Page 102 of The Future Play

Marc’s eyes flit from her to me, and he shakes his head with a smile.

A glove and a ball are dropped at my feet, and we get back the photoshoot.

I’ve signed somuch paperwork today my fingers hurt.

Not really. My hands are conditioned as fuck. Is hand porn a thing?

Wait, did they do that onFriends?

Whatever. Clearly, my sanity is slipping. It’s four in the afternoon and we have one more thing to do after this before we can head back to the hotel. I’m wavering between pumped and absolutely exhausted.

As I slide the last paper across my agent’s desk, his phone goes off.

“Yeah? Perfect. Send her in.”

My brows dart up. The onlyherI care about is sitting right next to me.

“What’s up?” I ask.

Dave smiles. “You were called up at the perfect time to land a great publicity opportunity. A sports reporter was pitching an idea of doing a profile piece on what life is like for a new player to the major league. One of the youngest pitchers the Metros have drafted in a while and a superstar who rose from a fifth-round pick to AAA in a matter of weeks is an even better selling point.”

The office door swings open, and Dave stands.

“Emily, come on in.”

I stand as well and take in the thin woman with short dark hair tucked up in a ponytail.

“Jamie, this is Emily Thomas. Emily, this is Jamie, and his girlfriend, Amanda.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Emily says, projecting an air of confidence.

I glance at Amanda out of the corner of my eye. Thankfully, she keeps heryes-I’m-judging-youface to herself. Not that she typically does it in a bad way. It’s all about getting a read on people and deciding whether she thinks they’re decent humans.

“You too,” I say.

“Yes. Definitely,” Amanda says, sitting back down. She has a soft smile on her face, so I guess that means Emily passed the vibe check.

“So what does a profile piece entail?” I ask. I’ve never done more than interviews with bloggers or local press, or an occasional podcast. All less than an hour of talking and I’m done. I’ve had media training. Though I give Jesse a lot of shit, he knows his stuff, and he trained us all well. “It’s different from an interview, I’m assuming.”

“Yes. An interview will be part of it, and it’s what I’ll use to tie the whole piece together, but it won’t be one interview, it’ll be many. Lots of informal ones with you, those closest to you, and ideally, some people from the team. I’ll be at some games youpitch, both at home and traveling. It’ll also involve me following you around, seeing what your daily life is like, what I find in the moments when you’re not talking.”

My eyes go to my agent. “No offense, but that sounds like everything I was trained not to do with the media.”

Dave nods. “We will have final approval of the profile. Ideally, it’s meant to paint you in an interesting and positive light.”

“And how long will you be following me?”

“Most of the rest of the season. The plan would be for it to come out around the playoffs. And don’t worry, I won’t be popping up everywhere in your life. It’ll more be for certain games or team events. Interviews will be scheduled. I’ll never just show up at your door.”

“And any other press will know she’s a reporter, right?” I ask Dave. “Because that’s how rumors start.”

I rest my hand on Amanda’s thigh, looking over at her.

“We will make it clear that’s the case, and Emily can post about it on her social media.”

“Besides, that really shouldn’t be a concern,” Amanda says. “A meeting looks different from something untoward. She’s a professional, so that won’t be a problem.”

Emily clears her throat. “Thank you. Some women might… assume the worst.”

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