RIDING THE BENCH
Gillian
THE PARTY HATS and noisemakers would have to wait.
This was New Year’s Eve football style. The team arrived in Denver yesterday for the playoff game. And much to my delight I was on the plane with them as an official employee of the Chicago Bears.
The trip was fashioned in the way my father had always done it. We rode in a convoy of five buses, bypassing the main terminal and going directly to the tarmac. All of us were either in first class or business class. I sat next to Lucas and we thumbed through travel magazines, while the other players either slept, watched a movie, or played video games.
When we landed, my father remained in his seat and so did every non-player, including me, while the guys filed off. This was a thing my father did to let the players know they came first.
Police escorted us to the five-star hotel and once arriving there, two elevators were curtained off to take us to the reserved floors.
When on the road, unlike training camp, the players were rewarded with individual rooms. I would be staying with Lucas in his room because . . . well . . . that was what we both wanted. My father was not happy about our decision. Hey, he’d eventually have to realize I was no longer his little girl, but in the meantime, I really did try to make it easier on him, whenever I could.
After the usual pre-game routine, we all went to dinner and lights out early. Lucas fell asleep right away, I found myself staring at the ceiling. I was nervous. Really nervous. It was one thing to be an intern, but a full-fledged assistant trainer was another.
The morning came way too fast, and after I dressed in game attire, I left Lucas in the shower to meet with Dallas before the team breakfast. After we ate, it was time to say goodbye to Lucas and get to work.
While Dallas evaluated the injured players, Aiden and I checked through our gear one last time.
A nervous flutter whispered around my belly as we drove to the Sports Authority Field at Mile High. It was just about nine in the morning. Kick-off was at one and we had a whole lot to do in-between.
The drive was fast, and with the medical staff and supplies, I headed to the training room. The prepping of supplies, tape, tape, and more tape, fluids and more fluids, as well as the trunks of emergency equipment was done last night.
As soon as the buses unloaded with the players, it was go time. I was about put my sports medicine skills to use. While Aiden aggressively prepared the players with massage and Dallas used manual therapy techniques to increase joint range of motion, I taped ankles.
Two and a half hours later, I was out on the sideline, checking every trunk one last time. Dallas was grinding his teeth as he watched the injured players to see how they moved during warm-ups.
And then the game was on.
I hadn’t seen much of Lucas since we arrived, but that was to be expected.
As I glanced around, I couldn’t help but feel that I’d missed the opening act. I might have arrived to the show in time for the encore, but that was all right by me, because I was finally where I was always meant to be.
The temperature was around thirty degrees, but standing outside in the sunshine it felt a lot warmer. Then again I was also nervous. With the heat getting to me, I pulled my gloves and hat off and set them on the bench.
The game was mostly injury free, which was a good thing.
In the final few minutes of the game, I watched with baited breath from the sidelines as the team tried to make a comeback.
It hadn’t been the best game for the Bears. Lucas had gotten sacked over and over again. I hated watching him go down, but breathed a sigh of relief every time he got back up.
He’d somehow managed to throw two interceptions, but they’d only totaled just over one hundred passing yards. The Bears as a whole had only scored ten points the entire game.
Things were not looking good.
My father was pacing back and forth, chewing his pen to bits and talking into his microphone at the same time. It was crazy how he could do that.
The announcer made a speculation that in these few final moments Jeb Burns, the quarterback backup, would finally be making his debut. But, needing a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie, my father left Lucas in place to lead the offense downfield.
There was always a chance, no matter how slight.
Of course, Lucas gave it all he had. As a last ditch effort he tried to thread a pass to a heavily covered Dion Reynolds, but it was intercepted.
My heart sank as I watched the players slouch on the bench.
That loss of the ball meant the game was over for the Bears, and it also meant the buck stopped here for them, for this year, anyway.
There would be no potential Super Bowl, but I knew that it would come very soon with the team my father had carefully assembled.
Down at the other end of the sideline, Lucas looked like a cocksure athlete humbled over the loss. I wanted to go down there and console him, but I was on the clock, working, and acting like his girlfriend was against the rules.
Yes, my father had added two rules to the team doctrine when it came to inter-team relationships.
First, I was not allowed to treat Lucas in a professional capacity unless it was absolutely necessary. This made sense. I was too invested and might think irrationally. I agreed with him.
And second, Lucas and I were not allowed to act as boyfriend and girlfriend on football time. This made me laugh. Obviously, he didn’t want us kissing during practice or at games. After all, we were both employees of the Bears.
Other than that, he accepted our relationship. In fact, I think he rather liked that Lucas was in my life, and that we both joined him for Sunday dinners.
Lucas and I were moving into an apartment not far from Soldier Field next week, but then we would be off. We were going to spend the first week of the off-season snorkeling and whale watching in Hawaii. Backpacking in Europe was on our list, and of course Paris, but as the newbie athletic trainer, I didn’t get that much time off, so those would have to wait.
The thump of music from the PA system was the prelude to the walk they would take up the semicircular ramp into the tunnel. The two teams wouldn’t be mingling like they had before the game in the empty stadium while our players found their footing on the turf.
“Violent game, wasn’t it?” Drake deadpanned as he started to pack up the gear.
I tore my eyes away from Lucas. “Yeah, it was.”
“Guess we’ll be rolling out.”
“Looks that way.”
It didn’t matter that it was New Year’s Eve. It didn’t matter that this was their final game of the season. This was football, and we lost. There would be no celebrating.
In the locker room, the players would be silent. Angry. Deflated. I hated when we lost. Not just because we lost, but because of what it did to the team spirit.
As soon as the team was ready to leave, we’d be on a bus heading for the airport. At least they wouldn’t have practice tomorrow.
When the team filed past us, of course I had to look, and much to my surprise, Lucas’s penetrating eyes were on me. His hard body was covered in dirt and his hair was a sexy mess. He held his helmet in his hand and he wore a frown on his face.
“Hey, hot stuff,” I mouthed.
And just like that he turned that frown upside down. It was that easy smile that made me weak in the knees each time I saw it.
A feeling coursed through me that everything in the world was somehow right.
And that’s when I knew . . . I really did have it all.