Title: Natural
Summary: An unknown batter named Edward Masen takes a losing baseball team to the top of the league. Edward lives out his fame but can't seem to shake the idea of the mysterious woman he meets on the train.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made from this work.
A/N: Thank you to my amazing mind soulmate and awbffe, LoveBadBoyVamps, for beta reading this chapter. *muah*
16 years later…
I waited in the darkness of the tunnel watching the game. The Knights were down 7-1 and didn't look to be making a comeback. They were stuck in one the biggest losing streaks in major league history, and I was about to change that.
After disappearing from the spotlight and now at the age of thirty-five I was going to be just what this team needed to get started again. Or at least that's what Jazz told Judge Banner, the Knights co-owner. He signed me without meeting me and now I was officially the Knights new right fielder. Now, I just had to let the manager know.
I watched on as one of their players ran after a fly ball, glove in the air, only to have it fall in front of him. Chuckling, I waited till the pitcher struck out the last batter and the poor guy ran into the dugout. What I could only assume to be the assistant coach walked over to him and got right in his face.
"Do you mind telling me what happened out there?"
The kid put his head down in shame and spoke with absolute certainty. "I lost it in the sun."
The assistant coach looked up at the cloudy sky. "Blinding."
This was my cue. I stepped out of the darkness with my jacked draped over my shoulder and holding my Wonderboy bat. The hat shielded my eyes as I walked towards the team. The coaches sent the team into the locker room and I made my entrance.
"Hello, my names Edward Masen. I believe I'm your new right-fielder."
An overweight guy, who I assumed to be the coach, walked towards me. "Oh, really. Says who?"
"Aro Volturi. That's who."
The coaches exchanged glances and the coach slammed his hat on the ground. "You've got to be shittin' me! I'm trying to get us out of a slump and he sends me this old-timer to play."
"I'm thirty-five and I'm the best you've got."
The assistant coach laughed. "People don't start playing ball at your age, they retire!"
"Let's just say I got a little side-tracked."
The truth was I had spent the last sixteen years searching for Bella. I didn't have much luck with no clues to go on except her name and that she made her way to New York from Chicago. I bombed my last try-out with the Knights. Neither of these guys was there and had they been I would've been kicked out for tarnishing the field. They didn't have a clue about that sad day. Bella had ruined me. I was heartbroken at her leaving but I was passed that now. Almost.
"Well, I don't suppose we have much choice." The coach huffed. "Batting practice tomorrow we'll see how good you are."
He walked towards the locker rooms. No doubt, going to chew out his players for another loss. The assistant coach stayed with me, eying me. He was a decent looking man. Not young but still good-looking in his age. He had blonde hair that was slicked back underneath his cap and his gaze made me uneasy.
He stepped forward and held out his hand. "Carlisle Cullen."
My heart stopped at the sound of his last name and instantly brought me back to dining car and a gorgeous brunette writhing beneath me. I shook my head and brought myself back to the present. I needed to give up on Isabella Cullen. She was a drug that I had to get out of my system.
I shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."
"You'll have to excuse Phil. He thinks you're Aro's way of getting him canned."
"I promise I'm not. I'm here to turn you guys around."
He nodded. "Let's hope so. We need it."
He spit out the corner of his mouth and slapped me on the back. I knew I had to prove myself still and I had no doubt I would if they gave me the chance. My age was what was stopping them. They thought I should be on my way, out not still in my prime. But, I was.
"You guys have been in a losing streak since Charlie Swan passed away, right?"
His face fell at the mention of the old coach's name. "Yeah, Swan was the life of this team."
I remember reading it in the paper before I was making my way out here the first time. Charlie Swan, coach of the best team in baseball was shot and killed in an alleyway behind the field. It hit New York hard losing such a prominent figure in society. Charlie Swan was a likable guy who donated to charity and worked his boys hard. His loss hit the team hard and it showed in their stats.
Right after his death, Phil Dwyer took over, an old coach from the minors. The team hadn't taken well to him. That was only heightened by his quickie marriage to Charlie's girl, Renee. It was all over the papers how Charlie pined for Renee but she never accepted his proposals. Then a couple months after his passing Renee and Phil were married.
Many saw it as her way of staying in the spotlight. A select few saw it as her way of not losing something she loved again. After losing Charlie, she wasn't about to let another guy slip through her fingers. Alice Brandon, now Alice Whitlock after marrying Jazz, had talked on and on about the heartbreak of Renee. She was turning Jazz and I into regular gossip columnists.
"So, why does Phil think Judge is out to get him canned?"
He put his arm on my shoulder. "Doesn't like him. Been trying to get rid of him since he got signed on as coach."
"Why doesn't he just fire him?"
"You don't know a lot about baseball politics, do you?"
I shook my head.
"Well, tell you what, you got dinner plans tonight?" I went to speak but he interrupted. "'Course you don't. You're going to come to my house and we'll talk more. The fields got eyes and ears all over."
We made our way into the locker room just in time to hear the end of Phil's cussing out. The team looked bored and when Phil stopped to introduce me the room turned into low hushes and laughter.
"Well, let's welcome Edward to the team." Phil stated as he handed me my jersey with the number 17 branded on the back. "Welcome."
The team clapped halfheartedly and then left without a word. I waited till Carlisle changed into his suit and then followed him in a cab to his home. We drove in relative silence only broken when Carlisle pointed out sights to me.
The cab stopped in front of a tiny one level that was covered in brown paneling and a yellow rooftop. It had a big bay window in the front and a brick chimney. I followed Carlisle to the door and into the house. It was a modest house with an antique feel to the decor. As the door opened a lovely woman with caramel brown hair walked towards us wearing an apron. She kissed Carlisle and hugged me in greeting.
"Well, dear, who do we have here?" she asked.
He gestured to me. "This is Edward Masen, our new right fielder." He turned to the woman wrapping an arm around her waist. "Edward, this is Esme, my wife."
"Nice to meet you, Esme. You have a beautiful home."
She smiled and grabbed a dishtowel from her apron. "Thank you. It's about all I get to do with this one all busy in his sports."
"I'm not busy all that much." He leaned over to whisper to me. "She secretly loves it."
Esme hit him playfully on the arm. "Oh, stop it. Edward, I hope you like steak and potatoes?"
"Sure do, Mrs. Cullen."
"Esme. Call me, Esme. Mrs. Cullen is my mother-in-law."
She bustled into the kitchen to finish dinner as Carlisle and I set the table. When dinner was finished, Esme served us and we said grace. Dinner was delicious and I told Esme so, repeatedly. They asked me about my life and my family, even about girls.
"There are some nice girls in this city." Esme said. "I'm sure you'll find someone to settle down with."
"I'm just picky."
Carlisle laughed. "I was too. Till, I found Esme. Stole my heart the second I laid eyes on her."
"That's the problem with today's society. Their all caught up in money and greed and looks they don't focus on what feels right—feels natural. Chivalry and romance is all but wiped in today's world."
I placed my napkin on my plate. "Well, I promise I'm a gentleman."
Not so much with Bella but that was a different situation. Bella caused me to throw all rules out of my mind and follow my heart.
"That's good to hear." She turned to smile at Carlisle.
When we all finished, I offered to help with the dishes but Esme shooed me away and Carlisle brought me to the study. He offered me a scotch and I took it sitting down in one of the plush chairs. His room was filled with photographs and newspaper clippings. I spotted one of a younger Esme and Carlisle holding a little boy standing with Charlie and Renee who were holding a baby.
Carlisle must have caught me looking. "That seems like such a long time ago."
"Is the boy yours?"
He nodded. "That's our son, Emmett. Though don't let him hear you saying he's our boy."
I furrowed my brow in confusion. "Why's that?"
"He's on the team and wants to prove he made it all on his own—which he did."
I understood. As a player, you want to believe you're the best and you made it to the big show without the help of others. I wonder how Emmett did it when he had Carlisle's last name but decided against asking.
"Renee is my sister, you know."
My face must've been full of shock as I looked at him because he chuckled. It didn't make sense how tightly wrapped the Cullen's seemed to be into the New York Knights. It seemed every member played a role in the team.
"It's alright. Not many know and she likes to keep it that way."
I stuttered. "Th-then why tell me?"
He took a sip of his scotch. "I feel like I can trust you, Edward. Not many know what I'm about to tell you." He paused. "Aro Volturi has been trying to get rid of Phil Dwyer since the day he appeared on the payroll. He's wanted to get rid of me but I have too much hold in the town. He wanted rid of Charlie Swan but that worked out for him on its own."
"Are you saying Aro killed Charlie Swan?" I nearly sputtered my drink.
"I'm not saying anything, merely fact. I'm not here to accuse people, Edward. You're new to this town and its workings. I want you in the know. Can I trust you, Edward?"
I thought about what he was asking of me and I believed he could. In the past, I was never one to tell others secrets and I was never a bad person. If I was getting into a type of crime ring I think it was in my best interest to know what's going on.
I nodded. "You can trust me."
"Aro wishes to push Phil out of the team's payroll completely but he cannot do so until the end of the current season," he paused and took a sip of his scotch again, "provided, of course, the Knights don't win the National League pennant."
Carlisle and Phil's careers relied on the Knights winning the pennant. I felt a huge weight being placed on my shoulders for the mere fact that I liked Carlisle and I didn't want him to lose his job. The fate of their jobs rested on me turning this team around. Any worries I had about Bella that was effecting my playing needed to be stopped now so that I could give this my best. We had to make it to the pennant.
"And, if the Knights win?"
"We get to keep our jobs. I'm not that fond of Phil as a coach because he doesn't have the same presence Charlie did but he is my sister's husband and I have to look out for them as well as myself."
I finished off my scotch and set on the table. "What are you asking of me?"
"Nothing." He placed his drink beside mine. "Except, that if you're all bullshit and Aro put you up to this were not going to get along all that well. I'll do what I have to in order to protect my family and I won't let you get in the way."
"What if I make you a deal?" I asked turning towards him.
He stared at me warily before answering. "What kind of deal?"
"At batting practice tomorrow, if I don't prove myself I'll leave. If I do, you trust me."
Carlisle thought about what I asked of him. I let him take his time. My confidence in myself, I'll admit, got the best of me. I was risking an awful lot with this deal. If Carlisle didn't think I could make it I was out, my baseball career over. But, the benefits greatly outweighed the consequences.
"It's a deal."
He held out his hand and I shook it. The deal was made and I would be ready for tomorrow. After a light discussion and a thank you to Esme, I made my way out of the Cullen household and into a cab on my way to the hotel. Esme offered to let me sleep there but I didn't want to overstay my welcome. Plus, I would need to be ready for tomorrow.
That night I went to sleep and dreamt of a full body blush and full bitten lips. It invaded my mind and body as a light giggle faded out. I woke up in a sweat with the presence of my arousal poking up in the sheet. After rubbing one out, I returned to bed and the deep brown eyes was all I saw.