Don't Let Us Go

Only So Much I Can Do

(Tanya is played by Destiny Ryan)

"Is there the slightest chance the kid is lying? You are a single, rich footballer. For all we know, this ex-girlfriend of yours could be trying to pawn her kid off on the best option," Spencer's publist, Tanya Randall, suggested hastily. Glancing over Spencer's shoulder to the where the little girl sat on a stool, comfortablely playing with her bratz dolls on his blue granite bartop on the outer end of his kitchen.

"Don't talk about Olivia like that, Tee. You do not know her." Spencer defended the woman he once thought to be his future wife. "She would not lie about me being her daughter's father. For God's sake, the kid is named after my dead pops."

Throwing her hands up in concedement, Tanya argued, "But she can keep said child from you for multiple years, then drop the kid off randomly without so much as a letter or heads up. Right?" She inquired, not understanding how her client and friend was defending such an indecent woman.

"She had her reasons for not telling me. A lot of stuff went on before I met you. I gave her good reasons to hate my guts." Spencer confessed vaguely, knowing that him leaving Olivia cut her deep.

In-depth conversations with his former best friend, Jordan --Olivia's twin-- told Spencer as much. Recieving an ear full from a pissed Jordan the night after the break up, Spencer  recalled him mentioning that she cried all night and shattered almost every breakable thing inside their old apartment. Then, a few days later, Coach Billy Baker blew his phone up, revealing that Olivia went into a vegitated state. Residing with her parents for the first few days after the breakup, Olivia refused to eat, talk, or drink anything. Becoming a shell of a person, Olivia concealed herself off for two weeks, mourning their relationship. From what Spencer heard, the only thing that motivated her to take the job three weeks after the breakup was to put a whole country between herself and him. He hadn't heard from the Bakers after she left. Presuming they were cutting him for his treatment towards Olivia during the breakup, Spencer respected their choice and kept his distance.
He'd lost the love of his life, best friend, and second father all in one go. "She had her reasons for staying away."

"I'm not worried about what happened back in the day, Spencer. I'm worried about how this little girl is going to change your future and the plans we have set up." Tanya exasperated, rubbing her temples. After taking too many bad hits during his last two seasons, Spencer was veering on a dangerous path for permanent injury if he continued into the next season. Mapping out the impending season, they strategically planned to gain investors from his previous sponsors to accomplish opening up a few chains of elite athletic gyms, starting in New York and in his home state of California. Once they acquired a fair amount of investors, Spencer was supposed to announce his retirement from football and settle into his new position as founder and CEO of his new business venture. "We worked hard all these years to keep your reputation clean in the press and public eye. If this story does not spin correctly, you are going to come put looking like another statically rich, black deadbeat daddy. No one is going to work with us." Tanya predicted, refusing to believe she did all the work of keeping her client polished in the eye of press, just for it to all be ruined by some random baby momma drama.

"Isn't that what I pay you for, Tee?" Spencer scoffed, offended by her jab at him being a nogood deadbeat, when it was the exact opposite. If Olivia came to him from the jump, he would have made sure to be there for his daughter and her mother. "I called you hear to help me figure it out, no ride my ass, as if I knew I had a kid out there and did not care to take care of her."

"I will do my job. Don't you doubt that." Tanya assured him, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "I need you to do yours, though. And I am not talking on the field. If my plan for how this story is going to play out in the press is going to work. Your baby momma needs to be here in the city in the coming days. Any crap that yall needs to be deaded before we do any press conference by the time the week is out. I will help to spin this story to where you don't come out looking like another cliche, but you need to handle your woman and your kid." She ordered as if giving instructions to the child. Swerving around him, she yanked her purse off the rear end of the coffee table, swaying to the elevator sassily.

Glancing from his publist to the little girl whose eyes were now enthralled on him, Spencer shook his head, unsure what to do now. Hopping off her stool, Gracianna allowed her her small legs to carry her to her father side, nudging his side to get his attention.

"Wassup, Cici?" Spencer mumbled, the nickname rolling off his tongue easily, as if his little girl had been around for years.

"I'm hungry." Graciana muttered, pouted at a distraught Spencer who glanced to the kitchen.

Running off an athletic diet, he doubted that any of the healthy foods he kitchen carried were what a small kid would crave.

"How about some Bubby's?" Spencer suggested, earning a shrug from Graciana who wasn't sure what restaurant he was talking about. "Ok."
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"Nice car." Graciana complimented as her father buckled her into the backseat of his Rolls Royce Phantom Black, tightening the seat belt. 

"Sorry if it's suffocating you, but safety first." Spencer responded, thinking about how he might need to purchase a booster seat for her.

"That's okay." Graciana smiled, happy that he cared enough to adjust it for her safety. "Mommy does it too sometimes. It's because I'm her little toothpick." She joked about her  slim, skinny figure.

"Yeah, your mom must keep you booked with sports with how weightless you are."

"I'm in gymnastics. My coach says I'm a natural contortionist." Graciana bragged. "Mom says I get my athletic drive from you, but I think I got a little from her too. She's really good at dancing."

"Yeah, she is." Spencer agreed, smiling at the memories of watching her doing some of her dance performances during college. He couldn't help wonder if Olivia had ever pursued that part of her life. 

"Spencer, are you okay?" Graciana inquired, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, um, let's get out of here." He replied quickly, pulling himself from out of backseat, strolling over to the driver side of his car.
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The drive was quiet as he played music to keep the tension from becoming akward. Gazing into his front view mirror to look at his daughter writing in her journal. Furrowing her brows, he wondered what she could be writing so earnestly about.

Once they made it to the breakfast spot, he found out just how important what she jotting down.

After ordering their food, Spencer was a few bites into his entrée when she cleared her throat before finally speaking.

"Umm, so my friend has a dad she does not really see since her parents broke up, and he moved states. Graciana mentioned, scrapping at her scrambled eggs. "Whenever she goes to see him during school holidays, they play twenty questions to catch up with what they missed. I don't really have 20 questions, but I do have a few important ones that as your daughter I belive I should know."

Nodding in agreement, Spencer thought this was a good icebreaker. "Ight, shot." He insisted taking another bite from his stack of pancakes.

"Okay well first off...." Graciana started, scanning her list of questions in her small,pink fuzzy designed notebook,

"Is Tanya your girlfriend?" She immediately interrogated with narrowed eyes, as Spencer suddenly choked on his orange juice upon hearing her first line of questioning.