Here Comes The Sun

Chapter Nine

It took a couple hours and some of the greasiest burgers I have ever eaten before I was sober and ready to head home. I had to finally have that conversation with my manager, one I wish I was still drunk for.
He picked up on the second ring, no surprise he was always ready to take a call.
"Give me some good news." He speaks right as he answers.
"I am ready to do competitions and sponsorships again." He is silent for a long moment.
"And the olympics?" He asks.
"2028 will be here before we know it." I just can't spend that much time away from Toby right now, in four years he will be eighteen and it will just be better for everyone.
"And what about giving a press release? You have fans Maisie, you made waves with your skills but also your personality. Hell I bet I could get you a reality show if you wanted too." He sounds annoyed, I am not surprised.
"Well that's a definite no on the reality show and I just don't feel comfortable doing a press release. People will be all up in my business, they'll probably even come here to get pictures and then Toby will be forced into the light and they'll dig up everything they can on him and Lucas and neither of them or their family deserves that." I try to reason with him.
Harold has a habit of forgetting about other people's emotions when he is in business mode and all I have been doing for the last eight months is think about Toby's emotions.
"You have to tell the people something."
"Do I? I don't know these people, I appreciate their support but I don't owe them the details of my personal life." I still deserve privacy.
"You owe them something, it is what you signed up for when becoming a gold medalist." Sometimes I hated Harold, even if he was great at his job.
"Just get me some sponsorships and competitions, I'll even do interviews if I get to personally review the questions beforehand." Though she didn't see why anyone would have much interest interviewing her when she hadn't done anything in almost a year.
"Fine, but we will be talking more about the statement."
After a few more things were discussed we ended the call and I finally went down to the beach to move my surfboard I had left out there for hours.
I made it to the edge of my property where I hid all my boards away when I spotted the familiar blue tucked in with the rest of them.
Archer must have moved it back for me, the smile on my face at the thought of him alone makes me anxious. The fact I'm not even mad about it makes it even worse.
I don't have time for a relationship even if he seems to be the most perfect man in all of existence, well besides the fact he can't swim. I have too much going on plus he is a firefighter and with Kyler being his coworker that would make things so awkward for all of us.
I didn't even want to think about explaining me and Kyler to Archer. Would I just sit him down and start in with a woman scorned is a scary thing and than explain how after one to many shots of whiskey and a friend who supported me no matter what I felt ready to fuck some shit up right as Kylers step brother walked in.
A step brother I knew he couldn't even stand the sight of, one who was all too eager to take me to the large bathroom stall.
It was one of the worst things I did, even with him cheating on me before that I felt horrible the next morning. Felt even worse when his step brother came to the fire station with my red thong and handed it to him, asking to give it back to me next time we saw each other.
And to think, he is the last guy I slept with.

My phone ringing broke me out of the trip down memory lane. I had never been so thankful to hear her voice. "You and Tobias will be at my house at six tomorrow." Like usual it was more of a statement than a question.
"Yeah, we will be." I squished my bare feet in the sand, distracting myself from the overcoming urge to pretend my service was bad. I felt this way every time she called, it was new and as long as I had some miniscale way to distract myself I pushed through.
"Do try to dress in appropriate attire, none of those shorts that barely cover you like you usually have on. I was going to have some friends over as well." Was she throwing a party and tricking me and Toby into coming? My feet tensed around the moistened sand, the small shells biting into the flesh calmed me.
"Mom, this isn't some party or anything is it?" I ask, hoping she'll give me an honest answer.
"It's more of a small gathering, it's not like I am having it catered. I just want you to look presentable and not like a bimbo." There it is, the word she uses instead of whore. She thinks since it doesn't sound as offensive then it's not, she is wrong.
It wouldn't matter how she worded it when I knew the intention behind her words, she was embarrassed by me. I had become one of the top female surfers in the United States. I won gold in the olympics the first year they even had surfing as a sport and yet I still embarrassed her.
"Are you sure you want me to come?" The waves crashing work as a good mental distraction, I can picture myself out there where I am happiest instead of here on the phone with her.
"Don't be ridiculous, of course I want you there. I would have not invited you if I didn't want you to come." Her pitch raises as if I am the one who has said something offensive to her.
"Okay, I'll be there at six with Toby. I promise to dress appropriately, I think I had a nuns outfit in my closet from a few halloween back that will work perfectly."
"If that is supposed to be a joke it isn't funny Maisie. If I see you show up dressed in some nonsense then I will uninvite you." The urge to wear something out of pocket was there, a poking sensation in the back of my brain I didn't want to ignore but would.
"I won't, see you then." She doesn't even say bye before hanging up.
This day just keeps getting better and better.
Come Tuesday I was ready to fake as far as the clap to avoid it. Toby seemed to be in agreement with any plan I might have to get us out of there with the way I had to drag him towards the oversized door my mom mothers oversized home.
She lived in a five bedroom three and a half bath home with her boyfriend and all her things. It wasn't even like it was my childhood home, she had sold it the moment the divorce was finalized and she was told she got the house. I was surprised she hadn't burned it to the ground, had even warned the chief he might be getting a call to my house the week it happened.
She bought this one after I won gold, said she was the mother of a winner and needed a house to fit the title.
I knocked on the door, turning to Toby who was kicking at a pebble on her porch. "If you want to leave early all you have to do is fake a headache or kidney stones and we are out of here." I tell him, begging he will take me up on the offer.
Not the most adult thing in the world to use your thirteen year old ward as an excuse but beggars can't be choosers.
"Would they believe me if I had a heartache?"
"Like any other excuse but that one."
"Okay, got ya." The door opened and my moms boyfriend Adam smiled at us both.
I actually love Adam, he is one of the nicest guys I have ever met and I do not understand how he ended up falling so in love with my mom. They have been dating for five years now and in that time he has shown more support for me and my life than either of my parents.
"Hi sweetheart, it is so good to see you!" He pulls me into a huge, wrapping my arms around him I squeeze. This guys gives amazing hugs, it's like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a winters days.
"And look at you Tobster, have you grown since I saw you last?" He pulls Toby in next and he falls into the hug just like I had.
Adam was the only reason we found enjoyment in these dinners.
"Maybe you've started shrinking?" Toby suggests as Adam leads us into the parlor, because yes my mother refers to this room as only that.
My body locks up when I see my mom talking with the high school principal and her son. I flash a look to Adam who gives me that apologetic smile he has perfected after all the stunts this woman has pulled.
"Oh, this is going to be fun." Toby is grinning when I look down on his devil face.
"Fake the heartache now!" He just shakes his head.
"I actually feel great, the only thing I need is some food." That little shit is losing his allowance for this.
"Darling, come say hello to our guests!" My mother is ecstatic, I hadn't seen her this happy since my fathers fiance left him for the pool boy.
Also I was a guest too, I hadn't lived with her in years.
"How are you doing, Mrs. Wrightfield?" I asked the woman who had been my high school principal.
She gave me a smile, one that most everyone adapted when seeing me since I returned. The, oh you poor perfect thing you, look. If she told me she was sorry for my loss I would leave. I have talked to her multiple times since my return and each time she has brought it up.
Thankfully she knows Toby's limits well at the moment and doesn't bring up Lucas. "I am doing wonderful, how are you? I heard you have been helping the firefighters with their swim training."
No surprise there, this town loved to gossip. When our previous sheriff had been pulled over with a big bag of weed in his car I was getting texts about when he was probably still talking to the cop.
"She's giving one of them private lessons, he can't swim." Toby chimes in. I turn my gaze to him and see that shit eating smile on his face.
"A firefighter who can't swim? Chief Williams needs to vet his hires better." Matthew, Mrs.Wrightfield son adds.
"He's not from here and didn't have a real need to learn in his hometown, he's quickly learning though. He also is an amazing firefighter." I had no clue if he was even remotely good at his job but I didn't like what Matthew was insinuating and couldn't stop myself from defending Archer.
"So kind of you to find time in your busy schedule to help them. Isn't she just something Matthew? You are the kind of girl a mother hopes her son marries."
I think I might shoot myself before the night is out.
"Maisie is something, I can't help but gush over how well she has picked up parenting. It is like she was meant to be a mother." Toby lets out a quiet snort he covers as a cough at my mothers words.
He is walking home. It's only about fifteen miles, he'll be fine.
"I wouldn't go that far." I try to ease into the two mothers trying to play matchmaker.
"Oh nonsense, don't be so modest." My mother brushes my words off.
Adam rejoins the group with a potholder still over his hand. "Dinner is ready." Oh thank god, I can distract myself with his cooking.
"Let's move this party into the dining room, shall we?"
It comes as no surprise when I am sat beside Matthew who grins over at me. He is a decent guy, a great dad from what I've seen. His son is around Toby's age. He was married to his high school sweetheart who cuts hair at the good salon in town.
He is super single and just the type my mom likes to set me up with, even though I have not once dated any guy she found remotely acceptable. She and I have been playing this game for years, round and around we go.
"Sorry for the ambush, I had thought you were told we would be coming to this dinner party." Matthew whispers to me while our mothers talk to Toby about him signing up for a sport next year.
Good luck with that one, the boy was great at sports but hated group activities. Lucas had tried getting him into baseball when he was younger and he ended up swinging the bat between a poor kid's legs because he didn't like how close he was standing to him, he was the catcher.
"It's fine, this is a monthly activity of hers, I think it keeps her from joining bingo night." It was a lame joke but he still laughed, a little too much in my opinion.
"Should I be insulted that I haven't been invited earlier then?" I can see Toby trying to eavesdrop from the corner of my eye. I only need to kick his leg once to get him to stop.
"Don't be, I think she's going alphabetical."
"Almost out of options then."
"Yes, but X is up next. That should buy me a couple weeks till she finds someone."
"Maybe in the meantime you and I could..." My phone begins to ring right before he could ask me out on a date, if I were to guess where his question was going.
"Sorry, I have to take this. It's work." I hadn't even looked at my phone yet.
Leaving the dining room, I headed to her back porch. A smile came over my face when I saw Archer was calling me.
"You are my favorite person in the world right now." I answered the phone saying.
"And why is that?"
"You called just in time to stop the guy my mom is trying to set me up with from asking me out." He was silent for a moment.
"You're not interested?"
"Not one bit, Matthew is a nice guy but not my type."
"And what is your type?" Tall, dirty blonde hair, firefighter named Archer.
"What do you think my type is?" She shouldn't be doing this, she knew better. She was testing her own strength everytime she let their conversations be anything other than swim related.
"I know what I hope it is." He is just so cute and hot and I have no self control.
"And what is that?"
"How about I tell you over dinner." Fuck me.
"Archer, I don't think that's a good idea." Even though I wanted to more than anything right now.
"We can keep it as a simple dinner between friends if you'd like. I personally would much rather see it as our first date." You and me both, buddy.
"If you can manage to get a lap across the pool at our next lesson I'll go to dinner with you."
"Really?" His voice raised and I could hear the excitement in it. It made my heart skip a little. The idea of just the thought of dinner with me made him feel that much happiness felt unreal.
Yeah I have dated guys before that liked me but it felt like all of them kept their emotions closer to themselves. They never shared how they really felt with me. Kyler was one of the worst, we were both so broken and I hadn't even seen it in him till he wrecked us.
I'd try to talk to him, see if he was okay when he would get distant but it just drove us further apart. He seemed to run from any sort of bond. With me he kept running till he found his way into the arms of another woman.
"So when can we have our next lesson?" He asked.
"Well when are you free?" I had very little going on at the moment. It was weird how in the last eight months I have pretty much not had a job, I was so used to being on the move constantly.
I traveled all over the world to go surfing and now I hadn't gone further than the ice cream shop Toby really liked that was on the outside of town. I wasn't too upset about it either. I had worried I would be resentful of how much my life changed moving back here, no longer being able to do what I pleased when I pleased but I loved taking care of Toby. Even with as much as I think I sucked at it most of the time there was nowhere I would rather be.
"Thursday morning?"
"Works for me." I had seen him Monday, literally only a day and a half ago and I was already missing him.
"Great. Oh, and Maisie."
"Yeah?"
"What's your favorite type of food?"