Like it was that simple.
If I’d been in the right mind I’d have interrogated his reasoning a little, or at all. If I hadn’t been thinking about Jupiter, or trying very hard not to think about Jupiter, then I would have followed through with the sole reason I went to meet Penn Shepherd in the first place – to tell him no.
But I wasn’t and I didn’t, so some of that conversation was about to happen right now.
“Did Lowe tell you that she took me for lunch last week? Her and Beulah. It was fun, and eye opening.” I raised a brow so he’d understand exactly what I was talking about, even though I knew he did.
Lowe had gone straight back to Penn and told him about our conversation.
I received his standard wry smile.
“Yeah, she did. I wondered what this meeting was about.”
I laughed as the door opened. One of his assistants walked in with coffee and placed them down in front of us.
“That depends, I guess.” I picked up one of the steaming cups and blew on it. “I’ve spent the last week trying to figure out how I can help you. You wanted me to use science, but it’s not quite that simple.”
Penn’s brow furrowed deeply, tiny lines appearing on his boyish face, and I remembered Lowe telling me that it wasn’t often he heard the word ‘no’. That’s if he heard it at all.
“I don’t need to tell you that rockets and baseballs are not the same.”
“I’m sure you can figure it out, Marnie. I’m paying you a million dollars.”
Yeah. He was definitely the type of guy used to getting his own way, or finding a way around it. But I’d worked with many of those.
“Just take it off Jupiter’s salary. That’s the real reason I’m here, isn’t it?” I snapped.
He had the good sense to look down at his coffee, but I could definitely see a smile curving along his lip. If Lowe was anything to go by, I’d wager he was also used to women not doing his bidding.
“Astrodynamics can’t give you a winning team overnight. I can modify some formulas, and we can work on it, but it will also require the team to make physical adaptations to their game. That’s harder.”
I waited for him to argue again, but instead, he sipped his coffee and stared at me.
“Anyway, when we were in high school, Jupiter used to love LifeSavers. He had this thing about them helping him win. They didn’t, but he thought they did...”
“But you let him think they did though, right? If they helped him, you encouraged that? Right?” he interrupted with a splutter.
I blinked at the expression on Penn’s face, like he’d be horrified at any other outcome; that the idea of me not believing in Jupiter’s LifeSaver fallacy was somehow unacceptable to him.
“Um… sure. Anyway... I’ve been reading a book on improvement data and the theory that if you can improve tiny things in your life by one percent, when added up, they can have a significant impact on overall improvement.” Picking up the book I’d brought with me, I placed it in front of him, open at one of the pages I’d highlighted and pointed to it. “So this is what I think we should do. Improve tiny things at the club. It’s what I think will get you – the team – to the top.”
He didn’t look at the book. Instead, he sat back with his arms linking over his head. “What kind of tiny things?”
I opened up my phone to the picture I’d taken, and passed it to him.
He was silent for a minute as he read it. His eyes moved slowly over the screen, while he stroked his stubble.
“Sweat rates? Energy expenditure? Sleep? Metabolism? Eating schedules? Hydration levels?” His eyebrows shot up as he worked his way down the extensive list I’d written on my office wall. “Pillows? What do pillows have to do with anything?”
I shifted slightly and uncrossed my legs to sit up straighter. “Sleep is vital to function properly. The team is traveling all the time, in different beds most nights. We know it’s hard to sleep in unfamiliarity. If they bring their pillows from home, they have one piece of consistency to help them get a better night’s sleep. Therefore, better performance the next day.”
I couldn’t tell if the grunt Penn let out was a good grunt or a bad grunt.
“Equipment storage?”
“Yes. Make sure all equipment is stored in the same way when traveling as it is during home games. It’s just an example,” I added quickly when Penn’s frown deepened.
I sat there, waiting. There was still a ton on that list he hadn’t read out. Some were more easily explainable than the rest – like keeping to the same schedule – meal times, sleep times etc. no matter where they were. Which meant it would be easier to travel if everyone went to bed much later in the evening, and slept later in the morning.
