Don't Let Us Go

The Next Step

A couple of days passed for the family of three, and Spencer found his last few days with Olivia and Gracianna dwindling. He needed to make some life changes and fast if he wanted Olivia to see he was serious about them giving this family thing a try. That's how he found himself in an argument  with his publist over coffee.

"You want to me call your investors for a meeting for what?!" Tanya exclaimed, slamming her cappuccino on the table, spilling whipped cream and chocalate drizzle in the process.

"Can you keep it down, Tee?" Spencer requested, his eyes wandering through the coffee shop as they were glared at from other guests. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal, Spencer? You put thousands of dollars into breaking ground on a property in Los Angeles over two months ago. We have real investors interested in buying stock in this fitness gym that we are building from the ground up because they know you chose a great location with prime real estate that will bring in money. Los Angeles is one of the best places for us to open your first gym. One of the many we planned. And now you are telling me you want me to book an appointment with all five of your investors so that you can tell them that you want to sell the property you purchased in L.A and find one in Portland instead. Are you insane? You will lose every investor you have, and all the effort our team put into making this business a reality will have been for nothing. You will lose your investors and any money you make from reselling that property will be less than what we originally paid. So you will lose the money as well." Tanya panicked in detail, wanting him to see the bigger picture. "And all of this for a baby momma and kid who's been in the picture for less than a week? A baby momma who will end up dragging you to court and demanding everything you are worth when this is all said and done." She snorted, shaking her head in utter shame.

"I am not going to remind you to stay in your lane, Tanya." Spencer grumbled, pushing his drink away as he narrowed his sharp, brown daggers at her across the table. "You do not have any kids or a man of your own. I don't need you giving me relationship advice or parental warnings. After the crap you pulled with deleting that call all those years ago, Olivia and my daughter are off limits. Are we clear?" He warned her in a low growl.

"How many times are you going to hold that mess against me? I already told you that I thought she was some ex trying to get one over on you? You were getting those kinds of calls every day. Saved contact or not, I-" Tanya tried to explain for a second pointless time to no avail.

"Does it look like I give two damns about your excuses, Tee?" Spencer chuckled harshly. "I missed out on years of my daughter's life because of your carelessness. Accident or on purpose, I don't care about your intentions. You are lucky that I can't afford to  be in the press, dragging you to court for a contract void. I would sue you if my future business didn't require  a clean image in the press to stay good in the eyes of my investors."

"I am sorry, that's how you feel." Tanya's voice dragged sadly to an unfazed Spencer.

"I don't want your sorries. I want you to do your job. Manage my meetings and press releases. That's it. You don't have a degree in business and finance or a degree in property and estate management, so stop advising me as if you did." Spencer snapped. "What you can do is call Caleb, my property and estate manager, and set up a date to meet. Then call Mia, my financial advisor, so I can discuss my choices with her. They are actually well versed in these situations, unlike you. So either you can follow my simple instructions and make the calls, or I will find someone who can." Spencer concluded, rising from his chair, dropping a twenty on the table. "This one is on me." He groaned with a loss of appetite, marching away from the table and out of the coffee shop.

Upset from his meeting with Tanya, Spencer called the only two people who could put a smile on his face. At the penthouse, Olivia picked up his call and immediately inquired about his mood, not getting much detail. Besides, his business meeting ran too long, and he missed her and their daughter. Olivia laughed from her end, amused by his dramatics, as they'd just seen each other an hour ago. Nonetheless, she didn't fight him when he insisted they get dressed for a family night out while he sent a car to pick them up.

Meeting up at a movie theater, the little family went to see a movie of Cici's choosing, then went out for pizza and ice cream afterward. Their night concluded with a walk through Central Park for Spencer and Olivia. Meanwhile, Gracianna was carried on the shoulder of her after falling asleep during the walk.

When they arrived at home, Spencer tucked Cici in before joining Olivia on the living room sofa to talk.

"So what did you want to tell me?" Olivia inquired of the important thing he waited all day to disclose.

"I wanted you to hear from me that this season will be my last official season with the team." Spencer explained.

"I was going to ask you about that, actually." Olivia sighed. "I haven't had much time to keep up with the football stats lately, so I usually rely on my dad to tell me. He noticed a few months ago that you'd been benched indefinitely. What's that all about?" She asked curiously.

"I took a bad hit during a game eight months ago, but the symptoms didn't show up until 2 or three weeks after while I was at practice and blacked out." Spencer replied, dejected. "I have a skull fracture, and I've been on rehabilitation for the last six months. The official story the team gave the press was that I was sidelined for improper away game activities. You know, breaking curfew, bringing girls back to the hotel. That kind of trivial thing. But truth is, I'm out for the rest of the season. Probably for good." Spencer announced.

"You're retiring. That is why it's been kept under wraps?" Olivia concluded.

"The doctors say I'm prone to internal brain bleeding if I take another bad hit after my recovery." Spencer added remorseful. "I love the game, but I can't risk my life for it."

"Oh, Spencer. I'm sorry." Olivia sympathized, knowing how much football meant to him. Her hand caressed his cheek.

"It's cool." Spencer shrugged, patting her hand. "I put my mark on the sport like I always wanted to. Now, I can build a business and settle down with you and Cici."

Perching her body upwards, her face contorted with a questionable expression. "You want to follow Gigi and I to Portland?"

"The plan was to open a gym franchise, with the first one starting in L.A., but that was before I knew about Gracianna. And before you came back into my life." Spencer rationalized. "I missed enough of her life, and I don't want to be a dad that sees his kid a few times out of the month. I want to present for everything, and the way only that's going to happen is if I am where she is."

"So you want to come to Portland to be a good father." Olivia nodded, smiling half-heartedly.

"I want to come to Portland to be with my daughter mainly. But I hope that while I am there, I get another chance with her mom, who I wrongly walked away, but that I want back." Spencer corrected, running his hands  through her stray curls that fell into her face as she tried to hide her blushing expression.

"Sounds like a good plan." Olivia supported in a gentle response, losing herself in his eyes.

Their lips were so close to meeting but fell short, interrupted by the sound of his elevator alert blaring, alerting him to the presence of a guest waiting to be let up.

"Dammit." He groaned, sparking a giggle from Olivia.

"Let's go see who it is. The quicker they leave, the quicker we can finish this." She gestured between them as Spencer smirked before he jumped off the sofa.

They both strolled over to the security camera monitor, stunned to see his mother on the other end of the visual. Her smile faltered as Olivia became consumed by a sudden invisible gray cloud hovering over them.