New Phone Who Dis

The day I realized I wasn’t going to be a professional athlete, I found myself wondering what the next thing was going to be. I was 26 at the time and I’d put everything I'd had into sports. If you haven’t made it by 26, you need to start looking into doing something else and I was finally able to admit that to myself.

I would always pursue sports and maybe someday I would find a way to make a living doing what I love. But from that day forward, I had to get my act together and do something.

I had just left the interview for a job where I’d be reviewing content for a magazine. It wasn’t entirely a marketing job, though there was some level of that. People would create materials and I would rank their effectiveness for various publications.

I had always envisioned myself in a Nike commercial, just do it. I always got a trophy growing up, every single time. They didn’t mean much to me. The thing is, when you get a trophy just for showing up, all you really feel like you need to do in life is show up and you’ll win. We won several championships including a few undefeated seasons but it never really felt like I had actually won anything.

So there I was, having shown up to a job interview for the first time. Would I get a call back? I had worn my best suit, my Mom always made sure I had a suit for special occasions. This one was old but I hadn’t worn it many times and it still fit. I’d just had it dry cleaned and I was looking sharp.

I’d taken the train from the interview to a friend’s house. That’s when I met her. We talked for hours about life, philosophy, what it meant to be happy. When I got up to leave, both of our phones were dead but she insisted on getting my number, so I wrote it down in this little black book she had.

I told her to text me if she wanted to come to the game the next day. Tomorrow came and went and my phone stayed silent throughout the day. The type of silence like when you’re alone in a big, unfamiliar house. Despite the crowd cheering and the music playing, I was alone in my mind.

I can’t remember why I didn’t kiss her that night. We were definitely hitting it off and if I’d had any sense at the time, I would have made my move. After about a week I figured she wasn’t going to text me, so I forgot about her.

Years went by and I got a text. A series of numbers. She thought I’d know who it was and what it meant but so many years and life experiences had come to pass by then, I had no idea.

I guess she was thinking about me the whole time. Or at least that week. She always had a mystery about her. The mystery did keep me coming back for a while.

She was a little dramatic after I texted her back, “New phone, who dis?” A jaded millennial’s way of saying, “Hey I have no idea who this is, will you just tell me already?”

I’d eventually grow tired of the games but I was living by myself in the mountains and it was nice to have someone to talk to, so I gave her a chance.

It took months of texting back and forth before I remembered her face. She was one of the most beautiful people I’d ever met. I had completely erased her from my mind. I guess I thought I’d missed my chance and I should move on.

So we messaged back and forth and even tried to arrange a date or two. Neither of them happened.

She had asked me if I was still playing sports. I was working out 5-6 times per week and playing in the local league. My reason was different than it was when we first met. I was still playing because that’s who I am and not to prove to the world, and to myself, that I could make it in that field.

She still believed in me in a way that I didn’t anymore. Even though she hadn’t shown up to either of the dates we’d tried to arrange, she was there for me in a way that no one else had ever been. I thought I’d forgotten her but I’d really forgotten who I was.

Everyone else just threw a trophy at me and said, “What are you going to do with your life?”

We had a meeting with a client for this account we were working on. It wasn’t Nike, but it was close.

Reebok wanted a marketing person to clock a 6 minute mile and cross the finish line like they were Usain Bolt winning the Olympics.

When I walked into the room, the woman from Reebok said, “I didn’t know you found someone to star in the commercial…”

We asked her what she meant, and she pointed at me, “He’s perfect.”

Little did I know this was her boss and she had opened the door to an opportunity that would change my life forever.

It all started with that first $20,000 job. I had been making decent money by then but that money really enabled me to get on my feet.

From there, I was contacted by an agent, some Hollywood type who wanted me to play a lead role in a new film about silver linings.

It was like I was playing myself in this movie. Maybe that’s how I played the part so well. A jaded millennial who’d once had such high ideals but had become worn out by the time it all worked out.

So it was a happy ending after all. I texted her to say thank you but she never responded. I guess that’s how it goes. This time I couldn’t forget about her but I guess it was all worth it.