26
Wes
Some people might see waking up in hotels as a glamorous, decadent thing. When you do it all the time, it starts to lose its luster, even if you are staying at a nice hotel. There are constant reminders that you are just a visitor here, and nothing about it makes it feel like its home for you. That was how I felt this morning when I woke up to the sound of my alarm at 8 AM.
I had set my alarm early because I needed to get myself back into the routine I kept during the season. Sleeping right, getting in workouts, eating right – it was all part of what kept me in good shape, kept me strong, and allowed me to play for as long as I had. Even though today was an off day on the schedule, I still wanted to dive back into my routine.
I got dressed in just a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, packed a small bag with some of my exercise clothes, and decided to head over to the stadium to work out. Today was a good day to walk over there, and to walk like I meant it, not take a casual stroll that one might take when enjoying a day off in the city. The streets were a bit busy as people got themselves into their offices for the day, but I was still able to make it over the stadium relatively quickly.
I got in my usual workout, exercising for about two hours. I stretched, did some cardio and a little bit of work with weights until I had worked up a good sweat. I then went over to the indoor batting cages and hit against the machine for a while, just trying to keep my eyes and pitch recognition sharp. Once I was done, I went and showered, got back to my locker and changed back into my street clothes. A few guys were hanging around the locker room, reading mail or getting ready for workouts. I picked up my things and left the clubhouse, starting the walk down the corridor to go outside the stadium when I heard a voice calling to me from behind me.
“Wes!” the voice yelled. “I turned around to see Bill Thomas standing there. He had just come out of the Pirates locker room and began walking towards me. I stood there and waited for him to come up to me. He wasn’t the guy I really wanted to spend time talking to right now.
“Hey, Wes,” he said, extending his hand to me. I shook it, reluctantly and politely. He had a strong grip, and maybe he tightened it a bit just to show me how strong he was.
“How are you, Bill?” I said to him, as I started to move towards the door again.
“Good, good,” he said as he walked next to me. “You had some game yesterday.”
“It’s one to remember,” I told him as I pushed the door open, hoping once we were outside he would go his own way. Instead, he kept walking next to me.
“I wish I had gotten off to a better start,” he said to me. Bill was without a hit in the first two games, striking out five times, leaving guys on base, and making an error along the way.
“You’ll get it. Everyone has ups and downs.”
“It’s a little tougher than I thought it would be,” he said honestly. “It was always so easy in the minors. I’m sure it will happen.”
We walked along the street for a few minutes and for some reason he was still with me.
“What are you doing today?” he asked me.
“Just going back to the hotel to relax I guess,” I told him, hoping he would take the hint.
“Oh, where you are staying? I’m at the Renaissance,” he told me.
“I thought the team always stayed at the Westin,” I asked him quizzically. I can’t imagine that they would spring for all those rooms at the Renaissance.
“They are,” Bill said with a smile. “I felt like living it up a little, you know. Spend some of that extra cash.”
A typical rookie who makes too much money and doesn’t know how to take care of it, I thought to myself. I’ve seen it so many times, where I guy comes up, makes money he never saw before, blows through it and then is out of baseball in a year or two with nothing to do or fall back on.
“Is Tim okay with that?” I asked him, knowing there was no way Tim would okay that as manager of the team.
“I didn’t tell him,” Bill said. “They think I’m there with the team. I mean, what’s the big deal, right? Who cares where I stay?”
“Whatever you say, Bill,” I said as we reached the front of the hotel.
“Hey, come with me and grab lunch,” Bill said. “It’s the least I could do to pay you back for the help you gave me.”
“I don’t know, Bill,” I said, not really wanting to get involved with him. It was bad enough he took my job with the team; now he was trying to be friends.
“Come on,” he said, dragging me along. “There’s this great place down the street. They have good burgers, great beer, it will be fun.”
As much as I didn’t want to go along with him, I found myself caught up with it and followed him. We walked into the restaurant, which had a pretty good crowd in it for lunch already. Bill pushed his way up to the hostess counter, bragging that we were two ballplayers - loud enough for anyone to hear what he was saying - so that he could get the booth that he wanted. The hostess relented while Bill ogled her up and down, and I followed along two paces behind, wondering why I was doing this.
A young lady came over to our table right away and introduced herself as Lisa, our server. She looked young, not more than her early twenties, with blonde, curly hair, a big smile and an outfit that seemed just a little too tight and short. It became obvious that this was a typical sports bar place, where the waitresses dressed to impress the guys in the hopes of getting them to buy more beer and food.
“What can I get you guys,” she asked us with a smile, leaning over the table a tad too far and giving Bill a view down her shirt. Bill smiled at her right away and ordered a beer. I asked her for an iced tea, and she went off to get the drinks.
“Iced tea?” Bill said to me, shocked I didn’t get a drink. “Come on, man; it’s a day off. Relax a little.”
“I’m trying to stay in good shape Bill,” I said to him. “You might want to think about it too. Those beers and eating out all the time starts to catch up with you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Bill said, waving off my suggestion. Lisa returned quickly with our drinks and took our order. Bill ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, of course – a ribeye steak with all the trimmings. I kept it modest and got a chicken sandwich.
“Here’s to being pro ball players,” Bill said loudly as he held up his beer mug. He quickly downed most of the beer and called out to Lisa, who was taking care of the people at the table next to us, for another one. I could see the direction this lunch was going to take from a mile away and already wished I had turned down the invitation.
Bill kept checking his phone, taking selfies of himself and posting them on social media. It wasn’t long before a couple of women came over to the table, knowing who he was, to moon over him a bit. They both looked to be about Bill’s age, in their early twenties as well, and both were dressed in short skirts and revealing blouses. They introduced themselves as Tina and Beverly, college girls who were in the city for the day. Bill immediately invited them to sit down with us in the booth and snuck his arm around Tina as she cozied in next to him. Beverly sat closely to me, and I inched over as much as I could to give her more room, but she kept getting closer.
“You ladies know who this is right?” Bill said as he pointed to me and then drank another beer, ordered another one and drinks for the girls.
The girls looked over at me, not recognizing me, which I was completely fine with.
“This is Wes Martin,” he said to them. “All-Star first baseman?”
“You’re the guy who hit the home runs yesterday!” Beverly said to me. I just nodded in agreement, hoping this would end soon. She got closer to me, bringing her head right next to my shoulder and feeling my arm. “Boy, you’ve got some serious muscles,” she said to me.
“Thanks,” I said quietly as I drank my iced tea.
Bill kept up the show, doing what he could to impress anyone he could, ordering more drinks whenever the mood hit him. It was taking forever for the food to arrive, and I was starting to feel claustrophobic with Beverly pressing her body against me and with Bill on the other side of me, his hands all over Tina. Finally, I had enough.
“I need to use the men’s room,” I said, asking Beverly to get out of the booth so I could get up. Beverly slid out of the booth, making her skirt hike up even more as she did. She stood up, giving me room to get out while she straightened and pulled her skirt back down, smiling at me. I walked over to the men’s room, which was down a small hallway to the side of the bar area. I walked into the restroom, washed my hands, and looked in the mirror and wondered what the heck I was doing here.
I turned and walked out of the men’s room, and Beverly was standing there, right outside the door as if she was waiting for me.
“Hey,” she said to me, with a glint in her eye.
“Hi,” I said, starting to walk back towards the booth. She stepped in front of me to stop me.
“I think Bill and Tina wanted to be alone for a second,” she said to me.
“In a booth in a crowded restaurant?” I asked her.
“I guess,” she said, putting her arms upon my shoulders. “Tina’s not very shy.” With that she kissed me, trying to push her tongue into my mouth as she did. I pushed her back down, and she looked at me and giggled. “I’m not really shy either,” she said slyly.
“I gathered that,” I told her. “Look, Beverly, you seem like a sweet girl, but I think I’m heading out,” I said to her as I started to walk past her.
“What the hell?” she said to me loudly. Beverly followed me as I walked over to the booth. There was Bill, brazenly kissing Tina in the booth, with his hands all over her.
“Bill, I’m out of here,” I said to him. He looked up at me, finally noticing I was there.
“What do you mean? The party is just starting,” he said with a laugh, looking at Tina. Beverly was now pushing past me so she could slide back into the booth.
“The party’s over for me,” I told him. “Nice to meet you ladies,” I said to the girls.
“You don’t know what you’re missing out on,” Beverly said to me with a huff.
“I’m pretty sure I do,” I told her. I started walking out and saw Lisa, our waitress, walking towards the table with another round of drinks. I stopped her, reached into my wallet, and handed her a fifty-dollar bill.
“Here, Lisa,” I said to her. “This should more than cover my drinks and lunch; the rest is for you. Thanks for your help.”
“Thanks!” she yelled to me as I walked to get outside. I gave her a smile and wave and got out of there as fast as I could.
Just walking outside, I felt the anxiety leave me, and I could breathe better. I walked up the block to get back to the hotel and went inside and straight up to my room. Once in my room, put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door, and went to the bed.
There was a time, many years ago, when I might have stayed and had lunch, had some drinks, and maybe stayed to see how things played out, but that life gets old. Nothing good comes of it besides a hangover and feelings of regret the next day. It was not a part of the lifestyle I relished or wanted to be part of anymore. At some point, Bill Thomas hopefully would realize that as well, at least if he wanted to have a long career.
I looked at the clock on the nightstand and saw it was still early afternoon. Izzy wouldn’t be home from school yet, so I couldn’t even call her to see how her day was. Dad would be out on the farm, Mom was probably resting, and Kristin… well, Kristin was at the library, working, trying to forget about me. Kristin hadn’t answered any of my text messages, and I foolishly checked my phone again to see if I had heard from her. As expected, there was nothing there.
I turned the TV on to see what was on, hoping to find something to pass the time. There was Humphrey Bogart on the screen, in one of his detective roles where he grilled the bad guys, solved the crime, and got the pretty girl in the end.
“If only real life were that easy, Bogie,” I said to the screen as I put another pillow behind my head and watched.