Page 54 of Lucky 22

Christian stands and gently pulls me to my feet. “Come on.Let’s go and have a nice dinner. It’ll be fun.”

It isn’t until we’re in the lobby that he mentions we’re notgoing alone.

“Sorry, I was going to say something sooner, but I couldtell you were upset. Now, I hope I’m not making things worse.”

I want to be annoyed, but this is part of his job, and Iknow I have to get used to us socializing with his teammates and their wives.Smiling, I ask, “Who’s joining us?”

“Matt Taylor and his wife, Jessica. I can personally vouchfor Jess. She’s very nice, super genuine.” Then he pauses, frowning. “I hopeshe wasn’t one of the girls at your table today.”

Relief washes over me like a wave. “I don’t remember meetinga Jess, so I think we’re good.”

And we are.

Dinner is a lot of fun, and I can already tell that Jess isa good person. She doesn’t have that tone, her questions about my life seemsincere, and over the course of the evening, she gives me a few tips on how tosurvive a baseball season.

“Never take it personally when Christian’s a littledistant,” she says. “Players just completely immerse themselves in training,playing, wins, losses…just all things baseball. It’s hard for them to thinkabout anything else. I’m sure it’s a lot like when you’re preparing for a rolein a movie, right? You need to get into the character’s head, and anydistractions can really mess with you.”

She’s not wrong.

“A lot of WAGs see everyone as competition.”

“Um…WAGs?”

She nods. “Wives and girlfriends. Even though it’s a teamsport, everyone is only concerned with how their man plays, and they take itvery personally. Do not talk or comment about how another player is doingbecause you never know if their wife, girlfriend, or family member is sittingright next to you. Obviously, one person cannot carry the weight of the entireteam. Each one is only a small part of the whole, you know? But you’ll figureout pretty quickly which ones think they’re higher on the chain.” She laughssoftly. “And there will be times you’ll have to bite your tongue, but don’t letanything they say get you down.”

I nod, but that wasn’t exactly the vibe I got today. Shemust sense it because what she says next hits home.

“Then there are the ones who’ve been around the longest andmake everything feel like we’re back in high school. The more seniority yourman has, the more popular you are as a WAG. There are cliques. I’m sure youmust have noticed that already. Unfortunately, they’re everywhere. Every teamhas them. You can either accept it or not, but it isn’t going to change.” Shelaughs softly. “I was really looking forward to making adult friends as anadult, but some people never got the memo that we’re not in high schoolanymore.”

“Today was a little eye-opening. I felt like I was beinginterrogated.” I try to say it lightly, but my nervous laugh gives me away.

“It’s like that when you’re the new girl. Everyone wants toknow all the details and gossip. Many players have women chasing them and havea new girl with them at every game. It’s kind of funny. But I think everyone’sinterest in you today was more because you’re the first girl Christian has everbrought to an event. Now that they’ve met you, know who you are and a littleabout your relationship, they should be fine.”

I sigh with relief. “Okay. Good. Thanks.”

“And don’t take it personally if they don’t all cozy up toyou. Until you’ve got a ring on your finger, they don’t know if you’re going tostay, so they don’t truly engage.”

“Christian basically said the same thing, but I figured hecouldn’t really know since he’s not hanging out with the…well…the WAGs.”

She smiles, and it truly puts my mind at ease. “The playerstalk, too. If anything, they’re just as gossipy as the girls. But if there’sanything you need to know, you can always ask me. Here, let me give you mynumber.”

We exchange information, and the conversation turns to thetraining schedule, how often Jess visits, and how often I’ll be here. Luckily,there are some dates when we’ll be here at the same time, and I already knowI’ll be a bit more relaxed on those weekends.

But moving forward, I stick to Christian’s advice and don’tsway from it. I was friendly with everyone, but I wasn’t close with anyone.

Except Jess.

It felt good to have at least one friend in my corner.

As spring goes on, I start rehearsals for Workin’ for Laughs in Atlanta. When Iaccepted the role, I knew it wouldn’t be filmed in Hollywood, but I still keptmy apartment in LA. Filming a season would only take two to three months, and Ihad recurring roles on other shows that filmed in Hollywood, so it just madesense. But during it all, Christian and I tried to see each other every twoweeks. Especially while I was filming. It was a lot of traveling for me, andthe lifestyle wasn’t ideal, but we knew it was temporary.

At least, that’s what I thought.

As time went on, however, all the traveling started wearingme down. Early in my career—like as a kid back in Florida—I spent a lot of timein the car with my parents driving me to auditions, or to acting, dancing, andsinging lessons. I am someone who typically thrives on keeping busy. Butbetween traveling for the TV show in Atlanta, more in LA, and then meeting upwith Christian, I have enough frequent flier miles to take me around the world.

Twice.

Plus, living out of a suitcase was getting a little old, andonce baseball season was in full swing, the time Christian and I had to spendtogether was very routine—just like his schedule. We spent most nights justsitting in front of the TV. We were both exhausted all the time but determinedthat we could do this. We could make it through.