My Rocks

I hope you like my latest story. No sex in this one.

I had just finished the purchase of another bar in the Minneapolis area. My company, which I own, has a total of 10 bars now and Strikers is the latest to come under my ownership. I had known the previous owner and he wanted to ride off into the sunset when he contacted me. The sale went through with no issues and I thought I would take a quick trip into the bar to see how things are run. I like to do this before anyone really knows who I am to get a feel for how the staff works and to understand if I have any manager issues.

I had just sat down at the bar when AK (Anita Karen, AK for short) quickly came over to ask me what I was drinking. Good start, but I could tell she was new to the scene. She probably hasn’t tended bar for more than a week or two based upon what I could tell. I decided to test her a bit to see what she knew. I ordered a long island iced tea. This wasn’t a martini type of bar; more of a beer and whiskey sort of place. Still AK should know how to make a long island.

I looked around and things seemed pretty slow, but it was early on a Tuesday so that isn’t too surprising. The waitresses were wiping tables and getting the stations prepped for later, which showed there was a good management team in place. The overall appearance of the bar was clean. I didn’t see any cameras in the main bar area, so I made a mental note to get those installed. I like to take a quick look into things remotely every so often just to see how things are running.

AK returned with my drink and the way she was watching me made me think this might be the first long island she has made. I took a quick pull and it wasn’t quite what I expected. She didn’t get the ratios correct, but it wasn’t horrible. “I didn’t make it right, did I?” AK asked.

“Not quite, but it is still drinkable. How long have you tended bar?”

“This is my first week. Sorry, I can make you something else if you don’t want to drink that. No charge.”

“No, this will be fine. What made you start tending bar if you don’t mind me asking.”

“I just needed a steady job and I knew the general manager so he said that he would show me the ropes of bartending. They needed another bartender so I took the offer.”

“Thanks, my name is Brian. I haven’t been to this bar before, but it looks like a pretty good place to hang out.”

“My name is AK. I have been here some in the past and it can get pretty busy on the weekends. Tuesday afternoons aren’t much, so I don’t have a partner to help with unfamiliar orders. Really, if you don’t want to drink that I can get you something else. It won’t hurt my feelings.”

“AK is a pretty unusual name.”

“It’s short for Anita Karen. I don’t like my first name, so I started to use my first initial from my first and middle name. It sounded good together, so it stuck.”

“Well, AK, it’s nice to meet you. I’ll keep the drink.”

“Let me know if you need anything else”

As AK walked away, I started to notice a few things. She is about 5’5″ and in pretty good shape; around 125 pounds or so. She has a nice figure so she should do well with the guys (and possibly girls) when bartending. She has a few tattoos on her arms and hands which give her a tougher appearance. Again, that should play well with the guys so they may not fuck with her as much. Not my normal type, but something about her tripped me up. I wondered where else she might have a tattoo, but I shouldn’t think like that with an employee.

Over the next couple of hours, AK came by and we talked some more. I found out she has a young daughter, but didn’t mention being married nor was there a ring on that finger. Plenty of other rings, but not the tell tale sign of a wedding ring. She seemed to be a bit down on her luck if I was to make a guess. I decided I might have to make a few more visits to this bar to get to know her a bit better.

I asked AK for a pen and my tab. AK dropped off both and went to wait on another patron. I wrote a quick note on the bar napkin and paid for my tab and placed an additional $100.00 for AK.

AK,

Glad to meet you and good luck with your bartending. Take this and buy something for your daughter.

Brian

Over the course of the next couple of months, I had stopped by Strikers a few times. Most of the time AK was bartending and she seemed to be getting more comfortable. I continued to talk with her about trivial things, but she never mentioned how she came to be a single mom. Maybe over time I would get that information, but she wasn’t volunteering it at this point. I also never mentioned that I owned the place as I didn’t want that to interfere with my visits to check up on the place. The cameras were installed and I would tap into them as I do with all of the bars. Technology is great if used correctly.

It was probably the fourth month that I had owned Strikers when I popped in for a quick drink and noticed a little girl sitting at one of the tables as far away from the main area as possible. I figured someone had to bring her to work when a daycare situation fell through. As I sat at my usual place at the bar, I asked AK who was the new staff member. I smiled after to make sure she knew I was joking.

“That’s my girl Samantha. My sitter got sick and couldn’t watch her. I didn’t have anyone else available so I drug her with me. I don’t like to do that, but I didn’t have a choice. I need the money so taking off work today wasn’t a choice.”

“She’s a cute girl. Mind if I go introduce myself and talk with her a bit? I’ll watch her for a while if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind. The waitresses have been checking in with her and probably giving her too much soda. I’ll introduce you to her.”

We walked over to the table and I sat down in the chair next to her.

“Sam, this is Mr. Brian. He wanted to talk to you for a bit. You okay with that while mommy works?”

Sam looked up with the deepest brown eyes that would just melt your heart. “Sure mommy. How are you Mr. Brian?”

“I’m great. You can just call me Brian if you want. Mind if I color with you? I’ll have to borrow some of your crayons and paper, but I love to color.”

“Here you go.” Sam slid over a piece of paper and some crayons. We sat and talked for about an hour and I could tell Sam was getting bored.

“What other things do you like to do, Sam?”

“Mommy let’s me paint her fingernails when we are at home, but I didn’t bring any of her paints with me.”

“Would you like to do that here?”

“That would be fun. There are a lot of people here that I could paint their fingers.”

“I’ll work on that. Also, what type of food do you like to eat? You have to be getting hungry.”

“I like chicken nuggets the best, but mommy said that will have to wait until she gets off from work.”

“I’ll take care of that too. Just hold on while I make a call.”

I called my assistant and told her to bring over an order of chicken nuggets, fries and a juice along with some thing to paint fingernails. About 30 minutes later, my assistant showed up with a kids meal and what looked like enough fingernail polish to paint everyone’s fingers for the next 2 weeks. I thanked her and told her to bill me the cost of everything and overtime for her making the trip. I took the items to our table and Sam immediately smiled. I glanced at AK and she was smiling while shaking her head. I shrugged and returned the smile.

After Sam ate her nuggets, I told her to go find some people who she thought needed their nails painted. Sam’s first stop was to a table that had what appeared to be a tough biker type who turned when he saw Sam standing next to his table.

“Mr, can I paint your nails? I have a bunch of colors at my table if you would like to come with me.”

As rough and tough as this guy seemed, he laughed and was soon on his way over to our table. I stopped him just short of the table and told him that his next round is on me for appeasing a bored little girl. He stated that he has a grand daughter that does the same thing to him so this wasn’t a big deal.

Sam picked out the brightest pink color and proceeded to paint his nails. The guy was smiling the whole time and Sam seemed to love it. Sam painted about 10 more people’s nails and it cost me another 10 drinks for taking the time to help us with the boredom. While painting the last set of nails, I called the manager and told him to find a replacement for AK so she could take her daughter home. The place was getting busier and it really isn’t the best place for a 4 year old. I told him to pay her for the full shift. I walked up to the bar to pay my tab and to talk with AK.

“AK, if you ever need someone to watch Sam, just give me a call. Here is my cell number and I would be happy to have her. I don’t live too far from here, so even if it is short notice, call me. I understand single parent life as my mom was pretty much in the same boat as you. Sam’s a great kid.”

I paid the tab and walked away as the manager came out to talk to AK. I was sitting at the table with Sam when AK came to gather her up.

“Sam, thank Brian for watching you and feeding you those nuggets. Let’s give him back all of the finger polish you borrowed from him.”

“Sam, you can keep the finger polish as I don’t have anyone at home that needs it. You can paint mommy’s nails with all of those new colors. I was happy to meet you.”

AK and Sam left and I went back to my house with a really big smile.

Over the next month or two, I was really taken by AK. I loved talking to her and even watched Sam a couple of times. Early on a Saturday morning, AK called and asked if I could watch Sam. AK’s shift had her staying until close, so it would be late before she would be able to pick-up Sam. I told her that wouldn’t be a problem. Just drop Sam off when she needed to go to work.

As AK came to the door with Sam, I handed her the key to my door. I told her to just unlock the door and come in when her shift was over. I didn’t want her to ring the bell which might wake up Sam and I may not hear her knocking if I was too far away. Just after 2 am, AK walked into my living room after her shift. She smiled when she saw Sam asleep on the couch with her head on my shoulder. I have longer hair and Sam had put it into a ponytail, painted my nails and applied some makeup to my face. We were playing princesses. I was dozing off when I looked up to see AK looking at me. I smiled and waived her to sit down. AK sat in the chair next to the sofa.

“It’s too late for you to drive across town and I don’t think it is very safe. Why don’t I carry Sam to the guest bedroom where the two of you can sleep until you are ready to leave tomorrow. I would feel better having you both safe here instead of trying to drive home.”

“I can’t do that. You have already helped me out so much by watching Sam. I wouldn’t feel right taking advantage of you any further. Thanks for watching her, but I think we should go home.”

“Please AK, just stay. It isn’t a bother and I would feel better knowing you both were safe. I have plenty of room and Sam is out for the night. Just stay, please?”

“Okay, but we are leaving first thing in the morning to let you have the rest of your weekend. Thanks again for watching her.”

I picked up Sam and placed her in the spare bed. I showed AK where the bathroom was and gave her a couple of my t-shirts if she wanted to change into something more comfortable for her and Sam. I went into my bedroom and closed the door. It took me a while to go to sleep thinking about AK in the other room. I was starting to have feelings for her, but I wasn’t prepared to do anything about it at this point. Maybe later, but definitely not now.

I woke up early and went out to the store that was just around the corner. I didn’t have a lot to eat, so I quickly picked up some doughnuts, fruit, bacon, eggs, milk and some juice. I had coffee so I was all set to make my guests some breakfast. I was in the kitchen when a cute little girl came down the steps dressed in my t-shirt that looked like a dress.

“Good morning princess. Did you sleep well?”

“Mommy is still sleeping. Can I have something to drink?”

“Sure, I have juice and milk. I also bought some doughnuts in case you are hungry.”

“Can I have some juice and the sprinkle one?”

We were sitting at the table when AK came down in my t-shirt as well. I hope she didn’t notice me staring at her, but seeing her in only a t-shirt and panties was almost too much for me. I gave her a cup of coffee and she grabbed a doughnut as well. I offered to make eggs and bacon, but she said they didn’t eat breakfast too much so the doughnut would be fine. I set Sam up in the living room watching cartoons and sat with AK at the table.

“Thanks for letting me stay last night. I was really tired and not having to drive across town really was nice. You didn’t have to do that.”

“It was nothing. I felt better having you two stay and not having to worry if you made it home. I loved having Sam over as well. She is a dream to watch and we had a lot of fun playing princesses last night.”

“I’ll get Sam ready to go and we will get out of your hair.”

“Take your time. I don’t have anything planned for today and talking with you is better than sitting in this house alone. Help yourself to anything you need and feel free to take a shower if you want.”

AK stayed for a couple more hours and then headed back to her place. I gathered all of the sheets and t-shirts to throw in the wash. I could still smell AK’s scent on the t-shirt she wore last night. I decided I needed to act on my feelings.

The next week, I walked into the bar and asked AK if she would like to have dinner with me sometime. She said that she couldn’t afford to take time off from work, but maybe another time. I decided to resolve the time off issue. I left and called the manager and told him what I needed. He smiled and said he would have it all arranged.

The following Wednesday AK was set to work. As she walked into the bar, she noticed something unusual. There wasn’t anyone in the bar except for her and another waitress. She placed her things behind the bar and went to see what was going on. The waitress told her that the bar was booked for a private event and that they only needed one waitress and a bartender. About 15 minutest later, a caterer came in and setup a single table with a table cloth, napkins, place setting and candles. There was a vase set on the table, but no flowers. About 5 minutes later, I walked in with a bouquet of roses. I walked up to AK and asked if she would like to have dinner with me. She blushed and said that there was a private event that she needed to tend bar for tonight. I smiled and said this is the private event. I had booked the bar for the night so that she could join me for dinner.

I took her hand and pulled out her chair to have her sit at the table. The waitress poured the wine I had purchased and removed the plate coverings for the meal. We didn’t see her again until it was time for dessert.

“Brian, this is too much. I would have went on a normal dinner with you, but I don’t have time or the money to have someone watch Sam. This had to cost you a lot of money.”

“AK, don’t worry about the cost. I am happy to pay whatever it takes to have dinner with you. I really like you and want to spend more time with both you and Sam. I know it is a package deal and I wouldn’t have it any other way. One thing that I haven’t told you since we started to get to know each other is that I own this bar. I purchased it shortly before the first time I met you during your first week of bartending. I get the owner discount.”

“You own this place? I am eating dinner with the owner of the bar I work at? Isn’t that a conflict of interest?”

“It is a bit of a conflict, but I won’t let that interfere with your job. I don’t do much with the day to day management of the bar as I leave that up to the GM.”

I tried to appease her issues over the ownership situation and explained that if it was too much of an issue, I would simply have to fire her so that we could continue to see each other. I said that with a smile and laughed quickly afterwards so she knew it was a joke. I don’t want her thinking that if she didn’t date me that her job would be in jeopardy.

“AK, I want to get to know you even better than I already do. If you don’t feel the same way, I am not going to fire you or anything like that. I like you a lot and I think we could be good together. I love spending time with Sam and I think the world of her. I think we could be good together.”

We were able to have a nice dinner and sat and talked for the remainder of the time. AK agreed to see me for “normal” dates there after.

“I have one more thing to ask you. I would prefer to call you Nita instead of AK. I like how Nita sounds. It is a bit softer than calling you AK. Are you okay with that?”

“You will be the only one that gets to call me that, but yes, that is fine with me.”

“Nita it is until you tell me differently.”

Nita and I hit it off quite well over the next couple of months. The holiday season was approaching and I wanted to have her attend my annual Christmas party. I gave her my credit card and told her to buy something nice for the party. I also told her to make sure she got something for my little princess as that is what I called Sam. I hired a babysitter to watch Sam at my place and had Nita get dressed here when she brought Sam over. Nita walked down the steps in a very elegant black dress with a nice jacket as a cover in case she was cold at the party.

“Wow Nita, you look amazing. That is quite the dress! It is missing only one thing.”

I opened a jewelry case and took out a gold necklace with a diamond pendant. Nita’s face showed the utter surprise with what I was showing to her.

“Brian, that is beautiful. That is way too expensive for me. I can’t wear that.”

“It is my pleasure to give this to you. I was going to wait until Christmas, but it will look perfect with your dress. Sam helped me pick it out, so don’t disappoint my princess by refusing to wear it tonight.”

“That’s not fair using my daughter against me, but I would be happy to wear it. You know, using Sam goes both ways, mister.”

We left for the event and had a great time. Nita was a bit uncomfortable at first as I could tell she hasn’t had too much experience at events like this. She soon felt more comfortable, but kept me by her side the entire night. No complaints on my part as I loved having her there. We were able to dance and talk the entire night.

We arrived back at my place and I paid the sitter as she left. Nita was a little apprehensive as I approached her in the living room. Up to this point, kissing was as far as we had taken the relationship.

“Can I sleep in your room tonight Brian?”

“You read my mind perfectly. I would love to have you spend the night in my bed with me.”

With that we retired to my room for the evening. The next morning I asked Nita to move in with me. I didn’t want to spend any more time away from my two girls. Nita was a bit hesitant at first, but I told her she could keep her job and I didn’t want this to interfere in anything that she had planned. I told her that any money she was spending on rent and utilities she should save in an account for herself. We discussed a few other things and I told her that we needed to get Sam’s room setup properly for a girl of her age. We converted the third bedroom into Sam’s room. I had my office in the basement already and I moved the gym equipment downstairs to free up the room. Everything else was left the same. Nita didn’t have much to move so by the end of the weekend she was my new roommate.

We married a year after and have been happily married for 12 years now. That is where things turned for the worse.

Nita stopped bartending soon after we were married. I tried to get her involved with some of the bar management, but that wasn’t her passion. We struggled to find things for her, but I was fine with her being a stay at home mom for Sam.

Sam was in high school and excelled in softball. She turned into quite the pitcher for her summer and high school teams. She was to the point that she was drawing interest from colleges in our area and beyond. I spent quite a bit of time at Sam’s games. I never missed a single one during her early years, summer sessions and high school games. Nita was at most of the games, but not all of them. Nita spent time with the “girls” a few times so it was just me in the stands.

My business continued to expand. I now owned over 20 different bars in the surrounding area. I tried to share the information with Nita, but she didn’t seem to enthused by the new purchases so I started to keep those to myself. I kept with my tried and true process of leaving the day to day management to those that were already in charge and kept my overall surveillance and drop in visits as my way to check up on things beyond the financials that my internal team kept me informed upon.

I had just finished the purchase of a bar and changed over the cameras to my servers. This bar specialized by having live bands every Friday and Saturday. Looked like a fun place and they were turning a great profit on those nights. I was concerned with the GM of the bar and had my team watching things closely. I had one of my more experienced members of the team watching the place for the first month or so to see if we needed to let the GM go or if we thought she was going to be able to cut it for us.

Nita was set to have a girls night out with a few of her friends she had made over the past few years. The girls night out events didn’t happen too frequently, but seemed to be occurring a bit more regularly in the past few months. I hadn’t thought too much about it, but looking back I should have been more aware.

I received a text message from my inside guy at the new bar. The text read for me to take a look at the cameras. I was expecting to see something related to the GM, but what I saw was more than I had anticipated. Sitting in the crowd was Nita and her table of friends. There was a live band that night and one of the guitar players was sitting at the table next to Nita. He had his arm around her and she was pulled in pretty close. I made sure to note the date and time of this recording in case I needed it later. I texted back to my internal guy and told him that I saw what he had wanted me to see and told him not to interfere. I needed to see how far this was going to go. I needed to know.

The evening continued and the guitar player would go on stage for his session and then return to the table each break. As the end of the night approached, the band finished and started to clean-up. The rest of the girls left except for Nita. She stayed and talked with the guitar player until they were ready to leave. Nita left arm in arm with the guy. I switched the feed to the outside cameras and noticed the guy jumping into Nita’s car as she drove away. My heart broke. I noted the time stamp on the outside feed for later as well.

I was sitting in the dark living room when Nita came into the house. It was about 2 hours later than when she left the parking lot and about 3 hours later than normal. She didn’t see me in the dark room as she started to approach the stairs. I turned on the lamp and startled her. I wanted to see her face as I asked her my questions.

“Where were you?”

“I was out with the girls. You knew that.”

“Yea, but you are later than normal. Hell, the bars have been closed for over an hour. Again, where were you?”

“We went for a bite to eat once we left the bar. Sorry, I should have texted you so you didn’t have to worry. I want to go take a shower to wash the bar off of me. You coming up to bed?”

“Nita, we aren’t done here. Sit down, please.”

“Honey, I really need to get to bed. Can we talk in the morning?”

My patience was thin already, but I didn’t want to yell with Sam upstairs sleeping. “We will talk NOW,” I said in my most stern voice. Very rarely did I raise my voice as I always wanted to be in control. Tonight was pushing my limits.

“Okay, I’ll talk with you. I’m surprised you are so upset.”

“You sure you went for a bite to eat and didn’t leave with someone else, say a guitar player?”

Nita’s eyes grew big. She was trying to figure out how Brian could have known this She then remembered the cameras. “You own the bar, don’t you?”

“Yes, I just recently bought that bar. If you had taken any interest in my purchases these past few years, you would have known this. Instead, you and your girls sat there listening to some shit band while I watched the guitar player make his move on my wife.”

“Brian, let me explain what happened. That guitar player is Sam’s father. I had met him quite a few years ago and we had a one night stand that ended up with me pregnant with Sam. His name is Mike Levens and he has been playing with this band for 15+ years. I never told you about me and Mike as it didn’t seem to matter to you. I’m sorry, I should have told you about him years ago.”

“I don’t care a damn about Mike and how Sam was conceived. Your right in that it didn’t matter to me. What matters is why my wife of 12 years is sitting at a table with this guy and not thinking once about her marriage to me.”

“Brian, nothing happened between Mike and me. After his set, we went and talked. We discussed how Sam has grown and I caught him up on my life since I last saw him. It was nothing more than that.”

“That’s not how it looked on the camera. It looked like you were waiting to leave with this guy and catch up in other ways. Tell me you didn’t have sex with him tonight.”

“We didn’t have sex tonight.”

“If that’s the case, stand up and let me see your pussy. If it shows any signs of being fucked tonight, then I know you are a liar along with a slut.”

Nita turned away from that last comment and I knew it was true.

“Wow, I can’t believe you did this to me. I’m going to pack a bag and leave for tonight. I need some time to put this all together and see what happens for us in the future. I can’t tell you how disappointed and hurt I am.”

And I left. I went to a hotel and got a room for the next few days. If it was just Nita, I would simply leave her, but Sam was involved. I have grown to love her as much as if she was my own. She was my princess. I never did adopt her as I didn’t see a need. I had setup a trust for her to pay for college and beyond. I really felt she was my daughter. Leaving Nita meant leaving Sam as well. I wasn’t ready to make that jump just yet.

I tried to sleep, but that didn’t come easily. I caught a couple of hours and then headed to a small diner that I knew of to get a cup of coffee and think on what I was going to do. Nita and I had signed a prenup when we married due to the business. Not that I had anticipated this to occur nor felt it was even a possibility, I needed to protect my employees. That is how I explained it to Nita and she didn’t seem to have a problem with signing it. The house was mine prior to the marriage, so that shouldn’t be an issue either. The only thing that was in play was money. And Sam.

I left the diner and went back to the hotel. As I sat on the bed, the depth of the situation finally hit me. I broke down and cried. I’m not sure how long I just laid on the bed and cried, but it was long enough that I fell asleep. I woke when I heard the ding on my phone. It was a text message I could tell by the notification. I looked at my phone and it was Nita.

“Brian, please come home so we can talk.”

“Not ready. I’ll contact you later” was all that I could reply. I felt a stab through my heart again.

“I’m here whenever you are ready. I love you with all my heart. Please know that.”

I didn’t reply.

I stayed in the hotel room for the next few days and then moved into an extended stay location. I was still mulling over how to deal with this situation. I needed to bite the bullet and talk to Nita.

I sent a text to Nita. “Are you home and can we talk?”

“Brian, I am home and waiting to talk to you. Come home anytime and we can talk.”

“I’ll be by within the hour.”

“I’ll be here.”

I arrived and walked into the house. Nita was there sitting at the kitchen table. I could see that she had been crying and wasn’t looking her best. Dark circles around her eyes showed she hadn’t slept much in the past few days.

“Hi Nita or should I call you AK again?”

I could see that comment hit her as I was the only one allowed to call her Nita. Everyone else called her AK and for me to switch to AK again was a sign that she no longer held a special place with me.

“You can always call me Nita. I don’t ever want that to change.”

“I need to understand what the hell happened. For the life of me, I can’t understand why you did this to us.”

“I have been thinking about that and I will try to explain it the best that I can. I’m not sure I fully understand why, but I will try to explain what I can. You should know that this was the only time I stepped outside of our marriage with you. I have never done nor planned anything like this in the past. You may not believe that, but it is the truth. I can also say that lately I have really struggled with my place in this marriage. You and I are very different people and live in very different places. You are so focused on your company and the vision you have to grow the company. I love that about you. I don’t have the same. When we first met, I was only focused on providing for Sam each and every day. We were always living without knowing if we would have enough for the next day. The first day you gave me the $100 tip. That $100 was so needed. I spent the whole thing on getting caught up on my bills. You told me to spend it on Sam and the best place for that was to keep a roof over her head. I didn’t have any extra. When you asked me to dinner, I knew I couldn’t give up my shift. It was touch and go if I would have enough money for rent. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t take a day off to go to dinner.”

“As much as this might be a surprise, but I lived like this with my mom. That drives me every single day to not have to go back to that type of living. I was able to escape that life and I wanted to do that for you and Sam. I thought I had accomplished that for you.”

“You have provided for Sam and I beyond my wildest dreams. You have been the best thing for the both of us. You need to understand that this isn’t a reflection on you in any way. My struggle is that what is my place now? I am so glad I don’t have to worry about providing for Sam as you have removed that issue for me. I don’t have a job and I wouldn’t even know what I would want to do. When Mike showed up at the bar, that was someone that was familiar with my past. He made me feel normal again. He only knew me as someone who struggled from day to day to live. It was comfortable because it was uncomfortable again. I know that doesn’t make sense and it is hard for me to describe it for you.”

“You are right, I can’t understand it. You wanted to cheat on me so you could feel comfortable being uncomfortable? I can’t see how that works, but if it is uncomfortable you want then I can make that happen. I guess all that I was doing for you and Sam was making it too easy. Well I think maybe you need to struggle again. I will get you setup in your own place and provide for you and Sam for the next two months. This will give you time to figure out a job for you and to start to become uncomfortable again. I’ll find you something this week and you can move out.”

“Brian, that isn’t what I want. I’m trying to explain that I don’t have a purpose. I don’t want to leave you. I need for us to be together. I can’t do this without you.”

“You can’t have it both ways. I tried my way and that didn’t work. You took advantage of me and I let that happen. Not anymore. I am cutting you off so you can be comfortable again without me.”

With that, I left again. Nita sent me multiple text message and tried to call, but I didn’t respond. Then she started to play dirty and had Sam send me text messages. Nita knew I wouldn’t cut Sam off and tried to use her to get me to talk again. I sent Sam a text saying that I would be happy to talk to her, but I needed time away from her mother. I setup a time after school to talk with Sam.

“Hey princess how are you holding up?”

“I’m fine, but I miss you. What’s going on with you and mom? She hasn’t said too much to me other than the two of you are fighting and she wanted me to get you to come talk to her. What’s really happening?”

“I have always been honest with you and that isn’t going to change. Your mom had an affair with your father a little while ago. She did it in one of the bars I own and I saw her with him on one of the cameras. After the bar was closing, they left together and spent a few hours forgetting that she was married. I don’t understand much more than that, but I have asked her to move out and find a job. I know this will affect you as well, but that is not my intent. I think she needs to find herself again and I can’t be a part of that.”

“Oh my god! Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know. I love you Sam. You will always be my princess. If you ever need me, just ask. I will drop everything to be there for you. I just can’t do that in the same way we have done in the past. I tears me up that I can’t see you every day. It is important for me to let you know that I am not leaving you. I have set aside money for you for college. I will still try to come to all of your events, so please continue to send those to me. I want to be there for you as much as I can.”

“This is terrible. I can’t believe she did that to us; to our family. I’m so pissed at her.”

“I am setting up an apartment for the two of you and asked your mom to get a job to support herself. I will do what I can for you, but your mom needs to fend for herself. If you get into any trouble, you will have to let me know.”

“Thanks. I’ll stay in touch. As mad as I am, I want to just stay with you and let mom suffer.”

“I know, but she is going to need you and your support. Don’t abandon her. Be her rock. I will try to be yours.”

“Yea, but who is going to be your rock?”

“I don’t have that figured out just yet.”

I gave my princess a huge hug and dropped her off at the house. I left to go cry again. This hurt almost as much as losing Nita.

Nita and Sam moved into the apartment I had setup for them. I moved back to the house and tried to get back to normal. I hadn’t experienced this “normal” for the past 12 years so I focused on staying busy at work. First order of business was I sent a notice to every manager at the bars that I owned that the bad that Mike Levens played for is to never be booked in my bars again. I didn’t explain anything further about the situation, but I made sure they understood this was not negotiable.

I was surprised to see that Nita had started to tend bar again at Strikers. I even thought that I saw her look into the cameras a few times and wave. I sent a message to the manager that I wasn’t part of this decision and it was up to him to have Nita work for him or not. I would not interfere. He said that he needed a bartender and Nita used to be one of his best when she worked there previously. I acknowledged his decision and left it from there. I made a note to see how much she was making and if that would pay the bills. I doubted it, but that was Nita’s issue to solve. I would only intervene if Sam asked me to.

I was still attending Sam’s softball games and her summer club was performing quite well. I would sit in my truck along the outfield fence and watch from a distance. I didn’t want to sit in the stands and answer any questions or see Nita if she came. Most times she didn’t come due to work. Once they pulled Sam from pitching, I usually left. This was the pattern for most of the summer.

Sam

I was set to pitch against the top team in our summer league. I was our #1 pitcher and I knew this was going to be a challenge. I sent the game time to Brian to make sure he knew I was pitching. I made quick work of the top of their order in the first inning. I saw Brian’s truck in the outfield. I knew he would leave as soon as I was done pitching. I was determined to talk to him after the game so I was resolved to do everything I could to get through the complete game.

I was feeling good through the first 3 innings. No hits and no walks. I had been through their entire order and had great control over my pitches. These next couple of innings would be the tough ones for me. 2nd time through the order was always a bigger challenge. Every so often I would look down the line to see if Brian’s truck was still there as I walked towards the dugout. So far so good. 4 more innings to go.

Top of the fourth I got through the first two batters. The team’s number 3 hitter was up and she made solid contact. The left fielder made a great catch to retire the side. I gave Allie a hug as she hit the dugout. That was the hardest hit ball so far today, but I was still in a groove.

Top of the 5th and I was starting to feel a little tired. I was throwing a few more balls and extending counts, but still hadn’t given up a hit or a walk. As I went to the dugout after getting the last out in the inning, my coach asked how I was feeling. We only had a 2-0 lead so it was still close. I told him I felt great still and asked him not to take me out. He said he had his eye on me and to continue to pound the ball into the strike zone. I knew I had to have a great 6th inning. This would be the bottom of their order and their weaker hitters.

I hit the mound in the 6th and let the adrenaline take over. I was throwing as hard as I could and got through the order. I was gassed and knew I didn’t have much left for the 7th. One inning to go. If the coach pulled me now, Brian would leave. I needed to see him. This mess with my mom and him was really getting to me. I needed time with Brian for myself.

I jogged to the mound in the top of the 7th. The last thing the coach told me was to bear down and end this. I shook my head and resolved to do my best. Top of their order so I would be facing their best hitters. I was ahead 2 balls and 2 strikes on the lead off hitter. I threw my off-speed pitch and she swung through. One out; two to go. Full count on the 2nd batter and after a few foul balls I was able to get her to hit a weak ball to Lindsey at 2nd base. She threw to 1st for the second out of the inning. Next up was the girl that hit the ball really hard to Allie. Her and I battled for quite some time. I didn’t have much left and there was a full count. I knew I had to get this next one over. I looked down the line and Brian was putting his stuff into his truck. He looked like he was about to leave. I couldn’t let that happen.

I threw my fastball as hard as I could and just after the pitch left my hand, I was running for the dugout and out the gate to the parking lot. I heard a bunch of the girls on my team screaming and I knew I had struck her out. I was already beyond the stands and running towards Brian’s truck. He had just got in the driver’s seat and started his truck. I had to get there. I ran as fast as I could, but Brian had already stated to pull out of his space. I needed him to stop. I yelled “DAD” as loud as I could and he hit the brakes.

Brian

Sam had pitched an amazing game. A no hitter and better yet, a perfect game. I was pulling out of my parking space when I heard Sam’s voice yell “DAD”. I stopped wondering if Mike was there. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw Sam running towards me. I put my truck in park and opened my door. Sam jumped into my arms before I knew what had happened.

“Hey princess. That was an amazing game. Glad I was here to see it. Why aren’t you with your team?”

“I needed to talk to you. I saw you leaving and I needed you to stop.”