Derek was sitting in the locker room when Frank came in shouting his name, �Derek.�
He was sitting around having lunch with Gary, Tino, Jorge and Alex. The five of them had quickly become a little club within the club.
�Yeah? What's up pappy?� That was Derek�s nickname for him since Frank�s son had been born during the off-season.
�How was Christini�s last night?�
He frowned and groaned. Frank was from the Media Relations department which meant that little nugget of information had become gossip for the media. If they knew he was at Christini�s then they knew he was not alone.
�What does it say?� He sighed.
Frank smiled, �I�ll let you read it. The office faxed down a copy of the piece that ran on Page Six. He handed a piece of paper to Derek before walking back out of the locker room.
Fucking wonderful, he thought. Page Six. He was sure the only reason that newspaper got the number of sales it did was because of the gossip columns.
He read the piece and rolled his eyes, �Asses.� Why did they have to make it sound like that? They made it sound like it was some romantic dinner. He and Maleeyah were just having dinner. It wasn�t as if they were holding hands across the table, feeding each other or making out in a booth.
Tino snatched the paper out of his hand and smiled, �Who is this?� He asked as he passed the paper on to Jorge after reading.
�Jack�s brother�s friend. She goes to school with him.�
Alex nodded, �And what's that got to do with you?�
�What are you talking about?�
Gary handed the paper back to Derek, �He means, she�s someone else�s friend so what is she eating dinner with you for?�
�Well, she�s my friend too. She was at the game yesterday and afterwards we grabbed something to eat.�
They all looked at him, �What? She drove from Orlando to watch the game and afterwards I was just supposed to send her on her way and not even hang out with her?�
Gary shook his head, �Absolutely not.�
�So why are y�all looking at me like that?�
Alex shook his head, �And how many women are you currently friends with that you haven�t messed around with?�
Derek stood up, �Shut up, all of you.�
Their laughter followed him as he walked out of the room. He flipped open his phone dialed Maleeyah�s number as he walked until he found a little private spot.
�Hello?�
�Hey, you busy?�
He leaned against the wall and slid down, stretching out his legs when he took a seat.
�I�m on my way to work now. What's up?�
�It won�t take long. I just wanted you to know that our dinner last night made the gossip pages.�
�They have gossip pages in Tampa?�
�No, New York.�
�New York? How did they find out in New York?�
She had no idea the powers of the New York gossip pages. �They send people down here during spring training. Besides, their sports columnists aren�t much better than gossip columnists themselves. They�re probably the ones who fed the story to the gossip folks.�
�What did it say?�
�I think they like you.�
�What makes you think that?�
�They actually gave you a name?�
�I've always had a name.�
He smiled, �In the article you�re not the unidentified brunette or unidentified beauty or whatever else they like to call the girls.�
�I guess I should be honored.�
�Yeah, you�re romantically linked to me. How much more honored can you be?�
�I bet you�re serious.�
�I�m just kidding. So, let me read it to you. Ready?�
�I�m ready.�
He held the paper in front of him and read it to her, �Spotted after a spring training game in Tampa last night was Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter and a Nubian beauty. The couple was dining on pasta and red wine at Christini�s where they didn�t order dessert. We�re thinking the playboy shortstop had his chocolate souffl� at home.�
He couldn�t help but laugh, he had to give it to whoever wrote these things. If nothing else, they were creative.
�Get the hell out. Is there a picture?�
�No, no picture. But now that they�ve seen me with a woman other than my mother the cameras will be out.�
�Damn, I�m at work. I�ll call you later ok. Chocolate souffl� at home huh?� She said indignantly. �You wish you had some chocolate souffl�.�
He smiled, �I don�t eat chocolate souffl�.�
She laughed at his challenge, �Oh, you�d eat this chocolate souffl�. Trust me.�
Before he could say anything she had hung out. He rolled his eyes at smiled; the girl was crazy.
**
He came back from practice exhausted. The first thing he did was check his messages. Of course there were two from Vanessa. Neither of the mentioned the gossip article but he knew that�s why she had called. She wouldn�t bring it up but if she did, she would do so in a joking manner hoping that would cause him to tell her what she wanted to know. There was nothing to tell, he�d call her later that night.
�Hey man, you ready?�
He nodded at Alex. �Yep.�
He hadn�t seen Natasha in a while. It had been a couple of months and the way babies seemed to change everyday he knew he wouldn�t even recognize her.
�Cynthia has a framed picture for you of Natasha. She�s wearing the little Yankees onesie you bought her.� Alex smiled at him, �You know, the one that says I love Jeter.�
Derek laughed, �All girls do.�
Alex shook his head, �Well, you know you really are number two in my baby�s eyes.�
He slapped Alex on the back, �Just the way it should be dad. Just the way it should be. Hey did Cynthia cook?�
Alex rolled his eyes, �You need a wife.�
044 | No Ordinary Girl