Chapter 6 Johnson
Johnson
Of course, I don’t need to be on this run, but I couldn’t resist offering to join Grace when she mentioned it. The idea of her continuing to avoid me didn’t sit right after the other day at my house.
And now, there’s a possibility I can help with a solution to her problem, so the run has a purpose after all.
I don’t want to get her hopes up before I have real information to share, so I hold my tongue until we get back to the house.
Once I step out of a quick shower in Landon’s bedroom, I throw on spare clothes I had in my car and text Lara, whose number I have saved in my contacts for any pressing PR issues.
JOHNSON: Are you still looking for Molly’s replacement for the auction?
A minute later, an answer comes through. Lara’s never far from her cell phone.
LARA: We are. I’ve barely had time to work on it this week.
I click on her number so we can have a phone conversation.
After she greets me, I get right to it. I need to see if I can pull this together before Landon and Grace want to start dinner.
“Thanks for answering, Lara. I have an idea.” I proceed to explain Grace’s project, and how it could be the perfect fit if she picks up the auction planning.
Predictably, Lara’s PR brain goes right to Grace’s last name. “So we’d have a Battle working to get the donations lined up—a Princeton grad and Tolliver Business School student no less—and the foundation may not even need to pay her depending on her school rules for her to get credit?”
I was pretty sure Grace couldn’t accept a paycheck if she was getting course credit. Money wasn’t the issue on either end anyway. “Yes. It seems ideal.”
“That it does. How can I get in touch with her?”
I pause. Sending Lara straight to Grace may seem overbearing. Our relationship arguably hasn’t even earned the title ‘friends’ yet.
“Let me speak to her first. I’m at Landon’s house with her now, so it won’t take long.”
“Excellent. Send her my way if she’s interested.”
I hang up and get all my dirty things from the bathroom, crumpling them up and throwing them in my gym bag I’d grabbed from the car.
When I step out of the bedroom, I steer towards the kitchen where Landon’s moving around.
“You ready to eat?” He’s put out three place settings and there are a couple of serving dishes in his hands as he walks to the dining room table.
“Definitely.” I walk over to the table and grab a seat. “Grace not out yet?”
“No, she’s still in her bathroom getting ready.” Apparently Grace has her own suite since she’s here so often.
“So everything went well with Rori in London? I mean other than her loss earlier.” In the Wimbledon finals this morning, she’d lost pretty handily to a British teenager.
“We didn’t get a ton of time together, but it was fucking incredible.” Landon takes his own seat. “I like her so much, J. More than I’ve even told her yet.”
Studying him, I notice he doesn’t seem stressed by that prospect, just excited.
“Yeah, probably would’ve been hard to talk much about your relationship when she’s fighting to win a tournament.”
His brow crinkles. “Now that she’s lost, I’m trying to be there on that front for her too, athlete to athlete. She’ll bounce back, but it went down in the finals in a pretty shitty way.”
“Well, we know something about losing,” I say as a half-hearted jest, thinking of our two mediocre seasons at the Waves.
“That changes this year, J.” He throws his fist my way, and I bump it.
“For sure.”
Landon sits back and changes the subject. “I really appreciate that you spent time with Rawley while I was gone. He had a blast.”
“No problem, man. Bailey was giving him a lot of tips as well. They really connected.”
“That’s great, I’ll thank him too.” He leans back in his chair. “There’s no one I trust more with my family than you, though, J. And that means a-fucking-lot, especially if I keep traveling to spend time with Rori.”
“I’m happy to do it.”
He smiles and takes a sip of water. Then he cranes his head around the hall, presumably to see if Grace is approaching. Seeing it still empty, he turns back to me.
“That other thing I asked as a favor when Grace moved here…” He keeps his voice low. “You don’t mind staying on that too? If I’m not around as much because of Rori, I don’t want any of the guys to get any stupid ideas.”
Considering I’d so far managed not to entertain any stupid ideas about Grace and me, I guess I can agree to continue keeping other guys away as well.
“Sure. I’ll make sure Grace stays safe from any douchebags.” A promise I’m quite willing to keep.
He looks satisfied. We start chatting about what’s been going on with the team while he was away. After about three minutes, I hear footsteps.
“Here I am.” Grace comes out from around the corner of the hallway. She looks decidedly different from when I’d arrived—not fancy, per say, but she has some makeup on and her damp hair clasped with a pretty pink clip.
“We started munching on veggies but waited for you to officially begin eating,” Landon notes.
“Sorry, I rushed as fast as I could.” She settles into the third seat with a place setting.
“Nothing to apologize about.” I put my fork down and let her catch up to us as she fills her plate. “I’m the one who slowed you down on your run.”
Landon chuckles. “Yeah, Grace would smoke you in a real distance race. Any of us, honestly. She apparently blew past Rawley when he challenged her Sunday. Again.”
“Hush.” Grace may be staying modest, but I do see the slight blush on her face from the praise. She peeks up at me. “Johnson didn’t do too bad.”
“I need to keep my happy feet ready at any time to run away from dudes like your brother, so I can find speed when I need to.”
They both smile at that.
I consider how to approach the auction position, and decide to rip off the band-aid.
“So, listen, Grace. I had an idea, and…I think it might work. Our Waves foundation gala is next month, and one of the big highlights is an auction. They need someone to run it, and with your class project, it could be a good fit.”
“What class project?” Oh shit, Landon didn’t know? “Is this what you were talking about when you first got here?”
“Yeah. I’ve been struggling to figure out what to do.” She’s looking at Landon, not me, so I can’t tell exactly what she thinks about my suggestion.
“The gala’s a blast, and you’d be perfect to organize the auction.” Landon’s facing her direction. “It’d meet the requirements of the project you’re stressing about?”
“Potentially. I’d need to learn more.”
“Okay, let’s make that happen.” Landon’s suddenly in full big brother “fixer” mode. “After dinner, I can set up a meeting with…” he turns back to me, “who does she need to talk to?”
“Lara.”
“Got it. I’ll set up a call with Lara so you can figure it out.”
Grace nods. “Great.” I see her face relax, like she’s accepting that this might be a feasible solution.
“Perfect.” Landon picks up his fork. “Now let’s eat.”
I’m surprised to feel disappointed that Landon has taken over the process with Lara, pulling me out of the mix of solving Grace’s issue.
I don’t examine the source of the feeling too deeply, though.
Instead, I begin to eat as Landon starts to talk about training camp arrangements.
But when I look in Grace’s direction two minutes later, our eyes catch. She mouths “thank you” with a soft smile on her face.
And I find that all my disappointment evaporates.
A little over a week later, our training camp begins.
Camp means three weeks of total immersion in football, spending all day at the Waves facility, starting real drills and eventually complete sequences. We stay almost every night at a nearby hotel where family visits are limited. Just the game and the guys occupying our time.
I love the demands and pressure of being the starting quarterback, but football is ultimately a team sport.
It’s experiences like the next three weeks that serve as roots for our team chemistry and success.
As a leader, I have to focus at least as much on my relationships with the other players, especially the offensive starters, as I do on my individual abilities.
Of course, with my family in Alabama and no wife, kids, or girlfriend, I’m not sacrificing as much as some of the other guys. Even Landon is in a different place this year, trying to plan out his Sundays with Rori—the only day we’re truly allowed to step away.
Still, the energy is off the charts around the facility on day one. We had a stellar draft, building on all the young talent already floating around. This could truly be a breakthrough season.
Early in the morning session, I sit with the other quarterbacks in our designated position room and we chat about it all.
My position is secured unless I’m injured, but the battle is on to figure out my backup.
So right now we have four quarterbacks in camp besides myself. Two will get cut, most likely.
“I’m wondering if it’ll be Smolder or Walsh for the starting tight end,” says Tony, my backup last year.
“Walsh has that awesome RAC”—run after catch—“potential, but Smolder is a better blocker,” volunteers one of the other guys, a second-year quarterback with a ton of talent.
“Probably will be a situational choice,” I observe. My statement isn’t offering anything they don’t know, but I want them to feel like I’m down to participate in their debates. “Love having Smolder in there to block for me, though.”
They grunt in agreement—quarterbacks always welcome extra protection.
After the conversation breaks up, I head to the executive hallway. Our offensive coordinator, Marshall, wants to go over some changes to the schemes we ran on third downs last year. Small alterations to keep us from being predictable.
“Johnson.” It’s a woman’s voice I hear. Lara’s.
I turn around and her head is poking out of her office. “Come here for a second.”
I walk towards her office, not a clue what this is about. As she goes back inside and I walk in, it becomes clearer.
Sitting in her office is Grace. Looking like a total smoke show in a crisp turquoise suit, matching high heels, and her long blonde hair curled perfectly in beachy waves.
I’ve known Grace is beautiful, but I’ve never seen her look like…this. A woman ready to take over the world.
“It’s official.” Lara’s face is beaming. “Grace is coming on to help run the auction. Since the Waves foundation is technically who she’s working for, we’re about to go meet with Susie”—the executive director—“and get her set up with a temporary workspace for the next few weeks.”
I grin back, but all of my energy is directed at Grace.
“Welcome to the team, Little Battle.”
“Thanks Johnson. It wouldn’t have happened without you.”
Her tone is relaxed and sincere. It definitely feels like we’re near the milestone of being friends. At a minimum, that she’ll not go out of her way to avoid me. A good thing, since we’ll be working together on the gala.
How attracted I am to this particular colleague—I don’t let myself dwell on.
Landon’s sister. Off-limits.
“I’ll let you get back to whatever brought you to the executive suites.” Lara’s hands wave me away. “Susie will send an email around to all the co-chairs with Grace’s contact information.”
Oh fuck.
I’m about to have Grace’s phone number?