Tripping Kennedy

New Opportunities

3 months earlier

KENNEDY

The first few days in Los Angeles went by quicker than I'd expected. The company had gotten me a hotel room near the office. It was more like a tiny apartment, like one of those long-stay places, with a small living room, kitchen combo, and a separate area for the bed. Kind of like the setups you can see in the showrooms at IKEA. It had all the amenities of an upscale hotel, but with the privacy of a condo, only on a smaller scale.

There was a full bar and restaurant on the main floor of the building. A gym and a laundry service were located in the basement, which I'd found out were very useful, and there was an outdoor pool area. It was too cool to use the pool, but it looked pretty.

The manager I was reporting to in LA, Lance Fisher, was an attractive and physically fit man in his late forties. He'd been both very accommodating and welcoming. But I still wasn't completely sure why I was there? Or what the actual reason had been for the urgent transfer to the California office?

I expected it had something to do with my relationship with Nash Reed, the New York Empires hockey star, and my childhood friend. Once the media had sensed that we were dating, they refused to leave us alone. The paparazzi had hounded both Nash and me, and they followed wherever we went. My guess was that the company I worked for was worried about any potential negative publicity. They'd removed me as the lead for a large project I was in charge of for Men's Health, which involved Nash. Instead, they'd "found" this project in LA which they felt I was the perfect person for.

It wasn't until my third day in the office that I found out exactly what my assignment was going to be.

It was in the afternoon on my first Wednesday in the new office building when Lance called me into his office. He rose from his chair behind a large mahogany desk to greet me when I stepped inside. He looked like a grown-up, mature version of a surfer dude. His blond hair was turning gray on the sides, but he still wore it longer on top. He seemed to be fighting an endless battle to keep the wavy bangs out of his eyes. His skin was deeply tanned - which made his blue eyes appear more like a light gray - and he was very physically fit. He knew all of that, of course, and used it to his advantage. The smile - which he appeared to flash often- displayed bright white teeth, and there was just no way that they were naturally that white.

"Please sit, Kennedy," he said and gestured towards one of the armchairs in the corner of his very large office.

I smiled and took my seat. Lance sat down in the chair opposite me. The chairs, although they seemed to be some modern, artistic creations in black and chrome, were surprisingly comfortable.

"I spoke to your boss in New York, Chuck, this morning," Lance began, and focused his blue-gray eyes on me. "He only has good things to say about you, and he's confident that you're the right person to lead this new project. It has been slightly delayed, which is why we will need you to get it up and running."

"Oh."

I wasn't sure how to react to the news. It was only the first week away from home and I already missed Nash like crazy.

"There is a new project in the works," Lance continued. "It's not official yet, so we need to keep it under wraps for a little bit longer, but part of it involves the Los Angeles football team."

Hearing that piqued my interest. I'd done some work with athletes before, but never as a whole team. I did, however, know several famous athletes, both from the United American Hockey League and the Baseball League, so I wasn't easily intimidated. My only concern was that I didn't know as much about football as I did about baseball and hockey.