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“Felix, I’m glad to see you here,” said the coach, taking a seat where Mandy had been sitting earlier.
He had a big smile on his face, which surprised me. “I’m proud of you,” he informed me. “I’ve never seen you expressing such emotion over a woman before, and your affection for Mandy is obvious.”
He shocked me with his reaction. I expected him to give me a hard time, even threaten my position on the team, but he just patted me on the shoulder.
“It’s clear you’re not just trying to play the field with Mandy. There is something sincere about your actions.”
I nodded my head. “I’ve never felt this way about a woman before.” Nervously, I glanced up. “I… I think I’m starting to fall for her. I keep imagining what our life could be like together.”
Coach’s face lit up. “Are you finally ready for an adult relationship, Felix?”
“She’s the first girl I’ve ever imagined marrying,” I admitted. Hearing those words coming out of my own mouth shook me.
I was surprised that I sat there and openly expressed just how I felt about Mandy. My heart quivered with the risk. There was fear there, but oddly, I wasn’t ready to give up yet.
“Mandy is extraordinary,” I told the coach. “I’ve never met anyone like her. I can’t get her out of my mind, and I don’t want to.”
We ended up sitting there for a while, discussing relationships, and I realized that I shouldn’t be upset over Mandy leaving me there abruptly. After all, she had every reason to be suspicious about what I really wanted.
I never expected it, but the coach ended up giving me some sound relationship advice and vowed to be on my side. He made it clear that my position on the team was not vulnerable as long as I kept up with the rest of my teammates.
I left the restaurant feeling happy, knowing only too well that I would fix the damage between Mandy and me. As long as the coach was not breathing down my neck, everything would be alright. I would be able to fix everything and be with her because I was really crazy about Mandy.
Chapter Nine – Mandy
There were little, dark clouds hanging over my head.
I was slouched on my couch trying to watch some soap opera on television, but I simply could not concentrate.
The sour taste of what had happened the previous night still lingered in my mouth, and I felt really stupid that I had trusted Felix to be a different man. It had been a bad mistake to not listen to my own initial instincts.
As I sat there sulking and thinking just how stupid I was, I got a phone call from Brianna. She and Barry had just gotten back from seeing a musical, and she wanted to invite me out for drinks. The idea of getting drunk was appealing, but my mood was too sour. There was no way I was getting off the couch.
I told her everything about Felix, how we had gone out for the first time and how he tried to hide that he was with me. I told her that I felt foolish agreeing to be with Felix. There was no way I could have avoided the initial date that was explicitly organized by the coaches. Still, I should have never accepted an invitation to have dinner with him.
I told Brianna how we had kissed that night in the ballroom, how hot it had been. There was a spark between the two of us, but now, all I felt was a deep darkness that had replaced that affection.
Brianna listened patiently until I was done. “Look,” she said, “it was likely that there was a misunderstanding considering the coach technically is Felix’s boss.”
“I doubt it,” I argued. “Felix is just like Drake. You know it. We’ve all heard the stories.”
She knew that I had been single for a long time, and she tried as much as possible to push the idea of being with Felix. Brianna was very interested in seeing me happy, and one of those ways was being with a boyfriend.
However, I dismissed any notion that there was a misunderstanding between Felix and me. I reminded her of his history of promiscuity, his total disregard for relationships. I uttered once more how stupid it was for me to go out on a date with him.
“Well, I’m not completely convinced, Mandy. It does sound like he really likes you. Why go through all the trouble, then?”
“He just wanted to get me between the sheets; that’s all men think about.”
I simply could not entertain the idea of Felix being serious after what had happened the previous night. I could not help but visualize how he crouched on his seat and turned away from me as though I was not there. It was very awkward and hurtful. I didn’t ever want to endure that again. There was no need for me to be involved in such games regardless of how handsome or intriguing Felix was. I wanted a man who could genuinely respect me and enjoy me for who I really was.
