The Spirit Girl Ch. 02

Once the game got underway, Sam would take the microphone at every break in the action, stride out to center court, appropriately dressed in a blood-red suit and pumps with white hosiery. She would announce a seat pairing, and the house camera would then zoom in on those seats. That was the cue for the guy to get down on one knee and show the ring, while the girl's name and "will you marry me" flashed on the scoreboard. The camera would then record the reaction, and it was working out very well. The audience was enjoying seeing the joy and surprise on the faces of most of the recipients. By the end of the first quarter five couples had gotten engaged; Sam was trying to get in as many as possible, because she wanted to wrap the thing up during halftime in case some of the couples got antsy and left early. The referees had been warned that this was a special promotion, and were being lenient with the clock during breaks so that the game didn't restart in the middle of something.

Early in the second quarter, I snuck down to the locker room to change. I was way earlier than I needed to be, but it helped calm my nerves to put on my costume. I'd been sneaking off all week to the dance studio, where I'd been working with the Jammer Spirit on their Valentine's Day number. Jenna had said she'd help me, but when I ran through it for her she declared I was ready to go and no help was needed. Now it was just time to wait for showtime.

Finally halftime arrived. Jenna and I stood in the hall behind the tunnel. The players raced past on their way to the locker room; a few noticed me standing there in my outfit and knew something was up. The Jammer Spirit girls raced in right after, hurrying to their dressing room to change into their little red dresses for the number. They had some time, though, because Samantha was out at center court, working her way down the last three couples on her proposal list. The girls were all lined up the tunnel, offering me encouragement, as Sam announced the last seat location and names. That was Jenna's cue; she headed out of the tunnel and walked along the sideline. She knew Sam would head to the scorer's table when she was done to put down the microphone; her job was to intercept her and keep her there.

Sam finished her promotion, and read what she was told to read next: "And now, a special number from our very own JAMMER SPIRIT!" There was a subdued reaction, and Samantha strode purposefully towards the sideline. A lot of what happened next I didn't know at the time, but saw later on tape: one of the house cameramen had been told something was going to happen and to keep recording whatever Samantha did through all of halftime.

The girls raced out onto the court, taking their positions, while Samantha put her microphone down and acknowledged Jenna, surprised to see her there. "Susie said we should watch this number, it might bring back memories" was the line she used.

"Oh?" Samantha turned around to see. At that moment, the music kicked in, slow and bass-y. We used a mix with a long intro. The house lights were dimmed, which was unusual during halftime. Sam watched the dancers, who were doing more of a stylistic strut than a dance. That's when I stepped out to the entrance of the tunnel, and the spotlight shone on me. Everyone looked at me as I stood there, wearing a black tuxedo with tail coat, top hat with red band, red vest and bow tie, and a black cane with a bulbous handle. On the video, you can see Samantha react with surprise; there had never been a man in a Spirit number before, and this one was dressed to the nines.

You've got style, that's what all the girls say

When the first verse started, I strutted out in time to the music. I bent my knees in exaggerated fashion, leaning, and alternated holding the cane high and low, in time to the beat. Step (two), step (four), step (six) step (eight), vogue. After eight beats, I struck a pose, leaning to one side and tucking the cane under my arm for another beat of eight.

Satin sheets and luxuries so fine

I repeated my strut; four steps in eight beats, then holding a pose for another count of eight while the Spirit girls were doing complementary movements around me in the same beat pattern.. At that point, Jenna pretended to be surprised and said "oh my god... is that DAVE?"

All your suits are custom made in London

I repeated the strut a third time, which put me within striking distance of center court. Because of the lyric, however, rather than striking a pose for a count of 8, I pretended to straighten my bow tie. At the same time, you can see on the video Sam's eyes suddenly open wide with disbelief. You can read her lips say "Oh my god, that IS Dave! What the hell is he doing out there?" All this time, my gaze was directed right at Samantha, although I don't think she'd realized it.

But I've got something that you'll really like

I did the strut one more time, which put me just about at center court, surrounded by a circle of Spirit girls. Then the refrain kicked in

Gonna dress you up in my love

This was the part that was really dancing. Up to now, they had been doing their own dance to complement me, but now we danced the same step. In sharp contrast to the slow, measured pace of the strut, the movements were in quick tempo: jump feet apart, jump feet in with 180 spin; jump feet apart, jump feet in with 180 spin; jump feet apart, jump feet in, hop in place-place-place. And I nailed it: the girls and I were in perfect unison. It looked cool--there was even a scattering of applause.

All over, all over

While the girls did a sexy bend, I planted the cane in front of me and thrust me knees out as sideways as I could.

Gonna dress you up in my love

We repeated the same step from the first time the lyric was sung, again in perfect unison.

All over your body

The girls did another sexy stretch, while I spun tightly 360 degrees one way, then immediately back. On the video you can see Sam gaping in astonishment, one that I'm there, and two that I'm choreographed into the number. She could not imagine why I was there; she was so astonished, my true purpose never occurred to her.

At that point, the second verse of the song began. The girls now spun off freely to other parts of the court to continue their dance, but with every line I took four steps closer to Sam on the sideline. During the second verse, Sam suddenly got nervous, and hissed to Jenna "what is he doing... why is he heading over this way?" Sam started trying to move down the sidelines to get away from the spotlight that was creeping forward with me, but Jenna had quietly wrapped her arm around Sam's waist and now held her tight to the spot.

Let me cover you with velvet kisses

The third line of the verse put me right in front of Sam, who was standing there, taken aback, staring at me in bewilderment. Rather than strike a pose, though, I now got down on one knee, resting both hands on the ball of the cane.

At that point, the music was cut and the Spirit girls froze. Everyone was watching. I flipped open the knob on top of the cane, into which I had hidden a two-carat diamond solitaire engagement ring. I leaned the cane towards Samantha. She saw the ring; her mouth dropped open and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. Reflexively she covered her mouth with her hands. Watching her eyes, I said "Samantha Sullivan, will you marry me?" I later saw on the video that while was saying it, the very same words flashed up on the scoreboard, first in red letters on white then in white letters on red, flashing back and forth.

I could just barely hear her say yes because her hands were covering her mouth, but her eyes spoke loud and clear. Then the music kicked back in the girls finished up their number, but no one was watching. They were watching me as I extracted the ring from the holder in the cane. Her hands were shaking as badly as mine, but somehow I managed to slip it onto her finger. She was so excited, she literally jumped up and down three times as I slipped the band over her knuckle.

With the ring on her finger, she grasped for my hand, trying to pull me to my feet. Her face was contorted with emotion. She got me to my feet and hugged me tight. There was a roar of applause from the crowd as she cried tears of joy into my shoulder. "Davis Rutherford... I love you, I love you, I love you" she whispered.

Jenna picked up the microphone and flipped it back on. "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is lucky number 14 here on St. Valentine's Day. Please join me in celebrating the engagement to be married of two very special members of the Jammers family. Congratulations to our own promotions director Samantha Sullivan and Davis Rutherford III."

That brought another roar from the crowd, plus not a little murmuring. Our names probably didn't mean much to most folks in the upper deck, but most of the season ticket holders recognized my name even if they didn't know my face and guessed who I must be. Samantha kept hugging me, because she couldn't stop crying tears. And then another sound came from the crowd. It started in low, but quickly gained momentum. "Kiss... kiss... kiss..." they chanted.

"Samantha," I whispered, "the crowd wants us to kiss."

Sam gathered herself. She let go her death grip on me and faced me, smiling through tears. Then she leaned in and kissed me. Just like that--quickly, the kind of kiss you do in public, where it's generally frowned upon. A few people cheered, but there were plenty of boos thrown in, too. Our eyes met. I wanted a GOOD kiss; she could see that. And seeing her new fiancée, all the decorum, all the reigning in... she just said screw it and followed her heart. She threw her arms around me with gusto, locked her lips on mine, opened her mouth, and lovingly intertwined our tongues. That brought about the biggest roar of all.

I don't know how long we kissed, but at some point I felt a tap on my shoulder. "That was very nice," it said gently, "but we need to get on with the game."

I turned and found the voice belonged to the head referee. This might be one of the biggest moments of Sam and my life, but it was still in the middle of a basketball game. "Oh... sorry..." I replied, reorienting myself to the fact that the world hadn't stopped spinning just because we'd just gotten engaged. I grabbed Sam's hand and headed for the tunnel, where Jenna and the Spirit Girls had already retreated--and felt a strong pull-back, and then Sam pulling me along the sideline.

"I can't go out on the court in these heels!" she hissed. Needless to say, that's the kind of thing a guy just never thinks of. I took two steps to catch her, then side-by-side and hand-in-hand we wentaround the court to the tunnel, accompanied by applause from the crowd. I waved one last time as we disappeared from view.

Inside the tunnel, Sam was mobbed by the Spirit Girls. They were all excited, they all wanted to see the ring, the ones that were on the team last year were just excited to see Jenna and Sam again, etc. In short, we were blocking the tunnel. The visiting team came out of their locker room first, and they just squeezed between us and the wall. A couple of the guys patted me on the back on the way past, though, saying things like "good job man." I knew there were closed-circuit TVs in the locker rooms, but I just assumed the teams would have better things to do than watch them. Then again, as soon as I showed up in top hat and tails I'd imagine someone might have recognized that something unusual was going on. I didn't even have time to consider the implications for the Jammers players before they appeared, only coming from the other side we were much more directly in their way. The players started pushing their way through the crowd in the hall, creating some chaos. Almost every player said something to me on the way past; it was strange because most of them were suddenly calling me Mr. Rutherford, except for a couple that knew me pretty well from the bar and still called me Dave. The exception, of course, was Marshall Jacobs, who kept his eyes focused towards the court and said nothing to anyone. Jenna couldn't resist throwing a barb at his retreating figure "Hey Marshall, don't you want to see Sam's engagement ring? Down in Texas we've got a special word for 'em: playa kryptonite." She made that last part up, but all of the girls broke out laughing.

The last player out was Stanley Jefferson. He gave Sam a pat on the shoulder, then came up and shook my hand. "Congratulations Mista' R. All I gots to say is, man, that was class all the way. Nice goin'. All the guys in the locker room was watching, and they is all impressed. Even Marshall Jacobs, although he too proud to admit it anywhere y'all might hear. Best of luck to the both of ya." Then he headed out onto the court.

Coach was standing behind him, waiting, and shook my hand as well. "Stanley Jefferson is really emerging as a leader, isn't he?" I commented.

He shook his head. "I thinking of making him captain next year--if we can re-sign him."

"We'll re-sign him," I said confidently.

Just then one of the usher staff came running up to us. "Mr. Rutherford... Ms. Sullivan... the other Mr. Rutherford wants you come up to the owner's suite as soon as you can," he shouted breathlessly. Almost as one, the girls realized that they were late, that they should have been out pumping up the crowdbefore the players returned to the court. They quickly raced out to their positions on the sidelines, leaving Jenna, Sam and I.

Sam looked at me, suddenly nervous. "Oh god... you don't think Mr. Rutherford is mad at us, do you?"

I shook my head with a laugh. "No. I think he wants to congratulate us." I reached for her hand and we started towards the elevator.

"Did you tell him what you were doing?"

"No... but I hinted that something special was going to happen. I think he could have guessed."

"Are you sure your family isn't going to have a problem with me?"

"Oh, I think there are cousins that are jealous of you," I commented, "but dad and grand-dad both really like you. You remember last summer, playing ball in back of the beach house?" The elevator arrived and we stepped inside.

"Yeah... that was fun..." she agreed.

"Remember after you cheated and beat me, you were playing my little brother?"

"Are you still mad at how I won that game?" she jested.

"Are you kidding? After the way you made it up to me later, I can't wait for the next time," I replied. "But while you were busy embarrassing my brother, I was sitting next to grandpa watching the game. You hit a sweet jumper from the top of the key, and he turned to me and said 'if ever there was a girl that was born to be a Rutherford, she's it.' Sometimes I think if he wasn't fifty years too old, he'd be making a play for you himself! So no, I think he's tickled pink that you're going to be part of the family."

I was right. The champagne was already flowing in the owner's suite. My parents hugged Sam, welcoming her as their new daughter. Everyone in the suite grabbed glasses of champagne, and grandpa proposed a toast welcoming Sam into the family. Sam commented how special it was that everyone had see it, and only wished that her parents had been there to see it, too. That's when I told her that I thought they had, because I'd sent them free tickets to the game. Grandpa immediately dispatched ushers to fetch Sam's parents, and not long after they were joining us in the owner's box. Champagne was poured anew, with hugs all around, as my parents met her parents for the first time. No one was watching the game. Grandpa and Sam's dad got wrapped up in a conversation, almost certainly about basketball. My parents were talking to her mom. For a moment, the focus of attention wasn't on us, and we took the opportunity to kiss lovingly. People must have noticed, because we now heard applause in the suite. I looked up guiltily. That's when grandpa announced he had a little surprise for US.

-------

Sam and I stood by the window, her arms on my shoulders and mine around her waist, admiring the lights of the city. Grandpa's had guessed what might be happening and reserved the penthouse suite at the hotel across the street from the arena for us. It was attached with a skywalk, so we didn't even have to put on our coats or anything--in fact, we didn't even have to check in. Hotel staff had our key in hand when we crossed the bridge, and we went right up to our room. I left a game before it was over for the first time since I was probably ten and games ended after my bedtime --at grandpa's suggestion.

It was very romantic. I had lost the top hat and cane, but was still wearing the tux. We held each other, looked at the lights, kissed, and looked at the lights some more. I could feel her heart beating softly in her chest as I held her tight. It was one of those moments that you wish would never end.

I glanced at my new fiancee, and noticed she was indeed staring admiringly at something, but her eyes were focused in close rather than out the window. I realized she was looking at her own finger. "Trying to get used to the ring?"

She looked at me with eyes gushing, twisting the ring slightly in her fingers. "Dave, it's so beautiful! And it's so BIG! You shouldn't have spent so much money on it..."

"A very special girl deserves a very special ring," I argued. "I may not have a lot of cash in the bank, but I can get credit like you wouldn't believe!" She looked at me with love in her face, then rested her head gently on my shoulder, still marveling at her ring. "I don't think you'll have to worry about the next Johnny Mill misinterpreting your kindness."

Her eyebrows raised. "Did that have something to do with this?"

"Let me put it this way... I've known for a while that I really love you, and want to be with you forever. But sometimes it does seem like we're still so young, and we haven't even been dating for a year yet. The Johnny Mill thing convinced me that none of that matters. If you know you've found the person you want to be with, and you want the whole world to know it, what's the sense in waiting? I think it's probably fair to say this happened sooner because of Johnny Mill. But from the moment I first said I love you, I've felt like this."

We kissed deeply, tongues intertwined. When we finally stopped for air, Sam whispered breathlessly "You make me so happy, Dave. I'll be honest, after everything that's happened I've been afraid to even let myself hope that this day would ever come. And here it is... and how SPECIAL. Proposing at the game, with the dancers... that was so romantic! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world."

"I was just so afraid that you weren't ready to say yes," I admitted.

"Yes... yes... and yes again," she replied, and we kissed again. "You know... it seems pretty minor now, but I did buy you something for Valentine's Day too... sort of..." she said coyly.

"Sort of?"

"Well... technically it's something for me... but you're the one that's going to like it..."

A pleasant picture was forming in my head. "Is it something... I'll like to look at?"

"Maybe," she shrugged, coy and sexy as hell.

"When do I get to see?"

"Go sit on the couch," she suggested softly. She didn't need to drop that hint twice. She followed and stood before me. She took off her suit jacket, then unbuttoned her blouse. She pulled it back at her shoulders so that it hung open loosely, revealing her bra. It was silky pink, with like a white lace line that run down the middle of each cup and a tiny string bow tied right above the nipple. "Mmmm" I commented. Then she grabbed her skirt and slowly, slowly, slowly pulled up the hemline, millimeter by millimeter. I watched slightly more of her wonderful, slender thighs come into view, encased in white hose. Then a bit of lacy fabric came into view. Oh my... I looked up at Sam's face; she flashed her eyebrows at me confidently. I returned to watch as more and more lace came into view... and then soft, white skin.