After his failed attempt at getting Mara to remember him earlier on the practice field, Julian sulked onto his plush hotel bed. He was thankful that the bed felt like his one back in Boston, he at least had one piece of familiarity. He stared up at the popcorn ceiling , too busy concentrating on each little bubble that he didn't even hear his quarterback enter the room.
"Jules, we are going down to the pool. Do you want to come? They have a hot tub," Tom tried to persuade him, even though he already knew the answer. He could see that Julian's eyes were bloodshot, as they were often since the accident. Julian shook his head no. "Are you going to sit in this room the whole week? I mean I know it's a nice room but we rarely come to Phoenix for games and I think you might regret it if you don't explore the city a little bit," Tom said trying to persuade him a little more. Julian waved his hand slightly to tell Tom to go.
"No," he mumbled, barely audible. Tom bit his cheek, contemplating leaving or comforting his friend.
"Do you want to talk about it?" the quarterback asked. He sat on his bed across from Julian staring at the man who seemed numb and unable to move.
"It just went so bad. How can she just forget about me? How is that possible? She said she has a sister and she doesn't. I'm on her fucking wallpaper of her phone, how does that not ring a bell?" Julian yelled. He smashed his fist onto the bedside table next to him. He didn't react to the pain, it made him feel like he was still alive. Tom's baby blue eyes turned suddenly glassy, feeling his friends pain from the words he spoke. Julian's heart was ripped in two pieces, how was he expected to go on like normal?
"I don't know if this will fix anything, but she's still in Phoenix isn't she?" Tom asked, his voice cracked a little bit. Julian nodded slowly. He took a deep breath before continuing speaking. "Then go find her. Take her out, make her fall in love with you. Screw the Doctor's plans. You're Julian Edelman, go get your wife back," Tom said angrily. Julian's eyes suddenly perked up. He slowly sat up from his slouched spot on the bed.
"I have to go get my wife back. She's here, why am I just sitting here?" Julian said. He began frantically looking around the hotel room for his shoes.
"Atta boy!" Tom said standing from the bed. He jumped over to Julian, suddenly full of energy. He clapped Julian on the shoulder as he laughed, proud that Julian was going to get Mara. Julian left the room and went to the lobby. He took the empty elevator down to the first floor.
"Hi, I'm looking for Mara Edelman's room. I'm her husband," Julian said. The blonde woman eyed him up and down before finally turning to her computer. She began typing fastly before she stopped.
"Ms. Edelman is in room 801," the petite woman said tautly.
"Thank you," Julian said running from the wooden desk to the elevator. He quickly realized that the elevator was going to be full and he opted for the stairs. With each of the eight flights of stairs he quickened his stride, realizing the faster he ran the quicker he got to Mara.
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He was out of breath by the time he got to the eighth floor but continued his search for the lovely number of 801. His search finally ended when he got to the end of the long and dimly lit hallway. 801. He stood in front of the number, staring at it defiantly that he found it. His hand rose to knock on the door but paused. He took a deep breath before he finally allowed his knuckles to hit the metal door. He knocked his hand against the door eight times, one for each flight of stairs he climbed.
"Coming," the sweet and familiar voice cooed from inside the four walls protected by the door. Julian tapped his foot against the door, suddenly anxious. The door slowly opened as Mara's baby blue's peaked over the edge. They widened when they saw Julian. "Julian? What are you doing here?" she asked confused.
"Well, I forgot to thank you for the interview earlier. And I felt bad so I got you these tickets to the game on Sunday to apologize," Julian said. He pulled two tickets out of the back pocket of his tight fitting jeans.
"Oh my goodness. Thank you, but these are so expensive. I couldn't possibly take them," Mara said, not taking the tickets from Julian's outstretched hand.
"Please, it would be a great way to get more information for your article," Julian tried. Mara tilted her head, thinking about what the man was saying. She bit her lips as she thought about whether to take them or not.
"Okay, but I owe you," she said letting a passionate smile slip off of her lips.
"Let me take you out," Julian said. "Going on a date with me will be all the thanks I need," he said quickly.
"I don't know. I don't really know you," Mara said, she looked down to avoid looking into Julian's pleading brown eyes. Julian's heart sunk. She did know him, she just couldn't remember.
"Then let's change that. How do we expect to meet new people if we don't try to get to know them?" Julian quickly recovered.
"Okay, fine. Let me get ready and I'll meet you in the lobby at 8 o'clock," Mara said. Her tanned cheeks filled with pink color. She looked bashfully up at Julian, surprised that an NFL player wanted anything to do with her, a normal girl from Louisville, Kentucky.
Little did she know, Julian wanted everything to do with that ordinary girl.
