Bush League: New Adult Sports Romance (33 page)

   
*****

Madelyn

1 Month Earlier

The ring entered the room before Mother did. She hadn't visited me once in my four years away at college so I naively assumed that she had scheduled this meeting to celebrate my upcoming graduation. The giant rock on her finger tipped me off that she had other things on her mind.

"Maddie, hi!" she yelled across the restaurant with arms wide open. Standing up from my table, I couldn't help but notice just how cheerful she looked, not quite as downtrodden and exhausted from life as usual. While I should’ve been happy at the sight of a less stressed mother, I had experienced her long enough to know that the pendulum swung both ways; every upswing was soon followed by a punishing, rapid moving downswing. Her hands moved to embrace my body with careful attention turned to keeping the precious ring from making contact with anything, lest it get scratched.

"So you have some news, do you?" I asked while eyeing her suspiciously. Sure I was disappointed she was going to steal my thunder but I also found some happiness for her; maybe whoever blessed her with that ring would be the key to some sustainable joy.

Mother insisted that we sit before she would detail anything. Our table in the middle of the restaurant didn't offer much in the way of privacy but I doubted she intended to keep her news secret.

"This is the only table?" Mother asked while looking around. "What about one of those empty booths?" She snapped her fingers and called for the attention of any server who could hear her until I begged her to stop.

"Mom...Mom, stop! This is fine," I pleaded and she finally lowered her hand, the gleam from the giant diamond on her finger almost blinding me. "I already asked if we could sit in one of the booths and they said no. This is fine."

"Maddie, there's no one in them. If we just ask ..."

"Mom, stop. Please." My embarrassment was impossible to hide, I never wanted to be one of those people who demanded my own comfort at any cost. No one could ever accuse me of being high maintenance.

"But if it's something you want. I mean, we are the customers here..."

Even now, many years after meeting each other, Mother and I still didn't get each other. She had her ways and I had mine and the two rarely, if ever, matched up. Though each of us had pretty much given up trying to get the other to act the way we wanted, there were still the occasional frustrating moments like this where one of us made the fruitless attempt at trying.

"So, who is he?" I asked while taking her hand in mine so I could examine the rock she was wearing.

"His name is Carmine. Carmine Fratelli."

Before she could continue, my face dropped. Her new beau, Carmine Fratelli was the founder and CEO of Mama Fratelli's Pizza, one of the largest pizza chains in the country. He was one of those infamous rich celebrities the rest of us normal people loved to hate. It wasn't the food I objected to (I had personally contributed most of my money to the chain's success), it was the brash, slimy nature of the very man my dear mother was set to marry. He was in the news quite often; some outlets celebrating the self-made billionaire while most loudly criticized the way he loudly threw his money around and his reckless behavior. There was a story just a few months ago of him wrecking a brand new, $200k car in a parking lot and just walking away from it. While most of the country struggled to pay their bills, this man laughed in our faces, having more money than the general public could ever dream of.

"Maddie you have to give him a chance," Mother pleaded. Her continued use of my childhood nickname really started to get under my skin.

"When...when did this happen?" I stammered.

"A few months ago. You're so busy with school, I didn't want to bother you unless I thought it was starting to get serious. He just proposed last week, that's why I'm here."

My arms folded across my chest. "Oh, so you're not here for your only daughter's graduation from college?"

She appeared surprised. "Oh no, I...of course I'm...when is it again?"

It should've hurt more than it did but I wasn't surprised. "It's ok, you don't have to come."

"Ok, are you sure? Because I have to get back to planning for the wedding. We're gonna do it soon. What are your plans for this summer?"

This was our relationship, I had frequently been an afterthought to my mother. Though maybe I should've, I never really thought of her as selfish, just easily distracted. She was reliable in the sense that I always needed to remind her of dance recitals, graduations, birthdays. It was what it was.

"Well, I'm trying to get an internship with a lab at the school. My best friend Becca and I are gonna get an apartment in town. My boyfriend Derek is trying to get his own place down the street."

Mother beamed with what I hoped was pride. "It's good to see you going after what you want, for once."

As I thought the best way to respond to that, our waitress arrived. Mother's order was more elaborate than I had ever seen her, a number of items as apparently, money was no longer a worry. My selection was much more conservative but a dish I loved dearly, one that kept me coming back to this restaurant.

“Sorry, dear. We're not offering that today,” the waitress told me, her face frowning as she pretended to be as disappointed as I was.

“That's ok, I guess I'll just have the house spaghetti dish, sauce on the side please.”

The waitress' face twisted a little bit more to let me know that more bad news was coming.

“Actually...that dish is prepared with the sauce mixed in...”

One look at my mother and I saw that she was watching on with delight, wanting desperately to see how I would handle things so that she could tell me later how she would've handled it differently. I just wanted the whole interaction over with.

“Ok, that's fine. Just bring it, that's fine,” I said quickly to the waitress while shoving the useless menus into her hands. The second she had left our table, my mother started in.

“Maddie, dear,” a deep condescending tone already wrapped around her words, “you're never going to get what you want in life if you refuse to stand up for it. Between the seating here and the food, you've let them walk all over you.”

“Mom, I didn't...it's just easier...”

“Maddie, there's two types of people in this world: those who get what they want and the sad, bitter people too afraid to go after anything. Don't be bitter, you're too young.”

I’m not proud to admit that I crossed my arms and tried to look away from her, pouting like the little brat I worked so hard to prove I wasn’t.

"Seriously, Maddie, you're stronger than you give yourself credit for," Mom continued. A gleam appeared in her eye as she leaned in closer and held my hands. "How about you come to live with me this summer? Carmine has a huge estate and I don't have to work...we could have fun together, use the opportunity to get closer."

Had she not heard me lay out my carefully made plans for post-graduation? This was the classic impulsivity that made my mother who she was. Even if I did decide to go along with her sudden plan, she'd likely forget about her idea by morning.

"Mom, I already told you..."

She quickly let go of my hands, happy to be resolved of the sudden plan she had blurted out. "Ok, but if things change, you let me know."

There was but a moment of silence before she lit up again, happy to share more news with me. "There's another surprise for you," she said, waiting for my excitement level to match hers. When it didn't, she continued anyway, "You're gonna have a new stepbrother!"

Her revelation caused my blood to run cold. How could I have forgotten about the billionaire's brat? The infamous spoiled heir to the fortune was in the news even more than his arrogant father. Rorke Fratelli, an absolute menace wherever he went, starting fights in the street, constantly driving around drunk. He never hesitated to swing at the paparazzi that followed him around and antagonized him. To be honest, after seeing this bastard Rorke acting like an entitled jerk one too many times, at one point I genuinely considered swearing off Mama Fratelli's pizza forever; I didn't want to contribute to this delinquent's wealth. Now I was being delivered the news that I was going to be related to him and I made no effort to hide my disgust. "Mom, gross."

"Oh Maddie, stop. Yeah he's a little challenging but he's not that bad." She couldn't even look me in the eyes as she lied to me. It couldn't bother me; sure I was now related to the tabloid twins but I was going to be far away, building my life in another town with Derek, the boy I loved.

"It's your bed, you can lie in it," I told her, hoping to be done with the gross subject.

"Where is that waitress?" Mom suddenly wondered, "she's never even brought us water. As far as I'm concerned, that's three strikes. You want to get out of here?"

Unlike my mother, I didn't blame the waitress for the business she couldn't control, even if it appeared we were the only customers in there. "Mom, let's just wait. It's not her fault."

My mother's disappointing look was ten shades heavier than my own. She just shook her head as we waited patiently for the waitress to return, each passing second validating my mother’s belief that I was a doormat. 

*****

*****

Madelyn

My heart fluttered with excitement as I walked up the concrete steps of Derek’s apartment building. It had been weeks since I had last seen him and I was planning on giving him a big reward for being so patient. Underneath my modest top and pants were the sexiest lingerie I owned, a pair of matching pink lacy bra and panties that I had been saving for a special occasion. It was probably the most confident I ever felt, head held high, chest out, ready to ravage my man.

   Peeking between the blinds and his window, I could only make out his feet at the end of his couch. Poor guy was sleeping. After a deep breath, I pushed open his foolishly unlocked door and stopped dead in my tracks. There, on the couch I had sat on a million times, my boyfriend was horizontal and on top of my former best friend Becca. It was too late for her to try to cover up her pushed up shirt and bra or him to do anything but slowly pull his hand out from inside of Becca’s pants. For a minute there, I had hoped that this was some kind of reeeeallllly elaborate prank and gave them a good second for the reveal that never came. It was too much for me to even comprehend in that moment, all I could do was turn and start to run away.

“Madelyn, wait. Wait!” Derek pulled his pants up as he tried to chase after me. Something in me desperately wanted for him to be able to make this better, make this ok. Against prevailing wisdom, Foolishly, I stopped to give him a chance to fix this.

“Look, I didn’t want you to find out this way,” he said while gently holding my shoulders like you would do to a young person who wasn’t paying attention. He continued speaking but I didn’t hear much, instead lost in my own thoughts as the gravity of the situation started to weigh down on me. I was stunned and confused. My silence hadn’t stopped him from rambling on,

“It’s just...” he said while looking up to the sky for an answer. His eyes the found mine as he levied the knockout punch. “You’re boring. Not fun. You never want to do anything exciting. Studying, tv, sleep, that’s it. We’re young, these are supposed to be the best years of our lives and you’re too afraid of doing anything fun. It’s boring and I can’t live this that.”

Every emotion I was capable of having turned up to 11 and overwhelmed my body, I didn’t know what to feel. Rage came out on top when I noticed that whore Becca sliding up behind my boyfriend and resting her head against his shoulder. She was marking her territory, what she had outright stolen. All I could do was shake my head, too weak to just turn and walk out forever. There was a great fear inside of me that I’d regret having this as my last memory of Derek.

“If you don’t want to live together anymore this summer, that’s cool,” Becca added in a baby voice that made me want to punch her in the face. The battle lines had now been firmly drawn in the sand and I just couldn’t be around these people anymore, probably forever.

“This is goodbye, Derek.”

My goal had been a strong, declarative statement but instead what came out sounded cliche and weak. Still though, there was no way to take them back once they escaped my betrayed lips, the lips that had been dreaming all day of pressing against Derek’s. I tried to storm off with some dignity but the heels I was wearing made it hard to move gracefully. Damned if I didn’t try though. I could've sworn I heard Becca snicker as I stumbled out with the grace of a newborn Bambi.

My head was still held high and my eyes dry as I located my car. It wasn’t until my car door was completely closed that I let out a guttural scream that was so loud and painful, it almost made me go deaf. Problem was it didn’t make me feel any better. All of the consequences of those selfish assholes was becoming clear to me.

I no longer had a boyfriend. The only boyfriend I’d ever had and put so many years into, Poof, gone.

I didn’t have a best friend any more but, eh, I wasn’t dying over that one.

The most pressing issue became clear: I didn’t have a place to live over the summer.

My blood ran cold as it all started to come together. Without a roommate, I couldn't afford an apartment on my own. Without an apartment, I could take my dream summer internship in the lab. The two people closest to me had ruined my life with the ultimate betrayal.

Once I got it together and drove away from that traitor’s apartment building, I searched for a place further away to park. Under the only working street light, I sent a barrage of texts and emails (sometimes both) to anyone I knew who might possibly be staying around for the summer. Maybe I should have waited until I was less panicked but I didn’t, desperate emails met almost everyone I had even somewhat known in college.

“Sry - full house this summer. You can stay like a day or two if you want.”

It was mind blowing just how many people sent pretty much the exact same response. While I hadn't immediately heard back from everyone, the possibility of finding a place to crash was starting to look worse than grim. Reality was cold and harsh as it became clear that I wasn't going to find anyone in town to take me in. The panic continued as I drove myself home to the apartment I’d have for only three more days. Not only was I going to lose the internship, I was going to be homeless. The possibility of being out on the streets didn't occur to be even in the realm of possibilities as I prepared myself for life after college yet it was soon a growing likelihood. Desperate times can make a person sink lower than they ever thought possible and I prepared myself to go that low. After the deepest sigh I had ever released, I typed and sent the urgent, desperate text I had never, ever wanted to have to send.

“mom - something really serious has happened and I really need a place to stay for a bit”

After pausing for a moment, I sent a followup text:

“or else i'll be homeless”

As I watched my phone in hopes of a soothing reply, I was disheartened to not see one pop up immediately. What was worse was that I was able to see that Mom had read my message. "Read 9:52 PM" it said under what I had sent but still no reply from my dear mother. Hoping it was a signal issue, I drove myself back to the apartment, checking the phone at each stop light. Nothing. My phone rested next to my head that night as I tried to sleep but no message ever came.

*****