Page 11 of Out of Bounds

“I’m sure it was all lies,” Felicity commented, putting her walls back up. Heather knew more about her than anyone, and while she was sure that Heather wouldn’t just spill her secrets, she didn’t want this guy getting the wrong idea.

He let out a laugh as Heather rolled her eyes at the comeback.

“Well then, on that note, I’m off to work,” he replied. With a single nod to Heather, he reached behind him with his right arm, grabbing the back of his plain black T-shirt and whipping it off, revealing perfectly tanned skin and a drool-worthy six-pack.

“I can see why you made him the lead,” Felicity said, watching him walk away.

“He’s a good kid. Paying his way through law school. And so far…very popular,” Heather told her. “So, continue. Why are you not with the team?”

“I’m meeting Gunnar’s daughter for lunch. Trying to help her get settled here in Atlanta.”

“Is that her?” she asked, pointing toward the sunken reception area.

Felicity spun on her stool to see Talia anxiously standing by the podium, scanning the restaurant. She waved to her, catching the girl's attention right away, motioning for her to come join her at the bar. She watched as Talia headed her way, taking in the large space. Bunz had only opened its doors two weeks ago, with a grand opening celebration planned for later in the month, but it had been a longtime dream of Heather’s. With two stories of seating, a private back room for functions, and a bar that was just separate enough that it could be its own thing, yet still part of the restaurant, this place was bound to be a success. And Felicity could not be happier for her longtime friend and mentor.

“Hi,” Talia said as she sat down next to Felicity. “Can I ask a strange question?”

“Sure…”

“Why are none of the waiters wearing shirts? Not that I’m complaining, because every one of them is hot, but isn’t that against code?”

Felicity and Heather both burst into laughter, which only made the confusion on Talia’s face deepen even more. Hearing that her staff was hot was just what Heather had hoped for in opening this place.

“Hi, I’m Heather, owner of Bunz,” she said, placing a glass of water in front of Talia. “To answer your question, I got a special dispensation from the Board of Health. As long as those preparing the food are fully clothed, my servers don’t have to be.”

“Bunz is a sports bar designed for women. You’ve seen the meme floating around the Internet about how they should create a male version of Hooters? Where guys walk around shirtless and in well-fitting Wranglers?” Talia nodded. “Well, this is it. Heather felt that women needed a place to be able to go watch the game that was designed for them.”

“Oh my God, that’s so cool!” Talia exclaimed. “Sports aren’t my thing, but I knew some girls at ASU who were really into them and hated that they couldn’t ever find a place where there wasn't some dude trying to tell them they didn’t know how the game was played.”

“Number one rule of Bunz!” Heather said, pointing to a large black sign with bold red letters over the bar that read ‘NO MANSPLAINING.’

“That’s brilliant!”

“I thought so too,” Heather said, a smug look on her face. “I’ll let you two be, just let me know if you want to order anything.”

“So, everything got delivered okay? No problems?” Felicity asked.

“Everything was great. Thank you so much for your help.”

“Not a problem. Like I said, I get it, I’ve been there.”

“Things were great until my mom died. I mean, my dad…Robert…was always strict and really focused on good grades and all that, but he was a good dad. My mom had written these letters to each one of us to be opened after she died. I don’t think she had any kind of premonition or anything about death, but just like one last thing for us to remember her by someday. Both of my little brothers got letters explaining that she loved them more than anything and they were the light of her life, that kind of thing,” Talia explained, her face suddenly crestfallen. Felicity could feel the heartbreak radiating off of the girl and wanted to give her a hug. “Mine was similar, except it also mentioned that she’d had a one-night stand in Paris back in the day, and she wasn’t one hundred percent sure who my biological father was. When she found out she was pregnant, Dad…Robert…was so overjoyed they got married right away, and she didn’t have the heart to tell him I might not be his. The only thing she remembered about the guy from Paris was that he played soccer, his team had just won some big game, and that his name was Gunnar Gracin.”

“That’s a lot of information to find out via a letter,” Felicity said, absorbing it all. If losing one parent wasn’t hard enough, to find out that the other might not actually be yours? Ouch. She couldn’t imagine what that must feel like. For all the years she’d spent angry with her father for what he had done, she never would have wished to find out that her life to that point had potentially been a lie.

“Yeah. Robert wasn’t thrilled reading his either.”

“So, how did you find out Gunnar was in Atlanta?”

“I set up a google alert for his name. When he was in Ireland it seemed like a waste to try and contact him. I hated finding out via a letter, so I didn’t want to do the same to him via email. When I saw the announcement about him here, I took it as a sign,” Talia shrugged. “Can I ask you a question? You said you understood. Did something like this happen to you?”

Felicity let out a sigh. Where to begin?

“I just meant the life being flipped upside down part. My parents are my parents. Like you, my mom passed away. I was fifteen and it was really hard, because she and I were really, really close. She was an amazing woman, and not a day goes by I don’t miss her. But, shortly after her death, my dad married the young woman who had been hired to help with my brother and me while my mom went through cancer treatments,” she said, trying to keep it as simple as possible. She was here to help Talia, not dredge up all her own past hurts. “They had started seeing each other while my mom was still alive. So, the whole time I thought she was my friend, she was sneaking around behind everyone’s backs.”

“Oh my God!”

“Yeah, rocked my world pretty good. So, I might not understand the ‘having to get to know a new dad’ thing, but I understand feeling like life is chaos.”