'It's so different here' was my only thought as I looked out the window while Sean was driving to the Training Center. I had been watching through the window as Sean drove since we left the house. It was the first time I had been outside in the few months I was living with Sean.
"We're here Erin," Sean said as he parked the car. After he parked he turned around and looked at me with that same annoying smile he always has. "Need help with the seatbelt again," he asked while trying to hold back his laugh. At times like this, he can be really annoying.
When we first got into the car before leaving the house, I was confused as to how a seat belt worked as I had never seen one before. For about twenty minutes, I struggled with it, and during that whole time, Sean was standing by the door, recording my struggle.
"I can do it myself, it's just pressing the buckle anyways.," I said while trying to unbuckle my seatbelt.
"Oh are you sure, your loving and caring dad can do it for you if you need help with it" He replied. He tried to look concerned but I could see his left hand reaching for his phone again to record. I looked at him annoyed and then finally unbuckled the belt.
*****
After minutes of Sean replaying the 20-minute video of me struggling with the belt, we finally got out of the car.
As we got out of the car I couldn't help but be surprised at the large building in front of me. The whole front part of the building was made of glass. It already looked big from the outside but as we went inside I was even more surprised.
When we walked inside there were five tennis courts lined up next to each other with different shacks filled with equipment.
As we walked Sean told me that these five tennis courts were public courts that were available for use by anyone, and on every side of the building, there were private courts that could be reserved for those who paid for them.
On the public tennis courts, several matches were already in progress, with a scoreboard nearby keeping track of the action. I couldn't help but stand there and watch the matches going on in front of me.
"Erin, come on, if you think these matches are good, just wait until you see the one we're going to watch today," Sean said, bringing my attention back to him.
I looked up at him, confused, but he didn't say anything else. Instead, he took my hand and led me towards a staircase on the left side of the entrance. Climbing to the second floor, we passed by several mini shops lining the corridor. Some stores had various types of equipment, while others had snacks and food.
I barely had time to take in my surroundings as Sean continued walking past them, heading towards another set of stairs leading to the third floor. Upstairs, the atmosphere changed entirely. Instead of shops, there were just doors lining the hallway. Sean knocked on one of the doors, and after a few moments, someone opened it.
A very tall brown-skinned man with black eyes and curly hair opened the door. "Oh, look who finally decided to make time to hang out with his friends," the man said, a smile spreading across his face.
We entered the room, where two other men were already seated on the couches.
On one side of the couch was a brown-haired man with blue eyes and a cleanly shaven beard; on the other was a black-haired man with light grey eyes with his long hair tied in a man bun.
As we stepped inside, their heads turned towards us, initially confused and then surprised before breaking into wide smiles.
"You actually showed up," the brown-haired man said, stepping forward and meeting Sean's gaze. "I thought you were going to make an excuse again, claiming you were taking care of your son or something," he added, still taken aback by Sean's presence.
"But I was serious, I really do," Sean responded. his arms now crossed over his chest.
The curly-haired man, who had opened the door for them, scoffed in disbelief. "Yeah right, you? The laziest, carefree, and irresponsible person who only cares about money and tennis?" he retorted, his skepticism evident as he closed the door behind them.
"Yeah, honestly Sean, the day you have a son is the day I get married," the guy with the manbun joked, lounging back on the couch. His remark caused laughter from all three men, but Sean stood there, looking as if the joke had betrayed him.
'I don't think they noticed me yet well either way is fine, he deserves this after teasing me for twenty minutes' I thought while looking at the interaction.
'That's what you get for being annoying.' I said to myself while looking at Sean.
Surprisingly, I found myself trying not to laugh as well. I never thought I could express myself this much but here we are.
It seemed like he was hurt when his friends didn't believe he had become a father. I don't know what he was thinking but, the only thing I saw was his smirk as the next thing I knew, I was being picked up and shoved into the three guys' faces.
"Look! Here this is my son." He said seeming proud as all three of the guys' expressions went from confused, surprised, and then utterly shocked. It was quiet for a few minutes after that.
I looked at the three guys completely shocked and embarrassed. As soon as I made eye contact with them I looked down immediately.
I couldn't do anything either as Sean just held me in the air other than blushing profusely from embarrassment. It was even more embarrassing as his friends just looked at me completely shocked.
*****
Now here I am sitting on the couch looking at the ground as the three men stood in front of me just looking at me with great curiosity.
"He really has a kid," the curly-haired guy said and then leaned in extremely close then poked my cheek. I looked up at him trying not to show any emotions "C-Can you please not do that" I muttered, my voice trailing off as I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment.
"Oh well aren't you something kiddo," He said as he sat on the floor right in front of me. "But I don't think I can stop teasing you when you blush so easily." He added as he ruffled my hair. I looked up again and looked him in his eyes.
"Erin. My name is Erin." I said looking him in his eyes for a while but then looking away again. As I did I made a little eye contact with Sean and he looked somewhat surprised to see me make eye contact with someone but then smiled because of the interaction.
The curly-haired man just kept on looking at me with a smile. "Call me Chris " he replied then turned to the two men who were now standing next to Sean still shocked. "The guy with the man bun is Grey and the other one is Anthony," he added, introducing me to the other two guys.
Sean nudged them a little and then they snapped out of their daze.
"I can't believe it, Sean has a kid now," Grey said looking at Sean in a new light.
"What happened to the carefree guy who acted as if nothing happening in the world had anything to do with him," Grey asked scrutinizing Sean as he came to terms with what had happened.
"Come on you're exaggerating, I'm a very serious person at times." Sean retorted.
"Liar" I muttered still looking at the ground.
It seemed as if everyone heard as Grey, Chris, and Anthony started laughing and Sean looked over at me but I just simply looked at the other side of the room.
"Well it seems even your son can agree with us," Anthony said sitting next to me. "So Chris what brings you here, ever since you retired you stopped coming here altogether, what changed," Anthony asked after everyone settled down.
I looked back at Sean as he smiled and looked at me. "Well you see, my adorable son here is aiming to be a pro in Tennis and I wanted him to see what a match between pros is like so I was hoping us four could play some matches." He said causing the three men to look at me slightly surprised.
Chris was the first one to reply as he chuckled and got up from the floor " You know I was kind of getting bored since there haven't been any matches for now so this works out perfectly." He said while stretching.
"You should know I'm always down to play some tennis," Anthony said right after as he soon also got up.
Grey stayed seated for a while looking at Sean before getting up with a grin on his face. "Me vs you first Sean." He declared. " I want to see just how much of a gap there is even after you've retired." He added as Sean just looked at him with a smile on his face.