He’s not going to make this easy on me.
When he sits down, I have exactly two seconds to tell Liesel everything I want to with my eyes. They’re wide and wild and I hope it’s enough to tell her how disappointed I am that our day has been ruined.
I can only assume I’m interpreting the way she twists her earrings and presses her lips into a thin line correctly: she’s resigned to her fate.
“So, Coop,” Bruce says when he’s spread his napkin across his lap. “Why is my daughter wearing your jersey?”
“For the same reason Coop is wearing a face tattoo and my analytics team looks like they lost a fight with a Christmas tree, Bruce,” Doug says. “They all lost a bet during their team builder last night.”
You really are the best GM in history,I think to Doug. Not that he can hear my thoughts, but hopefully he can feel my gratitude.
“What was the bet?” Bruce asks. He takes a bite of a breakfast burrito, and even the muscles in the guy’s jaw are intimidating.
“To see who would solve the most puzzles in the escape room. We all had wagers going,” Liesel says, exaggerating slightly. She points to Todd and the rest of his team. Someone’s wearing reindeer antlers and Todd has on brightly bedazzled glasses. Candace—wearing a Rudolph nose—seems a lot happier about Todd’s glasses than Todd does.
“So who won?” Bruce asks.
“Me,” I say … and then immediately wipe the smirk off my face.
“But you’re wearing a ridiculous tattoo on your cheek,” one of the VPs says.
“Your point?” I ask, and everyone laughs, including Bruce. Bruce's laugh feels more like the Grinch laughing at the pain of the Whos down in Who-ville, though.
“We tied,” Liesel corrects me. “Coop—er,” she adds. “Cooperisn’t as dumb as he looks.”
Bruce chuckles and looks at his daughter, and her eyes meet mine for only a fraction of a second. Just long enough that I think she wants her words back. Or maybe I’m hoping. I might have laughed about that when it was just us, but now, in front of my boss and the people who control my fate, it feels mean.
She drops her gaze to her plate, picking at food without putting any of it in her mouth.
Bruce turns on me. “Oh, I don’t think Coop is dumb at all. I think he knows exactly what he’s doing. And like any good umpire, I’ll call him when he’s out of line.”
“So Bruce,” Doug says, not so subtly changing the topic. “What does the umpire association have for the team today? You’re not expanding the strike zone, are you?”
“No, it’s a presentation on the automatic strike zone software we’re testing in the minors, and if we have time, I’ll do a Q&A onambiguous calls.” Then he pats his daughter’s back. “But mostly, I came to hear Liesel give her presentation on her new load management software.”
I look at a red-faced Liesel before I can remind myself I’m not supposed to look at her. I forgot she was presenting today. I only looked at the itinerary once, on my first day, and I didn’t know who she was yet.
Has it really only been two days since we met in the airport?
The airport …
She must be presenting about the spreadsheet she was working on in the airport! I want to say something. Tease her. Do a call back to our first conversation. But Bruce Fischer isn’t letting me get away with anything today.
Certainly not flirting with his daughter. Or even taking her mind off the fact that her dad’s embarrassing her in front of the entire Firebirds leadership team.
“Well, we’re glad you’re here,” Doug tells Bruce. “You’re on in five minutes, right? Need a hand getting things ready?”
“Oh, no, I’m fine,” Bruce says. He takes a long drink of water, wipes his hands and mouth with his napkin, and then gives his daughter a kiss on her cheek.
“Knock ‘em dead, Dad,” Liesel says.
I don’t look at Bruce, because I’m almost certain he wants to do exactly that. To me.
“I’ll walk you over to the stage,” Doug says, standing and following Bruce. He turns his head and shoots me a look that’s half apology, half warning.
When her dad is far enough away, I want to take his seat and talk to Liesel, take every spare second we have to clear the air, but she sits stick-straight and looks down at her phone.
I sigh in disappointment.
