𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 ✰ 𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 ✔

| eight |

St. Petersburg, Florida
8:30 A.M.

"Dustin, your phone has rung TWICE. Get your ass up and answer it."

Delilah is hovering over me, with my phone blaring Calypso by Spiderbait.

"Shit." I snatch the phone from her, and answer the call. "Yel-lo?"

"Lyons. Glad you answered. See, I just got a call from the Rays manager saying that he needs you for a few days."

"Yessir." I said.

"Look, kid. We're in dire need of operators here. That's why we hired you."

"No..." I shook my head over the phone. "You hired me for a two-month stint, so that would give me a leg up and then I'd work at Tampa General Hospital. At least, that was the deal."

"I'm not stupid, Miss Lyons."

The line turns dead silent.

"I know what our deal was. But you're not taking the offer."

"Excuse me?" I huff. "Look, I'm sorry that I just got offered a good opportunity to get me closer to um, my actual dream job.  I don't want to sit at my desk answering calls my whole life. I want to do what my father did. His job was everything. And I'm not stopping at nothing to take this one-time opportunity. If you can't deal with that, I'll put in my two weeks."

"Miss Lyons, you wouldn't do that."

"Yes, I-" I pause, hearing stuff being clanked out.

"Could you excuse me for a moment?" I turn off the speaker, and walk out to see Delilah ushering guys out. And to top it off, my stuff was gone.

"Dustin. Forgot to tell you. You're out."

-----

I found myself in the trash hole that was also Dalton's house an hour later.

Since it was also his day off, Dalton came to the door. His hair was extremely unkept, as he must've just woken up.

"Dustin...what the hell?"

"I just got kicked out of my apartment."

"I can see." Dalton pointed to the U-Haul that was currently carrying my stuff.

"Mind if I stay here for a bit?"

"Sure." Dalton nodded, and ushered me in.

→

"Delilah must've really hated you that much to kick you out." Dalton passed me a cup of coffee.

"You know, I thought we were gonna get along." I slightly laugh. "Yeah, no. She apparently found someone to fill up the void better."

"She seems like a real winner." Dalton shook his head. "Hey, tell me, what was the whole thing last night?"

"Well, Kevin Cash asked me to step in as the medical doctor person for this series."

"Just because you helped Chris Archer?" Dalton took a sip of his coffee. "Badass."

"Our boss isn't having it, though."

"What the fuck."

"I told him to let me do this. It's only two days, and after being reluctant, he agreed."

"There's a catch, isn't there?" Dalton asked.

"I'm suspended two weeks for doing something without his permission. And in a week of my hiring."

"Wow." Slow clapping. "Boss usually is chill, but apparently isn't having it."

"I think that Delilah has something to do with it, hate to say it." I blurt.

"There's something going on." Dalton looked at me. "This doesn't add up."

"It never quite does." I sigh.

----

Pollo Tropical
2:39 P.M.

"What fucking boss does that?"

Me, James, Jose Iglesias, and Andrew were currently having lunch at Pollo Tropical, some chicken place nearby.

"Someone who didn't want to be stuck with the shitty job of operating 911." Jose replied to James.

"Dustin, thank God you took the job." Andrew smiled. "I mean, this is huge. Seriously, it's a step up."

"It's only for your series." I wave the waiter off as he dropped off our food.

"You never know. Maybe if you dump the 911 job, this could be your big break." James picked at his food. "Have you ever had a Tropichop?"

"No." I laugh. "But I'm about to now."

Jose snorts. "You got some medley of stuff while I got me a half of a chicken."

"Because you're so badass." Andrew took a bite of his food. "This is good, by the way."

"This yuca is quite disappointing." I made a sad face, "But the cilantro cream sauce or whatever this is, it's delicious."

"Those are just fried potatoes with a fancy name. Florida loves this shit." James said.

"You should've gotten the plantains!" Jose was talking with his mouth full.

"And you've got a plantain hanging from your mouth." I retort.

Andrew grabbed a napkin and proceeded to wipe Jose's mouth.

The plantain piece fell, and plopped down on Jose's shirt.

"I just got this shirt!" He whined.

"You got it from Walmart." James snorts. "You can get a new one for $7.39."

→

Tropicana Field
7:05 P.M.

Today was my first official day as the fill-in for the faulty medical trainer, and I found myself 10 minutes late.

"Well, well, look who it is!" Chris had immediately spotted me. "It's our favorite Tigers fan!"

I stretch my trainer shirt towards him. "Hey, I'm wearing your team, dude."

"It's okay. I totally get it." Chris nodded. "Soon enough."

"If you quit flirting with me, dude." I give him a stern look, and sit down. "Who's pitching tonight?"

"Erasmo." Chris stretched out. "It was supposed to be me, but things happen."

Don't look at me don't look at me don't look at -

Shit. He looked at me.

"Seriously. This isn't Rookie Of The Year. You can't just jump and 'accidently' hurt your arm."

"When Henry fell, he gained skill. Then he lost it." Chris nodded. "But it got him to the World Series, right?"

"I suppose." I shrug. "I've only seen 45 minutes of the movie."

"YOU'RE CRAZY!"

I look up to a man with stunning eyes. Kevin Kiermaier, I believed his name was.

"You gotta see the whole thing!" He talked animatedly, like his life depended on this movie. "It's the best!"

"Nothing beats A League Of Their Own." Chris shook his head. "Not even close."

"Then you've never seen Bad News Bears. The original, not the crappy remake with Charlie Sheen." I stood firm.

Kevin laughed, and he and Chris continued arguing about the best baseball movie,  I couldn't help but gaze out at the ongoing game being played.

I had never loved baseball, but I sure as hell know I did now.

a.n.

okay so I may have lied when I said Delilah and Dustin were gonna get along....

anywho, feel free to comment your thoughts on this chapter!

♥, Reasie