The Mascot: A Fan & Player Baseball Romance

by Ana Shay

  Her head whipped up while her eyes scrutinized my face. It reminded me of the time I bought her Birkenstocks for Christmas. Apparently, there is a considerable difference between Birkin and Birkenstock. She wasn’t happy, to say the least. “Are you seeing someone? Is that why you’ve been avoiding me.”

  “Even if I were, it’s not any of your business,” She was off my car, close to me now and looking up at me from chest height. Those six-inch heels made little difference to my towering frame. It’s one of the reasons I liked Cali so much. I didn’t get neck strain while talking to her, or kissing her, or fu-.

  “You are.” She gasped, wide-eyed. Her demeanor changed when she saw the truth behind my eyes. Sam looked around the parking lot and huffed out an agitated breath. “Who is she, and how did you meet her?” She made it sound like a threat.

  “It’s none of your business anymore, Sam.”

  “It is if she’s taken me away from you.”

  “That was all your own doing. You took yourself away from me, or don’t you remember? You couldn’t stand having to wait for my big-league contract. One million a year wasn’t enough for you, so you cheated on me with Theo.” I hated having to remind her because, ultimately, it made it sound like I cared. Looking back on it now, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. Besides meeting Cali.

  “Tater –.”

  I raised my hand. “Stop. That is the worst nickname I’ve ever heard. Please forget it and forget me. Nothing is ever going to happen between us again.” Bluntness was my last resort, and it seemed to work.

  Her chest was heaving; her lips clamped tight. Fury burned behind her eyes, but there was nothing she could do about it. Not now. The magazines stopped calling after I gave them my statement wishing her and Theo well, I changed my number, and after today, I’ll block her from entering the stadium again. There’s no way she can get in contact with me after this. “Well, she better be worth losing the best thing you ever had.” She flicked her hair, shoving my body as she stomped past me on those tiny points. She was teetering on the edges but refused to slow down.

  “Good luck with Theo,” I called out, only to be met with her middle finger.

  I watched her walk away, rapidly pressing the elevator button and kicking the door when it didn’t come fast enough. She nearly tripped, and even though hitting metal with your Louboutin’s (the only present I ever got right) was painful, she tried not to show it. The subtle hop from side to side was the only hint that she might be in a little agony. When the elevator dinged opened, she limped in and turned to stare me down. Her sour face watched me as I flashed her my widest grin and waved goodbye.

  As the doors shut, she left me with one final parting gift. Her middle finger and the word, “Dick.”

  When the doors closed, all I was left with was silence, and I felt a strange peace wash over me. Like the monkey on my back was finally gone. That woman had been in my life harassing me for the better part of seven years, and I let her because I had no time and no one else to pique my interest. Now that I have Cali, I have someone I want to make happy and not just appease.

  Slipping into the car, I checked my phone and was slightly disappointed when Cali hadn’t responded to my invite but figured she was probably exhausted from all the work she did today. I’ll just have to treat her to that bubble bath another day. When she’s convinced, she’s the one for me. It’s been a struggle showing her how much I like her, but I’ve enjoyed the chase more than I thought. Most of the time, I have girls undeservingly falling all over me, and I never know if it’s because of my money or if they actually like me. Cali has never once let me think she’s easy, and I’ve had to prove at every point in this cat and mouse game that it’s her I want.

  I know she’s slowly starting to see me for what I am, and a smile spreads across my face when I think about the final surprise I have in store for her. The gifts and door make-over were just the start. When she finds out what I’ve done, what I know. I’ll have to make sure I’m there to catch her, just in case she falls, which she’s apparently so prone to doing. When the guys find out what I’m planning, they won’t let me live it down either, but I don’t care. If it shows Cali just how much I want her, then it will all have been worth it.

  Chapter 31

  “Are you sure you’re okay to do this?” Mary zipped up the back of my costume with hesitancy. “Tim said he should be able to take over as Catty from Saturday. I’m sure everyone would understand if you wanted to take a break from it.”

  I was impressed; she was doing her best to look at anything but the giant lump on my head. It was so large, it looked like my forehead was nine months pregnant, and this was after a week of icing it. Thank goodness the black eyes that no one bothered to tell me about had gone. Only a slight yellow tinge was left around the bridge of my nose and under my eyes.

  “I want to do it,” I assured her, putting the Chicken vest on over the costume because the game was being sponsored by the local chicken shop, and they thought it would be cute if Catty matched. It means that today I’m going to be a half catfish, half-man hybrid dressed as a chicken. Try and figure that one out. “It could be one of my last outings, and I want to make it count.” She seemed to buy it even though I actually just wanted to do something to occupy my already throbbing mind with anything other than Tate.

  Ever since he found out I hurt my head, he’s been doing his best to see me, and I’ve been doing my best to make sure he doesn’t see my face. The first few days were the worst; Penn (that traitor) told him where our parents lived, and he came over with a vegan lasagna. My mom loved it; she went on and on about his beautiful spirit. They spent a wonderful evening with Tate. All the while, I did my best to eavesdrop and feign a fever.

  He didn’t mention Sam during the entire dinner, but then again, would he? If I’m his side piece and he wanted to ensure that keeps going, then I doubt he would bring up his potential impending nuptials. There was one point when Tate tried to sneak into my room. When the door jangled, I thanked myself for having the foresight to install a lock when I was 15, so he couldn’t get in.

  Since that fateful evening, he’s had away games which was useful. Avoiding his phone calls is much easier than his all-consuming presence.

  To everyone’s surprise, I came back to work earlier than anticipated. Josh was already gone, which meant Mary was there waiting for me with a much lighter workload. I had to ask for more work which was a first for me. Jonah also gave me a fat bonus when he found out all the hours I’d been working. At least, that’s what he dressed it up as. Think he was worried I might sue after my incident with the water fountain. Like I’d ever betray the Fish like that.

  My head’s still a little fuzzy, and every now and again, a sharp pain pierces my brain, but I’d rather be here than sitting at home with my mom any longer. The idea of eating one more vegan hot dog made me feel sick, and I don’t care what the commercials say; they don’t taste the same. That, and I also don’t want to get any more surprise mail from her. While I was sleeping one morning, my mom thought she’d be nice and drop off a few magazines for me to read. It was a sweet gesture, and I thanked her for it. It wasn’t her fault that the topics on the cover sucked. I can remember the last time I woke up to Tate’s face. It was when I was in bed next to him; my fingers were dancing across his abs, contemplating whether they’d make a good tic tac toe board. It was a memory that I wanted to keep because it was the last time I thought I’d see them that close again. He had muscles on top of muscle, I swear. This time waking up to his face wasn’t nearly as pleasant. Yet again, it was plastered all over those stupid magazines with Sam’s stupid smiling face next to it.

  I flicked to the story, hoping it was just clickbait in paper form. I didn’t bother reading the article because the pictures told me everything I needed to know. They were from the all-star game; I recognized Tate’s shirt. Sam was leaning her back against the door of Tate’s car, toying with one of the buttons on his shirt. It must have b
een after I heard their conversation. He brought her to his car, and knowing my luck, probably took her home. As if my brain didn’t hurt enough from the fall, it was searing with pain after seeing that.

  I made a deal with myself that no matter what happened between Tate and me, I would at least hear him out before I kick him to the curb. If the last few weeks had shown me anything, it’s that he does care about me. It just might not be as much as he cares for Sam.

  If things aren’t going anywhere between us, I deserve to know now. There’s one thing that keeps irking in my mind when I replay their conversation back. Sam said that the magazines were lying about her engagement, and I didn’t hear Tate’s reaction. I need to know what he thinks about that for my own sanity. I just wanted to look less battered and bruised when we had that discussion.

  I smiled, thinking about how persistent he was to come over and nurse me back to health when he found out I’d hit my face. I may have told him I tripped onto my desk and fell face-first onto one of his bobbleheads. I thought that sounded just as believable as being dressed up as the team mascot and fainting onto a fountain while a parrot and kangaroo looked on.

  What has my life become?

  “I can’t believe Jonah is letting you do this.” She was shaking her head as she patted down the chicken feathers. “It’s ridiculous. You should still be in bed.”

  “I’m fine. Stop worrying and hand me my head.” I pointed a fishy fin at Catty’s face. His eyes stared at me longingly, waiting for me to bring him to life. When I found out Tim was going to take over, I’ve got to admit it hurt a little, and I nearly offered to be Catty for the rest of the season. But then a second later, I shut my mouth, remembering that I’d never installed that air conditioning system, and we were heading into August. Hello, humidity. Goodbye Catty. Mary chewed her lip, looking over at it reluctantly.

  "Do you want me to follow you around? I want to be there in case you fall over again. You don’t want to scare the kids.” Her eyes were flaring. “Oh, my goodness, imagine the kids if you fell and hurt yourself?” She was being worse than my mom, who hid the ice because she thought I was cooling my forehead too much. She was worried that I’d get frostbite.

  “I’m fine,” I stressed. “No kid is going to see me keel over today. I promise.”

  “Are you sure? I read that some concussions can take months to heal. You’ve only been out a week.”

  I snatched Catty’s head because she was so unwilling to give it to me. “Come on; this is no worse than the time I fell out of the window running away from those cows. I survived that, and I’ll survive this.”

  Mary shuddered at the memory. “Who knew cows could run. I didn’t know they had knees until that day.” She was the lucky one. Being so small, she could fit through the dog door of the barn. I was the one that had to climb through the window to get out. I’ve never felt closer to death than that day.

  “Have you at least got your phone in there? In case you need to call me?” I shuffled my hips to the edge of the costume, feeling the hardness of the phone against it.

  “Yes, I do,” I didn’t bother asking her how she expected me to use it without stripping out of the costume. Now that would be a scary sight for the kids. Catty shedding his skin and birthing a fully grown woman. “Okay, the second inning is starting soon. I need to go.”

  She looked at me one last time, worry etched across her face. “Are you sure you’re okay to do this?”

  “I’m fine,” I said before shoving the fish head over my shoulders and securing it in place.

  I rested my back against the concrete wishing the coldness would permeate to my back. The sweltering heat was getting to me, and this first outing was more challenging than I thought. I was getting dizzier quicker and had to take constant breaks to drink water.

  Mary followed me around for the first inning, and I only convinced her to leave after telling her that Penn was sitting in the stands today and he’d watch out for me.

  The stale air wasn’t enough to satiate my woozy mind. I needed to take this head off. I placed the fin mittens to the side and had both hands on the cheek of the fish. I’d lifted it halfway off my neck when I heard a voice infiltrate through the mask.

  “Hey, Catty.” I immediately forced the head back on. I still hadn’t told Tate it was me under here. I figured I wouldn’t have to once Tim returned, and my face is healed. Then we could just go on pretending it never happened. “What’s up?” He slapped my shoulder and asked like we were old buddies shooting the shit or something. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about his tone sounded… Different.

  Since my hands were free, I gave him a thumbs up. “I heard you had a nasty fall the other day.” I sighed; the Parrot and Kangaroo mascots posted about it on their social media accounts. Catty had to respond. Obviously, when the Carolina players found out, they were amiss, sending lots of get-well soon messages to Catty and posting pictures of better times. I was surprised Tate hadn’t asked me about Tim’s fall when he texted about my own. He was probably too busy scoring a record number of homers since he was still leading both leagues after all. “Are you okay?”

  My back straightened off the wall, and I nodded so much that I was dizzy. I really needed water, but the need to protect my identity was more important. He won’t be here long. We’re only in the fourth inning. He’ll be up to bat soon, or the next inning will start. I just need to wait it out. That’s all.

  He leaned back against the wall; it looked like he was making himself comfortable. I wanted to ask him why he was back here, but I couldn’t. He’s never back here during the games. During games, he prefers to hang out in the dugout, supporting his team. He blew out a heavy breath and rolled his neck, looking at me. “Do you remember that girl I told you about?”

  I wanted to sarcastically ask which one? I always thought he was talking about me when he and Catty had their heart to hearts. Now, I’m not so sure. He could have been talking about Sam. Heck, it could have been someone else entirely too. I don’t know. I let out an involuntary low grumble, doing my best to turn it into a Tim impression. When I looked back to Tate, his eyebrow was cocked, and he was staring at me with a questioning glare. I nodded in response because what else what I supposed to do?

  “Something happened the other night, and it made me realize just how much I didn’t want to give her up.” His wording confused me. Did he mean he gave her up once already? Because he never gave me up. He did give up Sam, though.

  “She’s got concerns.” He continued. “I know she does, but I’ve got a surprise planned that will show her just how committed I am to her.” If my head wasn’t throbbing before, it’s undoubtedly throbbing now. I want to tell him to speak in English and tell me who, and what he’s talking about, but the fabric mask is stopping me.

  I join my thumb and forefinger in an ‘okay’ sign because I need to talk to Tate when he knows it’s me. Not when he thinks he’s spilling his guts to Tim. That would be a crappy way to find out he’s interested in someone else.

  “Hey Tate, you’re on deck next,” Austin called over to him, hanging from the entrance to the dugout.

  He smiled in acknowledgment, whacking my shoulder hard again. Thank goodness for the padding. “Okay, dude. I’ve got to go. But thanks again for always being there for me. When I get the girl, you’ll be the first to know” He winked and then swaggered off. I watched his butt sway for a second or two longer than necessary.

  What the hell just happened?

  Chapter 32

  My brows furrowed while I inspected the white fabric hanging over the usual shiny blue Catfish skin. I looked around the room, wondering if I’m being pranked. Catty seems the same. Only different. The newly added lips and eyelashes give him a feminine edge. Add to that the white sailor-style dress, and you’d almost think this was a different character. Who did this? “Mary,” I called, keeping my eyes glued to the outfit.

  I heard her footsteps as she shuffled into the ladies' locker room. “Yeah?
” She stopped in her tracks, wide-eyed, when she saw me standing there still wearing my office clothes. “Why aren’t you dressed yet? You need to be out on the field in five minutes; otherwise, the music cues will be all wrong.” She was in such a rush; she pushed past me and grabbed the costume off the hanger, taking no notice of the changes.

  As she pushed the outfit into my chest, I held onto her shoulders. “Woah, hold on a sec. Was Catty supposed to be dressing up today?” She tilted her head.

  “No? Why does that matter right now? We’ve got to get you in this and outside as soon as possible.”

  “I know, I know. But, have a look at Catty.” I watched her slowly hold the costume at arms-length, inspecting it.

  She gasped when she finally took stock of what she was looking at. “Catty in a dress? That’s not on the rotation.”

  On my tiptoes, I grabbed Catty’s head sitting above the lockers and showed it to her. “It’s not just a dress. Catty’s a girl.” I pointed to the pink bow and long blonde hair that had been added to the mascot head. If this weren’t so ridiculous, I’d be laughing. I pulled at the ribbon to emphasize my point. “It’s been sewn on.”

  “When did anyone have the time to do this?” She held the outfit up, and just as she did, a small piece of paper fluttered out.

  I picked it up, reading the calligraphy writing scrawled across it, “Catalina.” My eyes widened in realization. “Mary, this isn’t Catty at all. This must be his girlfriend.” I gasped, “Does this mean I’ve going to have to keep playing her?”

  Mary looked at me with sympathetic eyes. She knew how I felt about this whole thing and how happy I was to put my mascotary days behind me. Continuing this path was not in my plans. Anxiety was building in my stomach, curling the bile that resided there.