A/N: First of all thank you to bex17 for pointing out my dumb mistake when I switched from third person to Rafferty's POV. I have no idea what I was thinking then but thank you for pointing it out and from now on everything is still in third person.
The Arranged Marriage
By: ConstanceGosselin
Chapter 8
The two reluctant "friends" (so to speak) did not hit too much traffic on the way to the big ball park in the Bronx. Rafferty couldn't do anything but look on in awe at the greatness of the stadium as it rose out of the morning city smog. She was still stunned when Blake pulled into the player parking garage.
Rafferty grabbed her messenger bag as Blake started heading for the clubhouse.
"You can come inside with me if you want. I don't think there will be any bare asses at this point. It's a little early for some of the players to be here." Blake informed her.
"Um… ok." Rafferty replied.
Blake motioned for her to follow through a door, down a long corridor, and through a door appropriately marked "clubhouse." Blake was right when he said not many players were there this early. There were a few trainers walking around and sitting in his office was none other than Joe Torre. Rafferty nearly dropped her bag in astonishment but what did drop was her jaw.
Blake followed her gaze to see what she was gawking at. He shook his head.
"Come on let me introduce you too him."
"Whoa, whoa. I... I'm not sure about this…"
"Aww come on! He craps in a toilet like everyone else!" Blake informed her.
"Yeah, maybe a gold toilet." Rafferty murmured. He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward Joe's office. Joe saw them and motioned them in.
"Hey Joe! I'd like you too meet my… fiancé Rafferty O'Donovan." Blake introduced her.
"Oh this is the girl huh?" Joe asked with a knowing look. "It's a pleasure to meet you Miss O'Donovan."
"It's an honor Mr. Torre." Rafferty replied not believing that she was actually shaking his hand.
"Please call me Joe." He replied.
"Joe." She corrected.
"So is it alright if she hangs out with us for today?" Blake asked.
"Yeah it's no problem. She can sit in the dugout with us or go up into the announcer's box and make fun of you guys. I don't mind it." Joe replied smiling.
Rafferty cracked a huge, sly grin. Blake glanced at her and felt genuine fear. He quickly grabbed her arm and led her out of the office before Joe gave her anymore ideas. There was no telling what she was capable of especially since they weren't entirely friendly to each other.
"Aww come on Blake! I was having fun!" Rafferty pouted.
"I'm sorry but I can't let you be exposed to any mischief."
"Whatever." Rafferty scoffed.
"Hey Blake! What's up?" A familiar voice said from the clubhouse entrance. Rafferty turned and nearly fainted on the spot. There was the short stop Derek Jeter.
"Hey Derek! Ah, I'm doing fine; same old, same old stuff. By the way this is my… fiancé Rafferty O'Donovan." Rafferty wondered why there was always a pause in between my and fiancé.
Rafferty gulped.
"Wow, this is the girl we've been hearing about. It's nice to meet you Rafferty." Derek said holding out his hand.
"Hehe, nice to meet you too." Rafferty replied somewhat giddily.
"Alex should be heading in soon. He is the one that is her favorite right?" Derek asked.
"Erm… technically Mike Mussina is my favorite, but I'm trying not to show favoritism." Rafferty replied.
Derek laughed, gave a final salute, and moved to his little "locker" (for lack of a better term) to get dressed for practice. Blake moved to the "locker" next to Derek's and began undressing. That was when Rafferty began to feel awkward. Here she was with some of the two most gorgeous men in baseball history, and they were taking off their shirts. She began fanning herself. The two men before her apparently were not aware of her discomfort, and undressed just the same exchanging idle chatter. Rafferty let out a sigh and turned around, but she was met with another handsome sight… Alex Rodriguez,
"Hello." He greeted. "You must be Rafferty O'Donovan. Blake's… fiancé?" There they go again with the pause.
"Yes, it's nice to meet you." Rafferty answered holding outher hand.
"It's nice to meet you as well Rafferty. I guess I better get dressed; I'm already late enough as it!"
Raffertylaughed and let him get to undressing. It was just unbelievable how sexy men could be at times. It sucked more when the sexiest man that you knew happened to have been a jackass to you in high school, and who happens to be "engaged" to you at the present. Rafferty shrugged, sometimes life was not fair.
"Hey Rafferty. I'm going up to the dugout if you want to come." Joe offered coming out of his office.
"Definitely!" Rafferty replied eager for the chance to get away from all the rising... heatin the room.
Rafferty gripped her messenger bag as the dugout came into view, and then beyond that... the ball field. It was the ultimate baseball lover's dream to come and see the park where some of the greats have played: Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Yogi Berra to name a few. It was a dream come true for Rafferty.
"Wow."
"Amazing isn't it? I pretty much said the same thing when I first came here." Joe said.
Rafferty staked out a spot on the bench in the dugout and began to make herself comfortable. She pulled out a notepad that she had begun creating lesson plans on, and started to take some notes.
"Rafferty?" Blake asked from above. Rafferty looked up and nearly fainted… AGAIN!
"Mike this is my… fiancé Rafferty O'Donovan." Blake introduced. Rafferty could not believe that Mike "Moose" Mussina was standing right in front of her and shaking her hand.
"Wow, it's so great to meet you." Rafferty managed to say.
"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Rafferty." Mike replied.
"Mussina, Williams, get on the field!" Joe ordered with slight sarcasm. They mocked saluted, and ran onto the field to begin their stretches and warm ups before practice. Rafferty glanced down at her hand. She definitely decided that she wasn't going to ever wash it again. Actually, she would eventually wash it, but just not now.
A/N: I do not own Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, or Mike Mussina (although I would love to own all three) or any other name that you might recognize as being a Yankee. Sorry it's been awhile since I updated. I have had writer's block but I'm taking a Creative Writing class and I'm hoping that it will help me out. I'll start working on another chapter as soon as I can. Thank you sooo very much to all of my reviewers! I love you guys!!