Mated with the Alpha's Daughter

Chapter 1: A Fresh Start

    Nothing has ever calmed me more than driving.

    Bad day at work?  Grab the keys.  Frustrated at home (which for me, was often and hopefully behind me)? Get behind the wheel.  It is the ultimate way for me to clear my head, and allow me to embrace the peacefulness I could consistently get.

    Maggie always said that I was running away from my problems by jumping behind the wheel and going for a drive.  What sealed it for me was that I explained to her that it was just like an infant, you sometimes have to be moving around in order to relax.

    "Well, then that action suits you well.  You should be able to stand here like a man and have me scream at you because that's what a man does.  Not run away like a f*****g baby!"

    That was pretty much why I decided to move 2,000 miles away from her.

    That was also was just one of the things that haunts me about my two most recent exes.  At one point, I was deeply ambitious.  After all, most of the senators in Washington, D.C. wouldn't have their jobs if it weren't for my help campaigning for them.  I had a thriving consultant firm I started at age 21 during undergrad, where I'd give strategy ideas to any candidate who'd want them.  Not to brag (I hope I'm not, that's something that Jaiden tried literally slapping out of me; any time I'd say something even kind-of boastful when get me a slap across the face), but every candidate who wanted my help got it, and won their races due to my encyclopedic knowledge of demographics, trends, and issue writing.

    I was 24 when I decided to get my teaching license because I was simply burned out from the 60 hour weeks making calls and walking campaign routes, while subsisting on my four C's during campaign season:  chocolate, coffee, chicken, and cigarettes.  It took a toll on my health, and I have always wanted to be a teacher; however, all Jaden and Maggie saw were dollar signs when I was with both of them.  Maggie was hated by my family because of her messed up views on how men are supposed to act, and Jaiden was overheard by my brother Steve saying that she was only in it for the cash that I would make her so she could cover her 5 MasterCard accounts.  

    I left Maggie for Jaiden.  Big mistake.  Then I left Jaiden and the sunshine of California.  Good decision.

    When you're told over and over again you're worthless besides the money you make, you take that to heart, and the day I got my license, I left my hometown in Illinois to Hayford, California.  A quiet town pressed up against a forest preserve with a high school that had an opening in Social Studies and Government?  Thank you very much!  When Jaiden left to go to her friend's house, I called my best friend Juan, my brothers Steve and Terry, my parents, and off we drove.

    That whole scenario ran through the database in my head in about five minutes.  I got startled when I heard my cell phone ringing.  It was Juan.

    "Hey Dude, where are you at in the caravan?" I ask him.

    "Behind Terry's Silverado and in front of Steve's Escape.  Why is it that Steve is the only one in the family that drives one of those?"

    I laughed.  "Beats me.  Are you okay with me doing this, J?"  I asked, knowing exactly what the answer was going to be.

    "Michael, absolutely," he responded, and I could tell by the tone of his voice he was clearly in coach mode now, giving me a pep talk.  "I've seen your soul crushed more times than I can remember.  I yearn for the time where my best friend finds himself again and becomes happy.  I haven't seen it in so long, so damnit, get your head out of your f*****g ass and don't worry about me.  You'll get me back when your smile comes back."

    "Jesus, I can see why his defense runs through a brick wall for him.  That must be why our high school's football team is so high up in the state and actually won," I thought to myself.  "That means a lot to me.  You've seen me at rock bottom with less confidence than a rock.  I'm just grateful I have you in my corner."

    "Always!" he responds.  "Anyhow, what kind of house did you get?  Is it the one we talked about last month?"

    "Yep!  That's the official residence of Michael Bartholomew now!"  I responded with the inkling of a smile on my face.

    "Cool.  How far out are we?"  he asks.

    "Another hour or so.  Not much longer."

    "Cool.  Dibs on christening your bathroom; I should have stopped at 15 spicy wings at lunch instead of eating the whole 20," he says, referring to the hole in the wall diner we stopped at in Nevada, and hung up before I could protest.

    I hoped he was right.  I hoped I made the whole of my family and him proud.  Because I needed the fresh start.  Now, more than I ever thought I'd need one.

    And my, did I get one.