The Game Changer The Final Score - By L.M. Trio Page 0,7
realize I better get moving. “Yeah, sure. Take what you want. Just not the one hanging behind the door; I’m wearing that,” I say as I leave the room, heading for the shower.
“Shit. That’s the one I want.” She laughs, searching through my closet.
“Too bad,” I holler back, pleasantly surprised that she is wearing a dress. I know better than to question her. She’ll change her mind in a second if I make a big deal out of it.
I’m shocked when Mya steps out of her room into the living room later. She’s toned it down quite a bit, even if it is just for the night. I can’t help noticing how very attractive she looks, although I know better than to tell her.
“You look nice,” I say casually as we head out the door. She smiles at me appreciatively as she holds the door.
We arrive at The Blue around six; an hour before the start time. My dad flew in for the occasion and is already sitting at the bar, waiting for my arrival. He looks rather handsome in his blue dress shirt and sport jacket.
“Hi, Sweetie… Hi, Mya… You girls look beautiful tonight,” he says as he greets us.
“Thanks, Mr. Martell,” Mya responds.
Now that Mya and I have been friends for so long, my dad and Deanna have gotten to know her better and have come to accept her for who she is. Once they learnt more about her, they realized she’s basically a nice girl with a few issues, but hell, who has more issues than me?
Deanna and Jeffrey arrive shortly after. My dad is thrilled to see Deanna. He misses the days where we girls hung out at the house. The thought gives me a jolt of guilt for leaving him alone the last couple of years. To brush the negative thoughts away, I walk them around and introduce them to several people that helped make this night happen. My art professor for one, he is in charge of auctioning off the art work tonight, and Cheryl, my boss who’s allowing me to use the beautiful VIP lounge for the night.
Mikey arrives shortly after seven, bringing along two of his old teammates from the Stone Crabs. Of course, he lights up like a Christmas tree as soon as Deanna comes into view.
“So what do you think of the Bozo De is with?” Mikey whispers to me the second we have a minute alone.
“He’s nice. We had lunch this afternoon… He seems like he really cares about her,” I answer.
“Really? I talked to them earlier… Seems like an asshole to me. Where does she find these guys?” he asks while staring in her direction.
Deanna glances over at us at about the same time, almost as if she senses we are talking about her. Mikey raises his glass to her and smiles.
“Be nice. We’re going out afterwards, right?” I say, reminding him of the plans we made earlier in the week.
“I don’t know. I’ll see,” he says, quickly changing the subject. “J, see the guy with the gray shirt I brought?” He points in the direction of his two former teammates. “His name is Ian; he asked me to introduce you to him. He’s been eyeing you up all night.” He laughs. “He remembers you from one of my games last season when we hung out after. He’s still with the team and he lives locally.”
“I’m not sure, Mikey. You know… the whole…” I stop myself before saying, the whole baseball thing. I don’t need to finish the sentence, Mikey knows what I’m about to say.
Thankfully, we’re interrupted by Mr. Sinclair, my art professor, informing me that the auction is about to begin. Every piece of artwork has a minimum bid of fifty dollars.
The sculptures go first, followed by the paintings. Most of the items are selling in the hundred to two hundred dollar range, some slightly higher. The last painting up for auction is one of mine. It’s my favorite; an oil painting of downtown Ybor City at night. The bidding starts at fifty dollars, upped to seventy five, then one twenty five. The price creeps up.
“Two hundred,” Mikey bids, someone calls out three. Mikey raises him to three fifty and I laugh, knowing Mikey hates to lose, but besides that, he knows it’s going to a good cause. The person hollers out… five hundred dollars.
“Who the hell is willing to pay five hundred dollars for one of my paintings?” I whisper to Mikey and Deanna.