He looked at me and then smiled.
“So, I’m supposed to do everything she would have me doing anyways,” he stated.
“I think he can handle it,” Harper added.
“Good, because I didn’t want to tattle on him,” I said with a big sigh.
We had a great time together. Ray was going stir-crazy. He hadn’t been out of the house without his mom or dad since he got home. I sat back and let the two friends talk. It was nice to see them reconnecting. I did ask where Sarah was. She had gone to dinner with some of the models she’d worked with today.
Ray and Harper picked out a nice restaurant, the Indian House. I really liked it. They taught me how to eat my meal by tearing off a piece of flatbread called naan and use it like a fork. My favorite dish was Chicken Makhani. It was chicken roasted in a clay pot and then mixed with a tomato-cream sauce. I found I truly liked their vegetarian dishes. The only dish I didn’t like was dessert. It was way too sweet.
After dinner, I was tired, so we took Ray home. He made us promise we would take him out again the next evening. When we got back to Harper’s, we found her mom and dad waiting for us in the kitchen. Ray had a lot of people willing to help him get his life turned back around. I begged off the family conversation and went to bed.
Friday April 24
TODAY WAS MY LAST DAY at STIC. Both Connor and Donnie worked together to come up with workouts which would serve me well for both baseball and football. I was happy Bo suggested I come here. Their main focus was on professional athletes. I felt they were helping me lay the foundation for what I needed to do to make it to my ultimate goal.
Donnie wanted me to come back after baseball season to work on my pitching delivery. He felt I had the physical attributes and drive to make it as a high-level pitching prospect. For my fielding and batting, he wanted me to work on my reaction speed. Both he and Connor had several exercises for me to do to help in that regard. What separated the very best from the rest was tracking the ball off the bat.
They were both impressed when I realized the changes needed wouldn’t happen overnight. It would take hard work and dedication to reach the highest levels. I knew how to execute a plan. I had been working towards my life goals for a year now. I would need the same focus to get to my final destination: being a starting quarterback in the NFL, or playing Major League Baseball. I figured it never hurt to have a backup plan.
ADRIENNE AND KENDAL both went home. I was done modeling for the week. I finally had a free afternoon I could spend with Harper. I parked my Jeep and came into the kitchen to find Sarah and Ray waiting for me.
“We’re going to play tourist today. I want to take you on the L and go downtown to the Loop,” Harper said.
“I want to go to Berghoff for lunch,” Ray told us.
“What do they serve?” Sarah asked.
“It’s only the best German restaurant in the city. You can either go to the stand-up sandwich bar or sit in the dining room. If I’m in a rush, I do the stand-up, but I think you need to savor their fantastic food,” Ray explained.
We walked to the L, or elevated train, stop. I was pleased they planned to show me what the city had to offer. We were in high spirits when the train came. Since it was just after noon, the train was almost empty. It was noisy and you rocked as it made its way to the Loop. I loved it. We stopped at the Adams/Wabash station and only had a block and a half to walk to the Berghoff restaurant.
The Berghoff family started brewing beer in 1887. During prohibition, they switched to making near-beer and soda pop. Ray assured me they had the best root beer in the world. He insisted we all get a glass of it.
Ray was our culinary guide for lunch. He wanted us to try all his favorites. For appetizers, he ordered a Bavarian pretzel, which came with a beer-and-cheddar dip and a couple of different mustards. The huge pretzel came out on a hook and you tore off chunks and dipped it in the different sauces. He also ordered potato pierogis. They came with chive sour cream. As far as I was concerned, Ray was batting a thousand so far.
For lunch, he ordered sandwiches. We had the Reuben, hot corned beef, and bratwurst. Sarah was watching her weight, so she chose their goat cheese salad. I couldn’t pick a favorite—they were all good.
After lunch, we walked to Grant Park. We found a stand where they had double-decker bus tours. None of us had ever been on one before, so we decided to try it. Of course, we climbed to the top so we could get a good view of everything. It was a beautiful day and the four of us enjoyed the ride.
After we crossed the river and were headed to Water Tower Place, we decided to jump off when we smelled the caramel corn store. It was a little hole-in-the-wall storefront where they made fresh caramel popcorn. They were marketing geniuses because they had big blowers that push the smell out onto the street. Their ploy worked—it got me to get off the bus to track them down. It was even better than it smelled. Piping-hot caramel popcorn is a must if you ever go to Chicago.
I heard blues music coming out of a bar on a side street. We spent an hour snacking on fried mushrooms and listening to music. As we came out, a horse-drawn carriage was driving by. There was a cute girl driving and I flagged her down. She was a lot of fun as she gave us a tour of the Gold Coast neighborhood.
She let us off near Rush Street. This was where many of the young professionals who work in the Loop come for after-work fun. We were approached by a homeless lady, who had to be close to seventy, who offered to show us her tits for five dollars. I wasn’t missing this. She reminded me of the old lady in the Playboy cartoons. I think Ray was scarred for life.
We decided to go back to Harper’s and get ready for the evening. She had been in contact with her old friends and they were having a party tonight. I was a little sad our afternoon of exploring was over. I would rate this in the top five of all afternoons I’d ever experienced that didn’t include sex.
WHEN WE GOT BACK, EVERYONE went to the man cave in the basement. Ray had his tablet out, checking his emails. I don’t how we got on the topic, but Sarah blurted out, “Do guys masturbate a lot?”
I thought poor Ray was going to have a stroke.
“If you mean like ten times a day, probably not. How many times do you do it, Ray?” I asked.
“Screw you, David.”
“In your dreams, Brother,” I teased him.
Harper couldn’t stop giggling when she saw Ray go bright red.
“Come on, I’m curious,” Sarah pleaded.
“I probably do at least once a day, maybe twice,” I told her.
“Sounds about right,” Ray confessed.
“How do you do it?” Sarah asked.
“Are you looking for a demonstration?” I asked.
“NO! I mean, I ...” she started.
“I think she wants to know what you’re thinking about when you do it,” Harper helped.
Sarah nodded. I looked at Ray and it was clear from his expression that he wasn’t going to satisfy her curiosity.
“Uh, guys are visual, so I normally watch video,” I confessed.
Now Harper sat up. She smiled sweetly at Ray. I had seen this particular smile before, and knew Ray was a goner.
“Ray, do you mind if I borrow your tablet for a sec?” she asked innocently.
“Sure,” he said, handing it over.
The poor bastard. Harper brought up his browser history and giggled. She motioned Sarah over and suddenly the room was filled with moans. I think Ray was brain-damaged because it took him a full two minutes to figure out that they were watching gay porn. I thought he might have actually busted his tablet when he smacked it out of Harper’s hand and it crashed on the floor.