A Shift in Choice
1670 Words
Unwilling to dwell on her encounter with Levi, Chloe spent the rest of the night sleeping peacefully. She badly needed to relax to get the most out of her one-week break and spend it with her son, Anthony.
After quietly deliberating about it during the ride home yesterday, she thought that it would be better to keep their lives the way they are. Moreover, she was unsure if he was already married. What if she told him and he was already a man with his own family?
Ugh. That would be very wrong.
Five years was a long time.
She did not want to implicate anyone in her mistakes.
After all, she was the one who forgot to take the contraceptives, getting herself knocked up in the process.
Levi might be her sperm donor, but the fact that he was gone the following morning was simple enough for her to understand that he did not want anything to do with her after doing the deed. It was just common sense.
It was a one-night thing.
Nothing more, nothing less.
She was just being delusional to think that the man, a notorious playboy, might have an ounce of conscience to provide paternal love to their son.
Moreover, she thought keeping it a secret was the best thing to do. What if he’s a bad influence on their child?
Nah, she did not want her baby to grow up like a gallivanting wh0re..
Nah-uh. Not happening.
“A penny for your thoughts?”
Chloe blinked at Jack’s waving hand, distracting her wandering mind.
She was feeling a lot better. Her fever was gone and her appetite was back. Aside from her cloudy mind, she was good as new.
She was fine, truly. But her best friend refused to leave her the night before because of the encounter in the hospital’s parking lot.
Jack was afraid she would take it too hard.
Well, he underestimated her.
“Nothing. I'm just thinking about what happened yesterday. I’m certain it’s Levi; not some doppelganger.”
Jack furrowed his brows.
“How are you so sure? You said we might have gotten the wrong person…”
Chloe bit her tongue, preventing herself from telling her best friend that her body’s reaction would never be mistaken.
How could she tell Jack that she felt electrified at the brief skin contact with the man in the parking lot?
That would be so embarrassing.
“Based on his reaction, he already forgot about me. I think this is for the best. Remember, five years ago, that very same morning his retirement was announced. You were even heartbroken about it.”
Snorting, Jack filled her glass with the freshly squeezed orange juice that Mae made earlier that morning. They were having brunch. Fortunately, Chloe did not seem flustered as she was yesterday as she ate her chicken soup and salad.
“What do you mean?” he asked, a little stressed upon the mention of his admiration for the football star.
“According to the media, his retirement was unprecedented. After all, he was just twenty-four that year, very young to withdraw from the limelight of the football scene. He did not have any injuries whatsoever. In addition to that, there were no interviews to clarify the issue and he just vanished… poof…” Chloe said, making a popping sound with her lips.
Jack placed his cutlery back on his plate. He looked at his best friend intently, trying to figure out where she was heading with this speech of hers. In fact, he too, was a little curious about the subject. After all, he once used to be a big fan of Levi Bowman.
Did she know something the public didn’t?
“When I was dancing with Levi, he told me he was leaving his brothers, his team. I guessed that he might be terminally ill, but he did not confirm or deny it. I remember I even told him to seek treatment since money was not a problem.”
“Terminally ill? Bullsh*t,” Jack spat.
“I’m not sure about that. But he was serious when he told me those things. Sure, I was a little tipsy but my mind was clear.”
Speechless, Jack rolled his eyes and then smirked after absorbing the information. He placed an elbow on the table and cradled his chin with a thumb, stifling a laugh. Sometimes, he wanted to keep Chloe in a box, because this superstar in front of him was way too innocent for her own good.
He wondered how she survived the dirty and complicated entertainment industry all these years.
“Chloe, look at me. I was there that night. Levi did not look ill at all. A man chugging alcohol as if its water was in no way sick, let alone terminally. Think about it, a person with one foot under the ground and on the brink of losing his glamorous life as a professional athlete was spending the night in a club, giving out autographs, and ended up hooking up with you. Don’t you think that’s a little too farfetched?”
Coughing, Chloe distracted herself by stirring the soup in her bowl, feeling her cheeks burn and the tips of her ears tingle. With every mention of that fateful night, she could never shake off feeling embarrassed. Deep inside, she did not know if it was because of her dumb mistake or the lewd scenes that replayed in her mind vividly all these years.
Hearing Jack, she thought that he did make sense. But recalling the way Levi looked so helpless that night, she could not refute that the emotions in those deep dark eyes were genuine.
She may be naïve but she was not an id!ot.
If anything, she had an excellent EQ to boast about.
Maybe Levi wasn’t ill. But whatever reason he had; it was none of her business. Whether he told her lies and pick-up lines, she had to own up to her decision in falling for it and ended up pregnant.
She sighed.
“Whether he was lying or not, I don’t want to know. I have already decided that it would be better to keep Anthony’s existence a secret from him.”
Jack was speechless. He could not believe what he was hearing.
“Why the sudden change?” he asked incredulously.
After giving birth to her son, Chloe made sure to conceal little Anthony’s existence privately. Even though, as a singer, she was not required to keep it from the public, she made the choice. He remembered her saying that irrelevant people did not have to know before the child’s father did.
All along, he knew that when the right time came, she had every intention of telling Levi about their son.
“Well, nobody knew where he was or what he had been doing all these years. He disappeared into thin air as if he was hiding something critically embarrassing, even dirty. I am not sure if he would be a good father to my son. Plus, after hearing you say all those things, I find his existence a little too dubious. What if he was a drug addict and was undergoing therapy? What if he had a relapse? What if he ends up harming Tony?”
Chloe took her juice and chugged it down. She did not think of the possibility until the words left her mouth. All along, she thought that maybe he was already a married man with his own children.
Wincing, she thought she’d gone overboard.
On the other hand, she did not want to take the risk either.
Nobody knew the truth, only Levi himself.
Dumbfounded, Jack stared at Chloe, tickled at the exasperation and helplessness on her face. It was very easy to read what went on in her mind. But of course, he was not going to rain on her parade if that’s what she wanted to convince herself with.
Smirking, he shrugged, then said, “Sure. Whatever floats your boat.”
Chloe stayed quiet, struggling to believe what she had just said.
In fact, she would rather learn that Levi was married and lived happily than suffer the difficulties of getting off drug addiction. She had read a bunch of articles about celebrities failing to get rid of their bad habits and falling into depression – or worse, death.
“Do you think so?” she mumbled weakly.
Jack chuckled. “Don’t worry. He looked nothing like a junkie. In fact, he was more dignified than he was back then. Do you remember that cufflink he dropped? It’s a limited edition. It costs a fortune.”
She hummed in relief.
“Hun, tell me honestly what you’re thinking…”
“I… Well, I was thinking maybe he’s already a married man. I don’t want anything complicated to happen,” she confessed, feeling a little guilty for blabbering nonsense earlier.
"I don't want Tony to end up begging for his love and affection," she added.
Jack nodded. “That is possible. Five years is neither a short nor long time. But it’s enough to build a family. It’s also possible that he retired to lead a private life…”
“Yeah… This is for the best.”
“Don’t think too much about it. Dean and I can provide all the guidance and fatherly love Tony needs. He’s a smart little guy. Even though he yearned to have someone to call ‘Dad’, he won’t make things difficult for you. He loves you dearly. I can even imagine him pairing you with someone worthy of you and marry you off!”
Chloe choked. Her son was the only blood relative she had now. And God knows she would do everything to make her child happy and safe.
As for Levi?
Well, he could continue living like an invisible entity. They had survived five years without him. Surely, they would be able to live without him until the end of time!
- Writer
