“Yes, but we’re in a hostile situation with some negotiations right now.”
“So make it less hostile tonight,” Erica said simply, smiling as if she’d just solved a major world crisis. “Use you’re feminine wiles to get him to give in to your demands,” she said, batting her eyes and swaying her hips in a “sexy” manner.
Laci laughed but it sounded a little despondent even to her own ears. “I wish it were that simple, ladies.” Then she shook her head, pushing off the shock of her loss and remembering why she was here this morning. This was for the girls and she couldn’t wallow in self pity now. She regrouped quickly. “But don’t worry about it. I want you all to know that you did a great job today. We didn’t get the practice in that I had hoped but I think playing with the guys was a great tool. It showed off some of our strengths and some weaknesses. So next week, I’ll make sure we have the court to ourselves and we’re going to work on our defense!”
Laci tried to be enthusiastic but her mind was completely preoccupied with the night’s events. The girls shuffled outdoors, some walking home, some staying around the gym to chat with their friends. Laci got into her car and waived goodbye to the remaining girls, showing a chipper attitude.
She wished she felt chipper though. She was nervous and jumpy, refusing to acknowledge that she might be excited about the night ahead. On the long drive home, she kept looking at her watch and counted the hours until he was going to pick her up, trying to grasp the reality of her situation. As she was driving home she passed by the mall, then decided to cheer herself up by getting a new outfit.
It was noon when she pulled into the parking lot. It was one o’clock when she found a new blue cashmere sweater that was extra soft to the touch. She promised herself that the purchase was only to make herself feel better and possibly give her confidence for the evening ahead. It had nothing to do with the way the blue sweater showed off her eyes. And she refused to wonder if Sal would like touching her in the soft wool.
Unlocking her apartment door, she glanced at the clock on the mantle and noticed that it was already two o’clock. Only five more hours, she thought to herself. But she refused to attribute her clock watching to excitement. She was nervous. She didn’t want to be around Sal because he made her nervous, nothing else. She told herself that line several more times, forcing herself to believe it because anything else was just too terrifying.
She jumped when the phone rang. Laci picked it up as if it might explode. “Hello?” she inquired, knowing that it couldn’t be Sal. He didn’t have her home phone number.
“Laci? How are you doing?” Victoria asked from the other end of the line.
“Fine,” Laci said, denying that she was disappointed by the sound of the feminine voice.
“What are you up to?”
“I just got home from shopping.”
“Don’t you coach your girls’ basketball team on Saturday mornings?”
“Yes,” Laci replied, not wanting to go into more details about it today.
“How did the practice go?”
“It was fine,” she said then tried to change the subject. “How are the kids? Everyone still healthy? No icky colds yet?” she asked.
“Oh, they’re doing great,” she explained. “Josh is sitting on top of Max, trying to get a toy out of his hand,” she said, referring to her twin boys that had just turned one a few weeks ago. “I heard something interesting a while ago,” she said.
“What is that?” Laci inquired, her mind already focusing on how she might do her hair differently tonight.
“Well, Thomas said you were going out with Sal tonight. I laughed and said there was no way. That he wasn’t your type.” Victoria laughed again. “He’s too formal and stuffy. So tell me the rumor isn’t true,” her sister asked, still chuckling at the thought. “I’d really love to go back to Thomas and laugh at his ridiculous information.”
Laci bristled. “He isn’t formal or stuffy,” she defended hotly. “He’s sophisticated and intelligent. And besides, what’s my type anyway?”
After a pregnant pause, Victoria continued, shock in her voice, “So you are going out with him tonight?”
Laci realized her mistake as soon as the question was asked. “Well, not if I can figure out a way to get out of it. I lost a bet.”
There was an even longer pause before, “You and Sal were betting?” The confusion was evident from her tone of voice.
“Well…yeah. Kind of.”
“Kind of?” she asked, her tone demanding more details to the juicy story.
Laci picked up the phone and fell onto the sofa, staring up at the ceiling in an attempt to concentrate and explain the situation to her sister. “He coaches a boys’ basketball team and they sort of took over the court during my girls’ practice time. So instead of working against each other, we matched up the girls against the boys. It was a great game!” Laci finished.
“Uh, huh,” Victoria said suspiciously. “So who won?”
“Um…neither actually. Both teams were too well matched so we called it a draw,” she started but hesitated.
“Well don’t stop there,” she said impatiently. “You have to tell me the whole thing.”
“Victoria, you don’t really want to hear all this. What have you been doing all week? I haven’t talked to you for a while.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Victoria exclaimed, laughing at her sister’s attempts to divert her attention. “You’re not changing the subject. Spill it, missy,” she ordered.
“You know, you can be a little bossy sometimes,” Laci said, still trying to stall for time.
“Yeah, yeah. So you bet that your girls would beat his boys?”
“Well, that was the initial bet but not exactly how it turned out,” Laci explained, her thumb rubbing the white fabric of her sofa.
“So what exactly? Good grief, Laci. Trying to get these details out of you is like pulling teeth. You aren’t usually this cagey so I’m guessing you’re getting to the funny part.”
“It isn’t very funny from my perspective,” Laci mumbled into the receiver.
Victoria laughed at her sister’s grumbling tone. “Well of course not, you’re not sitting on the sidelines. But fill in the blanks or I’ll call Sal to finish the story.”