Hello, this is my first "Fever Pitch" fanfiction and hope you enjoy. Remember, constructive comments and reviews are good, flames are not! Warning: This fanfic contains foul language. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
I'm sitting at the bar with the guys, trying to recover from the devastation that our Red Sox has lost yet another game. Troy was going on about how the team is never going to come back from this and that it's all over for the Red Sox. I sat beside him, drowning in my own disappointment for the team. We then saw a couple of Red Sox players eating at a table near the bar and we were shocked to see them eating like everything's normal after all that's happened. Then it dawned on me. Baseball's just a job to these guys. It's what they do for a living and that it's not something that one needs to obsess over. "Guess Lindsey was right. I did hurt her. I have to go talk to her, I have to make this right." I thought to myself as I came to the realization that I'm a complete idiot for becoming a die-hard Red Sox fan and for allowing this obsession to come between me and the woman I love.
"It's official! I'm an idiot!" I said as I got up from my bar stool, grabbed my coat and left the bar for Lindsey's apartment building. As I went up the stairs, I heard voices coming from the apartment. I rang the doorbell and when the door opened, instead of Lindsey, it was a guy that I've never seen before was standing before me in the doorway. "Can I help you?" The man asked. It took me a few minutes to gather my thoughts as I couldn't believe that Lindsey had moved on so quickly. "Is...is Lindsey…who are you?" I asked, still not believing that I had lost my Lindsey for good. "I'm Patrick. Who are you?" The man replied. "I'm Ben." I answered. "Can I talk to Lindsey please?" I inquired again. Just as the last word left my mouth, I saw Lindsey as she made her way toward the door. She looked as beautiful as ever with her hair permed and wavy. My heart melted at the sight of her but then it started to break again as I remembered why we're not seeing each other anymore.
I had wanted to prove to Lindsey that she's more important to me than the Red Sox so on the night of the Yankees game, I went with Lindsey to her friend Robin's birthday party. The theme was "The Great Gatsby" and everyone dressed up in costumes from the year 1922. We had a wonderful time as we danced the night away and I tried my hardest to not think about the game. Molly's husband Steve was surprised that I'm not at the Yankees game as I watched Lindsey talk to another friend of hers. I told him if the Yankees looked that good in a dress, I'd be at the game. As we left the party to get the car from the valet, I overheard on the radio that the game was still on. Lindsey started to apologize for making me miss the game but I just brushed it off and said "It's just a game." even though on the inside I am torn apart as the valet told me that the Sox were losing 7-0 to the Yankees.
After getting the car from the valet, Lindsey and I went back to her apartment and after some passionate lovemaking, I was on Cloud 9. I couldn't keep the goofy grin off my face as I slowly came back down to Earth and whispered to the beautiful woman lying next to me that this night might be the greatest night of my life. She smiled that cute little smile of hers as she kissed me with all the love she had for me and asked if I wanted some food. I agreed and she slowly got out of bed and made her way toward the kitchen.
Suddenly, the phone started ringing. I picked up the receiver and it was Troy but I could hardly hear him over all the noise in the background. I barely made out what he was saying but from the excitement in his voice, I put two and two together. The Red Sox won against the Yankees as they came back from losing 7-0 at the bottom of the ninth inning and scored 8 runs and 10 straight hits. As my friend babbled on and on about how this was the greatest night in the history of Fenway Park, I was devastated and angry at myself for missing the greatest game ever. I had never missed a Red Sox game in 11 years and now, after meeting Lindsey, things started to change and I fell in love with her.
Yet a part of me is telling me that if I had never gone back to Ryan Meyrson, the company where Lindsey worked, after taking a few students of mine on a tour to ask her out, then I wouldn't have missed the game. I then grabbed the remote, hung up the phone, and turned on the television. The people of Boston were celebrating like crazy in the streets and reporters were saying how the ticket stubs to the game are being sold for $200 on the street, a nun was dancing on top of a vehicle and police officers were drinking beer with underage children. I held my head in my hands as waves upon waves of disappointment and regret washed over me. "Out of all the games that I could have missed I had to miss this one." I thought miserably as I got out of bed, put some clothes on and went to join Lindsey in the kitchen.
She was singing a nameless tune to herself as she prepared omelets for the two of us. I informed her that the Red Sox had won the game and she happily stated that this night really is my night. I then told her that the Red Sox scored 8 runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win 8-7 against the Yankees and that I had missed the greatest game ever. "I never miss a game. Ever. This is a nightmare, no wait, it's beyond that, it's like a punishment from God or something." I started to rant as Lindsey looked on, the smile gone from her beautiful face. "Two minutes ago, you said that this night is the best night of your life." Lindsey said, her voice laced with sadness and disappointment.
"Yeah, two minutes ago it was!" I yelled at her. "Hey, I didn't tell you not to go." Lindsey said, taken aback from my sudden outburst. "No, no, of course not. You had nothing to do with it. I just suddenly had a goddamn whim after 11 fucking years of never missing an inning to suddenly not go to a Yankees game!" I screamed as I punched the bathroom door in frustration. "You said when we left Robin's birthday party that "It's only a game". Why are you making such a big deal out of this?!" Lindsey asked, her own anger rising. "That's great, just fucking great! Pile it on! Kick me when I'm down! That's just goddamn great!" I retorted angrily. "It's just a game!" Lindsey said, her anger getting the best of her. "Well clearly it's not just a game! If it wasn't, obviously I wouldn't care about it this much!" I yelled. "23 years! 23 fucking years! Name me something that you have cared about in the last 23 years!" I challenged, my anger reaching its' peak.
Lindsey then started to cry and said that there isn't anything that she wanted in 23 years because 23 years ago she was only 7 years old and if she still had wanted to marry Scott Baio, she would think that her life went terribly wrong. "I just thought that tonight would be so different." Lindsey said through her sniffles. "You broke my heart Ben." was the last thing she said before she walked past me and closed her bedroom door shut. I tried to apologize to her for being such an asshole about this whole Red Sox thing but she wouldn't hear of it. I quietly opened the door, like a child that's being reprimanded for being bratty, grabbed my clothes from the floor, put on my dress pants and shoes and left the apartment. I gazed longingly at the building, knowing that my Lindsey is hurting because of me. I then turned my gaze back onto the street as I made my way back to my own apartment.
I was brought back to the present as I heard Lindsey saying to Patrick that she's going to talk to me for a bit. Patrick nodded, turned and left us alone at the doorway. Lindsey closed the door behind her as we stood face to face in the hallway. "So, were you having a party in there?" I asked, trying to ease the tension. "No, it's a work thing and a bunch of us came here after. Carrie and Ezra are here too." Lindsey replied in an emotionless voice. "Are...are you on a date?" I asked. "No, Ben. I told you, it's a work thing." Lindsey said irritably. "Oh, so it's a double date. Great, that's just great." I said, not catching the part about the work thing as my mind jumped to the conclusion that Lindsey doesn't love me anymore and has moved on. "Maybe this Patrick guy could be what she needs." I thought miserably. "Ben, what are you doing here?" Lindsey asked with her arms crossed. "I wanted to talk to you. About us. I can't believe that you're on a date!" I said, my mind still jumping to conclusions. "What is there to talk about?" Lindsey said as memories from that fateful night came back full force.
A few minutes of silence went by before I finally summoned the courage and said, "I love you Lindsey and I want to give this another chance." My voice filled with hope that Lindsey would take me back and then everything would be back to normal. Lindsey didn't answer. "Did you hear me?" I asked, making one last feeble attempt at repairing our relationship. "Ben…" Lindsey started to say. "Look," I said, cutting her off. "You go on your date, I'll hang out here and when you're done, we'll get married." I said excitedly. "No, I don't think so Ben." Lindsey said sadly. "This isn't you. This is the Other Guy." "What other guy?" I asked with confusion. "It's October. The Red Sox are one game away from elimination. You're becoming Winter Guy again. I already like Winter Guy, it's Summer Guy that broke my heart." Lindsey said as tears started to roll down her beautiful face.
"Summer Guy is gone." I said reassuringly. "Look, Lindsey, I…" Before I could finish my sentence, Lindsey cut me off saying that too much has happened and I told her that when she told me that she might be pregnant with our child, I froze and thought of a million different reasons why I should not be a father but then I thought of a reason why I should be a father because the baby would be ours. It's pieces of us. "I got so excited that I even went and bought a little size one Red Sox jersey for a player to be named later and a bunch of Red Sox toys! I still have them for whenever." I said as I thought of the day that we could have a baby of our own and I would take him or her out to all the Red Sox games just like my Uncle Carl did for me.
Lindsey bowed her head and said in a quiet voice, "Ben I just got so hurt. Really hurt, and sometimes, when that happens, something inside just shuts off." I couldn't believe it, this really is over. No more Ben and Lindsey, just lonely ol' Ben. "I'm sorry." Lindsey said sadly as tears started to form and blur my vision. "This is over. It's really over." I thought as the apartment door closed quietly, separating me from the one woman that I had ever truly loved. I bowed my head as I turned to walk toward the stairs and out of Lindsey Meeks' life.
A few weeks passed after me and Lindsey broke up. I called up Robin's husband Chris and asked if he's still interested in buying my season tickets to the Red Sox games. Chris happily agreed and said to meet him at the Park during one of the upcoming games and he'll be there with all the paperwork ready for me to sign. I thanked him and hung up the phone. I then proceeded to put all the Red Sox books, pictures, towels and other baseball related items into a few cardboard boxes to be given to goodwill. I looked at the photo taken of me as a little boy and my Uncle Carl and I smiled sadly as I silently apologized to my Uncle for letting him down and saying that he was right, the Red Sox broke my heart.
A couple of days later, I met up with Chris at Fenway Park during the final game of the regular season before the World Series starts. Al, Artie and the girls were all trying to stop me from selling my seats to Chris. Al even scolded me for agreeing to do this in the first place and that my Uncle Carl would come back to haunt me for this. I shrugged off his empty threat and turned my attention back to the papers. My hand shook as I tried to hold onto the pen to sign my name on the paper. Once I had managed to sign my name on the dotted line, Chris took the papers and shook my hand, thanking me for doing business with him. I shook his hand like a mindless robot, smiling at all the right times and Chris went on his way.
After the game was over, I went back to my apartment and just looked at how empty it was without all the Red Sox merchandise decorating the walls. The only thing that I have left to remind me of the team was the little size one Red Sox jersey that I got for the baby. I gave most of my Red Sox stuff to charity but this was the one thing that I couldn't part with, that and the big green wall that said "Remember the 'Jimmy' Fund". I clutched the jersey to my chest as I laid on the bed and silently cried myself to sleep, dreaming of what could have been.
I might write a second (or maybe third) chapter to this. Emphasis on the "might".