“I was hoping that inviting you to lunch would get you out of this bad mood you’ve been in lately.”
“I’m doing fine. I don’t know why you don’t think I’m not,” Brad said, looking at Richard across the table. Sure, most of his time was spent working on getting his business up and running. It wasn’t going as well as he thought it would, but he was keeping hope that it would get better.
“Brad, if you really miss Alicia why don’t you call her. Maybe you can work past this kiss and get back together.”
Didn’t his brother know that he had thought about going to see Alicia and trying to work things out between them but he couldn’t? He wouldn’t let Alicia get any deeper into his heart than she already was. It was hard for him not to drive past the news station to try to catch a glimpse of her.
God, he had even been trying to see her on the news, but she hadn’t been there for a couple of days now. He didn’t want to be but he was worried that something might be wrong with her. Alicia loved her job and hardly ever missed a day of work.
He kept replaying that message he had gotten from her in his head and wondered if she was trying to tell him something and he hadn’t picked up on it. As much as he hated it, he was still madly in love with her.
“No, I broke up with Alicia because I didn’t want to go down the same road I had with Max and her. I deserve to have all of her love and attention. If I can’t have her completely then I don’t want her at all.”
Richard’s eyes bore into his. “Brad, I know you and you’re still in love with Alicia. Why don’t you talk to her?”
“Excuse me. Aren’t you Brad Drace,” a male voice interrupted.
Looking up Brad saw a tall, dark haired man standing to his left but he couldn’t believe who it was standing there next to him.
“Yes, I’m Brad Drace,” he answered.
“I’m sorry to bother you, but I was just finishing a business meeting and saw you over here. I’m-.”
“Ivan Graf,” Brad finished, shocked that one of the most famous Men’s US Open tennis players even knew who he was.
“I see you know who I man,” Ivan smiled.
“Yes, who wouldn’t,” Brad answered. “How can I help you?”
“I had a meeting with your girlfriend Alicia Hart several weeks back. She was telling me about how you were opening up a business and your love for tennis. I meant to contact you a few weeks back, but I had to take care of some personal issues.”
“You’re the man that Alicia kissed?” Brad said, shocked.
“You mean that sisterly kiss on the cheek.” Ivan laughed. “There wasn’t anything romantic about it. I met her a while back when I did an interview at her news station and we became good friends and that’s it. You have nothing to worry about. Alicia is totally in love with you.
“Okay, I’m getting off the subject. I don’t have time today, but are you free tomorrow? I would like to go over a business proposition with you.”
“You want to have a meeting with me?” Brad couldn’t believe this was happening to him.
“Yes. Unless you’ve already found a partner for your business, I watched the DVD Alicia gave me and you’re a damn good tennis player. You could have gone pro.”
Ivan Graf was thinking about being his partner. Alicia did this for him. She hadn’t been cheating on him like Richard and Zack thought. She was actually thinking about him and helping him make his dream come true.
What in the hell had he done? Why in the world had he listened to Richard? He should have known that she would never cheat on him. He had to talk to Alicia and make her understand his stupid ass mistake. God, he had to get her back and before Christmas. He couldn’t start the New Year off with her.
“Mr. Drace.” Ivan’s voice drew him away from his inner thoughts. “Are you listening to me?”
“No, I haven’t decided on a partner yet,” Brad answered.
“Good.” Reaching into his suit jacket pocket, Ivan pulled out a business card. “Call my office and tell my assistant I want her to set up a business lunch for us tomorrow at the club.”
Brad took the expensive looking black card still in shock by what was happening to him. “I’ll do that.”
“Excellent, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ivan told him and then nodded at Richard before walking away.
“Who was that guy?” Richard asked once Ivan was out of ear shot.
Brad turned the card over in his hands before sliding it into his shirt pocket. “Ivan Graf is a professional tennis coach who has played and taught tennis all over the world. He has played the professional circuit in Europe, The United States and even Australia.
“God, he has taught the game in county clubs all the way down to public parks. He owns and runs several tennis clinics and camps for all ages and ethnicities. I mean he’s a legend and I have him interested in becoming a part of my business because of Alicia.”
“Shit Brad! I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions about Alicia and what I saw,” Richard said. “Do you want me to go with you when you see her? I can plead your case and tell her it was all my fault.”
“No. I don’t want you to do a damn thing,” Brad snapped loudly, not caring who heard him inside of the restaurant. “Haven’t you already done enough by telling me Alicia was cheating on me? Why didn’t you listen to Dawn? Do you know the things I said to Alicia because of you? Did you ever think about talking to Alicia before running to me about that stupid kiss?”
Brad fought down the urge to reach across the table and punch his brother in the face for meddling in his life without knowing all of the facts. If he was lucky enough to get Alicia back, he wasn’t to jump to conclusion anymore after listening to something someone told him when it came to Alicia. He would go straight to her and find out all of the facts.
“No, I didn’t,” Richard sighed. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am about all of this. Why don’t you leave? I can pay for lunch. You need to see Alicia and work things out with her.”
“I can’t go and see her today.” Brad sighed, looking down at the card in his hand. “I need to get my thoughts together first. You don’t know what I told her. I can’t appear on her doorstep and beg for her forgiveness. It just wouldn’t work.”
“Not after I took your stupid words as the gospel…Fuck! I should have listened to my heart instead of my overbearing older brother. I thought Lee would be the one who broke me and Alicia up and it turned out to be you.”
“Brad, I’m sorry. I can’t apologize anymore. Are you sure that you don’t want to go and see Alicia?”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore right now,” Brad said, standing up. “I need to let all of this sink in. I’m getting a chance of a lifetime to work with Ivan Graf. However, the woman that made it happen is out of my life because I wouldn’t listen to her.”
“Call Alicia and apologize for not listening to her side of the story. She loves you and will understand,” Richard encouraged again.
“No, I don’t think so. I need to go. I’ll talk to you later.” Brad left the table and hurried out of the restaurant. Despite what he told Richard, he was going to Alicia’s house and he wasn’t leaving until she took him back and forgave him for his stupidity.