love letters (harrison bader)

chapter one

Lord Peterborough to Henrietta Howard (ca. 1722):

"The greatest hardship is this: we seem bound to the same port, we sail in treacherous seas in quest of a woman's heart, but without a compass; there is no beaten path or common road; as many objects, so many humours; what prevails with the one may displease the other in this fantastic pilgrimage of love; he that goes out of his way may soonest arrive at his journey's end; and the bold have better success than the faithful, the foolish than the wise."

***

"Meredith!" exclaimed Georgia Wells, running out of her building's lobby to wrap her arms around the blonde woman in front of her. Meredith Marakovits, YES Network's clubhouse reporter, embraced her and then wordlessly handed her a coffee cup, "Ugh, you are an angel. Thank you!"

"Happy first day, Georgia!" Meredith said as the pair entered her car. Georgia lived close to the stadium--one had to, when their roommate was Anthony Volpe-- in a humble, two bedroom apartment she, Anthony, and his longtime girlfriend Callie had bought when he was called up to the big leagues. It was small, but in a good neighborhood with great security that was only a 15 minute car ride to the stadium. "Are you nervous?" Meredith asked.

"Not really. I'm so nervous and excited for Anthony that I barely have energy to be nervous for myself," Georgia replied, her Southern drawl emerging slightly. Originally from Cashiers, a tiny town up in the mountains of North Carolina, Georgia and her brother, Austin, had moved around a lot as kids. From Pasadena to Miami Beach, they had been everywhere. But eventually, when she was thirteen, they settled in New Jersey in the same school district as Anthony. Naturally, Austin and Anthony were fast friends; they were two aspiring ball players in the same school with the same dream: to be penned into the starting lineup for the New York Yankees. Today, Georgia got to watch that dream come true for Anthony Volpe.

"That's good. You shouldn't be nervous; I love you already!" Meredith smiled sweetly. Over the course of only a few weeks of knowing each other, the woman had become a fast friend and counselor to Georgia. Women in sports had to stick together. "Everyone else will too. You make it very hard not to love you!" Meredith joked, but Georgia gave her a small smile.

"Mere, you are too sweet!"

"We're here! Come on, I'll show you to your office," Meredith smiled, stretching out a hand for Georgia to take.

Hesitating, Georgia admitted, "Actually... there's something I want to do first. Can you show me to the clubhouse?" Meredith nodded, leading Georgia through an entrance that said 'Players Only' and waving to the security guard who manned the entrance. The guard didn't even try to stop them. Meredith continued to lead her through a coffee bar and a hallway lined with offices until they reached an archway, the famous quote 'I want to thank the good Lord for making me a Yankee' engraved at the top.

"Anthony's locker is right in here. Meet me back here in 10, okay?" Georgia nodded. As she entered the clubhouse, it fell completely silent. Suddenly feeling very self conscious about her outfit (a low cut blue pinstriped vest, matching pants, and heels), she nervously made her way through the clubhouse, searching for Anthony.

"Georgia!" she heard Anthony scream from behind her. She barely had time to turn around before he came crashing into her arms.

"Anthony!" she screamed back, hugging him sweetly, "I'm so proud of you!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's great and all, but what are you doing here?" he asked, confused.

"I knew you would be nervous so I came to wish you luck," she explained, patting his head, "I have to meet Meredith in 10 minutes but I wanted to make sure you knew you didn't have anything to worry about!"