Chasing Football Dreams (Diner Girl #2)

Chapter Eighteen

“T here she is,”

A woman with golden brown curls sat alone in a window booth overlooking the street. She came forth as a classy woman, dressing impeccably and always well-groomed with her pretentious sophistication and poise. She can pretend to be this woman everyone admires while she is a snake who abandoned her daughter at an orphanage. The only positive thing about this narcissistic woman was that she was at least honest when she didn’t lie to Eliza years ago but other than that, I don’t trust her.

It’s been years since Eliza found them. What could she possibly want now? Did she only realize currently that her daughter has an amazing talent and she wants to be a part of that fortune?

“Come on, let’s get this over with. You’ve practiced in an hour,” Eliza said tugging me on my arm and stringing me along with her.

“What she wants to mend fences?”

“I doubt that. Why would she only make the effort now?” Eliza was as suspicious as me.

I shrugged. “It feels dodgy to me as well,”

“Well, let’s get this ridiculousness over with,” We entered the coffee shop, making our way over to the table. Eliza didn’t let me hang back as she made sure to keep a tight hold on my arm.

“Eliza!” Her mother jumped up from the booth, throwing her arms around Eliza. Her excitement felt rehearsed and I controlled the urge to roll my eyes.

I stifled a chuckle as Eliza squirmed uneasily in her arms and instantly repulsed. Eliza hates hugs. I am an exception.

“And you must be Zoey,"” Eliza’s mother finally acknowledged me even though she almost knocked me in the face when she hugged Eliza.

"I don't understand why you brought your friend along, honey. I just thought we could meet alone," Her smiled felt force.

“Zoey is my sister,”

When Eliza acknowledged me as her sister, her mother blinked, so I decided to clear the air. “We grew up in the orphanage together,”

She nodded blowing me off as she looked at Eliza with what felt like a forced smile. “That's great but this is between you and me,”

Elzia shrugged with no care in the world. “If you don’t like Zoey hanging around then I have to apologize but then this meeting can’t continue,”

I bit down on the inside of my cheek to conceal a smile when her mother looked utterly taken aback by Eliza’s honesty.

“No, no. It’s fine,” She composed her bafflement gesturing to the table.

She started asking Eliza about her interests and seemed genuinely surprised when Eliza purposely bragged about her scholarship and how her art was showcased at a museum. She even threw me under the bus when she started talking about her showcased art and how I was her muse when I joined an all-men football team.

“Quarterback? Is that even possible for a girl to play football?”

I quirked my shoulders. “Why not? Why if you were given the talent and skill let it go to waste because the world normalized it as a guy’s sport?”

She shook her head, blinking at my remark. I know I was needed to handle her with politeness but how can I when she threw her daughter away and even admitted to it?

“I just think it’s wrong of a lady to get tackled by big and bulky men. They could take advantage of you,”

I smiled at her remark, suppressing my smirk. “Those big and bulky men you are referring to are actually more polite than the men you call gentleman,”

Eliza snorted her milkshake through her nose when she giggled. I handed her a serviette while staring her mother down. “We are like family. They treat me like an equal and trust my skills to drive them across the field. I am not on the team to parade like a drama queen or mislead other teams to snatch the win,”

She blinked at my comment, pinching a fake smile covering up her scowl but I saw right through her fa?ade. ’That’s amazing for you but what will you do after college?”

“Get drafted for an NFL team,”

She burst out laughing and I just ignored her judgement, unlike Eliza who was ready to strangle her. “At least Zoey’s parents support her and her father is one of the greatest NFL players to this day,”

That sobered up her mother’s amusement. “Parents? But you grew up at the orphanage,” She looked from me to Eliza.

“My parents didn’t drop me off and left,” I wasn’t going to tell her about my kidnapping case. It had nothing to do with her. We were here to talk about Eliza and what she wanted.

“But anywho, why did you ask me to meet you,” Eliza asked, noticing that I wasn’t having a good time with her mother’s bullshit and that I didn’t want to share my story with her.

“Oh, uhm,” Her mother dug out a photo from her purse and placed it on the table. It was of a boy in a hospital bed looking very ill. “This is your brother, Chris. He has been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and he needs a transplant or else he is going…” For the first time since meeting her, I saw real emotions on her face.

“You didn’t come here to catch up, did you?” Eliza didn’t beat around the bush even though it looked like her mother was going to start crying. It must hurt her to know she has a brother who is very much loved by the parents she wants to love her.

Her mother shook her head, slipping out a tissue and wiping her eyes. “Your brother needs your help,”

“I didn’t even know that I have a brother,” Eliza noted with a disgruntled but sad look. “Glad to see you were satisfied with him and didn’t abandon him,”

Her mother didn’t show an ounce of regret or remorse in her eyes. And it sickened me.

“You want my kidney,” Eliza acknowledged, her shoulders squared as she stared at the photo of her brother.

Her mother had the audacity to nod. “We’ve tried other options and donors but none of them were a match,”

“And you think I will be a match?”

“Yes, you are blood relatives,”

Eliza laughed out loud and shook her head in dismay. “What does have blood suddenly have to do with it? You threw me away because you wanted a son and you finally have one, and now I am good enough,” She rubbed the picture between her fingers before flicking it at her mother.

“Does he even know I exist?”

“No,”

Eliza raised her gaze to the roof before slowly lowering her gaze. “Of course, not because then you have to explain what you did and end up losing him,”

Eliza sat quietly for a moment staring at her mother and then she shook her head. “My answer is no,” She finally answered and then motioned for me to get up. I didn’t blink as I got up waiting for her to get up as well.

“No?” Her mother asked, getting to her feet as well. “You are just going to let him die?”

“Why not? You left me to die,” The acknowledgement of her words broke something in her mother that made her lurch across to grab Eliza. I saw it coming and instantly caught her, shoving her away.

She blinked at my strength and I almost smiled. Yeah, I am not just a girl who prances around on the field, pretending to fling a ball around.

“How can you be this selfish to let your brother die when he needs your help?” She yelled at Eliza and by this time, she had caught the attention of the whole coffee shop.

“Selfish?” Eliza said with an unfriendly chuckle. “Says the woman who dropped her daughter off at the orphanage because I wasn’t a boy!”

“It’s—It’s---It…” Her mother stammered.

I saw a few scowls and I hated that people poked their noses where it wasn’t invited but I let it slide. I wrapped my arms around my best friend’s shoulders to comfort her. “We are done here,” I told her mother and urged Eliza to walk away.

When we got outside, Andrew was waiting for us and he immediately got out of Duncan’s SUV to embrace her. Tears fell from her eyes and heard her choke on them. I had to look away to cover my own. I walked away wanting to give them space and sat my ass on the sidewalk, regretting that I told Duncan not to be here.

I slipped my fingers into my hair, massaging my scalp. How can people be this selfish and unkind to their children? How can they forgive themselves for throwing away a bundle of what should be a joyous new adventure? How the hell does anyone have the heart to cast a baby away—a human that can’t fend for themselves?

How can that woman, ask such a thing of Eliza? Hasn’t she realized she hurt her enough?

I raised my head, staring down the empty parking lot.

Was I selfish for being grateful that my parents didn’t throw me away?