Chapter 34: Hannah
When I was recuperating, I watched a lot of sports with my dad. But my mom always watched old movies. One of her favorites was a musical calledKiss Me Kate!It’s a ’50s version of Shakespeare’sThe Taming of the Shrew, set to music by Cole Porter. In it, the main character, an actress, is held hostage by two gangsters, who prevent her from leaving the theater while providing comic relief for the movie.
I sort of feel like that now.
Even their names—Landon and Brandon—carry a ridiculous quality. Carlos is having a grand old time with them. It’s fine. He can.
I’m in the back seat trying to figure out what the hell is really going on. Callaghan’s got to be behind this, right? There’s no other reasonable explanation. My phone dings.
Ophelia: Are you on your way yet?
She’s famous for jumping in midway through a conversation, even though the other person wasn’t present for the first half.
Me: On my way where?
Ophelia: To the Sports and Health Expo. We sent some players to pick you up.
Okay, this is maybe making a little more sense. As much as anything with Ophelia makes sense. I mean, it does in the end, but you have to trust her process. Even when that process is convoluted.
Me: Why?
Ophelia: There are tons of famous sports player people here.
Me: You mean athletes?
Ophelia: Those people. You will get tons of content for your channel. And if you blow up big enough, you don’t have to move to Binghamton.
Ophelia: It’s like really far away. And it’ll be too hard to meet for coffee if you’re that far away.
Ophelia: Also, I need you to explain soccer to me more.
Ophelia: Apparently I need to learn how to be a WAG.
Oh, this is the sweetest thing ever.
This is Ophelia and Xavier trying to help me out for helping them out. Xavier actually told me he was impressed with the character it took for me to quietly do the right thing and make sacrifices careerwise rather than compromise myself. It was the most he ever said to me at one time. Well, he said it in a text, and it was definitely over the word count because he’s not a serial texter like his wife.
Attending this event and making content there is a good idea. While I took the job in Binghamton because it didn’t require me selling my soul like working forThe Looking Glassdid, it’s still a part-time gig, and the pay isn’t great.
And it’s still not my dream.
