Not A Bad Thing (A Russell Wilson Story)

Eleven

“Is this really necessary guys?” I ask as I’m being guided out of the car, still blindfolded.

We drove around for an hour, which I felt like they were just killing time, before we got to our destination. The entire time, I sat there, sandwiched between two large men, as they all sang to songs on the radio. When “Shake It Off” came on, they still busted out singing. Even though I was still void of all sight, I could sense them dancing while they sang. It was hilarious.

“We’re almost there short stuff. Geez, you sure are impatient. Russ was not kidding. But you are fun to be around with, not to mention entertaining,” Doug laughed.

“I’m glad that I could provide some sort of entertainment for you all,” I reply sarcastically as I walk. Russ is holding me by my shoulders, walking behind me, making sure I don’t trip or fall.

“Okay, are you ready?” Russ says in my ear. I shiver internally, his deep voice sending me chills.

“I’ve been ready Wilson. You should know by now that I’m no good with surprises,” I tell him.

He chuckles. “Impatient as ever. Okay, on three, I’m going to remove your blindfold. One, two, three!”

I feel it come off and I open my eyes. There are no words to describe how I felt about what I saw. Looking around I see that we are on a pier. I think the team rented it out or something because it’s all decorated with balloons and streamers. There’s also a sign saying ‘Happy Birthday Melissa and Welcome to the Seahawks family!” Behind the sign, the entire team, and I guess their significant others are there with smiles on their faces.

There are benches and picnic tables around and a couple of barbeque grills. It’s a gorgeous day, and this is some surprise. I look up behind me at Russ with a big smile on my face. He smiles back down at me and takes my hand in his.

He pulls me forward to the large group and introduces me to the ones I haven’t met yet. The other women were very nice, hugging me and welcoming me into part of their “circle.” Even though technically I’m not Russ’ ‘significant other’ just yet, I’m someone very important to him apparently.

We all go and get our food, some barbecued chicken, burgers and hotdogs. A couple of the coaches are there, manning the grills. They wore the funny, and cheesy aprons that made me chuckle. During the time we ate, Russ sat with me as I chatted with the groups. Richard’s girlfriend asked how Russ and I met and Earl’s wife asked if things were getting serious. With the questions I couldn’t answer, which was the stuff about our pending relationship, Russell was the one who answered.

It was obvious that the guys were glad that he found someone he wants to be with, and the women loved the story on how we met and how Russ pursued me.

After we all ate, we all walked to the Ferris wheel to ride on it. I’ve never been on it yet, and I was excited. All expenses were covered of course. I couldn’t help but take a bunch of pictures. The view from the top was amazing. The first time around, the women dragged me with them. It was fun getting to know them, and they kept giving me advice on how to deal when the team traveled. They also told me some funny stories about Russell and that they were glad that after all this time, he’s found a girl that can put up with him.