And, of course, it didn’t hurt that the speaking engagement would be at the school I had attended mere miles away, had a great relationship with, and would allow me to speak about whatever I wanted. I wouldn’t have to answer a host’s questions; I wouldn’t get grilled by a reporter—for once, I’d actually get to say whatever I wanted and not have to do it on someone else’s terms.
I had never said yes so fast in my life. In fact, I actually pulled off the highway so I could safely reply. I knew full well that using Izzy as a reason to say yes was dumb. The real value in this was giving back to Fresno State, not in the chance to meet a woman. Someone with my name didn’t need to use backhanded means of winning over someone.
But I had to say, I didn’t think I’d seen someone like that since I’d become a prominent public figure.
Chapter 2: Izzy
As soon as I hit “Send” to Nick Ferrari’s personal email address, I got up from my chair, left my marketing office, and checked my phone. Please, nothing today. Nothing today. Nothing…
I had three new texts.
One was from my mother, asking if Ryan had begun sleeping a little bit better at the house. Two were from a friend in town, Rebecca, asking me if I’d like a break from parenting by having a round of drinks with her.
None were from any kind of official or law enforcement.
I felt my shoulders relax and my lips go from rigidly sharp to a gentle smile. In fact, it soon turned to soft laughter as I thought about what “a round of drinks” with Rebecca would look like. Let’s just say it would not start and end at one drink—she would find a way to turn that phrase into a literal circle of a dozen drinks that we’d have to finish through the duration of the night.
Well, if he shows back up in your life in any fashion, you’re probably going to need multiple nights like that.
That dark thought was always in the back of my mind—and probably always would be—but at least it came around frequently enough that I knew how to handle it and wouldn’t break down at its presence.
I took the peaceful moment to just sit on the park bench right outside our office, basking under the warm California sun. Such moments in my life were rare these days, and I didn’t pass up the chance to get them when I could. Someday, I’m going to have to let the office run a “bring your kid to work” day.
I walked back inside a few moments later and nodded to some of my coworkers. I made myself a pot of coffee, my second of the day, and said a few words to my boss, Jordan. I headed back to my desk, expecting to hit the list of more people to invite to Fresno State’s job fair kickoff.
I did not expect to see that the first person I had emailed had not only already responded, but they had responded in the affirmative.
“Dear Izzy…”
Well, that’s a first.
“I would be honored to speak at my alma mater—can never pass up the chance to help guide current Bulldogs. Please let me know how I can meet you to get everything running.”
Meet me? That’s another first.
Nick very much had the wrong idea about who I was. While I had a bit of a big role at this firm, I wasn’t the one who would be running point on every single aspect of this event—assuming I was willing to let go when the day came, that was. I was running a lot of it, but I had an assistant to help with that. Besides, I wasn’t going to give him some insightful advice about running his firm or making his brand bigger on campus.
Or, maybe, he very much understood what I was, and there was a little more to his email than had first seemed obvious.
Now I was curious. Admittedly, I could pass this off as work, since I’d be doing this eventually, but I didn’t usually do my “due diligence” on my clients until they had confirmed. It was a waste of time to learn about someone you’d never meet in person or in a publicly recorded session.
But since Nick had just affirmed that he would be there, what was the harm?
I knew from just living in the area that he played for the San Francisco Giants as an outfielder and had obviously played ball at Fresno State, but beyond that, I didn’t know much about him. A quick Google search revealed much more to him than just being a guy who could swing.
For starters, his family might have been worth more than his actual contract—he came from the Ferrari family, the namesake of Ferrari Wines. Rumor had it, according to a few articles I clicked through, that the Ferraris had started as mobsters, but all of the family members had denied and called it a low-blow attempt to make them look bad.
Second, Nick also was not like most athletes, who got outlandish with their tattoos, their dress, or their style. He looked pretty buttoned-up and clean-cut; rare was the photo of him with stubble or facial hair, and he dressed in a sophisticated fashion but not to the point of being a metrosexual. He seemed well-liked by the fans and was consistently rated as one of the favorite players on the team.
And I could see why.
Put frankly, he was really fucking hot. He had brown hair that always seemed impeccably trimmed and clean; I never saw a photo where it looked too
