“Alex, I really appreciate this,” I said to my manager over the phone. “I know it’s not customary for you to send the private jet unless we’re on work business, but I really need to get back to New York as soon as possible.”
“No worry, Brody. You’re one of our star players. I didn’t even know you were going to be in LA.”
“Yeah, it was sort of a last-minute thing, and I shouldn’t have come.”
“So you’ll be back in New York in a couple of hours, then?”
“Well, I don’t know that the pilot will fly that fast. But I’ll be back tonight, or rather tomorrow morning. I appreciate it.”
“No worries. I’ll see you on the field. Rodriguez said he can get back on the field.”
“That’s awesome.”
“Yeah, it’s great news. We’re going to have a press conference next Thursday. Do you think you’ll be able to make it?”
“If you need me, you know I’ll be there, Alex. I owe you one.”
“Great. Thanks, Brody. And hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do on that plane.”
“What do you mean?”
“You bringing some chicks back with you?”
“No. Trust me, no.” I chuckled, though I didn’t think it was funny.
“I’m surprised. Aren’t you the lady magnet?”
“I don’t know about that. But hey, thanks anyway, Alex.”
“Sounds good. I’ll chat to you later.”
“Bye.” I hung up the phone and stared at the private airport in Burbank. I was thankful that my manager had been able to secure one of the private jets for me to fly me back to New York City. This way, I didn’t have to wait for a commercial flight to take me in the morning.
I needed to see Susie. I needed to talk to her, and I was hoping that she’d let me take her to breakfast in the morning. I wasn’t sure how I was going to make that happen, but maybe Finn would give me her address. It was a long shot, because she might have hooked up with someone else.
I sighed and tried not to think about what I would do and how I would feel if I found out she’d been with another man. It wasn’t like she owed me anything, and Finn was right. For all she knew, I was hooking up with someone else as well. Just because I’d called her late at night didn’t mean anything. It didn’t stop anything. And I knew that no matter what she’d done, if she’d been with another man or whatever, I didn’t care, because it wasn’t for me to judge her. While I was jealous as all get out, I knew it wasn’t my place to be judgemental.
“Hey, are you Brody Wainwright?”
As, the pilot headed toward me in the seating area, I jumped up.
“Yep. That’s me.”
“We’re flying into New York?”
“Yeah, if possible. I’m not sure if you can get a spot or if we have to go to Newark.”
“It’ll be easier if we go to Newark, but we might be able to get a spot at JFK. I’ll call air control and see.”
“Okay, awesome.”
“I can let you know, and you can let your driver or.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll get an Uber or a cab or something.”
“Whatever works for you.”
“I appreciate you coming out this late to fly me back.”
“No worries, Mr. Wainwright. We work for the New York Yankees.” He grinned. “Let’s play some ball, eh?”
“Yeah, let’s play some ball.” It was weird how everyone looked at me and thought of me as this awesome pitcher and baseball player, but I had never really been interested in baseball until college. Until I had decided to carry on the legacy that had been cut short in my family.
I wasn’t the one that was meant to carry on the baseball legacy. I wasn’t one that had grown up throwing around the ball with my dad and being the envy of every other player on the school team. I wasn’t the one that teachers said scouts would be after. I was just me, nerdy Brody.
I took a deep breath and ran my hand through my hair. I was still trying to reconcile how I could have gone from my true self to my inauthentic self. Because even though I loved baseball, and even though I was thrilled at every game I won, it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t as satisfying. It wasn’t as motivating to get up every morning.
When I’d been in school, I’d wanted to find a cure for cancer. I’d wanted to research molecular DNA and more specifically recombinant DNA. But all of that had been cut short. I wasn’t even sure if Finn knew how much I’d loved science, how much I kept up with the latest technology and breakthroughs.
“We’re ready to go now, Mr. Wainwright.” The pilot signaled to me, and I followed him toward the gate. There were two air stewardesses standing there beaming at me.
“Good evening, Mr. Wainwright,” they chorused.
“Welcome aboard,” the redhead said. “Let us know if you’d like something to drink or anything else.”
“I’m good for now. Maybe some water?”
“Okay.”
I smiled at them both. I knew what else was on offer if I was interested. It was always on offer for me from everyone. Well, except from Susie. But the fact that I didn’t even care showed me how much I’d changed. Other women meant nothing to me now.
They went about closing up the cabin, and my phone started beeping. I wasn’t going to check it, because I was nervous it was Marianna begging me to come back and let me fuck her. And I knew if I picked up and spoke to her, I’d tell her just how off-putting her desperation really was. For some reason, I did check my phone, and my jaw dropped when I saw it was Susie.
I answered quickly. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she said. “What are you up to?”
“Not much. You?”
“Oh, not much either. I saw you left a couple of messages.”
“Yeah, just a couple.” I chuckled. “I’m surprised you’re calling me back. It’s late there, right?”
“Yeah, but I just got home, and it’s weird being alone. I wanted someone to talk to and figured, well, you had called me, so maybe I could call you back. I didn’t want to be rude. But if you’re busy with your women or…”
“No, I’m not busy. What about you? Did you meet any hot guys?”
“Well, there was one.”
“Oh yeah?” I said, jealousy searing through me.
“Yeah. He told me he wanted to buy me a pair of shoes.”
“Oh, really?”
Yeah, Louboutins. And they’re like $1,500 a pair.”
“And what did you say to him?”
“I said no, thank you.” And then she started laughing a loud, beautiful sound that was infectious.
I started laughing as well, even though I didn’t know what she was laughing about.
“Why are you laughing?” she said.
“Because you are, and I can’t stop myself. Why are you laughing?”
“Because the guy had a foot fetish, and he was a complete and utter creep. And, well, it just reminded me how sucky the guys in New York are.”
“Oh, so you’re saying I’m not the only one?”
“No, you’re not the only one, Brody.”
“Well, I don’t know if that makes me feel better or not.”
“It should make you feel better,” she said. “It made me feel like you weren’t as bad as I initially thought.”
“I just haven’t told you about my foot fetish yet.”
“Please don’t tell me that,” she said with a giggle.
“If I did, would that be a problem?”
“Yes,” she said. “Definitely yes.”
“You sound pretty adamant about that.”
“I am very adamant about that, so I’m letting you know now.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t have one. So where are you?” I said, lowering my voice.
“What do you mean where am I? I told you I’m at home.”
“I know you’re at home, but where at home are you?”
“Oh my gosh, Brody. You’re not trying to seduce me, are you?”
“How am I trying to seduce you?”
“You know what I mean. Are you trying to have phone sex?”
“I mean, if you were willing.” I started laughing before she could respond. “But I’m not exactly in the right place for that.”
“Oh,” she said. “I didn’t realize you were still out.”
“Yeah, I’m kind of partying with women.”
“Sorry. It’s none of my business.”
“Would you care if I was partying with women?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Well, I’m not. At least not now. I was earlier. I was at a party and they were offering the goods, and I wasn’t interested.”
“Okay, so where are you now?”
“I don’t know if you’d believe me if I told you.”
“Try me,” she said.
“I’ll tell you where I am if you answer one question for me.”
“Oh gosh, here we go.”
“No, it’s nothing sexual. I promise.” I smiled. All of a sudden, I was feeling happier than I’d felt in a long time.
“Fine. What’s the question?”
“Why did you call me?”
“I told you why. You called me and left messages.”
“We both know you didn’t want to talk to me earlier.” I laughed. “And for good reason. I’ve been a jerk and an asshole. But…”
“But what?” she said.
“What made you change your mind?”
“Honestly?”
“Yeah, honestly.”
“I guess I kind of got used to talking to you every night before I fell asleep. I know it sounds corny.”
“No, it sounds sweet,” I said, my heart racing.
She sighed. “I kind of miss you too. Is that weird?”
“Why would it be weird?”
“Because we don’t really know each other, and we don’t really like each other.”
“Speak for yourself, Susie. I like you.”
“You know what I mean. We’re just not in the same place in our lives.”
“Maybe that’s true, but that doesn’t mean we can’t miss each other, right?”
“I guess. So where are you?”
“I’m on a plane.”
“You’re what?”
“I’m on a plane.”
“Where are you going now?”
“I’m coming back home.”
“To New York?”
“Yep.”
“But you just got to LA.”
“And I realized I made a bad choice,” I said softly. “I should’ve come back to New York with you guys.”
“Oh. What made you leave right away? I didn’t even know they had flights right now.”
“They don’t, but I’m on a private plane. I should get in early in the morning. And actually…”
“Yeah?”
“I was hoping that perhaps I could take you to breakfast.”
“What?” She sounded shocked, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.
“I want to see you, Susie, and I want to take you to breakfast.”
“I don’t know, Brody.”
“You called me for a reason, right?”
“I mean, yeah.”
“You missed me and I missed you. Well, let’s grab breakfast tomorrow and see.”
“See what?”
“I don’t know. We’ll just see.”
“I’ll meet you for breakfast on one condition,” she said.
“What’s the condition?”
“You’ll tell me why you got upset today.”
I froze for what felt like an eternity but could only have been about thirty seconds. Telling her why meant telling her things I’d never shared with anyone else. But in my heart, I knew that if there was anyone I was going to share it with, she was the one I would want to tell.
“Okay,” I said. “We can talk about it.”
“Really?” She sounded shocked.
“Why do you sound surprised?”
“I guess I just didn’t expect you to be okay with that.”
“Surprisingly, I am. But yeah, breakfast tomorrow? I think I have to turn off my phone. We’re about to take off.”
“Okay,” she said. “Where shall we meet?”
“Text me your address. I want to pick you up.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. We live in New York.”
“No, I’m going to come to your place. Text me your address, okay? And I’ll be there at 10:00 a.m.”
“Sounds good.”
“Sweet dreams, Susie.”
“Thanks, Brody. Have a good night.”
“Dream of me,” I said. “And if you want…”
“Yeah?” she said.
“You can masturbate to me as well.”
I started laughing as she hung up, feeling like I was floating on air.
I thought about her request to hear more about my brothers. It was going to be hard, and I didn’t know that I was ready to go there yet, but for someone like Susie, for someone that was willing to give me a second chance, I knew I had to step it up. I knew I had to give her a reason to actually want to give me a second chance. I didn’t know what I wanted or what she wanted or what any of it meant, but I just knew I had to give it a chance. Both for me and for her.