The Final Score (3 page)

“So, what’s my job for tonight?” De asks enthusiastically as we finish our lunch.

“You don’t have to do anything, just enjoy the night. I’m so happy you’re here, you have no idea,” I reply. Just the fact that she flew in to be with me for this important night is enough. She did the same thing last year, even though the event was much smaller.

“I want to help. This is
our thing
, it’s our fourth fundraiser. I love being a part of it,” she says with a look of disappointment.

“De, I didn’t mean to upset you
. I would love for you to help me. I’m just so grateful you are here that I didn’t want you to be tied up working.”

“I want to
,” she demands.

So I assign her and Jeffrey to the job of collecting the tickets at the door
and she seems to be happy to have an assignment. I figure they’ll only have to sit there for about an hour and then they can enjoy the party.

After lunch, they head back to their hotel to rest up and I
head home to do the same. With the excitement of seeing Deanna, though, and in anticipation of the evening, I’m too wound up to rest. My mind drifts, remembering our first fundraiser at the bowling alley, which in turn, makes me think of Luke and the night he came up with the idea. Unconsciously, I wipe my dampened cheeks. It’s been awhile since I shed tears over Luke. I busy myself so much that I don’t think of him nearly as much as I did.

That first year, it consumed me day and night
. I hurt so badly. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t pop into my mind at some point, but it’s not nearly as painful as it was then. It seems as though it’s a world away. I struggled for a long time. As much as he hurt me, I still held out hope that he would try to get in touch with me. I expected an explanation. I even thought about writing him, but I never followed through. No, he’s the one that destroyed what we had. It’s been nearly two years. If he loved me, he would have gotten word to me.

Mikey
and Deanna never mention his name anymore. It’s a request I made clear early on, they honor it to this day.

I grow angry at myself for thinking about him now. I have a big night ahead of me, and things have been going pretty well lately. I even managed to go out on a couple of dates this year, nothing serious, but an occasional dinner or movie.

I must have dozed off because the next thing I know, I’m being awakened by Mya barging into my room. “Why are you still sleeping? Get up. Can I borrow one of your dresses?” she asks casually, as if she always wears a dress.

“Why, what time is it?” I ask
, jumping from my bed. Glancing at the clock on my nightstand, I realize I better get moving. “Yeah, sure. Take what you want. Just not the one hanging behind the door; I’m wearing that,” I say as I leave the room, heading for the shower.

“Shit. That’s the one I want.” She laughs, searching through my closet.

“Too bad,” I holler back, pleasantly surprised that she is wearing a dress. I know better than to question her. She’ll change her mind in a second if I make a big deal out of it.

I’m shocked when Mya steps out of her room into the living room
later. She’s toned it down quite a bit, even if it is just for the night. I can’t help noticing how very attractive she looks, although I know better than to tell her.

“You look nice
,” I say casually as we head out the door. She smiles at me appreciatively as she holds the door.

We arrive at The Blue around six
; an hour before the start time. My dad flew in for the occasion and is already sitting at the bar, waiting for my arrival. He looks rather handsome in his blue dress shirt and sport jacket.

“Hi
, Sweetie… Hi, Mya… You girls look beautiful tonight,” he says as he greets us.

“Thanks
, Mr. Martell,” Mya responds.

Now that Mya and I have been friends for so long, my
dad and Deanna have gotten to know her better and have come to accept her for who she is. Once they learnt more about her, they realized she’s basically a nice girl with a few issues, but hell, who has more issues than me?

Deanna and Jeffrey arrive shortly after. My dad is thrilled to see Deanna. He misses the days
where we girls hung out at the house. The thought gives me a jolt of guilt for leaving him alone the last couple of years. To brush the negative thoughts away, I walk them around and introduce them to several people that helped make this night happen. My art professor for one, he is in charge of auctioning off the art work tonight, and Cheryl, my boss who’s allowing me to use the beautiful VIP lounge for the night.

Mikey arrives shortly after seven, bringing along two of his old teammates from the Stone Crabs. Of course, he lights up like a Christmas tree as soon as Deanna comes into view.

“So what do you think of the Bozo De is with?” Mikey whispers to me the second we have a minute alone.

“He’s nice
. We had lunch this afternoon… He seems like he really cares about her,” I answer.

“Really? I talked to them earlier…
Seems like an asshole to me. Where does she find these guys?” he asks while staring in her direction.

Deanna glances over at us at about the same time, almost as if she senses we are talking about her. Mikey raises his glass to her and smiles.

“Be nice. We’re going out afterwards, right?” I say, reminding him of the plans we made earlier in the week.

“I don’t know
. I’ll see,” he says, quickly changing the subject. “J, see the guy with the gray shirt I brought?” He points in the direction of his two former teammates. “His name is Ian; he asked me to introduce you to him. He’s been eyeing you up all night.” He laughs. “He remembers you from one of my games last season when we hung out after. He’s still with the team and he lives locally.”

“I’m not sure
, Mikey. You know… the whole…” I stop myself before saying,
the whole baseball thing
. I don’t need to finish the sentence, Mikey knows what I’m about to say.

Thankfully, we’re interrupted by Mr. Sinclair, my art professor
, informing me that the auction is about to begin. Every piece of artwork has a minimum bid of fifty dollars.

The sculptures go first, followed by the paintings. Most of the items are selling in the hundred to two hundred dollar range, some slightly higher. The last painting up for auction is one of mine. It’s my favorite
; an oil painting of downtown Ybor City at night. The bidding starts at fifty dollars, upped to seventy five, then one twenty five. The price creeps up.

“Two hundred,” Mikey bids, someone calls out three. Mikey raises him to three fifty
and I laugh, knowing Mikey hates to lose, but besides that, he knows it’s going to a good cause. The person hollers out… five hundred dollars.

“Who the hell is willing to pay five hundred dollars for one of my paintings?” I whisper to Mikey and Deanna.

“I would, but this guy must really want it, you’ll paint one for me, right?” Mikey laughs as he lets the guy outbid him.

Everyone congratulates me on my sale and the crowd begins to clear. I’m excited to celebrate with my friends
, but then, Mr. Sinclair calls me over. He’s standing next to a well-dressed, very handsome man, who looks to be in his early to mid-thirties.

“The man that bought your painting has asked to meet the artist
. Jesse Martell, this is Frank Simone. Mr. Simone owns the Frank Simone Gallery on 8
th
Avenue.”

“Yes
, I know it well. I’ve been there several times.” I stick my hand out for him to shake. “It’s nice to meet you. Thank you so much; you’ve made my night,” I say appreciatively, honored that a man of his stature in the art business purchased my work. Not to mention, he owns one of my favorite galleries in the city.

“No
, thank you. You’re work is beautiful. I bought another of your pieces earlier in the night. You’re very talented.”

I can feel myself blush. We talk awhile longer
, discussing our love of art. He asks questions about school and my studies and I tell him about my internship at the Cape May Museum. I must admit, he seems quite impressed with my knowledge of Art History.

When we finally have a lapse in conversation, I realize that the place is almost emptied out and my poor friends are cleaning up. “I’m sorry. I’m holding you up. I didn’t realize it was so late. I better help my friends with the clean up
,” I look over at them. “They’ve already done so much to help me with this. Thank you again, Mr. Simone, for purchasing my paintings. I hope you enjoy them,” I say as I turn to leave.

“It was nice meeting you
, Jesse.” He pulls something out of his jacket pocket. “Here’s my card. Stop in to see me. If you’re interested, I probably can use you in the Gallery.”

“Really? Great
. Thank you,” I reply, taking the card from his hand before I make my way towards Deanna, who’s been watching me from across the room.

“JJ, he is hot! Do you know him?” Deanna asks, meeting me halfway.

“He owns the Art Gallery around the corner. I’ve been there several times, but I’ve never seen him there,” I answer, glancing back over my shoulder to steal another look. He’s in the process of having my portraits wrapped and carried out for him. “I cannot believe he just paid that much for my work.”

“I can. You’re great. This is so awesome
,” she responds.

“Who the hell was he?” Mikey asks protectively as he watches him exit the room.

“He owns the Art Gallery around the corner,” I answer, while De pulls my arm to rush towards the window to catch another glimpse of Mr. Simone as he leaves the building. Two waiters are placing the portraits into the backseat of a black convertible Mercedes that is parked in front of The Blue. Mr. Simone tips them and climbs into the driver’s seat.

“He gave me his card. He said he may be able to use me in the gallery.”

“You’re going to see him, right?” De asks as we watch him pull away.

“Probably
. I’ll wait a couple of days… I don’t want to seem over anxious.”

After cleaning up, we decide to head over to the Green Iguana
again. My dad and Cheryl seem to have hit it off and are downstairs having a drink at the bar. I thank Cheryl and kiss my dad goodbye after making plans to meet up tomorrow.

The rhythms of the Latin music
coming from the various clubs, fills the warm air as we walk the streets to head to the Iguana. Mikey’s friends left earlier in the night, due to an early practice in the morning, which forces him to bond with Jeffrey since it’s just the two of them tagging along with me, De and Mya.

The music fills the room as people crowd the dance floor. A table opens up just as we arrive and we quickly snatch it up. As we finish our second round of drinks, a slow song fills the room.

“Come dance with me; we need to catch up,” Deanna says, grabbing a hold of Mikey’s arm as she drags him to the dance floor. Mya, Jeffrey and I watch as the two of them dance and talk intently on the floor as if they are the only two in the room.

“So
, does the Superstar walk on water, too?” Jeffrey asks sarcastically, breaking the silence as we watch Mikey hold her close on the dance floor.

“He thinks he does
,” Mya snaps, causing us to laugh.

“So does Deanna
. It’s always Mikey did this, Mikey does that,” he says, attempting to imitate her voice.

“I know what you mean
, but you have to understand… they grew up together, they’ve known each other since they were little,” I say laughing sympathetically.

“Oh, I know
. I’ve heard all about it,” Jeffrey replies, laughing. I can’t help noticing a twinge of jealousy in his voice, though. When they finally decide to rejoin us, Deanna takes Jeffrey’s hand as they take a walk outside.

“I thought you guys forgot about us
,” I say, teasing Mikey.

“Not quite
. Guess what I’m stuck doin’ tomorrow?” he asks. I shake my head, having no clue. “She begged me to take him golfing so that she can spend the day alone with you.”

“You agreed?” I ask, amazed.

“Of course,” he answers.

“That was so nice of you
. I’m shocked.”

“Yeah
, well. I have my moments,” he jokes as he downs his drink and turns to Mya. “So what got into you tonight? You look pretty hot. You look like a girl for once.”

“Moment over
,” she says dryly to me while giving him the finger.

“What?”
he asks innocently. “I’m just kiddin’. You look good. I was complimenting you.”

“Thanks
. Is that what that was?” she replies sarcastically just as Deanna and Jeffrey rejoin our table.

After another round of drinks and setting up plans for the next day, Deanna and Jeffrey decide to call it a night. Mikey had Jeffrey doing numerous shots and they
are beginning to take effect. Apparently, on Mikey as well. His glazed-over eyes follow Deanna until she is no longer in sight. I notice his mood change once she’s gone. He orders another round of drinks from the waitress. I can tell he’s up for an all nighter, but I’m tired; it’s been a long day. Somehow, he manages to coax Mya to hang out and drink with him.
If you’re looking to drown your sorrows, Mya is the perfect person to do it with
, I think to myself as I say goodbye.