I ran in and the owner took my clothes and smelled them. He shook his head and took my tux and shirt into the back. I was to meet the girls in thirty minutes. I sat down and waited.
It gave me a chance to reflect on what just happened. I should have just gone to the hotel and gotten dressed there; we had reserved side-by-side rooms for tonight. I could choose to let this ruin my night, or not. It would be easy to stay mad about this. I decided to let it go. The girls had spent good money on dresses and getting ready for me. I wasn’t going to let this ruin their night.
The owner came out with my pants and shirt.
“Here,” he said as he handed them to me. “The dressing room is over there.”
I looked at my phone to check the time. I was going to be a few minutes late. I sent Tami a text to let her know. Midwesterners have a preoccupation with being on time. I hurried up and got dressed. I was glad my dad had worked with me so I could tie my bow tie. When I was done, I came out and the owner and his wife were there with my jacket. I put it on.
“How do I look?”
“You look great,” his wife told me.
“How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing, Harper put it on her bill.”
They gave me a bag for the clothes I wore when I came in. I walked to the hotel and found the concierge. I gave him my bag of clothes and got directions to the ballroom.
THE GIRLS FOUND ME outside the ballroom, and they looked stunning. They all had on the same dress but in different colors. Missy had gone with an emerald green that highlighted her complexion and red hair. Harper’s was red, which fit her bold personality. Tami took my breath away in her black dress. My look of utter awe seemed to relax the girls.
“Ladies, you all are a vision of beauty. I’m so honored to be escorting you tonight.”
It seemed to be the right thing to say because they all lit up.
“And you clean up pretty good,” Harper teased me. “Let’s go have fun.”
For the reception, they had a quartet playing classical music. Ray and Lee found us and joined our group. No mention was made of earlier. Missy took my arm. I guess she was my ‘date.’ I excused us and we started to mingle. The first couple we ran into was Mr. and Mrs. Hill.
“You two look fabulous,” Mrs. Hill observed.
“Why, thank you,” Missy answered. “You look lovely.”
The girls talked fashion while Mr. Hill and I had our own conversation.
“I got a call from Red today. They’re running both ads now. They A-B tested them, using both girls, and the one with you and Missy is getting a 73% favorable over the other ad. They’re phasing their ad out and are going to run with yours for the summer,” he explained.
“Kendal showed me the numbers. We’re already in the black and ahead of what they offered to pay us in a lump sum. I kind of like this royalty-check approach. Each month I see a deposit in my account.”
“I bet you do. I might have another ad for you. Do you have any problem getting dressed up as a gladiator?”
“Actually, that sounds like fun. What’s it for?”
“It’s a deodorant ad. Kendal sent me your schedule. I’ll see where we can work it in. I’m thinking towards the end of summer, since we’re still in the planning stages. I’ll call Kendal and tell her you’re on board.”
“Perfect.”
Missy and Mrs. Hill said their goodbyes. I spotted Cynthia Wesleyan, Jennie’s grandmother. I guided Missy to meet her. She was with a distinguished gentleman. While we were making our introductions, Teddy and his date joined us. She looked to be in her early twenties and a little insecure because she was latched onto his arm with a death grip.
“I hear you used our facilities today,” Teddy said. “What did you think?”
“You have a first-class setup,” I told him.
“What about the players?” Cynthia’s date, Mr. Ryan, asked.
I looked at Teddy.
“Mr. Ryan is thinking about becoming our head football coach next year. I had him ready to sign when he saw you throwing. I hated to break it to him that you play for Lincoln and were just visiting,” Teddy said, smiling at me. “Please give him your take on what you saw today.”
“I think you need to focus on defense and special teams. You just don’t have the talent at the skill-player positions. You’ll need to run a ball-control offense, and if you could somehow find someone to catch the ball, you might be able to win some games this year.”
Teddy and Mr. Ryan were shaking their heads.
“Me and my big mouth,” Teddy moaned.
“No, he’s spot on. It’ll take us a few years to build this program unless we get an influx of talent. I can think of at least one player that might attract that kind of talent.”
“I hope you find him,” I said, to cut off this conversation. “Teddy, it’s always good to see you. Cynthia, I hope you saved me a dance.”
“You’re sweet, but I think your dance card is already full.”
Dinner was announced, to save me. Missy squeezed my arm as we walked to the dining room.
“You handled that very well,” she told me. “I thought Mr. Ryan was going to start recruiting you right there.”
“It was a little tacky, especially since my coach gave me permission to work out with them. I was feeling a little disloyal.”
“I could tell. Let’s hope he isn’t at our table.”
They had set up the tables so that there were ten at a table, three student couples and then two VIP or alumni couples. It was intended to get the students to meet influential people. I walked in and saw Don Berta, the recruiting coordinator for Kentucky.
“Come on, I know where we’re sitting,” I told her.
She scoffed.
“There’s no way you know.”
I pointed to Don’s table.
“I’ll bet you we’re at that table.”
“And if you’re wrong?”
“Winner gets to do whatever they want after the dance,” I said, winking at her.
“You’re so on.”
We walked over and sure enough, I was sitting next to Coach Berta. I was happy to see that the rest of my group was sitting with us. I acted surprised.
“Don, how are you? I had no idea you’d be here tonight.”
“David, I’d like you to meet my wife, Corrine.”
The rest of my group chose that moment to arrive, so I introduced them all.
“... and Don is the recruiting coordinator for the University of Kentucky football team,” I concluded.
Missy moaned.
“What’s wrong?” Tami asked.
“David’s a little sneak. He bet me which table we’d be sitting at. I just figured out how he knew.”
“Funny how that worked out,” Mrs. Berta said with a smile.
“David wouldn’t be considering Kentucky, would he?” Harper asked.
“I actually already have an offer, and I’m going there this summer to a football camp,” I confessed.
I was surprised when Mr. and Mrs. Hill joined us. Their names weren’t on the place cards.
“Janet didn’t want us at her table. She said we might embarrass her,” Mrs. Hill explained. “I hope it’s okay if we join you.”
Janet was their daughter. I wouldn’t want my parents sitting with me at something like this. Come to think of it, I might want them to at that, just to keep them out of trouble.
Dinner was very nice. The only hiccup was when Ray and Lee had to go to the bathroom. It was obvious when they came back that they had gotten high. Harper got up and rushed to the bathroom, obviously upset. I headed her off; I could see she was trying not to cry. I walked her outside so we could get some air.
“He’s changed so much. He used to be such a good guy. I never even considered that we wouldn’t always be together. Seeing what a bad influence Lee is on him is killing me. What am I supposed to do?” she asked me as I held her.