Waves

Part 31

Eve spent the next 24 hours on the receiving end of endless calls and texts from Joe; his eagerness to see her heartwarming yet anxiety-producing given the last minute preparations she was trying to slog through before the party. She'd finally been able to get him off the phone just as his parents arrived at her apartment, both of them pulling her into a long hug and tossing their stuff on the ground.

"I can always tell when my son has done something stupid because it's the only time he'll call me at work. He let me know about the tantrum he threw the other day. You're a saint for still planning this damn party," Robin scowled as she sat down on Eve's couch.

"This may be the only time he wins this award. I figured we better celebrate it while we can," Eve joked, handing both of them a cup of coffee and plopping down in her recliner. "What's the plan for today and what do you need us to do?" Jimmy asked.

"I've got to go pick up a few more things before the three of us head to the practice facility at 1. That's when they're going to tell him that he won. There's going to be a brief reception with the league officials, then we'll have a few hours before the party starts at 7. My mom is at the venue right now going over the seating chart. In the meantime, if you guys could work on putting all of that," Eve pointed to the piles of MVP memorabilia in her living room, "into those gift bags, that would be awesome."

After rattling off a few more instructions to Joe's parents, Eve left for the small cafe where she was picking up the cake for Joe's party. Since it was a Friday, Eve thought she'd bring back their cake tradition and had managed to find a hysterical old photo of Joe and Flossy from the day she'd rescued him for the bakery to put on top. She was in the process of struggling to wrestle the massive pink box off the counter and into her arms when a familiar voice came up behind her.

"Here, let me help you with that," the male voice offered. Whipping around, Eve was surprised to see Tony standing there. "Hi Tony. How are you? Long time no see," Eve smiled, feeling slightly awkward. The last time she'd seen him had been after her fight with Lana and she'd been keeping him at arm's length ever since, ignoring his offers to get together for coffee.

"I'm good. Really busy. How are you? I heard about the issue at your apartment...I meant to reach out to you but I haven't had a spare minute. Is everything resolved now?" Eve was caught off guard by Tony's knowledge of the stalking incident and tried to wave off his concern. "Oh, yeah. That's totally resolved. Boy does word travel fast in that office of yours."

Tony smirked and shrugged. "They know I was looking into those photos taken of you and looped me in. I'm always going to check up on you, even if you seem reluctant to have anything to do with me."

Opening and closing her mouth several times, Eve was at a loss for a response before she was saved by her phone ringing. "Mom, can I call you back? I'm picking up the cake right now," Eve whispered. "Really quick sweetheart--the bartender needs to know Joe's favorite tequila. They're setting up the bar right now," Andrea asked. "I don't think Joe knows the difference between Don Julio and Kirkland. Just tell them to pick anything."

Hanging up, Eve apologetically smiled at Tony and made her way to the door. "Having a party?" Tony questioned. "Kind of. More of a family dinner," Eve chirped, desperate to wrap up her errands so she could make it to the stadium on time. "I take it that things are going well between you and Joe. The baby must not have come yet," Tony cooly replied.

Eve stopped in her tracks and turned around, eyebrows raised. "I'm not sure what the hell you're getting at but I'm going to assume you didn't mean anything malicious," Eve glared, "regardless, I've got to go. Take care Tony."

Pulling out of the parking lot, Eve tried to shake off her irritation as she made a few more stops. She wanted just one day without something or someone pushing her buttons, and she was determined to make the MVP announcement as celebratory as possible. After quickly swinging by her place to pick up Joe's parents, the three of them dropped off the rest of the party supplies at the venue and made their way to the practice facility adjacent to Paycor.