“That’s good to hear. How do you two know each other?”
“We met at a summer journalism program a couple years ago. It was here on the east coast, at Johns Hopkins in Maryland.”
“A couple years ago? You mean you didn’t have fun during your college summers?”
“Uh, no, Drake, not all of us had athletic scholarships, some of us had to work in school.”
He looked hurt. “That’s not fair. I have a real degree and everything.”
“You’re right, I apologize. You’re not quite the dumb jock you look like.”
He closed his eyes, a smile on his face. “That’s much better. Please continue.”
“I mostly had to work on the summers to pay for school, but that one summer I managed to get into this really prestigious program for journalism and I had to take the opportunity.”
“Sounds like quite an honor.”
“It really was, especially because I was only a sophomore and everyone else there had finished their senior years, degrees in journalism and everything.”
“Wow,” Drake looked impressed. “I’m guessing that didn’t exactly go over well with Annie Ross, then, did it?”
I nodded. “You got it. She resented me from the moment the program started. It was like she was playing out all her fantasies about being the queen bee of the high school lunch room all over again.”
Drake nodded. “I have recently learned what that can be like.” I didn’t know what he meant by that, but I decided not to push the matter any further.
“So yeah, Annie Ross, after the program she went on to ESPN and very quickly she started getting on TV, getting sent out to cover teams leading up to the combine, the draft, training camps, etc.”
“Is she good at what she does? I haven’t paid attention to her stuff. I actually try and stay away from sports news.”
“Really? I figured all you players would be totally nuts for the stuff.”
Drake laughed. “One can only see oneself so many times on Sportscenter’s nightly top 10 before it starts to go to your head, and I try and stay away from those kinds of ego games.”
He said it with such a straight face that I couldn’t help but burst out laughing, and more than one person around us turned to see what all the commotion was about. I tried to compose myself, but the joke was just too good.
“Are you finished?”
“No, give me a minute, I need to enjoy that one a little big longer.”
“Take your time. I’m here all night.” He wrapped his arms around his chest and sat back, watching me with a knowing look on his face.
“OK, OK, I’m better now, you were saying?”
“No, you were telling me about Annie Ross.”
“Right, right. Yeah, I always got the impression that Annie was a little bit jealous of me, since I got into that program earlier than she did.”
“Is she a better writer than you are?”
“She’s really good, no doubt about that. And the players and fans on TV seem to love her.”
“So what do you have to worry about? I’ve read your stuff, you’re a great writer too.”
I blushed, not sure how to take that compliment from Drake. “I mean, I’m OK, I guess.”
“Nah, don’t be modest, you’re a hell of a sports writer. Plus,” he smiled, “you’ve got the inside track on Drake Rollins. I hear that’s not an easy beat, especially for someone just getting started.”
“Leave it to you to turn everything back around till it’s focused on you.”
“I do have a reputation to upload.”
“More than one. Lucky, you shoulder all those burdens pretty well.”
Drake bowed in his seat with a flourish. “Why thank you. As long as you remember that I do it all for the people.”
“Your many, many, fans.”
“The world over.” Ugh. The level of self confidence this man had, even in the face of adversity such as he was facing now, was legendary. As much as I wanted to tell him off, knock him down a peg or two or three or ten, I couldn’t help but be swept away in his charm.
I wanted to tear his clothes off right there in the restaurant. Down, Lily. There might be time for that later. “I’m still worried about Annie coming to cover the team. There’s gonna be a lot of scrutiny on the journalism side. She has a lot of fans and they come to read her writing even if they don’t like the team.”
“She’s got a couple year head start on you, don’t worry about it. You’re gonna hit it big with your stories on me and training camp. You just gotta get comfortable with your success and believe that it’ll happen, and keep working hard.
“You sound like a coach, not a player.”
“Sometimes you gotta be a little bit of both.”
“You make it sound so easy, though, I don’t know if I’m that good.”