Spin Control (12 page)

"Should I be afraid that security might have to escort
us out? I don't want to show up on the scoreboard being
hauled out of my first New York baseball game"

"It would certainly liven things up, wouldn't it?" The
pitcher was setting up for his first throw of the day.
"Okay, gotta watch the first pitch." I leaned forward in
my seat.

I hooted when he threw a strike, and out of the corner
of my eye, I saw Michael flinch. Unexpectedly, I patted
his knee. "There, there, don't be afraid."

411t's just interesting how one of the slowest games in
the country could make you this hyper."

"Don't worry, they usually get me with the tranquilizer dart by the bottom of the third. And besides, I
thought you were a sports fan"

"I am, but I save all my rowdiness for the Lakers"

"Courtside seats?"

"Oh, sure," he casually waved a hand, "me and Jack
Nicholson like to talk shop during halftime. No, I usually was in the nosebleed seats, but hey, I was just glad
to be there"

"And I'm glad to be here, so thank you" Without
barely a breath, I booed with the rest of the crowd when
the ump obviously made a bad call and one of the
Brewers got a base-on-balls.

I turned to Michael. "I guess I should have warned
you that I was uber-fan."

He smiled. "No warning necessary. I'm having fun watching you have fun." I threw my arms up in the air
when a double-play ended the first half of the inning.

I turned to him again. "You now have my undivided
attention for three minutes."

"Man, you really are rigid when it comes to this
game. Have you always been a big baseball fan?"

"Pretty much, but not the Mets until about three
years ago. Oh, here's a good story. I went on a date
once with a guy when I first moved here who claimed
to play for the Kansas City Royals. Little did he know
that they were my hometown boys. Totally caught him
in a lie. And then you know what he said? `Did I say
Royals? I meant Chiefs. I play football.' At this point I
was thoroughly creeped out, but like the naive 22-yearold I was, I overlooked it, thinking that he probably
would redeem himself. And, of course, he didn't. It's
amazing the red flags you can look past when you're
younger."

"I hear that"

"So, what was your worst date, Michael?"

"You mean I have to pick just one? When I was in
my early twenties, I went on a date with an incessant
nose-picker."

"Eww!" I cried.

"Wait, I've got one better. Also in my early twenties,
I was set up with this girl through one of my friends.
Really good looking and smart, he said. And she was.
The only trouble was, even though she was 21, she had
a strict curfew."

"That's creepy"

"Oh, it gets better. Her dad was two tables away from us, making sure no one took advantage of his little girl."

"Poor guy. The early twenties just weren't your years
for dating."

He shrugged and looked right at me. "Maybe my
luck will change"

Suddenly, he shifted uncomfortably. "I, uh, think
I'm going to buy a hot dog."

"But the Mets are just getting up to bat!" I cried.

"Don't worry," he assuaged me, "they'll be up again
at least another 24 times."

"Well, in that case, bring back two for me" He
chuckled and shook his head as he started walking up
the cement steps. "I'm serious!" I called after him. "I
want everything but onion on them too." He looked
scared, which is probably why he obliged.

By the time Michael had returned, an entire inning
had passed. I greedily grabbed the hot dogs. "Thank
you, thank you, thank you! I was worried you weren't
coming back. I wasn't kidding earlier when I said I
wanted to eat my weight in hot dogs. You looked a little
put off when I put in my request to you for them."

"Not put off, just surprised, once again."

"I suppose where you're from, girls don't eat hot
dogs"

"Where I'm from, girls don't eat."

"Too bad. They're missing out!" I took a delicious bite
of my hot dog, perfectly dressed up with condiments. I
examined it, impressed. "Did you put this dog together?"

Michael nodded proudly. "My first job was at a hot
dog stand in Santa Monica when I was fifteen"

"And you're the one who's surprised? Look at you,
Mr. Suave Publicist, with meager beginnings at a hot
dog cart. It's like an E! True Hollywood Story."

"If nothing else, my dad gave me a strong work
ethic. Any job was one worth doing right." He leaned
forward and grabbed a bag. "Here, I got you this, too"

"More hot dogs?" I said hopefully, having almost
polished off my first one. I reached into the bag and
pulled out a starched New York Mets jersey.

"I wanted to give you one of those foam finger thingies, but they were fresh out" He glanced down, looking rather shy.

"Wow. Wow." I shook my head in disbelief. "Get
ready to be surprised again, Michael, because I'm
speechless."

"I'm glad."

"Glad I'm speechless?"

"No, no, glad you like it. Do you have one?"

"Uh, no. The only thing I have is a faded National
League Champions T-shirt from when they played the
Yanks in the Subway Series." I slipped the jersey on
over my red v-neck shirt. "How much do I owe you?"

"Are you kidding? Nothing. Consider it a one-month
anniversary gift."

"A what?"

"Um, uh, one month anniversary of the start of the
Devin account," he stammered. "Not our anniversary,
no. That would just be, well, odd" I watched Michael
stare straight ahead at the pitcher's mound, shoulders
slightly slumped.

I didn't get it. We were talking, laughing, having a great time, and then he made that off-the-cuff comment. What did it mean? Why did I care? I chewed my
nails haphazardly. Needless to say, my enthusiasm for
the game, and for Michael, waned.

"Are you interested in him? Even a little bit?" Anna
and I walked briskly through Central Park. She was her
trendy little self with black yoga pants, a black knit
tank top-and the only redhead I know who could pull
off a pink bandana.

"No, and you know how I know? I ate two hot dogs
in front of him with the works. Did you hear me? Two.
And I didn't even flinch. Now, if this were a date, I
would have sat politely and pretended that hot dogs
made me sick. Besides, he made some off-handed comment that I can't get out of my head"

"Uh, oh. Was it an innocuous comment that you interpreted as hostile?"

"Hostile's not the word. Just perplexing. Things
seemed fine. He bought me a jersey and said it was for-"

Anna halted. "Hold up. He bought you a jersey? That's certainly something above and beyond the call
of duty"

"What do you mean?"

Anna shook her head, her foolish apprentice not yet
as wise as she. "Michael, who you've only known for
what, six, seven months, bought you a jersey of your favorite sports team"

My forehead crinkled as I tried to process what exactly had happened between the two of us the day before at the ballgame. "He was just being nice," I limply
suggested.

"Holding doors open is nice. Taking you to a Mets
game is nice. Buying you a jersey? I dunno, sounds like
someone's got a bit of a crush on you."

"Wait a sec," I raised a hand as we followed a curve
on one of the walking trails. "Ain't nobody crushing on
no one. Right after he got me the jersey, that's when he
got weird." And I told Anna about the anniversary
comment.

Anna shook her head. "Poor guy"

"What?" I exclaimed. "He's the one who's the
weirdo here, and you're giving him the `poor guy'
treatment?"

"Don't you see? He was nervous. He was probably
just trying to cover up his feelings."

"Sure, feelings of regret and remorse for inviting me
to the game in the first place"

Anna pointed a stern finger at me. "Uh, uh, uh, none
of this negative self-talk. Besides, I'll just get the inside
scoop from Miranda," Anna offered casually.

"Please, don't bother."

"You're at least keeping the jersey, right?"

"I may find him somewhat bizarre, but I'm not stupid!"

We picked up our brisk pace again. "Kate, I really
don't think Michael is a bad guy. Maybe he's just not
good around women. Do you know his dating history?"

"He briefly mentioned an ex-fiancee a while back,
and we shared horror dating stories. Oh, and that's another thing. He gave me this weird look and said that
maybe his dating luck would change."

"Don't you see? He is interested in you!" I could
sense Anna's exasperation with me. "That's it, I'm getting some more details on him from Miranda"

"No!"

"Why so adamant?" Anna raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"Why get her involved? My theory is that those two
have something going on on the side, and besides, I
need to learn to deal with this Michael thing on my
own, since if we nail this Devin thing, we're going to be
working together for a long time."

"First of all, I highly doubt those two have anything
going on between them. She talks about him like a
friend, not someone she's dating. Second of all, quit
being so darn stubborn and just accept my help. What
harm is there in talking to Miranda?"

"Gee, I don't know, it could make things even more
awkward between me and Michael, if that's even possible? Thanks for the offer, hon, but I'll just handle it on
my own."

"Not even the slightest bit interested in him?" Anna squeaked in a small voice, moving together her forefinger and thumb.

"I can't believe we're still talking about this. You're
the one who has the big news going on. I feel like we
haven't talked in ages, now that you have to report to a
movie set every day"

"I am busier than I could have ever imagined."

"Good busy or bad busy?"

"Great busy! I don't get to hang out much on the set,
and when I do, it's just for touch-ups, but the eye candy
doesn't hurt. Mmm-hmm" Anna licked her lips.

"All right, who is he?"

"Let's just say that a certain Andrew Trotter has requested me as his personal makeup artist."

I gave a blank stare, and Anna laughed. "Holy cow,
Kate, you really are clueless! I'm amazed at how you can
work in PR and not know who these famous actors are"

"I have never heard of this guy in my life."

"So I might have exaggerated a titch when I called
him famous." Anna shrugged. "He was on some daytime soap for a year, and this is his first movie. He's doing a supporting role in the film. I can't believe he didn't
get his big break until now. Whew. Is he good looking."

"Perfect. You go to work, you have the promise of
hooking up with a hottie. Karma is on your side. I'm
happy for you, really, I am. And by the way, can we
slow it down a bit? We're practically running. And you
know I won't run even if I'm being chased."

"I can't help it! Thinking of Andrew must have just
gotten me going. I just have to take care of the Tommy
thing."

"You're still stringing him along?" I almost felt bad
for the guys Anna dated; I sometimes thought I empathized more with them than with her.

"Oh, he'll be fine. You want to date him?"

"No, thanks, what with the publicity makeover of my
ex-boyfriend and fending off affronts from my
coworker, I'm plenty occupied. So, when can you take
your soul-cleansing trip?"

"That's the problem. No time with this schedule on
the set."

"Oh, is that going to be acceptable to break ritual?" I
teased.

"Maybe Andrew can be my soul-cleansing trip this
time around, if you know what I mean."

"How do you just hop from guy to guy? Teach me,
oh wise one"

"I've tried!" Anna was almost indignant. "But you
want no part of it. I still think if you and Michael got
your feelings out there, things would be much better between you two."

"Oy, why do you keep bringing him up?"

"In all seriousness, I think he might have a thing for
you."

"Again, why do you keep bringing him-this-us
up?"

"I want what any girl wants for her best friend ...
her happiness."

"Are you going to give me your philosophical speech
again about what it means to be happy?"

Anna squinted. "Come on, now, that's not fair."

A twinge of guilt nudged me. "You're right, I might
be a little on the testy side lately."

"I can't blame you," Anna replied sympathetically.
"You have a lot of pressure going on in your life, what
with an ex-boyfriend and a new boyfriend."

"Ack, quit pushing my buttons!"

"But it's so much fun." Anna girlishly skipped. "For
real, anything new with Devin? By the way, I can't believe that jerk showed up at the restaurant a few weeks
ago."

"Has Miranda said anything about him?"

"Not a word. There doesn't seem to be much connection between the two of them"

"That may be what Miranda thinks, but Devin believes otherwise." I tilted my head. "They haven't been
seeing each other, you think?"