Page 117 of The Strike Zone

My rant was stopped mid-flow by Alice cracking open her Diet Coke and taking a big sip, only to pound at her chest when the carbonation got stuck.

“What’re you gonna do?” she croaked.

I sighed, leaning so far back, the chair almost tipped. “I’m going to tell HR Parker should be done at practice soon, then we can go. I think he has to get the form, I don’t even know. This whole thing is so dumb.”

“What about the job?”

“I don’t want it.” There. It was the first time I’d said it aloud.

I’d been thinking about it all weekend—since the email had come through, since I found out about the possible benching,or worse.The way I saw it, if they wanted to give me the job, it would have been mine already. As much as I loved being here, I didn’t want to work somewhere that had me jumping through hoops for each promotion.

“I like my job now, I’m just going to stay doing it.”

For the first time in Alice Tan’s life, she stayed silent, except for the occasional slurp through her Diet Coke. But even though I was staring out of the window down at the field, I could tell she was looking at me, assessing me, probably judging. I didn’t blame her, I’d judge me, too, if I was the reason Parker got in trouble.

“Alice…if you have something to say, say it,” I snapped eventually.

“I don’t know what I have to say. I’m trying to figure out both sides in my head.”

“And?”

“And…I think you’re right. Even if you take Parker out of the equation, you’ve never been excited about this role and it’s not only causing you to hold yourself back from working, it’s stopping you from living your life too. But you feel obliged. I don’t think you would have been set up for success and you’d have resented all the traveling.”

Obliged. Yes, the perfect word for it.

I’d been put forward for an incredible sounding job, and it hadn’t ever occurred to me to ever say no. It hadn’t occurred to me that it wasn’t the right time. That I should be concentrating on making my current job the best it could be. That a new job and a new challenge wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

I nodded slowly. That was it.Even without Parkerit wasn’t the right time for me to take a new role. The weight lifting off me at making the decision was almost tangible. The anxiety vanished, I could breathe a little easier, my shoulders lightened.

I stood up, no point putting off the inevitable. “I guess I should go and find Ava.”

“The management meeting just started, she’ll be in it.”

I sat back down again. “Okay, I’ll go in an hour.”

“Good idea.” Alice drained the rest of the Diet Coke and tossed the empty can in the trash. The pair of us resumed our watching of the field. The bullpen was empty, which meant the boys were done with practice. “Remind me who this next series is against.”

“The Mets.”

“Ugh, I hate the Mets. I hope we win, and I hope Shithead is watching.”

I chuckled. I hadn’t thought about Mark in so long, but I hadn’t forgotten about how pissed he’d get when the Mets lost. Or the Lions won. “Yeah, it adds a little sweetness to the win, don’t you think?”

“Yup. Sure does. If you and Parker become official, and we nail a win, it could turn out to be a real banner day.”

She sat forward again, resting her head on the glass like she always did, and I turned back to my screen where this week’s content calendar was up.

Joey and Cyrus would be down on the boardwalk, setting up the time lapse we had for all the fans coming through the Lions arch today. We were almost coming to the end of their internship, before they moved onto the PR team, and I would get another couple of interns to teach.

I was deciding whether I’d actually kind of miss the guys when my phone buzzed, my heart juddering when I saw the name pop up, and a broad smile spread across my face.

Parker: Come meet me downstairs for a kiss, and I’ll give you a coffee for free

Scout: I’ll do anything for free coffee.

Parker: Get your ass downstairs, Davison, and I’ll show you what I do for a free coffee

Luckily, Alice had gone back to her desk, there was no one else around to notice when I snorted with laughter. Swiping up my key card, I glanced over to the meeting room where senior management was, and hurried downstairs to find out what free coffee would get me. I’d be back up before they were done, then I could find Ava.

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