Coach!” he cried out. “Please hurry! Something happened to Billy in the locker room!”
“What’s wrong? What happened?” I asked anxiously, jumping from my seat to follow him.
“Come on! You’ve got to see it yourself!” John said with fear apparent in his voice.
I followed him to the lockers and we both burst through the door at the same time. Immediately I froze when I saw the room covered with red and white balloons.
“Surprise!” everybody inside shouted. My eyes scanned the crowd quickly, startled that all the kids were there along with our league assistant and even some of my buddies from football and from the office.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked, breaking into a surprised grin.
They were all laughing and cheering as they parted like the red sea, revealing the beautiful woman behind who stepped forward carrying a cake with the words Happy Anniversary!
I was speechless. I couldn’t move, my eyes fixed on Georgia who was smiling at me as she approached. The others were hooting around us, but I was oblivious to them. All I could think about was the fact that Georgia was actually here.
She’s right here. She came here to see me.
“Hey, handsome,” she greeted with a big smile once she was standing right in front of me.
“Hey, beautiful,” I replied, wanting to slap myself to see if this was all real or just a dream.
I didn’t know who came forward to take away the cake, but someone did. And in that instance, Georgia threw her arms around me and I instinctively wrapped mine around her waist and pulled her close to me.
“Happy anniversary, Coach,” she whispered with a grin.
I grinned back at her. “Happy anniversary, Doctor. What a surprise! I am so happy to see you!”
As the others fell back to their own excited chatter, Georgia pulled me to one corner and gave me a passionate kiss on the lips. I returned the favor with greater fervor, and we almost couldn’t tear ourselves away from each other.
“You’re a little sneak, huh!” I exclaimed jokingly, though my heart was soaring with great joy.
“Well, you’re the one who pulled that stunt first!” Georgia said, giving me a friendly slap on the shoulder.
I cocked my head to one side, pretending not to know what she was talking about.
She began jumping up and down in excitement, hugging me tightly and saying “thank you!” over and over again. She’d obviously received my surprise already.
“How the heck did you pull that off?” she asked.
“You mean getting your research featured in the most famous medical journal of all time?” I teased. Then I paused dramatically before continuing. “Well, it’s actually simple. I just submitted your work.”
“Nooo! Tell me the truth, come on!” she persisted.
“Honestly, I just submitted your work,” I said. “I didn’t pull any strings, I swear. It was the greatness of your work that did it.”
She gave me another excited embrace, and we ended up swaying and jumping while in each other’s arms, laughing the whole time like crazy people.
“And you? What’s your story?” I asked.
“Well, I was really planning to visit for just a few days to see you. But then, your dad did his thing and got me off for two weeks!”
We grinned at each other, both of us looking forward to what was bound to be the best two weeks of our lives.
“Believe it or not, he said it’s his anniversary gift to us,” Georgia continued. “And he insisted on paying for my flight, too. So you see… he’s not so bad, after all…”
I smiled. “Yeah, he’s not so bad, after all…”
“Hey guys! We’re hungry!” someone shouted from behind us. The others snickered and laughed.
We laughed and kissed one more time.
“I love you so much, Georgia,” I told her with all sincerity, my heart bursting with emotion.
“And I love you so much, Drake,” she said, smiling from ear to ear.
“Let’s go, guys!” another yelled, making us laugh and finally join the group as they headed outside.
“Uh, where are we going?” I inquired.
Georgia bit her lower lip, her eyes twinkling. “Well, I forgot to tell you that my mom is also throwing a party for us.”
“Wow, so you finally told her?”
She nodded with a grin. “Yup, she’s definitely excited to finally meet again the boy from prom night who’d broken my heart!”
“Aww, man! She knows?” I said in alarm.
Georgia laughed. “Don’t worry. She promised she’s going to be good to the man who’d come back from the past to capture my heart!”
I laughed and gave her a kiss. It felt good to be with the woman who did not just capture my heart, but inspired me to be a better man.