“Tell me about this list. Am I one of hundreds?” she asked.
“Believe it or not, I only have three names on my list.”
“Don’t keep me in suspense. Who’s my competition?” Rita asked.
“You, Adrienne, and Hannah Minacci.”
“Wow. Now I understand why you wanted to get Hannah here for the movie. You want to know a secret?” she asked.
“You’ll consider doing a foursome with them?” I asked, hopefully.
“No. Very soon you’ll be on every girl’s list, including mine.”
“Halle says I’m only handsome in a certain light,” I pouted.
“My daughter is just teasing you.”
We caught up to Flo, who gave us an amused look. We chose to ignore her. As far as she knew, we’d just had a nap. I was glad Flo was there because she knew how to keep things to herself. I was also pleased that for once, no one seemed to be paying us much attention. Anyone giving us more than a second’s glance would have known Rita had just gotten her ashes hauled.
On the helicopter ride back, Rita dropped off right away, her head on my shoulder. The helicopter’s route took us parallel to the island for a few brief minutes. I looked over at Catalina as it slowly passed out of view behind us. When my parents came for Devin and Cora’s wedding, I would have to take them here. It was a great place to get away from LA for a day.
◊◊◊ Monday December 14
When I arrived on the set, there was a new trailer on the lot. That could only mean one thing: Hannah Minacci was either here or about to arrive! Fritz looked at me as though I’d lost my mind when I began to dance in the parking lot.
“Hannah Minacci,” I said, pointing at the trailer.
Of course, I ran straight there and knocked. How could they have a trailer for her if she wasn’t even here yet? That didn’t curb my enthusiasm, though. I was a bundle of happy energy all morning. Jessup sent me to makeup, but quick blowjob from the makeup girl didn’t settle me down either. Not that I didn’t appreciate her effort, but some things just put an indelible smile on my face. I was then told to go to baseball practice and that I couldn’t come back until I was back to normal.
◊◊◊
Coach Revilla met me at Dodger Stadium for our practice session. Coach Boyd had called in some of his major-league pitchers to check up on their winter progress. There were also many of the Dodgers in for physicals, and several Triple-A prospects had been invited as well. It wasn’t anything officially sanctioned.
Coach Revilla had two Cubs hitters join us. I watched him work with Tony, who I’d met at my first practice. He was a big man at six-three and 240 pounds. The other player was Kris; he was six-five and weighed 230 pounds. They were both more muscular than I was. Tony was nine years older than me, while Kris was seven years older. Both were penciled in as outfielders with the Cubs.
Coach Revilla had me watch how Tony took batting practice. He stood beside me and pointed out everything Tony did well and anything that was wrong. I was somewhat happy to see that the Dodgers pitchers could confound Tony as they did me.
When it was my turn, Coach Boyd called out what pitch was coming. They started me out on a steady diet of fastballs. In high school, it was rare to see anyone throw over 90 mph, but the man I was facing was consistently in the mid-90s. It took me a dozen pitches to start to tag him. Coach Revilla calmly reminded me to trust the system. When I finally launched one out of the park, I began to get curveballs.
I got lucky and launched the first one. That was when they stopped telling me what pitch was coming. I embarrassed myself several times as I hacked away at some mistaken predictions. I guess I might not be ready for the major leagues. Coach Revilla wasn’t discouraged, so I felt better about myself.
“David, grab a glove and shag a few fly balls,” Coach Boyd suggested.
They sent me to center field, and I began to run down fly balls or back up grounders. On Kris’ last at-bat, he hit one through the gap between center and right fields that then rolled to the wall. I’d been tossing the balls back in, but Kris took off around the bases. When I got to the ball, he was rounding second. I didn’t even think; I just threw a rocket to third base. Kris didn’t even bother to slide when he heard the pop of the glove as the guy playing third caught it.
Coach Revilla called me in, and I was done for the day.
◊◊◊
At lunch, she arrived. Halle grabbed my arm to keep me from running over to greet her. I was like Duke when you put a treat on his nose and made him wait to eat it. I think I was actually shaking. But knew I needed to play it cool if I were ever to have a chance with her. I snapped her picture and sent a text to my brother; I was sure he would be happy for me.
Everyone on the set knew of my infatuation. It might have been me continually telling everyone about the future Mrs. Dawson. A boy has to dream. That would explain why everyone seemed to find his or her way over to watch. Hannah was talking to Jessup and Rita. I looked around and didn’t see her baseball boyfriend. That was a good sign.
I saw her notice me and took a deep breath to calm down. I looked down at my phone, and Greg had replied with a rude remark. Too bad he was a hater. Hannah was suddenly there in front of me.
“Sup,” I said.
Hannah struck a gangsta pose, or as close to one as a supermodel can pull off.
“Sup.”
“You want to go chill in my crib?” I asked.
Hannah laughed at me.
“No, I don’t think that would be a good idea. Adrienne will be here in a little while to protect me.”
I know it’s wrong to lust after one woman when you’re in the presence of another. Especially if the other is the Hannah Minacci. But the thought of the two of them together drained all the blood from the big brain. I knew a threesome would work because Adrienne liked girls, and I would imagine she liked Hannah. This could be a win-win.
I honestly don’t know how Hannah read my mind. What is it with girls and that ability? I knew Tami and my mom could both do it.
“No, I’m not doing a threesome with you and Adrienne.”
I think poor Zak might’ve had a stroke. Not me; I just smiled.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go horseback riding with me after we’re done,” I said.
Of course, I had Googled Hannah and found out that she’d won the American Paint Horse Association World Championships before she turned seventeen. There was also a story about how at the age of fifteen, she developed and shot up to five-ten. Her boobs were reported to be all natural. I bet there were several guys from her old high school who were kicking themselves for not locking her down before she developed.
Hannah wasn’t the typical model; she was much curvier than most. While not fat, she was solid.
“I would like that,” she said.
“We could then have you and Adrienne over to Rita’s for dinner. Her cook Rosy is unreal.”
“Sounds like a date.”
Hannah had said the magic words. Before I spontaneously combusted, I wished her luck and returned to the set to begin my scene. This was more than I could’ve hoped for, and to continue to talk to her would only increase the chance that I might drool or do something else inappropriate.
Zak found me in makeup.
“Do you really know Hannah?” he asked.
“Yeah. Unfortunately, she has a boyfriend who’s a professional baseball player. I keep waiting for them to break up, but it never seems to happen.”
That seemed to ruin Zak’s day. I would have to keep an eye on him around her. Somehow, I had a feeling he didn’t have the same compulsion to not date women attached to another man.
◊◊◊
After my last scene of the day, I sauntered to my trailer and found Caryn talking to Adrienne.
“There he is. I hear you kept the sexual harassment to a minimum,” Adrienne teased me.