Leigh was elated. She was breathtakingly happy. Her joy spilled out of her body and infected everyone at the bbq joint. Even her brother was smiling through his thick beard and positively lovely to people. She greeted everyone with a blinding smile and took their orders with cheer. She wiped down filthy tables and did crummy dishes all with happiness rolling off of her.
She had totally nailed the interview with Hector days ago and had received a brief email from him earlier today with a 'congratulations!' and files upon files of paperwork attached.
Leigh had gotten the internship! Granted, even through her elated mood, she knew that it would be hard to break it to everyone that she'd be gone for November. But she was confident, at least, in knowing that Michael and Kate would be ecstatic for her once she told them about it.
So when they closed up and walked with Michael to the bar to meet up with Kate, she prepared herself to explain everything to them over drinks.
"I have some good news and some bad news, but really, it's mostly good news!" She couldn't help her perky tone.
"Is this why you were so happy all day?? Honestly, what the hell was that about?" Michael asked and Kate tilted her head, curious but letting Leigh explain.
"The bad news is that I'm going to miss the whole month of November." She watched as their faces turned to shock and confusion, "I have the dignified honor of taking a paid internship doing the coolest shit ever."
"Fucking spill!" Michael yelled, slamming his beer down on the counter, his eyebrows raised and his grin wide.
"I'm going to be spending November in South Africa and Australia. I will be assisting a film crew contracted by the Discovery Channel to film a special on how white sharks hunting differs with location!"
Kate screamed, clapping her hands together and leaping forward, encircling Leigh in her thin arms. Michael did a similar move, raising his fists up and roaring.
She knew that they would understand how much this meant to her. She would be contributing to a cause that was near and dear to her heart while interacting with sharks. Leigh would never have another chance to do this in her life. It was literally a once in a lifetime experience. That is, of course, if she didn't plan on being so amazing that the crew would be forced to ask her to sign on with them. But those were plans for the future. Right now, she was set on celebrating.
"I am so happy for you!" Michael yelled, throwing his arm around her neck and shouting to the rest of the bar, "My baby sister is going to be fucking swimming with sharks, you motherfuckers!"
A couple of patrons cheered and the bartender came over with one of his eyebrows raised.
"You watch shark week, punk?" Michael pointed at him and the guy nodded, still confused.
"My baby sister is going to fucking filming great white sharks for shark week!" He added and the bartender's eyes widened and he nodded, looking impressed. Kate continued clapping, her eyes watery and her smile still huge.
"I am so excited for you, Leigh." Kate said, looking like she was going to cry.
Leigh smiled bashfully, too proud and pleased by their reactions to mention that Jason had helped her land the internship. She absorbed their praise and floated on a balloon of joy. That is, until Kate asked her how Anthony reacted.
"Well, I haven't told him yet."
"What!"
"In my defense, I only found out this morning."
"Are you... going to tell him?" Michael asked, concerned.
"Yeah, of course. I'm seeing him tomorrow at that cook out. Anyway, what's the big deal? This is huge for me."
"Of course it is," Kate reasoned, "But it's still a whole month away from everyone. Anyone close to you is going to worry. And contrary to what you believe, but that boy is hopelessly enamored with you."
Leigh sighed, knowing that they were right. She steeled herself to tell him the news so soon after spilling her guts to him.
So when he picked her up in his slick Tesla the next afternoon, she put it off. He looked like the sun. Anthony was glowing when he leaned over the center console to kiss her hello, his absolute sunniness blinding her temporarily. She didn't want to kill his mood, so she decided to wait a little longer.
She was pretty nervous already. It was one thing to see his friends and teammates in snapchats of his and another thing to meet them. In person. She'd have to speak and be friendly and likeable.
"You okay?" He asked, one hand on the steering wheel and one hand resting lightly on her thigh. His palm felt hot against her bare leg and she briefly regret wearing a dress. It was a casual shirt dress and she had thrown a cardigan on over her bare arms. It was pretty fancy for someone who usually just wore sweatpants, but Kate had helped her style an outfit to wear and still look effortlessly cool.
"Yeah, just nerves." She shrugged, forcing herself to be casual about the whole thing.
Anthony just smiled over at her, "Is it weird that I kinda am nervous too? I know that they'll like you but I just hope you like them."
Leigh's mouth dropped open a little but she gave him a small smile in return, "They're your friends— and I happen to know you're a pretty good judge of character."
The ride was a short one and he pulled into a parking garage for a large apartment complex. It didn't look special from the outside but she peeked at the makes of cars as they passed them and she blanched at the luxury brands. Finally, Anthony parked in between an Audi and a McLaren (which she gazed at longingly, only having seen one at a car show).
Leigh had battled with herself the entire ride but held back when they both got out of the car, "Hey, I have uh, good news."
"Why does that seem like bad news?" Anthony studied her face in the garage, approaching her and gently grabbing one of her hands.
"Because I don't know how you'll react."
"Leigh?"
"I got this internship that requires me to be away the entire month of November. It's a paid internship and I really really wanted the position." Leigh breathed out and looked up to see Anthony smiling.
"Why would I have a problem with that?"
"I, I don't know? I mean, that's a long time to be gone and have little contact. I didn't know if you'd— I just didn't know."
"Leigh, this is your life. Your future. I'd never have a problem with anything like that. Even if I did— it's still your life." He said and Leigh sighed a breath of relief. Why would she think he'd react any other way? Anthony understood sacrifice for the sake of careers and he understood her need for freedom. "So are you gonna tell me what it's for?"
"Oh!" Leigh said, caught off guard by his casual tone, "You can always watch it next summer on shark week."
"No way!" He said, rushing forward and folding her into a hug. She closed her eyes as she wound her arms around him and took a moment to appreciate the great hugs that Anthony gives. They broke apart, "That's amazing. Where?"
"South Africa and Australia."
Anthony's face sobered and he spoke seriously, "For the record, Leigh, please don't feel nervous or guilty about telling me anything. We're a team, yeah?"
She just nodded, giving him a small smile. He leaned forward, delicately kissing her lips and pulled away before she could react.
"You're so cool. My girlfriend is gonna film sharks." He gloated and Leigh laughed, shoving him in the direction of the elevators. When they had presumably made it to the correct floor, she followed him off the lift.
The host greeted them in the hallway, his grin stretched across his face and a little girl perched on his shoulders happily.
"Naya!" Anthony greeted the girl first, dropping Leigh's hand and offering her a high five. Her small curls swung with the force she tried to put behind the high five but she giggled through it.
"I see how it is, bro." Fowler tried to comically frown but couldn't keep the smile off his face.
"Dex, this is Leigh, Leigh, this is Dex and his daughter Naya, who gets all of her adorableness from her mother." Anthony swept his hand between the two and Leigh quickly took a breath and went to shake Fowler's hand but he pulled her into a one-armed hug.
"Good to meet you finally, he can't stop running his mouth. We thought he was making you up!" He laughed, releasing her and steadying his daughter on his shoulders once more.
"It's good to meet you too. Hello, Naya." Leigh crooned, giving the little girl a small finger wave. She looked at Leigh with wide eyes that were solely for new strangers, but a tiny smile on her lips.
"Anyway, glad to see you survived him tackling you to the ground. Not many of us are the same after getting taken down by him." Fowler laughed at his own joke, "Come on in, a bunch of us are already breaking into the beer."
He turned and lead them towards a door that was cracked open a small bit and Anthony raised his eyebrows happily at Leigh for a second and she just smiled in return. When Fowler opened the door all the way, two small dogs came leaping out, bypassing the familiar smells of their dad and going straight to Anthony and Leigh. He picked one up like he's done it a million times before but Leigh just greeted the one that was smelling her tan oxfords.
They still followed Fowler and his tiny daughter into the open and spacious living room, the floor to ceiling windows showing a beautiful view of the Chicago skyline. It was mostly white and modern, but there were a good amount of people milling around with drinks in their hands.
"Rizz!" Someone shouted and he walked in the direction of the voice. Leigh made to follow him but she was intercepted by a woman who looked Persian and had beautiful long brown hair.
"I'm Darya, Dexter's wife." She greeted, her smile as gorgeous as everything else about her. Darya's skin glowed and she looked absolutely modelesque.
"Oh! I met your daughter, she's adorable." Leigh complimented, starstruck by Fowler's wife. The woman's smile deepened and she ducked her head.
"Thank you so much. Join me in the kitchen?" She followed Darya into the equally spacious kitchen but felt incredibly nervous. Was she being cornered? Questioned? Or worse, is this what the girlfriends and wives are expected to do while the men hang out? There were other females in there, of varying degrees of beauty, but all of them still goddess-level in Leigh's eyes.
Darya turned around and saw Leigh's face, "Oh gosh, this must look terrible. We don't all hang out in the kitchen, don't worry. I just thought you'd like something that wasn't Old Style."
Leigh's breath whooshed out in one go and she smiled at the woman, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know. I'm completely new to this whole 'dating someone who isn't an undergrad' thing." It was a lie, but the partial truth. She wasn't used to the set of unspoken rules that more than likely came with dating someone who was a household name in North Side Chicago.
Darya made a silly face and flipped her hand around, "We were all new sometime. Do you want some wine, maybe a cider?"
Once Leigh had a cold drink in her hand, Darya began to introduce her to some of the girls in the kitchen. She had met Melisa, who was small but very pregnant, Jessica, who was another newcomer to the Cubs group of WAGS and Elissa, all of whom were polite and lovely but still made Leigh nervous. All of them had the most beautiful hair and radiated confidence.
"By the way, you guys look like a group of goddesses hanging out in here. Ya'll are giving me serious goals." Leigh had to compliment them all. There was no way she couldn't. These girls were all gorgeous and down to earth.
A chorus of voices rose up and Melisa shoved her in the arm— much harder than Leigh was expecting the pregnant woman to shove.
"You'll get along fine, I think." Darya smiled knowingly, her face happily flushed. Leigh took a deep breath and centered herself, taking a sip from the margarita she had been handed. The girls loved her story about how her and Anthony had met and some of them recognized her, even. They may all look like models but they were all very down to earth and grounded. Kris Bryant's girlfriend, Jessica was still in college, but was taking online classes in the summer and would be living on campus again come fall semester. Melisa had done the hair of a good chunk of women in the room and was the tiniest firecracker Leigh had ever met— a total rival to Kate's own fieriness.
She discovered the reason why the wives and girlfriends gathered in the kitchen naturally— apparently the guys tend to discuss bowel movements and nasty injuries before the food was ready and the girls had just tried to avoid it as much as possible. Boys are still boys, even with multi-million dollar contracts.
After a bit, Anthony poked his head in to ask, "Anyone seen—" before noticing Leigh standing with Jessica and Melisa.
"Hey!" She waved to him and he weaved his way over to her. Anthony greeted the rest of the ladies with nicknames and proper names. Elissa called from the other side of the kitchen, "We like this one!" Darya added, "We'll keep her if you don't!"
Leigh blushed a bright red and he just grinned, putting his hand on her lower back.
"Oh, hey, Jess, Kris was just looking for you." He said like he had just remembered and the girl smiled but said jokingly, "Back to the grind."
"I see you've made some new friends." Anthony said to Leigh and she lifted one shoulder and took a sip of her margarita.
"I think they like me because I compliment them a lot." Leigh responded and Melisa shoved her again.
"Wanna meet some of the guys?" He asked and she just nodded.
"Have fun with that, sister." Melisa laughed and walked away before they could.
"You have to meet Cooper. That's Jake's kid. He's literally wearing a shark teeshirt right now. I can't tell if you'll like him more or he'll like you more. I told him that you're going to meet some very nice sharks in November and he hasn't stopped vibrating." Anthony gushed and Leigh bit her lip happily.
He guided her through a bunch of guys and introduced her to everyone along the way, but pushing forward to find Kris Bryant and Jake Arrieta sitting on either side of a little boy about seven years old. Jessica was sitting next to Kris and winked at Leigh. She noticed his teeshirt and realized this must be Cooper.
"Kris, Jake, this is Leigh." Anthony introduced and Kris smiled at her brightly.
"Finally, we meet! I saw your fireworks snapchats!" He said from the couch, looking every bit as friendly in person. She couldn't help but think how adorable Jessica and Kris were. They seemed to fit together perfectly in the most cliche way.
"Oh god, I figure you know about—"
"The heatstroke!" Kris belted out but then closed his mouth quickly, looking over at Anthony's panicked face, "Oh, I wasn't supposed to mention that."
Leigh laughed and was about to respond but Cooper sat forward and narrowed his eyes at her.
"You're the shark lady?"
She wasn't sure how to respond but she leaned down to be eye level with him, "I'm the shark lady."
The little boy's eyes widened comically and his mouth dropped open, "You're gonna swim with sharks?"
"Mmhmm. What's your favorite kind of shark?" Leigh asked him. She wasn't typically comfortable with kids, mostly because she didn't know what their level of cognitive understanding was and just because she wasn't confident with them. But sharks? Sharks she could talk about. Her heart was filled with a unique feeling— she figured it was probably joy. Anthony was so obviously proud of her and his face only showed admiration.
"Hammerheads!" Cooper shouted and Leigh saw Jake grin at his son.
"Did you know there's a hammerhead at the Shedd?" Leigh raised her eyebrows and asked him, "It's a bonnethead shark, but it's still technically a hammer."
Cooper's head whipped around to his dad and he immediately begged to go to the Aquarium.
Leigh cringed and said, "Whoops, sorry. Put you on the spot there."
Jake just shrugged and laughed at his son, "Ask your mom."
Like that, the boy jumped up and off the couch, streaking towards the kitchen.
"Is there really a hammerhead there? Aren't they like, too big?" Jake asked her, his face skeptical.
Leigh laughed and nodded, "Bonnetheads are smaller. They're maybe four feet long. She's in the Wild Reef exhibit."
"You sound like you know your way around." Kris commented and Leigh bobbled her head.
"A bit. Around midterms and finals I usually head down there and sit for a bit with the big shark tank in the basement. It's more calming than a last minute review session."
Jessica laughed and nodded, "God, do I know it."
——
Leigh ended up back at Anthony's place after the bbq. Her belly was full of the best hot dogs she's had outside of Wrigley and margaritas. As soon as she got Anthony through the door, she pressed him against the closed front door, kissing him lazily. She was filled with happiness again, drunk off of his acceptance and excitement for her internship. Intoxicated on his support and how fantastic his ass looked in the jeans he wore. All night the teeshirt he had on rode up his biceps and let slivers of his necklace peek out at her and glint in the lights of the apartment.
Her lips were on his but her hands were roaming up underneath his shirt and dragging her cool fingertips against the warmth of his skin. She began to kiss his recently shaven jawline and Anthony made such beautiful noises as his head tilted back and she made her way down his neck. She stripped him of his shirt in the hallway and he hissed when his bare back touched the cold door but his reaction to that faded away as Leigh began to palm him through the front of his jeans.
"Jesus," He swore as she lightly dragged her teeth across one of his nipples and traced her path with the tip of one tongue. Anthony felt himself thicken under her ministrations and the fly of his pants started to feel really uncomfortable pressed against him.
Leigh dropped to her knees quickly, hooking both of her fingers in the waistband of his jeans.
"Yeah?" She asked and he just nodded, his eyes wide as he watched her unbutton the fly and pull them down with his boxer briefs. Anthony couldn't tear his eyes away as Leigh took him into her mouth delicately and softly, making his muscles tense and relax in quick succession. She kept eye contact with him as she bobbed her head up and down but he just groaned loudly and let his head hit the door. His hands flexed on either side of his hips, unsure of what to do while Leigh happily pleasured him. She shifted and he looked back down, realizing that she was on her bare knees in the tiled hallway.
"Wait, stop." He was loathe to say it but he knew that they should move this into his bedroom. She was still wearing entirely too many clothes and he needed to take his shoes and his pants off. Leigh leaned backwards, putting her hands flat on the tops of her thighs and looking at him with a question. Anthony tried to have some dignity as he shuffled his pants up as far as they would go.
"Bedroom." He said and Leigh smiled, standing more or less gracefully and kicking her shoes off, running up the stairs ahead of him, leaving Anthony swearing and trying to toe his own shoes off and stumbling up the stairs behind her.