Friends Don't

by Kerry M Kelly

CHAPTER 4

  Paul waited until she got out of the door before he offered her his arm. She took the proffered arm, enjoying the feel of the thick tweed jacket he wore, and started to apologize.

  “I’m really sorry, Paul. Dottie was a little late.”

  “A little late?” he mocked, lifting his right eyebrow.

  “Well, probably a lot late. But it’s never mattered before whether she came at 12:30 or 1:00. Only that she be here around lunch time. It just so happens that the bus usually gets her here at 12:20 on the dot. I am sorry about your lunch. Did you eat anyway?” ‘I hope.’ she added quickly to herself.

  “No. I thought perhaps something had come up, so I’ve just been waiting. They’re holding the table for us. Have been for...” he looked at this watch, “about an hour now.”

  “An hour? How long were you waiting by the door?”

  “About an hour. I decided I’d better not give you a chance to get lost,” he teased. She had no answer for that. Had she had the chance, had she thought about it, she just might have run out.

  Sure enough, Clinkerdagger’s was still holding a table for Paul. He pulled out Katryn’s chair and seated her before settling in the chair across from her. Katryn quickly gave herself a pep talk.

  ‘Remember, we’re here to discuss volleyball. He’s Julie’s boyfriend. Oh no, how will I explain this to Julie?’ she worried. She knew she would have to phrase her explanation just right, or Julie would be very upset. ‘Think volleyball.’ she admonished herself again when the waitress handed them menus. ‘Worry about Julie later.’

  “Do you like fish?” Paul asked her. She nodded. “They have fantastic fish here. Have you ever tried their catfish?” When Katryn admitted she had not, Paul talked her into trying some.

  The waitress came back and took their orders, and soon Katryn had a glass of ice tea and a small spinach salad in front of her. When the salads were finished, Paul started to question Katryn about the volleyball team. Though it was obvious to him that Katryn was a little uneasy about being at lunch with him, he found she softened, a little, when discussing the team.

  “By the way, I overheard you saying something about working in pairs. What does that mean?” he asked. Katryn had suspected Paul had overheard that much of the conversation she had had with Tom and Ken. She hoped he had not heard much more.

  “Our team practices in pairs. For instance, Tom and Anne are a pair. Anne plays to Tom’s right so she can do most of her setting to him. Tom, then, gets used to how Anne sets. Anne practices setting where Tom wants so Tom, hopefully, gets better spikes that way.”

  “I’m replacing someone who quit, I take it?”

  “He didn’t exactly quit, but yes, you’re replacing him,” Katryn admitted. “He didn’t fit in at all and I finally had to ask him to leave,” she explained, a little embarrassed.

  “Not a very pleasant chore, I suspect.”

  “No.” Katryn’s face mirrored the distasteful memory. “It was surprising to all of us, how angry he became. The entire time he was on our team, he had seemed to hate us all - especially me. I thought he’d be glad to be off the hook, free to find another team. Instead he became ... unpleasant.” Paul guessed that was an understatement by what he saw in her eyes. He decided he would have to find out more about that later.

  “Who was this guy paired with?” he asked, changing the subject slightly. Katryn looked down at her empty salad plate.

  “Me.”

  “So does this mean I’m to be paired with you, then?” he asked, careful not to show how much that thought pleased him.

  “Yes.” She said it with no feeling. She wished she could lie. First John, who didn’t work out. Now Paul, who she hoped wouldn’t work out. She wondered, idly, which man would end up having been the harder pill to swallow. Katryn looked up to see Paul studying her.

  “Am I really so awful?” he finally asked her. She started to smile, in spite of herself.

  “No. I’m sorry. I guess I was still thinking about the guy who left. In fact, you’re actually pretty good. You’ll fit in well.”

  “Thanks. I’ll try not to tell anyone you said that,” he teased.

  “Good. I DO have a reputation, you know! Really, though, I do think you’ll fit in well. You block and spike well, already. Maybe your timing’s just a bit off on your spiking,” she admitted, “but you’ll get that pretty quick. Tom can help you there. Anne can help you on setting, if you like. She’s the best setter we have. And you did really well on the Turkey drill, so I don’t think your bumping needs much work. Once you get used to how we set up as a team, and who covers what, you’ll do fine. This is one of the nicest teams I’ve ever been on, so I know you’ll like it.”

  “Everyone seems nice. Anne offered to help me with my setting, by the way, and Ken said he and Tom would work with me on my spiking, too. They mentioned that you usually work with the new people on bumping skills and positioning,” he told her, immediately catching the drift of why she said he needed no help with his bumping. He wondered, though, why it seemed so important to her to make that point. “We stayed and talked last night ‘til past midnight. Sorry you had to go so early,” he added when she didn’t say anything.

  “My sitter doesn’t like to be up too late on a school night,” Katryn explained. The waitress cleared away the salad plates and returned with their lunches. They said relatively little while they ate, both finding they were quite hungry after the long wait.

  Katryn turned down Paul’s offer of dessert. Over coffee she explained more about their team and some of their strategy. She ended with, “Paul, the most important thing about this team is that we get along well and enjoy playing together. Winning comes second. That’s why I wanted to see how you’d do on a losing team. You passed, by the way, with flying colors.”

  “Yours is an easy team to get along with,” he answered.

  “Maybe,” she had to smile. “However, I have it from a reliable source that the coach is someone to be reckoned with. Spits nails. Runs drills for hours. Heartless.”

  “And those are her good points,” Paul added. Katryn laughed out loud.

  “I’ll have to remember that one.”

  “That’s the first time I’ve seen you laugh. Are you usually so serious.”

  “Never. There are people who believe I haven’t one serious bone in my whole body,” she admitted.

  “Then I hope to see more of this side of you.” Paul was immediately sorry he said it. The laughter drained out of her eyes even while she pretended to smile.

  “Paul, it’s really important that you understand our team,” she interjected. “We have all different skill levels, I’m sure you noticed. John, the player who left, was so wrapped up in winning that he couldn’t get along with us. He wanted anyone he felt was inferior, to be removed. This team got together, stays together, because we all get along.” Remembering Anne’s attitude the night before, she quickly amended, “At least we usually all get along. While we all enjoy winning, practice hard to get better, try our best, still we don’t forget the reason we’re together. This team likes each other,” she told him

  She went on to explain that, because no-one had an elevated opinion of himself, everyone helped the team to look good. Everyone encouraged each other to do better, forget the mistakes, and play better next time.

  “I guess what I’m getting at, Paul, is that winning isn’t everything to us. In fact, it’s not anywhere near as important as just enjoying the sport. None of us is competing with anyone else on the team. All of us compete against other teams. Does that make sense?” she knew she had rambled.

  “It does. And I wouldn’t want you to replace anyone. Your team works too well together,” he commended her. “That’s your doing you know,” he added. “Not many teams get along that well together.” Her face reddened and she shyly thanked him. She really was glad he would be part of the team.

  “I’d better get back to work,” Katryn decided. “Dott
ie’s probably running herself ragged.” Paul walked her back to the store.

  “See you at practice Thursday.” he promised before he left.

  Dottie was near the counter when Paul walked Katryn to the door. After he left, Dottie asked who the good looking fellow was.

  “A teammate. The new guy on our volleyball team. He just had a few questions about the team,” Katryn tried to explain him away.

  Dottie wondered if Katryn were really so blind that she believed the gentleman was only interested in volleyball. Dottie had seen the way he had been looking at her boss. She said nothing, though.

  “Were you very busy?” Katryn asked.

  “Not a soul. Your usual quiet Tuesday. Do you want me to stay today?”

  “I guess not. It does seem to have quieted down. Thanks, anyway.”

  After Dottie left, the store remained quiet. Katryn was able to finish all the paperwork for last week. She also completed the paper work for the book that had not been in stock, and was finished right at closing time. She talked to the security guard when he walked her to her car, pleased that he, again, happened to be around when she left.

  She headed home, dreading the call she was going to have to make to Julie. She would have to admit she had been at lunch with Paul, while assuring her best friend it had been nothing.

  Of course, it had been nothing. They discussed volleyball. Paul had made no passes, and luckily had not asked her out again. If only her heart could go into cold storage for awhile, the time with Paul would go so much easier. ‘After all’, she tried to convince herself, ‘he’ll leave at the end of volleyball, when Julie is through with him.’

  The boys never noticed their mother seemed a bit preoccupied during supper. After they ate, they went to watch television, arguing only a little about which show they would see.

  Katryn went to her bedroom, picked up the phone and dialed Julie’s number. Chagrined, she noted the line was NOT busy. Katryn told Julie about Paul dropping in at work.

  “How’d Paul know where you work?” Julie asked, her voice strained.

  “Now that you mention it, I hadn’t thought about that. I don’t really know! I know I didn’t tell him. Oh, I’ll bet someone mentioned it last night. He said they stayed ‘til after midnight at Denny’s”

  “Did he say if Anne stayed?” Julie wanted to know.

  “He didn’t say who stayed. He did say Anne offered to help him with his sets, and that Ken would help him with his spiking.”

  “Do you think Anne likes him?”

  “He is nice, Julie. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Anne noticed that, too. But remember, it’s YOU he talked to in the gym.”

  “True,” Julie answered, slightly mollified. “But it’s you he asked to lunch.”

  “Julie, I told you, he wanted a book for his nephew, and he says he eats there every Tuesday. We talked about volleyball. How we pair people up, why we play the formation we do. Things like that. Only volleyball, Julie.”

  “Did he invite you for next Tuesday?”

  “No,” she was relieved to say. Julie sighed deeply.

  “Katryn, be honest with me. Do you like Paul?”

  Katryn, knowing the question was coming, had prepared for it. She would not put their friendship on the line for a man. Besides, what good would it do if she told Julie the truth? It would just make Julie upset, too. There was absolutely no reason for both of them to be unhappy, so Katryn said the only thing a good friend could say.

  “Julie, he’s a nice guy, and he plays volleyball well. But it’s YOU he spent time with in the gym. He talked to YOU most of the time at Denny’s. You do like him, don’t you?” she redirected the subject.

  “I really do. It’d be just awful, though, if you liked him, too!”

  “I appreciate that, Julie. But you like him, and he seems to like you. He was sent by your friend, Dave. And besides, you might have already been dating him if you’d let Dave set you up last year. He’s all yours, Julie. I promise.”

  “No hard feelings?”

  “We’ve never let a guy interfere with our friendship before, Julie. I’m not about to let one now.”

  “Thanks, Katryn. Is he coming to practice Thursday?”

  “He is. By the way, if you want, I’ll go by myself. It’s my turn to drive, but you know I can’t stay late.”

  “Would you mind?”

  “No, I don’t mind. That way you can stay until after Anne leaves.”

  “And I just might, you know. Even if it’s after midnight,” she said with a chuckle.

  “I better go see what the boys are up to, Julie. See you Thursday.” Trying to forget the subject of the phone call, Katryn headed out to the living room to read to her sons.

  She finished the Giving Tree and there were tears in her eyes. When Ryan asked why she was crying, she told him it was because the tree had given everything it had to its friend.

  “The tree was a very good friend, wasn’t it?” Timmy asked her. She nodded. “Sometimes it hurts to be a friend, doesn’t it?” he asked, too wise for his age.

  “Sometimes it does,” she agreed. After Katryn got the boys in bed, she went to her room and cried. She cried because she knew her boys always hoped a new man on the team might be the right one for her, the father they did not have. She cried because the giving tree gave too much. And she cried because sometimes it truly did hurt to be a friend.

  ‘Get it out of your system now!’ she told herself. ‘Grieve if you must for a man you don’t even know, and then tomorrow it’s over.’ And though she knew it really did not make any sense that she should feel such a deep sense of loss for a man she did not even know, still she cried for quite some time before she was able to fall asleep.

  Wednesday went well for Katryn. The store was very busy. So busy, in fact, Dottie stayed till closing. Other than an occasional second glance whenever a rather tall man walked by, Katryn had little time to think of Paul.

  Wednesday evening was Cub Scout night, and Katryn helped out as assistant den leader. They returned home after an hour and a half of games, songs and crafts, and she and the boys fell right to sleep, exhausted.

  Thursday again went well at work. Dottie stayed until closing, and Katryn was beginning to wonder is she should hire Dottie for full-time help.

  When she got home, Katryn was so preoccupied with the question of increasing Dottie’s hours that she forgot it was Thursday. It was not until a knock at the front door proved to be Audrey, her babysitter that Katryn remembered what day it was. She rushed to change into her volleyball clothes, and hurriedly kissed the boys on her way out, promising Audrey she’d not be late.

  She was extra glad she and Julie were taking their own cars.

  Katryn raced to practice. She was 15 minutes late, and when she went into the gym she saw she was the last to arrive. The net was up, her team was in a circle practicing sets, and the team they practiced against on Thursdays, was there, too.

  “You’re late,” Tom greeted her after she made her way to the far side of the gym. “That’s two extra laps, you know.”

  “Add them to my tab, will ya?” Katryn requested, joining the circle to practice her sets. After awhile she paired everyone up for the bumping drill. She put Julie with Paul, since she now knew he bumped well enough it would not matter. In fact, she mused, maybe Paul could teach Julie how to bump better.

  They skipped the turkey drill and instead the teams each lined up against opposite ends of the court and practiced serving to each other. They switched after that, and set up two lines for the spiking drill. Katryn had her teammates take turns trying to block the spikes, along with hitting and setting. When there was just an hour left, the two teams split up to play against each other.

  Katryn and Paul sat out first, and Katryn pointed out positioning and more of the strategy her team used. Paul asked if they had ever tried using two setters instead of pairs, and Katryn admitted she had played that system years ago, but had not re
cently considered changing the EVER READYs to it.

  The team, she explained, had just finally moved to the upper-middle league. She had not even thought about it when they were in the lower leagues. They only had a short time until league play started, though, and she unsure if they would have enough time for the team to get used to a new set up. She told Paul she might try it Monday, and then she rotated into the game when Mary rotated out.

  Paul and Mary talked a little, but mainly they watched the game. Paul was able to see better, with a six-man team, how they worked together. He was also able to watch Katryn with no-one noticing. And he found himself watching her quite a bit. While he may have been able to convince anyone who asked, that he was watching to see where she played to cover for dinks or spikes, and how she bumped or hit, in all honesty he knew that was not the reason he was watching her at all.

  On the court, Katryn was relaxed and natural. She played well, though somewhat seriously, and obviously enjoyed the game. She always encouraged her teammates, and even when attempting to correct them, managed to make it positive. Her only fault was that she was perhaps a little too hard on herself. Still, she seemed to be having fun. While he watched her, Paul wondered why she was not that way with him. He remembered how she had laughed at lunch, happy until he mentioned seeing her again.

  “Paul, it’s your turn to rotate in,” Mary intruded on his thoughts.

  Katryn would be fine playing volleyball with Paul so near, or so she thought. After all, she told herself, she had no time to think of him while playing. And so it went, for awhile.

  Until the time when Katryn moved up to get a bump, and Paul, in front of her, backed up to get the ball. Instinctively her hands reached to his back to push lightly and prevent him backing into her. The spark from that one touch rippled through her entire body. Paul appeared not to have even noticed and he quickly got back into position for the next play. That seemed totally unfair, she thought, realizing how much she had noticed it.

  A couple of times they nearly collided when Katryn, as setter, went for the second hit. Paul, not used to that yet, occasionally forgot to back off and let her take the hit. They collided once when neither of them remembered to call for the third hit. All in all, it was no worse than what would be expected of any new player trying to learn how to fit in with a new team. Because it was Paul, though, Katryn noticed whenever they touched, or even had a near miss. It was obviously going to be awhile before she could totally ignore him.

  In spite of the problems Katryn had with being too near to him, Paul played exceptionally well and seemed to fit in with the team almost perfectly. When she and Paul rotated out, Katryn would point out where Paul should play the different positions.

  “Watch Tom,” she said more than once. “He’s been with the team the longest, and he knows where to be for blocking hits and where to cover for dinks.” Another time she told Paul to watch how Tom played the hitter position. “As soon as Anne calls for the second hit, you’ll see him get back into position to spike.” While Katryn remarked favorably on every other player from time to time, Paul heard, mainly, all the remarks about Tom.

  “Tell me Katryn, has Tom ever made a mistake?” Paul was compelled to comment after another of her ‘watch Tom’ comments.

  Brought up short, Katryn turned to look at Paul. She was staring at him when Mary came over and reminded her to rotate into the game. It took Katryn a minute to get her thoughts back on the game. She hadn’t meant to irritate Paul, but obviously she had. She had merely wanted to keep the conversation on volleyball. She found herself, in fact, feeling that she should defend Tom.

  Katryn’s serve hit the net, and she blew another easy hit before Tom quietly asked if something were wrong. If you only knew, Katryn thought, and then she forced herself to forget Paul’s remarks and play volleyball.

  Paul and Katryn collided, lightly, only one more time before the game ended. Katryn’s team had won four of the five games against the other team, and her teammates were elated. Though not saying much in front of the other team, she saw, anyway, the winks and nods that passed between them. After putting the net away, Katryn walked out with Julie.

  “Did Paul ask you out, yet?” Katryn asked.

  “No,” Julie answered a little sharply. “He hasn’t asked you out, has he?”

  “No!” Katryn reassured her friend. “I told you, he’s not interested in me.”

  “Obviously he’s not interested in me, either.” Julie sounded defeated.

  “Give him time, Julie. After all, he knew he’d see you today. Maybe he’s just a little shy. Besides, if he was hurt by his last girlfriend, he might want to wait until he’s more sure of whether you like him or not.”

  “I suppose that could be true,” Julie agreed. “Guess I’ll have to wait and see. We’d better hurry to Denny’s, though. I don’t want him there alone with Anne.”

  When they got to Denny’s, Paul was sitting beside Tom, and Julie was able to sit next to Paul. Katryn breathed a sigh of relief. Even before they had all sat down, the team was remarking on their wins. While the rest of her team was overjoyed to have beaten the other team, Katryn gave her thanks because she was sitting between Tom and Ken, not next to Paul.

  Julie explained to Paul, with much assistance from the others, that the team they practiced against was from a higher league, and that they considered themselves much better than the EVER READYs. It was, therefore, exceedingly sweet when the other team lost.

  “In fact,” offered Tom, “we enjoy beating them more than any team in our league.”

  “Speaking of which,” Katryn remembered, “Jim said his team were knocked down a league. Since we moved up a league, that means we’ll be playing them this season!” Katryn told them.

  “There’s one sure win,” Ken enthused, with most of the team echoing his sentiments.

  “I hope so. I wouldn’t get too confident yet, though. Remember, two of his better players weren’t there tonight.” Tom brought them back to the ground.

  “By the way,” Katryn glanced at Paul and nodded before continuing, “I’m thinking we should change our line-up. Instead of pairs, we’d use two setters, like Jim’s team does. That gives us four hitters, and blockers, of course, and uses the same two setters throughout the game.”

  The next half hour went quickly with Katryn showing them, using sugar packets in place of players, how it would work. Only Julie seemed less than enthused, though she said nothing.

  When Katryn got up to leave, Tom offered to walk her to her car.

  “What do you think, Tom?” she asked when they walked out together. “Think we can change strategy this late in the game? Two practices hardly seem like much time.”

  “I think it’ll work. Most of us have the basic skills down. Who do you plan to use for the setters, though?” Tom wondered.

  “Well, to be honest, Mary and I usually. Though Anne’s our best setter, she’s also tall enough to block and spike. Mary sets fair, and I’ll do ok.”

  “What about Julie?” Julie was a bone of contention with some of the team, Katryn knew. While everyone liked Julie, they all knew her skills were not up to the rest of the team, and she held them back some. But Julie was a good friend, and she made most of the practices, so she played as often as everyone else.

  Katryn knew she could be totally honest with Tom. She had known him for five years, he played volleyball and softball with her, and he considered Julie a friend, too.

  “I figured I’d use her for a hitter,” Katryn admitted. “There are always three women, so whoever the other two women are, they’ll be our setters. It’s the only choice I feel I have. She can’t be a setter.” They both knew John was right when he said about fifty percent of Julie’s sets were illegal, and Katryn knew the ref would definitely call them that way now that the team was in a higher league. Tom agreed.

  When she got to her car, Tom mentioned how well Paul played.

  “I hope, if the time ever comes that yo
u don’t want me on the team, that you’re able to tell me.”

  “Tom, are you kidding? It wouldn’t even feel like a team if you weren’t there. And you’re the top player to boot!” Katryn reminded him. Then, a little worried, she asked, “You’re not thinking of quitting, are you?” She remembered a rather bleak season when he’d had to back out. After he assured her he wasn’t leaving the team, she continued.

  “Tom, if you quit, for whatever reason, I’d quit, too. I only play for the fun, to be doing something I really enjoy with people I truly care about. I can’t even imagine this team without you on it.” Katryn reached up and hugged him. Slowly he hugged her back.

  “I’m not quitting,” he promised. Katryn, relieved, drove home without thinking any further of Tom’s remarks. Neither Tom, nor Paul who had witnessed everything through the restaurant windows again, could forget so easily.