Page 96 of Brick Wall
“Hey!” I say, finding her sitting at a small bistro table already. She stands up and I greet her with a side hug.
“Thanks for meeting me here,” Scarlett says, as we both sit down at the table. “I already got you a coffee.” Scarlett hands me an iced coffee. I don’t care that it’s January—I drink it religiously all year long. I take a sip, and it’s divine.
“Thank you.” I take another sip. So good. I momentarily lose my train of thought through the excitement of iced coffee, but I regain it fairly quickly and remember my manners. “Thanks for asking me here! We should do this more often.”
“I agree.” We both take a sip of coffee, and after a minute, Scarlett asks with a straight face, “Sebastian still have the playoff beard going?”
Shit. My coffee goes the wrong pipe, and I cough, splattering some coffee out. I wasn’t expecting that question from her.
“Yes.” I roll my eyes in the process. I love a man with a beard, don’t get me wrong, but Sebastian’s beard is borderline ridiculous. I can’t wait until the final game of the year is over.
She smiles slightly, but it doesn’t meet her eyes. She takes another breath, and then states, “I’m not sure what I should do about the Super Bowl.” She pauses. “I know Sebastian has told you some of it. He asked me if he could, and I agreed.” I nod in response. “I haven’t been back to the West Coast in five years.”
“Does he still live in the city?”
It’s her turn to nod and then after a moment, she says, “I know the city is big, and the odds are slim, but the memories…” She pauses again, and I remain silent, waiting for her to say more. “The memories are hard. I swore I would never return to the state. Those were the worst ten years of my life. I left the girl I used to be on the West Coast. I have no desire to go back.”
On instinct, I place my hand over hers and slightly squeeze, hoping to make her feel comfortable and supported. I’m not too sure what to do, to be honest.
“Sebastian understands. You have been such a big supporter of him, and he appreciates it. You’ve already been to so many games this season. Don’t feel like you have to go.”
“I want to go, though. Sebastian could only get two tickets for the last two, and my mom and sister went to them both together. The first Super Bowl, well, I still lived in Cali and was in a bad place. For the second one, I had the stupid flu, and Olivia went in place of me at the last minute. I want to go. I want to cheer him on in person. I also want to go to theSuper Bowl for me, to experience that, you know.”
“You should,” I firmly state. “You deserve that, Scarlett, you do. If you want to go, I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
She doesn’t instantly react to my offer, so I squeeze her hand and add, “Think about it, okay?”
She takes another breath. “Yeah, I will. I think I probably will take you up on that, though.”
“I hope you do.” I mean every word.
* * *
Almost two weeks later, I am entering a hotel in San Francisco with Scarlett to check into our room. We decided to share a hotel room together, mainly because it would be fun, and everything was practically booked already.
Sebastian’s mom offered to host us at her home an hour north, but we decided a hotel in the city would be better than Scarlett’s childhood home. Plus, getting a hotel is easier and closer to the stadium, especially because our trip is a short one.
We decided to do a quick trip; we arrive on Saturday afternoon and leave on Monday morning. I have a lot of work to do, and I want to save those PTO days for other vacation plans.
Scarlett texted me the day after we met for coffee, saying she wanted to go and if it was possible for Sebastian to get her a ticket and if I meant what I said about sticking together in San Francisco. I absolutely was. I am so excited to spend the weekend with Scarlett and cheer on Sebastian and the Revs,no matter the length of time.
Sebastian has been busy all week preparing for the big game tomorrow. It’s not like we would have seen each other much. Plus, I enjoy spending time with Scarlett.
Olivia is staying with her mom, and we will meet her and Linda at the stadium for the game, along with a few of Sebastian’s extended family since he was able to get a few extra tickets thanks to the combination of teammates and the exorbitant reseller marketplace.
My brothers are also here. They flew in on Thursday and are making it a weekend. They got their seats to the game on their own accord, so they are sitting on the other side of the stadium, but we have plans to meet up tomorrow.
Scarlett and I are dead tired and we’re going to hang out in the hotel for a bit and rest, which is totally fine by me.
Later, I get a text from Sebastian stating they are done for the day. They did a team dinner, which worked out fine because Scarlett and I kept it easy and ordered room service.
“Hey, Scarlett!” I say, to grab her attention. “Sebastian just texted. Do you want to meet up with Seb and Cal with me?”
I look Scarlett directly in the eyes when I ask her. I want to gauge her facial reaction.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” Scarlett easily agrees to the plan.
I want to know more if his roommate has anything to do with her easy agreement, but I refrain from asking.
