Page 57 of Totally Fanatic

“Awesome, it’s settled then, you’ll stay,” I say, moving over toward the bar. “Do you want a drink? I’m grabbing a soda water.”

“Umm, soda water would be good, thanks,” he says, moving more into the room. His movement is slow, nervous even, like he maybe feels like he shouldn’t be here. But he’s the PR manager, surely he’s been here before. You would figure they’d have all the staff sit up here to watch the game. I mean, except for the coaches, because they are kind of needed with the players.

“Oh my God, this is amazing,” Mary Beth squeals as she enters the room, making both Enzo and me spin toward her. “How did you score this?”

“They asked me to sit up here,” I say, and she eyes Enzo.

“Hi, I’m Mary Beth. You are?”

“Enzo,” he replies, shaking her hand.

“Enzo is the PR manager for the league,” I tell her, and recognition crosses her face.

“Oh, so theyaskedyou to sit up here in the box away from the crowds of people who might want to talk to you about the stories circulating today, did they?”

“We have it all under control,” Enzo says, taking the glass of soda water from me. “Tim will make a statement after the game that should answer all their questions and set the record straight. You will be able to rehire Lion within a week, I expect. The league can probably cover any lost wages for that amount of time.”

“You’ll what now? No. I’m fine. I’ll have Bunnies to get me by until they stop crowding the cafe.”

“The task app, you work for them, too?” Enzo asks, grabbing out his phone and typing away.

“Only when a task pops up that I can actually do.”

“And you’re listed there as Lion Matherson?”

“Nope, as Bunny27463. They don’t use names. Just IDs.”

Bunnies was started by a local handyman to try to pick up extra work between his bigger jobs.Pop the job on Bunnies and we’ll hop right to it, was their slogan and it took off really quickly. I used them to install the cat tree I bought for the boys, and the guy gave me a card and said I could get a bunch of work doing things like moving boxes or furniture if I wanted. They pay really well for temp work, and with the cater-waiter jobs being so dependent on events and staffing numbers, it’s good to have another side job. Plus, it tips better. I moved all the furniture in and around for a family a month ago, and for a day’s work, they tipped me one hundred dollars on top of the hourly rate Bunnies already paid me.

“And you haven’t posted about Bunnies on any of your social media profiles, correct?”

“I don’t think so. Those profiles were all about Banana Ball.”

“You posted your dinner the other week.”

“Yeah, but that was at Riverside Barbeque. Tim rated it the best barbeque in Savannah, so I was promoting it, too.”

Enzo nods and continues to tap on his phone. The crowd cheers behind me, and Mary Beth and I move to the window, sliding it open to let through their full sound. The view is amazing. A few people look up at us from the seats directly below but pay no attention after that.

“This is the best,” Mary Beth says, squeezing my arm. “Maybe the Banana-Ramas don’t need to calm down just yet, then we can watch next week’s games from up here, too.”

“I think it’d be best for everyone if this was squashed sooner rather than later,” Enzo says, joining us at the window.

***

It’s part-way through the first inning, and Enzo is finally relaxing a little. That guy is so tightly wound.

“You could totally join me and my friends at the gym, if you wanted,” I say, and he smiles for probably the first time since meeting him. “We go most mornings, early, so it would be before you have to start work, or it should be. We go to Rated Weights down on Fifth Street. Have you heard of it?”

“I’ve been there a few times. I’ll have to check it out again. It’s always harder working out alone, you know?”

“I know,” I reply, and Mary Beth scrunches up her nose.

“I don’t know. I have zero interest in all that stuff. You guys can have your dumbbells and squat things, I’ll stick to my cream buns and sugar sticks.”

“I’m sure you will,” I say, and we both laugh.

Mary Beth smacks my arm. “You know what I mean.”

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