Page 9 of Nailing Heat
August: How’s it going over there? Has she calmed down?
I smile at the message. He must have known that this would be difficult. Instead, I prefer the personal touch, so I pick up the phone and call him.
“Hey, man,” he says when he picks up on the second ring. “Still not a texter, huh?” he laughs into the phone, and I shake my head.
“Nope, never really did enjoy it. You know this,” I tell him, sighing. We’ve been friends since college; there’s a lot about me he knows. Like why I’m getting a divorce. August will hopefully be the only person in Tampa to know that secret.
He chuckles again. I can practically hear him shaking his head. “Fine, I won’t make you text me back. I simply wanted to make sure things were going okay.”
“Yeah, I think it’ll be fine. She seems to be calming down from the initial shock of it all.” I look toward the hallway where the bathroom door has just been closed. “It might have been better though, had she had more notice. I mean, you knew I was coming for a week now.”
“I know I did. But I kept thinking that we would find a place for you. I didn’t anticipate sticking you with Amelia. I knew it was a possibility but not my intended plan.”
“I know. But still, you could have warned her ahead of time. I was already here in her space when she found out about me. Notexactly the first impression I hoped to make,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck.
“But it’s okay now?” he asks sounding as if he wants me to agree.
I hear the shower water turning on, and I smile, glad she’s going on about her night. “Yeah, it’s okay now.”
“Good. Are you ready for your first day tomorrow?”
“I think so.” I sigh and then ask the question that’s been on my mind since I heard it slip out of Amelia’s mouth earlier. “What happened with the last trainer? I heard Amelia say something about them not showing up?”
“It’s not that he didn’t show up; it’s that we were sharing him. My brother owns the Miami Marlins, and we were sharing a trainer until I could find one that fit our team. And it just so happened you became available, so life worked out for us,” he asserts. That cocky arrogance that he had in college is shining through.
Same old August. The thought makes me smile. Especially since I haven’t felt like me in quite some time, so some normalcy, even if it’s a smidge of it with August, is nice.
“Glad I could be of service,” I tell him. I tell him a bit of sarcasm and a lot of sincerity.
“Sorry you had to leave your cushy NFL job to come here, but the Blaze is going places. I know you’re probably more comfortable around football players, since you were one, but these girls are special. You’ll see.” I can hear the pride in his tone. Sure, being around the NFL had been great. But it reminded me that I could no longer play. That football life was behind me. So maybe changing to this type of football would be good for me.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for the job and the change of scenery. I wanted to find out if there had a been a revolving door of trainers or what,” I quickly explain.
“I know but you’re used to dealing with guys. We talked about having you work with the MLB team, but I didn’t want you onDrew’s team. I wanted you to come back and hang out with me. It’s a good environment here. I think you’ll like it.”
“Yeah, I’m excited to get started. Feels a little like the first day of school jitters or something,” I say, not entirely joking.
“Well, make sure you get a good night’s sleep. But don’t ask Amelia to pack you a lunch or anything. I’m pretty sure she’d cut your balls off for that.” August chuckles at his own joke.
I laugh along with him. “No doubt.”
“Tomorrow will be good. We’ll get you settled into your office, show you the facility and then you can begin checking over the injured. It’s game day, so you can see them in action as well,” he tells me.
I think for moment and then ask, “And what about the non-injured? Are you going to let me do baseline assessments of the girls?” I bite my lip. I think I know the answer to this question, but I’m going to insist upon it, whether he likes it or not.
“Well, when I hired Lucas and Cary as my original trainers, I had them perform those. There should be documentation of this somewhere in the training room.”
“Yeah, and I’m the head trainer, right?” I press.
“You are.” He says the words slowly like he’s about to explain to a child that it’s nap time.
“So, can I get a baseline of howIthink the girls are?”
He sighs. I get the feeling he’s pinching the bridge of his nose right now, something I saw him do on more than one occasion in college when he was trying to concentrate.
“We’ll have to work it into the schedule,” he relents. “But remember it’s game day, so there will be a lot going on tomorrow. We’ll do it after.”
“Great, and understood about game day. I would really appreciate the opportunity to see where I think they are.” I try to soften a bit. “Besides, you hired me for a reason. Let me work for my money.”
