Back to Me (Carolina Rebels 1)

A woman walks through the door and stops short when she sees me, her jaw dropping to the floor.

“Wow, this is such an honor,” she says as she approaches me. I stand and she shakes my hand. “I wondered if it was the Meredith Quick or just someone with the same name. I didn’t realize you lived in Raleigh.”

“I recently moved here,” I explain.

She nods and faces the receptionist as she waves for me to follow her. “We’re going to take the conference room,” she tells her. To me, she says, “We’ve had the hardest time trying to fill my position, so we try to jump on each potential employee when we see the application.”

“Your position?” I question, taking the seat she directs me to.

“Yes, I’ll be moving shortly to a new position in South Carolina. I’ll interview you and if I think you’re a good fit, you’ll meet the head coach for her approval. I still can’t believe it’s you, though. I’ve followed your entire career. You’re an inspiration for many of our young girls, especially with how you became sort of an instant phenomenon within the tennis realm. I’m honestly surprised you applied for this. May I ask why?”

Usually, meeting a fan is no big deal, but in this situation, I’m a little uneasy. “Well, I’m looking for a job while my shoulder heals.” God, that has to be the lamest answer. “I mean, I won’t be able to return to the game any time soon. This will hopefully put me closer to it again. There wasn’t a place for it with the application, but um, I can demonstrate some, but there may be times when I can’t at all. I was hoping that since it’s the assistant coach position, that wouldn’t affect it too much.”

Her lips press together. “Right. We aren’t expecting you to rally with the girls the entire time. Besides, I think your experience playing more than makes up for the fact that you can’t do too terribly much. The head coach likes to take charge anyway, so I doubt she’ll mind. You’re still pretty functional, right? No problems lifting or anything like that?”

“Normal things I can still do, as long as it’s not too heavy or I have to lift my arm above my head. It’s taking time to heal. I go to PT on a regular basis, so some days may be worse for me than others.”

Gail nods. “Are your physical therapy sessions in the morning? You’ll mostly be needed from about one in the afternoon to about seven or eight, depending on games and where they’re located.”

“That won’t interfere.”

“Good. Now, the pay would be far less than what you’re used to making,” she begins. “But we’re in a good district, so it’s not as terrible as it could be.” Gail leans back in her chair. “Do you have any questions for me?”

“What exactly would I be doing?”

Gail launches into the activities I’d be expected to do. It’s not only coaching, but there’s some paperwork involved along with making sure the players stay eligible to play. I’m fairly confident that I can do everything she explains.

“If you’re still interested, I’m going to step out and call our head coach in.”

“I’m still interested.”

Gail steps out for a moment and then comes back in. “I don’t think she’ll have any objections to you, so I’m going to get you started on some paperwork. It’ll have to be completed if this goes further anyway.”

I’m in the middle of filling out a form when the head coach comes in. I turn and hear, “You’ve got to be kidding me,” from a familiar voice.

My shoulders sag. There goes my potential job.

The head coach is Erica, Noah’s ex-girlfriend.

When I get home, I’m surprised that Meredith isn’t here. I wasn’t sure if she would actually leave or not. I’m tempted to text her, but I don’t. Instead, I watch TV for about an hour before getting hungry and going into the kitchen to start dinner. That’s when Meredith walks in.

“Hey, how was your day?” I ask as she drops her purse and some papers onto the kitchen table.

She hops onto the counter next to where I’m standing at the stove. “You’ll never believe it.”

“Try me.”

“I got a job today.”

“Really? Doing what? Where?”

“Assistant tennis coach at Brady High School.” Meredith raises an eyebrow at me, waiting for something. Why does that high school sound familiar? Did the team visit the school? No, I don’t think so. Apparently, I’m taking too long to figure it out because she blurts out, “Erica is the head coach!”

Shit. That’s right. “Start from the beginning.”

“Well, I was looking at majors and saw my original one. I realized how much I miss the game, so on a whim, I looked up job openings. There was one. I filled out an application, got called into an interview today, and got the job. Then, I had to meet the head coach. I swear, if I hear, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’ one more time, I might go crazy. She didn’t want them to hire me, but Gail, the current assistant coach who is moving away, convinced her I was the best option they’ve had since the position became available. I start next week. How did you meet Erica anyway?”

“Through a friend of a friend.”