Bush League: New Adult Sports Romance (31 page)

Allie

There have been more than a few occasions where I found the overwhelming, endless sounds of traffic and construction in New York City too much to bear.  Without fail though, after being away from it for even a short time, on return it all sounded like heaven. New York City was my home and it felt good to be back. My life was here and I got to return to it, away from the craziness of the wedding. It was here that I knew who I was, what I wanted to do and I could think clearly again. The little annoyances that typically marred my commute to work (crowded subway, tourists blocking the sidewalk, burnt coffee from the deli) all made me smile instead, the uniqueness of my life here feeling like comfort instead of aggravation.

The night I returned to the city I stayed up for hours, polishing my latest draft of the article well into the early morning hours, hoping Mikki would understand the direction I took it. It was my job to relay who SharkFin was and more importantly, shine a light on their enigmatic front man via the exclusive access I had. The article needed to convey everything while at the same time, leaving some things to mystery. This reporter wasn't supposed to be a part of the story and for the most part, she left herself and her entanglements out of it. It was time to go face Mikki and the rest of the office and find out what they actually thought of the work I had done.

Just steps from the big, metal doors of the office, my phone rang. I was ready to ignore the call, almost certain it was from my pesky student loan company, when I saw instead that it was my mom calling. They were supposed to leave for their honeymoon that morning.

"Hi sweetheart, just wanted to check in. You left in such a hurry," Mom said before I could even get out a 'hello'. They were excited to leave on their trip and were just killing time at the airport. Mom wished me well at work and hoped I could get back in the swing of things back in the city and that they hoped to visit some time soon. She made some weird allusion to staying up all night with her new husband and I tried to just block that out.

"Listen, before I go," she said suddenly. Every time she started a sentence with "listen" meant something weighted was about to follow. "I just wanted to call to let you know that, no matter what, you should follow your heart."

There was a brief silence as I tried to figure out what she meant. "Ok, Mom. That's why I'm here in the city, following my dreams and all," I tried to convince her.

"Allie, dear. Follow. Your. Heart. You'll never forgive yourself if you don't."

I promised her I would but as I took the elevator up to the office, her words rang in my head. I couldn't help but think about how she was right.

Mikki's office door was wide open and she was already talking as I approached.

"It was rather risque subject matter but you handled it with grace. This is quite deep, actually. Beautiful. Good job," Mikki said. Before I could accept the praise I was certain she was heaping on me, I saw that Dakota was sitting in her office and those words were meant for the intern instead.

"Allie, welcome back!" Mikki cheered when she saw me in the doorway. Dakota had a look on her face like she had been caught doing something. I visualized my hands around her neck if my suspicions were correct and she had stolen my story.

"Dakota has turned in a wonderful story on spec and I think we're gonna run it. We may even take Dakota on full time here. You've clearly taught her well, she can only benefit from learning more from you," Mikki told me while shuffling papers on her desk. I placed my bag down and collapsed in the chair next to the traitor former-intern, waiting to see just how badly she screwed me over.

"Can I read it?" I asked while Dakota avoided my gaze.  Mikki handed me a stack of papers.

"Rough draft, of course, needs some work. But there's really something there. Great initiative, Dakota. We hadn't planned on an article on the songwriter but now I'm glad we have one. Great job," Mikki continued to praise Dakota. A slight relief came over me when I learned my lead hadn't been stepped on. It created less of an urgency to read the article she had written.

"Knock knock," a female voice spoke from behind us, outside of Mikki's office. Without even looking, I fully recognized the voice as one that resembled nails on a chalkboard to me, like daggers in the chest. "Can I steal her for an early lunch?"

As soon as I turned, I saw Vida standing there, pointing at Dakota. I couldn't shake this chick, she was everywhere. Dakota leapt to her feet and met Vida in the doorway, the two surprising the hell out of me by kissing each other right on the lips. My head cocked, I didn't understand. As soon as the two left, I looked to Mikki for an explanation.

"What the hell happened up at that farmhouse?" she asked me as if I had some sort of answer. "Guess that whole supposed relationship with Vida and Finn was bullshit. But I commend you for not including it in your article, there was no reason to make that the focus.”

My head was spinning as I tried to figure out exactly what was going on. Mikki closed her door which made me nervous as that is never a good sign.

"Read your article," she said flatly without a hint of cheer or doom in her voice. “It's good. I was hoping for a more traditional interview but you did create something enjoyable here. Bad news though, I don't think it's quite
there
yet, you know?"

I was a bit insulted by what she was saying. Not quite there? After hearing her praise and then give a damned job to the intern, what could've been wrong with my article?

"Allie, you're great, I love your writing. But this article isn't finished, you know what it needs?"

Clearly I didn't if I handed in something that I believed had all the major parts in play.

"It needs an ending. There's no ending here, Allie," Mikki continued.

This was a point where I wanted to throw my arms up in the air, confused as to what she wanted me to do. Was I supposed to invent an ending, something better than I had already made, to this story?

"They're playing tonight in Brooklyn," Mikki continued. "We don't have passes but luckily I know you have some pull. Go to the show and finish this story."

SharkFin was going to be the death of me, I couldn't get away. Finn had invaded every possible aspect of my life and I couldn't get any relief. If I tried to hand off the show to Dakota, pretty soon she would be taking over my job. There was no other option than for me to take that train to Brooklyn and put an end to all of this once and for good.

*****

Allie

Once I got home from work, I began to worry as I had no idea how I was going to finish the SharkFin story. I could slip in and out without Finn ever seeing me but it was unclear what Mikki expected me to uncover. I had already heard their songs and seen them perform more than anybody else. It wasn't like there was much room for me to have some kind of special revelation or something. Before I even began to get ready, I paced my tiny apartment trying my best to imagine any angle I could take to give the story a unique perspective and dynamite ending.

Purposely dragging my feet as I left my apartment, I knew I would be arriving fashionably late. That, compounded with the fact that it was left to me to figure out how to get a ticket, meant getting inside might prove difficult. Once I got to the club, seeing the large assembly of ticketless people milling around outside only confirmed that this would not be easy.

"Anyone selling? Anyone selling one extra ticket?" I casually asked into the air as I passed huddled groups of people. Nobody responded with an affirmative so it was time to put my feminine charms to use. The large man guarding the door looked anything but impressed as I approached, his eyes staring off into the distance while his giant hand hung onto one end of the velvet rope.

"Ticket?" he asked before I could even give him my pitch.

"Well, you see, I don't have a ticket but I'm..." I stopped myself short of introducing myself as Finn's family. "I really need to get inside, for work. Can you please...?"

The man didn't flinch, instead waving his free hand in the air, indicating that I needed to move along. The sign on the box office read "SOLD OUT" and ruined any hopes I had at scoring a last-minute ticket. The more I thought about it, I could just tell Mikki I had gotten inside, that I had seen the band perform (again) and just go home at that moment and figure out how to end the story. It's not like she would ever know I didn't get inside. Just as I started on my way back to the train, someone called out after me.

"Hey...hey you!" I heard the voice call out. Looking all around, it took me a bit to see it was the girl behind the glass of the box office. She was frantically waving her hand for me to come over. When I approached the box office, my head cocked, trying to figure out what she wanted.

“This you?” she asked while pressing an envelope that read “Allie Green” on it against the glass. Before I could even ask how she knew who I was, she was sliding the envelope under the glass right towards me. “The band left this here this afternoon. Finn told me to keep an eye out for you.”

My good luck hadn't really registered immediately and the girl in the ticket booth had to force the envelope towards my hand. I thanked her in a daze and inspected all that she had given me.

This envelope meant so much more than admission to a rock show. Finn had thought about me and, knowing I lived close, left me a ticket in hopes that I would come. The boy knew right where my heart was and how to get to it. A quick inspection and I also found a pass in there, an "all access" pass that granted me the ability to go wherever I wanted.

"See this?" I asked the door guy while brandishing my new all-access pass. He just looked annoyed and let out a heavy sigh before lifting the rope for me to pass.

One step into the club and SharkFin's music was immediately shaking my body. The drums and bass rattled my bones and Finn's guitar and voice embraced me. These guys had found the perfect combination and how to work perfectly together. The people that crammed into this club were going nuts, eating it all up. Dark silhouettes of arms and bodies flailed all around, so much so that I could barely see anything. I navigated my Chucks along the sticky floor as I tried to find the best position to stand in order to see anything.

Having gotten inside so late, everyone had staked out their position and was remaining firm. There wasn't really anywhere I could go to get a good look. Any flashes of Finn that I was able to steal, I found him without a shirt (of course) but his trusty green guitar slung over his shoulder and wielded like a weapon. The man had presence. On one last inspection though, he seemed a little bit different. Just before I got pushed and almost knocked to the ground, I thought Finn looked almost sad. Lost. Not as cocky and confident as normal.

In a great hurry, I found the access point to backstage, wanting to find a position to see the show without missing any more songs. My guess was that I'd be able to slip out once they were done with Finn never the wiser that I had come. There were quite a few people watching from the wings but I had a much easier time finding a spot to stand with at least some visibility.

"This is another new one...yeah," Finn told the crowd before launching into a song most of us had never heard before. Finn's eyes never left the ground and he wore a disappointed expression on his face. This was not the Finn we all knew, something was up. I had seen plenty of artists emerge from hiding after having just got clean and they always carried some sort of weight with them; when they were working on something so important, there wasn't always time to engage the crowd. This was different though, Finn looked like he had a cloud hanging over his head and it was pouring rain down on his parade.

This boy knew how to get my sympathies. All of the anger and bitterness I felt towards him, all of the rage and anger, it was quickly replaced when he tugged on my heartstrings. I wanted to rush to him and make it all better, make him not have to hurt any more. I tried to suppress it, tried to ignore the strong feeling welling inside of me but it wouldn't go away, only growing stronger. As SharkFin finished their song (to wild applause - btw), I was taking deep breaths, trying to calm myself down.

"Yeah, here's another one," Finn mumbled into the mic and I just couldn't take it any more. Going against my better judgment, I sprinted on to the stage in behavior not expected of those awarded a backstage pass. The other members of SharkFin paused the intro to the song, freezing, unsure of what to do. When Finn looked up to see what the problem was, it took him a moment but soon his eyes landed on me. I watched him do a complete 180; instead of the dour and depressed musician I had watched from the side of the stage, he had transformed into the happiest person in the world. We rushed to each other's side, both beaming with joy but careful not to touch or embrace.

"Um, hey!" he said loudly, the mic picking it up and broadcasting to the entire club.

"Hi!" I waved back, my smile even larger than his.

The crowd was practically silent, waiting for something but I had no idea what to do next. I had interrupted them but didn't have a plan past where I was currently at. The crowd silently demanded something and I felt the pressure building. Finn and the rest of his band were giving me the respect of hearing me out, unaware of my lack of plan. When I couldn't take the anticipation any longer, my body took over for my brain and did what I and the whole crowd had been waiting for. My entire person launched towards Finn, my arms wrapping around his body and my lips pressed to his. As soon as our mouths made contact, the butterflies in my stomach exploded into fireworks and the crowd went absolutely wild. Finn and I kissed deeply as the crowd cheered and hollered as if we had just won Game 7.

"This! This girl!" Finn spoke directly into the mic once our kiss had ended. "This girl is the reason I do this. She's my inspiration, my muse, my everything!"

The crowd erupted once again and I feared the whole building may collapse. Finn reached out for my hand and once our fingers interlocked, he raised our arms up high, again causing the crowd to go bananas. Knowing he had a show to finish, I slowly withdrew my hand and Finn and the band launched into a song with much added enthusiasm. This was a different performer, a performer who couldn't take his eyes off of me. I rushed off the stage and back to the wing as Finn and SharkFin absolutely killed it, a band with renewed energy that could be felt throughout the whole room. Every beat of the drum and my heart leapt, every note from the bass and goosebumps ran over my body. Every time Finn looked at me and I felt dizzy in love.

SharkFin ran through every song they knew how to play and the crowd and I demanded more. If I could've stayed on that stage for the rest of my life, I would've.

*****