Page 37 of Totally Played
“Drink?”
“Sure, I’ll have a bourbon on the rocks,” he says, sliding onto the stool beside mine.
“Wally, can I please get a bourbon on the rocks and another beer?”
“Sure thing,” Wally says, and I sit.
“So, umm, how have you been?”
“Yeah, good. It was just the flu or something.”
I sip my beer, hoping it will help with getting this conversation flowing.
“You just got back from traveling, right?” he asks, finishing his drink and tapping the bar with his fingers as if that is enough to signal Wally to get him another.
“I was in Belgium. Have you ever been?”
“No. We went on a real world-tour for the league last year, but that wasn’t one of the places we played. Do they have baseball there?”
“I couldn’t tell you; I spent most of my time on farms.”
“I thought you worked for a big tech company,” he asks, frowning.
“I do. RED Tech created sensors for monitoring livestock.”
“And you sell it?”
“Not exactly. I connect investors with the company and secure investment contracts to further the research and development of the tech.”
Wally places another glass of bourbon in front of him, and he gives him a nod as if that is a good enough thanks. Wally doesn’t seem fazed by it, so I guess I shouldn’t be either.
“Are you hungry? I booked a table next door.”
“Yeah, let’s do it,” he says, and we head that way. I pause at the claw machine.
“Want to have a go at this first? I am the king of these things. I could win you dessert.”
“Those things are all rigged. You end up paying like double what you would if you just went to the mini-mart and bought one. Let’s just have dinner.”
I mean, he isn’t wrong. With how his brother plays, he’d probably pay five times more than it’s worth, but it’s still fun.
I follow him into the restaurant, all the while telling myself to stop comparing them. Tony was never going to be exactly like Calvin. They are two different people. I have to just give this a fair go. I try to tell myself when I look up from following his feet across the dark blue patterned carpet to find him holding out my seat for me.
“Why, thank you, kind sir,” I say as I sit, and he scoots me in.
“No problem.”
I guess I should give him a point for that. Not that there are points. But maybe there should be. Maybe I should think of this more like a game. But games have prizes. Okay, if Tony gets five points, he gets a second date. Ten points by the end of the date, and I kiss him goodnight. Suddenly, with stakes like these, I’m more than interested in seeing how tonight goes.
I place my order and thank the waitress, and when he does the same, he gets his second point. He scores a third when he finishes chewing and swallowing his food before answering my question about why he chose Banana Ball.
“I’ve always been great at sports, all of us Parks boys are. I mean, Calvin, probably already told you, our brother plays hockey for Boston U.”
“Yeah, he mentioned it.”
“Did he tell you how annoying he is about it? I swear, you would think he plays the greatest sport in the world with how he carries on. Even yells at the television when the game is on, like the refs can somehow hear him through the airwaves.” He shakes his head, and I consider deducting a point for that comment, but don’t.
He offers me the dessert menu first, another point, and asks if he can get me another drink when he spots that this one is almost empty. Another point. How many is that? Fuck, five. Okay, so he scores a second date. Can tomorrow’s group dinner count as a second date?
