Chapter 46

After the Notre Dame game, David stepped away from the team since he wouldn’t be playing in the bowl game. The move had been approved by both Bo Harrington and Coach Thomas. While USC had announced that Bo was their new head football coach, Coach Thomas had agreed to lead the team through the Cheez-It Bowl. The game was to be played in Phoenix on the day after Christmas against TCU.

David wouldn’t be playing because of commitments to the last Star Academy movie. It was to be released the Thursday before Christmas, and he’d agreed to attend the opening in Dubai. He would be joined by about half the cast, while the other half would be in Los Angeles for the US premiere.

To prepare for his trip, David researched the city of Dubai. It was the largest city in the Emirate of Dubai and in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE was an elective monarchy formed by a federation of seven emirates.

Each was governed by a sheikh, and the seven sheikhs comprised the Supreme Council. Every five years, they would elect a president, a vice president, and a prime minister. In practice, the presidency was always awarded to the Al Nahyan sheikhs of Abu Dhabi and the vice presidency and prime ministership to the Al Maktoum sheikhs of Dubai.

If you’d asked David before his research, he would’ve said that Dubai earned most of its wealth by selling oil. It was a fact that the UAE sat on some of the world’s largest oil and natural gas reserves. But while oil revenues made up about thirty percent of the GDP of the UAE as a whole, Dubai’s economy relied on aviation, financial services, real estate, trade, and tourism. In fact, it had the second-most 5-star hotels in the world. Oil production constituted less than one percent of the city’s GDP.

He’d put a few things on his to-do list. One was the indoor ski resort, Ski Dubai. Visitors to the resort skied not on sand but on manmade snow. The resort had five runs, of which one was a black diamond. It made him realize that Dubai really was a city where anything was possible.

David had been reading the sports pages about the Jets’ season and his friend Ridge Townsend. The Jets’ season hadn’t gone well, and the fans blamed everyone associated with the team, including Ridge. David didn’t envy his friend’s situation, trying to run an offense behind a makeshift line. It was amazing that Ridge had survived the experience without major injury.

Then he switched to reading about Oklahoma’s football season. They’d had a great year, won the Big 12 conference title, and were headed for the Orange Bowl to take on Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal. He’d sent congratulatory messages to Tim and Wolf. Neither had been a starter for the Sooners, but both had seen some playing time, Wolf more than Tim.

David expected Oklahoma would have problems with Alabama’s defense; that seemed to always be the case when a Big 12 team faced off against an SEC opponent. He had a brief ‘what if’ moment, thinking about how things might have been different had he enrolled at Oklahoma as once planned.

At the moment, however, he had to block out all distractions. It was the week before finals, and everyone was losing their mind. David entered his dorm room to find Alex rummaging through a pile of papers and books, looking frantic.

“What’s wrong?” David asked.

“I can’t find my math book.”

David scanned the room and pointed to the top of the refrigerator.

“Hijueputa!. I’ve torn this place apart three times. How could I have missed it?” Alex asked.

David didn’t respond to the rhetorical question because Alex wasn’t alone in losing his shit. David mentally thanked his uncle for helping him create life goals when he was entering high school. Doing so made him realize what was essential and given him the understanding that to achieve those goals, he had to prioritize them.

Getting a good education was close to the top of his list. That meant that David read ahead for his classes so he was prepared for lectures. That allowed him to ask the right questions if he was unclear on something. It also meant that when it came to tests, all he had to do was brush up, not learn the material. It was why David got straight ‘A’s without struggling. It all came down to the fact that he’d put in the hard work upfront. He also prioritized school over parties and video games, something most college students found hard to do.

It didn’t mean he didn’t do those things; it just meant he took care of business first.

Those thoughts reminded David how hard and how much he’d worked to get where he was. When all that had been going on, David had never thought of it as stuff that was helping him become a better man; he’d simply done what was necessary. Hell, if you asked most of his close friends, they would still refer to him as a ‘stupid boy.’

“Coach Harrington called earlier. He wanted to remind you that you’re having dinner with him tonight.”

David hadn’t shared with his roommate that tonight’s dinner was an informal meeting he’d arranged for his new coach to sit down with Ron Pennington and Gabe Francis, USC’s two largest boosters. David had also invited Amy Stackhouse, USC’s special teams coach and resident psychologist.

He’d been remiss in using his Soho House membership, so tonight’s dinner would be held at the Soho Warehouse in the downtown industrial district.

“Thanks. I need to take a shower and get ready.”

“Tracy also called. She said to remind you that you have responsibilities to her and Pam. I can only guess what that means,” Alex said with a twinkle in his eye.

David flipped his roommate off and went to his room. He had to think back to figure out how long it had been since he was with anyone. It’d been before the Notre Dame game because it was then that he’d taken a step back from Crystal and Wren, the Alpha Mu girls.

As he stepped into the shower, he thought about his relationship with Crystal. He figured it had run its course. There was a ton to like about her, and they fit together in many ways. But when David finally took a moment, he confirmed that he didn’t see a future for the two of them. There were just too many similarities between Crystal and Lexi.

He hadn’t liked either girl when he first met them. He’d thought Lexi had changed until it became evident she hadn’t. That made him doubt Crystal’s outward changes. A psychic had told him that someone would put him off marriage; it seemed that Lexi had put him off relationships as well, at least for now.

Then there was Wren. He would’ve gladly continued to sleep with her, but she’d decided she needed to change her ways if she ever wanted to be truly happy. He’d talked to Coach Stackhouse, and she’d recommended someone for Wren to speak to. Unfortunately, that idiot had told Wren she had to go cold turkey as far as sleeping with guys went. David felt she’d have been better off if she did something like a smoker would with a nicotine patch, but in this case, it would be Mr. Happy satisfying her urges.

It had been nearly a month since he’d spent quality time with anyone. He thought back, and this might be one of the longest dry spells he’d had since he was a freshman in high school. So, stress relief sessions with Tracy and Pam were precisely what he needed.

When he walked into Soho House, everyone was waiting for him, with an unexpected guest: Bud Mason.

“This is a surprise,” David said as he hugged his old coach.

Of course, Bud wasn’t happy to have David displaying his affection in that manner, but he tolerated it.

“I want to congratulate you on the win at Notre Dame. I’m glad to see our strategy worked,” the coach said.

“Thanks, Coach, I appreciate all your help. There’s no way I could have done that without you and Coach Hope. So, now that we’ve conquered Notre Dame, what’s next for you?” David asked.

“I’ve hired Bud to be my special advisor,” Bo said.

“That’s great news. Congratulations, Coach. I’m looking forward to working with you again.”