Chapter 3
1913 Words
Once Bell and the doctor were out of sight, Raegan released a huge breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.
Dr. Jeffries a little breathless, “That one is a looker for sure. No wonder he was voted sexiest player 3 years in a row. I will be in my office when they finish.” With that she turned a left.
Pete walked over to Raegan. “Are you ok? You seem a little shaken.”
“I’m fine.” She lied. “I’m going back to my office. Bring him in when he is done with the docs.”
It didn’t take long before Pete and Nick were at Raegan’s office door.
Reagan, looking up from her laptop, “Please come in and have a seat.” She waved the guys in.
“Are you scared to be alone with me?” Nick asked with a raised eyebrow.
“What?”
Gesturing toward Pete, “Your watchdog, is he staying too?”
“Watch your mouth!” Pete demanded.
Raising a hand to quiet the two men, “Mr. Bell I will remind you that Mr. LeBlanc is your captain. He is here to help you understand how things work, nothing more. Normally after a player, who shows up on time is done with me, he gets a tour and set up in the locker room. That is why Mr. LeBlanc stays during this portion of the intake.” She looked directly at Nick, “However given the late hour and the fact that the locker room has been packed up for the long stretch of road games, you will tour it when we get back into town.” She turned toward Pete.
“Mr. LeBlanc, I believe you had plans for the evening. I have it from here if you want to go.”
Pete gave her a look but she just nodded her head. Pete shrugged and said, “ The plane leaves at 9am tomorrow. We won’t be holding it for you. Be there on time.”
“Will do, Cap.”And then he saluted Pete. Raegan could tell Pete wanted to stay and probably put Nick in his place but to hurry this section on it was best that he leave.
Raegan immediately went into what was expected as far as nutrition and workouts. She explained how PT worked and if it was assigned a player was obligated to show.
After 15 minutes of not giving Nick chance to speak she finally said, “Do you have any questions?”
“Your first name? Why do you refuse to give it?”
Rachael let out a frustrated breath. “First names are personal connection. We are not here to form personal connections. I have found in my 8 years that professional is the only way to be with players. Draw a clear line and avoid crossing it. I never cross the line, Mr. Bell.”
“You seem friendly enough with the Cap.” Nick pointed out.
“There are things that connect us that you would not understand. And no I will not explain it further.” She rose and moved toward the door. “It is time for us to leave for the night. Shall we?”
Suddenly her big corner office seemed tiny with this Greek god taking up all the extra space.
Nick slowly rose to his feet and walked toward the door. He stopped inches from where she stood.
With a smile he said, “I had heard there was an Ice Queen in Tampa. I’m guessing I just met her.”
“You have and you should know she never thaws out. Ever.” She met his gaze before they walked out the door.
Locking the door, Raegan made her way to the lobby. She was relieved to see Pete had stayed to wait for her.
“What happened to your plans?”, she asked.
He shrugged, “Like I said, they could be rescheduled. I didn’t want you walking out alone.”
“I could have seen her to her car.”, Nick said coming up behind them.
“I wouldn’t want to put anyone out but I am capable of walking myself to the car. I do it quite often all on my own.”
Raegan walked through the exit doors first. She was hit by a wave of humidity. Even having lived here her whole life she was blown away by how hot it could be in winter. The sun had set long ago and the lot lights cast shadows every where.
Nick fanning he shirt, “Ugh, did Florida not get the memo that it is February? Why is it so sticky?”
Reagan and Pete said simultaneously, “Welcome to Florida.”
Raegan gestured toward the right, “My car is just over there in the personnel lot. You gentlemen should go ahead and go to the player lot. I will see you-”
“Raegan?” Raegan spun around at the sound of the voice. Pete immediately went into guard mode.
“Carla, is that you?”, She asked in surprise.Stepping out from the shadows like a scared animal was a woman and a small child.
The guard came running up, “Ms. Moore, I’m sorry but their cab left them at the gate. She said she knew you.”
Raegan waved the guard off. “Yes, she is a friend you can go.”
“I’m sorry to bother you at work. I went by your apartment but they said you weren’t home and wouldn’t let us wait.”
“It’s fine. I was just leaving.” She tried to reassure her friend. She walked over and hugged her. When she pulled back she saw the bruises to her face and the cut on her lip.
“Mark hit you again.” It wasn’t a question it was a statement. Carla nodded her head and looked down. Raegan bent down on one knee. “Riley? Are you going to give aunt Rae a hug?”
The child who was hiding behind her mom’s legs launched into Raegan’s arms and began sobbing.
Pete cleared his throat, “Raegan, is everything ok here?”
Raegan suddenly remembering they were not alone, put Riley down and stood up. She saw the up turned lift to Nick’s delicious lips. He had gotten her name with very little effort. In that moment she knew he was going to be a problem.
“Yes, this is my best friend for….well all of our lives. She is visiting from Atlanta. And this little one is her daughter. Gentlemen, I’m going to to again say good evening and head to my car with my friends.”
“I’ll come-”, Pete insisted
“No. Not this time.” Raegan shut him down mid sentence. On that she turned on her heal and left them standing in her wake as she quickly hurried Carla and Riley to her SUV.
Back at her condo, Raegan fixed them all a quick bite to eat. Carla gave Riley a quick bath and then put her to bed in the spare room. Raegan poured them a glass of wine before sitting down on the couch next to Carla.
“What happened?” She prodded.
Carla began to sob uncontrollably. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have come here. But I didn’t know what else to go. Mark really lost it this time. Not just his temper but everything. The car, the house… everything. We have nothing. He lost his job over a month ago but never said anything. When I got a call from the bank about the account being overdrawn I questioned him about it. He blew up and stared yelling. He hit me and began breaking things in the house.” The tears just kept falling. “A neighbor heard and called law enforcement. This time I thought he was going to hurt Riley. When the sheriff came I said I wanted to press charges. The next day they repoed the car and served us an eviction notice. I packed what I could. Used the last money we had available on a card and booked a flight here.
Raegan just hugged her friend close. “You did the right thing coming here. Where is Mark now?”
“Still in jail. The domestic violence charge is minor. They are charging him with embezzling from the company. He is looking at 20 years at least.”
“You have to divorce him, you know this. You are welcome to stay here as long as you need.” Raegan insisted.
“I couldn’t put you out like that. But I have no where else to go . We have no money, no job nothing.” She began to sob again.
Holding her friend close, “Shhhhh. Hush now. You are not putting me out in any way. I leave in the morning for a long away game stretch. I won’t even be here for over a month. I am going to leave you some cash and add you to my credit card. Whatever you need purchase it on there.”
Carla shook her head, “but I can’t. I have no way to pay you back.”
Reagan put up her hand, “Nope. We can work something out later once you get on your feet. I will tell the manager that you will be staying here so there won’t be an issue of them not letting you in. There is a spare key in the kitchen drawer and you can use my SUV while I am gone. The catch is I will need you to drive me to the airport tomorrow.”
“I can do that. If you are sure. I hate that you are in the middle of this.”
“We are basically sisters. There was no way I wasn’t going to be in the middle of this. Take this time to rest and settle in. When I get back we will make a better pain for the future. Do you have a phone?”
Carla nodded no. “It was turned off.”
“I will have a line added to my plan in the morning. We will leave early and get you a phone on our way to the airport.” She assured Carla one more time that she was going to be ok and then they went off to bed.
She checked her phone before calling it a night. She had several missed messages from Pete
who was that
is everything ok
why arent you
returning my texts?
take a breath. That was
my best friend. Her
husband is a creep and
finally got arrested. He
is in some serious trouble
with the law. They lost
everything and she had no
where else to go. She is
going to be staying with me
for a while. I was busy
working out the details.
Don’t get worried if I’m a
little later getting to the
plane tomorrow than
normal.
ok anything I can
do to help?
I don’t think so. I want her
to use my car while we are
gone so she is going to
drive me. I need to get her
a phone first so that could
have me cutting it close.
let me call someone
first. See if I can’t
help you out.
thank you.
- Writer
