Beyond the Face-Off

Chapter 3

Eight heads swiveled simultaneously to look at him.

Jake suppressed a grimace and, with a nod, stepped forward and reached for Xavier's hand. "I am, buddy." He shook the little hand gently. It felt cold and sweaty. "Are you feeling better?"

Xavier nodded, his eyes full of awe.

"I can't thank you enough," Xavier's mom said. "He was stung by a bee. I should've been carrying his EpiPen, but it's never escalated that quickly before." She swallowed. "Thank you so much."

The paramedics hurried over with a stretcher, and Jake stepped back with the rest of the crowd to let them through.

"Can I have your autograph?"

Jake looked down at the curious eyes of a little girl holding a trading card. "Sure." He signed autographs as the paramedics spoke with Xavier's mom and lifted Xavier onto the stretcher.

The paramedic reached out to shake Jake's hand as they wheeled Xavier toward the ambulance. "You got that EpiPen to him in the nick of time. You probably saved his life."

Jake nodded soberly and shook the paramedic's hand. He turned to Xavier. "Get well, buddy," he said and squeezed the young boy's shoulder.

Xavier grinned through his puffy eyes and swollen cheeks.

As they lifted Xavier into the ambulance, Jake nodded to the crowd and then jogged back toward the path. The muscles of his thighs tightened. It had been a while since he had done any parkour. He probably had as much adrenalin on board as Xavier. The half-hour jog home would help, and with any luck, he could stay out of the spotlight.

Kelly knocked on the front door of the little two-storey house where she'd grown up. Without waiting for an answer, she stepped inside. "Hi, Mom," she shouted as she closed the front door behind her.

"Hi, dear."

Kelly followed the voice into the sitting room at the back of the house. "Sorry I'm late, Mom. It's been a hectic day."

Lillian Danali sat at a fussy wrought iron desk, in the corner of the room, staring at her laptop. "I know. It's been all over the internet."

"What? What has?"

"Look." Lillian turned the screen to face her, and Kelly moved closer to take a look. A video of Jake sprinting across the park, somersaulting over the fountain, and racing to Danali's Drugs played out on the screen.

"Holy cow. How did that get there?"

"Somebody at the park caught it on their phone. One million views since this afternoon."

Kelly whistled. "It's going to be in the papers tomorrow, too. I spent the last half hour doing an interview with a reporter from the Post."

Lillian turned sparkling eyes to her. "Great for business."

"You wouldn't believe it – a ten percent increase in traffic this afternoon alone." She smiled. "I'll take it." Kelly gestured to the bag of groceries she carried. "I'll put these away and then we should probably get going. The rehearsal starts in half an hour. How's the arm?"

Lillian frowned at the cast on her right arm. "Not too bad today. But I'll be glad to get this off."

"Another three weeks yet. They were pretty sure you'd have it off for opening night, though. That's a relief."

"Oh yeah. I would've told them to cut it off anyway. There was no way I was going to miss out on that."

Kelly smiled. "I would've been disappointed, too. Did you get some dinner?"

"Yes, thank you. I had some of the chicken you left."

Kelly nodded. "Tomorrow after work, I'll come and make a few more dishes for your freezer."

Lillian gave her an apologetic smile. "I'd like to say 'Don't bother, you'll be tired after working all day,' but I really do appreciate it. I can't imagine how I'd have managed, with this on my arm, without your help."

Kelly kissed her mom gently on the forehead. "Don't worry about it. I'm happy to do it." She nodded to the computer. "Shut that down and grab your shoes and sweater. I'll help you put them on."

Kelly put away the groceries and then helped her mom. As they settled into the car, she asked, "Did you memorize your lines?"

"Pretty much." Lillian grinned. "As the older version of you, I don't say much until act two. How about you? You have a lot of lines at the beginning."

"I think I've got them down. It'll be easier once it's put together with the staging though."

Lillian looked over at her. "Are you worried about working with Chris?"

Kelly sighed and shook her head. "I can't believe he got that part."

"I think he's hoping to get back together with you," her mother said quietly.

Kelly glanced over quickly. "No. Why would he?"

Lillian raised her eyebrows. "Why else would he put you both through this? Maybe he realized you were the best thing he ever had."

Kelly snorted. "I was. But we broke up over a year ago."

"You were together for four years. That's a lot of history."

Kelly nodded. It was. They'd done everything as a couple. Work, tennis, cooking, hanging out with friends. She'd invested all she had into that relationship. It had seemed perfect...until it wasn't. Until the questions, the rules, the control had become oppressive. Walking away was one of the hardest things she'd ever done. "He likes playing head games, Mom. He just wants to get under my skin. But I'm not going to get sucked in. If I have to act like he's my lover, that's all it'll be. An act."

"Well, if anyone is good enough to pull it off, you are. I'm just glad that the older version of you has a different love interest."

Kelly smiled. "It's kind of cool that we're playing mother and daughter in the play."

"It is. Course, they're lucky to have us."

"Of course," she said as they shared a laugh.