Suddenly, he became a blur as two “tackle men” slammed him to the ground. She winced as she heard the noise that the bodies made as they pummeled him into the dirt. A whistle was blown by one of the judges as he threw out his hankie again. Bill got up really slowly.
It amazed Janice that in this mindless contest of testosterone based violence, which pitted one color shirt against another, the man in black and white stripes was chiding them all for “unnecessary roughness!” As if any of this really necessary at all.
Bill made his way to the sideline, as his team was now downfield without him, preparing to kick the ball through the goal post. Then another whistle was blown and both teams rested once again.
During the time out, Bill walked over to the edge of the stands where Janice was seated.
“Are you okay?” Janice asked, catching herself just before reaching over to brush dirt off his shoulder-padded uniform.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“What did you say to those guys?”
Bill just looked at her and laughed. She laughed, not really knowing why.
“You disappeared last night,” he said nonchalantly.
“Oh, were you there?” she said in a lame attempt to appear aloof.
“Yeah, as unreasonable as it may seem, they kind of make you go to the football rally when you’re the starting quarterback. Nice shoes, I remember thinking.”
“You noticed my shoes?”
“Hey, if I can see a receiver’s hands 75 yards downfield, you bet I won’t miss your, “catch-me-kiss-me” pumps from across a gym!”
“They weren’t “catch-me-kiss-me” pumps, and that’s not even the right terminology, Mr. Football.”
“I know, but I didn’t figure you for the other terminology type,” he said as the whistle blew summoning him back to his team to watch the ball get kicked through the goal post.
She didn’t know whether to be insulted or complimented. Did he just scratch me off his list, or decide to take me home to mother?
The crowd went crazy; fans and security people swallowed up Bill and his teammates as they hustled off to their locker rooms.
One of the reasons Janice had been awarded the grant for her research was her sense of commitment. She gave her all to the subject. That was especially hard to do here in California. The entire state was almost one giant distraction for anyone under 30. If you were looking for a reason not to do anything, California delivered it. So her dogmatic approach to further her studies stood out amongst those who allowed the Golden State to modulate their biorhythms.
It was Monday night, the day after the big game. Janice hadn’t seen or heard from Bill, not that she should have. He had been assigned from Tuesday night to Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings only on the weekends when he had a home game. He, otherwise, had to fit his classes and commitments around her project. It was working out well. His job was to make sure the scientific accuracy of her study remained beyond reproach. Far too many scientists, who had actually done good work, were frustrated in the end by some scientific committee or board finding a non-scientific method used in either the accumulation or handling of data. For her it was like being handed a winning lottery ticket, living like a millionaire, then finding out there was an audit at the end where every cent and every reason for spending the money was scrutinized under penalty of having to pay it back. So there she was, well past 7 p.m., in her office reviewing the questionnaires the volunteer students from five participating universities had mailed in. She was surprised when Hillary, eyes swollen and bloodshot, entered her office. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Why are men so childish?” she said with a slightly quivering bottom lip.
“Because they think it will increase their chances of us nursing them.”
“Be serious.”
How come everyone comes to me with their man problems? Hello, do you see a ring on my finger?
“Want to tell me about it?”
“It’s Brad.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Last night after the game, we spent the whole night together.”
“Oh, I see. And he hasn’t called you yet today?”
“No, that’s the problem. He did call and told me he was going to Santa Clara, tonight.”
“What’s in Santa Clara?”
“Some sluts from Santa Clara lost a bet on the game and are throwing an orgy to have sex with all the players,” she said starting to hyperventilate.
“Wow, their parents must be so proud, a whole football team. Why don’t you tell the dean? I’m sure that would get the whole team expelled. They’d certainly think twice about going…”
“Are you crazy? Then Brad would hate me forever!”
Janice was dumbfounded. She immediately foresaw all kinds of problems for Hillary. The poor girl was conflicted and had esteem issues in proportions usually found in Greek tragedy.
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you then, except Brad is a dick head and you better get your head out from between his legs or you are going to get pissed on!”
Mascara was running down her cheeks as Hillary laughed and looked at Janice in a sisterly way. “I know I am being silly and unreasonable; it’s just that I love him so.”
Janice grabbed Hillary by the shoulders. “Hillary, listen to me. While you were making love last night, he was getting laid. Got that? You: love; him: sex. Why do you think they call it getting fucked! You had sex with the guy. That’s all! Love comes from somewhere else. Don’t ask me where, …damned if I know.”
“But I know Brad loves me.” She protested through heaving breaths.
“Listen to me! Oxytosin.”
“What?”
“Oxytosin. It is an enzyme that is released in a female during sex affecting her brain. Its purpose is to produce a nesting urge. Prehistorically speaking it was ‘necessary’ to keep women in the dark cave while the men went out in the sunshine, to hunt and kill food. Get it. You don’t love him. You are just being drugged by a million years of non-evolution.”
Talking about the brain suddenly brought back the medical student inside Hillary. “You’re saying a chemical imbalance in my brain is causing feelings of need and intimacy. Where?”
“The cerebral cortex. There is a gland that…” she stopped dead in her pathology as she caught sight of Bill standing in the doorway.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I heard we got a lot of questionnaires in, and I finished my paper on chaos theory and its relevance to applied physics. Thought I’d come here and have some real fun with…” his words trailed off as he recognized the person Janice had been addressing, “Oh hi, Hill.” Please don’t ask me where Brad is.
“Hi, Bill; surprised to see you here,” Hillary said as she dabbed at her nose with her hankie.
“Really? Oh. Anyway I didn’t mean to interrupt, just let me grab a pile of these and I’ll go down the hall…”