Authors: Chamein Canton
She was still tentative. “Are you sure? I don’t want to be
the Yoko Ono of baseball, especially here in New York. The
fans would never forgive me.”
“You won’t drain my mojo. I will be just as ready for this
game as I am for any other.”
“So it’s just a myth?” She still wasn’t quite convinced.
He leaned in to kiss her again. “I’ll prove it.”
Cathy’s heart raced as he took her hand in his and led
her back to the bedroom. She worried about how her body
looked. Even though she’d given birth nearly twenty years
earlier, no amount of cocoa butter had rid her of all the telltale stretch marks. Within a moment her jeans and lacy
panties were off. She closed her eyes and braced herself as
Marcus looked at her.
He was puzzled. “Why did you close your eyes?”
She felt bashful. “It’s been a little while since I’ve been
with someone and I am not exactly the model type.”
“You don’t have a thing to be bashful for, you’re beautiful.”
He laid her across the bed. “Keep your eyes open. I don’t
want you to miss one second.”
His lips caressed the back of her neck and spine to the
very small of her back. Cathy’s passion ignited; she didn’t
know whether he kissed her one hundred or a thousand
times and she didn’t care. Her senses were awakened from
their long exile. She wanted him then and there but he held
back, touching her softly and deliberately. Cathy felt fluid
and as light as silk.
Completely excited, she quickly turned the tables. “Now
it’s your turn,” she whispered.
Never much of the aggressor in the bedroom before this,
Cathy took command of Marcus’s body, tantalizing and
titillating him with her lips. She hovered over his chest to let
her tongue slightly tease him. She softly kissed him every
other moment or so to keep him guessing. His breathing
grew more intense. Nearly crawling out of his own skin, he
lifted her chin. “I have to have you now.”
He reached over into his nightstand to get a condom
and a minute later they were two bodies intertwined making
love in the afternoon…twice.
Marcus showered and dressed while Cathy dozed. She
looked like such an angel, he thought better of waking her
up and decided to make alternate arrangements. He called
Louis.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Louis.”
“Mr. Fox. Do you want me to come for you now?”
“No. I’m going to take another car over. I need you to
come and pick Ms. Chambers up between five and fivethirty.”
“Not a problem. I’ll be there.”
“Thanks.”
Just as he hung up the phone rang again.
“Hello?”
“Marcus?”
“Dad?”
“Yeah. I just wanted to let you know that we decided to
fly down for the game. We should be at the stadium in
plenty of time.”
“Terrific.”
“Is Cathy going to be there?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Good. We’re looking forward to meeting her.”
“Okay, Dad, I’ll see you after the game.”
“See you then.”
Marcus looked at his watch. He had time for one more
phone call.
“Hello?”
“Ben?”
“What can I do for you, Marcus?”
“My parents are coming tonight so I need to make sure
they can sit in their usual spot, plus one.”
“You’re seating Cathy next to them? Does she know
about this?” he asked, knowing it was a big deal for one of
Marcus’s girlfriends to sit with his parents at a game.
“Not yet.”
“Don’t you think she should? If you seat her next to
your parents, you’re telling the world that she’s the one.”
Marcus thought for a minute. “That is exactly right.”
Ben was floored. “So you think you’ve found the one?”
“I know it sounds strange, especially for me, but yes, I
can see a future with her in it.”
Ben smiled. “Okay then, I’ll make a phone call and get
it all straight.”
“Thanks.” He looked at his watch. “I hate to run, but I
have to finish getting ready.”
“See you tonight.”
Marcus made a quick call for another car and went back
into the bedroom where Cathy was just beginning to wake
up.
Cathy opened her eyes and there was Marcus, dressed
in khaki pants and a pin-striped shirt.
He smiled at her. “Hey there, sleepy.”
She pulled the covers up before she sat up. It took a
minute for her to get her bearings.
“How long was I asleep?”
“Not long. It was more of a cat nap.”
She looked at the clock. “It’s time for you to head to the
stadium.”
“I know. But I ordered a couple of sandwiches for us. I
wasn’t sure what kind to get you, so I ordered roast beef. We
didn’t exactly make food a priority. It’s on the counter in the
kitchen.”
“Thanks. I love roast beef.”
“Good.” He looked at his watch. “I don’t have much
more time to get to the stadium.”
She took in a whiff of his cologne. He smelled fantastic.
“You look like you just stepped off the cover of
GQ
.”
He smiled. “You think so?”
“Definitely. You look and smell good enough to eat.”
“Promise?”
“You are so bad,” she chuckled.
Marcus was so hungry for her soft lips. He leaned over
to kiss her.
“You were amazing this afternoon.” He was an inch
from her face.
“You weren’t half bad yourself.”
They kissed again.
“Think we can pick up where we left off a little later?”
“I’m game if you are.”
He winked. “Good.”
“I have to get going, but Louis will be here to pick you
up for the game later. He’s going to drop you off in the
players’ lot, and just like before, Melvin will meet you there
to take you to your seat.”
“Great. Melvin’s a nice young man.”
“Should I be jealous?”
“You’re such a joker.” She playfully hit him. “He’s not
much older than my sons.”
“Well, you are a beautiful woman. I wouldn’t blame
him if he tried.”
She blushed again. “I can’t believe I’m still turning red.
You’ve seen me naked and still I blush like a teenager.”
He kissed her. “I think it’s cute.”
She patted his butt. “Now get a move on. We need a
five game winning streak.”
“Yes, ma’am, I aim to please.” He joked. He picked up
his bag. “Louis will be here between five and five-thirty.”
“I’ll be ready. See you later.”
Once Marcus left, she stretched out to enjoy the butter
soft sheets. Although she missed Marcus, she was glad no
one was there to see the goofy grin on her face. At forty
years of age she had just had the best sex of her rather sheltered life. She had only been with three men: her exhusband, her ex-boyfriend Paul and now Marcus made
number three. Today she felt as if she had traded way up.
Even though she didn’t want to leave the comfort of the
bed, her stomach had different ideas. She was ravenous.
Standing up in the kitchen, she finished her sandwich in
record time. Satisfied on two levels, she took a bath in
Marcus’s spa-like tub. Wrapped in a towel twenty minutes
later, she opened her bag and saw that her sister had packed
several of her sexiest bra and panty sets, along with four
changes of outfits, a couple of sweaters, her makeup bag
and toiletries, enough stuff for Cathy to stay at least a week.
“Maybe she knew something I didn’t know,” she said out
loud.
Cathy began to get herself ready for the game. She
wanted to make sure her hair, makeup and clothes were on
point. Cathy knew being with Marcus Fox meant time in
the spotlight, whether she liked it or not. Over the years,
every hot spot in the city had had a picture of Marcus stepping out with the latest ‘it girl’. But Cathy was the first fullfigured woman he’d ever dated and in a strange way there
was a lot more riding on this than her heart.
She went into the bathroom to quickly finish her
makeup. The phone rang a few times before the machine
picked it up.
“Hi, this is Marcus. I’m not available at the moment. So
please leave a brief message and I will call you back.”
“Hey, baby,” a voice purred. Cathy quickly became
interested in this phone call.
“It’s Sarah. I’m in town and I wanted to see if we could
get together. Give me a buzz. You know the number.”
All of a sudden Cathy’s confidence vanished. Every
insecurity she’d ever had flooded back in an instant. “I’ll bet
he does know the number,” she growled.
Damn it, Cathy!
Stop the madness before it starts,
she scolded herself.
The fact
is that though I feel like I’ve always known him, it’s only been
three days. I don’t have the right to get mad. Marcus didn’t live
in a monastery. He had a social life, a very active social life
before me.
Cathy nearly jumped out of her skin when the intercom
buzzed.
“Yes?”
“Miss Chambers, Louis is here. Do you want us to send
him up?”
“No. I’ll be down in a minute. Thank you.”
Cathy grabbed her bag and headed out the door.
There was a lot of activity in the clubhouse. The players
were in the zone and getting ready to take the field. Game
face on and all suited up, Marcus worked on his glove. Tim
Dugan joined him.
“How’s it going, Marcus?”
“Not bad, Tim. How about you?”
“I’m good.” He hemmed and hawed a bit. “Are you sure
everything’s okay?”
“You saw the paper this morning, right?”
“Yeah. I think we all saw it.”
“I’m not worried about it. As long as she didn’t get
upset, that’s all I need to know,” Marcus said calmly.
“Good. She’s pretty, Marcus.”
“Thanks. I think so, too.”
Just then, rookie Miguel Torres entered the clubhouse.
He seemed excited to see Marcus.
“Hey, Marcus!” he shouted.
“Hey, Miguel.” Marcus smiled at his enthusiasm.
They shook hands.
“You know, Marcus, I met some old friends of yours last
weekend.”
Marcus moved on to cleaning his cleats. “You did?”
“Do the names Melinda and Zoe ring a bell?”
The names rang a bell, but not in a good way. Melinda
and Zoe were baseball groupies.
“I know them.” He was very matter of fact.
“They’re outside and they want to say hello.”
Marcus realized Miguel didn’t know any better. They
were good time girls and that was it.
“That’s all right. Just tell them hello for me.”
“Are you sure?”
Marcus got up. “Absolutely. If you’d excuse me…”
He walked away.
Tim looked up. “Man, don’t you read the papers?”
“Yes. I mean, sometimes,” Miguel answered.
“Did you see today’s paper?”
“No.”
“Marcus has a new girlfriend.”
“Oh.”
“So he doesn’t want to get caught up with a couple of
baseball groupies with new boob jobs.”
“How did you know about that?”
Tim grinned at his teammate’s greenness. “Everybody
Juan jumped into the conversation. “I think Marcus is
serious about his new girl. He walked away without so
much as a second thought.”
“I never thought I’d see the day when Marcus Fox
settled down and forgot about all these crazy chicks.” Tim
shook his head.
Cathy had plenty of time to think about things on the
ride to the stadium. Memory of how Sarah’s voice had practically purred into the machine annoyed the hell out of her.
Am I destined to be another Sarah purring into the machine
like some cat in heat? Am I just a booty call? Could I live with
that? Obviously Sarah is fine with it.
Cathy fidgeted in the car, then sighed out loud.
I broke
my own cardinal rule and slept with Marcus after one date.
Breakfast doesn’t count as a second date. Oh my God! Am I a
ho?
she worried
. After all, what man takes a woman seriously
who slept with him after one date? God, I can hear my mother
now. ‘You were out there being one of those slutty gals.’
She
stared out of the window as they neared the stadium.
I guess
I’d better enjoy the evening; it just might be my last.
“Thanks for getting me here safely, Louis. I got to enjoy
being a passenger for today anyway.”
He looked confused. “You’re welcome, Ms. Chambers,
but I will see you after the game.”
I hope so
. She smiled as Melvin opened the door.
“Hello, Ms. Chambers. Good to see you again.”
“Hi, Melvin.”
“If you will please follow me. We are going to take a
slightly different route today.”
“Lead the way.”
Melvin led her past all the different seating levels.
“Have you ever been field level before, Ms. Chambers?”
“No. I usually come for day games and I can’t be in the
sun.”
“Oh. You won’t have that problem tonight.”
As they walked down a bit more, Cathy glanced ahead
and came to a dead stop.
“Ms. Chambers, are you okay?”
“Are you sure I’m supposed to be over here?”
“Yes. Mr. Fox specifically requested that you be seated
behind the Yankee dugout.”
“Yes, but his parents are there. Am I sitting nearby?”
“You’re seated next to them.”
“Oh, okay.” Her voice squeaked. She sounded like
Alvin the chipmunk.
There they were, Evelyn and Joseph Fox. Everyone in
New York knew Mr. and Mrs. Fox. “Here you go Ms.
Chambers,” Melvin said.
“Thanks.”
Mr. Fox stood up to let her in the row. “Joseph Fox.”
He shook her hand.
“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Fox. I’m Catherine
Chambers. Please call me Cathy.”
“Nice meeting you. This is my wife, Evelyn.”
They shook hands. “Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Fox.”
She sat down.
“Marcus told us we were going to have company.”
Cathy did not want to look like a deer in headlights so
she smiled. Marcus surely hadn’t told her.
“He did, did he?”
“He says your family has a tradition of being Yankee
fans.”
“That’s very true. My great grandfather would take my
grandmother to games when Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
played. So naturally the tradition has continued through
the years.”
“Wow, isn’t that something?” Mrs. Fox smiled.
“So I will be on my best behavior. The only time I ever
yell and scream is at home.”
They laughed.
“Marcus tells us you have two young men in college.
You must be so proud.”
“I can’t even begin to explain how proud I am, Mr. Fox,
but I think you and Mrs. Fox know a thing or two about
being proud parents.”
Before they could say any more the Yankees took the
field. Cathy reached into her bag to put her cell on vibrate
just in case. The game was underway.
The top of the first was a one, two, three inning and
then the Yankees came up to bat. Marcus was on deck. He
looked around at the stands and spotted his parents. Cathy
wasn’t in sight because her watch had slid off and she had
bent down to get it. Mrs. Fox tapped on her shoulder.
“Cathy, I think Marcus is looking for you dear.”
She quickly sat up.
Marcus smiled and mouthed, ‘Hey Cathy,’ and winked
before he stepped up to the plate.
Cathy felt her face break out in that goofy grin. She
silently prayed to God, ‘Please don’t let me be on camera. I
have a dumb grin on my face.’
The count was 0-1. Cathy was so tense about his first at
bat she thought she would wring her hands off. Another
pitch, a curve ball that went a little too inside, the count
was 1-1. She clapped her hands together. “Come on, baby,”
she whispered.
Cathy needed to see a base hit to prove she hadn’t
played Delilah to his Samson. Then the bat made contact,
and she watched as Marcus drove the ball into the gap for
a single.
“All right!” She clapped and smiled at his parents. It was
the beginning of a good night.
By the third inning the Yankees were up 4-2 over the
Blue Jays. Marcus’s second hit of the game was a double
that drove in two runs. Cathy was so caught up in the game
she didn’t realize her cell phone was vibrating in her bag.
Mr. Fox woke her from her trance. “I think your cell
phone’s vibrating in your purse.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Thanks for telling me.”
She quickly got it out. The text message read, ‘Mom
call us as soon as possible.’ Cathy got onto her feet quickly
and turned to Mrs. Fox.
“I’m sorry to put you to the trouble of getting up, but I
have to call my kids. They sent me an emergency message
and I don’t want to disturb anyone.”
“That’s quite all right, dear. I hope everything is okay.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Fox. So do I.”
Mr. Fox got up to let her out of the row. Cathy dialed
Alexander as she walked the steps to the corridor. She
silently prayed again, only for a different reason. ‘Please let
them be okay, please don’t let it be an accident. Please God.’
“Hello?”
“Alexander, it’s Mom. What’s the matter?” Cathy was
freaked.
“Hi, Mom.” He seemed relaxed.
“Alex, you just text messaged me about an emergency.
Are you and your brother all right?”
“We’re fine, Mom. We were calling about you.”
“About me? Why?”
“We were watching the game and then the cameras
panned over to Marcus Fox’s parents and you’re sitting next
to them.”
“Yes, I’m sitting next to them and that was enough to
make you call me like it was an emergency?”
“Sorry, Mom, we were just excited. How did you get
that seat?”
Cathy was relieved and pissed at the same time.
Dear
God, these kids are going to wind up paying for my next visit
with Miss Clairol.
“The game is still in progress. I’ll give you
a call later on and I’ll fill the both of you in. Okay?”
“Okay, Mom.” He seemed suspicious.
“I promise. I’ll talk to you afterwards.”
“Okay, Mom. We’ll talk to you later then.”
Cathy took a deep breath to see if she could somehow
get back the ten years he’d just taken off her life. She
returned to her seat.
“Is everything all right, Cathy?” Mr. Fox asked as she
scooted past him.
“Thankfully yes. They called me because they saw me
sitting next to you on camera.”
Both Mr. and Mrs. Fox chuckled.
“I told them I would talk to them later.” She laughed.
“What did I miss?”
“It’s the top of the fourth and it’s still 4-2.”
“Thanks, Mr. Fox.”
Cathy went back to concentrating on the game for the
Cathy went back to concentrating on the game for the
3. Marcus had a good night; he was 3 for 4. She sighed,
knowing she hadn’t derailed him.
After the game she waited with Marcus’ parents outside
the clubhouse while the reporters and photographers jockeyed for post game positions. Ben Bradford walked out to
greet them.
“Ben.”
“Joe.” The two men hugged.
“Evelyn. You’re just as lovely as ever.”
Mrs. Fox smiled. “Good to see you, Ben.” They
hugged.
Ben turned to Cathy. “Hi, Cathy. I’m Ben Bradford,
Marcus’s agent.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She smiled and shook his
hand.
He looked at her. “I can see why Marcus is so taken
with you.”
Cathy turned red as a beet. “I’ve blushed so much this
week I think I have a condition.”
They laughed.
“It was a good game, Joe. Your boy is doing his thing.”
“I see that. He knows what he has to do and he does it.”
A few more reporters and cameras joined the melee.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Mr. Fox asked
“It’s fascinating to see the attention up close.”
Mr. Fox leaned against the wall. “New Yorkers take
their sports seriously.”
“Truer words have never been spoken,” Cathy said.
“If you will excuse me for a little bit, I think I just might
have to rescue your son,” Ben said.