As soon as she closes the door behind her, Orlando turns to me.
“When am I going to see you again?” he asks immediately.
“I’ll be at your games. There’s plenty of business to take care of with the MLS Cup.”
“No,” he says, voice low. “When am I going to see you again, Troy?”
His intensified tone makes it clear what he really means. Neither of us will be satisfied just seeing each other professionally. How could we be?
“I don’t know.” I grit my teeth, searching for an answer, some way to have him again. “We’ll talk when it’s safe.”
Orlando looks disappointed by my answer, maybe even hurt, but he quickly shakes his head. “Fine,” he says, tensing. “I get it. And I should go.”
I walk him to the door like I would any client and return to my office.
I’m emotionally exhausted. Seeing Orlando without being able to touch him is a special kind of hell.
But this is how it needs to be now, and there’s real business to occupy my attention.
Mel and I change out of our office clothes and take a cab straight to the baseball stadium. I skip my usual game-night sweatshirt, opting for a collared gray shirt, and Mel goes for a Marshall jersey and designer denim that she dresses up with her fancy makeup.
“Do we look ready to land the deals of our career?”
I smooth the front of my shirt with a grunt. “We’ve been ready.”
It’s a great game and a solid win for my old team. Plenty of athletes crowd our company box, and I end up moving down behind home plate to watch the action at the end.
It feels good to be there, cheering on Marshall at the peak of his talents, believing for even a few minutes that I might be about to manage his career.
Best thing I can do for everyone is to succeed, make the agency into what it’s meant to be. That’s how I take care of all my athletes, Orlando included.
It’s not long after the game that Mel and I are summoned to the locker room. Marshall steps away from the media he’s talking to and joins us on the side. “If you don’t mind,” he says, gesturing down a hall. We walk toward some of the small offices, and I see Patel is talking with a few guys from the team.
He breaks away to join us. “Great game,” he says to Marshall.
Mel smiles. “It was. And aren’t we glad to see you here, too,” she says.
Patel chuckles. “Might as well cut straight to business,” he says. “I know we’re all busy people.”
“Never too busy for you,” Mel says, and that earns a laugh from both of them.
Marshall looks right at me. “You’re a tough agent. I don’t always like blunt talk, but what you said was right.”
I nod. “You’re the best pitcher out there. And it would be an honor to manage your career.”
Patel looks between me and Mel. “We’re both coming over to your agency,” he says. “Let’s hammer out details and announce soon.”
It takes all my self-control not to bark out afuck yeah. After months of back and forth, we’re actually landing this thing.
Marshall crosses his arms over his chest. “There’s no funny business with you two. I like that. I’m looking forward to working together.”
Mel offers her hand. “I’m sure you know we’re thrilled.”
We only shoot the shit for another minute before the guys have to go. Marshall has to do some questions with the press, something that we’ll soon be organizing for him. Mel and I exchange grins, and she lets out a relieved laugh.
“It’s happening,” she says. “I fucking knew we could pull it off.”
I grunt. “Damn right.”
