Alien Romance: Interview with an Alien (Football Paranormal Invasion Abduction Alpha Sci-fi Romance) (Fantasy First New Adult Contact Science Fiction Mystery Sports Alien Short Stories) (71 page)

*****

A tense silence fell over the clubhouse and Lenore could feel even more animosity coming off of the players toward her. Maddon stepped up beside her and looked out over the team.

"Good practice today, guys. Go on home and get some rest. We'll get to it again tomorrow."

She watched as the men angrily stood and shifted around the locker room, gathering their belongings and pushing past her. She expected them to all go toward the shower room, but instead they all left and she could hear their angry voices filtering back through the door at her as they left the building.

"I guess I tired them all out so much that they didn't even want to take showers," Maddon said, trying to force laughter into his voice.

Lenore nodded, but she knew that that wasn't the case. The players left because they couldn't stand being in the same room with her for a second longer. She couldn't really blame them. She had just come in without any warning and started changing almost everything that they knew about the team and their careers. She didn't care what they were feeling, though. It didn't matter if they were angry or if they hated her and didn’t want to see her for another second. As long as they kept performing and bringing in fans, they could feel however they wanted to about her.

"Maybe you were a little hard on them," her father said as if reading her thoughts.

Lenore turned toward him and crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"What do you mean by that?" she demanded.

"We just bought the team. Everybody needs a little bit of time to adjust to what is going on."

"They're grown man, Dad. They aren't children. They don't need to adjust to anything. This is their job."

"That's true, Lenny, but it is also something that means a lot to them. The team also means a lot to the rest of the city. No matter how grown up these men are, you have to understand that there are a lot of memories and loyalty attached to this team. Some of these boys have been watching them with their fathers since they were babies and their fathers watched with their fathers before them."

"Please don't get all sentimental with me now, Dad. I understand money and business. This is not Little League or the sandlot at the back of the neighborhood. This is a professional team and they need to remember that. These are not boys. These are men. Being held responsible for their own behaviors is not going to hurt them, and if it does, then they weren't cut out for this profession in the first place." She turned to walk away and then spun back to her father. "And for the last time, please don't call me Lenny. I know that you wanted a son, but you didn't get one. You got me. No amount of wishing that that was different is going to change it."

"I don't wish that you were anything but what you are, Lenore," Preston said, his voice sounding hurt.

"You have always dreamed of owning a baseball team with your son and being able to pass it through the generations. It took you this long to actually be able to buy the team that you wanted, you just don't have the son that you wanted to go along with it."

"You told me that you wanted to be the one in charge of the team."

Her father sounded less hurt and angrier now, but Lenore was accustomed to this argument with him. She had spent her entire life knowing that Preston had desperately wanted a son who would share his love of baseball and his business savvy. He wanted to be able to groom him to take over when he was old enough so that Preston could retire and spend his later years traveling around and visiting all of the professional stadiums around the country.

Preston always told her that when she was born, he wasn't disappointed, but she knew that the fact that his only child was a daughter and not a son was a source of tremendous pain for him. Most of the time he tried to hide it, but Lenore knew that he still longed for that relationship that he would never have.

"I wanted my own portion of the business, Dad. I wanted something of my own that I could build up. I also knew that if you were the one who was responsible for the team that you would let your sentimental attachment to the game keep you from making the decisions that need to be made to make sure that this team stays at its best."

"What do you mean by that?"

Her father sounded suspicious and Lenore knew that he wasn't going to like what she was about to tell him.

"I'm not just making changes to the way that the team dresses and acts. Despite what you think about me not understanding the game, I have been paying close attention to the practices and I have noticed some things that have gotten me thinking about the dynamic of the team as a whole and what may improve its performance over the long term."

"What are you planning?"

"I want to trade Blaine Williams."

*****

Blaine could feel the urge to shift flowing through him. The anger built in his stomach and surged through him like flames, boiling his blood and searing through his muscles, pushing him to allow his body to change. He resisted the change, forcing himself to concentrate on controlling his body so that he could remain in human form. Lenore was already coming in and demanding everything change completely and threatening to trade him to another team. The last thing that he needed was for her to see a panther prowling the hallways of the clubhouse.

His fists clenched as he let his eyes close for a moment so that he could concentrate on not allowing the urge to shift to overwhelm him. The fury that came from the possibility of being traded was unlike anything that he had experienced since he was very young. He couldn't believe that this woman was coming in and stomping on their traditions, everything that they had worked so hard for, and the threatening the link that he had with Jacob. If he was traded to another team, he would be completely alone. Even if he was able to make friends on the new team, there would be no one like Jacob. No one else would be able to understand him and what he went through with his shifts.

This was not something that he could just explain to the other players on a new team and expect them to just go along with it. Even his current teammates other than Jacob didn't know his secret, and some of them he had known for years. He couldn't fathom being alone, completely separated from his community and the only people who could truly commiserate with him.

Finally, he felt like he wasn't going to be able to hold back the shift much longer. He lunged away from the door and ran toward the back of the clubhouse. If he could just get out of the building and into the woods less than a mile away, he would be able to let go. Shifting would help to release the anger and frustration inside him and give him a chance to work through his emotions in the way that was most natural for him.

Blaine ran with everything that he had. He could feel the panther spirit inside him flowing through his muscles, pushing him faster. He knew that if anyone saw him at that moment, they would know that there was something strange about him. He was moving far too fast for a human and even as he moved, he could feel his body stretching and changing. Soon he would be covered with fur and he would cross the ground on all fours.

The woods loomed ahead of him. He was nearly there. Blaine pushed harder, forcing himself to run at the peak of his speed so that he could get to the protective cover of the trees. He could only hope that Jacob would be there waiting for him. They had made a plan to meet in the woods like they had since they were young so that they could talk about the new owner of the team and his delicious yet infuriating daughter. Blaine hadn't known then, however, that he would return to the locker room to get his bag and would overhear the conversation that Lenore Fletcher was having with her father. He didn't know that he was going to find out that the woman was planning on trading him and that he would need Jacob for more than just some venting.

He completely shifted just before disappearing into the trees. The feeling of his body taking on its panther form was freeing. Though he spent most of his life in human form, it was only when he took his panther form that he was truly himself and felt connected with the world around him.

Blaine ran until he reached a clearing with a tall rocky formation that hid the opening to a cavern. He entered the cavern and starting pacing around the center chamber, hoping that he could work out some of the aggression. He could hear his own growl reverberating off of the walls, but didn't try to hold it back. Few people would be able to hear it, and even if they did it wouldn’t seem strange for the sound of an animal to come from the woods.

He walked around the cavern for several minutes before he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him. He had shifted back to human form and was already talking by the time that Jacob made it into the chamber.

"She's going to trade me," he said.

"What are you talking about?" Jacob asked.

"When I went back to the locker room to get my bag, I heard that Lenore woman and her father talking about the team."

"Where were you?"

"I was standing right outside the door so I heard every single word. She said that she doesn't care about the team and how it looks. All she cares about is if we win so that there will be more fans. She said that she's been watching the practices and wants to change up the dynamic by trading me."

"To who?"

"I don't know," Blaine said. He turned and dug his fingers back through his hair as a long breath escaped from his lungs. "I didn't hear. I got so angry that I had to leave. How can she do this?"

"She's the one that's calling all the shots," Jacob replied. "She can do just about anything that she wants to, and that apparently includes destroying the team by trading you."

"What the hell is the team going to do if she does that?" Blaine asked. "I'm sorry. That came out as far more conceited and self-important than I intended it to."

"It was a little," Jacob agreed, "but it was also true. You're one of the best pitchers in the league and you're the only one that I'm able to catch for like I do. If she trades you, there's no way that the team is going to do anywhere as well as we have been doing, and we definitely aren't going to get a better pitcher to fulfill her apparent obsession with us winning first in the league this season."

"But what can we do about it?" Blaine asked. "Like you said, she's the one calling the shots. Her father gave her absolute control over the team and she doesn't seem to be having any trouble whatsoever taking on that responsibility. If she really thinks that trading you to some other team is going to be what it takes to push the rest of the team to the top slot, then that is exactly what she is going to do."

Blaine paused, going over what Jacob had said in his mind, and then nodded.

"Exactly."

"What?"

"That is exactly what she is going to do. If she thinks that trading me is going to be what is going to push the team to success, then that is what she's going to do."

Jacob narrowed his eyes at Blaine, looking confused.

"Isn't that what I just said?" he asked.

"Yes. The point is, though, what if that's not what she thinks?"

"But that is what she thinks."

"What are you talking about?"

"What if we can change her mind? What if we can make it so that even she can't possibly think that trading me is what would be good for the team?"

"Then she'd have to keep you and everything could stay exactly like it is supposed to."

"Perfect."

*****

"I understand where you are coming from, Mr. Maddon, but I hope you understand that as the owner of this team it is my responsibility and my prerogative to make whatever changes to the team that I consider appropriate."

Lenore leaned back in her chair and rested her hands on the top of the desk in front of her. The manager sat across from her, looking vaguely shell-shocked at the revelation that she was planning on trading Blaine Williams before the beginning of the season.

"I do understand that, Miss Fletcher. What I don't understand is how you came to the conclusion that Blaine should be traded."

"I don't believe that I need to justify my business decisions to you."

Maddon looked angry, but she wasn't going to let that control her.

"No. I suppose that you don't," he said. He had slowed is speech as if making sure that she understood every word that he was saying. "But as the manager of this team, I do deserve to understand the motivations behind changes that will make a dramatic difference in the dynamics of my team. Taking Blaine out of our team will completely change how we structure the games. We will need to train another pitcher and adjust the way that the rest of the team reacts to the different batters on our opposing teams."

"Well, Mr. Maddon, I believe that is your job. I make the business decisions. You make sure that the team is at its best. It is really that simple. You will figure out a way to adjust to the lack of Mr. Williams being on your team because that is what is happening. You must remember that in a trade, you will also be getting a new player. You will have to adjust to his presence as well. That is part of the game."

"I am well aware of the game. I have been in this industry for more than 50 years and have been managing teams for longer than you have been alive."

"My age is not applicable in this conversation, Mr. Maddon," Lenore said, feeling herself bristle slightly, "and I thank you to show me some respect."

"I mean you no disrespect, Miss Fletcher, but I do ask that you appreciate my side of this situation. We are not just talking about you taking one of my star players right before what could be a team-changing season for us. With you refusing to explain to me why you have come to this decision or who you plan to trade for, you are greatly limiting my ability to act in my position on this team. If I don't know why you want to trade Blaine, then I will never know when you might just decide to trade another player and completely screw up our team dynamic again. As long as you are making decisions that are totally out of the blue, we aren't ever going to be able to finalize plays. We can’t settle into how we interact and play as a team because we'll never know what's going to happen tomorrow. One of the players might pronounce a word wrong or wear a color tie that you don't like and end up getting traded."

Lenore felt anger building in her stomach. When she first interacted with Mr. Maddon he had seemed kind, gentle, and friendly. Though there was obviously some resistance to the idea of a new owner, he was welcoming enough and had even tried to convince the team to be more cooperative with her. As soon as she had mentioned her plans for Blaine, however, his entire demeanor had shifted. Suddenly he had become combative and aggressive, talking to her in a way that she hadn't expected.

"I don't appreciate the implication that the decisions that I am making for my team are arbitrary."

"Your team?" Mr. Maddon demanded, his voice elevating and sharpening.

"My family owns this team, Mr. Maddon."

"Your father owns the team, and at least he has some emotional investment in it. You could care less about the team or any of the people on it. All you want to do is line your pockets no matter what it does to anyone else."

"I caution you to choose your words carefully," Lenore said, concentrating on keeping her tone calm and even. "The players are not the only people who can be removed from this team."

Maddon glared at her for several long, uncomfortable seconds. Finally, he stood and stalked out of the office, allowing the door to slam behind him. She leaned forward and rested her head in her hands, letting out a long breath as she tried to release the tension that had built in her shoulders. Lenore hated that he had pressed her for an explanation about trading Blaine.

Even though she understood that he wanted to know why she would make the unexpected decision to split up the most intimidating pitcher and catcher pair in the league or let go of a player who had been responsible for the majority of the wins in the team's recent history, she didn't want to think about it. The truth was she didn't want to trade Blaine because of his performance or even for the good of the team. She wanted to trade him because of the way she felt when she saw him for the first time, and how much more intense those feelings got when she saw him and Jacob together.