Chapter 3

3

Cutter

Idon't believe in wasting time in life, if I can help it.

The sooner I get into the swimming pool, the sooner I can finish working out these nagging injuries, the sooner I can get back in the game.

Of course I'm watching every second of every game I'm not part of.

Our record is slipping. Directly tied to me? Probably not. But you never know.

My agent Tony calls me as I'm on my back in the middle of the living room, working on some stretching.

I hate to admit this… but things are still hurting.

Even something as simple as driving a couple hours to this little town called Morgalen, these injuries are now flared up. Again.

"Cutter! My man!" Tony yells from my phone as I have him on speaker.

I sit up and wince more than I want anyone to know.

"Tony," I say.

"Come on, don't be like that. No grumpy stuff allowed. Hey, do you believe in energy and all that? The universe in control of things? What you put out is what you get back?"

"You need to put me out on the field so you can get back more money," I say.

Tony chuckles. "Now you're thinking the long game. Hey, I'll be there in about an hour."

"What? Why?"

"Cutter, we have to go to the gym together. I'll handle all the introductions. We can record a few videos. You know? I'm bringing two guys with me. College kids. Good experience for them."

"What the hell is this, Tony? I'm cutting promos now?"

"It's not exactly… but, sure. Look, Cutter, my man, you have a bad reputation now. We need to rehab it, along with your body. See what I did there?"

"Tony, I'm not doing promos or interviews. I'm going to go swim, stretch and figure this thing out. On my own."

"Whoa," Tony says. "On your own? You're going to just show up? With nobody?"

"That was the point of coming here, right? Small town. Nobody is supposed to know me. I don't need banners flown for me. I can just show up, swim, and leave."

"You're not swimming alone, Cutter. You do know we have at least two physical therapists joining you. This is serious stuff."

I grit my teeth. Hard.

I've done enough injury rehabbing in my career, I know most of the moves by now. And the thing with the pool… it's just for swimming. It's very easy impact exercise. It allows me to move more than I normally would. I can stretch, swim… actually swim and get a decent workout.

"When is this all going to die down?" I ask.

"Soon, Cutter," Tony says. "I still say we bring in the old lady you saved and get her story. The grandson too."

"No," I say. "Leave them alone, Tony. Bad enough they're social media famous as it is."

"Well, then it looks bad on you."

"Tony."

"Okay, I'll lay off."

"Don't lay off," I say. "Put your blinker on, get off at the next exit and turn around. You want to help me? Go back to your office and make some calls."

"Cutter, that's a terrible idea."

"If you show up here, I won't show up at the pool."

I'm not happy at how babyish that sounds.

"You do need some sense of visibility, Cutter," Tony says. "I know it seems odd when you're supposed to be hiding. We need good videos of you. We need to build your image up."

"That's a hard pass for me, Tony. I'm not making a promotional video of myself. Everyone knows the truth."

"Do they?"

I fall silent.

I made the mistake last night of searching my name…

It didn't go well. The online hate is real. Which I don't get at all. Or maybe I do. I don't know. Everyone can say and do whatever they want online, even if they don't mean it.

"Cutter, you there?"

"Do not show up," I say. "I'm going to do what I have to do here. For myself. That's the only story anyone needs."

Tony sighs.

I know he's not one to just back off that easily.

So I hang up on him.

I turn left at the bridge.

That's what the sign at the previous block told me to do. So did my GPS.

This town is such a small town they uses directions like turn at the old bridge where the train tracks are instead of street names.

I drive down a long road, trees on each side of the road.

The view in front of me is a large hill. Almost a mountain-sized hill.

The road curves a little to the right and there's an ugly looking building.

A definite far cry from the athletic facilities of a professional sports team.

There we have fresh, filtered water, the cleanest air possible, the fanciest equipment possible. Trainers. Computers to hook up to our bodies. All kinds of crazy stuff to keep us in top shape.

Yet ironic enough, at the end of the day, we're all just human. One dirty play in a game and here I am, parked in this small town ready to go swim at this gym.

I turn the SUV off and take a breath.

There's a sudden knock at the window and I jump in my seat.

I turn and am ready to throw a punch only to find some guy with big eyes staring at me through glasses, with a bigger smile, and waving like crazy.

Someone recognized me already?

I roll the window down. "Hey, listen-"

"Cutter, it's nice to meet you. I just spoke with Tony. It's just you and me today, buddy."

Buddy?

I curl my lip. "Who the hell are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I feel like I know you personally by now after reviewing your file! I'm Nicholas. Plantaine. You can call me Nick. I'm going to be-"

I put the window back up.

Nicholas Plantaine keeps talking.

I find myself gritting my teeth once again and I open the door to climb out of the SUV.

Nicholas jumps back.

He's wearing blue scrubs and has his name tag attached to a pocket near the bottom of his shirt. He's got a large bag tossed over his right shoulder.

"Ready to swim?" Nicholas asks.

"You can leave now."

Nicholas's face dropped. "What?"

"Things got mixed up. Tony should have talked to you sooner."

"I'm confused. I just drove over-"

"You'll be paid for the day," I say. "No worries about that. Go call Tony. Tell him."

"Cutter," Nicholas says. I must have given him a death look right then… "Mr. Buckley?"

"I can't make it any more clear," I say to him. "You are not walking into that gym with me. Okay?"

I slam my door shut.

I realize I never grabbed my gym bag so I have to open the door again.

I reach across the seat, grab my gym bag, then slam the door again. Just to punctuate my point.

Leave me alone.

I walk across the parking lot and don't look back.

When I enter the gym, there's a woman behind a desk.

She stands up and smiles.

My chance of staying under the radar is gone again because I don't have a gym membership.

So I have to tell this woman who I am.

She points at me. "Cutter Buckley."

Okay, never mind that.

"Possibly," I say. "Do I owe you any money?"

"Maybe just a kiss on the cheek?"

She's an older woman but her aura is nothing but energy.

"I'm Dorothy," she says, offering her skinny, aged hand.

I take it. Gently. "You know who I am. And why I'm here."

"You're alone?"

"Yes," I say. "I don't need a circus here."

Dorothy lets out a Ha and shakes her head.

"What?" I ask.

"Oh, nothing. Just… it's a little hectic here because of you."

"Why? What happened?"

"Just making arrangements with the pool. That's all."

I growl inside my throat.

Dorothy offers to give me a tour but I decline.

I have no problem walking around by myself. If I want to find the pool, I'll just follow the smell of the chlorine. The closer I get to the pool the heavier that smell is.

I walk past the locker rooms and stop at the next door.

I look through the glass and see half the pool.

What I see are a whole bunch of elderly ladies. Wearing polka dot one-piece bathing suits, many of them with swimming caps on their heads. Throwing their hands into the air, cheering, smiling.

A face appears in the glass.

The door opens.

"Cutter Buckley, come on in. I'm Brian. I'm the Director around here."

This guy's smile is brighter than the sun. He looks like he's ready to sell me a used car with transmission issues.

"Place is all yours," Brian says. "Listen, I managed to get the first four lanes closed just for you. We had full intentions of cancelling classes, but our guests for this aquatic exercise class really aren't tech savvy. My sincerest apologies."

"You don't have to apologize for anything," I say. "My only ask… access no matter what…"

"Already done," Brian says. "Here." He reaches into his suit jacket pocket and presents me with a key. "We're very old school here. This is a key to the door for the pool. I know you've signed all the waivers…"

"No worries. I'm not going to sue you."

"Awful we have to think that way right now. But no choice."

"I'm here to be as invisible as I can."

"You're far from that! We're thrilled to have you here! Actually, here. Hold on." Brian turns his head and sticks his fingers into his mouth and he whistles. "Piper! Come over here for a second!"

When I see Piper, it's… a moment.

She's the lifeguard, dressed in a red t-shirt and white shorts, with legs that seem to go on for days. Her hair is pulled back, messy, just thrown together however it looks. From our distance I sense instant tension with her. Maybe it's because I'm making mental notes of her thin lips, pursed together in annoyance. Or the way her nostrils look flared. Her nose is skinny, long, kind of cute in that mean, RBF way. Then again, I'm pretty sure Piper is not staring with a resting bitch face at all. This is an active bitch face for sure. Directed at me. Directed at Brian.

"Can't leave this spot!" Piper calls out.

She lifts her eyebrows in a cocky way, daring Brian to respond.

She then crosses her right leg over her left.

I look at her feet…

Oh, come on, man, get a grip.

But it's too late. I already make a note of her long feet and her stubby, cute toes. Complete with chipped nail polish on her toenails. A woman who will occasionally paint her nails as a form of forced self-care but then forget it right away.

Piper has a whistle string on her left pointer finger. She looks back to the pool and begins to swirl the string, making it wrap around her finger, getting smaller by the second until the whistle bounces off her finger. Then she reverses the movement.

"That's Piper," Brian says with a sigh. "She's the head lifeguard. Don't mind her. She doesn't understand the circumstances here with your presence."

"Great," I say.

Just what I need. An introduction with me around.

I take a few steps toward the pool and all the women who are exercising look right at me.

There's some oldies music blaring through a large portable speaker in the far corner.

Piper leans forward and claps her hands. "Come on now. No getting distracted. He's the one in the way. Not you."

Piper side eyes me.

I nod.

It's pretty clear that some guy - probably athletic - broke Piper's heart.

I'm an easy target for her.

"Hey, Cutter, not to be disrespectful here, but I have a conference coming up…"

"Go for it," I say to Brian. "I'm fine."

"If Piper gives you any issues…"

"I said I'm fine."

At some point Brian walks away.

I stand in place and watch as Piper cheers on the elderly aquatic exercisers.

She wants them to make noise. Make waves.

In other words, she really does not want me here.

Well, this should make my stay here in town a little more interesting, huh?