Happy Birthday: A Novel

As promised, Jack showed up in her suite at ten o’clock the next morning, dressed for work. He had an hour to spend with her over breakfast, and told her about everything he had to do before the game. He was looking forward to it, and seemed in great shape and high spirits. He had pancakes and bacon, sausages, muffins, two glasses of orange juice, and a cup of coffee. He was a big man, and he knew he wouldn’t have time to eat again for hours. She asked him questions about the game, and by the time he finished eating, he had to leave. He kissed her on the way out, and it was another kiss like the last one of the night before. Things were heating up between them, and she realized it was probably a good thing that they weren’t spending another night. She didn’t want to get caught up in the holiday atmosphere around them and do something they’d both regret. If they leaped into the abyss together, she wanted it to be real and well thought out, and so did he. After kissing her, he gently patted her behind as he walked out the door.

Valerie spent the rest of the day peacefully, and had lunch at the pool. She had another massage because she had nothing else to do, and packed her bags before she left for the game. She was wearing white jeans and a T-shirt, red loafers, and she had a red cashmere sweater over her arm in case it got cool that night. And she was excited when she left the room. Jack had called her on his cell phone every chance he got, whenever he had a break. He said everything was crazy at the stadium, as usual. He had done half a dozen more interviews by that afternoon, and called her again when she was in the car.

“I’m on my way,” she said, sounding excited.

“I’ll be able to see you, but you won’t see me,” he told her. “I’ll meet you back at the hotel about eleven o’clock.” He needed two hours to do victory interviews and wrap up after the game. There would be a victory party that night for whichever team won, but they weren’t planning to go to that. Like Valerie, he had already packed his bags and left them in his suite.

She wished him luck then for his broadcast and said she knew it would be great. April had promised to watch it, so she could see him and her mother when they played her taped interview at halftime. And Valerie had TiVo’ed it at home, so she could watch him when she got back.

Valerie got to Dolphin Stadium at five-thirty, half an hour before the game. She wanted to get to the VIP box and check out the scene before the game started. Fans were already thronging into the stadium when she got there, and some had been seated for an hour. People were selling souvenirs, buying hot dogs, drinking beer by the gallon, and half-naked girls were already cheering for their teams. It was a rowdy crowd. There was an astonishing amount of security, and Valerie knew from Jack that nowadays they did everything possible to prevent terrorist attacks, which were a real fear now and never had been in his day. It took Valerie a full ten minutes to get to the box and take her seat, and by then the lavish pregame show had started. Bob and Janice Lattimer were there. They were staying in Miami till the next day, and would be going to the victory party that night. Bob introduced her to several other people in the box, and Valerie took her seat, and saw Jack begin his broadcast from the monitor in the box.

They stood for the national anthem, performed by Stevie Wonder, and two minutes later the game was off and running. There was a wild cheer from the crowd when one of the star quarterbacks made a touchdown in the first ten minutes. Janice explained the plays to Valerie, and she had no trouble understanding what was going on. The other team scored a touchdown in the second quarter. The score was even at halftime, and a blimp hung over the stadium with cameras shooting the scene and the huge halftime extravaganza, complete with dancers and sparking rockets, several acts from Cirque du Soleil, and a brief performance by Prince.

Valerie watched Jack do an interview with Joe Montana and Jerry Rice after her own interview during halftime, and then the game was back on. The action was fast and furious, and the score kept bouncing back and forth between the two teams. The crowd was going wild. There were shouts of agony or glee even from the VIP box and Jack was busy commentating for the crowd at home, as Valerie watched him on the screen as often as possible, without missing the action on the field. And finally a field goal won it, as the favored team came in with the expected victory Jack had predicted to her that morning. But it had been close. There were tears of joy on the field, and probably many of disappointment too. And Valerie was smiling as she turned to watch Jack wrap up. He was waiting for some of the players to come and talk to him, and he was killing time till then by commenting on details and surprises of the game. Valerie was one of the last to leave the VIP box as she watched him on the screen.