Taken (Dark Desires 1)

“Wait, I don’t understand,” I said.

“You melted down the fucking server, Katie Holmes,” Dru said, pounding her fists in the air as if she were at a Springsteen concert. “Tell her, Walter. Tell her how many hits the story got.”

“I’m trying,” Walter huffed. He looked at the paper again. “In the last three days since the story was posted to the site, it has gotten almost two million hits. Two million fucking hits, people! We haven’t had a story this hot since Ray Rice punched his girlfriend in an elevator! Well done, Asher! Well done.”

“Speech, speech,” Dru said, then everyone chimed in.

I had to take a moment to catch my breath. I had no idea the article I’d written on the private side of Sean Donovan would cause such a stir.

I knew ESPN had picked up the story and mentioned my name several times. I appreciated the notoriety, but in my heart, I felt like a total shit for deceiving Sean.

I hadn’t spoken to him since that day in the hospital and never expected to speak to him again.

Still, I never intended to hurt him or cause him any kind of grief. If I had it to do over again, I would have left Katie Holmes in the box and figured out another way. Then again, if it wasn’t for Katie Holmes, I would have never had the most amazing night of my life.

“Um, well, thanks, I guess,” I muttered with a smile. “I’m glad the article was so well-received.”

“Have you talked to Sean Donovan since the article came out?” someone asked.

I blinked at the question. “No, I haven’t.”

“Did he really take you to a secluded cabin in the woods and tell you about his father?” asked someone else.

I glanced at Dru, who was the only person I’d told about going to the cabin with Sean. I hadn’t written anything about personally visiting the cabin at the lake because I knew what the connotations would be. I’d only mentioned the cabin as part of Sean’s memories of his father and the times they’d spent there.

Dru made a face that told me she’d been running her mouth. I gave her a face back that said we’d talk about her lack of discretion later on.

“I never actually went to the cabin,” I said, swallowing the lie. I looked at Walter. “Didn’t you say you had two announcements to make?”

“What? Oh, yes.”

He tucked the paper back into his pocket and plucked the glasses off his nose.

“The other good news is that we received a call from the Kings press office this morning. Sports Insider Online is no longer banned from Kings Stadium. Your press credentials will get you back into the games and press conferences now, and they promise no longer to shoot us on-sight, so it’s a good day, people. And we owe it all to Katie Holmes…” He grinned at me. “I mean, Kate Asher!”

Kate

I propped my chin between my fists and stared at the blank Word file displayed on the laptop screen. The blinking cursor mocked me as I tried to figure out the best way to start the piece I was assigned to write on the differences in compensation between the United States’ women and men’s professional soccer teams.

The story could be great if I came at it from the right angle, or it could be shit if I didn’t. It bothered me that I now worried about the number of hits a story would get.

I knew this story wouldn’t get a fraction of the hits the story on Sean got. I kept telling myself that I had to put the piece on Sean behind me and move on. I was finding it extremely hard to do.

I knew the facts of this story inside and out. I had my copious notes spread out on my little kitchen table. I had print outs of compensation schedules and statements from all the different sides. All the facts were there. The damned story should write itself. So why was I having such a hard time typing the first word? Because my mind was somewhere else.

The article on Sean was still getting tons of hits. I’d been approached by ESPN and Sports Illustrated to talk about coming to work for them. Everyone was impressed with my ingenuity and the results of my work. Everyone except me. I still felt like a shit for what I’d done to Sean.

A press release from the Kings said that Sean was healing well and might make it back into the game before the season ended. Coach Rickets was quoted as saying, “Sean is an integral part of this team. We will hold his spot open no matter how long it takes for him to get well and get back on the field.”

At least things were looking up for Sean. All I really wanted for him was to be happy. Hopefully the coach’s support was some small compensation for my deception.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get Sean out of my mind. It wasn’t only guilt that I felt, but regret, as well. I treasured our night together, and I regretted that I would never fall asleep in his arms again.

The best thing that I could do would be to file that night away in the Katie Holmes box and get on with my life.

I rested my fingers on the keys and took a deep breath.

“Okay, type,” I said.