August 2008

Orlando, Florida
Global Sports Complex

The mood was festive in the Wildcats’ locker room after their 2–0 whitewashing of the Buccaneers. The team was scattered throughout the clubhouse, in various stages of undress, enjoying a few victory beers. With another game in Orlando the next day to complete the two-game set, the Wildcats didn’t have to worry about a bus trip on a dark stretch of Florida freeway. They were all looking forward to a night on the town.

Gord avoided the celebration, despite the protestations of his teammates, and managed to shower and change in record time. On his way to the locker room exit, he was stopped by a naked Drew Allen. Dripping wet, Allen had just emerged from the shower, beer in hand.

“Gordo, stay for a few beers,” he slurred.

“Can’t, buddy. Next time.”

“Oh, come on. What else are you going to do?”

“Sorry DA, I can’t make this one.” Gord clapped Allen on the shoulder and grinned. “I gotta see about a girl.”

“You gotta see about — ” repeated Allen, struggling to place the quote Gord had just uttered. Suddenly, the light bulb turned on in the first baseman’s foggy mind. “Ah, nice one. Okay, Will Hunting, you do what you have to do.”

Allen turned back to the escalating celebration. Gord bolted out of the clubhouse toward the players’ entrance, which was connected to the auxiliary parking lot at the Global Sports Complex.

The night was warm, but without a trace of humidity. Gord glanced around the parking lot. A few stragglers made their way to their cars, but the area around the players’ entrance was noticeably quiet. Hordes of autograph-seeking fans were not a staple of the Central Florida League, unless someone from the majors was rehabbing an injury.

“Mr. Mattis, Mr. Mattis, can I get your autograph?” a female voice called out in the darkness.

Gord looked in the direction of the voice and saw Kim walk toward him, a pen and paper in her hand.

Gord laughed. “Hey, Kim.”

He leaned in for a hug, but she stopped him short with a Heisman Trophy-calibre stiff arm.

“I’m serious. Give me your autograph.” She thrust the pen and paper toward him.

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“Okay.” Incredulous, Gord obliged her with a shake of his head.

“Great.” She admired his handiwork.

“Do you want to get something to eat?” Gord inquired.

“Sure.”

“Where are you parked?”

“Over there.” She tilted her head back and to the left.

“Lead the way — I’m starving.”

Kim decided to take Gord to the Pomegranate restaurant in downtown Orlando. Located in an urban-chic neighbourhood, Pomegranate was a stylish bridge between the emerging uptown district and the older section of the city.

Kim pulled into the parking garage at the back of the commercial development complex that housed Pomegranate. They made their way from the garage to the street exit and continued around the building.

The atmosphere around Pomegranate was electric. It was just after ten o’clock, and the weekend party crowd had started to build to a crescendo. Dozens of people swarmed the sidewalks on both sides of the street, all dressed to impress.

However, the partiers in pastel-coloured dress shirts and tiny cocktail dresses were heading to the cluster of nightclubs north of the restaurant. This allowed Gord and Kim to duck into Pomegranate and grab a quiet corner table rather easily.

“You pitched really well, Gord,” Kim exclaimed as they perused their menus.

“Thanks. I felt great.”

“It looked like you were throwing harder than I remember.”

“I’ve been lifting weights. I’m huge now,” Gord quipped. He cheekily flexed his bicep at her.

“Oh, God.” Kim looked down at her plate, her face flush with embarrassment. “You’re such a dork.”

Gord laughed. “Seriously, though, it was great having you at the game. It felt like we were back at school. Just like old times.”

Kim smiled warmly and glanced at her menu. “What are you getting?”

“I think I’m going to go with the pork tenderloin. You?”

“The seafood bowl.”

Gord read the description. “Interesting choice. You’re a Florida girl to the end, aren’t you?”

“What can I say?”

The conversation flowed easily throughout their meal. Old inside jokes and odd non sequiturs known only to the two of them dominated the evening. If Gord closed his eyes, he could have sworn they were in the East Quad dining hall on the University of Michigan campus, and not hundreds of miles away in a fancy Orlando restaurant.

However, there were bouts of silence that hung through the air at Pomegranate. But these were not awkward, tension-filled moments. Instead, Gord and Kim, as they gazed into each other’s eyes across the expanse of white cloth, used these silences to rediscover feelings that had long been dormant.

It wasn’t mentioned explicitly, but they both felt a swelling of emotions as the evening progressed. This was acknowledged solely by the exchange of knowing smiles, which appeared and disappeared like a candle flame flickering in the wind.

After dinner, Gord and Kim emerged from the restaurant into the warm breeze meandering across the street.

They walked along the wide pedestrian concourse toward the entrance to the parking garage. Conversation had all but ceased; there was a noticeable gap between them as they walked. They each tried to make sense of the whirlwind of emotions fluttering around them.

They climbed the metal staircase to the second level. The sound of their feet thudding on each step reverberated throughout the tiny stairwell. It was a helpful reprieve from the silence.

Kim stopped on the stairwell landing as Gord continued up the steps. He noticed her absence beside him and turned, looking down at Kim from the middle of the staircase. He watched her. A puzzled look played across her face, like her mind was ploughing through thousands of bits of data, searching for a solution. Kim’s eyes narrowed, confusion reigning, lost in thought.

Suddenly, she focused on Gord and her features changed. A supreme vulnerability appeared as Kim stared up at Gord with innocent eyes, desperately wanting to ask a question, but unsure if she wanted to hear the answer. Surprised, Gord opened his mouth to speak, but Kim interrupted, diving headfirst into murky waters.

“Why didn’t you make a move?”

“What?”

“When I slept over at your place at the end of third year. Why didn’t you make a move?”

“I wasn’t sure — ”

“I basically threw myself at you. And you did nothing.” Kim’s emotions surfaced. “That was so embarrassing for me. I thought you wanted to be with me.” She blinked through tears and looked at Gord, waiting for an answer.

“Kim, I did. More than anything,” he paused, the lament from that night washing over him. “But, I didn’t know how to say it. I wasn’t sure how you would react.”

“What do you mean?” she demanded.

“Well, I’d asked you twice before if there ever was a chance of us being more than friends, and you said no. Both times.”

“You’re right. I was lying to myself,” Kim admitted. “But, in three years, you never showed me you were capable of having a serious relationship. I wasn’t going to be just another notch on your bedpost.”

She’s right, Gord realized. I can’t argue with her. I have to make her understand she’s the one I’ve always wanted.

“Kim,” Gord began, “I did play the field more than I should have. But, you have to know that — and this is the absolute truth — every girl I’ve ever been with, I’ve tried to compare her to you. And they never did. They still don’t.”

She considered his words. “It broke my heart that our friendship ended that night. I was really hurt that you never told me how you felt.”

“Kim, I’ve regretted that for so long, you have no idea. I’ve wanted to be with you since the day I met you. Truthfully, I was scared to tell you how I felt. I was scared to put myself out on a limb like that.”

“I wish you would have.” Kim shook her head sadly. “We could have had something special,” she said wistfully

Gord was buoyed by a sudden surge in confidence. He didn’t have the fortitude to do it three years ago, but he realized this was his second chance. A chance to rectify a lost opportunity. A chance to let the woman he loved know how he felt.

“We still can.”

Gord moved toward her, bounding down the metal steps. His feet echoed on the landing and he grabbed Kim’s face with both hands and kissed her deeply and passionately. In a deserted stairwell in Orlando, Florida, their arms wrapped tightly around each other, Gord and Kim finally succumbed to feelings that each thought were unrequited.

They burst through the front door into Kim’s stylish modern condo.

It was adorned with sleek, cream-coloured furniture atop miles and miles of plush, snow-white carpeting. It looked like a scene ripped from the pages of an IKEA catalogue.

Neither Gord nor Kim paid any attention to the interior design of her home. They were completely focused on each other. Gord pushed Kim against the wall of the foyer, rattling the paintings hanging above them. He dug his teeth into the nape of her neck as Kim moaned approvingly.

Kim reached her hands down toward Gord’s waist and swiftly snatched his shirt over his head, exposing his naked torso. She ran her fingernails down his abdomen and pulled him close by the waist of his jeans.

Gord’s arms were outstretched on either side of Kim, braced against the wall. He moved away from her neck and buried his face into the flesh of Kim’s chest, navigating the soft terrain with his tongue.

Giggling, Kim wriggled her way out of Gord’s grasp and ducked underneath his right arm. She skipped away into the middle of the living room and turned to face him. With a seductive smile, she curved an index finger toward him in a come-hither motion, inviting Gord to follow.

He pursued Kim into her bedroom. Rapidly stripping off their few remaining articles of clothing, they fell onto the bed with their mouths locked together.

Hovering above Kim, Gord stared intently into her eyes. This was the moment he had been waiting for. He had given up hope of its ever happening, but the time had finally come. As if reading his mind, Kim smiled, pulled his head toward her, and kissed him deeply. Gord slowly thrust forward. A gasp escaped Kim’s lips.

Afterward, Gord and Kim collapsed in a heap of tangled bedsheets and pillows. Their bodies, dripping with perspiration, lay blissfully intertwined as their chests heaved, lungs gasping for air.

“That was amazing,” Kim sighed.

“Yeah,” was all Gord could muster. He turned on his side to kiss her. “It was definitely worth the wait.” He wrapped his arms around Kim and pulled her close.

Gord felt the warm glare of the sun wash over his face. He squinted through clenched eyelids and gazed out the large bay window at the glistening aqua blue and green of Lake Lucerne.

His mind drifted back to the night before. Did that really happen? Or was it all just a fantastic dream?

Gord’s questions were answered when something stirred on the other side of the bed. He glanced over at the very real form of Kim lying beside him. She was naked, except for a lone bedsheet clinging perilously to her chest.

Gord reached out and massaged the tanned skin of her upper arm. Kim shifted toward him as the sheet fell from across her chest down toward her navel.

“Mmm,” she replied throatily. “ ’Morning.”

Gord leaned over and gently kissed her forehead. “Good morning to you, too. Do you know what time it is?”

“Let me check my phone,” she answered, propping herself up on her right elbow. Gord gently massaged Kim’s shoulders.

“It’s nine-fifteen.”

He stopped the impromptu massage. “What?”

“Nine-fifteen.”

“Shit!” Gord exclaimed, jumping out of bed.

He hunted frantically around the room for his clothes. “I’m supposed to be at the park at ten. We play at one.”

“Do you want me to give you a ride?”

“No, it’s okay,” Gord said, slipping his polo shirt over his head. “You stay and sleep. I’ll catch a cab.”

Gord ran his fingers through his dishevelled hair and took one last glance around the bedroom, making sure he didn’t forget anything.

“I’ll give you a call on the bus back to Lakeland.”

“Promise?”

“Absolutely,” Gord replied. “I lost you once. I’m not doing it again.”

“Good answer.” She smiled.

“ ’Bye, Kim.” He planted one last kiss on her forehead and slipped quietly out the bedroom door.

Gord could have lifted a mountain. The endorphins and fuzzy feelings of love made him feel invincible. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so happy. Everything in Gord’s life had converged perfectly together. On the field, he was pitching the best of his professional career and, off the field, he had finally captured the girl of his dreams.