Chapter Eight Rome
T HE VISITORS CLUBHOUSE of the Ottawa Diamonds had enough recliners to sit our entire team.
The chef was, I had to admit, at par with our own.
None of us grumbled when we had to travel to Canada for games—the Diamonds really knew how to take care of their visitors.
The clubhouse always smelled clean, the carpets freshly washed, every surface reflective without a speck of dust to be seen.
The friendliness of the staff had us being just as polite.
We arrived around noon to fill our bellies as we split up to each do our thing.
Brett grabbed the only hot tub room, so I plopped down on one of the comfy chairs.
I sat in a corner, a wall at my back, as I reclined and fished my phone out of my pocket.
Alex and I had texted a lot since I left his apartment, but it had been over forty-eight hours since we actually spoke.
We exchanged plenty of selfies, something I noticed that quickly became a trend for us.
Already I had saved four pics of him on my phone, each one a selfie in a different location.
I popped in my earbuds as I thumbed through the menu to video call Alex. I had no idea what he was up to or if he would even answer, but I wanted to give it a shot.
He answered before the second ring finished. His smiling face popped up with a familiar background, the wall of photos in his apartment.
“Well, hey you,” Alex said. “Um, buongiorno !”
Adorable. Absolutely adorable. He even put an Italian inflection on the word. I responded in kind, then settled deeper into the recliner to prop my elbows on the armrests and hold my phone properly. “Hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”
“Nope, not at all. Just editing. It’s my life.”
“What do you edit, anyway? Like filters or something?”
He tilted his head back and forth. “In a way. A lot of it is selecting the right shot from the hundreds that I took. Then there’s exposure adjustments, color corrections, retouch spots if I need to… it can be a hassle sometimes, but I find it relaxing, to be honest. Put on some tunes and zone out.”
Something seemed off as he spoke. I couldn’t put my finger on it until he turned his head to look out his window at something. Then I realized it was the hat he wore. It was on backward, and I caught sight of the bill as he turned.
“Is that my hat?” I asked. It looked a size too big on him.
He turned back and smiled. “It is. You left it here. Hope you don’t mind that I’m wearing it…”
I started to get hard. What on earth…? That seemed like a silly thing to kickstart my libido but there it was. I glanced around the room to verify no one was looking and quickly adjusted myself as a collage of mental images of a naked Alex in just my hat assaulted my mind’s eye.
“I think that’s great. You can keep it. It’s yours now.”
He nodded and thanked me. “Hey, congrats again on the win last night. You’re, like, some kind of home run king, aren’t you?”
“If that’s a title you wish to bestow upon me, hey, I’ll take it. Yeah, the Diamonds are always an interesting team to play. They don’t have a lot of legacy players. A lot of changeups. Always keeping us on our toes.”
“And tonight is the second of… three?” He had been typing something as he spoke, then looked at the screen. “Annapolis for four games and then Allentown for two games.”
I nodded. “You got it. Then home.”
“Do you ever get sick of all the hotels?”
I see-sawed my head. “It depends. Most of the accommodations are pretty good. It can get lonely, though.”
He perked up a little at that. “Are you… allowed to have guests?”
I grinned. “It depends. We have strict policies about guests staying with players.” He deflated and it wrecked me. So I added, “Hey, I’ll be home in a week. Don’t you worry. You can fall asleep again on me soon enough.”
Alex rolled his eyes and shook his head. He said something but my attention snapped up to the woman who just walked into the room. She wore a tweed mini skirt, heels, ivory blouse, and had long blond hair she kept in a low ponytail.
“Hey, I gotta jet,” I said as I saw her zero in on me. “Oh, send me a pic with you in that hat, ‘kay?”
“Will do. Text you later.”
“Bye,” I said and wiggled my fingers at the camera. I clicked it off and pulled out my earbuds. “Emma. What egregious error have I done to summon the head of communications?”
She pulled up an ottoman, sat properly, and placed a tablet on her lap. “No error, Romo. Just some curiosities.”
Two years ago she had been nothing but friendly.
Leaning toward a good gal pal, actually.
Then, at a party, she made her intentions known and I made my disinterest known.
We’ve been cordial since then, but I always felt the proverbial elephant waddle into the room whenever the two of us had to interact.
“I haven’t been out to any bars lately. And I don’t think there would be any salacious shots of me at Sunday mass.” I tapped my finger against my chin. “I think I may have given a nasty look at the Brawlers’ third baseman the other night. Do you need to spin that?”
She had been looking at me deadpan while I spoke. When I finished, she crossed her arms on her lap and leaned toward me. “Been seeing anyone lately?”
My face drained of its blood. Her brow rose at the obvious reaction. “Why do you ask?” I tried to play it cool but my palms had already begun to sweat.
“No reason.” She leaned back and woke her tablet, then, with spider-quick fingers, tapped through a series of selections until she came to a photo album.
She flipped the tablet around for me to see.
She hit the center and a video played. Me, up to bat, winking at the camera.
Well, they would assume I winked at the live feed, when in reality, it was directly at Alex.
She swiped to the next one. Another video. This time with terrible audio and from the same POV of me asking, “Got my good side, right?” to Alex.
Another video. This one of me gesturing toward the camera well and then pumping my fist in the air when I got the response I wanted from Alex.
She scrolled on the album reel until she came to a series of pictures.
All of them were Alex’s and all of them were of me.
They were not the typical action shots, although I knew he took plenty of them.
They were mostly candids of me not playing the game, like interacting with fans, sitting in the dugout in concentration, or half cast in the evening shadow.
(That one I loved. I had him upload it to our site.)
“What are you getting at?” I asked.
Emma shrugged. “I dunno. You tell me.”
Whatever color had drained from my face returned. My nice guy persona only went so far. “Emma. What are you getting at?” I asked again, this time enunciating my words.
Her shoulders lifted as she held up the tablet. “We’re getting rumors, Romo. One of the camera guys has been blabbing his mouth about how you made eyes at one of the photographers. Someone at Hiroshi’s recent birthday party said you snuck away for an hour with—”
“That was a private event,” I interrupted. “Hiroshi doesn’t let anyone in who would squeal. Where are you hearing this information?”
Emma shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.
What matters is how we handle this.” She held up her hand to prevent me from speaking.
“Look, I don’t care if any of this is true or not.
I don’t. What I care about is the perception of the team.
That’s what needs to be addressed. You’re not just Romolo Moretti, you’re a Rider and you represent the New England Riders brand.
I can get your cousin Joe on the phone and have him walk through your morality clause of your contract, if you want. ”
Acid burned down my esophagus and eroded the congeniality that permeated my system. “What does what we’re talking about have anything to do with my contract’s morality clause?”
She held up her hands again but this time it seemed more for herself to calm down.
“Rumors move fast, especially when they’re about the game’s most elusive and private player who hasn’t been seen out on a date in…
well, ever . I’m here for the business, not for the game.
And this? This is all business, Romo. This has nothing to do with the game. ”
I saw Hiroshi walk into the room and do a double take when he saw the obvious lack of my affable demeanor. As he came over, Emma said, “Okay, look. Let me level with you. It’s okay that you’re gay. I think it just makes sense for you to come out before it’s leaked to the press and—”
“Emma, what the hell are you doing to my player?” Hiroshi asked. Her head snapped up to him. “Why does Rome look so agitated? What are you saying to him?”
“I’m doing my job, Hiroshi. Your boy here is obviously gay and we need to get ahead of it to…”
I stood and got out of that room as quickly as possible.
Behind me, Hiroshi launched into a tirade that I’m sure would make me proud to call him my captain and my friend.
Instead, I stumbled down the hall on numb feet until I came to the hot tub room.
Brett had been climbing out of the cold plunge and grabbed a towel as I slipped into the room.
“Bro. What happened? You’re white as a ghost.”
My feet fell into a steady back-and-forth pace in the narrow room. The room reeked of chlorine. “Freakin’ Emma. She knows about me. There’s a freakin’ rumor going around and she confronted me about it. A freakin’ rumor .”
Brett held up his hands. Like that would stop me. “Whoa, whoa, brother, slow down with the cussing. You’re gonna make some of us upset.”
I stopped pacing at that and had to laugh. “I’m just… I’m stupid. I shouldn’t have made it so obvious.”
“Made what obvious?”
“ Alex . I freakin’ flirted with him in front of television cameras.”
“Hey, man, you’re just doing what comes natural to us. Ain’t no shame in that.”
I shook my head. “I’m not ashamed. I’ve never been ashamed. I’m just stupid . I should have put my head first.”
Brett finished toweling off and crossed his arms over his chest. “So why didn’t you?”
I blinked and looked at the floor as if the beige carpeting would reveal my secrets. “I was just… I was… he took me completely by surprise. I was enamored the moment I put eyes on him.”
Brett chuckled, his chest bouncing. “Sounds about right. Rome, bro, you’re experiencing what we all do. It’s okay.”
I held my arms out wide. “Not on national television!”
The door suddenly swung violently inward as Emma charged in with Hiroshi hot on her heels. She marched right up to me while Hiroshi made fruitless attempts at guiding her back outside.
“ I don’t care, Rome ,” she said and jammed a finger into my sternum.
Small, but mighty. “Look at me. I don’t care .
I think it’s wonderful you found someone.
I think it’s a beautiful thing to see a shift in you the past week.
But you need to know there is zero vendetta that I came onto you and you shut me down.
And honestly? I think I figured it out back then. ”
“Emma—” Hiroshi started but she kept going.
“I don’t care that you’re gay but I do care about you and I really do care about this team. These rumors are going to spread and they will not only damage the team but they’ll damage you . You’re too kind of a person to have that happen to.”
“How?” Brett barked. “How the hell is him being gay going to damage anything ?”
She leaned to look beyond me and at Brett.
“Name me one current out and proud MLB player. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
” Silence except for the bubbling of the hot tub.
“There. Exactly my point.” She looked back at me.
“The Riders would support you. I have faith in the company for that. What we don’t know is everyone else.
Imagine this spreading to the Brawlers? Those guys target Riders outside of the game as it is.
Imagine what they can do in the game when you’re up to bat? ”
Again, the room fell into silence. Emma huffed in a breath and exhaled, then stepped back.
“I’m sorry that I made you uncomfortable.
That wasn’t my intention. I just need answers so I can get ahead of everything.
” She sighed again and took a step toward the door.
“Think about what direction you want to go. I’m pulling you from any postgame interviews until we can get a lid on this. ”
“What will you—” I started to ask.
“I’m not outing you. To anyone . You can trust me. I’ll find a good excuse.” She spun to face Hiroshi. “I apologize for ‘tormenting your boys,’ as you said. This wasn’t the time, you’re right.”
With that, she was out the door. Hiroshi wasted no time. “We’ll pull you from the lineup. You’re not in a good space right now to play.”
I waved him off. “I’m fine. If anything, the game will help clear my head.”
“You sure?”
“I am, yeah.” I blew out air through flared nostrils. “Need to go run this off.”
“Cold plunge, baby,” Brett said. “Way better than running.”
“Nah,” I said and then left the room without saying much more. I heard Hiroshi say something to Brett as the door closed. A few teammates walked by as I stepped into the hallway. Fist bumps all around.
I walked to the nearest conference room in a haze.
The word “rumor” echoed in my head on an endless loop.
My chest constricted, palms sweaty, as I shut the conference room door closed and thumbed the lock.
A simple, circular table sat at the center surrounded by four leather office chairs.
I took a seat, pulled out my phone, and thumbed to the only person who could help me get through this.
It rang only once.
“ Figlio ?”
“ Ciao Papà . Do you have time to talk?”