Stealing Home

First Post

With a loud snore, I wake myself up and immediately have to cover my eyes at the bright light blasting in my face. I never got around to shutting the blinds last night so the light from the living room windows is streaming in and blinding me. I roll off the couch with minimal grace and hop up into a standing position. I sway, unsteady on my feet and rub my eyes.

“You okay?” A deep voice comes from my kitchen and I turn around to see Nolan leaning against my kitchen counter with a mug of steaming coffee in his hands.

“Yeah,” I say then tilt my head and narrow my eyes at him. “What..what is going on here?”

“You don’t remember?” Nolan raises his eyebrow at me then winks and I blush. It makes him chuckle. He grabs a second mug off the counter and walks over to me. I accept it and take a sip, sighing contently. “You were drunk last night, I drove you home, you passed out on me. I didn’t want to wake you up, so I stayed very still. Then I passed out too.” Nolan explains his presence and I’m just shocked he’s talking this much.

“It’s fine. Do you want anything for breakfast? I’m not sure I have anything to make,” I say and make my way past him and into the kitchen.

“I already checked, you have nothing. But coffee,” Nolan adds as an afterthought, lifting his mug.

“Right,” I look around the empty fridge, stalling before I have to turn back to face him. I can feel him behind me in the tiny kitchen. Eventually, I do turn around and he’s only a few feet away from me. I catch my breath and try to think of something to say. “Well, I should probably get ready for work,” I try to say as a hint that he should probably leave.

“Alright,” Nolan says but he doesn’t move an inch, just takes another sip from his mug.

“Alright, soooo, goodbye Nolan,” I say with a little smile and gesture towards the door. Nolan chuckles but then he chugs the rest of his hot coffee while I watch in fascination and horror. Then he washes the mug out and sets it in the sink. He looks at me for a second too long and I clear my throat, “any time now, dear.”

“I’m going,” Nolan raises his hands in surrender and backs out of the kitchen. “See you around,” Nolan says when he finally reaches the door.

“Yeah, okay,” I let him leave then look out the window by the door and watch him drive off. I lock the door and then head back to my bathroom. I really need to take a shower before I head off to work today. It is the last day before my first major league game. I still feel like there is a lot I need to do before I’m ready for tomorrow.

I shower quickly and get dressed in clothes comfortable for running around the stadium but also comfortable to sit in my tiny office for a few hours. I need to make sure everything looks good so far and begin posting.

The locker room is empty when I finally arrive. I head straight to my little office and flick on the light. It is a small space for sure but I have some ideas on how to make it more welcoming. But I will have to do that another time because I need to get prepared for tomorrow. I set my things on my desk and sit down in the chair, which is surprisingly comfortable.

“Okay, time to get to work,” I say out loud to myself then turn my computer on and figure out how everything works. I scroll through my emails on my phone and find all the information needed to log into the computer securely. Once I’m in, I find my company email and realize I should have done this first before exploring yesterday, but it’ll all work out.

Accessing all their social media accounts is quick and easy. I scroll through their older posts and some of them are good, others need to go. I chuckle at a few of them.

“Delete…delete…delete…” I go through saving posts but deleting them from the public’s view. Then I pull up the photos that I took yesterday and scroll through them, looking for the best option for my first post. I find the perfect picture to start then add in parts of the video I took and then I begin making a few edits while also looking at a few ideas for captions.

Right as I finish publishing the post, there is a knock on my door and I look up to see Marcus standing in the doorway. I smile and push my chair back from the desk.

“Hey! I officially just published my first post!” I gesture for him to come into the office and around my desk to look at my computer. I would have him go through his own social media account but I’m too excited to wait. Marcus walks over behind my desk with me and leans over to look at the computer.

“‘Day 1 of our Staff Appreciation posts’,” Marcus reads the caption out loud and I make a face, not super catchy, I’ll have to revisit later. He takes a couple of seconds looking over the post then he stands up, “That’s me.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, “Is that okay? I hope I did you justice. I really thought we got some good footage and I really liked hearing your story, I thought others would too…” I trail off, waiting for his reaction.

“I’m gonna be famous,” Marcus says after a few seconds. I laugh and he chuckles. “Hey, can you send this to my wife? She would love it!”

“Of course!” I laugh and he tells me her i********: account so I quickly shoot off a short message to her, introducing myself and sending the post to her. “Done!”

“Oh, that’s awesome,” Marcus laughs again, in disbelief and leans back down to scroll through the post again. I smile watching him enjoy the post, glad I chose to move forward with that idea first.

“Well, I’m glad you approve, seriously,” I give a little sigh in relief and then go back in to share on other social media apps. “First post is officially done.”

“Shall we go for a stroll around the stadium?” Marcus offers his arm and I stand up and slide my arm through his.

“Of course, I would love that,” We walk out of my small office together and I lock the door before we head out the tunnel out onto the field. “Oh yeah, I needed to get out of that tiny office.”

“Been cooped up in there for a couple of hours?” Marcus laughs as I blink, adjusting to the sunlight.

“Just a few,” I chuckle then reach for my camera and look through the lenses to adjust to the lighting outside. “Any advice for my first major league game tomorrow? Well, the first game where I am working.”

“Don’t lose your badge,” is his first piece of advice. I hold it up to show him that it has been around my neck all day, even when I was just sitting at my desk. “Pay attention to the game.”

“Meaning?” I ask while staring through my lense at the field, focusing on our shortstop this time.

“Meaning, make sure you look up from your camera and watch the game. Keep your camera ready of course because you never know what will happen. But don’t focus on getting one specific player rather than just shooting what’s going on in front of you,” Marcus goes on and I nod in agreement. If I’m too focused on one player or one shot, I might miss something amazing, something that would look great on the team’s social media.

“That is some great advice, Marcus, thank you. Will you be at the game tomorrow?” I snap a few more pictures then record a short video of someone in the outfield picking up a ball that was hit and rolled out to him.

“Of course. First game of the season, I request to work it every year. I’m sure I would have to work anyway but just in case,” Marcus grins while he looks out across the field. “Looks like someone is trying to get your attention.” Marcus points out across the field and I see Carter gesturing for me to come to him.

“Ah,” I say when I see him. “Alright, well, I guess I’d better go see what he wants. I’ll see you later.” I give a wave and then set off across the field.