"Great game tonight man." Mark Benford called down the hall just before opening the door to his room.
Paul Narita, star pitcher for the cubs paused, key card in hand, just about to open his own door. He turned back to his team mate, "Thanks man, but I didn't do it alone. You guys saved me a couple times." he called back.
"Never the less you are the one that held them to two runs." he called over his shoulder disappearing into his hotel room.
Paul grinned, secretly pleased by the compliment. It had taken a long while for the team to accept him and treat him like one of their own. He didn't know what happened with the abrupt departure of the last starting pitcher, but he had been traded and Paul had been brought up from the minors to take his place. He had worked hard to prove himself and now he finally felt like he was one of them. He pushed the key card into the electronic lock and pushed the door open, feeling elated.
Sonny, his longtime on and off boyfriend was lying across the end of the bed, book in hand. He glanced up when Paul entered the room but didn't greet him.
"Hey." he said tossing his key onto the desk. The tension in the room was palpable.
"Where have you been?" Sonny asked, sounding annoyed. He sat up on the bed and looked at Paul expectantly.
"I stopped and signed a few autographs after the game with a couple of the guys." Paul said, shrugging his shoulders, heading into the bathroom. He tugged his shirt over his head, and dropped it onto the chair as he passed by. "What did you do this afternoon?" he asked.
"I went over to museum of the arts, then I got something to eat at a sports bar and watched the game on the big screen." Sonny said walking to the bathroom door and leaning against the frame.
"If you wanted to watch the game, I could have gotten you a ticket." Paul said. "You could have seen it in person."
"Or you could have gotten me a pass for the players club so I could have watched with the other players families." Sonny snapped, getting to the heart of what had him upset today.
Paul sighed… it was going to be one of those nights, it was always something with Sonny. He was soo incessantly tired of this particular fight. It was one that they had more and more often lately. "Come on Sonny, not this again." he said.
"What's wrong with me watching the game with the other family members? We have been together a long time now." Sonny said.
"You know why." Paul said, shoving a hand through his hair. "No one knows anything about my personal life, and I want to keep it that way."
"You mean no one knows your gay." Sonny snapped.
"That's what I said." Paul agreed.
"No.. you said no one knows anything about your private life, that's not true. They know the lie that you live." Sonny spat at him getting increasingly upset.
"What lie Sonny?" Paul asked, even though he already knew the answer. Sonny hated it when he went out with the other players, and he never made it a secret. Sometimes they went to clubs or bars, and almost always there were overzealous female fans looking to hook up with one of the ball players. He had been hit on, a lot, which he always respectfully declined, but there were always pictures being snapped and shared all over social media. It never failed even though Sonny knew there was absolutely nothing to worry about, that he absolutely had no interest in any of them, Sonny still acted like it was the end of the world.
"The one where you smile and have your photograph taken with beautiful women all the time, knowing that people think those are women that you are sleeping with…" Sonny said.
"What difference does it make what people think?" Paul asked.
"Exactly!" Sonny exclaimed sounding extremely proud of himself. "What does it matter what they think about you being gay, what are you so worried about?"
"That's different!" Paul said, frustration coloring his voice. "You know I would shout it out to the world, if it wouldn't ruin my career.. but it will."
"You don't know that… there are gay athletes coming out all the time now." Sonny said. "It won't change a thing a thing about your precious career."
"It may not…. But it also may end it… and that's just not a chance I am willing to take." Paul said. "I am going to take a shower then we can order take out or something and watch a movie, whatever you want."
"I want to go out to eat." Sonny said stubbornly. "You know like couples do sometimes.
"Give it a rest Sonny." Paul said, pushing the door closed, effectively cutting off any further discussion.
He turned the water to hot and stepped in the shower. He turned his back to the water letting the spray hit the back of his neck, helping to ease away the tension.
He wanted to believe that it would all work out, that things were going to get easier, but that was a lie and he knew it. Sonny was becoming more and more demanding, and there was just somethings that he couldn't do, no matter how much he wanted to. If things didn't change soon, he was going to have to think about taking another break.
He stayed in the shower until the water turned tepid and then he shut the water off and quickly towelled himself dry. He pulled on his clean briefs and walked out of the bathroom. The room was quiet and dark. Paul noticed Sonny's form on the far side of the bed, turned away from him.
He sighed to himself, either Sonny was already, asleep, pretending to be, or simply just pouting. He went over and slid between the sheets behind him. Paul scooted up close to him and wrapped his arm around Sonny's waist, pulling him even closer. He laid there thinking about what Sonny was asking him to do…. All the different outcome possibilities, until he fell asleep.
A few weeks later…..
"Can we go out for lunch?" Sonny asked, scrolling through the list of local restaurants. "There is Italian, Mexican, Burgers, even Thai all with in a mile or two."
"You pick and we can place a to go order." Paul answered distractedly.
"I want to go out to eat." Sonny said, "I haven't been to San Francisco in a long while, I wanna get something to eat and see the sights."
"Oh." Paul said looking up. "Okay well, then just bring me something back when you are done, doesn't matter what it is."
"You're not coming with me?" Sonny said his head snapping up.
"I can't " Paul said.
"But the rest of the team won't be here until tomorrow." Sonny whined. "It's the perfect chance for us to get out and do something together."
"Yeah, I know but I have a couple of interviews this afternoon." Paul said.
"What kind of interviews?" Sonny asked, "Why can't they wait till tomorrow?"
"Sports magazines, and they can't wait because the press manager for the team set this up when they found out I am going to be pitching in the all star game." Paul said. "This could be important to my career."
"Fine" Sonny snapped. "I am not sitting in an empty hotel room all day waiting for you. I'm going out." he snatched his key card from the desk and slammed out of the room.
Paul watched him go, rubbing the back of his neck. Sooner or later he and Sonny were going to have to have a talk. He liked having Sonny with him on the road, keeping him company when there wasn't a game or when the other guys were out partying… but the constant hounding was hardly worth it. Sonny may be better off waiting back in Chicago. Where he had friends to occupy his time.
Paul pushed those troubling thoughts from his mind and turned his attention to reading some articles by the journalists interviewing him today. He wanted to get a feel for what kinds of questions they may ask.
A couple hours later he was freshly showered, shaved, and on his way to his meeting with the first journalist of the afternoon.
He stepped out of the limo in front of a very swanky restaurant. He buttoned his suit coat as he stepped out of the car. He walked up to the hostess podium and gave his name to the attractive woman standing there.
"Right this way." she said leading him to a back corner table.
"Here you are." she said "Enjoy your meal."
"Thanks." he said.
"You must be Paul Narita." an equally attractive woman purred, standing to greet him. She was tall, slender, with flowy platinum blonde curls, and deep green eyes. "I must say it is very nice to meet you." she said, sliding her hand into his.
"And you are?" he asked, smiling graciously.
"Jessica Winters." she said. "With Baseball America."
"It is a pleasure to meet you Jessica." he said. "Shall we?" he asked motioning to the table.
They sat down and the waiter appeared instantly, as if he were waiting just around to corner. They ordered drinks and he disappeared just as quickly.
Jessica laid her phone on the table, "You don't mind if I record this do you?" she asked. Clicking the record button without waiting for a response.
Paul shook his head, "Umm, no of course not." he said.
She didn't waste any time but launched into a relentless string of questions, mainly about how long he had been playing, where he played his double A and Triple A ball, what made him want to play baseball… which he answered with same answers as he had been giving since coming up to the big leagues. Not that he had given many interviews… this was really his first big one. This was a national magazine.
Once he gave her the cookie cutter response the the question about who his role model was, she got a little more personal.
"What are your hobbies? What do you do to relax? How do you spend your time at home?" Paul answered with answers that he had carefully thought out before he ever got ready to leave for the interview.
"He liked to be outdoors, doing anything physical, hiking, biking, rock climbing, for relaxation he spent his time reading anything he could get his hands on.
"So," she said. "Digging deeper, do you have a special girl back home?" she asked, her eyes boring into his.
He chuckled. "A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell." he said, evading the question.
But she wasn't to be deterred. Ahhh, So there IS someone special." she said. "What's her name?"
Paul rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I didn't say that." he said quietly.
"Come on.." she said, "I promise I won't print it, it will stay right here between us."
"Alright." Paul said leaning his arms on the table, leaning closer to her.
Her eyes lit up and she leaned in closer to him as well.
Paul looked around to see if anyone else was around. When he was satisfied that they were as alone as they could be in the moderately crowded restaurant. He turned back to her… "The truth is…" he whispered conspiratorially, "that I am way to busy with the team for a love life."
Her face fell. "Oh… you." she said giving him a wry grin, pushing his arm playfully.
Paul grinned back. "Seriously, there is basically no time and it wouldn't be fair to have someone back home waiting for me."
"Alright." she said. Then she plowed on with her follow up questions, mainly about how he found out he was going to be pitching the All star game, how his family felt about it.
Two drinks later she turned the recorder on her phone off and dropped it into her purse. "I think I have all that I need." she said.
Paul motioned to the waiter for the check.
"Tomorrow you will drop by the studio for a couple of pictures right?" she asked.
"Yes, of course." he said, handing his American Express to the waiter.
She laid her hand on top of his. "Well, since you don't have anyone waiting at home, and neither one of us are from here. Why don't you and I grab some dinner and then we can keep each other company tonight." She said boldly, tracing his knuckles with the tips of her fingers.
Paul discreetly pulled his hand back to his side of the table. "As tempting as that offer is." he said. "I am afraid I still have two more interviews to get through this afternoon."
Her face fell. Just as she opened her mouth to say something else,the waiter appeared at the table and laid the bill fold on the table with a pen. Paul quickly signed the check, adding a generous tip and stood.
She followed his lead, and stood. "Well…. If you change your mind," she said handing him her card. "Thank you for the interview, it was a pleasure to meet you." she said, holding out her hand to him.
He shook her hand politely and then turned to leave. He stood out in front of the restaurant waiting for the limousine to pick him up.
His next interview was much like the first one, with the exception of the digging into his personal life and the invitation for more. The older gentleman that was interviewing him was for baseball digest, and had been a reporter most of his life. He was very thorough but also very matter of fact, and it was over almost as quickly as it started.
On the way to the last interview of the day, Paul gazed out the window, watching the buildings pass by in a blur. He wondered briefly what Sonny was doing, and if he was still mad.
A gentle hum filled the interior of the car as the glass that separated him from the driver. "We are here sir." he said.
Paul looked out the window. "The stadium." he asked?
"Yes sir." the driver said. "Mr Cruthers texted to say that there was a last minute change of plans and that the reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle will meet you here."
"Okay then." Paul said. "I will be back soon, I guess." he moved to open the door.
"No sir." the driver said hurriedly. "I will get your door."
Paul waved him off. "I think I can manage." he said shoving the door open and stepping out.
He walked past the empty ticket counters, down the deserted hall, wondering where he was supposed to meet this last reporter. There didn't seem to be anyone else around. It was eerily quiet. He made it to the escalator, which wasn't running, but he walked up to the next level since that is where the players box was located.
The second level was equally deserted. He walked out onto the platform of the stands. He stood hands braced on the rail, he looked out over the empty field. This was where he belonged. This was what he needed in life to be happy, there was no denying that.
"Excuse me, Are you Paul Narita?" a voice called from behind him.
He took one last look at the field, then turned to introduce himself. He was met with the bluest eyes he had ever seen.
Paul's eyes grew wide as he took in the rest of him.
Mid 20's, broad shoulders, trim waist, and the most gorgeous smile he had ever seen in his life. The attraction was instantaneous.
His mouth quickly went dry, he wiped his sweaty palm down the thigh of his slacks. "Yes, I'm Paul Narita." he said holding out his hand.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Will Horton." Adonis said, shaking his hand.