Page 19 of Love on the Sidelines

"Why would Charlie do that? And how did he know what I'd like?" My stomach should not be flip-flopping right now. Sure, this is the first time a guy has ever brought me food before, but there’s no way he could know what I like, right? Then again, my palate hasn’t changed much over the years. It’s possible he remembers from way back then, but that’s hard to believe.

"Oh, there's this note too."

In an all-caps handwriting that is definitely not the swoops and hoops Brenda usually makes, it says:

Thought you could use a pick me up. Hopefully this gets you through the day.

And I think I've just melted a little inside. I'll give myself a few minutes to revel in this and then move on, knowing I can't date or get serious with him. Guys with more money than I make in ten years at this job will move on right as I fall for them.

But I could really get used to this kind of attention.

10

CHARLIE

"Hey Paul. Sorry I missed that meeting today," I say, sitting in my car in my garage.

I missed a lot while at the city offices. It took almost fifteen minutes to get Stu into his mother’s car without picking him up and throwing him in. At least Ava escaped to get her classes started. I watched her for a few minutes interacting with the kids, and she does a fantastic job of keeping them excited about the stations they’re at.

Paul is one of my right-hand guys and he’s usually in on all the meetings I am.

Ava is a distraction, a big one, but I can't seem to help myself with her. But for the first time, I’m not really sorry I missed the meeting.

"Yeah, that was a surprise. We were all in shock that you didn't show up ten minutes early or even a few minutes late."

I press my thumb and forefinger to the bridge of my nose. I'm losing my drive to be working every minute of the day. So many years I've done that and it was fine. Now, after moving my mom and Emily here and then my mom's surgery, it’s not as high on the priority list as it was before. So while I'd like to say it's all because of Ava, there's been a lot of life upheaval lately.

"I'm only human, man," I say, giving a light chuckle.

"It's good to see that, Charlie. I mean, I've been thinking you were on the superhero side of life since you seemed to never need to sleep or to slow down."

While he means it to be flattering, it only highlights the fact that I've been taking on way too much for way too long. Maybe it's time I slow down and actually delegate everything that I don't need to do. But where do I start?

"What did I miss in the meeting?" I say, hoping to get back on track.

"The arena is almost done. We'll have some final colors to look at this week."

"Perfect. That will be great. I think I'll loop Steve in and then have him attend the rest of the meetings for this."

Paul chuckles and says, "Trouble in paradise?"

I raise an eyebrow, trying to figure out if I should take that as a slight or a compliment. I've made a lot of money through my investments and several businesses. The people who know a general background about that income think my life is perfect and that I shouldn't ever have problems because money solves everything. But money doesn't bring back a beloved father for just one more day. And it doesn't save a sister from cancer, despite the request for the best doctors and surgeons in the country.

"Something like that," I finally say, wanting to end this call. "I'll add you to an email where we detail all this. It's best if you contact the general manager directly.”

I'm way too close to this project and maybe that's why I've been micromanaging it. My dad and I dreamed of creating a sports empire, where we controlled several professional teams in one area. We never had that kind of money growing up, but it’s been fun to take what we thought was only a dream and make it into a reality.

I type out a quick email to the general manager so he's up to speed on my first delegation of this process.

I need to focus on my mom and Emily right now. And let the people working for me finally do their jobs.

The drive from the city offices to the new house is short, which makes me grateful to be here. Everything in Salt Lake took time, even if it wasn’t far away, just because of the traffic.

"How was your day?" I ask Emily when I walk into the house.

"Fine," she says, not turning to look at me. She's watching one of those teen reality shows, something about birthday parties and ridiculously lavish gifts for spoiled kids. I should be nicer, but after that phone call, I'm feeling a little irritated.

So instead of leaving the room, I sit down and watch it with her.

---