One Toe Out (A Complicated Love Story) (2 page)

He objectively studied Simone.
Well, she is pretty and she’s not a celebrity. And I like talking to her.
“Hey, have dinner with me tonight.”

“
What?”

“
Have dinner with me. I have a proposition for you,” he said mysteriously.

Chapter 3

Simone tugged at her dress. Joe had let her leave early to go shopping for something to wear to her dinner with J.T. She got lucky and found a dress for twenty dollars and a pair of twenty seven dollar shoes at Forever 21.

She twirled in front of the full-length mirror that dangled from a nail on her bedroom wall. Every time she slammed her bedroom door, it swayed and she just knew that it was going to fall and break, giving her seven years of bad luck. But so far, it stayed up, providing her with many years of use.

Simone stared at her reflection then pinched her cheeks, she was so pale. Her light skin coloring was the result of having a Black Mom and an Italian Dad. Her brother, Lawrence got the beautiful golden colored skin and blue eyes, while she got her father’s pale skin and long black glossy hair. She didn’t know where she got her height from, because both of her parents were tall. She was petite, at four eleven and shaped like an old-fashioned Coke bottle, she was always teased by men, saying that they could stick her in their pocket.

Her mother was sitting on the bed watching her get ready. She was fiercely knitting, she was always making something. “It calms my nerves,” she had said and Simone understood, because she had started right after Lawrence was locked away. Over the years she had made several throws, pillows and scarves. By the soft and delicate yarn, Simone decided that she was making a spring sweater or maybe even a summer shrug.

“
Where are you going?” Lillian asked. “Got a date?”

Simone shrugged. “I don’t know,” she answered, still perplexed by J.T.’s invitation.

“
You’re sure dressed like you’re going on one.” She had been watching her daughter get ready for dates ever since Simone had turned seventeen and was allowed to go out with boys. Since she didn’t have a best friend, Simone enjoyed having her mother there, besides she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“
It’s with J.T.,” she revealed.

The clinking from the knitting needles stopped. “J.T. the quarterback for the Atlanta Jaguars, J.T.?” she asked surprised.

“
Yeah, isn’t that weird?”

“
What’s so weird about it, you’re just as good as anybody else.”

Simone smiled at her mother. She always had her back and always had something positive to say. Her positive attitude was instrumental in propelling her kindergarteners into a love of school. After twenty five years of teaching kindergarten, she was going strong.

“
Thanks Mom. It’s just weird that we’ve known each other for a while and we always had that waitress customer vibe going on, nothing more. So I don’t think that this is a love connection, especially since he said that he had a proposition for me.”

“
Really? That sounds intriguing.”

“
I know. I want to hear what he has to say.”

Promptly at eight o’clock their doorbell rang. And Simone raced to get it. She had wanted to meet him at the restaurant, but he had insisted on picking her up.

He seemed to fill up their small two-bedroom ranch house. He was casually dressed in a pair of dress pants and a shirt. And he smelled good an expensive scent that she was sure wasn’t sitting on the counter of any department store.

He held a bouquet of a dozen long stemmed red roses and Simone reached for them, but J.T. fooled her, he bypassed her and handed them to her mother. Simone’s disappointment was quickly erased when she saw her mother’s reaction. She stared at them in shock. No one had ever given her roses in her life.

“
Thank you,” she uttered, then, “I don’t even think I have a vase.”

“
Don’t worry about it Mom, stick them in a glass pitcher, they’ll look just as pretty.”

“
Oh, that’s a good idea sweetie, I’ll do that.”

Simone kissed her mom on the cheek. “Don’t wait up,” she whispered in her ear. Lillian squeezed her daughter tightly before letting go.

“
I’ll take care of her,” J.T. said before taking Simone’s elbow and guiding her out the door.

Lillian stood at the front door and watched the superstar quarterback help her daughter into a black stretch limo. Many of her neighbors had come out on their porches to see the vehicle. Fortunately, J.T. was in and out the house so fast that no one recognized him. “So what do you have planned for my little girl?” Lillian muttered as the limo made its way down the street.

Chapter 4

“
You look nice.” She was exactly what Marcella ordered. She was pretty, but with a little help, she could be a knock out.

“
Thanks,” Simone said nervously then stared around the restaurant, several pairs of eyes looked right back at her. She shyly ducked her head. “This is very unnerving,” she admitted.

“
What’s wrong? Am I doing something wrong?” he asked, he didn’t want to do anything that made her feel uncomfortable, especially with what he had to ask her.

“
Not you…them.” She jutted her chin towards J.T.’s admirers.

J.T. understood. “I’m sorry, I’m so used to it that I block it out. Would you like to get a more private booth?”

Simone hesitated, then shook her head. “No thanks, that’s okay. It’s uncomfortable, but I’ll deal with it. I guess that’s the price you have to pay for being a superstar, huh? You can’t run from it, right?”

J.T. grinned at her, admiring her spunk. While most women would love to have all eyes on her, Simone despised it, but was willing to put up with it to keep him happy. “Thanks Simone, I appreciate it, but let me know if you change your mind. I can always request something more private.”

“
Will do. This is such a nice restaurant,” she said admiring the room. Located in eclectic Midtown, the restaurant was packed for a Saturday night. “I’ve always heard about it. Ryan Cameron from V-103 talks about it a lot.”

“
So you listen to his radio show?”

Simone giggled. “Yeah, he’s hilarious. I try to listen to him as often as I can. Sometimes he has me laughing so hard, that he has me in tears.”

“
He’s cool and he’s a big fan of the Jaguars. Whenever we have a home game, he always come through the locker room. And he has us laughing. You know athletes are a tough audience.”

“
I bet,” Simone replied, starting to relax.

They were eating their food and chatting when a man cautiously approached their table and J.T. groaned inside, but he pasted on a smile. Sometimes all he wanted was to be left alone and be able to have a meal alone without being interrupted. But he knew that it was the fans that cheered him to victory and he needed them. He was carrying a jersey. And J.T. knew that someone had tipped the fan off that he was there, because no one carries a football jersey around.

“
I’m sorry to bother you while you’re eating but can I get your autograph?”

“
Of course man.” He motioned for the man to hand him the jersey, the fan enthusiastically passed it over and J.T. scrawled his signature across the back of it. Simone watched the whole exchange with wide eyes. People had been watching, soon six other people were lined up in front of the table waiting for autographs. She had never seen this level of adoration that fans dripped on J.T. At the diner he was a regular man.

Seeing where the situation could turn into a full-blown autograph session, the manager had approached the table, nodded discreetly at J.T. before standing behind the last person in line, deterring any new arrivals.

Fifteen minutes later the last of the autographs were written, the manager kept an eye on their table and told their waiter to keep fans away. They were able to finish their dinner in peace.

J.T. casually draped his arm across Simone’s shoulders. Atlanta wasn’t L.A. but it had its share of paparazzi and the new smartphones took nice enough pictures. He knew that a picture of him
snuggling
with Simone will be in the blogosphere by the time he got home tonight.

“
So what is that you wanted to talk about?”

“
Let’s wait until after dessert and we can talk about it in the limo.”

J.T. escorted her to his limo. Normally he liked driving his
Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe
or his Lamborghini but tonight he didn’t want to drive, he wanted to focus on Simone.

As soon as the limo started moving, J.T. reached inside the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle, he waved it in front of her. “Would you like some?”

Simone eyed it suspiciously. “What is it?”

“
Champagne.”

“
Sure, why not.” J.T. grabbed two glasses and poured it for them. Simone took a tentative sip, then giggled and wiped her hand across her nose. “That tickles.” She looked at him, he had drunk it and it didn’t affect him. “How come you’re not giggling?”

“
Real men don’t giggle,” he joked. “Naw, I’ve drunk so much of this stuff that it doesn’t faze me.”

Simone glanced out of the window. The limo driver was getting on Interstate 75.

J.T. nervously cleared his throat. The spiel that he had prepared now sounded scripted and fake, but he wasn’t sure how to approach her. Instead of saying something he turned on the sound system and a KEM song came on.

“
Oh, this is nice,” Simone said, getting comfortable she leaned back into the leather seats and sipped her champagne while grooving to the music.

“
You can live like this every day of your life,” J.T. said softly and Simone laughed.

“
Sure if I win the lottery. I don’t see myself riding around in limos and sipping champagne on a daily basis.”

“
But you can,” J.T. insisted.

“
What are you talking about?”

J.T. took a deep breath. “I know that this is going to sound crazy…very crazy. But I want you to listen to everything I have to say before you form an opinion.”

Simone was silent, then, “Okay.”

“
Okay, here I go. I want to marry you—”

Simone’s eyes widened. “Are you crazy?” she croaked.

J.T. held up a finger. “Please listen. I’m not crazy. You’ll find that I’m one of the sanest people you’ll ever know.” He rubbed his chin and studied her before continuing. He must’ve liked what he saw in her eyes, because he resumed. “I’m gay,” he revealed, then paused waiting for Simone to interrupt him, but she didn’t, she was in shock by his revelation. “And a man videotaped me doing what some people might consider inappropriate. Fortunately, the tape was of poor quality and no one could identify me.”

“
Wow!” was all Simone could manage.

“
Yeah, I want to cover my ass, quite literally. If I marry you, then no one would suspect that I’m gay.”

“
What happens if I go to the TV stations and tell them?”

J.T. snorted. “I’m sorry, but they won’t believe you. Why should they?”

“
You’re right. But marrying me won’t make you straight,” Simone said and J.T. laughed so much that he had tears in his eyes.

“
If it was that easy, I would’ve done it when I was eighteen, when my self-loathing was beyond over the top.”

“
You’re not expecting me to have sex with you are you?”

J.T. laughed again. “Let me tell you what I want. I think that’ll be easier and I think you’ll be happy with everything.” He sat back and crossed his legs, then started talking. “We’ll have a whirlwind romance then get married. You’ll be the doting wife, accompanying me to events, traveling with me to some away games. And for all your hard work, I’ll deposit two million dollars in your account on our wedding anniversary.” He knew that amount was pennies compared to the ten-year, one hundred million dollar deal he inked two years ago and the monies he got from his endorsements, but it was all negotiable. “A pre-nup is being drafted and I can present it to you tomorrow. So what are you thinking?” He took a sip of his champagne and waited for her response.

Simone smiled weakly. “So many things are going on in my head. I feel like it’s exploding. Two million dollars?” she muttered shocked. She had only seen something like this in the movies.

“
Yeah, and I understand, this is a life-altering proposal. Take a minute and think about it.”

Just then the limo driver exited onto 285, the interstate loop that circled Atlanta. After ten minutes of driving, Simone noticed an increase in the numbers of airplanes in the air. They were getting close to the airport.

Finally Simone spoke. “What about me? What if I want kids?”

“
You can do that. Next year we’ll go to a fertility facility and have you do artificial insemination
—”

“
So you got that part all planned out huh?”

J.T. looked sheepish. “Listen, I’m a brand. By the end of this year, I’ll make over thirty million dollars and that’s just in endorsements. And unfortunately, a lot of those endorsers don’t want a fucking queer hawking their items. It’s so sad…so sad. I’m a man, Simone. I’m not a queer and I’m not a fag and I’m not one of those other derogatory names that they call gays. I’m a man but unfortunately the NFL won’t let me be me. So I have to create this charade, this sham of a marriage,” he said sadly.