In the Sidelines » Damian Lillard

09.

"YOUR UNCLE IS one of the richest sports owners in the whole nation and you didn't even have the need to tell me?" I practically yelled at my friend when she revealed the news to me.

Sydney raised her hands up. "I'm sorry! It just never came up in our conversations."

We were currently walking around downtown Seattle, where we had decided to move after we graduated from Stanford. We founded our own business once we moved here, and in less than a year, our profits were booming. I had wondered how we got so successful this quickly, and Sydney always replied by saying her relative had helped us with funding.

Today, she nonchalantly mentioned that her 'relative' happened to be her uncle Paul Allen.

I was no stranger to all of his accomplishments. A billionaire at just the age of 37, he was a Washington native and the co-founder of Microsoft. He also owned the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL and the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers.

Sydney told me that we would be meeting him today.

"Syd, oh my god!" I exclaimed. "You can't be serious, right?"

I'd heard Sydney talk about her uncle many times, but she never called him by name. She said that when he was 35, he became the owner of a basketball team. But she never said that the team was an NBA team.

Sydney stopped walking and pointed to the skyscraper we were now standing in front of. "That's the whole reason we're here, right?" She pushed open the doors and glanced back at me. "Come on, you wouldn't want to be late. I have a surprise for you."

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"SO THIS IS the friend Sydney has been telling me about. She's told me you're quite the avid basketball fan." Sitting in front of me was the one and only Paul Allen. I had to look at Sydney to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

"Yes sir, I am. One of my childhood friends is actually trying to make it into the NBA as we speak," I replied politely.

"Well, tell him I said good luck," he said with a smile. I nodded. Of course, there was no way I would be able to tell Damian, but I didn't want to say that.

"Uncle Paul," Sydney urged. She tilted her head at me, reminding him why we'd come here in the first place.

"Oh yes. Sorry, I got a little off track. I'll make this short—Miss Deaton, how would you like to be the partial owner of my basketball team?"

"Wh—what?" I was completely caught off guard. "Can you repeat that, because I don't think I heard you correctly."

Sydney grinned at me. "Ara, you heard him correctly. I've bugged him about it for so long, and he finally gave in. We finally have the money for you to be a minority owner of the Trail Blazers, and that's what convinced Uncle to let you do this."

My eyes widened. "But I'm way too young to own a team. Ninety percent of the players are older than me! And don't forget how the media will handle all this. There will be so much negative takes on this because I'm still young, and I wouldn't want you to get hate for it." I faced Syd's uncle. "I'm sorry, Mr. Allen, it's just—"

"He knows that you're responsible, especially for someone our age. You can handle this." Sydney held onto one of my shaking hands to calm me down. "Bel, I've gotten you this far. Uncle wants you to do this. All you have to do is say yes."

"Um..." I glanced over to Mr. Allen, then back at my friend. They both looked at me expectantly.

Something that only came from a fantasy was thrust right into my hands, so of course I'd accept it.

Before I changed my mind, I nodded. "Yes, I'd love to."

Mr. Allen extended his hand out for me to shake. "Welcome to the Portland Trail Blazers, Miss Arabel Deaton."

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No Damian sighting in this chapter, but this was really important!

On a related note, guess who will be reuniting—again—in the next chapter?!