White Lie | Danny Amendola

Chapter 23

I plopped down on my couch and let Melvin jump up next to me. He rested his head in my lap and watched the commercials, just like I was. After a few, the commercials were off and they switched over to a video of the Broncos Stadium, where they were just getting ready for the second half.

"It's a close game, bud," I mumbled. I took a sip of my water and watched the screen carefully. I pet his soft head and let out a sigh as he began to cry. "I know, the Broncos are a very tough team. Hopefully they can pull it out and make it to the superbowl." It was 28-24, not us-- and I was beginning to get nervous.

I may not have been apart of the organization anymore, but my heart would always be with them. I grew up watching the games, how could I not watch one of the biggest games of the year? They moved over to show Danny and Julian at the bench, talking. I had to look away-- I couldn't bare to look at him.

"Okay, here we go. Second half, the Patriots are down four points," the announcer said. "The Patriots are receiving, as well. I think they will be scoring on this drive. Their opening second half drives are usually stellar."

I opened my eyes, and they were officially zoomed out, showing the entire field. "Damn right," I said. "Their first drive of any half is amazing! They've got this!"

Melvin shuffled next to me and let out a low whine. I looked down at him, meeting his big brown puppy dog eyes. "You think they're gonna win? Huh bud," I asked as I scratched behind his ears. "If they do I think you'll be stuck here a little bit longer." his ears instantly perked up as he looked at the TV.

"Oh yeah... They're gonna win... And then the next time you see Jules you can snuggle with him instead of me," I told him with a smile-- even though I was enjoying having someone else's body heat next to me.

This was day 12 of no Danny, and it was only my third day without a job. I was beginning to feel like my whole world was done, and that I'd never be able to bounce back-- or even find a job. Even though I had plenty of money to keep paying rent, I didn't know if I should have given up and move back home, look for jobs in Boston, or begin looking for jobs out of state.

I still had the option on the Celtics thanks for Vicki... But I wasn't necessarily guaranteed a job. That's when it hit me, I could also apply for the Red Sox... I didn't have to worry about Danny's schedule anymore. I could easily work my ass off all summer long, and have winter be my lighter season. It wasn't that bad of a choice, so I grabbed my laptop off the coffee table in front of me. I searched for the application and began to fill it out.

That was when the announcers began to go crazy. "This needs to be done. There are only four seconds left on the clock... The Pats need three points to win, and they are not in field goal range," one said, causing me to snap my eyes up to the TV.

Oh fuck. I forgot to pay attention to the game.

I looked up to see Chris Hogan... Julian... Danny... And Gronk all on the field. They were going for a long pass. A very long one. I slammed my laptop shut and put it down on the coffee table in front of me. My eyes were now glued to the TV, watching as the play clock ticked down-- 3... 2... and the ball was snapped. Both Julian and Danny made their ways down the field-- Julian well covered, and Danny all by himself.

"Throw to Danny, Brady," I called, my eyes wide. And it was as if Tom heard me, he wound up and sailed the ball through the air. "Come on Danny..." I called out, seeing it going straight into his arms... The problem though, he was running with it before it was secured, it fell from his arms and the play was called dead...

The clock was at zero. I gasped as I put my hands over my mouth-- He dropped it. That was it... The season was over... They zoomed in on Danny, showing the look of defeat plastered on his face as Julian ran up to him. Danny just shook his head and looked down at the ground, before the camera zoomed away and moved in on the Broncos players celebrating.

My heart broke for Danny... For the team. They all worked so hard... And despite what happened between Danny and me... It still hurt to see him so defeated. During the season, he pushed himself so hard-- harder than he should have at times.

I wanted to text him... To tell him to keep his head up. There was no way he was not going to be beating himself up for it. Despite the fact that it was a team effort, whenever he did something significant to lose, he'd always blame it on himself. One problem, though, I couldn't text him. I'd deleted his number and all of our texts.

With a sigh I pulled up Julian's number and texted him.

Kris 10:47

Please don't let him do anything stupid. Last thing he needs is to hurt himself.

And with that I leaned forward and flicked the TV off. "Hey Mel," I said as I looked down at him, his big brown eyes were looking up at me again. "Jules aint gonna be very happy when you see him next." I told him with a sigh. "But for the meantime, why don't we just appreciate each others company?" He let out a soft whine as he stood up and began licking my face.

I giggled and wrapped my arms around him. "Oh yeah? Is that how it is?" I asked as he crawled further on top of me, his front paws digging into my thigh. "Woah, Bud! You're not as small as you think you are! You're heavy!" I laughed as I slightly pushed him off me.

He tilted his head and yapped at me. I rolled my eyes. "You're not the small pup you used to be! I'm not Julian! You can't just completely be on top of me," I told him with a giggle. I swear, if a dog could roll their eyes at someone, he rolled them at me before barking again.

Before I could say anything else, I was distracted by my phone lighting up next to me. I picked it up and to my surprise it was an unknown number... Their message just said "Thank you".

Well, I guess he still had my number.