The football is real; the fantasy ought to be.
The description of the football game in this story is based on the details as they actually happened in the season opener. I wrote the beginning of the story (chapter one) and created the "fantasy football" rules (chapter two) before the game began, then let the two teams on the field create the story. When the game started, I didn't know which teams would win and lose. Like the characters, I submitted myself to the mercy of what happened on the field. Like other forms of fantasy football, it changed the way I watched and enjoyed the game. I hope you enjoy it too. Who knows, it might catch on and change fantasy football as we know it.
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CHAPTER ONE - Pre-Season
"Damn it!" Suzy said, slamming her papers on the table. Tension and frustration peaked as the conference room clock ticked toward 5:00 pm.
Nobody wanted to be in the room, let alone in the city. The fitness company's vice president for sales called regional representatives from Pittsburgh and Denver to the company's Atlanta headquarters to hammer out new sales boundaries. Rather than getting in the middle of the highly pressured territorialism, he put them in the room together to negotiate a solution. His assignment was clear: No one leaves Atlanta until the new boundaries are agreed upon and signed off by both teams. He scheduled the meeting for a Friday, assuming they would be motivated toward a quick decision and return to their respective cities for the weekend. He underestimated the competitive resolve due to the millions of dollars in sales at stake.
No one anticipated the added gender dynamic that would further complicate the negotiations. The Pittsburgh team was made of up three women, the Denver team of five men. Beyond the territorialism, an unspoken battle of the sexes added to the stalemate in negotiations. The size and gender of the Denver team were no advantage to the resolve of the Pittsburgh's representatives. If anything, the women were more determined to win because the all-male team outnumbered them.
Everyone recognized Pittsburgh's team leader, Ally, as probably the strongest person in the room. She was a statuesque 32-year-old 5'9" brunette with olive skin, translucent blue eyes and a smile that could sell water to a fish. Consistent with the corporate culture for all middle managers, Ally was fit. She had full 34D tits and long tan legs. She knew how to display her body in a business suit that would command professional respect and physical attention. This often meant a sheer blouse, a professionally short skirt that showed off her long tan legs, leading to at least one and a half inch matching heels. She knew what she had and she knew how to use it. Today was no different.
The second member of their team was a young 26-year-old African American named Jennifer. Jen drew admiration from men and women with her robust 36DD breasts above her tall slender 5'7" dark-skinned fit frame. She usually preferred to wear bright tight dresses to accentuate her beauty. Jen has always been athletic. Despite the many recruiting attempts for her to join cheerleading squads in high school and college, she had no patience for sideline spectating with pom poms when you could make a difference competing on the field.
Suzy rounded out the team as a 5'4" 29 year-old blonde with fair skin, perky round tits and a tight ass. Suzy was as passionate about everything in life as she was beautiful. All three women were single, successful and confident. They were used to getting what they wanted. Together they were a force to be reckoned with.
The men from Denver looked more like a delegation from the United Nations, or even more, like an international team of athletes. Brock, the self-delegated team leader, was a muscular 6'5", with dark brown hair who looked to be no stranger to the football field, basketball court or weight room. Cliff was a 6'2" African American, clearly fit in ways that looked to rival Usain Bolt. Lou was the always stylish, handsome, 5'10" Italian, self-confident in any setting. Steve was the blonde hazel-eyed 6' member of the team who regularly held the Mid-west regional monthly sales records. Rudy was tall, rugged and stunning, coming from a tall Caucasian father and a proud, gorgeous Indian mother. All five men were within two years of 30, one direction or the other.
"I have a life outside of all this bullshit," Suzy said, letting her emotions get the best of her. "This was supposed to be settled yesterday. We've been at it for two days. It's Saturday night, we're stuck here for the weekend, and no closer to a solution."
In truth, each team had made small compromises in their negotiations, but neither team was close to agreeing to the other side's proposal. With the company's Southern roots, there would be no one in the office on Sunday. Negotiations would resume Monday morning.
Shuffled papers began moving from the conference table into briefcases as everyone in the room stood, without any plans for the next 36 hours, trapped in a humid early-September weekend in Atlanta.
"Want to join us for drinks?" Brock offered as a gesture of collegiality.
"We've had to spend the last two days stuck in here with you," Suzy fired back in her feisty frustration. "Why in the hell would we choose to..."
"Wait," Ally offered, interrupting as she put her hand up toward Suzy. "Maybe that's just what we all need."
Suzy swung her head around toward Ally in shock with a look that asked, "What are you thinking?" Ally returned the look with a confident smile that Suzy had learned to trust in other competitive settings. She could tell Ally had an idea, that Ally had a plan.
"I could use a drink. I suspect we all could," Ally added calmly. "Don't you?" she asked, looking at her teammates more than the men across the table.
Suzy and Jen conceded. What did they have to lose? The men across the table were the only other people any of them knew in Atlanta. Whether they were with the men or not, they were ready for a drink. Who knows? They might actually be chivalrous enough to buy. "Why not," Jen nodded.
"Great," Brock said genuinely. "Let's drop our things off at the suites and meet outside in 15." The company had luxury executive suites less than a mile from its corporate headquarters to house visiting employees and guests. "I saw a sport's bar down the street that looks good."
Within 20 minutes the eight were assembled again around another table, but this time surrounded by large televisions broadcasting college football games. The room was packed with men shouting at the action on the screens and women wearing as little as possible to invite a different kind of action when the games were over.
"This might not be such a bad weekend after all," Rudy said admiring the eye candy.
Appetizers and five rounds of martinis were consumed in the first hour. Conversation loosened and began to flow as easily as the drinks, mostly about fantasy football picks and strategy.
"I'm missing a huge Steeler football party for their season-opener tomorrow," Suzy lamented, "by being stuck down here with you yahoos." She slapped Steve on the arm flirtatiously.
"They're playing the Broncos," Rudy realized out loud. "It's the big game on tomorrow's SNF."
"And the Broncos are going to get crushed," Jen spurted out impulsively. "Especially after last year's fluke, the revenge is going to be sweet."
The smack talk and competitive banter increased with the number of drinks. By the second hour all eight were feeling the benefits of the alcohol.
"Our Steeler parties play a different kind of fantasy football," Ally said in a direct and seductive tone. Her index finger circled the top of her martini glass. Suzy and Jen knew about Ally's fantasy football parties. The emphasis was always on "fantasy." Jen had heard many stories. Suzy experienced one last season with the Steeler's 14 to 3 win over the Browns. The stakes of this kind of fantasy football made that win unforgettable. She had heard that fantasy football changes the way you watch a game. Until that night, she never knew how much.
"Why are you bringing that up?" Jen asked Ally nervously.
