Crazy In Love (Anthony Rizzo)

It's A Date

Anthony

"Oh bar tender" I yell and I hear heels clicking on the tile floor of the bar in the restaurant. A little figure appears behind the counter and a smile finds its way on my face. Her long legs covered by dark skinny jeans and the same brand of a black v-nick shirt resting upon her shoulders as it has all the other days I've seen her. She still looks as beautiful as the first time I saw her, still such a sight to see.

"Three days in a row? Someone's feeling bold" Melissa claims coming over to me. She grabs a beer and cracks it open before handing it to me.

"I'm not here all that often so I have to come see my favorite person in town when I can" I smirk. I usually can spit my game but for some reason when I'm around her I get all tongue tied. She's got me feeling some type of way.

"You're lucky you're charming" she scolds as she sits on the counter on the other side of the bar. Her legs hang there as she watches me closely.  She grabs a beer and a sharpie and starts to write something on it. "Don't you have important things you should be doing instead of bothering me at work" she asks.

"Do you know who I am" I ask.

"I know of you. But that doesn't mean I know who you are. I know who people say you are and I know who they want you to be, but I don't know who you are" she claims.

"Come on a date with me and I will tell you" I insist. I bite my lip as I wait for her to say something.

"You're a persistent one" she notices.

"If there's something I want I usually find a way to get it one way or another" I admit.

"Am I obstacle to you, Mr. Rizzo" she asks. "Or another prize you want to hang on your wall with all your other achievements?"

"I didn't mean it like that" I try.

"All of this..." she says pointing to everything around her, "it's a game Anthony. And in this game there are no do overs and there is no starting new. You get one life, no backspaces or re-do's. And while this game is quite challenging, once you get to know how to work the controls and read the instructions that sit in front of your face on a daily basis, then this game gets to be a little more fun" she explains.

"And what is this game we're playing" I ask and she smirks.

"It's fun for me, I don't know about you" she jokes.

"I'm not gonna lie. It's kinda hard. I'm not used to having to do this much" I admit.

"A little labor wouldn't hurt you" she insists.

"And I'm not going to be here all the time to wear you down so this game just got a little bit harder" I admit.

"Let me make things a little bit easier for you" she says placing a beer in front of me. I turn it around and I see a phone number written on the side.

"Really" I ask.

"In this game of life, it's a lot easier if you go one chapter at a time. Don't try and skip the parts that you don't think you need, sure the introductions and how to's can be boring, but it's a lot easier to read what's in front of you than having to go back and try to find what you left behind. Everything you will ever need to know will be told to you if you take a second to stop and listen" she explains.

"No offense, but some people don't have time to stop and smell the roses" I admit.

"Do you think that since you're this big time ball player that the rules of life don't apply to you? That you're playing in a whole different game than people like me" she asks.

"That's not what I'm saying" I defend.

"Life is made up of moments that might never seem important at the time, they might feel disassociated or uninteresting, but they add up. You think a beach with one pebble of sand is all that amazing? Of course not. But millions of grains gives you something to enjoy. The same goes for a life. All those moments together is what matters the most. One day you will look back and realize you've taken some of those moments for granted, and that's okay, as long as you recognized they happened and that you can build off of them. And you have to respect that every moment makes up your life, whether you like them or not. It's who we are, it's what separates us as people. Yes you are a talented ball player and yes you have something that others do not, and I know you don't think you're above people. But you're playing the same game as the rest of us my friend, and the same rules apply. Maybe even more so to people like you where it can become so easy not to see what's right in front of them. Build your beach up to something you can be proud of, something that you can stop and look back and smile about" she says.

I sit there and just shake my head. A little smile tattooed on my face.

"You're an amazing woman, did you know that" I ask.

"I'm working on it" she admits.

"So do you actually like me or are you just dragging me along the concrete because I'm, for whatever reason, extremely vulnerable around you" I ask and she giggles.

"I like you, but the harder you work for something the more you appreciate the stuff you earn. I figured not everything in this life should be handed to you" she says pointing to the beer with her number on it.

"So what do you say to a date" I ask.

"It has to be at night" she claims.

"What? Are you a vampire" I tease.

"Even if I was I wouldn't tell you" she scoffs. "And no. But I am at my other job during the day" she claims.

"And what is that" I ask.

"Secret number one" she smiles. At least I know there will never be a lack of interest in whatever happens here.

"Well I'm about to leave for a few days, so what about Thursday night" I ask.

"I can do that" she admits and I smile.

"Perfect, it's a date" I say.

"It's a date."

I finish my beer and she closes up the bar. I go up to my apartment a little drunk and really happy. I put her number in my phone and send her a text so she knows it's me. I decide to shower and watch some espn for highlights from the game earlier. We've only played two games and we lost the first one but I couldn't complain too much. I got 160 more games to go and a date on Thursday to look forward to.