On Letting Go

"You look like you've been frolicking around a field of daisies with a litter of puppies", Lacey stated flatly, her right eyebrow partially raised. Cora laughed louder than she should have at her friend's exaggerated observation. Lacey's eyebrow raised even higher. "No witty response? Obnoxious giggling? Are you Cora's nice twin?"

Cora flopped down on the couch opposite of her friend, discarding her purse on the floor. "Nice twin?", She asked. "Yeah. Cause the real Cora is obviously the evil twin", Lacey stated with a smirk.
"Ha ha, you're a riot", Cora said, laughing dryly. She pulled her wavy hair into a bun and grabbed the remote from the coffee table. "Well, what's up then?" Cora's cheeks warmed at the thought of the events that took place that night. "Um, I met a guy, we had dinner", she admitted. "No way, you met a guy? That's a first!", Lacey commented sarcastically, adding in a round of applause. Cora rolled her eyes and changed the TV channel to some brainless reality show.

"Well, he's not like the others... he's really, uh, nice", She explained uneasily. "So did nice guy get to second base?", Lacey asked, her eyes fixed on the drama unfolding on the television show. Cora's eyes widened. "Um... no". Lacey's head turned abruptly toward her friend, sitting up straighter in the process. "So that means..." Lacey urged her on, now very interested in the conversation.

Cora's cheeks warmed, a blush forming. "Nothing! it means nothing. I can't have a friendly dinner with someone?", she spoke defensively. Lacey gave her a "cut the bullshit" look. "Cor, you don't just have friendly dinners. Friendly dinners end up in either one night stands or you deleting the guy from your contacts list." Cora looked away. "You like him, don't you?" Lacey asked quietly. Cora still refused to look at her, occupying herself with a loose thread on the couch. Lacey looked at her friend and shook her head slowly. "I'm happy for you, don't get me wrong, but you're in way over your head".

~~~

Rick walked into the already crowded clubhouse and the usual pre-game noises filled his ears; up-beat Spanish music blasting out of a speaker somewhere, the sound of running water coming from the showers, voices excitedly shouting in various languages, all blending together into a loud hum that Rick had grown used to. He spotted Avila sitting close to a TV showing a game replay, studying each of the Cleveland Indians' at-bats to get an idea of what pitches to call later. From the looks of it, Scherzer would be throwing quite a few changeups today.

A few teammates greeted Rick on his way to his locker, some of them complimenting the way he pitched the day before. It had been a fairly good game, 7 innings pitched and only 2 earned runs allowed. His game wasn't what he was thinking about, however. Rick kept replaying last night in his head like Avila kept replaying Shin-Soo Choo's at-bat on the television screen. The way she smiled, her greenish-brown eyes, the way he found it so easy to talk to her.

Verlander clapped a hand down hard between Rick's shoulder blades, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Whatcha thinking 'bout, kid?" Justin's smooth voice questioned, his smile showing both satisfaction in startling the young pitcher and slight curiosity. Rick glanced at Verlander and dropped his team-issued duffle bag, the one with a pristine white "D" printed on the side that he took on short road trips. "Nothin' much, Ver", he responded, taking a hoodie out of the bag and hanging it up in his locker. Justin swung his long leg over the seat of a folding chair and sat with his arms crossed over the back of it. "Looks like you're thinking about somethin', Ricky. Come sit on Uncle Justin's lap and tell him all about it", he said with a smirk, patting his lap enthusiastically. Rick snorted, one side of his mouth turning up in to an amused smile. "I'd really rather not", he replied. "Okay kid, just know i'm here, alright? You need girl advice or anything of the sort, i'm your man", Verlander assured, getting up, patting Rick on the back of his head and giving him a knowing wink before walking back to his own locker. Of course Justin had figured out what Rick was thinking about, that clever bastard. If only he could tell Rick how to woo a girl that had all but given up on the fairytale idea of finding love.