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"Hey, boss? I think we're missing some of the promo items," the intern said nervously, gesturing with a clipboard at the pallets stacked just inside the receiving area.
"Don't worry about it, kid. Management always holds a few back for auctions and online giveaways. Nobody ever knows if they're the four thousandth person through the door or just thirty-nine ninety-eight. We got most of 'em and that's enough."
"Where'd I put those damn Post-Its?" Saniya muttered, rummaging through the Staples bag until she found the multi-colored sticky notes she was looking for, along with the pack of metallic Sharpies.
"Ah! There's actually a package waiting for you," the desk clerk said when Marina checked in at Mohegan. He reached under the desk and passed Marina a plastic bag with the casino's logo on it. She glanced inside, but the plain white box revealed nothing of its contents.
Once she got upstairs, put her bags down, and scrubbed off the worst of the travel grunge, she investigated the Mohegan bag. The box rattled a little bit when she shook it. There were no weird smells or anything coming out of it, and she was fairly certain that some basic security vetting would have been done before it ever got to her, so it was probably safe to open.
When she got it open, she was met with Styrofoam and a dark yellow sticky note. ticket! it declared in gold Sharpie and Saniya's handwriting.
Marina's eyes narrowed, and she ran a fingernail along the edge of the Styrofoam until the tape holding it together parted. There was another sticky note tucked inside the Styrofoam, with an address on it; she didn't recognize the immediate address, but she remembered the street name from navigating the neighborhood. She facepalmed, and then FaceTimed.
"Hey, babe."
"Hi. Why are you like this?"
"Well..." Saniya said, drawing the word out like she was giving Marina's question genuine thought. "I was a sweet, innocent, impressionable rookie, and this messed-up fucker who was all in her feelings 'cause the team refused her trade request decided she was gonna take advantage of my youth and vulnerability in a real bad time of my life to corrupt me, and now I'm some kind of ho sleeping with half my teammates. Think that's what Google said. Was the AI summary, though."
Carefully, lovingly, Marina propped the phone up against the headboard, then just as carefully and lovingly hurled a pillow towards it. This did nothing to dispel Saniya's shit-eating grin.
"Say that to my face," Saniya challenged her.
"You know what? I think I will," Marina said. She grabbed the phone, blew a kiss at Saniya, and popped open the Uber app. She stared at the Post-It and plugged in the address, then said to Saniya, "See you in a few."
"Don't forget, you gotta bring the whole thing to get into the meet and greet," Saniya said, still grinning.
Marina sighed dramatically, rolled her eyes theatrically, and ended the call. She hadn't really given herself enough time to get ready, but she had a little time, and she'd left a couple of nice things near the top of her bag just in case she had a reason to wear something pretty.
Saniya would understand. Probably.
Less than an hour later, Marina was stepping out of a car in front of an apartment building that had the vague familiarity of a building she'd driven past before. She looked at the sticky note one more time and rang the appropriate bell to be let in, then headed upstairs. The door was already open when she got there, and over Saniya's shoulder, Marina could see so many familiar things in new arrangements she'd only gotten a look at via camera before.
But they were all of secondary importance, because Saniya was at the door, arms open, grinning ear to ear. Marina shoved her phone to the bottom of her purse and let Saniya pull her into the apartment. The door clicked shut, leaving the rest of the world outside it. On this side of the door, it was just Saniya holding Marina tight and Marina holding Saniya even tighter.
"I've missed..." Marina trailed off, trying to find the right word. "Here. This. You. Us. I..."
Saniya kissed her, and the words went away for a while.
"Yeah, that too," Marina said a couple of minutes later.
"Catch me being that sappy about this," Saniya said with a smirk.
Marina kissed her until the smirk went away, replaced by a smaller, shyer, smile. "You're lucky I put my phone away, or everyone'd catch you being the sappiest simp in history."
"Crazy what they can do with AI these days," Saniya said, but her eyes were crinkled up at the corners, and Marina could see a trace of heightened color in the apples of her cheeks. "You want something to drink?"
"You know what I like," Marina said.
Saniya rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen. Marina took the shopping bag over to the couch, opened the box, and set the miniature version of Saniya therein on the table before making herself comfortable.
"Damn, couldn't go one more minute without me, but I'm sappy?" Saniya said, returning with two bottled drinks. She gave the bobble-head a little tap as she went by to set it in motion, then settled down approximately one-quarter on the couch and three-quarters on Marina. "Mmmm. Done so much shopping and still can't find a cushion like this."
"Exclusive drop," Marina informed her.
"Lucky I got one, then." Saniya wriggled a little more until she was satisfied with how her legs were twined with Marina's and the exact placement of her arm over Marina's waist. Her head came to rest on Marina's collarbone, and Marina eased an arm over her shoulder until her hand just brushed the nape of Saniya's neck. Saniya contrived to shift closer, so that she could tilt her head back and let Marina's fingers tangle in the coils of her hair.
"'s nice," Saniya mumbled as Marina's fingers worked along her scalp and the back of her neck.
"'s nice to do, too," Marina murmured back. "I... I miss all the moments without the cameras and the questions. I miss just being yours. I miss you."
"I tried to help with that last part," Saniya said, gesturing as best as she could at the bobble-head.
"I did not miss you fucking up a perfectly nice sentimental moment," Marina said without missing a beat. "But you didn't have to do that. I could've gotten one at the game."
"Yeah, but I wanted to be sure. And I wanted this, too. You know how it's gonna be on Friday. Gotta play for the cameras again, back to how it was before, keep 'em guessin' and keep 'em watchin'. Feed 'em their storylines so they don't dig any deeper."
Marina nodded her understanding. "You could've just asked for that, though."
"Could've, but this is more fun." Saniya reached a foot out experimentally to nudge the table and make the bobble-head bobble.
"They did all right with it," Marina said. "It's cute."
"Good material to work with," Saniya said with a grin.
"The hair brings back memories."
"Yeah," Saniya said, and the single word held more weight than it should have. "Not sure why they went that far back. Not like I'm wearing that anymore. Back of my head hurts just thinking about it, 'cause those were heavy as hell."
"Tell me about it," Marina said, feeling the pull of her extensions. "Maybe they were supposed to get these last year and they didn't show up in time? I don't know, but you deserve it."
"Doesn't feel like it most of the time," Saniya grumbled.
"You'll get through it. Just not 'til after Friday."
Saniya rolled over and not-so-accidentally nailed Marina in the ribs with an elbow. "How do people do this long distance shit? And on different teams? It's only been a coupla months and I feel like I'm gonna climb out of my skin."
"The way we've been doing it. Phone calls, videos, pictures, social media, stealing off days like I am now. It used to be way harder back in the day, from what I hear. At least we have the internet and FaceTime."
"And the other thing?" Saniya pressed.
Marina considered this, weighing her words. "So... I'm kinda known for being two different people on and off the court, right? There's the version of me I let loose on the court who's always crashing out, always ready to fight, always talking, always mad. And then I can put it away and laugh it up with Rhyne or Kira after the game. Because that's what it is. It's a game, but it's a job, too. I take it seriously when it's time to take it seriously, but I can't let it seep into my personal life. It takes time to learn how to do that, and fuck, I wish you didn't have to learn it so soon."
"So you're saying you're not gonna go easy on me?"
"I'm saying I'm gonna follow the scout on #22 for the Sun on Friday, because I'm not letting my teammates down, and also I hear that she's pretty good at basketball." Marina squirmed under Saniya, which had some distracting effects on Saniya. "And I'm gonna be a little disappointed in you if you go easy on #3 for Toronto. I hear she's also pretty good at basketball, and if you're slacking on her, she's gonna make you pay."
"Overrated," Saniya said. "Shoots a lot. Talks a lot more."
"You are looking for trouble," Marina said gravely, pointing at the bobble-head.
"Nah, already found it," Saniya said. Her fingers snaked under Marina's shirt and found a few ticklish spots.
Marina shrieked and retaliated. But as her hands drifted lower, Saniya's closed on her wrists. "Don't get me too worked up," she said with a sigh. "Gotta be out of here in, like, an hour or so for prep and all that. You know how it goes."
"Yeah," Marina sighed. But a mischievous grin started to pull at one corner of her mouth. "I'm pretty sure that gives you about twenty minutes to ruin me, if you really want to."
"Pretty girl, if I got started on everything I've been wanting to do to you, forget bein' on time for practice, I'd miss the whole damn game, and it'd be kind of embarrassing to miss my own bobble-head night."
"I don't get to do anything?" Marina teased.
"Not before the game, you don't. Gotta save my energy for all that professional stuff. My girlfriend said it's important not to let my personal life seep into my work life, or something like that."
"She really is the worst," Marina said to the bobble-head. "Maybe I should go find a girl who treats me right."
"Scout was right, you do talk a lot," Saniya said, beginning the complex process of unwinding herself from around Marina, a process made more difficult by Marina's active resistance to the concept. "Babe. Riri. Mariiiiiiiiiiinaaaaaaaaa. I'm trying to be mature and professional. Your hand down my pants isn't."
"Fine," Marina grumbled. She swung her legs out from under Saniya, which unbalanced Saniya onto the floor with an undignified yelp. As she got up, she swept the bobble-head up in her hand and clutched it close to her chest. "I'll spend time with someone who understands me."
"You can stay here if you want. I mean, if you don't wanna go back to the hotel or whatever right away. I got food, you know the wi-fi password, the cat likes you, and..." Saniya trailed off, looking away. "It's gonna sound stupid, but I kinda like the idea of you being here when I'm not. Like I can pretend its ours for a little while."
Marina's face softened, and she pulled Saniya into a hug. "Then I'll make myself at home," she said.
"Cleaning lady on speed-dial, got it."
A few hours later, Aneesah's phone pinged with a message. She read it, her brows furrowing, and then said, "Yo, Niy? You lose your phone or something?"
Saniya dove into her bag and groped around until she felt the familiar rectangle. "Nah, I'm good. 'sup?"
"Then why is your girl texting me that she's in your bed with a cute little redhead? I didn't sign up for this much freak."
"What the-" Saniya froze and tilted her head back until it made contact with the wall of the locker. "Lord give me patience and strength. She thinks she's funny, Nees, ignore her."
"Leave her on read, got it," Aneesah said with a salute.
When she was sure no one else was paying attention, Saniya took out her phone and checked her messages. Sure enough, the first one from Marina was a selfie of her in Saniya's bed, wearing one of Saniya's old shirts, with a thumb caressing the bright red braids of the bobble-head lying on the pillow next to her.
The next three pictures showed the bobble-head in places that were... intimately familiar... to Saniya, and Saniya was fairly certain that Aneesah had not received those pictures. Why are you like this? she texted back.
Say that to my face
you know what, i think i will, see you after the game After a moment, she added, and leave mini-me alone
No promises, Marina sent.
A few minutes later, Marina sent her one last picture, without the bobble-head. And without the shirt of Saniya's she'd borrowed. And without the shirt she'd been wearing when she arrived to Saniya's apartment.
Heat surged in Saniya's face, and in a couple of other places as well. *you* are trouble, she sent back.
tell me something I don't know
you're *my* trouble
I said something I *don't* know.
There was an attachment with that last text, a picture of the Golden Ticket from the Willy Wonka movie. Saniya grinned at her phone and replied with a string of heart emojis before putting the phone away. She did have a game to focus on that night, no matter how much she wanted to think about that golden ticket and the one-on-one time it meant. Carving out space for the personal also meant making space for the professional, after all.