Chapter 2

After spending the rest of Sunday beginning to pack up what was his and what was going to remain hers, they had few items to dispute over. Barbie seemed to want him to leave some items she knew he would be back for. Jared wanted to avoid that. If he wasn't compelled to come back for her, he didn't want to spend another night in what was his house, after Wednesday. He was able to stay away Monday and Tuesday when she was home by saying his community goodbyes. He arranged Wednesday morning for the lawyer's office and deed transfer and final pay-off of the mortgage. That way he would have reason to be up and out early. After all the trouble he spent trying to be sure there wasn't another "fuck to remember you by" he wasn't even sure she had wanted to seek one. She seemed to slip back into her rut. Somewhere in that beautiful attractive body and smart compassionate mind was the woman he once wanted to marry. After a flash of what he loved about her, her sexual passion on Sunday, she was back to humdrum leaving him wondering if she at all realized he was leaving in the morning on Thursday.

At the send-off on Wednesday night at the football field the whole student body, as well as half the town, it seemed, came out to cheer him and wish him well. He held Barbie at his side and credited her for much of his success, "always being my rock". She wiped away tears and held his arm and everyone in attendance was sure she would leave with him. She had already assured the Vermont State Child Developmental Center that she was staying and continuing the programs she had started making it one of the best of its kind in the nation.

When the Valley Tech admin staff wanted to take Jared out for a drink, Barbie passed. She kissed him and said she would see him home. When he got there at 11 o'clock, she was asleep. He stripped to his underwear and slid in along side her, looking at her in the ambient glow of her ever-present night light. Her dark hair framing the pretty face on the pillow excited him, with the covers just up over her waist her nightgown was askew and one breast showed. There was a day when he would have suckled it to waken her and make love. Now that was a memory and would have seemed so unfair. His hard-on strained in his shorts as he tried to go to sleep, but couldn't. He went to the bathroom pantry and got a hand towel and again lay along side her watching her sleep. He pulled his shorts over his erection and stroked himself gently as not to rock the bed and wake her. He came into the towel wishing it were her mouth or pussy. He rolled the towel and dropped it beside the bed and went right to sleep. He had to be at NEAT for 10 a.m. so it meant getting up early to leave. Her 4:30 alarm would be the last he would hear there.

When he rolled out in the morning she was already in the shower, he not hearing the first alarm. He went into the bathroom to pee and she spoke loudly to him. "Please Jared I'm showering, can't you wait?".

He answered her with a simple "Sorry", saying to himself, "So this is how it's going to be. Maybe that's best."

The small U-Haul with all of his things had left the day before so all he had to go with him was his computer, a laptop, his briefcase of player profiles, and a small night case and ditty bag. He put those few things in the car and came back into finish his coffee and say goodbye. He sipped his coffee in the kitchen waiting for her to come out and leave as well. When she came out she acted surprised to see him.

"I thought you already left."

"You think I would leave without saying goodbye, kissing you?"

"No I guess not. Hurry and get going though, your car is blocking me."

Jared went over and hugged her tightly not feeling like his advance was welcome. He went to kiss her on the lips, but she offered her cheek. She showed no emotion. He went out the door and got to his car realizing his house key and her car set was still on his ring. He waited for her to come out to leave and would hand it to her. When a few minutes went by he went back to the window and saw her with her head in her hands at the kitchen table. She was probably crying. He decided to let her have the end as she wanted it. He tried to make it cordial; she didn't want that. He walked to her car and opening it with the clicker, he put the keys on the dash where she would see them.

Good-bye Barbara Gaynes, and goodbye Valley Tech. He was off to make his millions in the high-pressure world of Division One college football.

As he started his drive his mind raced with thoughts of the what's and where's he had to put together for the upcoming season. The preliminary schedules were already printed and NEAT had 10 conference games in the recently formed Northeast 10, plus 2 out of conference and 2 scrimmage wild cards. They weren't supposed to win the wild card games, but they would bring 2 major college programs to each teams home in the new conference to boost attendance and interest. Jared wondered if he had time to call in favors to make the 2 out of conference games as powerful of opponents as the wild cards. He may have been second division, but he had a lot of friends in the top college ranks.

He ran the team he was inheriting through his mind and had a lot of changes in mind. He remembered a safety with the fastest feet he had seen in quite a while. He wondered if he could throw the ball. He was a great safety, but with his quickness he might be able to set up quickly and negate some of the slowness in the offensive line. Plus he could run the option and establish the running game. Quickness was a quality of every Winslow team. He had few sizable players, but looked for strong players who weren't afraid to use their speed to force their opponents into mistakes and out of game plan. He knew some of his plans would leave some established players with hurt feelings, but he had to use his personality and psychology to show them how their contribution to TEAM could get scouts there to look at them. In his 9 years at little second division Valley Tech he had 9 players drafted in the first 5 rounds, and 40 overall. A few played in the NFL and some were working as assistants and scouts. Best of all he only had 4 dropouts, and 10 forced to leave because of grades. Besides transfers, he graduated all the rest of his players.

Trying to piece the team together in his head not being able to match faces, bodies and names, his head began to ache. He stopped for a coffee and asked a waitress if she had any Tylenol. She reached in her apron pocket and took a bottle of Extra Strength, no less.

"Have a good time at the press conference today and Good Luck at New England Ag Mr. Winslow." She said with a polite smile.

Little did she know that she had made his day. For people to drive 60, 100, or even 150 miles to see New England Ag or Valley Tech game was very, very common and the recent publicity made him a recognizable face. There were no large cities near either college, but they drew from the rural areas where they had no other affordable 1st rate college sports besides hockey. Even University of Vermont, known mostly for it's hockey drew from across the state and had a season ticket waiting list said to be 15 years long.

The boost to his ego, the coffee and the Tylenol got him going with a fresh start for the last 40 minutes of his drive. He began to run the people he would have to deal with first hand through his head. The athletic director that he would answer to, Joe Barber seemed like a nice enough guy. They spent a lot of time together when they recruited him, and they would be together to go out and meet those scholarships with football intentions for the upcoming season.

Barber was 54 and talked of his wife, 10 years younger than he, as the "old gray mare" when Jared had brought up the subject of bringing along wives or girlfriends on this trip as many do when they travel in the off-season.

"No, oh God no! We don't do those things anymore." Barber said, "We've been married 24 years and that should tell you the story. She went gray before ME! We do have fun when we go away because we both love to eat gourmet and try wines, but all of the other stuff is long gone. I do too much work on these trips and don't get time for dinner and wine appreciation. It's true what they say; you put a bean in a jar every time you do it the first 2 years you're married, and then take one out whenever you do it after that, and the jar is never empty. I got married when I was 30, so I had plenty of time for all of that stuff."

"You're 54, you're not dead." Jared countered, but Barber just chuckled and said, "You'll see someday, my friend."

As Jared pulled onto the NEAT campus he began to see many signs and banners welcoming him. This was a large campus that made up half the area population during the school year, but the draw from over New England was like that of the Red Sox. Most of New England was rural and driving 2 or more hours to get somewhere was a hop, skip and a jump for many of them. The stadium was built with money and land bequeathed to the campus for that reason. With 40,000 seats the NCAA became interested in adding them to the Northeast 10, well aware that in the old 20,000-seat venue they had a long waiting list for season tickets. All they wanted was a commitment from the administration that they would seriously recruit.

His cell phone rang and he picked up to hear Joe Barbers voice.

"Hey Jared. The press conference has been changed to the stadium. Go to the Gate 11 parking lot. The guard will be looking for you. Gate 11 is players, coaches and the like. We're gonna tie this announcement in with the selling of the naming rights to the stadium." Joe said.

"Oh good Lord, dare I ask?" Jared asked.

"Hahaha, don't worry. It'll be New England Meditek Stadium. We send tons of graduates to them and they're a good employer for all of New England. What's the matter, afraid it would be Exlax Park or Kotex Stadium?" Joe asked with a hardy laugh.

"OK Joe, I'm in town so I'll be there within a few minutes." Jared said hanging up.

The crowd at the press conference shocked Jared, with over half of the stadium was filled. Jared wasn't shy with all the attention though, and posed for dozens of shots for the press, did an ESPN interview and signed a few hundred autographs beforehand. Once he was introduced he was congenial with the press, with lots of them from Boston who refused to throw him easy softballs. Winslow wasn't at all about to shy away from any question and never at a loss for words. The last question of the conference was when he was asked for predictions about the teams finish.

"Do I think we'll win the division? I would never bring my team onto the field if I didn't think we had a chance to win. If I ever thought a player had that thought in their mind they would be eating Mom's home cooking in no time. We'll always have a game plan to win. Obviously this first year will be tough on all of players, coaching staff and me alike. BUT, we work with what we have and I see a lot of talent to work with. I have a lot of plans and ideas, but a lot will take time to call this ALL my team, but be assured from the opening kick-off this year you will see a different New England Ag and Tech team. THEY CALLED ME WINNING WINSLOW AT VALLEY TECH AND I HAVE TOO MANY MONOGRAMMED AND PERSONALIZED THINGS TO CHANGE TO DUMP THAT NAME." Jared answered as the crowd went crazy and he stepped off the podium.

It was pure Hollywood, with the answer looking to be off the cuff, but Jared had it loaded and ready from the start. The fact it came as the last question, was just luck. Jared spent almost 2 hours trying to break free from interviews, autographs and photos. Joe Barber knew he had to get Jared out of the stadium and get him to his new residence so he could settle in a bit before he started work.

He had 3 appointments with returning players that evening and 16 more for Friday. With 39 returning players the rest of the 60 + -man roster made up of incoming freshman and transfers he was assured of having a very young and inexperienced team. He only hoped that when the new season started all 39 would still be around. He planned on filling them with excitement and an optimistic outlook of their new coaches vision. His 3 transfers were going to be juniors, having transferred after their freshman years and having to sit out a season. All three were highly regarded prospects with NFL aspirations. However, the only colleges they could get into left them with little chance to make a national splash. Having proved themselves on the field and now in the classroom, NEAT administration accepted their transfers. Low SAT's and dismal High School GPA's kept them out of prime schools. If a prospective transfer shows he is willing to crack down on the books as a freshman and continue to do so while sitting out the season they are given permission to practice with the team. They have no guarantees though. Jared felt all three had the potential to be major impact players, but history told him that grades would be a problem as they found more athletic success. Jared Winslow didn't tolerate that, or the attitude that goes with it. Nobody is above his rules and to him Student-Athlete meant just that. Student first, Athlete second. It was the probable reason he would never ascend to the high ranks of the best-known football schools. He felt compelled to graduate players. His Dad had been a friend of a top basketball school coach from the mid-west who consistently was ranked in the national top 20 or better for 15 straight years. He had graduated but ONE player, and he came back after retiring from the NBA to get his diploma. It made his Dad spitting mad to talk about it because he respected his friend's skills so much. Jared was sure he didn't want that sort of legacy to dog him.

Joe Barber sat in on the first 3 interviews Winslow conducted Thursday evening. He instantly knew that he liked his style. Each player came in comfortable of his place on next years team in the position they felt they had the most talent.

They left with uncertainty of making the team and their position wide open, but somehow happy and confident they could show Coach Winslow the skills it might take to play where he thought it would best serve the team. It was already evident that Jared Winslow possessed the ability to handle boys to make them men, and then to handle the men individually and as a team making them be the best they could make of themselves. He was a motivator and dealer of confidence.

Barber was well aware that sitting in on any of the other interviews was not necessary, Winslow could handle himself quite well. When Jared finally got to his residence that night he was tired, but anxious to get settled. Whomever was assigned to be sure his personal things were put into the house did a great job of lining up the boxes in a way that they were all easily accessible, but not in the way. He set up his bathroom and kitchen and decided to settle into bed. He realized that it was the first time in many months that he would be sleeping alone. He was sad and missed Barbie, but one thing struck him. He missed the Barbie that was passionate, forceful and not afraid to take the sexual reins to drive both of their lusts. That was the one that made love to him on the last Sunday morning. The Barbie he lived with the 3 days before and 3 days after that event was the one he spent the most time with in the past few years and he did not miss her. Their first 7 years were happy, horny, day-to-day personal victories of life. Where and why that slipped away were questions not easily answered. Nothing had changed in the regularity of time they spent with each other, with Barbie making almost every road trip.

Now he looked to the empty side of the bed and imagined her tall dark haired image there. He sighed and hugged the pillow, but quickly he faded into sleep.

Friday Joe Barber left Jared to himself in his office at the administration building to finish his player interviews. By 4 in the afternoon Jared was working the phones networking his contacts, but ready to get home and settle in.

The on-campus residences were somewhat of a gated community within the campus. It bordered off campus private homes, but to drive to them you had to go by a guard shack where license plates were tracked. After 6:00 PM cars were stopped and drivers questioned of their business in the area. It was supposed to appear as an invisible curtain of security.

By 6:30 in the early evening empty boxes were beginning to pile up on the garage floor. He enjoyed setting up his bachelor housekeeping. He wasn't in love with the furniture picked out for the house, but he was adaptable more so than Barbie would have been. He had expected to get a congratulatory message from Barbie in some form, but nothing came. Calling her was out of the question. He wanted the silence between them to last for at least a few weeks, and he was not going to be the one to give in. He felt no culpability in the loss of the relationship. He hoped she realized after just a few days that she didn't really miss him that much. That would be the proof that she had become bored with the relationship, which he thought was totally evident. Only the threat of him leaving made her juices flow on Sunday, but she reverted back to her former mood on Monday morning.

Saturday morning Jared awoke for the first time in weeks with a full sense of accomplishment and without conflict in his head over his recent decisions. His home was set up with only a short list of things he wished he had taken from his old life and home. He had finished all of his interviews and written brief notes to himself on each player. He knew what to watch for with each of them as early practices started. He had notes from the game videos he had watched and was already coupling them in his mind with the impressions he took away from his talks with them. The challenge of building his team, his career, was at hand and he was excited.

Today he would meet the rest of the athletic staff at what was an annual affair to finish the school year, Joe Barbers barbeque! It was where incoming staff for the coming school year met the athletic administration. It was one of the school departments that didn't shut down for the summer, it was also one of the departments where next years staff changes were plugged in before graduation if at all possible. That usually meant coaches and assistants. Barber felt seeing the previous attitudes and methods were important for the new personnel to drink in and see where changes needed were evident. Joe Barber fought administration to keep Soccer, Lacrosse, and Rugby out of his realm. They wanted to cut staff, but he convinced them that they were just "club" sports and not worthy of his time and staff. He didn't want the key money producing sports to suffer through time spent with teams with no fiscal bearing on the college. The schools reputation was bringing more and more students from abroad, however, and those "international" sports were beginning to see heavy student involvement. It wouldn't be long before there would be a recruitment program and a solicitation to the NCAA to make their teams legitimate.

Jared was dressed and ready for the affair by a little after 11. It didn't start until noon, but he wanted to be there early to meet everyone and also to show he was more than willing to pitch in. He wanted to be sure that everyone knew he was no prima-donna. The national news of his hiring certainly spread some animosity with some, and he was determined to show them he was a "regular Joe".

He took the directions Joe Barber had given him to his sister in laws house. It was off-campus on a piece of property willed to the university. It offered a large country-setting perfect for outdoor affairs. The home was that of the Sports Information Director, Ann Comeche who was the sister of Joe Barbers wife. All he knew of her was that she was a few years younger than Mrs. Barber and did her job quite well. She had studied Jared Winslow's career and prepared a flawless packet for distribution upon his hiring. When he was sent a copy for his approval, he made but one change, that he was single, and never married. It was assumed that he and Barbie were married, he guessed.

When he pulled into the large dirt and gravel driveway he was the third car there. He saw a woman taping table covers on long tables in the side yard and as he pulled in a gray haired, but seemingly young, late 30's or early 40's, woman came out of the house with bags of ice. Joe guessed it was Ann and he quickly got out of the car and went to her.

"Here, let me get those, I came early to help out." Jared said rushing to help her.

Oh PLEASE, the bags of ice are the least of our worries. I know you're Jared Winslow from all of the media attention. Good luck and welcome." She said shaking his hand. "I'm Annabelle, but please call me Belle."

"Ummm, we could use a hand moving the grilles from the shed. There's only Amanda, one of the frat booster organizers here and me so far." She said turning to the woman on the side of the house. "Amanda, come meet Coach Winslow" She yelled.

The "woman" on the side of the house ended up being a 19 or 20 year old student who reminded him a bit of Barbie once she got close to him, trim figure and dark hair.

"Oh, Hello Coach, so glad to meet you! I've got a whole presentation to show you on how we'll support the team, but let business wait. I'm glad you came early, we can't seem to move the grills."

"First off, Please call me Jared off the field. My Dad was Coach Winslow and I don't pretend to be him. Secondly, any student participation in team boosters is fantastic and I look forward to seeing your presentation and sharing ideas. Getting fan support at away games and the like is something I hope you've worked on." He said as he made his way toward the shed.

"It is, we want to get a LOT done I that area, but we can talk later." She said as she walked up beside him.

Belle, was already in the shed trying to pull on one of the grilles to move it. As she bent over and pulled he couldn't help but notice what a shapely and firm ass she had. Belle was tall, around 5' 9" and well filled out. Not what you would call thick or even a little chubby. She was well proportioned and the kind of body he might have called comfortable. Where Barbie was close to the bone, Belle was quite the opposite.

"I can't move these for anything!" She said pulling on it so hard she fell back to him.

He caught her and was intoxicated by her smell immediately, slightly flowery, but just a scent that conveyed pure woman. He held her arms that he caught her by and without thinking said, "Wow, you sure do smell great."

He was embarrassed he said it and thought it was best to just let it go as he examined why the grilles wouldn't move.

"You obviously didn't put these away, but there's a steel sheath going through the frame of them that locks over there." He said pointing to a large hasp that went through a support beam for the shed.

All three grilles were immovable until you unlocked the heavy padlock.

"Do you have a key for that?" He asked.

She fumbled in a pocket and drew out a chain with a fob that said "shed" with two keys. One was a door key and the other for the padlock. He unlocked it and went to the other support beam and drew out the sheath.

"Now we can move the grilles. Let me see if I can get them alone." He said as he pulled one out and rolled it to the deck attached to the front of the shed.

Once outside Belle took one end of the grille, the one without wheels and bent to swing it into place. As she bent the front of her shirt opened giving Jared a good look at 2 beautiful boobs right to the edge of the nipple.

She looked up and caught him looking and smiled at him, definitely flirting. He began to apologize but let the words catch in his throat and carried on as it nothing happened. She smiled brightly at him and walked past him back into the shed where Amanda was pulling a second grille out.

"Please let me get those." He said with Amanda giving up her quest.

"Once you get them out and lined up can you help bring out the soda and beer for the coolers?" Belle said as she walked toward the house.

"Not a problem." Jared said as he watched she walked away in her light colored tight pants. He looked for a panty line, but was caught as she turned back

"Fuck!" He thought to himself. "She probably thinks I'm some sort of stalker or something."

He finished the grilles and went into the house with Belle arranging food in the refrigerator.

"The cans of soda go in the blue coolers and the bottled beer goes into the 2 green ones. The bags of ice are in front of each cooler; just dump it in after you load them." Belle said as she turned her attention to a potato salad she was starting to mix. Jared didn't miss the circular motion of her hips and she didn't miss him in the back splash mirror checking her out.

"What is it about this woman that has me mesmerized? She's so bright and cheery and her smile lights up the room. Yeah, that might have something to do with it. Plus she looks like she would feel so good up against you, all soft and warm. Holy crap, I'm horny! A week ago I was with my Barbie and already another woman, an older woman, was making me go crazy." He ran through his mind as he did what Belle asked.

He heard another car pull up as Belle came out of the house.

"Well now you get to finally meet my baby sister. She's been talking about you all week and she missed really meeting you. She's been so jealous of my husband." Belle said.

"Whoa, wait a minute! I thought YOU were Ann! Didn't you say your name was Annabelle?" Jared said, truly stunned.

"No, I'm Annabelle, She's Anna Marie. Both of our grandmothers were Anna's. She uses Ann, and I've always been Belle." Belle said to his surprise.

"Holy Shit! I've been checking out my boss's wife like she's a steak at the meat market and she's been flirting right back. How in Gods name can he call her "the old gray mare"? She just oozes sex." He thought to himself as he walked with Belle to meet Ann.

"Anna Marie, meet Jared Winslow. We've already put him to work and he passes the test as a good guy." Belle said smiling to her sister.

Ann Comeche was simply a younger version of Belle. It would be easy to convince anyone they were twins. Ann's body was a little tighter, obviously more athletic, but in the same 5' 9" frame.

Ann engaged him in conversation instantly as he helped her with the bags she just came from the store with. They bantered back and forth as they walked toward the house, strictly talking business. Just as they reached the door Belle yelled from the yard.

"Did you have to steal him right away so fast? I saw him first! Just because you're not married doesn't mean you get first dibs!" She said kidding.

"You'll have to excuse my sister, our boss neglects her. My brother in law is married to his job first and my sister second. It's not really that bad, but she makes you think so some times." Ann said making excuses for her sister. "He didn't call her the "old gray mare" did he?"

Jared began to stumble at his answer when she cut him off. "I knew it. We all go gray early, the women in our family. I think she's pretty attractive, don't you?"

"Umm, you're asking me to comment on my new boss's wife, but YES she's attractive, as are you. Now let's change the subject." Jared said wishing the whole subject hadn't come up.

"Come here for a moment." Ann said pulling Jared into a small study with a desk and shelves of trophies and awards she had won.

"Let me tell you this, no matter what the problem is, no matter what the situation is, if it's trouble, come to me. If you and I end up being mortal enemies, I will defend you and prop you up, fix anything I can fix and make things better. It's my job and I take it seriously. There are people I work with I find deplorable, but you will never know it because my job is to make our public persona a positive thing for the university. I will do my job and not let my personal feelings get in the way. I will not undermine you. My brother-in-law treats my sister like shit, but it casts no shadow on how I do my job for him. OK, are we straight?" Ann said forcefully to Jared.

"I think I know the program. Thanks for the heads-up and quick tutor on you. We didn't really have an SID at Valley Tech." He told her as she began to open the door.

"Remember my words, NO MATTER WHAT! ... and my sister will apologize for flirting."

"That's not necessary." He said waving his hand not wanting her to bother speaking to her.

"Oh, I'm not going to tell her to, she'll do it on her own. She's only playing because Joe isn't here yet. She wants you to know she's OK. She knows Joe probably ran her down." Ann said pushing the door into the frame half-way and finishing her thought before opening it and walking out as if nothing happened.

More and more of the staff were arriving now along with Joe Barber. Little by little Jared met everyone and he was glad he was fitting in. He added to all of the conversations and laughed with everyone at the jokes and stories. He drank a few beers and loosened up nicely. It didn't take long before he had to answer natures call and he went into the house to use the bathroom. Just as he was about to go in he saw Belle come out of the little office he had been in earlier.