Chapter 2

I got off the barstool and walked over to the guys.

"Hey, aren't you Rick O'Brien?"

He nodded. Not too interested, from his expression.

"Home for the summer?"

"Yeah ... taking a couple days then look for a summer job."

"Great, good luck. You still playing for Northern?

"Naw, not anymore. I wasn't getting snaps so I quit wasting my time. I lost the aid but it wasn't all that much anyway."

"Well ... have a good summer."

I started to walk away, then stopped and turned as if I'd just thought of something.

"Say ... a friend of mine runs the call center for Insurant. Maybe he could get you on as an operator ... interested?"

"Sure, I guess. What would I do?"

"Customer service, probably. I worked there a while, it's not hard. I'll give him a call and check it for you, why don't you write down your cell number for me. If he's interested I'll call and fill you in on what you should do at the interview."

He scribbled the number on a napkin.

"Hey, thanks man."

"No problem. Glad to help out the MVP of 09."

Now to figure out the best way to contact Ellie.

It turned out to be simple, I just stopped in the Kwicki Mart the next morning, bought a coffee, and planted the thought in Ellie's mind that she would sure like a Subway sub when she took lunch at 11.

I walked into Subway a few minutes after her and, when I got my sandwich, I walked over to her table and asked if she'd like some company. I gently helped out her decision, of course. I thought it might be awkward if I didn't.

We talked about the weather or something for a minute, then I broached the subject.

"Hey, I saw your classmate, Rick yesterday. He seems to have gotten over his headache"

She didn't say anything, or even change her expression. I stayed outside her head.

"So I take it you have mixed feelings about that guy?"

I just looked at her eyes.

"Well ... yeah ... sort of." As anyone would, she looked a little apprehensive. I smiled and took a little edge off her concern about revealing personal thoughts to this geezer she barely knew.

I smiled reassuringly. I hoped.

"Don't worry, I was young once. In fact I'm still young." I chuckled then. "Well, young at heart, as they used to say."

She seemed to accept that.

"So, what I'm saying is you have a crush on the boy wonder quarterback. Maybe I should say 'fantasy' about him."

Her face turned bright red.

"Well ... I ... I mean, sure." She gulped and took a drink of her diet soda. "Lots of girls do ... err ... did."

Now I looked her straight in the eyes and pushed away the last of her mental walls. She still had all her will and faculties, just no reservations on speaking to me about personal feelings. Emotionally, in her view, I was now her BFF.

"So you'd like to get him into bed with you?"

She laughed, now fully at ease with me.

"Yeah," she snorted. "As if THAT'S gonna happen!!"

"It could. If you really want it to, that is."

"If I wanted it to happen, that doesn't mean he would want it to happen ... I mean ... well ... look at me. I'm not his type, ya know what I mean?"

I smiled. "No, you aren't his type. But he isn't your type, either. He's an asshole, a sexist male pig asshole. You're a kind loving soul."

"Yeah ... I'm the 'beauty is skin deep' poster child."

She could have said that in a bitter tone, but she didn't.

I shrugged. "I'm sure someone has pointed out to you that you are built like the model for a Renaissance painting. It's true you know"

She laughed. "Yeah, except those girls had nice perky tits, mine are double-D bazooms."

I smiled at her. "Well, with your bra on, you look nicely proportioned to me. And I'm sure to other guys who appreciate female forms. And, with your bra off, there's other advantages, too."

She chuckled and sat back ... stared at me.

"I can't believe I'm talking about this."

"Why are you talking to me about this?"

"I dunno. For some reason I have the feeling I can trust you. It's like I've known you a long time."

"There's a reason for that. I'm what some people call an Empath."

"Like a psychic or something?"

"More like the 'or something'. I can get into peoples' minds."