Chapter 1
“Hurry up! We’re going to be late for the first pitch.” Buffy was practically running towards the entrance to the bar in front of her two friends.
“God, Buffy,” Cordelia rolled her eyes at the antics of her roommate. “You’d think this was a life or death situation here. It’s only a game. And there’s nine innings. If we miss the first pitch, there’s only going to be a gazillion more.”
“It’s not only a game.” Buffy was severely perturbed by the brunette’s attitude. Didn’t she know how important this game was? “It’s the first Red Sox-Yankees game of the season. “
“Like that’s supposed to mean something to me.” Cordelia looked over to their other friend Willow for some help, but didn’t get any.
Shrugging her shoulders, Willow replied, “Give her a break. You know how much she likes baseball and this is one of the biggest team rivalries in sports history.”
Willow was right. This was one of the biggest, if not THE biggest team rivalry in sports history. It all started back in 1920 when the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees. Up until that time, the Boston team had won five of the first fifteen World Series, with Ruth pitching for the 1915, 1916 and 1918 championship teams. According to Beantown lore, the Sox were cursed ever since the fateful trade of one of the best players in the history of the game. While the Yankees went on to play in 39 World Series, winning 26 of them, twice as many as any other team in Major League Baseball, the Red Sox played in only four World Series and lost each in the maximum seven games. Sure, some Yankees fans will retort with “what rivalry” considering the lop-sided numbers of the feud, but they won’t deny there’s no team they like to beat more than the Red Sox.
For Buffy, it was frustrating watching her team come in second place to the Bronx Bombers for nine years in a row in the AL East Division. If the Sox won 95 games, the Yankees won 98. Even when they finished with the same number of wins, the Yankees squeaked out the division win because of the head to head record, winning 10 to 9 of the 19 regular season games against their rivals. There always seemed to be a Yankees home run waiting to snatch the hopes of the Red Sox World Series dreams, whether it was in the 7th inning by Bucky Dent in 1978 or the 11th inning by Aaron Boone in 2003.
That’s why it was just a little sweeter when the Red Sox did finally win the World Series in 2004 that they had to go through the Yankees first to get there. Down three games to none after a horrific loss of 19 to 8 in Game 3, the Sox were one game away from elimination when the miraculous happened. Down 4 to 3 in the ninth, a walk led to a stolen base, which led to an RBI single off the best closing pitcher in baseball to tie the game and then a two run homer in the 12th inning to win game four. The Red Sox would go on to win the next three games against their rivals, becoming the first team to overcome a 3-0 deficit, to win the series. The look of utter defeat on the Yankees players’ faces in the dugout was enough to keep Buffy smiling for a year after the event.
So yeah, even if the numbers were a little one-sided, the two teams always made the regular season series very interesting. With bench-clearing brawls, amazing catches, crazy comebacks, the Red Sox-Yankees games were the ones to watch. And if you were an actual fan of either one of these teams, they took on an almost holy aura.
Despite the bitter history of the two teams, Cordelia couldn’t care less about the baseball game. “Angel’s going to be here, right?” Cordelia asked while fluffing up her long, perfectly shiny hair. The last thing she wanted to do was be at a sports bar with a bunch of beer guzzling wanna be jocks. It was so not her scene. She was more of a club girl, dancing until the wee hours of the night dressed to the nines in the expensive clothes her daddy’s money bought her.
Cordelia was only there in the hopes of snagging a serious date with Buffy’s co-worker, Angel. She had picked Buffy up outside of the Senate building where they both worked, and she knew she wanted him as soon as she saw him. Angel was tall and ruggedly handsome, with the thickest brown hair she had ever seen. What she wouldn’t give to be able to run her fingers through that hair.
Buffy’s voice snapped Cordelia out of her day-dreaming. “Of course, he’s going to be here. He’s a die-hard Red Sox fan. He never misses a game if he can help it.” Pulling out her wallet to give the bouncer her license, she continued, “He’s the one who told me about this place.”
The place in question was a bar called the Lion’s Den situated on M Street in the heart of Georgetown. According to Angel, the owner was originally from Revere, Massachusetts which made him a huge Red Sox fan. When his wife got a job with the government twenty-five years ago, they relocated to Washington, DC and he couldn’t find anywhere to watch the game. He rectified that predicament right quick by buying his own bar with a satellite dish and lots of big screen televisions. It soon gained a reputation with all of the displaced New Englander’s as the premier place to watch Boston play ball in the nation’s capital.
Stepping inside, Buffy looked around the crowded bar for Angel. Finding him sitting at a round table right in front of one of the tv’s , she called his name and waved to get his attention. With Cordelia and Willow in tow, she hurried over and immediately asked, “Did I miss anything?”
“No, not yet. Just the usual pre-game build up.” He replied, never taking his eyes off the screen.
“Thank God. I was afraid I wouldn’t make it in time.”
“Hhm, hhmm.” A throat cleared behind her.
“Oh, sorry.” Buffy looked back at her friends with an embarrassed shrug. “Angel, this is my roommate, Cordelia and my other friend, Willow.”
Angel, finally noticing the beautiful woman with Buffy, turned to give his full attention to the newcomers. “Hi, I’m Angel.” Taking Cordelia’s hand, he gave it a little extra squeeze with one of his thousand watt smiles.
“Charmed, I’m sure.” Cordelia flirted back while batting her eyelashes.
“So you’re a Red Sox fan too.” Angel asked looking at the borrowed Ortiz shirt Cordelia was wearing.
“Absolutely, I just love baseball.” Cordelia chirped, taking the seat next to her new prey.
Buffy and Willow looked at each other with a shared eye roll.
“So, Cordelia, are you a Hill staffer like Buffy?”
“God, no.” She replied with disdain as if working in politics was worse than scrubbing toilets. “I’m an event organizer.”
“Remember the Black Tie and Boots Inaugural Ball last year.” Buffy interjected. “Cordy planned that.”
“You’re kidding me?” Angel said in a bit of awe. “I heard they actually had live bulls in the Marriott lobby. How’d you pull that off?”
Seductively, Cordelia leaned in close to his face. “I always get what I want. I can be very persuasive.”
“Please, your dad is Walter Chase. You mention his name and anyone in this town will do whatever you want.” Buffy supplied, bursting her bubble of mystery.
“Your dad is Walter Chase? THE Walter Chase, Representative of California?” Angel was even more impressed at this point. He knew that Representative Chase was one of the most respected politicians on the Hill. “How’d you meet this one, Buffy?”
“Cordy, Willow and I all went to UCLA together.” Buffy answered through a mouthful of peanuts. “She’s the one that convinced me to move to DC. Told me I was wasting my poli-sci degree working with special interest groups in California.”
“It was the best advice you ever got.” Cordelia said pointedly.
“I can’t say that you’re wrong. I love it here, and I’m getting so much more out of my career working in DC rather than California. It’s nice being right in the thick of all things political.”
“I’ll agree with you on that. I was with the state government in Rhode Island before getting the job at Senator Kerry’s office and nothing beats the experience you get here.” Angel responded before turning his attention to the redhead. “What about you Willow? Where do you work?”
“I work at NIH doing medical research, mostly working with new medicines for people inflicted with HIV.” Willow replied shyly, happy to finally be noticed.
Angel let out a small whistle. “Buff, I had no idea you had so many beautiful and intelligent friends. I would have asked you to hang out with me a lot sooner.”
Just then, an older man with salt and pepper hair and a cute little beer belly came walking over to the table, slapping Angel on the back. “Angel! How are you, my boy? Ready to watch Schilling take down these damn Yankees?”
“Damn straight, sir. Schilling’s been looking great since his bad start. Looks like he’s got his control back.”
“I would say so. We’ll call that first game a fluke due to the cold weather.”
“Dave, I want you to meet my friend Buffy. This is Dave, he owns the bar. Buffy here is from Falmouth.”
“Buffy, it’s nice to meet you.” Dave shook her hand lightly.
“Nice to meet you too.”
“Falmouth, huh? The beginning of the Cape. I love it there. We used to spend Fourth of July week down in Sandwich every year until we moved down here.” A complacent look came over Dave’s face as he told the table this slice of nostalgia. “Now we go to Ocean City. It’s just not the same. ”
“I completely understand. There’s nothing like Cape Cod in the summer.” Buffy smiled back at him, thinking of her own childhood. “These are my friends Cordelia and Willow.”
“Ladies,” Dave nodded to the two. “First round is on me. What can I get you all?”
“Cosmo,” Cordelia replied.
“Smirnoff Ice.” Willow piped up.
“Sam Adams.” Buffy put in her order.
“Ah, a girl after my own heart.” Dave put his arm around Buffy’s shoulders to give her a hug. “This one’s a keeper, Angel. Your drinks will be right out. Enjoy the game.”
Buffy blushed at Dave’s positive appraisal of her and his obvious misinterpretation of her and Angel’s relationship. Truth was, she had no interest in Angel. Yeah, he was cute, but she had gone through a bad break up with her boyfriend out in California before she moved east. Riley was in the army and wanted Buffy to stay in California close to where he was stationed. But Buffy knew Cordelia was right in that she would be better off career wise in DC. In her mind, she thought he could either get a transfer to the East Coast or they would try the long distance relationship for a little while. He would have none of it though – she either stayed or nothing. Buffy was ready to give in to his wishes to stay when she found him cheating with one of the women in his unit. After getting her heart broken like that, she really wasn’t looking to get involved with anyone.
“Oi, Captain Forehead. Where did you find this guy?” A British voice yelled from behind her. Coming up to stand next to Angel was the most gorgeous man Buffy had ever seen. High cheekbones, piercing blue eyes, slicked back bleach blonde hair. A one word sum up would be yummy. “He’s too cheap to park in a lot, but he can’t parallel park for shit. We’ve been driving around for thirty minutes looking for a spot big enough for Xander to fit into.”
“Hey, Spike.” Angel chuckled, standing up to greet his friends with some complicated hand shake. “Xander.”
“Ugh, I swear. I’m never driving into Georgetown again. There really needs to be a metro stop in this neighborhood.” A frazzled looking Xander sat down at the stool next to Willow. “Well, hello, lovely ladies. I’m the Xanman. Friend of Angel.”
“Cut it out, Xander. Could you be any less cool?” Spike hit Xander upside the head before turning towards the beautiful blonde. “Ignore him. I’m Spike.”
“Buffy.” She introduced herself with the biggest smile she could muster, trying to look as sexy as she could with a baseball cap on. She may not have been looking for a man right now, but maybe one just found her. She had to consciously keep herself from drooling as she looked him up and down. Besides, just because she didn’t want a serious relationship didn’t mean she couldn’t have some fun. And he looked like he could be a lot of fun.
That was, until he took off his coat to reveal none other than a Yankees shirt.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Ok, so I'm trying to work through my writer's block on The Attic by writing a fluffy little story just to get my fingers typing. I hope it works! I don't mean to offend any Yankees fans with this story - I even have a couple of friends who are Yankee fans - we just keep the baseball talk to a minimum - LOL. This is based on the first actual game of the season between the two teams. Thanks to fellow Red Sox fan, Brat, for reading over the chapter for me.