Playing at Love

by Ophelia London

  Mac nodded and flipped a few pages in the notebook she was holding. “There’s some new guy who just got his own column, but his editor hasn’t assigned him anything yet. He’s young, hungry, and completely desperate.”

  Tess turned to stare at Mac. “How do you know all this?”

  Mac closed her notebook and crossed her legs. “Um, well, it turns out I do know this other guy at the paper.” She put a fist over her grinning mouth. “We’ll just leave it at that.”

  “Okay,” Tess said with a smile, knowing to trust when Mac did not choose to divulge dating information right away. A few minutes later, they pulled into a parking space at the Franklin Standard. Tess climbed out of the car and met Mac at her door.

  “How do I look?” Mac asked after applying a layer of lipstick.

  Tess glanced at her. “Great. You always look great. What does it matter? We’re here on business.” She grabbed her friend’s arm. “They need to take us seriously. Please refrain from, you know, being you.”

  “I know I should be insulted,” Mac said, making sure her bra strap wasn’t showing, “but you’re right. Let’s do this.”

  Tess and Mac entered the newspaper office and walked straight to the information desk. “Hello,” Tess said to the gray-haired woman at the post. “We’re looking for…um…” She glanced over her shoulder at Mac.

  “Rick Duffy,” Mac whispered.

  Tess turned back to the woman. “Rick Duffy, please.” The woman nodded then began typing on her computer.

  After a few minutes, Mac called over Tess’s shoulder, “He’s new.” The woman glanced up for a split second then back down.

  “Shh,” Tess whispered

  The woman behind the desk picked up her phone. “Who may I say is here?”

  “Tess Johansson,” Tess answered. Then she felt an elbow dig into her side. “And Mackenzie Simms,” she added quickly.

  The woman dialed an extension then spoke quietly into the receiver. “He’ll be right out,” she said, hanging up the phone. “If you’ll just have a seat.”

  Tess and Mac walked to a row of plastic chairs along the wall. Tess was wearing her game face now. She was going to explain to this Rick Duffy guy exactly what was going on. If he was hungry for a story, he’d eat hers up. She smiled to herself and tucked some hair behind her ears. Ready.

  A few minutes later, the door swung open and out stepped a man. He was young, as Mac had predicted. He was also tall with dark-blond, kind of rumpled hair. Not Tess’s type when it came to a date, but she wasn’t surprised when she heard Mac make a sudden intake of breath. Tess was surprised, however, when she glanced at Mac and saw an expression of pure lust in her friend’s eyes.

  Oh, dear, Tess thought, feeling the need to giggle. I’ve just lost Mackenzie to a pretty face.

  Tess quickly swallowed her laughter and straightened her jacket. “Rick Duffy?” she said, stepping forward. “I’m—”

  “Tess Johansson,” he cut in smoothly. “From Franklin High.” He extended his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for coming.”

  Tess blinked at him, feeling totally confused. “Um, hello,” Tess said. “It’s nice to meet you, too. I’m sorry to just pop in like this, but it’s our lunch hour. Do you have a few minutes?”

  Rick nodded. “Of course. Come on back.” He looked past Tess toward Mac. “Both of you.”

  Mac made a little noise and followed behind them. When Tess turned around to cut her a sharp look, Mac immediately stopped grinning. “What?” she mouthed. Tess rolled her eyes.

  “Mr. Duffy,” she said as she walked by his side through the busy hallway.

  “Call me Rick, please.”

  “Rick,” she said, smiling. “And call me Tess. I wanted to talk to you about something very important. There’s a situation at the high school that I thought you should know about—that the town should know about, actually.”

  Rick nodded silently. She followed him as they rounded a corner.

  “You’d probably find out about it through the grapevine, but I thought it imperative you hear it firsthand from an actual source.” That way, Tess extended her train of thought, you’ll be sure to take my side and write a fabulous story about the music program getting squashed by the big bad football team. The good people of Franklin will rally around the arts and demand we be saved!

  Tess couldn’t help smiling as she considered how simple it was going to be. It was a brilliant idea. Tess was only ashamed she hadn’t thought of it herself. She’d have to take Mac out to a big celebratory dinner soon.

  “It won’t take long,” Tess said. “I’ll explain to you what’s happening and hopefully you can write an unbiased—”

  “Tess,” Rick cut her off. “Thank you so much for coming in. I really appreciate it. But I already know about what’s happening at the school.”

  Tess felt her mouth fall open. “What do you know?” she asked, eyeing him.

  Rick tilted his head. “About the superintendent being fired, the school board demanding cuts, the football team and choir—”

  “How?” Tess asked, holding up a hand. They were stopped outside an office door. Rick stepped in first. “This all happened yesterday behind closed doors,” Tess said, following him in. “Who…” But her voice trailed off when she saw who was waiting in Rick’s office.

  …

  Saying that she looked surprised would be an understatement. Shocked was more like it. And maybe a little pissed off. That was twice in two days.

  “Jack Marshall,” Tess practically hissed.

  Despite her glare, Jack couldn’t help feeling something hot spread through his chest when she looked at him, and his heart gave about five hard pounds before he made it calm down.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “The same thing you’re doing, apparently.” That didn’t lighten the tension—her glare only deepened.

  “Why don’t we sit down,” Rick suggested, moving to the other side of the long table. “I normally work out of a cubicle, but I figured we would need more space. Please.” He gestured at the empty chair in front of Mackenzie. She sat first, obediently.

  Jack was going to wait for Tess to sit before he did. She didn’t move for a long moment, but finally lowered herself into the chair next to him.

  “Now,” Rick began, “Jack briefed me on what’s going on.” He turned to Tess. “As I was just saying. But is there anything else you’d like to tell me? Anything else I should know?”

  Jack glanced at Tess. She looked like she was at a total loss. But a moment later, she seemed to wake up. “Did you tell him everything?” she asked Jack, all business. “Then I won’t need to go over the same stuff.”

  “Yes,” Jack answered. “He’s up to speed.”

  Tess nodded.

  “So, what can I do for you, then?” Rick asked.

  “Well,” Tess said, “I thought it might be best to get the town involved—aware,” she quickly corrected. “This concerns them, too: where their taxes are going, who they choose to elect next year, and what—”

  Jack couldn’t help coughing a chuckle under his breath.

  “Do you need a cough drop?” Tess asked. Her glare was back. “And what are you even doing here, anyway?”

  “Meaning?” Jack knew his tone sounded condescending, but she was too easy to tease.

  She blinked slowly. “You know what I mean.”

  “I have every right to talk to the press,” Jack said. “Just like you. And don’t play games, Tess; you came here to try to sway him to write a story about the choir.”

  “That’s not true!” Tess said indignantly.

  Jack wanted to laugh again—he could tell she was lying. He knew this because of the way she was wrapping a strand of hair around her middle finger then sliding it off, over and over. It was her tell. But he wasn’t about to call her on it in front of other people.

  “Okay, okay,” Rick said. “I think I understand what you want. It shouldn’t be difficult to clear it
with my editor.” He looked down at his notebook. “What I propose is that I write an article tonight—purely factual, no editorializing. And if there’s enough public interest, I’ll keep following the story.” He jotted something down. “The football team has a game every Friday night?” he asked, looking up.

  “We have one bye week, but other than that, yes.”

  “Any away games in those first weeks?” Rick asked, flipping a page.

  “Just one,” Jack replied. “We’re pretty lucky, in fact. We originally had two but Merrillville’s stadium was damaged last month. So we’re actually playing that game at home. Though it’s officially away. Our schedule is on the school website,” he added, “through October, at least.”

  “I see,” Rick said, scribbling something in his notebook. He ran a hand through the front of his hair and Jack thought he heard Mackenzie sigh, or maybe even moan. He noticed Tess turn to her and whisper something low and sharp.

  “As far as I understand, the show choir”—Rick pointed his pen at Tess—“performs the halftime at every game.”

  “Every home game,” Tess clarified.

  Rick made note of that and was about to go on when Tess continued. “We also take the show on the road,” she said. “We have two major competitions in the fall and two in the spring. We perform at school assemblies and rallies, and we do numerous performances in the community during the holidays.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Rick said, and then he flashed a glance at Jack.

  Jack inhaled but chose not to comment.

  “Oh?” Tess looked at Jack again. “I’m not surprised that the football coach didn’t know the complete schedule of my choir.”

  Jack felt like laughing again, but was suddenly torn between saying something patronizing about glee club solely to wind her up and staring at her full lips.

  Her lips won.

  “I do have one question,” Rick said.

  Jack quickly averted his eyes and turned to him.

  “Or maybe it’s just a concern,” the newspaper guy added. “From what I understand, if neither program lives up to expectations, they will both be cut. Right?” Jack was about to jump in and say something, but he stopped, noticing how rigid Tess had suddenly become. “What I mean by that is, there is no contingency plan if there’s a tie, so to speak. Is that correct, or am I missing something?” Rick asked.

  Jack looked at Tess. She was wearing the same blank expression that he felt on his own face.

  Jack hadn’t been considering anything but victory.

  “I hadn’t thought about that,” he admitted.

  “Neither had I,” Tess agreed.

  “So I’m thinking…” Rick leaned forward. “Public opinion is really going to matter. That’s the way I’m going to pitch it to my editor, at least. I’ll go to every game, and I promise both of you, I’ll report only what I see; I won’t take sides. Sound fair?”

  Jack thought for a moment then nodded. “Yes, that’s fair.”

  “Thank you,” Tess said. “Fair.” She didn’t look happy about it and Jack didn’t feel happy about it, but neither of them said anything.

  Rick shook each of their hands and walked them to the door. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said. “And thanks again for stopping by. I really hope I can help.”

  “’Bye,” Tess said, and then Jack saw her swing around to Mackenzie. “Thanks a lot,” she hissed at her. “You were supposed to be my backup. Why the sudden tongue-tied performance?”

  “Sorry,” Mackenzie said, snapping back to life as if she were waking up from being hypnotized. “I don’t know what happened.”

  “I do,” Tess said. “You chose your hormones over an important cause.”

  “No, I didn’t. I…” She began backing up. “I think I forgot to give Rick my card. He might need to call me. I better just…” Without another word, she spun around and headed down the hallway toward where Rick had disappeared.

  Jack heard Tess heave a sigh, clearly frustrated.

  “It is fair, you know,” he said.

  She huffed again but didn’t reply.

  Jack stared at her back, watching her breathe. “There’s no reason to be angry about it,” he said after a moment.

  She turned around. “I’m not angry, Jack.” She ran a hand through her long, dark hair. “This is complicated.”

  Jack couldn’t help smiling, noticing how she was trying to control her frustration. It was maddening how it made her look so attractive. “You’re just annoyed that I got here before you,” he said, feeling the need to tease her about it. “And people say men are competitive.”

  “I’m not—” She cut herself off, closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath. Jack tried not to look at her chest as it rose and fell. “I have to get back to school,” Tess said. “Unlike some members of the faculty, I have a class to teach.”

  Jack knew she was taking a jab at him, but he wasn’t about to let her get to him. Not any more than she already had. “Don’t let me keep you,” he said, stepping out of her way.

  “If Mac doesn’t show her face in one minute, I’m leaving and she can hitchhike back to campus. Ha! Given that challenge, she’d probably beat me there.”

  The tiny smile playing on her lips made Jack very curious. “Mac?” he asked, trying for conversation. “That’s her nickname?”

  Tess drew in a slow breath and clutched her purse. “Yeah. She teaches public speaking.” She laughed under her breath. “Not that you would know by the extremely uncharacteristic silent-act routine she just put on for us. I hope you were thoroughly entertained.”

  Jack couldn’t help laughing. He’d forgotten how funny Tess was, how quick and clever. That was one of the things he’d liked best about her all those years ago. And it seemed she hadn’t lost one bit of that wit. Sharp and beautiful. A lethal combination. He’d better keep on his toes with this one.

  “You’re friends?” he asked.

  “That’s Mac,” Tess said, as if pointing out something obvious. “I’ve known her my whole life.” She lifted her chin and faced him. “You don’t remember? I talked about her with you when we…”

  They stepped away from each other when a man rushed past talking loudly on a cell phone. Jack’s eyes followed the guy down the hall. When he turned back to Tess, she was looking at him, that open, vulnerable expression on her face again. Feeling encouraged, Jack stepped toward her.

  “Tess…”

  As he gazed down, her lips peeled apart, just an inch. But a second later, she blinked and moved away, looking flustered, which only added to her current appeal.

  When he stepped forward again, his one objective was to see those blue eyes up close. “Tess,” he repeated, wanting to soothe her. “It’s okay.” He felt his hand twitch, like it was about to reach out and touch her.

  “What’s okay?” Tess said, looking first at his hand then up into his face. “This? You think any of this is okay?”

  “Well…,” Jack began. But since he didn’t have an answer, he just shrugged and smiled. He was finding that he liked smiling at the grown-up Tess; he liked what it did to the color of her cheeks. It made her look like the girl he remembered.

  “Well, it’s not okay. And neither is that.” Tess pointed at him. Then she sort of waved her hand around in front of his face. “So stop being all charming and handsome and everything. You can’t just look at me like that and expect me to swoon. That’s not playing fair.”

  “Charming?” Jack asked, at a genuine loss that time. “Swoon? I don’t know what—”

  Tess lifted a hand to stop him. “Ya know what? Just— Never mind. I can’t believe I said anything. I forgot that communication is not your strong suit.” She clutched her purse and set her gaze dead ahead. “If you see Mac, tell her I’m waiting in the car with the motor running.”

  Right before she turned to go, Jack couldn’t help smiling again. Tess blinked at him and kind of wobbled on one heel. After an inhale, she stormed off, her shoes clicking as she went.r />
  Chapter Six

  “How do you feel?”

  “Fine.” Penny was bobbing up and down on her toes like someone psyching herself up to cliff dive. “Ready,” she said. “Excited. Hyper. Close to freaking out?”

  Tess laughed. “Good. That’s good. Harness that energy like we talked about.” Tess grinned at her protégé, hoping she didn’t sound too much like Rocky Balboa’s coach. Down on the field, the football game was under way, which meant it was another thirty minutes or so until halftime—and Penny’s debut. Tess looked through the glass window from the press box at the top of the stadium, assessing the large red digital numbers ticking back the time. Tess wondered if maybe the stadium itself, which the school had remodeled a few years ago, had anything to do with the budget issue.

  “Do you want to find a quiet corner for another warm-up?” she asked Penny.

  Penny nodded.

  After one last “ma-may-mi-mo-mu,” Tess left Penny with a bottle of water in one of the empty press offices, said she would be back for her in ten minutes, and then returned to the front of the press box. Looking down onto the field always gave her a thrill. Not because of the game, per se, but the experience: Friday nights meant the lights were aglow against the black sky, the band was playing some upbeat march, and the stands were lined with fans—students, parents, and community members alike.

  It wasn’t until then that Tess had a moment to wonder about the actual football game. Up until now, her mind had been totally focused on her goal at hand. She had a lot riding on tonight. She wanted Penny to soar; she wanted this to be a memorable event that Rick Duffy—whom she spotted at the other end of the press box scribbling in a notebook—could rave about in his article the next day.

  When there was a sudden whistle, the play-by-play announcer said something about offsides. When the crowd started booing at the call, Tess spotted Jack down on the sidelines. He was wearing a blue team shirt and a blue ball cap, and he was talking animatedly to a ref. At one point, he threw his arms in the air and backed up. Tess couldn’t tell if the gesture was in anger or frustration or what. After that, a few of his players gathered around him, she guessed to get new instructions.