Page 126 of The Show

It was hard to say whose face was splitting the most with a smile; mine, Lowe’s, or my grandfather’s.

“Penn asked me to marry him this morning, and I couldn’t say no. Obviously. Not today. I think he did it on purpose.”

She squeaked as I prodded her. “Hey! I’ll ask you again tomorrow if you want to give me a different answer.”

“No chance. This is mine now.” She held her hand up with a giggle that I wished I could capture and keep forever.

“Well, this is great, great news! Wonderful, wonderful! I always knew you two would end up together someday.” He winked.

Both Lowe and I stopped staring at each other and stared at my grandfather instead.

“Oh, yes,” he tapped the side of his nose, “I knew, and it looks like I was right on the money. We must celebrate tonight after the game. Perfect opportunity, seeing as everyone will be here anyway, saves time on getting ahold of everyone!”

“We’d love that,” Lowe grinned at him. “Thank you.”

“Not at all. You’re officially one of the family now. Does Lauren know?”

Lowe shook her head. “No. I’ll tell her when she gets here.”

“Penn should have probably asked her, too,” my grandfather chuckled to himself, though he wasn’t far wrong.

Since Lowe and I had officially made it known we were a couple, Lauren had also found herself a boyfriend. I like to wind her up about the fact she cannot do anything without Lowe, but in actual fact, her boyfriend, Mason, is a decent guy. The story came out over drinks one evening that they had worked together for a long time, but Lauren had always rebuffed his advances because she thought he was only interested in her due to her name being over the top of the building. From the way he looked at her, it was obvious to anyone that wasn’t true, and I expected her to be sporting a ring on her finger, as soon as Lowe showed off hers.

Not that I could make fun too much, because seeing as both Rafe and Murray were now getting married there was no doubt we’d be having a joint bachelor party week somewhere.

Yes, week. As soon as the season ends.

“Right, my boy, let’s go and see your hard work.” My grandfather rubbed his hands together and spun around. “Even from what I’m seeing here now, it’s looking good. I’m impressed how quickly it’s come together.”

“It’s awesome, isn’t it?” Lowe replied, her face filled with so much pride for me I thought my heart might burst. “He’s been working so hard.”

“Not just me,” I corrected, lacing her fingers through mine and kissing them.

That was true. I’d been working hard, but my team had been working equally, if not, harder, to get the club ready for the next season.

There had been no down time in the off season for the employees of The New York Lions. A week after the curtains closed on the regular season up until last night, every single member of staff had been working their asses off. The first week of the post season, however, everyone had enjoyed an all-expenses paid vacation at a location of their choosing, to shake off the losses and come back as a fully-paid member of a winning club.

Was it bribery? Possibly.

Did it work? Absolutely.

Miraculously, only one person left when I took leadership; Jason Reese, The Lions ex-Assistant General Manager; he took up a position at The Marlins. Everyone else had been too curious to see what I’d make of the place, because, it turned out, Franklin Maypole had left it in such a mess that‘anything would be better than what they’d been used to’, according to Scott Fishman, the director of the executive staff.

The hefty salary bump I’d also given everyone probably had something to do with it too.

Scott had soon made himself indispensable. In fact, it was a mystery to me how Maypole had managed to make such a mess of the place with Scott on his staff; the guy ran the front office with the precision of a five-star general. Between him and Damon Moss, they’d worked overtime to whip everything into shape and up to the standards I’d expected; like as soon as he’d been let off his leash, he could show exactly what he was capable of.

But it wasn’t just the front office staff that had been working hard. A fire had been lit from the ground up.

The gates hadn’t officially opened yet, so it was just the three of us strolling along the outer ring of the stadium - otherwise known as Lions Boulevard - passing the traditional lampposts which lined the walkway. The entire stadium had received a fresh lick of shiny black paint, but the lampposts had been restored to their original glory, with gold paint used for each lion climbing up it. They were also now sporting large flags, all adorned with a different member of the new, New York Lions Team; while the images she’d found in the archives on the first day we visited, were now plastered over the hoardings surrounding the stadium.

They looked fucking epic, and walking past all the history wedged a solid lump in my throat.

It was one of many changes made by the small but efficient communications department Lowe had worked to build, which included bringing in new blood to join the two members who’d already been here.

Their first assignment? To remind New York there were three baseball teams in the city, and we were very serious about winning.

For the last month, Times Square had been bought out of advertising space by The New York Lions’ now substantial marketing budget. Every single member of the twenty-six man roster had had his image up there at some point, on rotation. Every week something new went up; and every week it got better and better. The screens had been linked to The Lions’ new social media channels; and all the videos of them in practice, behind the scenes footage of spring training in Arizona, ten second interviews, and stills, were all subsequently displayed for the city to see.

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