Impossible Dreams 8/8 (Romantic Comedy, MF, cons, interr, rom, slow)
------------------------------------------------------------

Impossible Dreams
A romantic comedy about a basketball legend and a dancer.
Copyright (c) 2005, Bingain (MF, cons, interr, romance, very slow)

------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 8

Lauren hadn't been so exhaustive in many years. The moment she collapsed on Rick's chest after another explosive orgasm, she nearly passed out. For the next half hour or so, all she could hear was the panting and breathing from herself and Rick.

"I think I can still walk," Rick said, weakly, while running his fingers on Lauren's still sweaty skin.

"I don't give a damn," Lauren said, also weakly. "I don't think I can."

"Hey," Rick said after his weak laugh.

"Huh?"

"Did you see what I said at the end of the interview with Michelle Tetra?"

"No, I didn't," Lauren said. "I was either talking with Vanessa on the phone or was watching Heber Green and Charlie Brown. What did you say?"

"Damn," Rick said. "I have to ask them for a tape."

"What did you say?"

"I said I love you."

"Did you?" Lauren said, smiling and adjusting her position so she could see his face. "And who was that 'you'?"

"You, of course," Rick said, quaking.

"Show me the tape," Lauren said, smiling. "I don't trust you." She lowered her face and began licking his chest.

"Okay."

"Hey."

"Huh?"

"I know Charlie Brown does not talk objectively," she said. "But do we really have a chance against the Sonics?"

"Very slim, honey," Rick said slowly. "It's a miracle for the Sonics this year. If you split the Sonics roster apart, they are just good players, not great players. Of course except Tim Fowl and Kevin Magnet. But putting them together, and under the leadership of Tim Fowl, they have become a super-team. It's very hard to beat them at the level they're playing now."

"Then how are you going to kick Tim Fowl's butt?"

"Well," Rick said. "We have to steal games from them. We have to try to make it a fast tempo game so they don't feel comfortable. We may have to let Tim score, but put pressure on the other guys and hope they will become silent. Make it a two man game. Tim may be better than me, but if I can drop a three when he puts up a two, then we may win the game. If we can steal enough games, we'll be the champion."

Lauren let out a sigh. "What do you want if you win the championship?" she said.

"You."

"You already have me."

"Every bit of you."

"You already have them, silly."

"A honeymoon?"

"Are you proposing?"

"Will you, if I am?"

"Nah," Lauren said. "I don't know. Damn, stop it. It tickles. Okay, okay, I'll think about it."

"Will you marry me?"

"I'll think about it," Lauren said. "Wait. Is that a real proposal?"

"Yeah. Will you marry me?"

"I'll think... Where is the ring?"

"Will you?"

"Show me the ring and I'll think about it."

"I can't."

"Can't what?"

"Can't show."

"Well, buy the ring and talk to me again. You're really a jerk, an insincere jerk."

"It's underneath the pillow. I can't reach it. You're on top of me."

"Oh my goodness," Lauren said, giggling. "You're a super-dirty jerk."

"Okay, one moment," Rick said. He struggled to reach underneath the pillow while holding Lauren in his other arm. He pulled out a diamond ring.

"Will you marry me?" Rick said, raising the ring in his hand.

"I'll think about it," Lauren said, smiling.

"Will you marry me?" Rick said again.

"Hmm," Lauren said, smiling. "I still don't know if you really love me. How can I risk myself?"

"I love you, Lauren. Will you marry me?"

"Say it again."

"I Love you, Lauren. Do you want to be my wife?"

"Put it on my finger."

"That means a yes, right?" Rick said, sliding the ring into her finger.

"I'll think about it," Lauren said, giggling, while studying the ring on her finger.

"Do you love me?"

"You know it, silly."

"Do you?"

"Okay," Lauren said, giggling. "I love you, and I'll marry you. Happy now?"

"Yeah," Rick said, with a wide smile on his face.

"How big is the diamond?" 

"Three carat and eighty," Rick said. "It's from my earring."

"Why use that one?"

"You don't like it?"

"No, but why use that one?"

"It's like a memento," Rick said. "For some strange reason, that moment you commented about my earring, I mean, the picture in my mind, is like everlasting."

"Oh," Lauren said, smiling, and still studying her new toy. "So that's why you use it instead of buying me a new diamond?"

"I'll buy you a new one."

"I like this one," Lauren said, smiling. "You buy a new one for your earring."

"No more earring," Rick said. "There's another reason."

"Another reason?"

"Yeah. It's like," Rick said. "I think, it's is symbolic. I took it off my earring and put it on your ring. You know what I mean?"

"It means from now on all diamonds go to my rings?" Lauren said, giggling.

"Yeah, that too," Rick said, laughing. "And no more earring on me."

"What about me?"

"What about you?"

"My earrings," Lauren said, giggling. "Like, Edwardian earrings, Trellis earrings, Stephanie diamond earrings. You know?"

"Of course," Rick said, laughing.

"I've never been to Europe," Lauren said. "And I've not taken a vacation for like two years."

"Okay," Rick said, laughing again. "You book? Or I book?"

"I'll book," Lauren said. "I don't trust your taste. I do have some credit lines."

"Use your new credit card."

"My new credit card?"

"Yeah," Rick said. "The envelop in your drawer."

Lauren laughed. "You are a hopeless dirty ugly gay useless tricky jerk," she said. "What if I had said no?"

"Don't matter," Rick said. "You'll still use the new credit card, and one day you will say yes."

Lauren laughed again, and began drum-hitting him in the chest.

------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, my," Vanessa said on the phone. "You have?"

"Yeah," Lauren said, smiling while watching her ring.

"You're hopeless," Vanessa said. "And last time you said you wouldn't?"

"Well," Lauren said, giggling. "He's a jerk. He had everything planned and led me into the setup."

Vanessa laughed. "Congratulations," she said. "You're the silliest bitch I've ever seen."

"You are, too," Lauren said, laughing. "Well, it may take a year or two, but you're going to be my maid of honor, and I'll buy white condoms for him."

Vanessa sounded like she was choking as she laughed. "You're the worst bitch I've ever seen," she said. "Have you told your mom yet?"

"No," Lauren said, laughing. "I'm going to now. I'm a little scared."

"Well," Vanessa said. "I'll tell you what. Tell him to transfer his investment fund account to your name. Show it to your mom. Tell her you don't care if he runs away."

"You're a bitch of the bitch," Lauren said, laughing.

------------------------------------------------------------

Vanessa was sniggering as the kids were participating in a sponsored shoot around on the floor at Madison Square Garden prior to the most crucial game of the year. The Knicks were down two-to-three in the final series. They had to win this home game or the Sonics would become the champion.

"What're you laughing at, Nessa?" Lauren said.

"Did you watch the sports show on TV last night?"

"No," Laurie said. "Charlie Brown?"

"Yeah," Vanessa said, giggling. "They painted a Rick Hart butt on a board for Charlie Brown to kiss."

"I thought he had taken it back," Lauren said, laughing. "He didn't?"

"He insisted he had," Jimmy said. "But the anchor showed him video segments of him staying firm on his projection that the Knicks would be swept, until we came back from two-nothing."

Lauren laughed. "So did he kiss the painted ass?" she said.

"No," Vanessa said, laughing. "In the end he banged his head against the board, and started saying they drew a totally wrong butt of Rick Hart, said it looked more like a Janet Jackson butt."

"It's in bikini?"

"No," Jimmy said, laughing. "In Knicks hook shorts."

"Well," Lauren said, laughing. "Charlie Brown is an ass. But it's fun watching him bullshitting and then the other guys having fun on him."

"Yeah," Vanessa said, still laughing. "Better than any soap. I wonder what will he say if we win the championship."

"He's neutral now," Jimmy said. "Even though the spread on the wagers are still on the Sonics' side. They don't believe Rick can keep on making more than fifty points a game."

"Yeah," Lauren said. "It's hard. It's like it's Rick against the entire Sonics."

"I don't get it," Vanessa said. "They say the Sonics would be a much inferior team without Tim Fowl, and they also say the Knicks would be crap without Rick Hart. Then why is it that our guys still can't match up with their guys?"

"Simple," Jimmy said. "Most of the Sonics players are good players individually, but not good enough to be stars. Putting them together makes them very good. Kevin Magnet is one of the best power forwards in the league, so their interior is among the best. Putting in Tim Fowl fills up all the gaps. I don't like the way Charlie Brown compares, but I can't argue that our players are inferior. We need a couple better players to fill in the gaps. Rick's been doing too much. We practically don't have a third shooter other than Peanut and Rick. Diesel's again hopeless in his free throw shootings, so they foul him every time he has the ball underneath the basket. It's hard." 

"They're coming out now," Lauren said as the arena light dimming and spot light began illuminating the area the players would come out.

"Wow," Vanessa said during a time-out. "Rick's really a superman. Thirty five points and there's still two minutes to go in the first half."

"He needs this game," Lauren said. "He can't lose this game."

"I think Rick is the only player Tim Fowl has problem guarding," Jimmy said. "He's the runner-up for 'Defensive Player of the Year'.

The crowd chanted thunderously as the Knicks pulled off a 52-47 lead after Rick made another fade away 3-pointer towards the end of the first half, the biggest lead of the day. Peanut then slapped the ball away from the Sonics small forward and swung the ball toward Diesel as he dived into the crowd. The big man threw the ball to the front court as Rick sprinted forward.  He grabbed the ball and made a shot at the buzzer as the Sonics point guard pulled his jersey trying to stop him. The ball went in, but Rick fell on to the floor, landing on his left wrist. He held his wrist while twisting on the floor. The crowd's roaring whoop turned into groan and then into silence. 

Lauren was again on her feet gapping. The Knicks staff went into the court to check Rick's condition as the referees went to the scoring table to check the replay and the clock to determine if the shot was made in time to be counted and if a foul was to be given to the Sonics point guard. 

Lauren knew Rick was in great pain as she tried to look over all the heads and shoulders in front of her and surrounding Rick.

"Basket counts," said the broadcaster a little later. "Fragrant-One, Gary Page."

"How can he shoot the free throws?" Vanessa said, as she saw Rick still holding his wrist.

"If he can't," Jimmy said. "The Sonics will assign a name of their choice from our bench to do it."

"He's going to make the free throws," Lauren said, as she watched Rick walking towards the free throw line.

"Oh, my," Vanessa said. "He's going to shoot the free throws with one hand?"

"I guess so," Lauren said. "It looks like he can't use his left hand."

Rick made both free throws with one hand as the crowd chanted. He then held his left wrist and went into the hallway with staff surrounding him, and followed by cameramen.

"Do you think he can still play?" Vanessa said.

"I don't know," Lauren said. "They'll have to examine him first."

The crowd still tried to chant for their team without their emerging star in the third quarter. Rick had not come out of the dressing room since he went inside at the half. The Sonics had overcome their deficit and was beginning to pull apart.

The crowd roared and chanted when they saw Rick appeared from the hallway, with a big pack of ice on his left wrist. He went over to the bench and started talking with his coach.

"Is he coming in?" Vanessa said.

"Looks like he wants to," Jimmy said. "But I'm not sure. It depends on what's the doc's conclusion and what the coach thinks."

"I'd rather he not play," Lauren said. "We can try it again next year if we lose this year. But if he makes his injury worse, we may lose more than we want."

"He's coming in," Vanessa said, nudging Lauren.

Rick played with one arm for a few minutes, struggling every time he tried a drive, and making one three-pointer out of three attempts, before the Knicks coach called a time-out.

"They're taking him out," Jimmy said, as the crowd turned silent again.

Lauren watched, with tears in her eyes, as Rick went back into the dressing room, accompanied by a couple staff, and some cameramen behind him.

"Are we staying to watch the presentation?" Vanessa said after the buzzer. The Knicks lost the game by sixteen. The Sonics won the Championship.

"Well," Lauren said. "He'll still have to come out for the presentation, and I'll be waiting for him."

"We'll stay with you," Vanessa said, patting her hand. "Will he get the MVP?"

"No," Jimmy said. "It's always from the winning team. Tim Fowl's been the Sonics best player in the series, so he's going to be MVP."

Lauren saw Tim Fowl went over to hug Rick as he came out of the hallway.

The crowd booed when the NBA commissioner presented the championship trophy to the Sonics. 

The commissioner then raised a smaller trophy in his hand. "The MVP of this year's playoffs," he said into the microphone. "Averaging twenty eight points, seven rebounds, seven assists, Tim Fowl!"

The crowd booed again, even more louder this time.

Tim Fowl came over to the presenter. "Thanks, Commissioner," he said. "I can't accept this honor. We win the championship, but I am not the MVP. Richard Hart is the MVP." He smiled and waved to the crowd as they cheered, then went back to his teammates who were clapping hands.

"Is the commissioner going to give Rick the trophy?" Vanessa said, giggling. The commissioner was still holding the trophy in his hand. The big screen showed a very embarrassed expression on his face.

"He can't," Jimmy said, chuckling. "Tim Fowl is not the one to determine who is the MVP. He's the one to determine."

------------------------------------------------------------

Lauren switched the TV to the sports channel when Rick went to the bathroom. It was Charlie Brown shouting again.

"Okay," he bawled. "Get that board out, and I'll kiss it. But know what?"

"What?" said Heber Green, chuckling.

"There's no written rule anywhere saying the MVP must be from the winning team. It's always been the case because a better team always wins a best-of-seven series, and the best player of the winning team is usually the best one in the series."

"And?"

"Well," Charlie Brown said. "Had Rick Hart not injured his wrist, the series will go to a game seven. If that's the case, I'll still bet on the Sonics, but anything can happen. Rick Hart has been playing with eight hands and six feet. He's the MVP of the series, everyone knows it. I mean, even a MVP can't play against an entire great team like the Sonics, but that's what Rick Hart's been doing single-handedly. Tim Fowl has the courage and dignity to admit it. David Steiner doesn't."

"Finally," Heber Green said, smiling. "We share the exact opinion. You know what I'm thinking now?"

"What?"

"I feel sorry for the players on the other teams," Heber Green said. "It reminds me of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Rick Hart is going to share the trophy with Tim Fowl for years to come. I don't know who's going to get more championships, but like you said, the other teams can go fishing from November to October. If I were a player wanting a ring, I'll have to join either one of them, even for free."

"I'll join Rick Hart."

"Why not Tim Fowl?"

"I'll have to play more minutes if I join Tim Fowl," Charlie Brown said, laughing. "I don't have to lose weight if I join Rick Hart, and I can play Gameboy while watching him play."


                      # #  END  # #
------------------------------------------------------------
Written by Bingain
Comments appreciated

bingain@yahoo.com
http://storiesonline.net/library/author.php?id=1128
http://www.asstr.org/~bingain

