I have a huge project sitting on my desk, and I can’t focus. All that keeps popping into my head is Karen’s beautiful brown eyes. She looks truly happy when she looks up at me, and it’s only been a little over a week since we started talking again. It’s like we picked up where we left off all those years ago, and that scares me. I don’t want to rush things with her but, at the same time, I can’t help it. We’d known each other for years when she decided to stay with Brian. It broke me. I couldn’t stick around to watch her get hurt. She may not know it, but she’s the reason I left for the Army. Now that I’m back and we’re both single, there’s not a chance in hell I’m letting her go.
There’s a knock at the door that pulls me from my thoughts. “Hey, Blake. Come on in.” Blake is one of my assistant coaches, and he works with me. He too is an engineer, and we are currently busting our tails in a new housing development that’s being constructed.
My firm has three of our engineers working on site managing the builds. This community is huge, and we have to get these houses up and completed in four to five months from the time they sign the paperwork making their final decisions at the design center. The biggest struggle we have is the workers that we hire are not always the most reliable, and if we have to replace them, it messes with our timing. “Dude, my plumber is being a dick. Do you have one I can steal for one of my builds?”
“Dude, you know I have your back, but I don’t have one.”
His eyes go wide. “How is that having my back?”
I laugh. “I had to fire one of my guys for a huge fuck up on a house.”
He collapses into a chair. “Awesome, now I have to find a new plumber.”
“What’s the issue? Maybe we can figure something out.”
“He says we’re spreading him too thin and now he doesn’t have enough guys for his bigger project.” He sounds totally frustrated. “If I don’t give him more money, he’s pulling his guys and going to other sites.”
“That’s bullshit. He has a contract with us to be paid a predetermined amount for each style home. He can’t do that now.” I shake my head. This is why I’m head engineer because as much as I love Blake like a brother, he’s got to be tougher than that. “You tell that dickwad that he has to hire more people if he wants to take on more work, and if he breaks his contract with us, we will squash him and then he won’t have shit for work.”
“What if he does a shitty job?”
“Then he doesn’t get paid, and you can tell him that too.” I pull out a sheet of paper highlighting a specific part of the contract that he can use for leverage. “Here, I know you have a set of balls. Don’t let these guys walk all over you.”
“I know, but you know how it is. We’re under so much damn pressure to get this shit done that sometimes it’s hard to think shit through. Sometimes I’d rather just fire the bastards and get someone else.”
“Not gonna happen, not with this one.”
He sighs. “All right. I’m outta here. I have to go deal with this shit. He left me another message asking me if he was going to get his raise, and I need to call him back.”
“Good luck. Let me know how it goes.”
He walks out of the office looking a bit better than when he walked in. I feel bad that I just bullshitted him. I have a few plumbers who could have easily taken over, but my guys need to learn to handle situations. Firing a company isn’t always the answer. If we keep doing that, contractors won’t respect us and that’s a problem for me.
It’s Friday, the last night of practice for this week. I’m thankful we have no games on the weekend yet because it gives us a chance to hang with Karen and Jason. Grace took an instant liking to her. She talks about her all the time and has asked when she’s coming over again.
I run into the bathroom to quickly change before I head to the field. Today my mom is bringing the kids to practice because I don’t have time to go home. On my way out, I bump into Blake. “Hey, man. How’d it go?”
He shrugs. “He’s not happy, but he knows I’m right and there’s nothing he can do about it.”
“Good. Are you going to make it to practice?”
“Yeah, I just have to finish something up and then I’ll be there. Emma is meeting me at the field with Brady.” Emma is Blake’s wife and Brady is their son. “Sounds good.” We fist bump, and I jog over to my truck. I need to hurry up and get there because clearly Blake will be late. I jump into my truck and throw my phone on the charger. I work about thirty minutes away without traffic, and at this time of day I’m bound to hit some. I pull a protein bar from the glove box and pull out of my spot. I manage to arrive at the field five minutes before practice is scheduled to start. Most of the team is already here, and Karen is gathering the boys to spray them with bug spray as the league requested earlier this week.
I stop to watch DJ throw the ball. Kid has an arm, but he’s off on his aim a bit. Throwing a football is different than a baseball. Karen turns as I’m about to approach her, and the smile that lights up her face makes my day. “Hey, beautiful. Sorry I’m late.”
“You’re fine.” She squeezes my hand. “The boys are ready to go.”
“Thanks.” I head over to the guys. “Hey, Trystan.”
“What’s up?” We shake hands, and I nod toward the sidelines to have a word with him. He looks over at the boys then follows me. “Everything okay?”
“I want to consider DJ for QB, but I have some concerns. I heard him tell one of the kids he’s a pitcher. It’s clear he can throw, but I’m worried about it messing up his arm.” I cross my arms at my chest. “Do you think it will be too much for him?”
He looks over at DJ then back to me. “I don’t know. That’s a lot on his arm. Not to mention it could throw his pitch off.”
“That was my other concern. Did he come into this hoping to play QB?”
He shrugs. “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure he just wants to play, but I’m down for asking him if you are.”
“Hey, DJ,” I call out. When we make eye contact, I wave him over.
He hustles to the sideline. “Yes, Coach.”
“I have a question for you.” I pause, trying to figure out how I want to ask this. “Is there a position you’re hoping to play?”
He looks at me, confused. I’m sure he’s not grasping why I’m asking, but he finally replies, “Nah. It would be cool to play QB, but I’ll play anywhere, Coach.”
“Good, because I thought about putting you there, but I’m worried that it may be too much on your arm. Plus, I really don’t want to mess up your pitching rhythm.”
He nods, taking in what I’m saying. “I really love pitching, Coach.”
“I understand. You go warm up.” He runs off without another word.
“Well, that answers that question. We’ll find him another position. He’s not big enough to be a lineman, so we’ll make him a running back or wide receiver.”
“I’m sure he’ll be equally as happy with either of those. It’s his first season, and he honestly just wants to learn and play.”
“Sounds good. Let’s get this practice done so we can all enjoy our weekend.” I blow my whistle, and the two of us join the rest of the team. “Good evening, boys. I know it’s been a long first week, but we need to get through one more night and then you get the weekend to recover. ”
“Yes, Coach.”
“Good, now get into your lines. Forty jumping jacks, go.” They all run to get into the lineup we created on Tuesday, and as soon as they’re all settled I blow my whistle, and they count in unison. We go through the remainder of our warmup and then begin our stretches. “Hey, Trystan and Blake, while Derek and I stretch them can you set up the cones for catches?”
“You got it.” They jog over to the equipment bag and grab the eight cones and set them up. When we’re done, I have the boys take the hill while I talk with the coaches about how I would like the remainder of practice to go.
They’ve all worked hard tonight and throughout the week, so when it’s time for practice to end, I rally the boys and give them the pep talk they need. It’s been a long week and they’ve worked hard, but the season has only just begun and they have many weeks of hard work ahead of them. I can see from their fidgeting that they’re itching to be released. Little do they know that I’m just as antsy. I want nothing more than to make plans with my girl for the weekend, but I need to say a few things first. “Great week, boys. You’ve worked hard, and I’m proud of you. Next week we step it up. You will need your shoulder pads. We will still be wearing shorts and t-shirts for now. Late next week you will be issued practice pants, girdles, and a practice jersey, but you gotta learn to walk before you can run. Any questions?” When no one says anything, I dismiss them with instructions to stretch over the weekend.
I grab my stuff while Gabe grabs his gear, then we walk over to Karen. Once all the kids have been released to their parents, I escort her and Jason to their car. “So what are you guys up to this weekend?”
She shrugs. “Nothing really. I usually wing it when there’s nothing for sports going on.”
“Well, what would you say to a BBQ at my place? You and Jason can spend the day, and the kids can play.”
“Dad, can we camp in the yard?” Gabe shouts with excitement.
“That would be awesome.” Jason hold his fist out.
“What do you say?” I ask Karen.
She starts to laugh. “I’m not much of a camper.”
I chuckle. “Oh we’re not camping out there, just the kids. They’ll have their phones if they need anything, and I’ll lock the fence from both sides.” I lean in to whisper so the boys won’t hear me. “I have it rigged with a monitor so I can see them too.”
“Okay, sounds like fun.”
“Yeah!” the boys cheer.
“Don’t get too excited yet.” They both stop. “You have to include Grace.”
Gabe gives me a look that screams really. “Dad, you know she’s never going to last. Every time my friends and I do this, she freaks out and goes inside.”
“Well then, I guess you only have to tolerate her until she asks to come in, but heed my warning, son: You scare your sister to get her out of that tent, and I’ll burn it and you’ll never use it again.”
“Yes, sir.” He looks defeated, but I know full well he would never do that to his sister. He’s really good to her.
“What time should we come over, and is there anything you would like us to bring?”
“Beautiful, you are welcome at my house anytime, and you don’t need to bring a thing. Just yourselves and some clothes.”
She blushes. “We’ll come over after lunch.”
“Sounds good.” I give her a quick peck good night, and we each head home with our boys.