9. Saint
“Aight, Bless, I’m about to go into this brand deal meeting. I’ll talk to you later.” I said, climbing out of the backseat of the truck as Kam opened the door.
“Bye, Moo. Let me know how everything goes.” Blessing responded before ending the call.
I ain’t never been the cake on the phone type, but ever since we decided to see where things go, I can’t seem to stay off the phone with her.
Last night we fell asleep on the phone like we were our sisters’ ages.
I walked into the building, heading towards my agent’s office.
We were meeting with BodyAde, a sports drink company.
They reached out to collaborate on a special edition flavor.
After this meeting, I had an interview with OC Sports Network about my recovery process.
This week was a busy week for me, so I only had sessions with Blessing from Wednesday through Friday.
After Thanksgiving, our sessions will be twice a week.
I wasn’t looking forward to seeing less of her, but it only meant I was healing quicker.
These past two months with her have been great.
She’s so easy to work with, and I can tell that she’s passionate about her job.
“Good morning, Ashley.” I greeted my agent as I stepped into her office. I took a seat at one of the chairs in front of her desk.
“Good morning, Saint. You look great. I can’t even tell you’re recovering from an injury. Miss Carter really is the best at her job.” She smiled.
“Yeah, Ash, Blessing is great. I can’t believe I’m healing this fast. Shit feels unreal. What time will the BodyAde team be here for the meeting?”
“We’ve got about five minutes before we need to head to the conference room. Before we head over, I need to tell you about another collab opportunity. ArmourFit wants you to model for their winter and spring line. Is that something you’d be interested in?”
“Hell yeah. You know most of my active wear came from them. That’d be dope.”
“Okay, great, I’ll set up a meeting with them for next week. Sooo.. what’s going on with you and Mariah? Is she going to be a problem?”
I sighed, shrugging. “I don’t know. She has no reason to be. She’s the one who went to social media claiming she’s single because of the comments on Blessing’s progression video. I haven’t heard from her since. I felt like our relationship had run its course anyway. She barely supported me.”
“I saw the video just hit six million views. That’s great.
Maybe I could find a sponsor for your next video.
If she becomes a problem, let me know, and we’ll figure out how to handle it.
Come on, let’s head to the conference room.
” She stood from her seat and headed out of the office toward the conference room, with me trailing behind her.
The meeting went great. I signed a contract for $1.
5 million per year for the next three years.
I would have to film a commercial every year, along with a promotional photoshoot.
I was in such a good mood, I couldn’t wait to share the news with my family and Blessing.
I’d had other collaboration deals, but this one was the biggest.
The drive to OC Sport Network’s recording studio was only 25 minutes away.
On the way, I spoke with my mom, updating her on my meeting.
She was so happy for me that she started to cry.
My mom had been my biggest cheerleader for the majority of my life.
She witnessed me battle cancer, then become a professional football player.
I owed her the world. She didn’t know it yet, but I planned on buying her first Birkin bag this weekend. She deserved it all.
“Wassup y’all, we got Saint Simmons with us today.
The defensive lineman for the undefeated Oasis Cove Jags.
He tore his MCL in the first game of the season and has been out ever since.
” Mark Jones, the host, smiled, then turned towards me.
“How are you, man? I know, injuring yourself this early in the season had to be disappointing.”
“I’m blessed to live another day, so that’s a win for me. I’ve been doing amazing. I’m healing and thriving. Everything is working out how it’s supposed to. Injuring myself this early in the season was devastating. I was depressed as hell until I started physical therapy.”
“Glad to see you in good spirits regardless of your situation. Could you tell me more about your physical therapy? I see you’re working with Blessing Carter. I hear her name a lot in sports medicine.”
A smile spread across my face. “Yeah, man, she’s great. Working with her is so easy. She gets the job done. Her name speaks for itself. So, if anybody needs physical therapy, she’s the person to go to.”
“Y’all heard him, if you’re injured, call Blessing. So, what’s next for you?”
“Well, right now I’m working on a few collabs. I’m hoping I’m back on the field before the playoffs. I miss it all.”
We spent the next hour discussing my plans and other sports-related topics. By the time we wrapped up the session, I was tired as hell. I just wanted to go home, shower, and relax for the rest of the night.
“Thanks for having me, man.” I thanked Mark, dapping him up.
“It was a pleasure to have you, man. When you get back on the field, we’ll have you back on the show. But quick question.. What’s up with Blessing, man? She single?” He asked.
I chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. “Nah, man, she’s off limits.”
“Oh, shit nigga my bad. That’s you?”
I gave him a slight nod. “Something like that. We’re keeping it between us. Trying to see where it goes. She not tryna get too involved with me because I just got out of a relationship and she’s not trying to risk losing her job, but man, I’m on her ass bad.”
“Shit, show her that then. You can’t just tell her you want her. Show her you’re worth the risk. Just be careful, though, your ex might not like that you moved on so quickly after her. Imma holla at you later.”
I headed back to the truck with a smile on my face.
Kam opened the back door for me before I slid inside.
I pulled my phone out to scroll through Instagram.
Of course, I went through to Blessing’s page.
I immediately watched her story. She sat curled up on a cream-colored chair with her phone in her hand, in front of the mirror.
Her hair was bone straight, and a small smile tugged at her lips.
She had the roses I bought her seated next to her.
I clicked the heart at the corner of the screen to like it.
When she took the girls shopping yesterday.
She’d spent a pretty penny. I didn’t mind.
I loved seeing the women in my life spend my money.
I couldn’t take it with me when I die, so I spoiled the ones around me.
My phone began to buzz, signaling an incoming call.
I was shocked to see Mariah calling. I hadn’t heard anything from her since last week when she hung up in my face.
I didn’t reach out to hear after seeing her post on Instagram either.
She wanted to end things, so I was going to let things be what they were.
“What’s up, Mariah?” I asked, getting straight to the point.
I barely wanted to answer the phone, but I knew there was a conversation to be had.
The line was silent for a moment before I heard a muffled conversation in the back.
“Hello…?” I said again. There was still no response, so I ended the call.
She must’ve pocket dialed me. I shrugged it off and decided to call Blessing. She picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, Moo.” She greeted. Her voice was low; she didn’t sound like her usual chipper self.
“What’s wrong, baby?” I asked, concerned. She was fine when I talked to her earlier.
She sniffled, then sighed. “I’m just having a rough day.. That’s all. I’m so fucking frustrated and overstimulated.”
“What can I do to make it better? Have y’all eaten today?”
“I don’t know. I was supposed to cook dinner, but the kitchen is a mess.
I spilled an entire batch of pain cream.
Wasted so much of my ingredients. Sage is teething, so she’s extremely fussy.
She’s out of Motrin. I ordered more for her to be delivered, but DoorDash still hasn’t assigned a driver for my order.
Everything has just gone wrong today. I need a big ass glass of wine. ”
“Don’t stress. Send me your address. I’ll grab the medicine and some food, and I’ll be on my way. Let me take care of y’all.”
“You really don’t have to, Moo. I know you’re tired. You had such a long day today.”
“And you’re having a bad day, so let me come make it better. What y’all want for dinner?”
“Okay.. we can do pizza and wings. We like chicken, bacon, and pineapple on our pizza, stuffed-crust, and buffalo wings with ranch, please.”
“Is that all?” My phone dinged. She’d sent a text with her address and a picture of the medicine Sage needed.
“Yes. Thank you so much. I’ll see you when you get here. The code to the gate is 7578.”
“Aight, pumpkin. See you soon.” I ended the call and asked Kam to stop me at the pharmacy. I pulled up the Pizza Castle app and placed the order for the food.