My Mentor's Secret Baby - His Secret Baby

Gibson knew both Gary and me. The three of us had been good friends in high school. After, we would occasionally get together and talk, back when Gary and I were still friends. If I was not mistaken, Gibson even knew the Hazel story. Yet, I would probably have to explain it again to bring him up to speed on everything.

He opened the door right away when he saw me and my luggage. “What’s wrong? You need money?” he asked.

“No, it’s not that. It’s something else.” That was all I could manage to say.

My friend held the door open for me as I walked inside with my suitcases. I set them by the door and took a seat on the couch.

“Well, make yourself at home. I’d offer you a drink, but I don’t think either of us wants to open that can of worms,” he commented as he closed the door.

Having a drink was the furthest thought from my mind. Gibson sat in a chair across from me. “You look deeply troubled by something, what’s on your mind?” he asked.

I sighed heavily, having no idea where to begin. It took a few moments to collect my thoughts. I finally decided it would be best to start at the beginning; that way Gibson would have the whole story.

“Okay. It all started over five years ago, when I was hanging out with Gary almost every night,” I started to explain.

Gibson interrupted me, “I miss Gary.”

“Me too.”

We both were silent for a second.

With a sigh, I continued talking, “You know Gary’s daughter, Hazel?” My friend nodded. “We were close because she and I shared a love of writing. I helped her write and published her first book. But things took a horrible turn one evening. Hazel was celebrating the fact that her book had just been published and we got a little too close and… well, we shared a kiss in the kitchen. Gary caught us and forbid me from having contact with either one of them again.” I paused to make sure Gibson was still listening before I continued speaking.

He nodded again. “Yes, I remember hearing about that.”

“Well, you know how my life has been since then. Things changed a couple of weeks ago when I went on a writer’s retreat. I bumped into Hazel, and things sort of rekindled between us, but I think I messed everything up,” I explained.

“What do you mean, messed up?” Gibson asked.

“Well, I felt like she was getting too involved with her writing and getting too close to some other guy there, so I threatened him. We had an argument, and I left the retreat without telling Hazel.”

My friend shook his head in disbelief. “You know, Alex, you haven’t changed one bit since we were younger,” Gibson replied as he looked at me in exasperation.

I was lost. I had no clue what he was talking about. He could see the confusion on my face and decided to explain it to me.

“You are a coward, Alex. You always have been. I’m being honest here. I’m not trying to hurt your feelings, but you are always running away from awkward situations, and you can’t keep doing that. It’s not fair to the other person. It’s not fair to Hazel,” he said softly.

I knew he meant well, but those were hard words to hear. We sat there in silence for a few minutes as I thought about what he said. I realized that Gibson was right, and I had made a colossal mistake.

“What can I do to fix it?” I asked him. I highly doubted that the writers’ retreat would let me back in with open arms.

Gibson sighed softly before he replied. “Alex. My friend. If you are really serious this time and determined to make things right between you and Hazel, then I will do all I can to help you,” he assured me. He got up and left the room for a few minutes.

I was left alone to contemplate my life choices. Unbidden, a memory of Hazel’s dad popped into my head. It was something he had mentioned to Gibson years ago, and Gibson told me. “If Alex had really been serious about his feelings for Hazel, he would have fought to be with her. The fact that he just ran off and left her like that proves that he isn’t good enough for my little girl, even if he was my best friend.”

I realized all the mistakes I had made, thinking about how much I missed Gary, and now Hazel. I owed it to them to make things right. I hoped Gibson and I could come up with a plan to get me back into the resort so I could fix things.

Gibson returned with the information about the retreat and started writing stuff down. I wasn’t exactly sure what he had in mind, but I guessed that I would just have to wait and see.