Chapter 5
“I thought I had met all his girlfriends.” Mrs. Black said again. It had to be the fourth or fifth time.
Coach Sims scooted forward on his seat so he didn’t have to listen to them talk. The game was a rout so it wasn’t like he was going to miss anything. Even the commentators had been talking about how Sonny hadn’t had any of the bad luck that had been the hallmark of his career today.
“You met me.” Mandy smiled. Sonny had had to fly back for practice two weeks ago, but he’d returned for the weekend and by then Dr. Phipps had been more than happy to have Kaylin and Noor cover her classes for a week so she could stay with him the week before the Super Bowl. The university was already seeing rising application numbers and interest from donors.
“But you were just his science tutor. I didn’t realize you were dating.” Mrs. Black studied Mandy for another moment then turned to the game.
All week, Sonny had been parading her around, introducing her to his friends and bragging about the fact that she had a doctorate in a hard science. Nobody seemed all that impressed, but the fact that he wanted to tell them made her happy. Everything made her happy right now.
Except maybe spending most of the game being questioned by Sonny’s mother who could not seem to believe what she was hearing.
Coach Sims and nearly every other person in the room started shouting. Mandy hadn’t even heard the final whistle. Her first in-person Super Bowl and she’d missed it. The way things were going though, it wouldn’t be her last.
“And what do you teach?” Mrs. Black asked when the shouting subsided.
“I teach two sections of Introduction to Chemistry and two sections of Bio Chem.”
“Which is what?”
“Shh.” Coach Sims waved his hand at them. “They’re interviewing Sonny.”
Mandy looked up at the big screen TV on the wall. Also strange that she could look out a window to see the game, but to really know what was going on, she had to watch a television. Sonny looked sweaty and exhausted, but he was grinning.
“Sonny, you have been dogged with bad luck most of your career, but today everything went like clockwork. What’s changed?” the commentator asked.
“I did something really stupid when I was in high school and I hurt somebody I love. I’m working on making it up to her now.”
“So what are you plans now?”
Mandy cringed, waiting for him to say he was going to Disney World because he’d been threatening to all week. His agent had called Friday to say that if Sonny’s team won, he had a pizza deal on the hook and a solid opening with an insurance company so either one of those was a definite possibility too. They’d also talked about running away to a beach over Spring Break. The mood Sonny had been in all week, he could say anything.
“The first thing I’m going to do is ask my girlfriend, Dr. Amanda Daws, if she’ll marry me.”
Mandy frowned at the screen. He could not have said what she thought he said. She considered asking Mrs. Black to repeat it, but the older woman was staring at Mandy like she’d never seen her before.
“Wow, congratulations!” the commentator said. “I can’t imagine any woman saying no to you, Sonny.”
“You would be surprised, but I’ve been in love with her since high school.”
Mandy turned back to the television in time to see Sonny waving at the camera as he headed for the locker room. The commentator turned to the camera, chatting brightly about the game that had just ended.
“Did my son just ask you to marry him?” Mrs. Black asked.
Coach Sims seized her hand like he meant to shake it and then pulled her in for a bear hug. “Congratulations, Mandy.” He turned to the room at large. “Hey everybody, let me introduce you to the future Mrs. Sonny Black!”
Well, everybody knew now. Sonny had snuck up on her on national television and caught her with a surprise proposal. She’d been sacked by the quarterback.
The End
Publisher’s Note
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About Belle Maurice
Belle Maurice spends a great deal of time lost in imagination. She recently returned from living in the Middle East where the temperature is always hot, sunrise and sunset are pretty stable year ’round, and she could go literally weeks without encountering a member of the opposite sex. Do you know what happens to a woman essentially living in a harem situation? That’s right, she talks about shoes and thinks about men. Which brings us right back to being lost in imagination…
Sacked By the Quarterback Page 4