Practice Run (Mount Faith Series: Book 5)

by Barrett, Brenda

  "Yes, like what's your favorite food… color… do you wear pajamas or negligees to bed? That sort of thing."

  Deidra laughed out loudly and closed her room door to drown out the salsa beat from downstairs. "I definitely do not like salsa music. My favorite food is anything that is not carb-heavy, and color… I am going to have to go with purple, or lavender, or a mixture of both. What about you?"

  "I didn't miss the part where you ignored the negligee question," Marcus was in his hotel room pacing. She had dropped him off and he still wanted to talk. "But that's okay, I figure you think I was too forward with that question… as a friend and all."

  Deidra laughed. "I wear negligees to bed."

  Marcus closed his eyes. "I shouldn't have asked." He looked over at his bed and imagined Deidra sitting on it in a purple negligee and he went weak at the knees. "My favorite color is purple too, and I love to eat jerk chicken with a good hunk of hard dough bread. Oh, my favorite music is salsa."

  Deidra gasped. "Really? I would never have guessed."

  "Nah, just playing with you. I like songs with a message. You know love, longing, heartbreak, and healing. So if salsa has that well I'd probably like it."

  "Ah," Deidra walked in front of her mirror, combed her hair back from her face, and caught it up in a ponytail. "I like this song by Khaled: If you could tell me one thing, what would it be? If I could describe it silently, would you be able to see? How can this be, we're strangers and your heart is calling out to me?"

  "I love that song," Marcus said quietly, "and I can suddenly relate. I have a crush on you."

  Deidra slumped on her bed and held the phone at her ears, looking up at the ceiling. "You said friends, remember?"

  "I know," Marcus lay down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, "I wish..."

  The door to the bedroom opened and Tiffany came in. He held up his fingers in a do-not-speak-gesture and continued looking up in the ceiling. "I wish things were different… the time was different."

  Tiffany, who was heading to the bathroom, paused and looked over at him. He was talking with such deep tragedy in his voice she almost thought somebody had died.

  "I have to go," Marcus said heavily, "early flight tomorrow."

  "Bye Marcus." Deidra said longingly. "I wish that things were different too."

  "Who was that?" Tiffany asked curiously.

  Marcus shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it."

  "Okay, but is somebody like dead or something? You look so sad."

  "Nah." Marcus rolled over and looked at Tiffany blankly. "No one's dead."

  His fingers itched to call Deidra again. He wanted to see her. It's as if he had become obsessed with her.

  It was a crush, he kept repeating in his head. Crushes die; they are fleeting, temporary. He had had crushes before, but they had died suddenly as soon as he had gotten to know the person. Knowing the person usually was the key to knock off the feeling. Time and distance usually took care of his crushes too.

  He actually went on the Internet and searched for the word crush: A brief but intense infatuation for someone. That's what he was feeling. No biggie. It would pass.

  Maybe he wouldn't call her again and let the crush die. Tiffany came and curled up beside him a few minutes later.

  "What are you thinking about?" she asked. Her breath was minty fresh. She pressed her cool lips to his cheek.

  He kissed Tiffany on her forehead. "You wouldn't be interested. Go to sleep."

  He closed his eyes and all he saw was Deidra behind his eyelids. Laughing with him her dusky pink lips turned up in mirth.

  He went to sleep with a smile on his face.

  *****

  It was late June, and Marcus was in Zurich. His track club had a camp there, where they had access to gym facilities and a track. They usually traveled from the 'base' as they fondly called it, to different parts of Europe for their various events. Tiffany had not so subtly been dragging him through jewelry stores and looking at engagement rings every break he got.

  He humored her some days, but he was getting tired of it.

  He suddenly realized, while they were going through the posh Bulgari jewelry store, that Tiffany had somehow orchestrated his life the way she wanted it and he had allowed her to.

  She had been his first girlfriend and first lover. Tiffany was vastly more experienced than he was. Though the media had taken delight in exaggerating the story surrounding any girl that he talked to, Tiffany was always the only girl he had been with. He had assumed that he loved her because he was supposed to. Did he really?

  She had been the one that suggested that she move into his apartment and she had also suggested that she should start traveling with him after just a few months into their relationship. She was the director and he was the actor. He watched her oohing and aahing over expensive engagement rings. He suddenly felt as if he wanted to direct his own show.

  They had met at a mutual friend's party, and Tiffany had bulldozed her way into his life. She had literally been always there. She had even professed to love training, and for the first couple of months she had woken up early and gone with him to training. That had quickly waned.

  When they first met he was just twenty, nearly four years ago. Now, he was feeling a distinct disconnect from Tiff, and it was troubling. Was it because he met Deidra, the crush that would not go away? It was two weeks now, and yet she was still on his mind.

  He had never felt such intense emotions for anyone, but was really hoping that the feeling would wear away with time because it made him uncomfortable. He glanced around the display area where he was standing and his eyes caught a purple diamond engagement ring. It was square shaped. He looked closer at it; the label said “fancy light purple”.

  It was gorgeous. Deidra liked purple and so did he. He took one last look at the diamond and thought about getting it. It was expensive and exquisite, and he would be getting it, not for the girl who was pointing out her favorite pieces in the hope that he would get the message, but for the girl who loved purple and hated salsa.

  He needed his head checked, or he seriously needed to get to know Deidra some more and put the crush to rest. When all the mystery was gone, he would be fine again.

  *****

  When he got back to base, he went to his room and grabbed his laptop. He signed into Facebook and searched for Deidra Durkheim. Of course, she was on Facebook. Her profile picture was gorgeous. She was in an all white ensemble. The breeze had picked up her hair and some of it was caressing her cheeks. He envied the photographer and wondered if it was a guy. He scrolled the rest of her pictures and then wrote her a message, “I can't stop thinking about you,” and sent her a friend request.

  He sat hunched over the computer, waiting for her to respond. He could call her but he glanced at his watch, it was five o'clock in the evening, his time. That meant that it was midnight in Miami, far too late to call; she was probably sleeping.

  He got up to bathe. When he heard a new message ping; he almost dived for the computer. He was happy that Tiffany was not sharing a room with him. She wouldn't have found his eagerness to hear from another woman so funny.

  Deidra had accepted his friend request and sent him a message. He checked it as if his life depended upon it.

  “This too shall pass. Dee.”

  He chuckled and wrote back, “It's been two weeks. It is not going away quickly enough. I figure that I need a good dosage of you to cure me of this malady. Can I call you? Like everyday and get to know you better. I am serious. Familiarity has been known to lessen attraction.”

  Deidra's response was, “lol, sure.”

  He chuckled again and picked up his phone. He knew the call charges were going to cost him a small fortune, but he had to get her out of his head.

  "What are you doing up so late?" he asked her when she answered.

  "I have an assignment. I am working at this interior design firm and I tell you… the lady I'm working with is a terror! She asked me to design
a kiddie's room for a five-year-old. She refused to share her expertise, but I'm sure that she'll take all the credit if the parents like the concept. Aargh."

  Marcus chuckled. "It's a kid. They want bright colors and durable furniture."

  "Not this kid," Deidra said sullenly. "This one told me she wanted something sophisticated and elegant. She doesn't even have in any front teeth. I wanted to say 'brat go sit down.' In a way, she reminds me of me when I was little."

  Marcus laughed. "I had a boring day compared to yours then."

  "Are you serious?" Deidra asked excitedly. "I can't believe your day can ever be boring. Tell me about behind the scenes of a rising track star."

  "Well," Marcus rubbed his chin. "It's track season, so I get up early, train for a bit, and then show up at whatever event I'm scheduled to participate in. Then I run, do my thing, and come home. I watch reruns of my race, plot strategy with my coach… he tells me where I could do better… I try to get a good night’s rest and do it all again the next day."

  "Get outta here." Deidra laughed, "I thought it was more glamorous than that: parties, hot girls and photo shoots."

  "Being an athlete is not glamorous," Marcus said wearily. "We train really hard. We have a strict dietary regimen, and we try not to get injured. Injuries can quickly end a track career. As it is, I'm fast becoming an old man; I need to stay healthy. Parties mean liquor and food and late nights, which are all no-no's in season."

  "How old are you?" Deidra asked. "I mean I thought you were twenty-three."

  "Twenty-four in August," Marcus said. "That is donkey years in tracks."

  Deidra chuckled. "Okay grandpa."

  Marcus listened to her laughing, and he closed his eyes, envisioning that she was with him.

  "So what do you do for fun?" Deidra paused, "besides the zoo."

  "The zoo is where it's at baby." Marcus laughed. "Fun, means hanging out with friends, and reading. I love to read."

  "A guy who loves to read. That's my kind of guy."

  Marcus' eyes snapped opened. "Have you been with many men? I mean I have no right to ask. The question just popped into my head. I am sorry."

  "No," Deidra said. "I haven't. It's okay… By the way, when you told me that Tiffany was your first real girlfriend I got jealous."

  "So who was your first real boyfriend?" Marcus asked.

  "No one," Deidra said. "I was heavily pursuing your brother… had no time for anybody else."

  Marcus closed his eyes. "Now I am the one who's jealous."

  *****

  Marcus sent Deidra text messages everyday. He called her in his free time and even while training. He even took water breaks just so he could give her a call.

  "I am going to envision that you are at the head of the finish line tomorrow and run like hell to get to you." He told her one-day before a race.

  He had a florist delivering flowers to her every week and even sent her a gift basket on his birthday.

  Laughingly, Deidra said, "I'm the one who should be sending you a present."

  "It gives me pleasure to give you gifts… I deserved some pleasure on my birthday," he responded.

  Deidra was unable to resist Marcus, and she found herself falling in love with him. He was thousands of miles away from her, in Europe, but he found time to remember her in Miami. It was the first time in her life that she was the center of so much attention. Well, not quite the center, he had Tiffany.

  Tiffany was there with Marcus. Yet, he faithfully recounted his day with her. Telling her little quips. He spent time with Deidra and listened to her, even though the time difference meant that one of them had to stay up late.

  Her great aunt, Miriam, with whom she was living with for the summer, was a true track and field fan.

  She faithfully recorded the Diamond League events and would watch it with Deidra.

  "That Marcus Bancroft is the most handsome track star I have seen in a while," she commented one night while they were watching. "Look at those muscles."

  "Behave yourself, Aunt Mimi."

  She sat down beside her aunt, anxious to watch the Zurich meet. Marcus looked confident at the beginning of the race, and he decimated the field in fine style. It was his third time breaking his season's best time.

  After one of the races, a television station interviewed him. "Wow Marcus," the interviewer said, "you are on fire. What has been your motivation these last few times?"

  Marcus looked into the camera and grinned. "My motivation is in Miami."

  "Oh, my Lord." Her aunt looked at her. "That boy is sweet on you. It's you he is talking about, isn't it?"

  Deidra's ears went red. She felt special. He really had pictured her at the finish line and ran a season's best time.

  "Yeah it's me. I motivate Marcus Bancroft."

  Her aunt laughed. "I am going to tell my friends, over bridge tonight, that my niece is dating an athlete. The cutest one we've had in track for a while. They'll be tickled pink."

  Chapter Three

  The summer had rushed by so quickly that Deidra was feeling slightly nostalgic when she stepped out of the airport and into her father's car. After the usual pleasantries, Edward unloaded on her.

  "What exactly are your reasons for not wanting to go back to the house to live?" Edward was driving Deidra from the airport. He had deliberately taken time out from his schedule to speak to his only child, who had matured exponentially in the last year. Sometimes, he felt as if he didn't recognize her anymore.

  Deidra sat beside him, clutching her phone. It was one of her best summers in recent memory, and it was all because of Marcus. She left Jamaica as a girl and came back as a woman in love.

  "I am talking to you." Edward looked over at his daughter and frowned.

  Deidra glanced at her phone. A text had just come in from Marcus. She was itching to read it, but she glanced at her father instead. She really had no reason to be living with the Bancrofts.

  First, she had been interested in Micah and she had been hovering around waiting for him to take her seriously and develop some feelings for her, but now she really had no reason. She barely thought about Micah for the whole summer. All she did now was think about Marcus. She anticipated talking to him, laughing with him, and hearing his thoughts, and he made her comfortable sharing her thoughts.

  "I like it there." She shrugged. "It's closer to school."

  "I gave you back the car," her father said contemplatively. "The house is not that far from the school if you are driving. What are you hatching up in that head of yours?"

  "Nothing." Deidra looked at him wide-eyed. "I'm actually devoid of plans and schemes."

  She had resisted the phone long enough, so she grabbed it up and read what Marcus sent. “And I miss you like the deserts miss the rain...”

  Deidra smiled. Her father slowed down at a traffic light and looked over at her. "So, who is the new guy?"

  "Just a friend," Deidra said, smiling and texting back, “I love that song too, Marcus.”

  "I have not heard about Micah Bancroft in a while," her father said, tapping his hand on the steering wheel. "How is he doing?"

  "He is seeing Charlene," Deidra said, looking up at her father. "At least, that's what I heard when I left Mount Faith at the beginning of summer."

  "Mmm," Edward frowned, "I have to have a talk with him."

  "Please, no." Deidra rolled her eyes. "Micah and Charlene are heavily into dirt and growing things. They have so much in common. I wonder why I never saw that before."

  Edward cleared his throat as he crawled into traffic. "This new guy must be something else to make you forget your Micah obsession."

  Deidra smiled. "He's something else, yes. He's just a friend. He has a girlfriend."

  "So you are talking to a guy who has a girlfriend and you have that besotted look on your face?" Edward sighed. "Take it from a man who has had several mistresses with his wives… you are going to get hurt."

  "Nah," Deidra said. "I am not. We are not involved. We tal
k over the phone, over the Internet. We are good friends, he's all the way in Europe."

  Edward snorted. "Far be it from me to give you relationship advice, but be careful. But let's get back to the house discussion, and you living there."

  "I will consider it some time next year," Deidra said, "for my last semester."

  "Charlene is going to teach at Munro College further up in the hills," Edward said wearily, “and she was talking of moving closer to the school. James is going to do two years at the Center of Cartoon Studies n Connecticut."

  Deidra laughed. "Is that a real school?"

  "Yes," Edward said. The traffic start to move more quickly and he increased his speed. "The house will be empty unless I can persuade you or Charlene to stay."

  "I don't know," Deidra said. "Maybe you can convince Char to stay."

  "But not you?" Edward sighed. "I bought the place for you. For your studies."

  Deidra pursed her lips. "But you kicked me out the first chance you got."

  "Back to that again! You needed the discipline. And for the first time in my life, I did something I should have done years ago. Stop sulking about it."

  "Okay, okay," Deidra said, "I do acknowledge that I was a spoilt brat. Thank you for the punishment, but now that I live with the Bancrofts, I like it. Maybe next semester I will consider moving back into the house. By then, I will be working at the TV station in the morning. I am going to produce a show all on my own. It's a fashion-police type thing, you know… where I give tips on what type of designs work better and stuff."

  Edward nodded. "Really, that's good news. It will look good on your resume."

  "And pay my school fees for next semester," Deidra added.

  Edward grunted. "I already paid your school fee for the year."