Page 309 of Well Played

“Nando’s phone, this is Sophie.” The woman waited for a response. “He’s kind of occupied right now...” she warbled. She handed the phone to Nando. “They hung up. Some chick called Vampire.”

Nando took the phone, and his heart sank. He hit redial and headed to a quieter part of the club. He fidgeted nervously with the keys in his pocket, waiting for her to pick up. Which didn’t happen. Instead, it went to voicemail:

“Lila, It’s Nando. Hey, I’m sorry, my brother took my phone and handed it to one of the girls with us. I’m not… I mean, nothing… I mean, fuck. Just call me, angel. Please.”

She never called back.

12

The San DiegoFamily Fan Festival was the traditional kick-off of the Corsair baseball pre-season. A week after the festival, the team would head out to Arizona for Spring Training. As Nando signed autographs, he searched for her. He called her when he got back to San Diego, texted her when he landed, when he got home and once more, inviting her to the festival. She sent him a curt “Welcome back.” Then nothing. After a month and a half of ignoring her, he was seeing what it was like on the receiving end.

And he hated it.

He fucked up. He knew it. After the call from the club, he tried calling her again, sending texts, and even flowers to her place with a card saying, “Can we talk?” Nothing. And he knew he deserved it.

His friends and teammates just laughed. “Plenty of girls out there,” they told him. And he knew they were right. But right now, there was only one he was interested in.

He missed his angel.

Sitting back in his chair, he took one of the glossy team pictures and pasted on a fake smile. “Thanks for coming out. Who should I make this out to?”

“Jo.”

He nodded. “My friend’s cousin’s name is Jo.”

“I know, my cousin’s friend’s name is Nando. Or at least she thought he was her friend.”

He looked up slowly. In front of him was a familiar looking young woman with long, dark hair and a curious smile. “Do I know you?”

“Not really,” she answered. “But I feel like I know you, the way Lila talks about you.”

“You’re her cousin, the Navy doc.” At her nod, he glanced around.

“She’s not here.” Jo sighed. “I asked her to come with me, but she turned me down.” After a few moments. “You need to talk to her.”

“I tried. She won’t answer my calls.”

“You have a car. You know where she works. You know where she lives. Go see her.”

Nando looked at the folks nearby that seemed to be listening with great interest. He tore off a piece of paper and slid it over to her. “Can I call you?”

She studied him for a moment, then quickly wrote her number down. “I’m only in town a few more days.”

As she turned to walk away, he asked, “Is she ok?”

Jo shrugged. “You seem like a nice guy. You need to decide if this is real or not. Because if she’s just another notch in your belt, just walk away.”

“I’m not walking anywhere.”

“Then it’s your move.”

13

Lila was restockingthe drawing stations at the blood bank when her cousin, Jo, arrived. On leave for ten days, she’d been meeting Lila for lunch when she wasn’t catching up with her brothers and their families. Today was no exception.

“I’ve got another thirty minutes before I can go,” Lila called out.

“No worries,” Jo answered, grabbing a magazine. “I can finish reading this amazing article about building great furniture with common power tools.” Laughing, she added, “Ate, please restock the magazines. These poor folks are giving blood, the least you can do is give them something to read other about other than this dude’s cocaine dealer,” waving a scandal rag around.

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