by Melissa Good
"Hey." Kerry glanced around, seeing quite a number of people from their own department mixed with others from the office. "Hey guys." She wiggled her fingers at two of the junior accountants. "So here we are."
"Hello, Kerry." Mayte appeared. "I am glad you were able to come here. This should be fun. No?" She had her hair pulled back into a neat tail like Dar's and she was smiling. "I have never played softball."
"Me either, but I think it'll be a blast." Her boss went over to the rows of wooden, weathered, bench seating and paused, leaning against the boards.
"Really? You never did?" Mayte sounded surprised. "Mama thought surely you were a superstar at the least!" She took a seat next to Kerry.
"Really." Kerry rubbed her temple, trying to stifle the blush she could feel coming on, not being helped at all by her snickering partner. "Your mama is way too nice, sometimes. Actually, Dar was, and is, the superstar athlete in the family."
Mayte peeked past her to smile at Dar, who shrugged modestly. "I've never played softball either," Dar clarified. "But I've done other things."
"Did you know Dar still holds her high school's record in the broad jump?" Kerry asked, split seconds before her mind realized what she'd said and she nearly fell off the bench when Mayte's eyes widened almost into the size of golf balls. "Not--ah--it's a track and field event."
Dar put her head down on her folded arms resting on the plank and started laughing.
"Jesu." Mayte covered her eyes. "I was thinking schools have changed so much it is amazing."
Kerry sighed. "Sorry about that. If it's any consolation, I went to an all girl Christian high school, and we didn't have that event either--that I know of."
The rest of the crowd joined her and settled on the ominously creaking structure. Dar eyed it, and then decided to remain standing next to Kerry leaning an elbow on one of the planks.
"Thank you all for showing up on time." Mari took up her familiar role standing on the dusty ground in front of the stadium seats. "I really appreciate it. This won't take too much time. I wanted to go over what the schedule is going to be, and what's expected of us."
"And give out hats." Dar supplied, after she stopped speaking.
"Do you have a fixation on those hats?" Mari gave her an exasperated look. "I'll have cows horns put on them in a minute."
The crowd chuckled, a lot of heads turning to look at Dar's distinctive profile.
"Moo," Dar promptly responded. "I like cows. They produce my two favorite foods, cheeseburgers and milk."
Mari cleared her throat conspicuously. "Ahem." She went back to her clipboard. "As I was saying--thank you for being here on time, I really appreciate it. One of the first things I want to tell you is that we're all here to have fun, okay? This isn't major league baseball."
The crowd chuckled a little.
"Kerry Stuart has volunteered to be our captain." Mari smiled, looking over at Kerry as applause broke out. "So I'm sure we'll end up having a great time, and doing good things for a good cause."
"Mariana, how many other teams are in this league?" one of the accountants spoke up.
"About twenty." Mari was glad to turn her attention from her hecklers. "The games are played in a round robin tournament style. Where the charity comes in is that the company will contribute a certain amount to the charity fund for every employee who participates."
"So it doesn't matter if we win or not?" the man asked with a frown.
A little buzz went up at that.
"Well." Mariana lifted her hands a little. "It is about the charity, really--"
"It matters to us if we do," Dar spoke up again from her corner. "But the charity gets the bucks no matter what, is that how it is, Mari?"'
"Exactly." Mari nodded. "There are many things to strive for in the contest. There are trophies and awards and so on, and also several things donated by the various corporations that will be given to those who complete the tournament."
"What did we give?" Kerry whispered. "Please don't tell me a lifetime supply of Cat 5e cabling."
"Cool!" Mark spoke up. "So we can get some swag, huh?"
"Nerd gift certificate I think," Dar whispered back, "for one of the big online places. Enough for a nice system,"she added."Hm." Kerry grunted approvingly. "Nice."
"So," Mari got everyone's attention back, "here are the rules. Games will be on Friday nights here at the park. All the other companies are more or less in the area around Miami, so there is no home and no away or anything like that. Each team has to have enough players to play the game or they forfeit."
"That means everyone shows up or she posts it on the company bulletin board on Monday," Dar announced. "If you're gonna do this, do it, or stay the hell home."
Everyone swiveled to look at their boss, who raised one eyebrow and gave them all a stern glare. Silence fell briefly until Mark cleared his throat.
"Yes, boss," he said, in a mild tone.
"Ahem!" Mari put her hands on her hips. "Do you want to run this?"
"Do you want me to run this?" Dar returned the volley neatly. "Bet the other teams end up regretting it like everyone else here who just realized they're going to be sharing space with me and a softball bat."
After a second's pause everyone laughed, even Dar. Kerry reached over and tweaked her nose, giving her a look of loving exasperation.
"Hats? Anyone want hats?" Mari chuckled herself. "How about pizza?"
That got everyone's attention, and all heads turned as though the crowd were a collection of spaniels at dinnertime.
"I thought that might work." Mari lifted her hands. "Okay, everyone to Santorini's after this, on me. But as for the team--for every game you show up for your name gets entered into the drawings for the donated prizes," she said. "So, the more games you attend, the better your chance to win some pretty nice stuff. "
"Like what?" someone asked.
"Ah, altruism." Dar chuckled softly under her breath.
"At least it's not some thousand bucks a plate dinner so you can put your mug in front of some politician," Kerry reminded her. "It's a good incentive."
"Mm."
"Well, we have a three night stay in Cozumel--" Mari was drowned out by oohs and aaahs. "A cruise to Bermuda, shopping spree at Macy's--some crazy tech company threw in a certificate for a new computer--"
"Did we ever decide if we really wanted to do a cruise?" Kerry asked. "Or did we finally decide we wanted to sail on one of those things about as much as we wanted a root canal?"
Dar glanced at the cloudy sky, and breathed in a lungful of air deeply tinged with ions. "We dropped the question," she said. "Hey Mari."
"And that--what?" Mari put her hands on her hips and gave Dar a look.
Dar pointed up at the sky, then held her hand out as she felt the first droplets of rain bringing a cool down that was worth the dampness. "Take it up at the pizza shack?" she suggested, as the rest of the crowd started to scramble down from the benches.
"Sure." Mari raced by her shielding her head with her clipboard, as the rain started to come down in earnest. "You can grab the damn hats!" She pointed behind her. "Ahhhhh!"
Kerry hopped off the bench and started for the bag with Dar right at her heels. "How do we get ourselves into stuff like this?" she yelled over the thunder. "Jesus, Dar we're going to be soaked!"
"We volunteer." Dar grabbed the bag and got it and its contents over their head as they ran back toward the parking lot. "Bet Mari didn't figure on this being a wet T-shirt contest."
"Oh. Don't you even go there."
Chapter Two
KERRY RESTED HER head on her fist, tapping her pen on the pad of paper on her desk. She wrote a few words, then paused and studied them with a frown on her face. "What in the hell am I supposed to talk about?" >
he heard a soft ding and turned to see a new mail alert on her computer. She clicked it and brought up her personal mail folder to find a note from Angie. "Ah." She clicked on it.
Hi sis.
Please don'
t hate me too much. I realized after I talked to that woman that I probably should have asked you first. It just sounded pretty innocuous, you know? She kind of tricked me. She started to talk about knowing you and the reunion and all that and, before I knew it, I spilled the beans. Sorry about that--but hey, how bad could a little speech be? Remember your senior event?
Kerry grimaced. "Oh yes. I sure do."
Anyway, I'll take you to that brewpub you like afterward to make it up to you, okay?
"Eeeehhhh--okay."
Mom said she wants to have dinner with us. That I didn't commit to. I told her we'd be really busy moving stuff, and she got pissed off because she thinks I should have just hired the movers to pack up everything. Can you believe that?
Looking forward to seeing you--
Angie
Kerry scratched the side of her nose with her pen. Her last meeting with her mother hadn't been the most cordial, and though she'd spoken to her since, she didn't really want to spend that much time in the house. She hit reply, and started typing.
Hey Ang--eh, I got over being pissed. It is what it is, and Dar thinks it might be funny for me to do a speech there, so whatever.
I can do dinner with Mom, but let's go out. I don't want to sit at that table if I don't have to. I'm not looking for lectures and if she really pisses me off it's not going to be fun for any of us. If we're out in a restaurant, she'll probably behave.
See you on Saturday.
K.
Kerry turned back to her pad, but after a few more minutes of staring at it, she gave up and dropped the pen on it, getting up and stretching before she left her office and trotted off down the steps to the lower level.
She crossed the tile floor and entered the bedroom she and Dar shared, the soothing blue walls already making her feel more relaxed. "Dar?"
"Uh?" Dar was stretched out on their waterbed.
"Do we actually know how to play softball?" Kerry trudged over, and dropped onto the waterbed, making Dar's body rock back and forth. "Boy that hot tub felt good," she added, "but it gave me time to think about what we've gotten ourselves into here."
"Well." Dar folded her hands over her stomach. "It can't be that hard, Kerry. Someone throws a ball at you, and you hit it with a bat and then you run like hell."
"True." Kerry squirmed over and put her head on Dar's stomach, extending her body at right angles to her. "But tennis looks pretty easy too, and I really suck at it. And don't you tell me I don't just to be nice."
Dar chuckled softly. "I wasn't going to. You really do suck at tennis, but then again, so do I. So what does that say about tennis?" She laid her arm over Kerry's midriff. "I'm sure we can handle it."
"We should practice."
"Now?"
Kerry rolled onto her side, looking up at Dar. "You're so silly sometimes," she said. "I meant, before we go and make fools of ourselves out there. I, at least, want to know what I'm supposed to be doing," she explained. "We can practice here, can't we?"
"We can practice over near the golf course, sure," Dar agreed. "Tomorrow we can go get some gloves and balls and whatever, and work it out," she said. "Did you decide what position you want to play on defense?"
Kerry's green eyes narrowed. "If you even start to suggest shortstop I'm going to bite you."
Dar's lips twitched. "Actually, I think I'm better for that," she admitted. "Long arms, fast reflexes." She studied Kerry for a moment. "I bet you'd be a good pitcher."
Kerry snickered. "You never saw me throw anything other than a Frisbee," she said. "How about I try outfield first?" she suggested. "I think I can manage to catch the ball out there."
"We'll see." Dar ran her fingers through Kerry's hair. "Looks like a decent bunch showed up for it. If they keep showing up, this should turn out all right."
"Yep." Kerry exhaled, closing her eyes. "I'm tired."
"Long day."
"Long day, plus having to chase you all over the hot tub at the end of it." Kerry opened one eye and winked at her. "One of these days a night vision camera tape of us is going to end up in the hands of Panic 7 and boy, are we going to have our fifteen minutes of fame."
"Hmm--that will make for an interesting intro to the next board meeting," Dar mused. "I think at this point, they look forward to stuff like that."
Kerry chuckled and closed her eyes again, exhaling in contentment. "We have to pack," she said. "I'm trying to figure out what I should wear for the speech."
"Clothes?"
Kerry bounced her head against Dar's stomach twice. "Punk," she moaned. "C'mon, Dar. I thought about just wearing a suit."
Dar yawned.
"Business suit, not bathing suit," Kerry clarified. "I figure if they really want to hear from some business chick I can do that."
"You really think they want to hear from some business chick?" Dar asked, lacing her fingers and putting her hands behind her head. "I think they're looking for some crazy rebel who used to be who they are." She studied the ceiling, as she felt Kerry's hand come to rest on her shoulder, her thumb rubbing against the bone. "Rebellion sort of thing."
Kerry had to admit she suspected the same thing. She remembered, vaguely, being that senior in high school, and the last thing she'd have wanted to hear was some boring old lady in a suit talking about career paths. "I still don't know what the hell I'm going to say to them."
"Why not ask them?" Dar suggested. "Get up there and say, 'okay, you asked for me. I'm here. What the hell do you want?'"
Kerry laughed, her breath warming the skin under Dar's shirt. "Sweetie, that works for you. Not for me." She sighed. "Oh well. I'll think of something."
"Wear something sophisticated and sexy," Dar spoke up after a moment's quiet. "And if you can't think of anything to tell them, just open it up for questions. They know more about you than you do about them."
Sometimes, Kerry reflected, Dar had a knack for bringing home to her in sudden, vivid ways the reason she'd been so successful in life. Aside from her being smart, she had a lot of what Kerry's aunt would have called 'good horse sense'. "I love you," she replied simply, turning her head to kiss Dar's chest through her shirt. "Everyone else has Google. I have Dar."
"I love you too." Dar smiled. She unfolded her hands from behind her and half sat up, resting on her elbows. She waited for Kerry to lift her head up, then she rolled over and stretched out lengthwise on the bed as her partner squirmed around to join her. "I'm sorry I'm going to miss that speech, by the way."
Kerry pulled the covers up over them and sighed as Dar turned off the bedside light and the twilight shadows settled over them. It wasn't quite dark in the room. The blinds let in moonlight and the outside lighting, but it was comfortable and familiar.
She eased over and snuggled up next to Dar. "Are you going to miss it? I'm probably going to end up sounding either boring or crazy."
"You think I'd want to miss that?" Dar inquired. "I love watching you give speeches. I duck into the back of the presentation room when you do them at the office."
Kerry blinked invisible in the darkness. "You do?"
"Sure."
"How come you never told me that?"
Dar put her arms around Kerry and half turned onto her side. "Didn't want to make you nervous," she said. "The setup staff started leaving me chocolate cupcakes back there."
Kerry started laughing silently.
"Maybe I can have a little refrigerator installed with milk chugs. You think?"
"I'll order one tomorrow," Kerry assured her. "Now go to bed, cupcake. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
KERRY SAT DOWN on the carved wooden bench and studied her new toys, as she waited for Dar to come out of the condo and join her. On the bench next to her was a bucket with six balls in it, and in her lap was a leather glove, the new hide smell making her nose twitch as she examined it.
A softball glove. She fitted her left hand into it, pausing when the edge of the glove caught on her ring. "Ah." She put the glove down and removed the ri
ng, unlatching the chain she had around her neck and stringing the ring on it. "There. "
She put the glove on again and flexed her hand, feeling the strange constriction as she tensed her fingers and made the leather move. It felt stiff and awkward, and she reasoned that she'd have to work it a little to get it more flexible.
At least, that's what Dar had said.
Experimentally, she picked up one of the balls in the bucket and dropped it into the glove, examining how the leather fit around the object as she closed her hand around it. She held her hand up and turned it upside down, agreeably surprised when the ball stayed in the glove and didn't fall out.
She opened her fingers and the ball fell out, dropping to land in her other hand. She reversed the position of her arms and dropped the ball into the glove again. "Hm."
The far off sound of a door closing made Kerry look up, and across the short grass sward to where the condos were nestled. She immediately spotted Dar trotting down the stairs, and leaned back against the bench to watch her cross the road and head toward her.
She was carrying her own glove, with a bat resting on her shoulder, and an expression that could best be described as 'here we go again'. Kerry stood up as she approached and held her hand up in its glove, flexing the fingers like a leather crab. "Hey."
"Hey," Dar greeted her. "Got it on, huh?" She tucked her own glove under her arm and examined Kerry's, tugging the back of it to make sure her fingers were all the way in. "Fits all right. How's it feel?"
"It feels like I have a honking chunk of leather on my hand," Kerry responded with a cheeky grin. "How's yours?"
"Mm." Dar put the glove on. It was a bit larger than Kerry's and a deep russet color. "Hm."
Kerry glanced at her partner's throat in reflex, seeing the slight bulge under the fabric of her shirt that meant Dar had, as usual, thought ahead to remove her ring. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Dar turned her hand around. "It just feels weird." She left the bat near the bench and picked up a ball. "Want to start with some catch?"
"Sure." Kerry walked with her onto the grass and they faced each other. Dar tossed the ball at her without much preamble, and instinctively Kerry put up her free hand, the one without the glove on it, and caught it. "Yow!" She dropped the ball and shook her hand out. "That stung!"
