To say Ginny is overwhelmed by the last 24 hours is an understatement. The fight and reconciliation with Blip, Tommy being traded and the lingering sting of Oscar's anger towards her weighed heavily on her shoulders, but at that moment she was happy. Blip was staying and they'd just won their 8th straight game. All in all things were okay.
"Ginny, wait up." Amelia's voice rang out behind her. Ginny turned, smiling. Amelia had her serious face on so Ginny mentally prepared herself for her to say the words she'd been dreading ever since the Cardinals game; 'the pictures have been leaked'.
Except that's not it.
And Ginny is in no way prepared for Amelia to tell her she was seeing Mike Lawson...or that it had been going on for a few weeks. Feeling sick, she gave her a small smile saying, almost robotic, the first few things that come to mind.
"You're both adults, it's none of my business, if you're happy, I'm happy."
Amelia seemed relieved...what? Had she thought Ginny was going to throw a fit? Did she really think she was that much of a child?
'Of course she does.' A voice in the back of her head told her. 'Otherwise why keep it from you?'
She forced herself to turn and walk away, her feet heavy as a hollow feeling grew in the center of her chest. Then her phone rang and Mike's name came up. She swallowed, gripping the edges of her phone. Then declined the call. She didn't want to talk to him. She wanted to forget everything that had happened in the last 24 hours.
Which is how she found herself on Blip's couch with his twins passed out on both sides of her as an old "In Living Color" episode played on the TV. She slowly slipped off, the twins completely unconscious and dead to the world. Getting out of the house, she walked through Blip and Evelyn's back yard. Squatting by the edge of the pool, she held her arm out, watching the dancing reflection of the water over her skin. She sat on the edge, pulling up the legs of her sweatpants, and dipping her feet into the water. Looking up at the sky, she tried to make sense of all that had happened. She'd shut off the sound on her phone after the 3rd time Mike tried to call her.
While she'd enjoyed their weird tradition of talking to each other late at night and while she'd enjoyed those conversations, she didn't want to hear what he was going to say. And now she couldn't help but analyze all of her former conversations with Mike. How private had they been? Had Amelia been there? Or worse, had he shared details about them with her?
And what had Amelia told Mike about her? She knew so many details about Ginny's past and her personal life. Ginny shut her eyes, lowering her head as she tried to push the unnecessary noise out of her head. Whatever Mike and Amelia had done was none of her business. She couldn't fault them for what they did during their personal time, but she could fault them for lying to her. She needed to put some distance between herself and...them. The word tightened her throat. There was a "them" now. A Them that was separate from her.
Her phone lit up and she was about to ignore the call, but...it wasn't Mike.
"Miller?" She asked.
"No snarky comment?" Tommy sounded drained. "You must miss me."
"You called me." Ginny shot back before biting her lip in embarrassment. Tommy was gone and he was probably upset. She relaxed when he let out a small laugh.
"Yeah, Butch wasn't answering." He retorted.
"So I'm a consolation prize." She said.
"You'll have to do." He sighed heavily. Ginny smiled. They sat in silence. Ginny moved her legs slowly though the water, unsure what to say.
"How's...Chicago?"
"Cold." Tommy's voice was clipped. "Jake's going to see snow for the first time though, so there's that."
Jake, his son. She remembered he'd tried to introduce them, but she'd been too distracted by the idea of Blip being traded that she hadn't paid attention. "Tommy, I-"
"It's okay." Tommy cut her off. "We were all worried and there was no way you could have known..." He trailed off, unwilling to say it. Another silence fell. Ginny shivered as a breeze ruffled her hair, pulling her feet out of the pool, she tucked her legs beneath her. Tommy let out a small huff. "You know what the worst part is? When I heard Butch got traded...a part of me was relieved because I thought, at least it isn't me...I guess this is Karma."
"No." Ginny said. "I'm pretty sure Karma was the name of the groupie Lawson left the bar with last week." The joke sounded hollow to her ears, even as Tommy laughed. Mike wasn't messing around with groupies any more...he had Amelia.
"Is Jake with you?"
"Not yet." Tommy said. "He's staying with his aunt to finish out the school year. Then he's moving to Chicago." He paused. "He's...taking it pretty hard."
Ginny noted he hadn't mentioned Jake's mother and her gut told her it would be better not to ask. As it turned out, Tommy answered her unspoken question.
"I just...it was easier when his mom was here. She always knew what to say and..." He trailed off. "I suppose you already know what happened."
"No." Ginny admitted. It was embarrassing, but they'd only become friendly after the beanball war with Falcone. There hadn't been much time to dig into their personal lives before he'd been traded.
"Oh." Was all he said. Ginny didn't press.
"If his aunt ever needs help or wants a night off. I'm great with kids." She said. "Just ask Blip, I watch his twins all the time."
"I'll tell her you offered." Tommy's voice was hushed.
Another silence.
Then Tommy said. "You okay, Grasshopper? You sound upset and I know it can't be about me."
Ginny looked at the water in front of her. "Just been an overwhelming day...I found out...some difficult news." She didn't want to talk about it just yet and Tommy was smart enough not to ask after she trailed off.
"I'm going to miss you out here." He said.
"Really?" Ginny laughed. "Why don't I believe you."
"I'm serious." Tommy insisted. "You kept me on my toes. I had to work double to stay relevant. Now, I don't have the same competition. I'm going to slack off."
"Huh." Ginny leaned back and looked up at the sky. "And it only took you moving to the other side of the country for you to be nice to me."
"Hey, I was nice to you before I left."
"Barely." She laughed.
"Well, I was jealous. Drake never sent me expensive booze."
There was a knocking sound behind her. Blip was standing in front of the door looking out at her. Ginny's face burned as though she'd been caught doing something embarrassing.
"I gotta go, it was actually nice talking to you."
"You too, Baker." Tommy hung up.
Blip raised an eyebrow. "Who was that?" He asked, teasing. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"None of your business." She stood and walked back towards the house. Blip snorted.
"Uh huh." He turned, following her in. Evelyn was pulling a plate of nachos out of the oven, clearly having been convinced by the twins to let them have a midnight snack. "Well I am so happy you're not mad at Mike."
"Why would she be mad at Mike?" Evelyn asked, waving a potholder over the nachos and swatting away the hands of her sons. Ginny frowned, looking at Blip. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open.
"I just...that was him on the phone, right?"
Ginny frowned. "No." She said slowly. "But why would you think I was mad at him...unless." She took a step back. Blip looked down at the kitchen counter. Evelyn looked back and forth between them. Her brow furrowed.
"Boys, go wait in your room for these to cool down." She said.
"Moooom." They said in unison.
"Now." She growled. They did as she instructed, running from the room. Evelyn waited until she heard the door close before turning back to Blip and Ginny. "What the hell is going on right now?"
Ginny crossed her arms and glared at Blip. "You knew, didn't you?"
Blip's shoulders sagged. "It wasn't...I-"
"Knew what?" Evelyn asked.
"That Amelia was having sex with Mike." Ginny said. Evelyn's jaw dropped.
"Please tell me you mean some other people who aren't Amelia your agent and Mike Lawson your team captain." She said. When Ginny didn't respond she pressed a hand to her temple. "The hell is wrong with both of them."
"Gin," Blip said. "I found out yesterday. It was part of why I was so angry when I came back...and I didn't say anything because I wanted Mike to tell you himself."
Ginny shook her head. "Well that worked out spectacularly."
Blip's brow furrowed. "What do you mean, he told you, right?"
"Amelia told me." Ginny said. Blip bit his lip.
"Oh."
Evelyn shook her head. "Go bring the nachos to the boys."
"But-" Blip protested. Evelyn shot him a death glare.
"Now."
He nodded, grabbing the tray and leaving the room. Evelyn waited until she heard the door to the boy's room close before turning to Ginny.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Ginny said slowly. Evelyn's eyes narrowed. "Ev I'm fine."
"No you're not." She said. "And I don't blame you. What the hell were they thinking?" She paused. "It was a one time thing, right?"
Ginny shook her head. "It's apparently been going on for a few weeks." She bit her lip as Evelyn let out an angry hiss.
"That's completely unprofessional." Evelyn growled. "And lying to you?" She frowned. "I'm about to drive over to Lawson's place to give him a piece of my mind, then over to your agent to-"
"EVELYN." Ginny laughed, her friend's fierce protectiveness of her was exactly what she'd needed to clear her anxiety. Evelyn sighed.
"Fine, but my husband is going to get it."
"Evie." Blip's horrified voice was accompanied by the sound of him coming down the stairs. Evelyn frowned up at him.
"I don't remember saying you could come back here." She said.
"I thought it would be better coming from Mike." Blip said.
"I don't care that Lawson is your boy." Evelyn made air quotes and took a step closer jabbing him in the chest. "Ginny is family. And that's more important than your bromance with your captain."
"I-"
"You were thinking about what was best for him, not for her." Evelyn snapped. "If you hadn't said anything to Mike when would the rest of us have found out? At the wedding? At the tenth anniversary?"
Ginny felt sick. "I think I should go home." She mumbled, turning away.
"It wasn't my business, Evie." Blip said.
"It affected Ginny, which made it your business." Evelyn snapped, looking over at Ginny. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah...I just...I need to be alone." She turned and left the house. Getting into the car she was about to drive away when her phone buzzed. Tommy had texted her a picture of him standing in front of a TV that was playing a Drake concert with the caption. "Front row seats."
She smiled in spite of herself.
"So Jealous." She texted back.
