David also wasn’t one to think he knew everything. He had the wisdom to seek out mentors. And not just any mentors, either. He looked until he found the right person for the job and then somehow got them to agree to teach him.
In Cassidy’s mind, what really separated David from everyone else was that he rarely, if ever, expressed uncertainty and always seemed to know instinctively how to handle any given situation. In her psychology class, they called that ‘situational competence’ or ‘situational genius.’
Cassidy’s professor had suggested that no single leadership style was best, that it depended on the situation to determine which form of leadership to adopt and what strategies to follow. According to her class teachings, the most effective leaders were able to adapt their style to ever-changing situations. Each task was different, even if you did it repeatedly because the nature of the group and other factors could change how you should approach it. David was one of those unique individuals who could do that without even thinking about it.
David chalked it all up to being a badass Alpha Male. He sometimes thought he was funny.
Because of who he was and what he meant to Cassidy, she’d kept her promotion to varsity a secret. She wanted to surprise him. He was the one person she knew at USC who would recognize what a big deal this was for her and be happy that she’d achieved it.
There was that, and then there was something else. The whole ‘he would someday discover that she was the woman of his dreams, and he would beg her to marry him, and they would live happily ever after.’ She was afraid that day was far in the future. All she knew was she would be the one there when he finally decided to settle down. Until then, he would be her best friend.
In the back of her mind, she heard Tracy cackling that she and Pam needed to get off their butts and just tell the boy how they really felt about him. If Tracy kept it up, Cassidy might forget she was a girl and hurt her.
This morning’s race was against their crosstown rival, UCLA. The women’s races were early in the morning, with the men competing right after.
Cassidy was relaxing with her crew while the novice girls were getting their boats ready when there was a commotion from the UCLA girls. She rolled her eyes upon seeing it was just David. He’d found a cardinal sports jacket, wore a cardinal-and-gold striped tie, and carried a USC duffle bag to show his team spirit.
He waded through the UCLA girls and walked straight to Cassidy.
“When were you going to tell me?” he asked as he wrapped her up in a bear hug.
“It was supposed to be a surprise,” she moaned. “Who told you?”
“Your dad called me and wanted to make sure I got him plenty of pictures.”
Cassidy spotted a van that backed up, and a crew got out and began unloading folding tables. She saw David’s PA, Lexi—who was wearing a UCLA sweatshirt—directing everything.
“What’s going on?” Cassidy asked.
David turned back and saw what she was talking about.
“I have no idea. I guess if you buy enough doughnuts and coffee, they’ll deliver. Well, that, and I had to have my picture taken with the owner so they can hang it on the wall.” He said this while displaying his patented panty-dropping smile that made him so much money.
She noticed her teammates were all hanging back. She knew she had to let David be David and meet everybody.
“I think my crew wants to say hi,” she whispered.
“You’ll protect me if they get too handsy, won’t you?”
“You’re a big boy. You can handle it.”
Cassidy introduced him to the other crew members and made sure to give a special introduction to her two friends.
He winked at her and opened his duffle bag. David pulled out three GoPro cameras and handed one to her.
“Put this on, and we’ll video your first race. I’ve got a couple more for Nicole and Amy. I’ll send the footage over to Frank, and he’ll have someone create a slick video you can share with your dad and friends.”
Frank was David’s publicist and in charge of his social media. Cassidy had no doubt that David planned to blast out a video of her big day. She momentarily worried that she might mess up and today would turn into a disaster. Then she saw his confidence in her, and that fear was forgotten.
“Help us put them on,” she told him.
He fastened it over her ball cap, turned it on, and then did the same for the other two. He had pulled out his phone to check what the cameras were capturing.
“You’re all live, so watch your language,” David teased.
“What do you mean, live?”
He just smirked when his phone rang. He showed Cassidy it was Brook calling. She snatched the phone out of his hands.
“I can’t believe him,” she grumped.
“He’s just excited for you. You know our stupid boy. He can’t resist making your first varsity start a big deal,” Brook said. “I’m seeing three cameras on split-screen now.”
“I’m glad he brought three,” Cassidy mock-groused. “All he’ll see from my camera will be Mimi’s fat behind!”
Mimi Angulo rowed in the number seven spot.
“Hey! I’m very attached to it!” Mimi quipped.
Cassidy saw that he’d pulled out a camera while she talked to Brook. Cassidy had to hang up when he had her team gather around for a group picture. Lexi showed up so David could join them while Lexi took some additional photos. Then he was off making his rounds, chatting with each member in turn as Lexi followed him around, taking pictures.
It was finally time for the Varsity eight race. As the teams maneuvered the boats to the starting line, Cassidy spotted a drone circling her shell. She looked at the shore, and David had a controller in his hands. She would laugh if he ended up crashing it into the water.
She put her friend and his toys out of her mind as they got close to the starting line. The boat slowly glided forward.
“Blades ready, half forward,” Nicole called as the shell was almost to the start line. “Bow pair, hold water.”
The starter nodded when they were stopped on the line. The UCLA team positioned their boat and got a nod. The starter fired his starter pistol, and the shells surged forward.
“Five, you’re deep,” Nicole called.
As the boat neared the 3/4 mark, the cox started coaching continuously in a shouted chant to the stroke rate.
“Full pressure ... Wanna feel ... boat run ... Good ... Steady ... Quarter length ... Hold this ... Good! Seven ... good style! ... TEN NOW! ... TEN—max pressure ... NINE—legs hard ... EIGHT—straighten ... SEVEN—turn together! ... SIX—gaining! ... FIVE—harder! ... FOUR—together! ... THREE—alongside! ... TWO—got them ... ONE—good work ... Full pressure ... ease the rate... 100 to go ... SPRINT NOW! ... STROKE! ... STROKE! ... They’re catching! ... Dig deep! ... everything you’ve got! ... leave nothing! ... STROKE! ... STROKE! ... STROKE! ... STROKE! ... EASY!
“We got them by three seats! Well done!!” the cox gasped before collapsing in her seat.
Cassidy was tired but not quite as exhausted as the other crew members. Actually, she was pumped. They’d won by nearly half a boat length.
Cassidy’s teammates were smiling—those that she could see—though they looked like smiling corpses. She was relieved she hadn’t let them down. She was all smiles, too, when they made it back to the dock. Cassidy happily was a part of the tradition of throwing the cox into the water. At least she was happy until her team grabbed her and tossed her in as well. They claimed it was what happened when a new crew member won their first race.
Of course, David captured it all on his drone video. Both Cassidy and the coxswain were relieved to find out their cameras were waterproof as well; neither of them had taken theirs off before they’d been tossed in. David laughed it off, saying the head-shot footage from that perspective would make the video.
Developmental Editors: XofDallas and Bud Ugly