Center Courtship (38 page)

I laughed out loud and knew the feeling, I needed to change my underwear.

“Mae, we're going to go to the gift shop, you want to come?” asked the girls as they all stood in a line behind me.

I looked across the floor to Elsu who was in deep conversation with one of the coaches. I told Max where I was going and followed the girls through the gate and up the steps of the first section. I saw Gina trying to keep Mitchell entertained during the break. “Girls, hold on!” I said. “Mitchell, do you want to sit down where I was for a little while?”

“Sure!” He hopped up and ran to me. I led him back to my seat and eyed Elsu who was confused by my seat replacement.

“He's bored!” I mouthed to Elsu, and went back up the steps, grabbing Gina as I went.

I quickly introduced Gina to the wives and we made a beeline to the gift shop. Of course, this was the same idea everyone else had. The store was probably packed before anyone was in it with the wall-to-wall Whoopsters gear, now it was a big old box of nope for me. The power in the shop was working just fine and we started looking around. I kept to the outskirts of the store, keeping myself near the wall and an exit plan always in the back of my mind.

Gina stayed with me, which I was truly grateful for. She knew me well. I found a jersey with Elsu's number on it, 11, and decided it would make a nice night shirt so I picked one out and grabbed Aaron a T-shirt to congratulate him on his reveal. I got Mitchell a plush Owl and Brandon a new Elsu poster that Gina said he didn't already have. How he would possibly find room for it on his wall was a problem I was glad I didn't have to deal with.

Gina headed back to her seat and I stood near the entrance to the store and waited for the girls to finish their shopping. They emerged from the store, each carrying a bag. “I could spend a lot more money in there,” said Callie.

“Yeah, it is a bit of Whoopsters overload,” I said smiling at her.

“The owl is so cute, isn't he?” She pulled out a stuffed toy like I had gotten for Mitchell.

“Is that for your husband?” I teased.

“Ha, no. This is for our son.”

“Oh! I didn't know you had a son,” I said.

“We all have children,” said M'Kaya. I was shocked. These women didn't strike me as the mothering kind, but maybe them being parents was what made them more civil than Saraya.

We walked back to the court and I saw Max sitting next to Mitchell, and Aaron was sitting in Max's seat, talking to Brandon. Brandon was being entertained and I was happy.

I quickly handed the gifts to Brandon and Mitchell and now they were both happy, too. I then passed Aaron the bag that had his shirt.

“Why did you get me this?” asked Aaron as he held the shirt up in front of himself.

“That's a congratulatory gift for your awesome sculpture reveal! Plus, you look all stuffy with that button down!” I laughed.

“I had to be presentable for the picture!” he said as he shot me a snide look with a smile. He removed his tie and slipped the new shirt over the one he was already wearing.

I remembered I had a voice mail from Arnold and stepped into the hallway near the VIP door and checked it.

“Mae, dear, there is a woman here who says she needs into your apartment so she can move her stuff into your spare bedroom. She's going to be your new roommate? Why am I always the last to know this stuff? She seems nice enough, but I don't feel comfortable letting her into your apartment without permission. So she and Elsu's uncle are sitting here in my apartment watching the game with me. When you get this, can you give me a quick call?”

Poor Arnold, he always got the short end of my dramatic stick. Little did he know but I was actually the last to know this time. I returned his call.

“Hello?”

“Arnold, it's Mae! I'm so sorry, I just got this message. Is her name Magdalena?”

“Yes, Mae. She's here with Elsu's Uncle Richard. We're having a good time talking about Elsu and you.”

“Oh my God, Arnold!” I dropped my head into my hand. “What are you telling those poor people?”

“It's been a long break, Mae. I've had plenty of time to give out all kinds of juicy details.”

“Hey now, remember, I'm the one who writes your bills!” I was trying to remind him that I was useful.

“Nothing bad, Mae. I promise. There's nothing bad to be said.”

“You're too sweet, Arnold. Tell them they're more than welcome to start moving Magdalena in. Can you point her in the direction of the spare room?”

“I can do that, Mae.” There was a long pause. “Is this thing with you and Elsu good? Safe?”

If he wasn't 95 years old I'd have yelled into the phone, but I behaved. “Yes, Arnold. He's a nice guy.”

“I bet that's what you said about Bart when you first started dating him,” he said quietly.

I couldn't take it. “Don't you dare compare him to Bart!”

“Fine, fine. I'm just putting my two cents out there.”

“Thank you, two cents received, Arnold. I'll be late tonight, tell Richard and Magdalena to make themselves comfortable.”

“Any word on the power? The reporters are running out of things to fill the time with,” said Arnold.

“I can only imagine what they're coming up with. I haven't heard any word.”

“Just a warning, that Saraya lady is making her rounds to anyone who's holding a microphone. Oh, and I've seen the asparagus picture more times than should be legal.”

“Oh no!” I said, just imagining what Saraya could be saying, plus the fact that my picture was everywhere, I needed a drink. “I'll talk to you later, Arnold. Behave!”

“What's the fun in that, Mae? I'll talk to you later.”

I grabbed a rum and Coke from the bar and headed down the hall to the court. Unfortunately, I was intercepted by Carl.

“Mae-Belle, I've been trying to find some time in the evening to come and thank you,” he said.

“Thank me?”

“You made me look like an ass in front of my boss.”

“Carl, I honestly didn't even know who I was talking to this morning. I swear it!”

“Bull, Mae-Belle.”

“Would you PLEASE stop calling me Mae-Belle?”

“Nope, I don't ‘do' nicknames. Besides I'm not going to be talking to you much longer.”

“What are you getting on about, now? Your little plan backfired. Your boss told you to keep Elsu and me together.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I just hate losing. I also hate not getting the last word in.”

I guided him off to the side of the hallway and stood over him. “Let me offer you some advice here, ass! I bruise a little easier than some. I currently have three bruises on my arms and a hickey on my neck. One of the handprint-shaped bruises
belongs to YOU and the others belong to Casper. If you keep your greasy little self away from me and Elsu, I won't tell anyone about them. You want to talk about PR nightmares? You ain't seen NOTHING yet!”

“Prove they're ours.”

“You grabbed me in the middle of a crowded dinner party. I'm sure I could find
someone
to admit to seeing that. I also have pictures of the bruises and I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to make sure someone lined them up to you and Casper's hands.”

I had him, and he knew it. He didn't know what to say but stood and steamed a while. “Don't get comfortable, Mae-Belle.” In a wobbly flash, he was gone.

I went back to my seat and noticed the lights and scoreboard were on. The teams were re-warming up and there was a hum in the crowd. “Finally!” I exhaled as I sat down and took a swallow of my drink.

“Have you had anything to eat besides popcorn?” asked Max.

“No, why?”

“Because all I've seen you do is drink alcohol. You're going to have a headache in the morning if you don't eat something.”

“Oh my God!” I swung around to look at him. “I've had a beer and a half and I'm drinking this. I think I'll be fine. In fact, when I'm done with this, I think I'm going to have another. And hell, after that, I might have another beer and then a shot of whiskey with a fireball chaser!”

“Do you even know what you're talking about?” asked Max.

“No, not really.” I laughed out loud.

I turned around and remembered why I was even there. I felt like I was living in my own little bubble within the game. I needed to concentrate on Elsu. He needed my support. I spent the rest of the third quarter focused on him. He was kicking ass. He made nearly every shot he took and I couldn't keep my eyes off of him and those sexy-ass shoulders. He was playing hard and dripping sweat. He was fouled on at one point and landed at my feet. He tapped my knee gently when he stood up, acknowledging that he knew I was there.

“What did I say?” asked Aaron. “Your presence is super important to him.”

I rolled my eyes at him. I hated being at the receiving end of ‘I-told-you-so's.'

“What happens when he's away?”

“I guess I go with him. He gave me a list of the games he can get me tickets to.”

“Wow! This is serious!”

Was it? Was I in too far? Should I slow it down? I didn't want it to slow down, I wanted…was I willing to admit I wanted it all with someone I just met?

I just smiled at Aaron and watched the game. The final score was 95 to 74. We were victorious. I stood and cheered and screamed and clapped. I had to admit, after all was said and done, I actually had a good time.

“Well, Mae, thank you for these awesome seats! Sitting with you was so much fun! I will keep in touch, and I'll probably be in next week for some more parts.”

“I will definitely keep in touch!” I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and headed toward the locker room hallway.

When we left the court, the players were being interviewed by various news outlets. I stood in the locker room hallway, but as far from the door as possible. The crowd there was insane.

The stocking cap and dark sunglasses wearing guy who had sat in Elsu's fourth seat came to stand beside me. He smiled at me.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi.”

He removed his sunglasses and hat and my heart leapt into my throat.

Phil Handler in the flesh. I'd been watching Phil Handler's movies since I was in high school. He was my obsession. I went to him when I needed to tell someone my problems. His posters knew more about me than I did, probably.

I felt myself begin to sweat nervously at being in such close proximity to him. I had seen all of his movies, many, multiple times. Those dark brown eyes, that gorgeous brooding face.
No, Mae.

“Did you enjoy the game?”

I nodded. If my life had depended on words coming out, I would have been dead on the floor.

“You're Mae,” he said. I wanted to run and hide. How embarrassing was it that my teen heartthrob knew who I was and it was because of that damn picture. Every time I heard mention made of that picture, I wanted to strangle Carl a little bit more.

“That's me, asparagus sucker in the flesh,” I said.

“Asparagus sucker?” he asked.

“Don't tell me you haven't seen my picture.” I watched him pull his leather jacket sleeve back to reveal his watch.

A few of the team members came down the hall and everyone cheered. None of them were the one I wanted.

“I've learned that in my line of work, the less you look at social media, the better.”

“Then how do you know who I am?” I asked.

“Elsu sent me your picture.”

I nearly choked. “He what?”

“Yeah, we're friends. He told me he met a girl. He sent me your picture on Sunday.”

“Sunday?”

“Yeah, he was definitely smitten. He asked me what I thought of this chick who had come to his house and turned his whole world upside down.”

I shook my head. We hadn't even known each other a day on Sunday and he was already ‘smitten'? “Ok, what's the catch? Did he put you up to this? Did he tell you to say this?”

“No! Here,” he pulled out his phone and showed me the picture Elsu had placed on my truck. It had indeed been sent on Sunday.

“Huh,” I said.

“After the bad decision making that caused him to start dating Saraya, I was really nervous when he said he met you. Then I saw the look on his face in this picture and I knew he'd found himself someone special. I never saw this face when he was with that bitch.”

I couldn't stop myself from smiling. “How long have you known him?” I asked.

“He did a cameo in one of my films a few years ago. We connected and have been friends ever since.”

“He's good at that,” I said. I couldn't believe I was standing there, speaking to Phil Handler, my ultimate Hollywood crush and all I could think about was someone else. I didn't want to think about anyone but Elsu.

“You're cute, I see the attraction,” he said as he eyed my Whoopsters outfit. I knew my hair had fallen from its high ponytail and I felt sweaty and grimy from being in the crowd all day. The world was full of liars lately.

I blushed and looked away. “So, will you be coming to games often?” I asked.

“I hope, sometimes he gives me his extra seat if it's available. Something tells me I'll have to get the second seat now. It's nice
that there's an airport not far from here. That's one thing I was worried about when he said he was coming here to play. I like to watch the games, but I like to fly in and leave. I'd never even heard of Mass-ill-on before, I was worried I'd have to get off the plane and drive three hour to get here.”

I had to laugh at his pronunciation. “I can tell you're an out-of-towner,” I giggled. “Technically it's three syllables, but we don't pronounce them. Mass-lin.” I said as I watched a few more team members come through. Where was Elsu?

“Mass-lin, I'll have to remember that.” He winked at me.