Change Up Read online

  “Thanks, Gary,” I said as I raised the glass and took a sip. I could feel the lovely burn of the vodka and vermouth hit my tongue. It was the first martini I had in a while, and it was perfect. “Very nice,” I said to him.

  “I’m glad you like it,” Gary told me with a smile. “Can I get you a menu?” he asked me, reaching beneath the bar for one.

  “Please,” I said as he handed the paper menu over to me. It was typical hotel and bar fare, with soup, salads, sandwiches, and burgers on it. I didn’t really have to be careful about what I ordered for dinner tonight since I didn’t have to worry about workouts or a game the next day, so I decided to order the pub burger with onion rings and French fries.

  Gary took my order and entered it into his register while I continued to sip on my martini. I glanced over at the big screen TV, and it was broadcasting the big sports channel with sports news. They showed a highlight of the spring training game between the Pirates and Phillies, and how Bill Thomas, the young twenty-one-year old that replaced me, hit a big home run today. I turned away from the TV and took a long sip of the martini, draining the glass.

  Gary saw the glass was empty and walked over. “Get you another?” he asked as he picked up the glass and dumped the ice into the sink below the bar.

  “Please,” I said emphatically. I turned around the stool and looked to my left and saw the man from the elevator walking with his young boy again. The boy was wrapped in a towel now, so I figured that they must have used the indoor pool. As they were walking by, the man stopped and saw me again. I smiled and nodded as he and the boy looked on. They began to approach me, unsure of what they should do.

  “Are you… Wes Martin?” the man asked, unsure if it was me.

  “I am,” I said to him quietly.

  “Robbie,” the man said turning to the boy, “this is Wes Martin, from the Pirates… oh, I’m sorry,” he said, embarrassed that he had mentioned the team that cut me early in the morning.

  “It’s okay,” I told him. “ Nice to meet you, Robbie. I’m Wes.” I extended my hand, and the young boy came up and shook it.

  “Would it be okay if we got a picture with you, Mr. Martin?” the man asked. He seemed more like a young boy now than his son did.

  “Sure,” I told him as I stood up off the stool. The man fumbled with his cell phone, trying to angle it so he could get all three of us in the picture before Gary offered to take the picture for him. He handed the phone to Gary, who snapped a couple of photos of the three of us.

  “Thanks so much Mr. Martin,” the man said to me, shaking my hand again. “I’m sorry to disturb you.”

  “No disturbance at all,” I told him, as I watched them walk away, both staring at the photos on the phone.

  I sat back down at the bar and Gary appeared with my burger, sliding the full plate in front of me. I turned and looked up at him and smiled.

  “You must get that all the time,” Gary said as he handed me a napkin that wrapped a knife and fork.

  “Not as much as you think,” I said as I picked up an onion ring and ate it. “Most people don’t recognize me when I’m not wearing a uniform.” I took a bite out of the hamburger, seeing it was cooked nicely to a medium. It tasted like the best thing I had eaten in weeks.

  “Raw deal you got today,” Gary said to me as he wiped down the bar. “You deserved better after all those years.”

  “That’s the way it goes sometimes,” I said in between bites. “It’s a business too, so I get it, even if I don’t like it.”

  “Well, I hope you catch on with someone else and then stick it to the Pirates,” Gary said with a smile.

  I wiped my face with the napkin after another bite and stifled a laugh. “I’ll do my best.”

  The rest of my brief meal passed quietly as I finished up. By then, a blonde woman had come into the lounge and taken a seat at the bar a few down from mine. She sat down, wearing a red button-down shirt and blue jeans, and ordered a rum and cola. She glanced down at me and gave me a brief smile. She looked to be about my age, well-tanned as if she too had just come from Florida, and her shirt was open just enough to show a hint of cleavage beneath it. A quick glance at her hand indicated no wedding ring (something as a ballplayer I had become accustomed to looking for on women; married women were always off-limits to me).

  “How are you tonight?” she said to me as she raised her glass to me, flashing a bright smile. Her voice had a bit of a gravelly tone, giving her a sexy note to her inflection.

  “Doing well, thanks, and you?” I said to her as I politely raised my glass as well and took another sip of martini.

  “Great,” she told me, “Just relaxing after a long day.”

  I could see there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes that I would jump in and do some flirting, and on any other day I might have spent some more time with her, but today I just didn’t have it in me. I placed my glass down on the bar and pushed my empty plate away. Gary walked over and pulled both away from me.

  “Anything else?” Gary asked me.

  “That’s it, Gary, I’m calling it a night,” I said to him. I could see the disappointment on the lady’s face as she turned away from me now, focusing her attention on the TV. Gary slid the check over to me.

  “I can charge it to your room if you like,” he said quietly to me.

  “I got it,” I told him as I pulled some cash from my wallet. I handed Gary the cash for the meal and drinks and then handed him two twenties. “Take the lady’s drink from this, and the rest is for you,” I told him. Gary took the money in his left hand and then presented his right hand to me.

  “Thanks, Mr. Martin, it’s greatly appreciated,” he said to me with a big smile. “I hope to see you playing again soon,” he said softly.

  “Thanks, Gary,” I told him as I got up from the stool. I gave a congenial nod to the lady at the bar, and she gave me a passing smile as she finished her drink. Gary began walking down to her as I walked away and back to the elevator.

  I walked passed Bruce, who was still positioned at his station, and he followed me with his smile as I went to the elevator. Once I was back in my room, I stripped out of my shirt and jeans and just climbed under the blanket, wearing only my briefs.

  My head was spinning a little from the martinis, and as I closed my eyes, I could see flashing colors in front of me. Once they subsided a bit, I drifted off to sleep quickly, feeling spent from a stressful day and hoping that tomorrow would bring better things for me.

  4

  Kristin

  I hadn’t had many occasions to venture out onto Route 5 since my arrival in Chandler, and I tried to take in the beautiful scenery around me. Much of this immediate area was dotted with forestry and farms, and there were some signs of greenery and budding trees pushing up, letting me know that springtime really was closing in on us.

  I watched the street signs for Martin Way and found it just a mile or so up on the left of Route 5. I turned up the street, which was just a long driveway surrounded by white, wooden fencing. The drive up was longer than I had anticipated, and I could see some horses walking freely on the farm to the left of me. As I got further along, there was a large house looming up at the top of the hill, the largest I had seen in Chandler. Further down the hill was a smaller, ranch-style house on the left with a larger barn area well behind the home.

  I slowly pulled up to the home on the left and saw the number 2 posted on the front porch. I pulled my car into the small driveway behind the pickup truck and turned the car engine off. I reached over and grabbed my copy of Dracula off the front seat next to me and got out of the car.

  I walked up the front steps of the porch and looked for a doorbell but didn’t see one. There was a bell you could clang to the right of the door, but to me, that seemed a bit loud to ring, so I knocked on the door instead. I could start to feel some chill on my legs as I stood waiting outside when a voice seemed to come out of nowhere.

  “Who is it?” I heard a voice say over some type of int
ercom. I looked around to see where the voice was coming from and it was then that I noticed a camera perched at an angle above the door, pointing down at me.

  I turned and looked at the camera, getting closer to it. “I’m Kristin Arthur, the librarian at the Chandler library. You sent me an email about a book.” I held up the copy of Dracula closer to the camera so it could be seen.

  “Hold on,” the voice replied to me. I stood nervously, glancing at the camera and the front door, wondering why a horse farm in Chandler would need so much security.

  Moments later, the front door opened and there stood a young girl. Her long brown hair was braided into a ponytail that hung over her shoulder. The girl was striking, much taller than me, with piercing blue eyes and the soft, beautiful skin girls that age would die for. I smiled at her through the screen door between us.

  “Hi,” I said to her happily, holding up the book. “Are you Isabelle?”

  “I am,” she told me, seeming a bit wary as to why I was here. “I thought you would just mail the book to me,” she said, surprised to see me standing there.

  “Well, you weren’t far from the library, so I thought I would just bring it over to you. I hope that’s okay.”

  “No, it’s fine,” she said as she opened the screen door. “We don’t get a lot of people out this way is all.” I handed the book over to her.

  “It’s probably none of my business,” I said to her, “but why did you want Dracula?”

  “Oh, well my grandmother is sick, and I read to her sometimes,” Isabelle said, looking down at the book. “She’s trying to go over some of the classics that she read when she was younger and looks for ones I haven’t read already. It’s getting harder for her to find books I haven’t read, so she picked this one.”

  “Well it’s a great book, I’m sure you will really enjoy it,” I told her, trying to make some conversation with her.

  “When do you need it back?” Isabelle asked me.

  “No rush,” I told her, brushing my blonde hair out of my eyes. “Just bring it to the library when you are done.”

  “Okay, thanks,” Isabelle said. She smiled at me, giving me a radiant smile. She seemed grateful to have the book. “It was really nice of you to bring it out here.”

  “Well,” I said to her, “I’m new here, so I’m trying my best to get out, meet people, and let them know that the library has a lot to offer the community. I’m happy to bring you anything else you may want to read if you want something else for your grandmother, or you.”

  “Great,” Isabelle replied. “I’ll keep that in mind. I need to get back to my grandmother,” she said as she took a step back into the house.

  “Sure,” I said to her as I walked back towards the steps. “You have a nice day,” I told her as I turned and walked down the steps towards my car.

  I got into my car and backed out of the driveway and headed towards the exit. I could see Isabelle standing by the door, and she gave me a light wave as I drove away.

  The whole situation seemed a little peculiar to me. It must be difficult to have to take care of a sick relative at a young age, and I wondered where the rest of her family was.

  I was back at the library in minutes and decided to leave my car there instead of driving it back home. I parked in the small lot next to our building and I walked back into the library, feeling proud of my delivery. Karen was behind the counter, sitting idly while a few patrons were at tables reading.

  “Where did you go?” Karen asked me as I took off my coat and walked into my office.

  “I dropped a book off to someone who wanted it for a sick relative,” I told her. “It’s good if word gets around that we’re willing to help out people like that.”

  “I suppose so,” Karen answered. “Where did you have to go?”

  “Martin Way on Route 5,” I said to her as I sat at my desk. “Do you know them?”

  “The Martins?” Karen said as she sat down opposite me. “Everyone in town knows the Martins,” she said, shocked I didn’t know who they were.

  “Why is that?” I asked her, picking up my now tepid cup of coffee.

  “Well, the family has been around here forever. Wyatt and his wife Jenny own the horse farm, but it’s Wes that everyone knows,” Karen said to me.

  “Who’s Wes Martin?” I asked, still confused.

  “Seriously Kris?” she asked me incredulously. Karen stood up from her chair and walked over to me, nudging me out of the way so she could use my computer. She typed Wes Martin into the search engine, and up popped pictures of a man in a baseball uniform. I looked closely at the picture, and I could see the same incredible eyes in front of me that I had just seen on Isabelle. Wes Martin had a rugged look to him on the close-up picture I saw. He had heavy stubble on his face, and even though he was flashing a small smile, you could see the serious and stern look of an athlete there.

  Karen scrolled down the page to find other pictures, including one of him in a swimsuit by a pool. The man was well put together, muscles in all the right places without an ounce of fat to be seen, so you could see that he clearly took good care of himself.

  “So, he’s a baseball player?” I asked, feeling awkward because I never really followed baseball at all.

  Karen rolled her eyes at me. “Yes, Kris, he’s a baseball player. He’s basically Chandler’s claim to fame. He’s played for the Pirates since he was a teenager with their minor league teams, so he’s the ’local boy made it big.’ He’s not around here much, but that big house on Martin Way is his, and he gives a lot back to the community. He built the local Little League fields, and he gives money wherever he can to help Chandler.”

  I sat back in my chair still looking at his picture. “Well, his daughter seemed very nice. I guess his wife was up at the house and they help out with the grandmother?”

  “Oh no,” Karen said, sitting on the edge of my desk, glad to hand out some gossip. “His wife left him about eight years ago. I guess she didn’t like the life of being a millionaire baseball player’s wife. I heard she packed up and went to New York and hooked up with some hedge fund guy worth a ton of dough. What a gold-digger. Jenny, Wes’ mother, has been fighting cancer for a while now. She’s such a sweet woman. I guess Wyatt and Isabelle take care of her.”

  Someone rang the small bell at the front desk and Karen scurried out of the office to help whoever was there. I sat at my desk and stared at the pictures of Wes Martin, captivated by his looks and wondering how tough it must be for him, juggling a life where he is never home, acting as a single dad, taking care of his family, and having a career in the spotlight. I admired him for how he was able to do everything and keep smiling in these pictures, and wondered what went on behind those captivating eyes.

  5

  Wes

  When I woke up in the hotel, for a moment I thought I was still in Florida. It felt like any other morning as the alarm on my phone went off at 7 AM, telling me it was time to get up and head to the field for morning workouts. Only today it was just an alarm to get me up and remind me I had nowhere I needed to be right away. I rolled over to my left and could see the sun just peeking through the closed blinds in the room. I groaned as I rolled so that I was looking at the ceiling as I contemplated what to do next. Even the patterns on the ceiling seemed to be like baseball diamonds to me, and the frustration caused me to get out of bed and get my day going.

  I went into the bathroom to give myself the hot shower I badly needed right now. I washed off, letting the shower get nice and steamy. Even though the flow from the hotel shower was less than strong, it did the job for me. My achy knee felt a bit better today, more than it had in a while, perhaps because I didn’t spend all day yesterday running around on a baseball field.

  I wiped the fog off the mirror in the bathroom to look at myself. Scratching the stubble on my chin, I decided now was a good time to get a fresh start and shaved off what semblance of a beard I had growing. My hair length looked fine, and was shorter than it had been in y
ears since I went for a haircut while in Bradenton just a few days ago. Wiping the last of the shaving cream off my face, I looked at my reflection and felt better about what I saw.

  I quickly dressed and threw everything into my overnight bag so I could get on the road early.

  Maybe I can get home by two before Izzy gets home from school today, I thought to myself, happy that I would be able to surprise her a bit.

  I went down to the lobby to check out, a little disappointed that Bruce wasn’t behind the front desk as he was yesterday when I arrived. A lovely woman, Ava, helped me check out and asked if I wanted to grab any breakfast before I left. I decided to go in by the buffet in the lounge and just get some coffee for the road. I was surprised there were as many people there getting breakfast as there were, but I guess the hotel was a stopping place for many business people. The woman I saw at the bar last night was there, sitting at a table drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. I decided to move quickly through and fill my to-go cup and get moving, hoping to avoid engaging in any conversation that was going to be embarrassing for either of us.