Billiards and the Shindo

Eun-ji ran to Alice, pumped her hand, gave her a hug and then ran to me to place her lips on mine until we almost ran out of breath. Sometime later, the jump shot and then the kiss both made it onto one of the promo reels that played during commercial breaks in the NBA 'game of the week' on ESPN, my sister and coworkers would go on to tease me for weeks after that.

The loss seemed to break Alice. That weekend in 8-ball, Alice didn't even make it to the final four. Eun-Ji was firing on all cylinders and then faced a young newcomer in the final. Experience won out, and Eun-Ji schooled the nervous youngster. It was a good final tally, $15,000 for the 9-ball win, and $25,000 for the 8-ball win.

At one point sometime in the middle of the 8-ball bracket, Eun-Ji went to find her table assignment while I went off to get her a lemonade and myself a beer when I ran into Jack. To say I ran into him isn't really right, more like he saw me alone and made a beeline for me from across the room. We had a little talk. He was actually an OK guy and wanted me to know that he was sorry about what he did to Erin and that I was a lucky guy to have her. He actually wished me all the best and hoped that Erin was happy. Then he went off and blew his tournament. Badly. Enough that it took his world ranking from number one, all the way down to number 15. We heard later on that his ranking with Alice also didn't survive the tournament, and that was the end of the 'power couple'.

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The casino upgraded our room to a suite after giving Eun-Ji her winnings, I suppose they were hoping she would give it all back at the tables or slots. Instead we moved the couch in the suite so it was facing the 40th floor window and watched the lights come on the strip as dusk fell. I rubbed her feet while she sipped on the champagne.

"God, you're good at that," she moaned. She took a few pulls on her glass of champagne, and I refilled it before going back to rubbing her feet. "Sean..... you know we have to talk, right?"

"Now?" I wanted to prolong the 'honey, we have to talk' speech like any man would. No good ever comes from it.

"Yes," she said, "you know we have to."

I dug into the arch of her foot with my thumbs, eliciting another moan. Distraction was my only defense.

"Stop that," she said, knowing what I was doing. So I stopped rubbing her feet and she scolded, "No, don't really stop, but we need to talk." I gave up and continued on her feet, lighter this time, readying myself for getting stabbed in the ribs with whatever she was going to say.

She looked at me funny and smiled, "Sean, you idiot. It's not that bad. I love you."

"I love you too," I countered, wondering.

"The last seven months have been two things. The best time of my life and also the worst. I can tell that you know what I'm talking about and that you agree." I was thinking of how we had been living over that time. She had reduced the amount of traveling to about half of her normal, but that also meant she had cut off her income too. She'd spend about two weeks with me and then two weeks on the road. Every time she left, it broke my heart and hers too. We alternated between tearful goodbyes, and excited homecoming. Because the way she had to pick and choose her tournaments, she did a lot of doubling back and extra miles. A couple of times I put her on a plane and she used a ride sharing service at her destination, but it was pricey and her earnings at times wouldn't even cover the expenses.

"I think it's affecting my play," she said quietly, "I kicked ass at worlds but only because you were with me. I get distracted now when you are not. Wondering what you're doing, wishing we were splashing around your pool, having a beer together when the sun goes down. I can't keep doing this."

She read something in my face and snapped, "Dammit, Sean. I'm not breaking up with you!"

"Do you want me to quit my job?" I asked her. "I can do something online and go with you on tour."

She sighed, "Now you're just being stupid. You make too much money, you are moving up in the company, you have great insurance, I won't let you throw away all that security. Plus, you love that job." She let that sink in and continued, "I just won't allow it. What if.... what if.... I quit playing and got a job. One where we could be together all the time." She smiled, "I can see it. You want that as much as I do."

"What would you want to do, honey?" I asked.

"That's just it," she said with a whimper, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, "Playing pool is the only thing I know how to do. The only thing I'm good at. I'll have to start at the bottom at who knows what and don't know if I can pull my own weight."

I was hoping that her tears were throwing off her shindo. I said confidently, "I can give you a job that I know you'll be great at. It pays shit. Literally shit, but I'm OK with that."

She cocked her head in surprise, "What....?"

I gently moved her feet off of my lap and went over to my bag in the closet and pulled out the little box that I had been stressing over, concerned that she'd learn about it before the moment was right. I planned to do this over her favorite hamburger later, but now just seemed right, and I was confident it would fix this situation.

I sat down next to her and said, "The job I had in mind was first 'wife' and then hopefully 'mother'. I know you'll be great at both." I got down on one knee and flipped the box open, exposing the diamond ring that my sister helped pick out.

She nodded her head, unable to form the words, another pair of tears ran down her cheeks. I went to pull the ring out to put on her finger, and she exclaimed, "No! Stop!"

My eyes snapped to hers in surprise, near panic. She smiled and said, "Don't touch it. You've spent the last hour rubbing my stinky feet and when I put it on, I don't want to ever take it off." That made me laugh, and she joined me in it. I told her she was just being silly but I got up and washed my hands before I put the ring on her.

"I love you, kind and wise one." I said.

"And I love you, wonderful man."

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Epilogue (as told by Eun-Ji):

For probably the millionth time as I held this precocious 11-month-old, I stared into my granddaughter's eyes and confirmed once again that it was there. It had skipped a generation, and even skipped her older brother, but there was no doubt in my mind that the shindo was in this little cutie. And it was going to be strong when she got older.

"Eun," I heard Sean say, breaking me of my thoughts while I was coo-cooing, working to get smiles out of my granddaughter.

I looked up at Sean, his hand firmly holding on to our grandson's hand while his other arm reached out to take Kim from me. "I'll take the kids over to the playground. Your first game starts in five minutes."

My heart swooned when I saw him with a grandchild in each arm, he was always such a natural with kids. A baby in his arms always made him look extra handsome to me, and now at pushing 70, he still had it. I had a quick flashback of when our son and daughter were that age. It is hard to believe that time passed by so fast, it seemed like just yesterday. They were good years.

I looked over at my son, Aaron, as he leaned against the billiards table, a cue in hand, watching his father as he walked away with the kids. I could read that he was remembering when he was young and when Sean and I would take him and his sister to the playground. I was so proud of the handsome, smart man that Aaron grew into.

Not the greatest pool player I will admit. Not that I am anymore either, but it was fun once a year when we could play a doubles tournament together just for fun. Even if we were going to get beat up in final rounds.

"Sorry that Elise couldn't make it today. Have you talked to her, is she feeling any better?" I asked.

"Yeah, I talked to her a few minutes ago, and no, she's still throwing up. Mom, you remember how bad her morning sicknesses were? Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd think she was pregnant again."

I smiled, knowing full well from seeing her when we picked up Aaron and the kids in the morning that she was indeed pregnant, but I'll leave those beans for her to spill. Me, I was just delighted that I'd have another grandchild. They were great parents and the two were seriously in love with one another, I just know they are going to go the distance like Sean and I.

I was hoping that our daughter would meet someone soon, hopefully he'd a good man like Sean, but there would be time for that once she finished medical school. I was just glad that she was coming home for a week over Thanksgiving at the end of the month.

The doubles tournament was 8-ball, and we played better than I expected. Aaron made some difficult shots when we needed it and perhaps because I was enjoying being with my son and getting into the poetry of moving the balls around the table, that I played better than I had in years. We played deep into the tournament of mostly amateurs until we were eliminated by a young couple that had serious potential. I chatted with them a bit, giving them some pointers as to how to go pro or semi-pro until out of the corner of my eye I saw Sean hand the grandkids over to Aaron who took them off to find some ice cream.

When I made my way over to Sean, he had a funny expression. I gave him a kiss and a hug before asking, "What is with the big goofy grin on your face?"

He laughed and honestly replied, "I'm remembering a hot little number with a pool cue that was wearing tight, black leather pants and taking fistfuls of my money with a smile."