Hard & Deep: A Football Romance

Two days later...

It was early in the morning. Elsie had hardly left her hotel room since the run in with Oliver in the hallway. She practically locked herself in there and only opened the door to allow room service in. It wasn't because she was suddenly afraid of the outside world, it was just that she didn't want to deal with it right then. She didn't want to have to fake a smile when ordering at a cafe, or really even talk to anyone.

Most of her time had been spent in bed, eating junk food and crying. She had tried watching an old movie, but it only depressed her. Everything seemed to remind her of Ollie. It didn't help that he had continually tried to call her and had left a bunch of messages, all of which she had ignored.

Why is this eating me up so bad? It's not like I've known Oliver for that long. She thought, as she packed the rest of her belongings into her suitcase. But this hurts. This hurts a lot.

There was only about ten minutes before she needed to leave for her flight. It was time. It was time to move on and forget about everything to do with Oliver Lance. Elsie got out her cell phone and ordered up a ride from Uber. Then she gathered her bags, threw her purse over her shoulder and stepped out of her room. She went straight down to the lobby and then outside to wait for her ride.

The sun was shining and the birds were chirping, but she didn't feel like she could relate to their excitement. All that sounded good was curling up into a ball on the floor of her apartment and sleeping for a full day. She figured that would be all she'd need, or at least all that she'd allow herself to have in order to get over this.

I can't let this take any more time away from

my life than it already has, she thought.

As the minutes ticked by, Elsie noticed many people walking in and out of the hotel. Most of them were wearing Bandit's jerseys and hats, or at the very least they were sporting the team colors. It was the beginning of football season. Oliver would be playing his first game today.

Dammit, Elsie, she told herself. Don't even think about him.

Within a few minutes, her ride pulled up in a large black SUV. She got into the back seat with her luggage and was greeted by a young man with dark hair and a wide smile.

“Good morning!” he said, sounding way too cheery for how early it was. “Looks like you're headed to the airport. Elizabeth? Is that right?”

“Yes, please,” she replied, looking out the window.

“You got it,” the driver said, pulling away from the curb.

Elsie watched as the hotel panned out of view. A single tear fell down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away. She'd had break ups before and she knew it would hurt for a while, but eventually it would be okay. It would only be a matter of time before the pain that was currently in her heart would be nothing more than a memory. She just needed to get through the worst of it.

“Do you mind if I turn on the radio?” The man behind the steering wheel looked up into the rear view mirror as he spoke.

“No, of course not,” Elsie said. “Go for it.”

Talk radio filled the interior of the car and it only took a second for Elsie to realize they were talking about sports. And of course, since it was the first day of the season, the announcers were talking about football. She tried not to listen, but it was impossible not to.

My only concern this year, John, is about the Bandit's new receiver, Demitri Jameson. The kid is fast, there's no doubt. But does he have the ability to break tackles and simply run the football? We saw him make some major mistakes in pre-season and that concerns me.

Don't let it concern you, Peter. Oliver Lance can put the football into any player's hands. I don't care if it's Jameson or Frosty the Snowman. Lance has an arm unlike any player in the league. I say don't worry about the rookie receiver. He'll be fine. The Bandit's still have what it takes to make it to the play offs.

John, I understand that you think Oliver Lance is like Superman. But we both know that he's been dealing with some things off of the field. From what I've heard, he's recently fired his sponsorship manager, Nikki Roberts. I guess this was the same girl he was dating? I don't know. Sounds like a lot of drama to me.

Well, Peter, let's just hope that the drama doesn't effect his ability to play the game.

Elsie's eyes widened and she scooted forward on her seat.

“Hey, did they just say that Oliver Lance fired his sponsorship manager?” Elsie asked the driver.

He nodded. “Yeah, apparently. It's weird. Two days ago they were dating and now he's fired her. Sometimes I wonder why this sort of thing makes headlines. I think the media should just leave people alone.”

She sat back in her seat and pulled out her phone. Within seconds, she was online and trying to confirm what the sports announcers had just said. Sure enough, according to every major site that she landed on, Oliver Lance had fired Nikki. Apparently, they had had a personal disagreement that had conflicted with business.

The announcers on the radio continued to speak and Elsie's ears perked as they began to interview a player of the team.

We're here with Bandits running back, Logan Whitman. Logan, how do you feel about the upcoming season and today's game?

Hey Peter. Hey John. Glad to be here. You know, I feel really good about today's game. We've been training hard and we're going to play the best we can out there. We'll give it a hundred and ten percent. Same as last season.

Do you worry about Lance's injury at the end of last season? We know he had a couple of bumps and bruises. Do you think he's ready?