Page 36 of Hail Marry
My stomach is tight, my heart is beating fast, and my knee is bouncing up and down again. I hadn’t realized how much extra documentation we’d have to provide with this application. Documentation we don’t have. Not all couples share bank accounts, right?
Victoria’s hand comes to rest on my knee, and I stop fidgeting and meet her gaze. She smiles reassuringly.
“We’re doing things a bit backwards, Preston,” she says. “But we can head to the bank right away and get a shared account set up. Would that help?”
“Anything we can provide to prove the bona fide nature of the marriage is helpful,” Preston says. “That’s in addition to your identifying documents—passports, marriage certificate, Luca’s student visa papers.”
“Got it,” she says.
“It’d be best if you could get this stuff to me in the next two or three days,” Preston says. “We want to make sure things are air-tight, especially with Luca’s criminal record. Which reminds me…anything you can include in the file to show that you’ll be an upstanding citizen will be very helpful.”
Luca nods. “My lawyer—my other lawyer, James—has a bunch of stuff from when we filed the petition. I’ll send it all to you. We also have appeal paperwork he submitted in an attempt to get my record expunged, but there’s no way of knowing if it’ll be successful, and it’ll take a few months.”
“Yeah. Appeals are always slow, and we need to move fast. Our primary concern will be making sure you get your EAD—the authorization to work. Right, Zach?”
“Correct,” he says. “No one’s gonna waste a draft pick on a guy who can’t sign the deal.”
“Exactly. After we submit this stuff, we’ll receive an official form you can provide teams, showing things are in the works and that you’re well on your way to getting that EAD. When do things start up after the draft?”
Zach looks at me. He knows the answer, but he must want me to speak up more.
“Rookie mini camp is usually a couple weeks after the draft,” I say.
“Hmm…that’ll be a stretch, but I think we can do it.”
“You’re a magician, man,” Zach says. “We’ll get right on those tasks you mentioned.”
“Great. I’ll be in touch about the next things on the to-do list. Oh—looks like we’re holding things up here again. Gotta run. You can always email me with questions, though.”
“Will do.” Zach grins. “Don’t shank this next drive, bro.”
Preston chuckles. “I wouldn’t even know how.” The line clicks off.
Zach leans back in his chair, looking at us with a smile. “That went really well. You’ve got your work cut out for you, though.”
“We sure do,” Victoria says, checking her phone. “We could make it to the bank before they close if we hurry.”
“Good idea,” Zach says. “And I’ll send you the information about the photoshoot—where to meet the photographer and all that.” He glances at his watch. “Shoot. I’m late for a meeting.” He stands up and grabs his suit coat off the back of his chair. He shrugs it on and heads for the door as Victoria and I stand. “Lemme know how it goes at the bank, yeah?”
“Sure thing,” Victoria says with a smile. How is she so calm?
Zach shoots us one last smile, then jogs down the hall and out of view.
Victoria comes and stands in front of me. “You okay?”
“Areyou?”
“Yeah,” she says. “Just getting ready to spend all your money.” The mischievous twinkle in her eye matches the dimple in her right cheek.
A little stress of the past fifteen minutes sloughs off, and I chuckle. “Maybe we should sign that post-nup before we go to the bank.”
She links her arms through mine. “Too late for that, mister.” She grabs the door handle, then looks up at me. “I’m totally kidding. I promise only to use the money I add to the account. Speaking of which, wheredoMr. and Mrs. Luca Callahan bank?”
I can’t believe how unaffected she is by all the things we have to do that we hadn’t planned on.
“You’re not bothered by any of this?” I ask. “The bank account, the lease agreement?”
“Hey, all I heard is you’re about to buy me a house.” She looks up at me with a teasing glint in her eye as we get in the elevator to take us to the parking lot.
