The Quarterback Ch. 02

When I got off the elevator on the ground floor, I realized the lobby was overflowing, and as soon as people caught sight of me, cheers began to go up. A security guard escorted me to the lobby center, where Charlotte and her father were waiting. Hundreds of people filled the lobby area, with hundreds more looking over the railing from the floors above. There were also hundreds of people standing outside the building. Reporters and cameramen were there from each local station.

As I approached my smiling fiancé and Carl, I noticed a huge cake in the shape of the Super Bowl trophy. My ears were burning, and the cheering did not stop until Carl raised his hands.

"Jason, welcome home," Carl said as he shook my hand. The cheering started again, and Carl let it go for a minute before raising his hands again.

"I think Jason thought he was going to sneak in, and no one would notice," Carl said, which brought laughter from all sides. "There was no chance of that happening. I have been following your travel plans for several days, and I had people reporting on your progress all the way home."

This brought another laugh. I was really embarrassed, and I did not know what to do. So, I just stood there with a silly grin.

"Jason, we put this celebration together to show you our pride in your accomplishments this past football season. I also have a couple of announcements that I want to make. Now the timing of one will make it seem like the Super Bowl win somehow factored into the decision. I can assure you that the decision was made well before the football season started. We were just waiting for Jason to return. As of today, Jason is now the Southern Sector Marketing Supervisor."

The crowd applauded loudly, but Carl silenced them quickly.

"The next announcement comes under old news, but I want to make it official. Jason has asked my daughter, Charlotte, to be his wife, and she has accepted. They are to be married in June."

A second after Carl's second announcement, I pulled Charlotte to me and kissed her passionately. I could not tell if the roar I heard was from the crowd or the blood rushing through my ears.

From that moment on, Charlotte and her father took charge of organizing the wedding. I was consulted frequently at first, but they both realized that I was a total zero when planning anything to do with a wedding. They finally dumped me as a planner and enlisted my mother. She was beyond thrilled with the whole deal. Of course, I went with them when they went to their country club to discuss the arrangements for the reception. And I insisted on going with them when they went to the different bakeries to sample wedding cakes. But outside of t getting fitted for my tux, my involvement in the wedding would be showing up on time.

There was the bachelor party to contend with. And I began to hear rumors that my teammates promised me a bachelor party to end all bachelor parties. Knowing what some of them were capable of, I politely declined. Instead, I planned to have about thirty friends and teammates join me at the Kobi House, the best steak restaurant in Florida. However, my version of a bachelor party and the wedding never occurred. And although I did not know it then, I would later learn that Jimmy had stuck it to me again.

About two weeks before the wedding, I had to work late to ensure the filings for sixteen new branches in Virginia and Maryland were complete. They needed to be filed the next day. It was not brain surgery, but you had to ensure everything was perfect on the Federal Reserve's form. So, I was exhausted when I arrived at my condo. But as soon as I walked in, I knew something was wrong. It was not that hard to determine with every picture of your fiancé and you lying on the floor smashed.

Frightened that someone had broken into the condo and terrified that Charlotte might have been there, I started racing from room to room, calling her name. When I got to our bedroom, I was shocked. There was no Charlotte, and neither was there any of her clothes. On the bed was a large envelope with her engagement ring on top of it. On the envelope, Charlotte had written, "YOU BASTARD." Inside the envelope was a colored 8 X 10 glossy of the actress from the commercial kissing me while she was naked.

"FUCKING A," I hissed in anger. Someone had sandbagged me. My first thought was that Jimmy had done it, but I foolishly discarded that idea. But a few months later, after reading a private investigator's report, I learned that Jimmy had been banging the actress and convinced her to go along with his gag. But at that moment, all I could think about was talking to Charlotte. I had to convince her that it was a setup and nothing had happened.

When I called her cellphone, it went straight to voicemail. I begged her to call me. Next, I called her at her house, which went to her voice recorder. As a last resort, I called Carl. He answered the phone on the first ring.

"Mr. Domino," I started frantically, "Someone sent a picture to Charlotte that shows me in a very compromising situation. However, I swear on my mother's life that nothing happened. I need to explain it to Charlotte."

"Jason," Carl said with a heavy voice, "I wish there were something I could do for you, but Charlotte was emphatic that she never wanted to talk to you again. She asked that I transfer her to New York, and I reluctantly agreed. She also asked me not to give you her contact information."

I was devastated by that news. But the New York destination confused me. As far as I knew, we did not have any branches in New York. Those plans were at least three years down the road.

"New York?" I said, confused. "We don't have anything there."

"It was something that Charlotte and I discussed while you were away," Carl explained. "However, it was something that I thought we would start working on in a couple of years. I want to start offering financial planning services in our branches. Charlotte has taken a position with a financial house to learn the ins and outs. And no, I will not tell you which firm she's working for. Jason, I am truly sorry, but I must respect my daughter's wishes."

I was shell-shocked after I hung up with Carl. In a split second, my life had fallen straight into hell from the top of the mountain. I continued calling Charlotte's cell for two more hours before giving up. I finally went to bed, but I slept maybe an hour or two. I felt like shit the next morning, but I realized what I had to do.

When I arrived at the office, I went to Carl's office. I was immediately ushered in. He looked as bad as I felt.

I handed him my resignation. "I'm sorry, Mr. Domino, but given what's happened, I can't possibly continue working here. I will work the two weeks if you want, but I would appreciate it if I could just leave now."

"After talking to you last night, I was afraid that this is what you would do," Carl took the piece of paper and handled it as though it was a poisonous snake. "I wish you would reconsider. Give Charlotte some time to calm down. Then the two of you can talk. She is just so crushed right now that she is not thinking rationally. And I'm sure you're hurting just as much as she is. Give it a few months at least."

I shook my head. "I am sorry, Carl, I cannot do that. I did nothing wrong, and Charlotte won't even let me explain. If that is her attitude even before we are married, there is no hope for us. I will not marry someone who does not trust me."

"What exactly did happen, Jason?" Carl asked sadly.

"Nothing, Carl, absolutely nothing!" I said with some heat. "I did not do a God damned thing wrong. I was set up. I had just gone into the bathroom to take a piss, and that actress snuck into the trailer and got naked. She grabbed and kissed me when I came out with only my boxers on. That picture did not show me throwing her bodily out the door. I did not realize it at the time, but someone had taken our picture through the window."

"Jason, as sad as it is to admit, Charlotte has made the biggest mistake of her life. But I am not accepting your resignation. Instead, I am putting you on indefinite leave without pay. Any time you want your job back, it will be here for you."

It seemed that the only one who was happy about my shitty situation was my agent. Jack immediately started booking me for more events, because of my increased visibility. He managed to sign me up for another tour of personal appearances. He even booked me on the "Late Show" with Stephen Colbert, who was a total jerk. Colbert started the interview by making some comment that Tampa must have had a great team, winning with me as the quarterback. I would not dispute that, but he had that smarmy attitude and nasty little smirk, which pissed me off. So, I asked him, "They actually pay you to make stupid comments like that?" The interview went downhill from there.

Jack got in my face as we left NBC, and I told him if he did not like what I had done, to go fuck himself. He shut up immediately and apologized. I knew that I had let Colbert get under my skin and expected there to be some blowback. Not only was there none, but I got a ton of mail from Tampa fans thrilled with my defense of their team. Colbert also got a ton of hate mail from all over the country. And to make it even better, a few nights later, Colbert had to apologize to me publicly and invite me back on his show. It will be a cold day in hell before I go back on his show.

One plus of the blowup with Colbert was that the anger got my head out of my ass concerning Charlotte. She had made her choice, and now we both had to move on. I did this by dating when I could. I have to say that being an NFL quarterback really helps in that department. Little by little, the hurt began to fade. Even with that, I knew that some part of me would always love Charlotte.

I was sitting in my condo, wondering what would happen next. It seemed a no-brainer that Tampa would resign me. Only this time, I wanted to get more than the one-point-four dollars they ended up paying me for last season. When my phone rang later that day, and I realized it was from the Buccaneers' headquarters, I figured it was about my contract. As I picked up the phone, I was trying to decide if I should ask for ten or twelve million dollars. Instead, I got the shock of my life.

After I said hello and was surprised when I realized it was coach Sullivan. I expected the General Manager, Scott Donaldson, to be the person on the phone. However, what coach Sullivan had to tell me caused my world to fall further into the dumps.

"Jason, this is Coach Sullivan," he said tersely. "This is the hardest phone call I think I have ever had to make as a coach. Jason, management has decided not to resign you. In case you haven't heard, we traded our first, second, and third-round draft picks this year and our first and second-round picks for next year for the number one pick in the draft. Even though I do not agree with the decision, management has decided to draft Terry Loman, the quarterback from LSU."

I was in shock, and all I could think to say was, "Wow, that is not what I expected to hear. But I guess it's true; the NFL stands for Not For Long. Anyway, thanks for letting me know personally."

"Jason, I cannot tell you how sorry I am about this. If it is any consolation, I fought hard to keep you, and if I can find a way to resign you, I will. Jason, you are a quality quarterback, and I'm sure another team will snatch you up."

But Coach Sullivan was wrong. In a rare occurrence in the NFL, none of the teams seemed to be searching for a quarterback. And after the last game of the preseason, my NFL career looked dead. Even my agent thought so.

By the first game of the season, I was officially depressed. I had been dumped by my fiancé and the NFL. And to make matters worse, I had quit my job at the bank. I tried dating to ease my loneliness, but I found the girls shallow and annoying. It was fun at the beginning of my career, but not so much now. I tried talking to my dad, but his only advice was to ask for my job back at the bank. I just could not do that.

I read the injury reports after each game for the first three weeks of the season. Any time a quarterback was injured, I waited by my phone, but it never rang. I was despondent and unsure of what I should do. I became a little paranoid without a job, so I made an appointment to visit my financial advisor.

Brian Bright had been handling my investments since I started playing in the NFL. I always respected his financial advice; besides, he was fun to talk to. What I really wanted was reassurance that my finances were in good shape. After all, I did not have a job, so I would have to live off my investments until I found one.

Brian reviewed my portfolio and showed me that I had about five and a half million dollars in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Almost all the bonds and mutual funds were tax-free municipals. I could expect an annual income between one hundred and fifty thousand and two hundred thousand dollars. In the back of my mind, I already knew that, but hearing Brian say it gave me a sense of peace.

As I left Brian's office building, I thought I heard my name being called. I turned but did not see anyone, so I headed for the crosswalk. Then I heard my name again, only louder this time. When I turned, I was shocked to see Staci racing to catch up with me. God, she looked fantastic.

"Jason, I thought I wasn't going to be able to catch up to you," she said while struggling to catch her breath.

"Well, let's duck into this grill and get a drink so that you can catch your breath. Then we can get caught up," I said as I ushered Staci through the door.

"So, how are you and Jimmy doing?" I asked, trying not to show my disgust when I said his name.

Staci rolled her eyes. "Jimmy is on my shit list right now."

"Really? I thought you guys were engaged?"

"Jimmy did ask me to marry him, and we were engaged for a short time. I only agreed because the guy I loved had dumped me. Anyway, Jimmy can be a total jerk at times," Staci said with a slightly flushed face. "I am sorry, I should not have said that. You both played football together in high school."

"Yeah, we did, but we were far from being friends," I said with a smile. "In fact, I have always thought he was an asshole. But why do you think he is a jerk?"

"Because he got super mad when I told him I did not want to get married. Besides, all he talks about is how nobody appreciates him as a football player."

I studied Staci for a minute, and she looked the same, only better. I wondered if there could still be anything between us, so I asked her. "So, what have you been doing for the past several years?"

"I teach elementary school here in Tampa and following the career of a certain Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback."

"The teaching part sounds neat," I said with another grin, "but the second part sounds boring, especially these days. I got cut by Tampa. They plan to draft some hotshot quarterback from LSU."

Staci's eyes clouded for a second with confusion, but then her bright smile radiated. "I still think that is the most interesting part of my life. As for Tampa dumping you, I think they must be out of their minds. You just won them a Super Bowl."

We talked for a while about her career and my prospects. When there was a lull in the conversation, Staci touched my arm. "Why did you run away from me at the draft party?"

"Because you were Jimmy's fiancé, and he has a history of messing up my love life. I thought you and I were starting to connect, but then I found out you were Jimmy's girl all the time. I figured it was best to cut my losses and run."

"I was not Jimmy's fiancé back then," Staci said, making quotation marks in the air, "but he would tell everyone I was. As far as I was concerned, Jimmy and I were just friends. Later, in a weak moment, we did get engaged for about two minutes. Then I got tired of listening to him complain about how he was about to get cut because they did not appreciate his talent. Besides, I still have deep feelings for you. After Jimmy and I split up, I came down here to Tampa. When you left me at FSU, I was starting to fall in love with you, and then you were gone."

Hearing that Staci had loved me set my heart racing. Suddenly, my whole messed-up life did not seem that important anymore. Somehow getting cut by Tampa did not seem that important, and somehow, the loss of Charlotte did not hurt as much.

I asked her to dinner that night, hoping to renew our friendship. It felt like we were back at Florida State and had not seen each other for a day or two. We just talked so easily and naturally about everything.

We dated for the next two weeks, and I started falling in love with Staci again. Still, I had lingering feelings for Charlotte. However, I had to push those into a small part of my heart.

Then my life got even better. I got a call from Detroit. Their quarterback, Barry Stand, had strained his knee and was going to be out for four weeks. Their backup, Ty Wilson, was supposed to be their quarterback of the future, so I was just insurance. Detroit signed me to an eight hundred-thousand-dollar contract, which was not guaranteed. I had no trouble learning Detroit's system, but I never used it. I sat on the bench for four weeks while the Lions went 1 - 3. As soon as Barry was healthy, I was cut.

During my stay in Detroit, I burned up my cell phone with calls to Staci. After she would go to bed at night, I would send love notes via email. After getting cut by Detroit, I headed back to Tampa. But I only got to spend a week with Staci before I got a call from the Carolina Panthers. Both of their quarterbacks, Phil Parker and Jeff Hoffman, were dinged up, so they wanted me just in case. Carolina had a good team, and it looked like they might make the playoffs.

When Phil and Jeff were fully healthy, I expected to be cut loose, but the Panthers kept me. And during the first game of the playoffs, I got to play the last half of the fourth quarter. Carolina was already up 49 - 3 when they pulled Phil. Jeff ran three plays before he banged his throwing hand on a helmet, so I was sent in. All I had to do was make sure I protected the ball, and I did. In fact, I drove the team down the field and ran the ball in from the sixteen-yard line. The final score was 56 - 3. Unfortunately, the Panthers were ousted the next week by the Packers. I was cut the next day.

I asked Staci to marry me at a New Year's Eve party, and I was thrilled when she said yes. The ceremony was held at my parent's home with about sixty friends, relatives, and former teammates. Staci and I had not dated for very long, but we seemed very much in sync. And during our honeymoon, we were planning our future when we weren't making love. Of course, I did not have a clue what the next season would bring, but with Staci at my side, I was not worried.

The offseason was like a fantasy for me. I only had a few public obligations to fulfill, but I brought Staci with me every time. She had the expression of a child in a constant state of amazement. Everywhere we would go, Staci would captivate whatever group or association I was speaking to.

Staci would easily mingle with the people, but she always looked to see where I was. Yet, if Staci were tired or nervous about anything going on, she would scurry back to me and cling to my arm smiling. Also, she would come hurrying back if some pretty girl tried to get too forward. And too forward could be anything from talking too long to me, touching my arm, or standing too close. Of course, I would head over to her if I thought some guy was getting too familiar or Staci looked besieged.

The first two years were like living in a dream world. I was so in love with Staci, and I was sure she loved me just as much. Our sex lives were fantastic, but my NFL career continued to sputter along. Being a backup quarterback, I couldn't count on anything. Yet, each new season seemed to provide another opportunity for me.