CHAPTER 7
Once she ended her call with Eric, Allison immediately called Jennifer and asked if she could take Chloe for a few hours. Jen had happily agreed, saying that she desperately wanted her and Eric to work things out.
Once she and Chloe had breakfast, and they both were dressed and ready to go, Allison dropped Chloe off at Paul and Jen’s place and then, with a good luck hug from both Paul and Jen, she headed for the coffee shop Eric mentioned. They figured a public place would be the best place to meet, knowing they’d have to keep there anger in check then.
Allison was in a fit of nerves when she arrived at the coffee shop. She didn’t know what to expect from this. Was this just Eric plotting or was he being genuine in his appeal for a truce between them? Taking a deep breath, Allison desperately hoped it was the latter. She got out of her car and found Eric sitting in a corner booth that seemed more private then the other tables in the café. He had a far off look, his mind clearly wasn’t here and he seemed to jump at the sound of his name.
“Eric?”
He looked up at Allison and then stood, motioning for the waitress, and sat down once Allison was seated. Always the gentlemen, Allison thought.
“Do you want anything to eat? I can order us breakfast.”
“Err – no thank you. I ate with Chloe before I dropped her off at Jen’s.” she said quietly, watching closely for his reaction.
He seemed to be calmer and his anger didn’t spike or anything at the mention of Chloe, so she guessed it was safe.
“But I will take a coffee.” She smiled at the waitress who had just approached their table.
“And for you, sir?’ the waitress asked.
“Just a refill for me, thank you.”
The waitress turned and went off to get their orders.
“Sorry, I forgot you’d obviously eat with Chloe.” He said not meeting her gaze. He didn’t want her to see how he wished he too could have breakfast with their kid.
“Aren’t you going to have anything? I don’t mind.”
“No, I’m not hungry.” He stated.
The waitress came back then with their steaming cups of coffee. Once she departed the silence only grew between them, neither wanting to be the first to start.
But Eric was the first to speak up and break the silence, “I’m sorry about last night.”
Allison looked at him then, shocked by his words, “You’re sorry? But what do you have to be sorry about? I’m the one who should be apologising.”
“True, but I behaved badly and said some things that weren’t true. If I hurt you in anyway, I am sorry.” He sounded remorseful and Allison couldn’t help but accept his apology.
“It’s okay, in fact, I imagined you behaving far worse than what you did.” She admitted, “But you had every right to be as angry as you were.”
He nodded his head, “I still don’t get it. Why? Why would you do that to her? I get me, but she didn’t deserve this. Did she ever ask about me?”
Allison took a drink of her hot coffee, the warm liquid slide down her throat, bringing her to life.
“She asked, quiet a few times actually. I always found a way to avoid answering her.” She flushed at the truth, “I knew one day I would have to tell her, but I just wanted to protect her from the truth.”
“The truth?” Eric asked.
Allison sighed, “That her own mother was selfish.”
Eric shook his head, “You might have made a mistake. But you’re far from selfish, Ally. From what I’ve heard, you gave up a lot for Chloe and truthfully it’s what made me change my mind about the whole court thing. And, of course, Paul told me I would never win.” He added sheepishly.
Allison laughed lightly and looked up to see Eric smiling at her. It was weird. In that moment it seemed all their problems, all the anger and frustration they felt towards each other vanished, replaced by a calm understanding of what the other felt like. It was hypnotising and very powerful.
“So,” Allison said awkwardly being the first to look away, “We’ve clearly establish that neither of us want to drag this out in a court case.” Eric nodded in agreement, “Look, I know I did you wrong and I want to make things right for all our sakes. So please tell me what I can do to make this right, because right now I feel awful and I need not to feel this way?” she asked in a rush.
Eric looked at her for a moment and could see how torn she was by all of this. Maybe he had come too hard down on her last night; maybe he should give her a break. She clearly wanted to make things right, to give him a chance with his daughter, so why shouldn’t he take it. Eric knew things between him and Allison would never be the same, especially after all that had happened, but he hoped that they would one day be able to move on from it all.
He didn’t want Chloe growing up in an environment where neither of her parents spoke to each other, using her as a means of communication. No, that was no way for a child to live, being a mediator between her parents.
He still held some anger towards the woman who sat across from him now, not matter how vulnerable she looked. But it was clear the thought of being separated from Chloe scared her. Why else would she be here?
They definitely needed to lay all their cards out on the table, for Chloe’s sake.
“I want her to know about me,” he suddenly spoke up, “to get to know me as her father. I want to be a part of her life. I know it’s not going to be easy, I missed so much already. I don’t even know what she likes, does she have any allergies, what’s her favourite stuffed animal, and does she even have a favourite.”
Eric stopped abruptly, suddenly overwhelmed by all he didn’t know about his own daughter. He knew it would be hard; it was something he had thought long and hard about last night right into the early hours of the morning. Being a father was a huge responsibility, one he hadn’t planned for, because he never knew there was a need for it. It was one he had no idea if he was ready for. But the thought of never knowing Chloe scared him more.
Allison hesitantly – at first – reached out to pat his hand. Eric took comfort in the fact that she would be there to help him with Chloe. The fear of failing as a father, of becoming his father, was overwhelming and Eric shivered at the thought of how scared Allison must have been when she was raising Chloe alone.
“What she like?” Eric enquired.
Allison smiled, letting go of his hand, “She’s a lot like you, actually. I mean, besides the looks. She’s smart, caring and a huge sport fan. Though I have to confess she doesn’t always know what’s going on and I’m afraid, as you know, I’m lacking in that department. She’s a lot more matured, I guess you could say, for her age. Only, remember the one thing I disliked about you?”
Eric chuckled, “My stubborn streak.”
Allison nodded, smiling, “She has one too. Though, I think she might be worse.”
Eric chuckled, but then looked down into his coffee and Allison knew he was worried about whether or not he and Chloe would get along.
“It was hard seeing her beautiful face everyday and seeing you in it. But, in truth, every time she took on another trait of yours, I rejoiced inside knowing she at least had some part of you with her.” Eric smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, “She’ll love you.”
He looked at her intently then, “How do you know?”
Allison shrugged, “You’re a Denton. What’s not to love?”
This seemed to lift his spirits considerably and made his relax slightly.
“So, when are you planning on telling Chloe about me?” Eric asked.
Allison’s eyes grew wide with realisation. She had been so busy trying to get Eric on her side that she’d forgotten about one tiny factor: that she’d have to tell Chloe the truth. This worried her even more. It wasn’t so much the fact of telling Chloe about Eric, because Allison knew how much she wanted to know about him. It was more that she wasn’t sure how Chloe would react once she found out the truth of why her father was never around. She might only be six; going on seven, but Allison made a point of not keep things a secret from her, because she already felt guilty enough about keeping her father a secret. She always tired to explain everything in a way that little girl would understand and she hoped that now she would have a way of explaining this so that Chloe didn’t hate her.
“Hey, you okay?” Eric’s concerned voice broke through her thoughts.
She shook her head that would be tomorrow’s worries, “Yeah, I’m fine. This is just a lot to process.”
Eric nodded in understanding; “Tell me about it.” the silence that fell between them was filled by the chatter of the many people that were still enjoying their sunny Sunday morning.
Eric cleared his throat, catching Allison’s attention again, “So, when do you want to do thing? Introducing me to Chloe, I mean.”
Eric felt ridiculous asking the question, like he was asking to be introduced to big time producer or something. It was weird, asking to be introduced to his own daughter, but maybe asking would show Allison just how serious he was about Chloe and building a relationship with her.
“Well the summer holiday starts in a few days. So I was hoping you could be patient until Friday. I’ll tell her Wednesday, when the schools close and if you’re available, I could get off on Friday and we can arrange something for then?” she asked hopefully, wanting to buy some time so she could figure out exactly how she would broach the subject with Chloe.
A whole week? He would have to wait that long. He didn’t like having to wait that long, but knew Allison was right in wanting to wait until the holiday’s started and depending on how Chloe took the news of her father’s sudden arrival, this would be seen as a good or bad start to her holiday’s. Eric sincerely hoped it was the former.
“Okay, I’ll wait. Whether I want to admit it or not you know what’s best for her more than I do. So I’ll be patient, but I can’t lie, I’ll be counting the minutes until then.” Eric admitted, weakly. Just then his phone, which lay on the table beside his hand, suddenly rang and at a quick glance Allison saw a flash of the name Heather.
Who was Heather? Was she a friend from back in New York checking in to see if everything was okay? A co-worker perhaps or maybe a girlfriend?
Allison chided herself at the sudden pang of jealousy she felt. I have no right to feel jealous. She groaned under her breath, what’s wrong with me?
Eric snatched up his mobile, unaware that Allison had seen who was calling, “I have to take this. Excuse me for a moment.”
“Of course.”
Allison watched as Eric manoeuvred his way through the crowd and walked out of the café. Through the glass windows she could see him chatting on the phone. A smile crossed his face then with the vibration in his chest Allison could see he was laughing. He looked happy, real happy which made her realise that it definitely wasn’t a co-worker calling.
She sighed and looked at the empty cup she still clinched in her hands. What had she expected that he would still be single after all these years, that he’d come crawling back to her after everything she’s done? Even with his obvious flaws Eric was still a catch. Sure he was a workaholic, stubborn and he had a temper. But he was also sweet, thoughtful and a complete romantic. He was the one guy, who unintentionally, swept her off her feet. But now – now he had clearly swept someone else off her feet and the only sweeping Allison was doing, was in her home.
As Eric entered the café and made his way to their table, Allison made sure she had a smile on her face. She had no intention of asking him about Heather, but if she was a permanent feature in his life, she wanted to know about it. And not to satisfy her own curiosity, but so that she knew what she was headed in for were Chloe was concerned.
Okay, maybe she was the slightest bit curious.
“Sorry about that.” Eric said taking his seat once again.
“It’s okay,” she paused but then spoke up before all courage left her, “Who is Heather?”
Eric looked startled for a minute. He hadn’t realised she’d seen Heather’s name flash across his screen. But then again, he should have known she would. Nothing ever escaped Allison’s watchful hazel eyes.
Well, now was the best time as any to tell her the truth. It had been his plan all along, the reason he had gone to see her last night. Though things had turned out must different than what he expected.
He shifted a bit uncomfortably in his seat. Why was this so hard?
“She’s – err – she’s my… fiancé.” He finally got out.
Allison wasn’t sure if this news stunned her or not.
Eric was engaged, as in he actually asked another person from the opposite sex to marry him, to spend their lives together?
It wasn’t so much the fact that he had made a commitment. He had, after all dated her for more than a year, most of which had seen the two of them living together. It was just the fact that Eric didn’t seem like the type who wanted a life time commitment.
From the time Allison has known him, Eric was always focused on his goals and she knew that when they got involved that his work would come first. She took all of this in her stride, because she loved him. But as time went on Eric started to change where it concerned her. Work didn’t seem such a big issue, because they were happy.
She couldn’t deny that he had been a great boyfriend, even when he got to her and they fought. But Eric had hated when she was mad at him and always found a way of getting her to forgive him, even when he was right. Making up with him had always almost been worth the fights – not that there were many – and she had seriously started to consider that maybe he was the one she would spend the rest of her life with, but that marriage would have to wait, at least until Eric got his hot shot anchor position at Sports Inc.
Had he already gotten to the point of reaching his goal? Or was this job he was in the running for the one that would see him settled down? Well, whether he got the job or not, he seemed to know that he made a commitment to this Heather and it seemed he intended to see it through.
Allison couldn’t understand it, but at the realisation of this she seemed to die just a little bit inside.
“Say something.” He said awkwardly as Allison started at him dumbfounded.
“I – I – err…” she sighed, still feeling baffled, “I don’t know what to say. Well except congratulations.” She said the last word a bit uncertainly.
“This wasn’t exactly how I pictured on telling you, but you know, so-” Allison interrupted.
“That’s why you came to see me yesterday?” she enquired.
“Yes,” Eric agreed, “I wanted to make peace with you over what had happened and to tell you about Heather. Of course, you kind of dashed away from me like a bat out of hell and last night… well… you know what happened then.”
“Ah,” was all she could respond.
Eric could see she was struck by this news. It was still hard after all these years for both of them to accept that the other had moved on. Well, technically Allison was still single, but from what he heard yesterday and her laughter, it didn’t seem likely that she would be single for long.
Eric frowned; it still irritated him to think that another man could make her laugh the way he used to. Once upon a time it was only he could do that; bring out that certain type of jovialness that truly light up her face. He remembered a time when he’d always tried his best to make her laugh that way just so he could see her shine.
I wonder if I could still make her laugh like that, He thought.
He shook his head. No, that was a long time ago and he needed to stop thing of her as his, because clearly she wasn’t. It seemed Allison Warner got over him a long time ago and that’s the way it should be.
“I know you’re worried about Chloe and how this will affect her. But I don’t intend on bringing Heather into her life anytime soon.” He assured her.
Allison frowned, “But surely you intend on telling her about you illegitimate child.” she blurted out, “I’m sure this will come as a shock to your fiancé. She probably thought she be giving you your first child.”
Eric grumbled under his breath and Allison wondered why, “Heather’s a working woman and children aren’t in her current plan.”
There was of course more to this than Eric would tell Allison. Well, she didn’t need to know that he and Heather had actually had a fall out over this factor. Eric wanted to marry and settle down and have a family, and although Heather wanted the same, she just didn’t want children to factor into that equation.
To break the awkward silence and direct Eric from his obviously enraged thoughts, Allison said, “Well, I’m sure she’s a great woman. I wouldn’t expect anything less from you. You always knew how to choose them.”
A smile formed on his lips, “I guess I did Ally.”
The sound of her nickname whispered on his lips, sent a shiver of awareness tingling down her back. Even after all these years, the sound was like an aphrodisiac that ignited her fire, a fire she thought she’d dowsed a long time ago.
Needing to stop the spark before it became a flame, she added, “You should tell her though. One thing I’ve learnt, never keep secret, from anyone, especially your fiancé.”
He nodded in understanding, “I will tell her, just not yet. I want to have my alone time with Chloe so I can tell her all about my daughter.”
“I get what you’re saying, but won’t she think it a bit strange when you leave to see your daughter? I’m sure she’ll find it strange that you’re sneaking off somewhere without telling her.” she asked curiously, but then her eyes grew wide with expression, something Eric always loved about her, “Does she know you’re with me? I won’t-”
Eric hastily stopped her as she got up to leave, making her sit down and hurriedly explained when curious eyes glanced in their direction, “Heather knows I came out here to see you. In fact, she knows all about you and I told her I wanted to make peace with you.”
“Oh,” Allison murmured feeling silly for her overreaction and felt a blush form on her cheeks.
“Besides, she’s still in New York. She still has two weeks with the Times that she needs to complete and then she’s moving out here.” He explained further.
“The Times?” Allison asked dumbly. It was quite obvious what he was referring to.
“Yes, the New York Times. She’s an investigative journalist. That’s how we met, at a journalistic event.”
Powerful woman, Eric really knew how to pick them. And I’m sure she’s pretty, petite and blonde too, she thought enviously to herself. Eric always liked blondes more. It always had her wondering what he was doing with her, an ordinary, quiet auburn haired girl. He must have been slumming.
“You seem happy though.” She went on, ignoring the annoying twinge of pain that stuck like a knife through her heart.
“I am, thank you.” he responded with a smile.
“I can tell you love her a lot.”
“How?”
“You used to look exactly like that when used to look at me.” she admitted painfully.
Eric’s heart sunk at the look of hurt that flashed in her eyes. It scared him to see that the spark that once used to be there was now only a flicker. It was true that he loved Heather; he loved her with all his being. But the love he had for Allison couldn’t be compared. She would always hold a special place in his heart, a place that he knew not even Heather could touch, a place he secretly never wanted Heather to touch, because than he would lose the love of a time that he was happiest.
“Ally, I-”
She shifted out of her seat then, “I have to go. Chloe’s waiting for me. I had to work yesterday and promised I would give her all my attention today.”
Eric admitted defeat. There was no good way to say how sorry he was that things never worked out between them and he shouldn’t have to be sorry about moving on and loving Heather. But then why, as he watched her pull on her light weight jacket, did he feel so guilty about it?
He felt some semblance of anger form inside him again. No, he shouldn’t feel guilty, not after what she had done to him. Compared to that, his telling her he was engaged to another woman was nothing, because at least she had a few years to get over him and move on. There was no getting over the secret she kept from him, at least not yet.
“So, I’ll call you in the week, okay?” she bit her lower lip.
“Okay,” he managed to bite out as evenly as possible, “otherwise I’ll see you on Friday.”
She nodded once, “Yes, Friday.”
With that she turned and walked out the glass doors. She willed her tears to stay back, at least until she was out of the parking lot. Eric was engaged and lost to her forever.
***
“So, have you got any ideas on how you’re planning to break the news to Chloe yet?” Paul asked as they sat underneath the shade of an umbrella that was placed in the centre of a table in their backyard.
Allison had arrived at their place three hours ago and with Paul and Jen insisting that she and Chloe stay for lunch, Allison had helped Jen with lunch, while Paul barbequed some meat on the grill and the kids played with Maria in the pool. But even with Maria there, Allison still kept a watchful eye on them from the huge kitchen window that faced the spacious backyard.
The day had turned out to be another great one and they had decided to enjoy it and have their meal outside. The kids were a buzz, especially Chloe, who seemed to be very excited about the upcoming holidays. If only she knew how much excitement she really was in for, Allison thought as she watched with pride as her daughter chatted with Jen. She just hoped that her response to her dad would be a good one.
Now with the twins taking their nap and Chloe happily sitting watching a movie in the entertainment room, Paul and Jen finally had alone time to grill Allison about what had happened that morning between her and Eric.
“No, I have no idea.” she answered regrettably.
“Don’t worry, Ally, when the time comes you’ll know just what to say.” Jen assured her.
“But what if I don’t?” she asked, placing her face in her hands.
Jen shot her husband a worried look. Ally was her best friend, more like her sister. Jennifer never had any sisters growing up and had only been surrounded by boys. With two older brothers and a younger one, Jen had been out numbered, but it had been through her second eldest brother that she had met Paul. She never had many girlfriends growing up being a tomboy most of her adolescent life and when she met Allison in college the two had hit it off immediately and ever since the two had been inseparable.
Jen had been with Allison through her entire pregnancy, seen how hard it was for her at times, but also she knew how much she loved Chloe and that she would do anything for her little girl, and that it tore her apart to keep the truth about Eric from her.
But through all this, Jen had never seen her so worried or torn at what to do when it came to her daughter’s wellbeing.
“Do you remember the time you were completely freaked about becoming a mom, right before Chloe was born?” she asked her friend.
“Yeah, why?”
“You were in tears and hyperventilating, I thought you’d gone into labour. But once you calmed down, you told me how frightened you were about being a mom.”
“What’s your point?” she asked now looking at Jen.
“That your fears had been for nothing, because almost seven years later, you’re one of the best moms I know.”
Jen was right. She had been completely freaked that night, but things had turned out almost perfect. She was doing real great on her own, but now… now she had to include Eric into the equation and she was finding it hard to find the right words to get Chloe to understand.
“You just need to let the words flow naturally,” Jen went on, “don’t try to complicate things, just be honest.”
Allison sighed, “I know.” She stood and paced in front on the table and groaned in frustration, “Why is this so hard?”
Paul shrugged, “Life’s a bitch. She just likes watching us mere mortals suffer.”
Both Jen and Allison laughed, Paul’s take on life lightening the mood.
“What else did you guys talk about, besides Chloe? Did you two finally deal with your problems?” Paul asked taking a drink from his ice cold beer.
“We talked some. We both apologised for the things we said before he left and both agreed that for Chloe’s sake we would keep the peace. Oh and he told me about Heather and the fact that he’s getting married to her.” she added sarcastically.
“What?!” Jen shouted almost spilling her lemonade.
“Yeah, you heard me right.” Allison replied forcefully.
“When, how did you find out?”
“This morning. She called while we were at the café. I saw her name flash on his screen and then asked him about her. Apparently she’s an investigative journalist and she’ll be moving to LA in a few weeks.” Allison informed them.
Jen still looked dumbstruck, “Did you know about this?” she turned and asked Paul who seemed unusually quiet. Jen figured that he was just shocked, but looking at the scowl that was plastered on his face; she knew he was anything but shocked.
“No,” he murmured, “He never mentioned any of this to me when we spoke. I guess I’m not the only one keeping secrets.”
“Paul, please don’t make a fuss out of this okay. I’ll admit I was taken aback when he mentioned this to me, but I don’t want any trouble coming from this, least he think I’m not over him or worse, jealous.”
“What makes you think I’m going to do anything?” he asked defensively.
“Because you’ve been looking out for me and Chloe from day one. I don’t want you to damage for friendship anymore than you already have.”
“Thank you for you concern, Allison, but after everything that you’ve been through in these past two days, you’d think he’d wait to drop a bomb like that on you.” Paul stated angrily.
“In his defence, Eric was planning on telling me about Heather when he found out about Chloe.” she added.
Paul sighed, going silent. Allison knew she’d gotten him to stay silent for now, but Paul was family and he was very protective of her and Chloe. It was clear that he wouldn’t drop it and that he’d face off with Eric whether Allison wanted him to or not.
“Look, we have enough drama in our lives for one weekend and things are only going to get much more intense as the days go by, so I suggest we enjoy what’s left of our Sunday and forget about our problems for one day. What do you say?” Allison propositioned.
“Sounds good to me.” Jen agreed, “Paul doesn’t that sound good?” she elbowed her husband in the side when he didn’t respond and she sent him a reproachful look.
He sighed and reluctantly let go of his frustration of the situation for the moment. For Allison, he thought, but knew he would confront Eric about it later.
“Great, now let’s talk about something that doesn’t involve my ex-boyfriend and his current fiancé. Shall we?” she looked meaningfully at her friends and they smiled in return.
“We could always talk about the hot doctor, who obviously has a thing for you for you.” Jen smirked, but this statement only seemed to make Allison groan.
“What hot doctor?” Paul asked confused.
“You know, Dr. Jared Martin.” Jen replied.
“We’re not talking about Jared.” Allison stated finally.
“Oh, so it’s Jared now.”
“Are you talking about the young doctor who keeps taking her and Chloe out to games?”
“Yes, one and the same,”
“Hello, I’m right here. I can hear you, you know.”
“Yeah he definitely has a thing for her.” they continued as if she hadn’t just said anything, “He seems like a decent guy. Great for her.”
“Unbelievable,” Allison muttered looking between her friends and threw her hands up in surrender, “And you guys call yourselves friends.”
“Relax Ally, we’re just teasing,” Paul said before she could jump up and take off, “But he does seem like a great guy though.”
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, they were right about Jared. He was a great guy and any woman would be lucky to have him, she would be lucky, but right now her life was a mess and another thing, he didn’t have a ‘thing’ for her. Jen and Paul were just being crazy.
“Jared is a great guy, but I’m a wreck, number one. My life is falling apart at the seams and Jared doesn’t need that kind of baggage. Heck, no one deserves it. And two, he doesn’t like me in that way. As a co-worker yes, as a friend, maybe. But other than that, nadda.”
“Whatever,” Jen rounded her eyes, “I have a feeling within the next few weeks he’ll be asking you out, especially since the gorgeous father of your daughter is in town. And I have a feeling where baggage is concerned, he wouldn’t mind taking it on, especially since that baggage happens to be yours.”
“You know what; it’s time for me to leave.” Allison said, getting up and heading for the backdoor.
“See what you’ve done.”
“I was just teasing, she’s only reacting this way because she does like him, but won’t admit it to herself.” Jen justified.
This made Allison stop mid stride, turn on her heel and head back in the direction of her friend, “Okay, I don’t like Jared in that way. He is my boss, I work with him everyday and we’re professional, our relationship is professional.”
“Professional or not, doesn’t mean you can’t have feeling for the guy though.” Jen added with a shrug, “Relax okay. I was teasing you, getting your mind off of things. It seemed to work didn’t it?” She got up, with a self-satisfied smirk on her face and went inside to check on the twins, leaving Paul laughing and Allison baffled.
“She’s a piece of work, isn’t she? Man I’m a luck guy.” He said with a smile that made his grey eyes shimmer, “Come on, let get inside.”
As Allison followed Paul into the house, she couldn’t help but wonder, did she have feeling for Jared, but was just too afraid to admit it? And if she did, why was she afraid? She couldn’t deny that Jared had been flirting with her yesterday, but she’d played it off as if he were teasing her. Could Eric have something to do with it? Well whatever Eric’s involvement, the moment he mentioned the word fiancé, Allison knew he no longer was a factor.
***
Hope you enjoyed that. Expect some Jared, Chloe and Eric action in the next chapter. Whoa, this story is really getting somewhere now.
Thanks for reading guys :D