Chapter 18 – Brian
I got dressed into jeans and a collared shirt just after Sadie phoned me. Then, I mussed up my hair with some gel and got in my car. I stopped off for dessert from a deli on the corner, tiramisu for two, and drove to Sadie’s place. I was nervous.
She wanted to see me again. Since I ran into her again, she’d been pushing me away more than anything else, but there were times like now that she came back to me. Those were the times I was waiting for.
When she messaged me, I had expected to spend my Monday evening alone. I was more than happy with the change of plan. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my evening than with the woman I was in love with. Even if she didn’t feel the same about me.
I wasn’t going there with any intentions of winning her over. Once upon a time, that had been my mission, but now, I just wanted to get to know her. The more time we spent together, the more I realized the old Sadie was still in there somewhere. And the side of her I didn’t know now? Well, she was just as interesting as she’d ever been.
I looked in my rearview mirror to change lanes. A blue Jeep had been behind me for a while now, taking turns whenever I did. I crossed an intersection, and the light turned yellow. Instead of stopping, the Jeep raced across the intersection. It looked a hell of a lot like he was trying not to lose me.
Who was after me? Who was trying to track me?
I was a famous football player, and I was in the news often. My address wasn’t a secret. It could really have been anyone. Usually, that didn’t bother me. Tonight, I was irritated with it.
When I tested if I was being followed, the car turned in the same direction I did twice more, but before I turned into Sadie’s road, it suddenly took another turn. I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
Maybe I was being paranoid. Not everyone was after me all the time. I was just another resident of Miami, after all.
Being famous came with its downsides. Sometimes people just didn’t leave us alone. When they were die-hard fans and they knew all the statistics, they were under the illusion they knew us, even though they knew nothing at all. It was a serious invasion of privacy.
Some people just didn’t understand that. They thought they were our friends. They thought because they knew everything about us, we would know who they were and care about them. Television creates a weird illusion of intimacy that doesn’t exist outside the screen.
And then there was the paparazzi, who had no idea what privacy meant. They followed us around, making life hard for us. Sometimes, they just wanted to know what I was wearing or where I was going to get my groceries from. If there was a scandal to be had, even better.
The Jeep didn’t reappear again. Maybe the driver was on his way home, and it happened to be in the same direction I had been going. Maybe I had to stop thinking about it.
I parked in front of Sadie’s apartment building and checked my reflection in the rearview mirror. I was confident about my body and my looks, but this wasn’t just any woman. It was Sadie. The woman. I got out with the dessert and buzzed her apartment number.
When I knocked on the door, she took a moment to open it for me, and I realized how nervous I was. I didn’t know what to expect from Sadie this time. Every time was different with her. I understood why. Living with amnesia had to be hard, but it made it difficult for me to gauge where she was at. I assumed tonight, she would be in a good place. She asked me over after all. But I was careful. I had to guard my heart.
A moment later, the door opened, and she stood in front of me, looking like a vision. Her dark hair hung over her shoulders, thick and shiny. She wore a red blouse with a neckline just low enough to reveal the swell of her breasts, but it was modest enough to leave a lot to the imagination. Dark jeans and ballet flats finished her outfit, and she looked fantastic.
Her gray eyes were dark. She smiled at me and stepped back so I could walk into the apartment.
“You look amazing,” I said, kissing her on the cheek before walking farther into the apartment. She took the dessert from me and disappeared. I looked around.
The apartment was modest. It was a good size for someone living alone, and it was decorated with ornaments, pictures, and plants. It was a mixture of nostalgia and hippy furniture that made it look unique. Like Sadie.
The couch had a multicolored throw over it. The television stood in the middle of the room. There were plants in most of the corners, next to end tables and book cases.
I had never seen this side of her before. When we’d dated, we were still in school, and her room had been decorated with posters of her favorite bands and movie stars.
This was different. This was a glimpse into the life of Sadie as an adult, as someone who could choose her own décor.
The apartment was a lot smaller than my mansion, but it was homey, personal. I would prefer something like this over a large house filled with loneliness anytime.
And I fully planned to make it so that Sadie and I could christen it.