5
Getting Cara”s private cell phone number was a piece of cake. After leaving her office, I knew I had to meet this woman.
She is amazing.
Not only is Cara incredibly good-looking, intelligent, and works in my industry - which she knows inside and out because of her father, so she will understand my tight schedule. No, she”s also funny and sweet. At first, I tried to get the receptionist to give me her number, but she was tight-lipped. Then it occurred to me that she must have contacts in Boston NFL circles because of her father. And bingo! Several of my teammates sent me her number. Of course, I was skeptical that it might be the wrong one. Guys like to make fun of those things, but when our tight end Toby Carson sent me the same number, I was sure it was right. Toby and Cara grew up together. His dad and her dad played together for the Boston Foxes in the 1990s.
Now I”m sitting on my couch, excited as a schoolboy, waiting for her to take my call. The phone rings twice more before her voice comes out.
“Hello,” she whispers, “Noah?”
“Hey,” I reply. “I”m glad you answered.”
“Did I have a choice?” she asks, and I have to laugh.
Actually, she didn”t. After all, it”s still date versus cooperation.
“No, I didn”t,” Cara answers the question herself.
“How are you?” I ask instead of answering her nagging.
“Fine, and you?” she asks, and I smile.
“I’m good too. And it’s great that you’ve agreed so quickly.”
“Nothing”s agreed yet!” She snorts, and I grin. It”s going to be very, very fun with her, I”m sure. I just can”t believe that she”s not interested in me at all, as she”s trying to make me believe. After all, she has accepted the conversation.
“No?” I ask provocatively. “Why not?”
“You know why,” she hisses. “You”re taking advantage of the fact that I want you as a client and blackmailing me with a date.”
“I”m blackmailing you?” I laugh again. “Don”t you think you”re exaggerating? I want the date, yes. Why don”t you see it as a quid pro quo that you”re going to make a lot of money with me soon?”
Cara mumbles something I don”t understand.
“What?” I want to know.
“I said it doesn”t work like that,” she repeats, “you”re crazy.”
“Is that how you talk to all your clients or future clients?” I ask, getting up from the couch to get a drink of water. “Because then I can tell you that your career is not going to be a success.”
“My career,” she mumbles. “I don”t think you care that much about my career. You want to go out with me and brag about it.”
Now I have to laugh again and go back to the couch. “Let”s put it this way,” I consider. “There are bigger fish to fry.”
“Noah!” I can see that she is struggling for words. She wants me as a client, I know it. And she knows I want to take advantage of that. We are in a pact situation. “Can you be serious for once? Can”t you see that this will only cause problems?”
I cluck my tongue and shake my head. For me, there are no problems if we don”t look for them. We go out together and we both get what we want.
“No,” I say. “To be honest, I don”t see a problem. Do you?”
“Of course I do!” she shouts. “I see problems everywhere. I want to do a good job and you ... you only think about yourself.”
I sit down on the couch and groan in annoyance. This woman really seems to take everything I say the wrong way. Everything, really, but how can that be? She must realize that this date isn”t the worst idea. We could get to know each other better.
“Aren”t you at all interested in getting to know the person you are about to work with?” I try again.
“Of course, but I...”
My goodness! It really can”t be that she finds another excuse. She wants it too.
“Is that a woman”s thing?” I ask. “That you always find a ‘but’.”
“No, but...”
“You see!” I shoot back. “Once again, you find a ‘but’. ‘But this, but that.’”
“It”s not about my ‘but’, it”s about your ulterior motives.”
“I have no ulterior motives.”
“Please,” Cara replies, laughing gleefully. “Of course, you have no ulterior motives, which is why your first suggestion is a date without even giving me a chance to act as your new agent. Not a serious business dinner, no, a date is what Mr. McCarter wants.”
“Shall we call it a business lunch?” I ask. “Would that make you feel better?”
“Yes!” I laugh and she snorts. “I mean, no, I...”
“You what?”
“You”re confusing me,” Cara mumbles.
The fact that men confuse women is really new to me. I actually think that it’s the opposite, that women confuse men and I bet Cara is especially good at it. She”s getting more and more interesting.
“I”m confusing you?” I ask. “Why?”
“Because you want to go out with me.”
“That confuses you?” I ask and am now really at a loss as to what she wants from me. She”s unbelievable. Does she have no idea what effect she has on a man? Hardly, otherwise she wouldn”t react like this.
“You”re amazing, Cara Catherine Corse,” I say.
“Noah,” she keeps moaning. “I can”t. I really can”t and I don”t want you to say that.”
“Say what?” I ask. “That you”re amazing and that I want to go out with you? That”s just the truth. Do you get asked out so rarely that you”re already uncomfortable with my courtship?”
I hear her breathing heavily. I wait, listening to her erratic breathing. I can”t imagine that a woman like Cara would be uncomfortable being asked out on a date.
“You”re not going to give up, are you?” she wants to know, avoiding my question.
“What if I say I no longer want you as a client? Then you won”t have any leverage.”
I let her question run through my mind. She wants me too much as a client to turn me down. That”s why this question is nonsense.
Still, if I don”t have that leverage, I”ll have to come up with something new to ask her. I think back and forth until I find the solution to the puzzle. If she rejects me, we”re back to square one. Besides, she has no leverage because we can”t work together. That”s Cara”s current reason for not going on a date.
“Actually, that would be the best thing that could happen to us, wouldn”t it?” I say and Cara laughs.
“Excuse me?” she repeats. “You... you can”t mean that.”
“If we didn”t have a business relationship, nothing would stand in the way of our personal relationship. Our problems would be solved.”
“Relationship?” she asks, confused. “No one is talking about a relationship.”
“My god, Cara!” I groan, rolling my eyes. Does she have to weigh every word I say? I didn’t mean a relationship like a ‘couple’. Friendships are relationships in their own way, aren”t they? “Of course we”re still talking about a date. And of course, I still want to be advised by the best agent.”
“Idiot,” she giggles, “but you still won”t get me on a date.”
I puff out my cheeks and groan in annoyance. This can”t be true. “Don”t you want to try it to see if you like it?” I tease. “What kind of sportsmanship is that?”
“I don”t have any sportsmanship,” she replies promptly. “I hate sports.”
“Really?” What is she talking about? You can”t hate sports with that body. “I don”t think so. You don”t hate sports.”
“Yes,” she insists. “I sucked at sports in school. Do you really think it”s better now?”
“How can you compare PE 1to sports?” I ask. “I thought school sports sucked too.”
“You”re a quarterback,” Cara replies, and I hear something rustle. “Sports are your life.”
“Football is my life,” I correct her. “You can”t compare shitty games like dodgeball to football.”
“For me, it”s all sport,” she sighs and rustles again.
“What are you doing?” I want to know.
“I’m trying to open a bag of potato chips,” she answers. “I feel like it.” I can”t help but laugh. I just have to laugh. “Why are you laughing?”
“Well,” I mumble. “Usually women like you...”
“Women like me?” she immediately cuts me off. I press my lips together, hoping I didn”t put my foot in it again.
“What are women like me like?” Cara asks. The bag rustles again and then she smacks her lips.
“Women like you go to the gym all the time, eat only salad, and watch their figure.”
“When am I supposed to do that?” she asks, amused. “That”s impossible. I have a full-time job and a social life.”
I have to laugh again. Every word she says makes me like her more. Cara doesn”t exercise, doesn”t eat salad, and seems to enjoy life to the fullest. I like to splurge on food too, but I usually have to pull myself together. It”s okay on birthdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, but the rest of the time I stick to my diet plan. Lots of fruits, vegetables and nutritious foods. In professional sports, sweets and fast food are not welcome.
“You don”t have time to eat healthy?”
“Well,” Cara sighs and I hear her sit down again. “If you”re looking for a woman who likes to exercise, watches what she eats and generally gives up everything good, you”ve come to the wrong place.”
“Are you flirting with me now, Cara Catherine Corse?” I ask mischievously.
“No,” she says promptly. “I”m just telling you that I”m not who you think I am.”
“I”d like to meet you so I can see for myself what you”re like,” I reply. “Maybe over dinner.”
“You”re really stubborn, aren”t you?”
“Always at your service, my lady,” I reply with a laugh. “So? Tomorrow night? At seven. I”ll pick you up.”
Putting all my eggs in one basket and scheduling our date seems to make the most sense to me. Otherwise, she”ll be squirming around for hours or even days.
“Noah!” Cara wants to moan again and I roll my eyes in annoyance. On the other hand, there”s no point in forcing her to go on a date. It”s important to me that she wants to go out with me as much as I want to go out with her. Unfortunately, that”s not the case at all.
“That”s okay. You don”t want to, I understand,” I give up. “I have to hang up now.”
As if I had summoned him, Alex enters our apartment and quietly greets me. “Alex has come home.”
“Alex?” she asks immediately. “Which Alex?”
“My brother,” I answer, getting up from the couch. I go to Alex in the kitchen, who looks at me with interest. He smiles at me and opens the refrigerator to take out the carton of eggs.
“Your brother?” she asks again.
“Cara,” I mumble and sit down on one of the stools at the counter. Alex looks at me with a grin and takes a pan out of the bottom drawer. “What do you know about me?”
“Not much,” she answers. “Your name, your job, your salary and your bank balance, and the fact that you”re harassing me and trying to blackmail me into a date.”
She makes me laugh again. She must know that under normal circumstances I would never consider hiring her as an agent again. Alex raises his eyebrows and pours oil into the hot pan. I wave him off and signal that I”ll explain everything to him later.
“That”s not much indeed,” I agree with Cara. “And are you sure you don”t want to know more? I”m really interesting.”
Alex laughs and I throw an apple at him, but as a running back he catches it easily with one hand.
“Of course you are!” Cara clicks her tongue. “Let me know if you want me to represent you or not. Bye, Noah.”
“Cara, wait, I want...”
Tuuuut.
I take the phone out of my ear and stare at the screen. She hung up. This can”t be true, can it? I raise my head and look at Alex.
“Hung up?” he asks amusedly, licking his lips. “Looks like Cara Catherine Corse is immune to the McCarter charm.”
“Asshole,” I grumble, stroking my head. “She”s really cool, and I want to get to know her.”
“Do you have a crush?”
I roll my eyes. I just think Cara is nice. There”s nothing wrong with that, right? Alex meets women all the time.
Because you”re not like that, says the little angel on my shoulder and I grimace.
Alex is certainly the bigger womanizer of the three of us. He had a girlfriend for over two years in high school. Daisy. But after she dumped him because she didn”t want to share her life with a budding football player, he changed completely. One-night stands and casual affairs have been on his agenda ever since. I don”t blame him, because I”m no better when it comes to committed relationships. But I get laid a lot less than he does. Our mother now wonders why she gave birth to three boys, including twins, when she still doesn”t have any grandchildren in sight. But I don”t see Alex and I as having any obligation in that regard. What do we have a big brother for? Logan should start.
“Noah?” he asks again. “Do you have a crush on her?”
“No,” I answer firmly. “I just think she”s nice.”
“Good luck,” he says, winking at me. “Toby said Cara generally keeps her hands off the players.” I look at him, annoyed. “Especially the quarterback.”
I don”t believe him. Alex is just trying to make me feel better about the whole thing.
1Stands for Physical Education. Refers to a school subject focused on developing physical fitness.