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26
Cooper Madison was looking forward to a big lunch. After letting his agent Todd “T-Squared” Taylor’s call that morning go to voicemail he decided to get a long workout in.
Coop had not used his sprawling home gym in weeks, and aside from the occasional morning walk, he was as out of shape as he had ever been. After thirty minutes on the treadmill and another hour of lifting weights, he called Stucky’s Place.
As good as the chicken parmesan was the first time he ordered, he opted to try something different and ordered a large pizza with bacon. Coop loved bacon and he often joked that it should be its own food group. He added a large dinner salad for good measure.
During his time as a professional athlete, he only allowed himself to enjoy pizza after a good outing on the mound. Luckily for him, that was more often than not. The rest of his meals were strictly prepared by his personal chef per his nutritionist's orders. Those consisted of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, and massive amounts of fruits and vegetables. Sometimes Coop felt that he pitched better knowing that a big greasy pizza was his reward.
Since his abrupt retirement from baseball, Coop abandoned everything else that went with it - including his strict diet. In the first few weeks after his announcement, Coop inhaled everything he had prohibited himself from enjoying for the better part of a decade: Chinese food, Buffalo wings, ice cream, burritos, and of course, pizza.
He realized very quickly why he had abstained from most of those delicacies, as he put almost 20 pounds on in that first month. He also felt lethargic all the time and knew that while he would never forsake those things again, he had to take it in moderation going forward. From that point on if he was going to eat pizza, he had to work out first.
After phoning in his order to Stucky’s Place, Coop decided to call T-Squared back because he felt guilty for ignoring his call earlier.
“Well, I’ll be damned… am I being, pranked? Or is this the real Cuppah Madison…” Todd Taylor quipped on the other end of the line.
“Very funny, T…” Coop replied.
“I’m starting to get a complex, brotha…”
“We’ve been through this before, T, you will always be my favorite person to ignore calls from…”
“Well I got that going for me I guess…”
“That and the millions of dollars I made for you over the years…” Coop jabbed.
“About that… Coop…” T-Squared replied, never missing a chance for a clean segue, “How’s the arm feeling?”
“Wouldn’t know… unless you’re asking how good I am at lifting a can of beer…” Coop answered, knowing that his agent wouldn’t leave it at that.
“So you’re saying you are well-rested… that’s great news!”
“Oh, I got that on lockdown, T…”
“Skip wants to know what the chances are you’ll make the whole city of Chicago go nuts later this month, Coop,” Tim continued, “He said he will ease you in with a couple rehab appearances in the minors and will only use you as a reliever during the your time with the big club.”
“I’m done, T, and even if I wasn’t it’s too late in the game. I wouldn’t help anyone at this point,” Coop answered.
“You’d help ticket sales just by being in a uniform…”
“Yeah, and I’d also be taking someone’s spot on the roster who actually wants to be there. Tell Skip I appreciate the offer, but no thanks. This is why I don’t want to answer the phone.”
Coop clicked “End” on his phone, abruptly ending the call.
T-Squared immediately called back, but Coop let it go to voicemail. He didn’t feel as guilty this time as he made his way to the bathroom to take a shower.
