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“That poor boy got himself stuck in a toilet, Aubrey. That has nothing to do with your teaching. Besides, you do it because it’s your calling and you’re amazing.”
“Thank you.” Aubrey blushed. “It’s the students from the game,” she continued. “Which reminds me… Are you positive you don’t want me to ask Rowie about getting tickets for your fundraiser?”
I spat out my drink, rum and coke splattering my legs. “What did you just call him? No. I don’t want Rowie to get tickets for my fundraiser.”
“Can you put Halloween behind you, please? For the sake of my wedding?” Aubrey pouted, stirring up the past. “He wouldn’t even remember it was you he kissed. He was a mess.”
“That’s kind of the point,” I argued, rolling my eyes. “I don’t want to talk about this. Let’s just enjoy what time we have left in this heat before flying home.”
When Aubrey started talking more about a cousin’s uncle’s something who couldn’t come to the wedding, I looked around the pool. All the pretty people and their drinks, pretty people to kiss. It made me miss the solitude of my cave in Portland, where I could wear clothes and didn’t have to worry about watching Desiree, the hostess from last night, walk back and forth in heels and a bikini at the same pool Aubrey and I were at.
It was probably Aubrey stirring up that memory from college that made me even more grossed out by watching Desiree. Either way, I was hours from flying home and only having to deal with Rowan when his smiling face mocked me on billboards, and from the nosebleed seats on the third base line at Emeralds games where he was but a mere dot in a sea of green.
THREE
Three weeks after Vegas and Aubrey was texting me almost hourly about the wedding. As her maid of honor, I took her Bridezilla-with-a-halo with a grain of salt and did what I could. However, calling Ethan’s mom and her mom to mediate their disagreement on whether to provide an open bar at the reception was not something I could manage while at work.
Like Ethan, his mom was perfect. I wanted her to be my mom, but then I’d be Ethan’s sister. It’d be awkward, because I’ve always enjoyed looking at Ethan and I’ve heard too many things in our time as friends that it just wouldn’t work. I was texting his mom when Maggie poked her head around my doorway.
“Did you watch the game last night? I think they’re going to make it,” she squealed, clenching her fists with excitement.
“I missed it,” I admitted, not regretting the chick flick marathon I had by myself instead. Maggie was one of my favorite interns, especially when she’d start gushing about the center fielder. Before she could open her mouth to tell me about his grass stains and her early World Series prediction, my boss cleared his throat behind her.
“Meredith,” he coughed. “Staff meeting in five minutes. My office. Maggie, could you please run downstairs for coffee? I’m sure we’ll finish when you get back.” Maggie eagerly agreed, leaving Harrison and me together.
“It can’t be good news if you’re not involving the interns,” I speculated, hoping he’d correct me. He pursed his lips and nodded, spinning around and making a path to his office. Flashing Maggie a sympathetic smile, I followed her out of my office after gathering my laptop and cell phone.
Harrison was opening the stale blinds in his office when I joined the four other staff members around the table. They looked as confused as me while we waited for Harrison to let us know why we were silently sitting around his conference table.
“You’d think with kids being home for summer that we’d be busier,” Harrison suggested, as he settled into a chair at the head of the table. “I’m going to cut to the chase. There was a budget shortfall and I want you to be preparing yourselves, if we can’t fix it.”
“What kind of shortfall?” Dane questioned at my side, his cologne suffocating me as he leaned closer to me in his chair.
“Does it matter, Dane?” Monica snapped. “It’s concerning enough for Harrison to tell us to find new jobs.”
Looking at the ceiling, I tried to add my expenses for the next six months and budget my bank account. I’d be okay until Christmas, but this wasn’t just work to me.
“It’s about two hundred thousand dollars,” Harrison interjected. He dropped his interwoven hands into his lap and shrugged, as if that was all of it. “We’re working to fundraise and talking to donors, but even if we could squeeze everyone who’s ever donated, we’re short.”
As they started brainstorming who knew someone more rich or famous, I flipped open my laptop and checked my calendar for the rest of the year.
“This weekend is the Trail Blazer’s game,” Harrison began, going through our upcoming agenda, as if telling us to job hunt was over and done, “and next weekend is the Emeralds game. Who’s going to those?”
As they finished assigning duties to everyone, I could email Ethan’s mom and get that out of the way. The next thing on my agenda was to find the closest happy hour, but something else thwarted my plans.
“Earth to Meredith,” Dane laughed, nudging me with his shoulder.
“Sorry.” I blushed. “Sign me up for whatever.” Maggie knocked on the door, tentatively stepping in with her arms filled with two trays of coffee. She memorized my order; huge, hot, and dark.
“Maggie,” Harrison prodded, “how do you feel about joining Meredith at the Emeralds game tonight? She’s going with a few students from Portland State.”
Relieved I could have a beer with my students, I felt more at ease about spending the night at the game.
“You girls get there early enough and you might have a chance at getting an autograph from Diego,” he continued, chuckling to himself. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who knew about Maggie’s obsession with the center fielder.
Maggie popping into my office with questions about what to wear while squirming like a jitterbug throughout the day made it seem way too long. When we met outside the stadium later to wait for Becky and Lauren, Maggie was already bouncing with excitement.
I loved working with our interns and the students we supported, but my discussion about marketing and non-profit management flew over the girls’ heads like a fly ball once we made it to our seats.
