Short Story Fiction: Love, Baseball

Short Story Fiction:  Love, Baseball

Years ago, before marriage and my child, I worked downtown in my hometown which is a big city on the east coast.  My family was, and still are, huge sports fans and watched every professional baseball and football game.  I am still a fan of those teams though I was never interested in watching every game but I did keep track of the teams’ standings.  When our team won the World Series, the city threw a celebratory parade for the players and citizens.  The parade went through the downtown streets.  One of the best players, Will, was, as they say, HOT!!!  I was very aware of him, as were most women in town.  Since the parade was passing in front of my office building a few of us went outside to watch.  My work friends knew that I had a “thing” for Will (most women did).  Will’s best friend on and off the field was (and still is) Rick.  Something happened in the parade and it ground to a halt – right in front of me!  My friends were pushing me to go up to Will and shake his hand.  Nope!  I was too shy.  He looked at me but I still wouldn’t do it.  He smiled at me and still . . . No way!!  They kept urging me to make the move until the parade started moving again.  I let my chance slip by and was okay with that decision.

Years later when Will retired from baseball he moved away and left the public eye.  When Rick retired, he started an organization that brought baseball to disadvantaged children all over the world.

Meanwhile, I had married, had a child, and lost track of (and interest in) both Will and Rick.  While our child was in college, my husband died suddenly.  Our child finished college and went on to have her own life in the Midwest.  Being an “empty nester” there was no reason for me to stay in the area.  My husband left me financially well-off and I was able to move anywhere that I chose.  I moved south and found an amazing house on the ocean.

A year or so after moving, I threw myself into fundraising and helping disadvantaged kids in the area.  I worked very hard for a few years and loved my work.  One day, the Director of our organization said that Rick was coming to town to see how he could help in our area.  I thought that was nice and hoped that I would meet him.

About 2 months ago, we had a fundraiser with Rick as the main attraction.  I met him about a week before the event.  I hit it off with both Rick and his wife, Sally.  When we initially met, Rick asked me a lot of questions; where was I from, did I ever work downtown in his baseball town, and finally he asked if I saw the parade of that specific year.  I thought that he was being polite but noticed that he didn’t ask as detailed questions of others.  I was busy so didn’t think much about it.

The afternoon of the gala, Rick texted me and asked if I could meet him beforehand for a few minutes.  I agreed and was hoping that there wasn’t a problem because this was our largest fundraiser ever.  I knocked on his hotel suite door and Sally answered.  We sat in the living room chatting until Rick walked in, followed by Will.  Even at our more advanced ages, Will still took my breath away and I became that 20-something shy woman again.  We were introduced and he said, “You were wearing a green dress at the parade.”  He was right and I told him so.  He said, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you all of these years.”  I thought, “yeah, right!” but I went along with it and smiled. 

That’s when Rick’s wife jumped in and relayed what had been happening for the past week.  She told me that Rick came back to the hotel after meeting me for the first time and called Will.  He told Will, “I found her!”  Will’s response was, “The woman in the green dress?”  There were a bunch of “are you sure” and affirmative replies.  Rick even told Will that I looked the same (what a sweetheart!!!).  They immediately made plans for Will to attend the gala but the soonest he could get here was a few hours before the fundraiser.  Sally said that Will had been a nervous wreck all week and got worse after he arrived today. 

Will asked if I would be his date to the fundraiser.  I did manage to say, “Yes.  Thank you.”  We were seated together (someone I work with must have been in on this) and he waited patiently while I took care of my responsibilities that evening.  We talked and talked well into the night.  He told me that he could never get me out of his mind and that he and Rick discussed me over the years.  Will said that he knew there was something between us the first time our eyes met.  He now lives on the west coast.  He had been thinking about moving back east and said that now he had another reason to do just that.

We are much older than we were at that parade.  We have led our lives.  We agreed to see where this was going and to take this relationship slowly.  The house 2 doors down from me on the beach is for sale so Will is buying it and moving.  He will keep his place on the west coast and he has mentioned a few times about us visiting it.  We spend a lot of time together and it feels like love.  Time will tell how our story ends but as of this moment, it is beautiful.