Play Maker(48)

“James.” Gloria pulled out the stack of papers that had been underneath the print-outs. “Now that we’ve learned more about you, I have to say, we are impressed. And what you just said only solidifies my belief that this could be a great opportunity for both you and For Foster Kids.” She pushed the paperwork over to me. “I know you had originally expressed interest in helping with the college outreach arm of the charity, but I’d like you to take a look at our programs for special needs children in foster care. I think it might be a good fit for you.”

I eagerly took the stack of paper. “Thank you, I appreciate you thinking of me.”

“Either way, please know that we are looking forward to working with you.” Gloria rose and Ethan and I did the same. “We are excited for everything we believe we can do together.”

I couldn’t believe it. I shook her hand. “Thank you so much, Gloria,” I told her earnestly. “I can’t wait to get started.”

She nodded and turned to Ethan, shaking his hand as well. “I’ll call you later to arrange a press conference once we’ve finalized everything, if you’d like.”

“That would be great,” Ethan said. “Thank you so much for your time.”

It wasn’t until we were back in the car that the good news finally began to sink in. I grabbed Ethan’s shoulder and gave him an excited shake.

“This is going to be great,” I told him.

He grinned at me. “I never though I’d see you this excited about anything besides football.”

“What about you?” It was something we hadn’t really talked about. Not seriously at least. “Are you interested in continuing to work as my manager? Or do you want to stay in sports? I can recommend you to several promising players, if you want.”

But he held up his hand. “I’m with you, mate. Where you go, I go. Besides.” he pulled out a pair of sunglasses. “California is starting to grow on me.”

I shook my head at his ridiculous posing. “Something’s starting to grow on you, that’s for sure,” I joked. We got in the car and I started running down the list of everyone I needed to call. My folks, of course. A few friends back home. Nicole.

I really wanted to talk to Nicole. Wanted to tell her what had happened. And I wanted to tell her that I was staying in Los Angeles. Because I liked her. I waited again for that sense of the universe collapsing, but all I felt was a strange warm feeling in my chest. It felt good to admit it, at least to myself. Now I just had to tell her. And apologize for last night. But first, I needed to start embracing my new life.

“Hey mate.” I turned to face Ethan who was watching the road. This rental was nice, but now was the time to get something more permanent.

“Yeah?”

“Let’s go car shopping.”





29





Nicole





It was a good thing I was such a good employee. I never, ever took sick days so I had plenty of goodwill saved up. Even so, I was surprised that Manager Steve let me take two days in a row off from work. Maybe he wasn’t such a complete sleazeball. Or maybe he felt bad for always groping and leering at me. Either way, I wasn’t going to complain.

Even though I probably could have used the small tips I might have gotten on a weeknight, I still was glad I had taken these days off. Last night had been great fun for everyone – especially Mikey, who had not stopped talking about it all morning. And it had been fun for me too, that is until James gave me the ultimate cold shoulder. But I was over it. And I was over him.

While I planned to spend most of the day with my brother, I decided to take advantage of my time off and make a dent in my always growing to-do list. I left Mikey with my mom in front of the TV and went to the grocery store, where I loaded up on our usuals and replenished my dwindling supply of doublemint gum. When I got back to the house, chomping away on a fresh piece of gum, I noticed there was a very new, very expensive car parked behind my mom’s car in the car port. I could only hope the driver would move it before my mom needed to go anywhere. I hated calling tow trucks to get rid of cars that occasionally blocked her in.

But when I got up to our apartment, I found no one where I had left them. Instead, my mom and Mikey were gathered around the kitchen table where James was sitting. I almost dropped my groceries on the floor. Everyone turned as I entered. James smiled. The bubble I had been blowing popped, and I could do nothing but stare at him with gum stuck to my lips and cheeks.

“Hi,” he said, getting up from the table. “Let me help you with those bags.”

I took a step forward and immediately tripped, spilling groceries all over the floor and hitting my knee hard on the cracked linoleum.

Immediately, James was at my side, gathering up the food that had rolled away.

“Are you ok?”

“Uh-huh.” I waved him off and got to my feet, feeling totally embarrassed. I felt even worse as I limped over to the counter with my half empty bags of groceries. James came over with the rest of the bags and put them down. Then he gently guided me to a chair.

“Let me look at your knee,” he said. “Do you have any bandaids?” he asked my mom.

She nodded and went into the bathroom.

Before I could stop him, James had rolled up the leg of my jeans.