Win a Date with Amber Rivers

chapter two

Despite living in the city for over a decade and being in the limelight for most of that time, Amber still had never really been able to get used to paparazzi but then again, how could you get used to sleazy assholes who followed you around to dinners and meeting, flashing cameras in your eyes while yelling things at you or even hiding in the bushes somewhere they thought Amber couldn't see them in? It had been a constant pain in her ass, especially in the more recent years.

It just felt like a constant nagging, something she needed to be looking over her shoulder for whenever she left the house which, in all honesty, was something she was starting to do less and less of as she doesn't drive and didn't have many work opportunities floating her way lately.

One thing that she did leave the house for was an early morning walk around the block. She did it early enough that there weren't many people around so it was less likely for people to see her out and about (she did wear a hat and glasses though just as a preventive measure in case someone did see her). Her walk would involve going to her favourite coffee spot, Jumpstart. It was a food truck that was always parked up just down the block from her house and she would always start her morning by walking down to grab a cup from them along with one of their delicious homemade brownies or chocolate chip cookies before continuing on her way. Jumpstart was owned by an African American mother and son who Amber would always chat with whenever she stopped by.

"Morning Amber, your usual today?" The son Noah would ask, his mother Valerie already in the process of starting to prepare her coffee.

"Of course." Amber said. She always got a mocha with two percent milk and a shot of caramel. Sometimes she'd spice it up and go cinnamon or try a different milk but as dairy had not had an effect on her just yet (she was waiting though as her mom was lactose intolerant later in life), she liked to savor it while she could. "How's football going?" She asked Noah as she tapped her card on the eftpos machine.

"It's going good." Noah said with a shrug.

"He's being modest." Valerie interrupted. "We have been getting calls from scouts with the Patriots, the 49ers and the Packers. Everyone seems to want my baby on their team."

"Mom..." Noah trailed off, the embarrassment in his voice clear.

"You should be screaming from the rooftop, baby." Valerie said as she continued making Amber's coffee. "Jack wants him to play for the 49ers as he grew up in San Francisco but I've always been partial to the Patriots. It's up to Noah though, of course, when he gets the offers, because we know he will be getting plenty of them."

"That is so great, Noah." Amber expressed. "If I knew more about football and the teams, I would give my opinion on which team you should go for but I don't know much about the sport or take much interest in it." She chuckled to herself though at a memory. "I did go on a date with a guy who played for the Rams though and he tried to explain it all to me but I think I'd had a bit too much to drink at that point to understand anything more than a ball getting thrown and men pushing each other." She felt as though she was rambling so stopped herself from dragging her ridiculous story on. "But, maybe, I'll have to learn the rules so I can support whichever team you end up picking to play for."

"Thanks Amber." Noah said.

With a smile, Amber skimmed her eyes over the array of baked goods sitting under covers on the counter of the trailer. There were chocolate chip cookies stuffed with Nutella, brownies covered in copious amounts of icing sugar, snickerdoodles the size of her hand and slices of banana bread filled that had big chunks of chocolate scattered through it. Just the sight of them made her stomach grumble. "Oh, I think I'm gonna need one of each." She pointed her finger along the row of baking. "They all look so damn good today, Valerie."