6. Kind Of Quirky
KIND OF QUIRKY
“ W arren,” his mother said when she picked up the phone five days later. “How have you been?”
“I’m good,” he said. “How about you?”
“I’m just getting home from work,” she said.
He could hear her moving around the kitchen. In his mind, he could see her there in her scrubs, her black rubber-soled shoes left by the front door, her hair in a ponytail, and pulling out a cold drink.
“When are you going to retire?” he asked.
“I’m too young to retire,” his mother said. “I just turned fifty-three. I need medical insurance on top of it.”
“You work too hard,” he said. “You don’t need to worry about any of those things.”
Warren ensured her financial security for life.
Her house was paid for, her car too. The money she made was for normal living expenses. Things he wanted to take care of for her.
Casey Showers had said no, that he’d done enough.
Little did she know he had investments set up for her so that she could retire now if she wanted and not only maintain her current lifestyle, but one better.
Every time he brought it up, she shot him down.
“I love what I do,” his mother said. “If I was still working in the hospital and having to cover nights, weekends, and holidays, then I’d think about it more seriously. But thanks to you, that isn’t the case.”
Years ago, his mother had transferred to a doctor’s office. She worked days and wasn’t busting her ass as much. But the pay was less. Since she had very few expenses now, she was still ahead of the game.
“I wish you’d let me do more,” he said.
His mother laughed. “Warren, you’ve always taken everything on your shoulders and you need to stop and live your life. I mean it. I’m very comfortable. I never expected this. It’s all I ever dreamed of. All three of my children have wonderful educations and no debt. Again, thanks to you.”
There was no way he was letting his sisters start their lives in debt. They got aid since their mother was the only income and he covered the rest.
“Someone has to provide for you all. It sure the hell wasn’t Slick Showers who slipped out of our lives years ago.”
The asshole only made an appearance when Warren signed any contract. Then again every time he was in the news.
“You need to let it go,” his mother said. “He hasn’t been bothering you again, has he?”
“No,” he said. “Not for years. Not since my interview.”
That first Super Bowl dragged the asshole out of the darkness again and Warren put a stop to any and all talks and tabloid reports by coming forward and clearing the air in an interview.
The world just saw him as a greater human being coming from that trash.
It hadn’t been what he wanted out of it. He just wanted his father’s mouth to stop running or people to ignore it when it happened.
The world saw Warren as a man who supported his mother and sisters and created a foundation to help other single parents and their children. Not someone who came from a piece of greedy shit and that was what they’d think of when Slick Showers opened his mouth or tried to get attention.
At least his father was smart enough to keep a low profile now.
“You never did those things to be looked at like a god,” his mother said.
He laughed. “I’m hardly a god, nor do I want to be.”
Jesus, he couldn’t handle having any more weight to carry on his shoulders.
It wasn’t just from his family or his team, but his fans.
Kids idolized him. They wanted to be like him.
The last thing he wanted to do was ever tarnish a child’s dream, but if he fucked up, it could happen.
He had the next two years planned out to finish his contract, invest his money, and figure out his next career move to keep himself and his family nice and comfortable and his nose as clean as could be.
“Deep down, you’re just a simple guy,” Casey said. “No one ever sees it but us.”
Someone saw it last weekend though.
Emma hadn’t been wowed by his status.
She didn’t even know who he was when she first served him a beer.
“About that,” he said.
“Oh,” his mother said. “I need to sit down. I think this is going to be good.”
He smiled. “Do you have your drink?”
He heard a twist top open and some fizzy sound, then his mother gulping. “Just opened my seltzer. What’s going on? You don’t normally call me. Are you bored?”
“That goes without saying,” he said.
He worked out several hours a day. He read a lot of books, he listened to podcasts, and he’d been thinking about Emma.
That last was a new one on his daily list of things and something he hadn’t done in a long time.
“I’m sure you can find many things to do.”
“I’m at a resort right now,” he said.
He returned to The Bond Resort on Tuesday. He hadn’t thought he could get a room, and it was not one he would have liked, but he took what was available.
It was still a stunning suite, but not as grand as the last time he was here a few weeks ago. Maybe he wasn’t as simple as his mother said he was.
“That sounds like a wonderful place to be,” his mother said. “Are you being bothered working out in the gym?”
“No,” he said. He was going down late at night or early in the morning. With earbuds in and a hat, he got away without being noticed most times. It’s not as if most people did a serious workout when they were on vacation and the tourist season still was weeks away.
“Are you going to make me ask you a million questions to find out what is bothering you?”
He laughed. “Nothing is bothering me. I met a woman a few weeks ago. Here at this resort.”
“And you went back looking for her?” his mother asked. “Interesting. Did you think she’d still be there on vacation, or did you hope your celebrity status could get you some information?”
“I’d never throw my weight around,” he said. Though he was pretty sure he might have to because the past several nights going to the bar, he hadn’t seen Emma. He thought for sure she’d be working by now.
“That’s true. So you didn’t find out anything about her? Do you even know her name?”
“Her name is Emma. I didn’t get her last name. She’s a bartender here. She didn’t even know who I was. By the way, I’m on Amore Island, so not far from home.”
“Which means she can’t follow sports or watch TV to not know who you are. You’re in enough commercials.”
He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t thought of that.
Even if she didn’t watch football, she didn’t recognize him from any of the commercials he did. Which were plenty with his four major sponsors.
“It was nice to not be recognized,” he said. “I then ran into her at the casino last weekend. By then, she knew who I was. We spent hours talking in a private room.”
“Really?” Casey said. “You like to talk.”
“I do,” he said. “She listened. She’s funny. Kind of quirky.”
“Which you can appreciate.”
“Very much so,” he said.
They’d stayed in that room until two in the morning talking and laughing about old TV shows, movies, and books.
They didn’t talk about his career for more than a few minutes.
She didn’t ask and it felt as if it wasn’t even that important to her.
Maybe that was why he couldn’t get her out of his mind and decided to throw money down and come here again.
He wasn’t normally this frivolous to do that.
It’s not like he was cheap, but he also liked to make sure he put the bulk of his money away.
Coming to a place like this for three nights on the off chance of seeing a woman again wasn’t anything he’d ever done in his life.
“Have you talked to her again?” his mother asked.
“No. She hasn’t worked one night and I’m leaving in the morning.”
“Well,” his mother said. “If you like her and want to see her again, you can do a lot of outlandish things for her attention, I’m sure, or you can ask someone she works with when her next shift is.”
He sighed. “I thought of that. But they know who I am.”
“And you don’t want to start lips flapping. I’m sure you’ll figure it out if you want it bad enough. You’ve done that your whole life.”
“Thanks, Mom. Maybe I needed that pep talk.”
“You do know how funny that sounds coming from The War Show. He needs his mother to give him a pep talk to find out a woman’s last name and get her number?”
Casey was almost roaring with laughter. “Hey,” he said. “I’m not the playboy that people assume I am.”
“I know, sweetie. My money is on you. Just like it’s always been. Keep me posted.”
“Sure,” he said. “Only if I get her information.”
“Because you don’t want me to think you’ve failed at anything. You never can in my eyes.”
He hung up after that, slipped his bare feet into a pair of canvas sneakers, and made his way to the outdoor bar again.
When he didn’t see her working, he did what his mother said. “Do you know when Emma is working again?”
“Who?” the woman asked. She was smiling at him and clearly knew who he was.
“Emma,” he said. “She was working the bar a few weeks ago when I stayed here.”
“I don’t know of any Emmas,” the woman said. “Conrad, do we have any new bartenders named Emma working?”
“Not that I know of,” the guy said from the other end of the bar. “Hey, aren’t you?—”
“Yes,” he said. “I am. Can you get in touch with Hunter Bond for me?”
The woman’s jaw dropped. “You want me to call the owner?”
“Yes,” he said, nodding his head. “If you could.”
“Will do.” He waited there while she walked over to the phone and then came back. “His assistant said he’s on a call but will be down as soon as he’s off. Would you like a drink while you wait?”
“A seltzer with lime,” he said. He pulled his wallet out.
“It’s on the house.”
He dropped the twenty on the bar anyway and moved away and took a seat in the shade under an umbrella.
Ten minutes went by before he heard, “Warren. It’s so nice to see you here again.”
He stood up and shook Hunter’s hand. The guy was cool and composed in tailored clothes like some Warren probably owned by the same designers.
But one thing Hunter had that no amount of money would ever give Warren was class.
The guy had it oozing out of his pores.
“Sorry to bother you,” he said.
“It’s never a bother,” Hunter said. “Do you want to talk privately? I’m assuming there is an issue?”
“No issue,” he said. “If you don’t mind walking a little so there are fewer ears around.”
“Of course,” Hunter said.
The two of them moved past the bar and walked the grounds. He might as well just cut to the chase. “I’m looking for one of your employees who served me at the bar a few weeks ago.”
“Oh,” he said. “Who is that?”
“Her name is Emma.”
“Did she do something wrong?”
“No,” he said. “Not at all. I ran into her again last weekend at Bond Casino. We ended up spending hours in a private room.”
Hunter turned and lifted his eyebrow at that. “Okay.”
“Not like you think,” he said. “We just talked. I didn’t catch her last name or get her number. I thought maybe if I came back I’d see her again. But your employees said they don’t know of any bartender named Emma.”
Hunter was smirking. “I can’t give you personal information on staff.”
“I understand. This is unorthodox. I know she lives on the island. She told me she did. I’m not sure if there is a way I can get a message to her.”
He felt like a fool doing this.
Many of his teammates did it or reached out to someone on social media if not having their agents do it for them.
Though he was on social media, he didn’t post often and sure the hell wasn’t savvy enough to find someone.
He didn’t need anyone to do his work for him either.
Though he was asking Hunter to do it.
Kind of like throwing his weight around that he’d told his mother he never did.
“We can get a message to her,” Hunter said.
There was an employee walking by with a folder and some papers in her hand. He stopped her. “Do you have a piece of paper and a pen I can use?”
The employee’s jaw dropped when he’d asked that, then turned to look at Hunter who nodded.
She ripped a piece of paper off of something and handed him a pen. He wrote his number and his initials and gave it to Hunter.
The employee left.
“You want me to give this to her?” Hunter asked.
“Someone to give it to her,” he said. “I can’t expect you to run errands for me, but I trust that no one else will know whose number that is.”
“I’ll deal with it,” Hunter said.
There was humor on the man’s face he couldn’t quite place and didn’t know why it seemed so funny.
“I appreciate it,” he said. “You probably think I’m nuts.”
“No,” Hunter said. “I might have been in your place a time or two if my mind is going where I think it could be.”
He snorted. He doubted that.
“Yeah, well,” he said. “Sometimes you just got to take a chance. We’ll see what Emma thinks of it.”
Hunter laughed. True humor, like there was some private joke he was being left out of.
“You might not be prepared for her thoughts,” Hunter said.