I slipped behind the counter at the club right at nine o’clock. I tossed my gym bag against the back wall. I wasn’t playing tonight, but the bag had several freshly washed outfits I wanted to put in my locker if I had time.
It was Saturday night, so I could only hope Mick wouldn’t make his usual appearance. Samantha and Larry were playing doubles with another couple on court number three. From the look of Samantha’s hair to the lack of dry spots on Larry’s clothing, I assumed they had been playing for quite some time.
The local cable company had booked a private party for their employees. This gave them exclusive use to five of the ten courts and the pub upstairs. By the sounds coming from the pub, the party was in full swing. I looked over the court reservations for the day and saw that Husky had been in earlier in the afternoon, so I probably wouldn’t be seeing him this evening.
For the next two hours, I didn’t have time to think about the events of the day. Partygoers always had more demands than regular members did, and I made several trips to the storage room to collect clean towels for the front desk and sodas for restocking the coolers. It would have been helpful to have another set of hands.
Samantha came out of the locker room at ten thirty and perched on a stool at the counter. “What’s up?” she asked. “What’d you and Mick do today? Do we have court time for tomorrow? Can I get an apple juice?”
Samantha and I both had a bad habit of peppering people with questions. It seemed easier to get them all out at once and then wait for the answers. I ignored half of her questions.
“You’re not going to believe what happened today,” I told her. I had to fight back tears as I poured an apple juice over ice for each of us. “Mick isn’t the person we thought he was, and I don’t think I’m going to see him anymore.”
Between handing out towels and locker keys, and selling extra beer to partygoers, I filled her in on most of the details. I could tell she was heartbroken for me.
“Would you mind running back to the storage room and grabbing another stack of clean towels for me?” I asked her. “I need to stay here since so many people from Cable Connect are getting ready to hit the showers.”
I passed out the rest of the towels on hand and started a quick closeout of the register. Jerry would be here in a few minutes to relieve me.
Samantha put the clean towels in the bin and launched into her next set of questions. “Is there anything else I can do for you? And why didn’t Husky say anything to any of us? Have you talked to him? For crying out loud, he works with Mick, and he should have known this. Larry’s going to be upset when I tell him. Do you want to stay with us for a few days?”
“No thanks, Sam,” I said, giving her an appreciative hug. “Husky wasn’t in tonight, so I haven’t had a chance to talk with him. Darby asked me to go to Florida with him next week. I don’t even know where he’s going, but I’m thinking I might go. I can get the time off from work, and I could really use a break.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” she said. “He’ll be good company, and Larry and I will both feel better knowing you’re with him and not alone.” It was her turn to give me a hug, “Try to have a good time if you go. Run on the beach, and don’t eat too much junk. You still have to train for tournament.”
“I will. I promise,” I said. I couldn’t help smiling. She was so serious about our training.
Jerry tapped me on the shoulder. I noticed his face was more bloated than usual. I could only imagine what mine looked like after crying all afternoon. Make-up could only hide so much.
“Hi, Jerry,” I greeted him. “I’m sorry about the mess. This party has run me ragged. Sam brought up clean towels, I restocked the coolers, and the register is ready to go.” I looked around to see if I had forgotten anything. I pointed to the glass of apple juice. “I poured myself an apple juice and never drank it. The ice isn’t entirely melted, so if you don’t mind it watered down some, you can have it, or throw it out.” I looked at him a bit hesitantly before saying, “And one more thing. Would you fill in for me next week? I need some time off, and I’m only scheduled a couple nights.” I gave him a pleading look. He stared back with a blank look. “Please?” I asked using the best puppy-dog look I could muster.
“Ok, but you’ll owe me more than an apple juice,” he said.
I had no idea what he meant by that, but this wasn’t the time to find out. “Thank you,” I said and gave him an awkward hug. “I really appreciate it. I’ll mark it on the schedule so Stan and Louise will know I won’t be in.”
Stan and Louise were the owners of the club, but we rarely saw them. All of the employees enjoyed working here, and everyone did their jobs well, so Stan and Louise only stopped in on Sunday afternoons to set schedules, order supplies, and go over accounting.
The lobby was becoming more crowded, and the partygoers were getting rowdy. I was glad I was leaving for the night. It had been a long day.