Page 17 of Signs and Signals

“See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Amara teases, nudging me playfully.

“No, it wasn’t,” I admit, feeling a bit more confident. “Thanks for being here with me, Mar. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

She grins, “You’d probably be a nervous wreck, but you’d manage. You always do.”

I laugh, feeling lighter than I have in days. “Okay, let’s see what he said.” I open the message, my heart pounding with anticipation. Amara leans in, just as eager to read his reply.

Atlas:im sorry 2 hear that ur morning was ruff, but glad ur day is looking brighter. do u and ur frd have plans for 2nite?

I freeze once again. I turn to look at Amara, who is still looking smug, and immediately she can tell I am on the verge of freaking out once again.

“He doesn’t know about Haven. I didn’t feel comfortable talking about her last night to anyone but Patricia, my client. I know absolutely nothing about him. I think once I get to know him a little better, I can bring her up. But right now, that is not an option. I am not embarrassed of her or anything, I just don’t feel comfortable bringing a man around her who I know literally nothing about but his name and what he does for work. What do I do, Amara?” I know I should be honest with him, but I honestly do not want to put Haven in a position where she is around another man she doesn’t really know, especially after the entire situation with Trevor.

As usual, Amara knows the right thing to say and has the perfect solution. “Just let him know we decided to stay in for the evening and have a movie night while wearing goop on our face, and shoving as much unhealthy shit into our mouths as possible. Technically, it isn’t a lie, as this is what we planned while we were at the park for lunch. Which reminds me, I need to make a junk food run. Do you or Haven want anything special for the evening?”

I take a deep breath, letting her know what she gets will be just fine. Then I shoot another message to Atlas, letting him know what we have planned for the rest of the day.

Atlas: that sounds like the perf way 4 u both to unwind from the events of the day and start ur new week fresh. i did check my sched and im avail this week after 4, except for tue and sat. we have home games both days. if i left a couple tix at the will call would u and ur friend want 2 come 2 1 of the games? u can choose which 1 or neither, i wont be offended if u say no.

I respond quickly, tilting the phone away so Amara can’t read my response, because I know she is going to have questions about his asking about the games and tickets.

Indya: Let’s just see how the week goes first, is that okay? Maybe, the Saturday game. Can I let you know later in the week? Amara, my best friend and roommate, doesn’t exactly know who you are, but did say something about your name and how she has only ever known one other person with that name. She doesn’t know that you are one and the same. Are you comfortable with me telling her who you are? Unlike me, she actually knows about sports and the players. If you are not comfortable with that, let me know and I will not say anything about who you really are.

I nervously hit send, my eyes going from the phone to Amara and back again. She doesn’t seem to mind that I hid the reply from her. I look to see what she is doing on her phone, and it seems as though she is making a list of things she is wanting to pick up. Always the smart one, I would have just gone to the store and if I see something that looks like we would like it, I grab it and throw it in the basket. My phone alerts me of anincoming call, which has me jumping off the couch and running to my room.

“Hello?” I am out of breath from making the mad dash to my room.

“Indya, are you okay? Did I catch you at a bad time? I thought the response to your last message would be better as a call,” Atlas explains his reasoning for calling instead of texting.

“Oh, no, I mean yes, I am fine. I just ran into my room so Amara couldn’t eavesdrop on the conversation. I didn’t know if you wanted her to know that you were, well, you.” I finally calm my breathing and can speak normally to him.

“I have no problem with who you tell about me, Indya. I know you heard some of what my ex, Mallory, had done while we were together, but it goes a little deeper than that. For some reason though, I trust that you would not do the same. So, if you trust your friend, then I will trust your friend,” Atlas replies.

“I would feel better not hiding your actual identity from her. We have no secrets from each other. So, I appreciate you letting me tell her who you are,” my voice is soft. “Is it okay if I call you back in a little bit, so I can go talk to her? I kind of made a mad dash out of the room when you called,” I laugh into the phone.

“Of course. Hopefully, she is a fan and not, well, you know, the opposite,” he chuckles back. We hang up after saying our goodbyes, and I make my way out to the living room to let my best friend know who I am about to get mixed up with.

Chapter Nine

Atlas

I don’t think that I have ever texted or spoken on the phone this much. Indya and I are getting to know each other, so we randomly message each other questions throughout the day.

The nightly calls are my favorite. Indya and her best friend, Amara, ended up not coming to either of the games I invited them to. Indya thought we should get to know each other a little better before we begin going to each other’s jobs.

Our first date was unforgettable. I picked her up on a warm Saturday evening, and we decided to keep it simple with a walk in the park. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow over everything. As we strolled along the path, the air was filled with the scent of blooming flowers and freshly cut grass. We talked about our childhoods, our dreams, and everything in between.

At one point, we found a quiet spot by the lake and sat down on a bench. The water reflected the colors of the sunset, creating a picturesque backdrop. Indya laughed as she told me about the time she tried to bake a cake and ended up with a kitchen disaster. I shared a story about my first baseball game and how I almost missed catching a fly ball because I was too busy looking at the crowd.

We continued walking and came across a small ice cream stand. Indya’s eyes lit up, and we decided to get some. She chose strawberry, and I went with chocolate. We sat on a nearby bench, enjoying our ice cream and the comfortable silence that settled between us.

As the evening grew darker, the park lights flickered on, casting a soft glow around us. We walked back to the car, our hands brushing against each other occasionally. When we reached her place, I walked her to the door. She turned to me with a smile that made my heart race. “I had a great time tonight,” she said softly.

“So did I,” I replied, feeling a warmth spread through me. We stood there for a moment, the night air cool around us, before she leaned in and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight, Atlas,” she whispered before disappearing inside.

We have also gone out on a couple of dates when we are both free. Those dates have been all over the place—mornings, afternoons, evenings. Hell, I picked her up past midnight before, and all we did was drive around. That was a great date, if I say so myself.

The past couple of weeks, I have been teaching her about baseball, and she has been teaching me what she calls the basics. She taught me the signs for all the letters in the alphabet, along with numbers and more common words like hello, goodbye, bathroom, please, and thank you, eat, and my favorite: body language and facial expressions. I didn’t think I would enjoy learning ASL as much as I have, but it is really cool. Even the guys are having me show them what I have learned; they want to be able to communicate with the fans who are deaf just as they do the ones who are not.

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