Touchdown Hero Read online

  The dental office was located in a shopping center, and she had parked several suites down, right in front of a Starbucks. She walked slowly, taking her time since she decided to skip practice. She stopped in front of a Shoe Carnival to window shop. Charlie looked at some high heel pumps, and then admired the winter boots before walking in front of the Starbucks to where her car was parked. Just as she stepped in front of the Starbucks and contemplated going in for a caramel frappuccino, Holly walked out.

  “Hey there,” blurted Holly with a big grin. She was holding a clear Starbucks cup with a green straw and was slurping on an iced beverage.

  “Hi. I didn't expect to see you.” Charlie had been hoping to run into Holly in the lobby of the dentist office or in the parking lot, but when she walked out and didn't see her, she knew she was probably asking too much of fate. But now here she was. Fate in all her glory had brought Holly and set her practically right in front of her.

  “I didn't expect to see you either. You coming in?” asked Holly as she held the door open for her.

  “Yeah. I think so. I hear a caramel frappuccino calling my name.”

  “That's what I'm having,” answered Holly, taking another sip. “Would you like some company?”

  “Yes, I think I'd like that,” remarked Charlie as she walked in the open door. Holly smiled and followed her inside. Charlie placed her order, then sat down at a small table near the window. She looked out at her car and frowned. “My car really could use a washing. I just haven't had the time.”

  “I always do the drive-thru car wash.”

  Charlie took a sip of her frappe. “I never use those things. I'm always worried that my car will get scratched.”

  “Do the laser wash. It's touch-free. That's the one I use. Look, there's one over there across the street,” offered Holly as she simultaneously took a sip of her iced coffee and pointed with the pinky finger of the same hand.

  “How about you take me there and show me how it's done?” asked Charlie grinning.

  “One date and you're already asking me to wash your car, huh?” chuckled Holly.

  “Oh, this is a date? If I had known that, I would have made you pay for my coffee, too,” giggled Charlie. She was surprised at how easily she could speak to her despite her awkward nervousness.

  “I really think that I should have made you pay for my coffee considering that I saved you back there from the flower lady in the dentist office,” laughed Holly.

  Charlie looked around cautiously. “Hush up. Don't speak of her or she might show up from somewhere and offer to wash my car.”

  “Well, if she did that, then I wouldn't have to,” said Holly grinning.

  Charlie laughed at her comment, then changed the subject. “So do you sing karaoke pretty often?” asked Charlie, still sipping on her coffee.

  “Not as often as I'd like to, I guess. It's something that I find fun and relaxing at the same time. How about you? Why haven't you ever been?”

  Charlie shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. I guess I'm not much of a singer.”

  “Aw, come on. Everyone sings. Do you sing in the shower at least?” pressed Holly.

  “One date and you're already asking me personal questions about my showers? I don't think I'm going to answer that,” laughed Charlie playfully.

  “You blush when you flirt,” commented Holly with a smirk, her cheeks blushed a rosy pink.

  “You're blushing, too,” said Charlie smiling.

  “No. I don't blush. I don't know how,” teased Holly. She tried to say it with a serious tone.

  “What do you mean, you don't know how? It's involuntary. Everyone blushes.”

  Holly giggled. “I know. I was just being silly.”

  Charlie sipped on the last of her coffee while she watched Holly open her cup and start chewing on the ice cubes. “Should I wait for you to eat the cup and straw, too?” jested Charlie. She laughed at her own joke, and Holly raised one eyebrow and grinned. She promptly stood up and pushed in her chair.

  “No. I'm done. I was just waiting for you.”

  Both young women walked towards the exit and tossed their cups in the trash bin as they left. “My car's right here. You really going to go with me to the car wash?”

  “Sure. I can. But consider this your second rescue.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Charlie with a questioning expression.

  “I rescue damsels in distress and this will be your second rescue.”

  Charlie laughed. “Now you have me worried. Is the car wash going to come after me now and ask me nosy questions about women's health?”

  Holly laughed. “You never know. But don't worry, if anyone hops out and starts talking about flowers and vajayjays, I've got you covered.”

  “Vajayjay's?” laughed Charlie. “You're so funny!”

  Holly grinned. “I know. And cute, too. Don't forget that.”

  “Oh, and modest! I can tell you're so humble and modest!”

  Both Charlie and Holly laughed as Charlie unlocked the car doors on her Chevrolet Malibu and they headed for the car wash.

  As Charlie pulled up to the machine to make her selection, Holly looked over from the passenger side of the car.

  “Okay, all you're going to do is select the type of wash you want. See, there's a basic wash and then there is one that has the wax and extra rinse. It has a listing of what is offered. You make your selection, enter your money or swipe your credit card, and then follow the instructions.”

  Charlie looked over at Holly nervously. “Okay. I selected basic wash, rinse, and dry. Now what?”

  Holly pointed to the lighted sign. “The light comes on over to the side. See, the green light. It says 'drive up slowly.'”

  Charlie inched forward at a snail's pace. “Where do I stop?”

  “It will tell you. Watch.” The words on the sign turned red as it changed to the word 'Stop.'

  “I think I like this,” remarked Charlie smiling. The water sprayed loudly and splashed on the windows and windshield, and the pink, blue, and green soap sprayed on the vehicle shortly after. Holly couldn't help but smile at Charlie's child-like excitement. “Does this count as our second date?” asked Charlie suddenly as the car was being rinsed.

  Holly giggled. “I guess it could be. Why do you ask?”

  “Because the coffee date was nice, but this is fun. I like doing new things when I'm getting to know someone. It makes it memorable.”

  “Yeah? I'm not memorable enough?” joked Holly.

  Charlie grinned. “You know what I mean.” The car wash dryer turned on and the car shook slightly as the air dried the exterior.

  “How about our second date be dinner? Tonight. My place. I'm starving.”

  “I thought our next date was karaoke?”

  “It is. After dinner at my place,” said Holly matter-of-factly. She shot Charlie a beaming smile.

  “What are you making?”

  “I don't know yet. But I can whip up something. What do you like?” The light on the sign turned to green again and the sign read 'Exit slowly.'

  “Pizza.”

  “I can make pizza. No problem. It's my specialty,” offered Holly with pride. “Okay, now that your car has been washed, rinsed, and dried, you can exit the car wash.”

  “I see that,” said Charlie. “Slowly.” She giggled.

  “Yes, slowly.”

  “Where do I go now? Do you want me to take you back to your car?”

  “No, let's go to my place. We can come back later to pick up my car.”

  Chapter Two

  “Come on in. Make yourself at home. Kick your shoes off and whatnot,” suggested Holly as she unlocked her apartment door and walked through her living room to her small kitchen. “Please excuse the mess. I'm moving out soon so that's why most of my stuff is boxed up.”

  “Yeah? Where you moving?” asked Charlie as she walked past several large cardboard boxes and followed Holly into her kitchen.

  “I bought a house. I'll be a lot
closer to my parents.”

  “Don't most people want to be far away from their parents?” joked Charlie.

  Holly opened her pantry door and pulled out flour and yeast, then pulled out some pasta sauce, pepperoni, and shredded mozzarella cheese from the refrigerator. “Yeah, true, but my folks had me late in life and I'm an only child, so I want to make sure to spend lots of time with them and be close to them if they should need me.”

  “That's sweet of you. Oh my gosh, look at you. You just so happened to have all the pizza ingredients right in your fridge?” inquired Charlie as she pulled up a kitchen stool and sat at the counter watching Holly work.

  Holly began preparing the dough for the pizza crust. “I make pizza once a week or once every other week. I would rather make it myself than order delivery.”

  Charlie shrugged her shoulders. “Pizza's pizza to me. All the same.”

  “That's because you haven't had my pizza yet,” remarked Holly with a grin. “Just wait. You'll be begging me to make this for you every week.”

  “Every week? So you're saying we're going to be seeing more of each other then?” asked Charlie. She placed her elbow on the counter and her hand on her cheek as she leaned into her hand, resting her chin in her palm.

  Holly paused for a moment making sure to look Charlie in the eyes. She still had both hands in the pizza dough. “I'd like that.”

  Charlie smiled. “Me, too.” She couldn't believe that she had met someone. A few hours ago she had been telling Kathy that she wasn't going out on a date, yet here she was getting ready to have a dinner date with a sporty looking blonde with a killer smile. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Holly generously spread the tomato sauce and sprinkled on the cheese, then spread out the pepperoni slices evenly. “Nope, I think we're all set. Do you like pineapples? I can add some pineapple chunks and ham.”

  “Pepperoni's fine. It looks great.”

  “Thanks. I truly make the best dough. I'd like to think that I'm a master with my hands,” said Holly as she held up her hands and wiggled her flour and dough covered fingers.

  Charlie contemplated making a sexual comment in reference to Holly's 'master with my hands' remark, but she didn't want to come off as being a pervert like the woman from the dentist office. She smiled, then cleared her throat. “Will you be moving before Thanksgiving?” asked Charlie curiously.

  “I think so. The family that is living there was supposed to move out by the early part of the month, but their new house wasn't finished yet. What was I going to do? I couldn't very well throw them out in the street. I just paid another month on this place, so I'm paid up until the end of the month. I should be out of here for sure no later than the first of December.” Holly walked towards the living room sofa and motioned with her hand for Charlie to follow.

  “If they move out by December that would be great. You won't have to pay another month of rent here,” said Charlie. She watched Holly sit down on the sofa and followed her lead, sitting down beside her.

  “What's a matter? You don't like my humble abode?” joked Holly. She picked up the remote control and turned on the television set. “It might be little, but it's livable and it's a place I've called my own for some time now.” She started to flip through the channels and left it on a football game. “Do you like football?”

  Charlie wanted to respond, I love football! But she was afraid to get into too much conversation about it. When the time finally came for Charlie to tell someone she was dating that she played football, she feared a backlash of the woman asking, “Why didn't you tell me you played? You had plenty of chances to tell me.” Either that, or she would get the type of reaction where the other woman would assume she was trying to be masculine or butch. She had a love of the sport. It didn't mean in any way that she wanted at all to be a man. It was hard for some women to understand, and thus, was the reason she was always so hesitant to talk about being a part of an all women's football team. All she could bring herself to say was, “It's okay. You can leave it on there if you want.”

  Charlie watched Holly carefully from where she sat. She absolutely loved the way Holly watched the game. She appeared so serious, so focused. Every now and again she would try to explain something about what was going on. “He just scored a touchdown and now they are going to try to kick the ball to score an extra point.” Charlie couldn't help but smile shyly. She wanted to tell her that she played on a team, but thought it better to keep it to herself for at least a few more weeks. Maybe just until they got to know one another better. “Oh my God! The other team fumbled and Dallas has the ball! Touchdown!” shouted Holly who was still immersed in the game. Her outburst broke into Charlie's thoughts as she was both contemplating telling Holly that she played football and thinking that she was just so adorable in the way she watched the game. In her experience dating, it was hard to find another woman that was compatible and liked sports as well.

  When the timer went off on the oven, Holly jumped from the sofa to take her pizza out. The aroma of mozzarella cheese and pepperoni wafted through the apartment.

  “It smells so good. I think it woke my stomach because it started to grumble just as I got a whiff,” remarked Charlie.

  “Do you want hot sauce?” asked Holly. Her voice carried over into the living room from the kitchen.

  “No, thank you. Maybe some Ranch dressing if you have some though.”

  “I might have some. Let me check,” offered Holly. She began to shuffle some bottles and foods around as she searched. “Yup, I found some. Do you mind eating in front of the television?”

  Charlie smirked. If they had been in her apartment and a game was on, she, too, would have eaten in front of the television. She and Kathy had been roommates ever since they graduated from high school, and Charlie was glad that they shared the same interests and the same love of football. As a matter of fact, Kathy was probably sitting at home right now watching the same football game and eating a pepperoni pizza as well. She was probably also wondering where the hell Charlie was, and why she wasn't at practice.

  Charlie and Kathy had been friends since the sixth grade when they'd met in P.E and had been friends ever since, especially since they both wound up in the same sports: softball, track, basketball, soccer, swim team, and now as adults, football. It was a dream that Charlie had held since she was a child. She loved running outside and tossing the ball around. When they'd had open tryouts in her high school, it wasn't a surprise that only a few females went to tryouts, but Charlie and Kathy made the team and played for two years, Junior and Senior year. Kathy was a running back and Charlie, having a strong right arm, made an excellent quarterback. After high school, the young ladies decided to go to the same university and were thrilled to attend tryouts for a professional women's league together. It was a challenge to juggle studies with football, but nothing was more important to the two young women than to be able to play the sport they both loved.

  When Holly returned to the sofa, she was carrying two paper plates with slices of steaming hot pizza and some paper towels. She placed the plates on the coffee table, then ran back to the kitchen to get drinks. “I have bottled water and root beer.” Holly's voice again carrying over from the kitchen as she tried to speak loudly.

  “I'll have a root beer,” answered Charlie. She waited for Holly to sit down beside her before she started eating.

  “How do you like it?” asked Holly as she doused her pizza slices with hot sauce.

  “It's hot!” remarked Charlie as a string of steaming melted cheese stretched from the pizza to her mouth. She poured some Ranch dressing on her plate and dipped her pizza in it hoping it would cool off a bit, then she took a sip of root beer.

  “Did I miss anything exciting?” asked Holly.

  “No, it was half time. It's almost time for kick off,” responded Charlie.

  Holly smiled. “I thought you didn't like football.”

  Charlie took another bite of her pizza. “Oh, I never said that.
I used to watch it all the time with my Dad when I was a kid. It was my favorite thing to do on Thanksgiving. I'd wake up early and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade with Mom as our turkey roasted in the oven filling the entire house with the aroma of cornbread stuffing and buttered turkey goodness. Afterward, I always watched the game with Dad.”

  “Buttered turkey goodness?” Holly smiled at the comment.

  Charlie took a sip of root beer before speaking. “Sure. My mom butters up her turkey so that it browns evenly when it roasts. Doesn't yours?”

  The game had restarted and surprisingly enough, neither Charlie nor Holly was paying any attention to it. Holly found that she couldn't take her eyes off of Charlie and even though they hadn't lowered the volume on the TV set, it was as if they were speaking to one another in a bubble. It was as if they were the only two people in the world since they had each tuned out the sounds of everything else but each other.

  Holly took a last bite of her pizza, then wiped her hands on a paper towel as she spoke. “She may have in the past. I really don't know. For the past two years, I've been the one making the turkey and side dishes. I don't really like to use too much butter in anything. They sell some stuff called Kitchen Bouquet and it works pretty well to give the bird a nice roasted look.”

  “I've never heard of it. I'll have to look for some to try it out.”

  “Do you want any more pizza?” asked Holly.

  “No, two slices is more than enough for me. I should probably get going. I have one of those professors that always gives quizzes on Friday mornings and I need to look over my notes.”

  Holly smirked. “Oh, you can't leave just yet.”

  “Why's that?” asked Charlie quizzically.

  “You have to take me back to my car, remember?”

  “Oh, right. I forgot,” laughed Charlie.

  “I see how you are. You were ready to leave me and run away like Cinderella at the ball, huh?”