Not A Bad Thing (A Russell Wilson Story)

Four

Russ drives out of the city and towards Renton. We sit quietly in his black Mercedes SUV while the radio plays some songs.

“So where are we headed exactly? I thought we were meeting your manager.” I finally speak up.

“We are. Since the season is about to begin, everyone is at the training center. There’s offices there and everyone is busy prepping and stuff,” he explains.

“Oh,” I nod. I look out the window, not knowing what else to say.

“Hey,” Russ gets my attention, causing me to turn to him. He quickly glances over me, looking a little apologetic. “I’m sorry about all of this again. I didn’t intend to bring you into the spotlight, especially when you told me that you’re a bit shy.”

I smile to reassure him. “Again, it’s fine. I’ll deal with it, I’m a big girl. Well, not literally,” I joke, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

He chuckles as he continues driving. As we get onto the interstate, traffic appears out of nowhere and we have to slow down a lot.

I lean my head back in exasperation. “Ugh! This is the one thing that I hate about living here: traffic. At least on the east side, we didn’t have to worry about it so much.”

“You lived on the east side?” He asks.

“Yep. In the Yakima Valley. I was born here in Seattle though. I don’t know why my parents decided to move down there.” I shake my head.

“Is it just you in your family?”

“No, I have 2 sisters: one older, and one younger. And I also have 3 older brothers.”

“Wow, big family.”

“I guess so. My older siblings are from my dad’s first marriage and then there’s me and my little sister.”

Russ nods. “So what made you decide to move up here?”

“I’ve always wanted to live in Seattle. I would have gone to college here, but I slacked on my UW application so I ended up in CWU. My little sister wanted to finish up high school back home with all her friends so that kind of held up our plans for the family to move,” I explained.

“So you still live with your parents?”

I shake my head. “No. They live up in North Seattle, near my older sister. It’s just my little sister living with them while she’s at the University. My dad’s retired and my mom’s working as a nurse at a hospital. When we first moved here, I lived with them for a few days while I waited for the move in date for my apartment. I live with Dani in the city.”

He whistles. “That seems pretty pricey especially since you’re still doing you Master’s degree, right?”