Chapter 5

“THANKS, ELI!”

The server smiled and walked away from their table at the stuffy steakhouse after taking their order. It was the kind of place where the lighting was just a little bit too dark and a bit pretentious. Fourteen dollars for a cup of soup was just rude. But, this was the kind of place Gage enjoyed being seen. For what? Hailey wasn’t quite sure. She would have been happy with a decent cheeseburger at a neighborhood bar.

“Do you know that guy?” Gage asked with a sneer on his face.

“The server? No, we just met him.”

“You said his name like you knew him.”

“Well, he introduced himself to us. You heard his name, too.”

“I forgot his name immediately after he said it.”

She somehow managed not to roll her eyes.

“Yeah, most people do. But servers really like it when you recognize they’re a human instead of just treating them like a servant. Whenever a table remembers my name I always give them a little bit better service. The worst is when you get to a table and they cut you off while you’re introducing yourself to say their order. It’s dehumanizing.”

Hailey was under the firm belief that everyone at some point in their life should work at a restaurant or in retail. It is ridiculous how poorly some people treat service workers. But, the sneer didn’t leave Gage’s face.

“Kind of just sounded like you were flirting with him.”

Was he serious?

Despite some of the things she was dealing with, Hailey had a bounce in her step when she made her way into the restaurant earlier. She genuinely enjoyed seeing Gage, for some reason, and looked forward to the physical affection when he showed it. She was thankful she had someone’s arms to lay in at night or share hugs and kisses with. Despite everything else, Gage was at least willing to do those things.

But, he was making it harder and harder to keep that bounce.

She let out a deep sigh before responding. She knew where this conversation could go and the best way to deal with it was to change the subject.

“Being polite is not the same as flirting. Hey, the Phillies game is starting. Think they’ll beat the Mets tonight?”

Gage turned to one of the few flat-screen TVs above the fancy bar playing the ball game.

“God, I hope so. But Nola is pitching and he’s coming off that injury so who knows?”

Distraction successful!

“Hopefully it’s at least a good game! I hate the blowouts; they’re just so boring.”

“I could use a blowout. Realmuto is killing me in my fantasy league.”

“He’s the best catcher in the league, you can’t get any better out there.”

“I’d do better with Will Smith from the Dodgers.”

“He can certainly help you get jiggy wit it!”

Hailey gave him her biggest grin at her joke. How can you not make a joke when he’s got a name like that?

Gage deadpanned, “Good one.”

Geez, he was no fun.

“I thought so, too. But anyway, Realmuto has like twenty percentage points over Smith when it comes to batting average.”

Gage narrowed his eyes, “No way, maybe I’ll make a trade for Smith. I think Jamie has him on his team.”

“Trust me. Stick with Realmuto. Go ahead, compare his stats.”

“I’ll show you, Smith is definitely better. He was hot the last week.”

Gage pulled out his phone and searched the baseball stats page. After a bit, she could see the expression on his face change from smug to annoyed. He locked his phone and put it back in his pocket.

“Well? Was I right?”

“Yeah, you were right. You should stick to waitressing instead of paying so much attention to baseball.”

Hailey narrowed her eyes. Gage and her have been to a handful of games during their relationship and usually had a good time. At least, she always had a good time at a live game. His time always depended on whether they won or lost.

“What do you mean I should stick to waitressing? Are you really pissed that I was right about a baseball stat? It’s just a game.”

He grunted. Gage always got like this when Hailey showed him up when it came to sports knowledge. She was used to guys getting like this, but you would think he’d be happy his girlfriend enjoyed something as much as he did and was knowledgeable about it. The emasculation was strong with this one.

“Ya know, I did use to be a sports reporter.”

“Yeah, yeah. Oh here’s Eli with our food.”

Thank God.

Hailey said thank you to the server after he dropped off the food, noticing Gage just ignored him. Rude. She really was tired of men feeling threatened by her sports knowledge. It was getting old. And God forbid she also played better than a guy. They looked like their balls just got cut off. Too bad actually cutting off their balls was frowned upon.

Sometimes she missed being a sports reporter, but being around so many men and losing her weekends and nights was just getting stale. It also didn’t help that her editor was a misogynist that constantly hit on her, trying to get her to go out for a drink with him. She had to get out of there.

Cheering from the bar brought Hailey out of her thoughts. Realmuto just hit a home run for the Phils. She clapped her hands with most of the bar but Gage just looked at the TV and rolled his eyes.

Seriously? Delicate fucking men.

“Oh, my mom wanted to know if you wanted to go over there for dinner sometime soon.”

“Aww, does Babs miss me?”

Gage insisted on calling her mom Babs, instead of Barbara, when they weren’t in front of her. Otherwise, he called her Mrs. Williams. He really knew how to charm parents. Luckily, Hailey’s dad was a bit more difficult, but once they started talking about golf, Gage won him over, too. It helped that Gage’s family had an in at a fancy country club nearby.

“Apparently. So, you up for it?”

“Yeah, let me look at my schedule at work tomorrow and I’ll let you know what night I can definitely get home a little earlier.”

“Thanks, sounds good,” she said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. Hailey knew dinner would be a bit of a drag. Likely, her mom would say some passive-aggressive comment about her figure. She always gave Hailey shit for being too silly, too outgoing, somehow too chubby despite being completely healthy and having a flat stomach. Some things just didn’t flatter her figure because of her curves and muscle, but it’s not her fault she was more comfortable in boxy T-shirts and soccer shorts. It’s like “Babs” and Gage were on the same page about everything.

“Speaking of socializing, we’re going to PJ’s with the guys on Wednesday. Isaac is bringing some new chick he met last weekend so it’s fine if you come.”

What every girl wanted to hear: their presence was fine.

“You sure you don’t want to stay in? Have a movie night? I’m so busy this week, it would be nice to just chill one night with you.”

“No way, we can’t skip Wednesday night with the guys. It’s a tradition!”

Hailey decided not to bring up the fact that he constantly made her skip events when her friends were involved, but she had a zero percent chance of ever being able to skip when it came to his friends.

She reluctantly caved and said she’d go, but she was not looking forward to it. Gage acted like a douche around his friends and she didn’t quite care for it. He paid little attention to her and focused on his friends he literally saw at least three times a week. He even worked all day with two of them.

By the end of the meal, Hailey was ready to get out of there. At least she had exchanging gifts to look forward to. She was pretty excited about the present she got Gage for their one-year anniversary.

Hailey hoped he didn’t spend too much. He certainly didn’t skimp when it came to gifts for her, but she wasn’t really crazy about fancy things so most of the time she didn’t actually love the gifts. They usually weren’t her.

For her birthday earlier this year, he got her this fancy watch, despite her never wearing anything on her wrists besides hair ties. It was super bulky, too. She wore it around him because she didn’t want him to think she didn’t appreciate the gift.

After paying the bill and sneaking Eli an extra tip under her water glass, Hailey and Gage headed back to his place. They finally settled on his couch in his condo. One of the things she liked about him was that he had his own place. Before him, she had a pretty long dry spell, but before that she had never been with a guy that didn’t live with his parents. It was so annoying visiting past boyfriends and worrying about their mom barging in. She definitely liked her privacy.

Gage’s condo was in a high rise that came with a view of the Philadelphia skyline and when she was feeling down she sometimes got lost in that view, imagining all the people wandering through that city, living their own lives. It made her feel a little less alone. Apart from the comfy couch, Gage’s place was a typical bachelor pad. He used his second bedroom as a game room and the third bedroom as his office. His entertainment system was probably his most prized possession. She sometimes thought he loved it more than her. Only sometimes.

Something that always put Hailey in a good mood was giving people she loved presents. The anticipation of them unwrapping it and seeing the look on their face when they opened it was something she lived for and always made her feel good.

“Here! I’m so excited for you to open it!” She passed the large rectangular gift toward him and waited patiently for him to rip it open.

“Thanks, babe,” he said with a smile. “Where on earth did you find wrapping paper with stock symbols all over it?

“A gift master never reveals their secrets,” she said with a giggle.

He smirked, then carefully tore through the wrapping that was obviously a large picture frame.

“Holy shit. How did you … where did you … how?”

“I commissioned it through one of my artist friends in Seattle. Do you like it? I figured it could go in your office!”

Gage looked in amazement at the piece of art he was holding, not believing what he was looking at. The gift master reigns supreme!

It was a beautifully painted image worthy of the Renaissance of Gage literally taking a bull by the horns, an ode to his job and one of his favorite movies, “Dodgeball.”

He started laughing in disbelief and she was elated. This was what she lived for, the happiness she gave to others.

“Babe, this is amazing. I can’t stop looking at it.”

“I’m so glad you like it! You”re always talking about taking the bull market by the horns!” Whatever the fuck that meant.

She leaned toward him on the couch to give him a kiss on his cheek. It would have been on his lips but he was still distracted by the art, which was totally fine by her.

“Happy anniversary!”

He carefully set aside his gift, then reached behind the couch and pulled out a big gift bag with a knowing smile on his face. She took it from his hands and gasped at how heavy it was.

“Oh wow, what did you get me? This is huge!”

“Not the only huge thing you’ll be getting tonight! Go ahead, open it,” Gage prodded. His excitement paled in comparison to hers, but seriously, whose didn’t?

Hailey ignored his comment and reached into the bag, pulling out some tissue paper first, and then let out a gasp.

“Oh my God! You got me the new PlayStation? Gage, this is too much!”

“Not at all. I thought you’d like it,” his smile growing. “I figured if you had this, you wouldn’t miss me as much when I’m out with the guys because you’d have something to play with and keep you busy!”

Hailey froze and stared at him in disbelief, hoping that she heard him wrong.

“So I won’t miss you as much?”

“Yeah, you always complain that I go out with the guys too much and don’t have enough time for you. This will keep you company those nights!”

He now had a giant smile plastered to his face.

“Wow. Um, thanks,” she deflated.

“Yeah and I got you the new Spiderman game to play.”

She struggled to swallow past the lump in her throat, “Great! It’s great. Thanks so much.”

Fuck me.