He came back in a black Prada suit with an impeccable white shirt, looking very stylish, and she was wearing a short black cocktail dress and towering high heels. They made a handsome couple, he noticed in a mirror they passed as they left her suite.
“We look pretty good together,” he commented.
“You’d look good with anyone, Jack,” she said, smiling at him, and he leaned down to kiss her cheek.
“So would you, pretty lady. I’m just happy that it’s me.”
“You don’t miss the miniskirts and rhinestone bras?” she said, and he laughed.
“Not likely. And that dress looks pretty short to me,” he said, referring to what she was wearing. It was short, but fashionably so, and showed off her legs, as did the heels.
They both drifted into the crowd and lost each other at the cocktail party, and were photographed, although separately, and an hour later they were whisked away to another dinner event at The Forge, attended by many of the major players, their wives, the owners of the teams, and just about anyone important who was in town. It was quite a scene. There was dancing afterward, but all the players left immediately after dinner. It was nearly one in the morning by the time Jack and Valerie could slip away and go back to the hotel. Jack looked drained.
“Are you okay?” she asked, looking worried about him. “How’s the leg?”
“It’s okay.” He hadn’t danced, though. He wasn’t up to that yet. “I’m just tired. It’s tough being on all night like that. You look as fresh as when we left the hotel. I don’t know how you do it,” he said admiringly.
“I’m not working as hard as you are,” she pointed out, “I’m just a tourist here.” And she hadn’t been shot a month before.
“Thanks for being here,” he said, as the limo pulled up to their hotel.
“I’m having fun,” she said, and meant it. “This is totally new to me. And you’re right about opening new doors. This is really cool,” she added enthusiastically, as he laughed and they both got out.
He left her at the door to her suite and kissed her chastely on the forehead. He would have liked to come in and chat with her, but he was just too tired. Getting back to work with a bang like this was wearing him out. Being shot had definitely taken a toll, more than he wanted to admit. He slept like a log that night, and was up at the crack of dawn and went to the gym to work out. He was still cautious about it, but he had exercises he had to do. And he knocked on Valerie’s door on the way back to his room. She was wearing her nightgown and a robe, and said she had slept well too.
The first thing on their agenda was a brunch at eleven, hosted by the network, followed by a luncheon afterward. Then he had interviews to tape with important players. He interviewed Valerie briefly first, and she admitted that she was a neophyte and knew little about football but was having a ball being there. After that, he did longer interviews of the major players, coaches, and team owners, and Valerie went to the pool. Jack worked till dinnertime, and there was another huge party that night, hosted by one of the major sponsors of the game. She wore a short gold dress and looked spectacular, and Jack introduced her to several legendary players, including Joe Namath, who had come for the weekend too. It was one of those unforgettable weekends, when everybody came. Jack was constantly talking to someone, being photographed, or introducing Valerie, signing autographs for fans, talking to players he knew, or posing for photographs with her or other Hall of Fame players. He never stopped. She watched him in awe as he worked the room. He was great at what he did, personable with everyone, and adored by all. The network knew what they were doing when they hired him, she realized. Before she knew him, she had just assumed he was some ex — football player. Jack was an icon in the football world. There was no question in her mind now as to who was more important or more famous. She finally understood that Jack Adams was a football legend whom generations would talk about and remember. No one was going to remember her weddings or her books in fifty years, but they would surely still be talking about him. She hadn’t fully realized that until today.
They went to three different parties that night, all around Miami, and wound up at a nightclub where some major movie stars and rappers were hanging out. It seemed like every famous person on the planet was in Miami for the game. They got back to the hotel at three A.M. The players didn’t stay out that night, they had to go to bed early before the game the next day. The game was starting at six, and Jack had to be there at noon, to do background newscasts, and interviews all day. This time, he followed her into her suite before he went back to his own. Although it was later, he looked less exhausted than he had the night before. He felt like his old self and was on a roll.
“What an evening!” she said, as they sat down in her room. “It was awesome! I am having an absolutely fantastic time!” She beamed at him. And she had had a ball at all the parties they went to that night. “I think I’m going to tell people to forget Super Bowl parties from now on, just come down for the weekend and the game.” He laughed as he looked at her. He was happy she was enjoying it so much. And she was much more fun for him than the girls he usually brought. She was beautiful, elegant, intelligent, fun to be with, she had a great sense of humor and talked to everyone, and she wasn’t drunk off her ass, flirting with some linebacker while his wife threatened to kill her. It was a lot easier bringing Valerie than the girls who’d come with him before. “It really has been a fabulous weekend.” She smiled at him. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“I’m glad I did. It’s been fun for me too.” He knew she had a VIP seat in a box the next day, and he wouldn’t see her until after the game. “Let’s have breakfast in your suite tomorrow before I leave. I’ll be gone most of the day.” She was planning to relax and hang out at the pool before the game. And then he reminisced for a minute about how exciting it used to be for him before a Super Bowl game. She had learned since they’d been there that he had been Super Bowl MVP of his team twice. And she had seen his four Super Bowl rings among his trophies in his den in New York. It all had more meaning to her now since she’d actually seen what a big deal it was. Being in the thick of it with him in Miami had already taught her a lot.
“It must have been hard for you to give all this up and retire,” she said sympathetically.
“I didn’t have a choice,” he said sadly for a minute, remembering. “My knees were shot. I was thirty-eight years old, and if I pushed it, I could have hung in for two more years, max, and maybe wound up in a wheelchair. It wasn’t worth it. I had seventeen great years in the NFL. That’s a lot. And they were seventeen very, very sweet years. It doesn’t get better than this, if this is what you love. It’s a lot of work, but I never regretted it for a minute.”
“That’s a nice way to feel about what you do.”
She loved her work, but she realized now that this was different. This kind of stardom was very different from hers. And there was a glory and magic that went with it, which was almost unique, except in sports. Major rock stars got this kind of adulation and acclaim, but athletes and their adoring fans were a very special world.
She was glad she had come here and seen it. It had helped her to understand Jack better, and the life he had lived. Given the huge star he had been, it was amazing to her that he wasn’t intolerably conceited. Instead, he was proud of what he’d done, but reasonable about it. He had achieved great things in his field that few men ever did, but he was a remarkably normal, real person, and she loved him for it. Coming to the Super Bowl had given her a whole new perspective on him, and how serious he was about his work. She truly liked him as a person. He’d been nothing but respectful of her. He seemed to appreciate everything she said and did, and they had a genuinely great time together. He was a pleasure for any woman to be with.
“I’ve honestly had a fantastic time here,” she said, looking happy. This door had been worth opening, to a whole other world she would otherwise never have seen. “Did you see Greg today, by the way?” She knew his son had arrived in Miami for the game, but she hadn’t seen him, and she wondered if Jack had.
“Just for a few minutes. He’s going to come sit in the broadcasters’ box with me for a while, before the game. There are a couple of players he wants to meet. I was hoping we could have dinner with him tomorrow night, but he’s got to leave right after the game, and everything will still be nuts for me then. I probably won’t get to see you till way after the game. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not. This is what you do. I understand.” Their plane was scheduled to take off at midnight, and she suspected he might be taping interviews till then. “Now I can’t wait to see the game.” Everything that had led up to it so far had been terrific. She had enjoyed all the parties and people, the outfits and the sights. It was an extraordinary combination of people involved in football, and the fans that followed everything they did, just as they had once followed him.
“I hate to go back to my room,” he said finally as he got up. It was three-thirty in the morning and he had to get up early. All his pregame interviews were done, but he had to be at the stadium to organize everything. This was the high point of his year. “See you in the morning, Valerie,” he said with a yawn, and as she walked him to the door of her suite, he smiled down at her, and then kissed her on the mouth, ever so gently. But it was almost a real kiss this time. Not quite. But it wasn’t the same kind of friendly peck she’d had from him before. “We have to talk