The Comeback Kid

Tags up front in order of appearance: No willing cucks, cheating, betrayal, humiliation, divorce comeback, consequences, HEA. No BTB no RCAAC, just a guy making a comeback.

I loved baseball. My name is Parker Newsom but ever since high school people in my hometown call me the 'comeback kid' or 'kid' for short. It is a well-earned title that I wear with pride. The story of how it came about is the story of who I am really. I'm pretty good at things, like baseball, but I can't totally focus on anything and become great until the chips are down. Then I become a superstar.

It first came to light in elementary school. I made the school baseball team, but I was just an average player. That was until one game we just happened to be down by two runs in the top of the sixth. We had a runner at first and second base. I just happened to be up next. The coach was pretty nervous about me batting, we already had two outs. My batting average was just average and I had never done anything yet to stand out. Yet he let me bat.

The first pitch was a ball and so was the next. The pitcher had a pretty mean fastball, and he let me have it. I returned the favor by hitting a home run over the left field fence. We were now up by one and our next batter struck out. It wasn't over though, the other team still had to bat. Where do you put the average kids in baseball? One spot is right field where I play.

Our pitcher succeeded in striking out the first guy but walked the second. The third batter hit a single. Now the winning run was on base, and it looked like my come back homer would be meaningless. However, I was in the zone and when the next batter hit a fly ball just out of the infield to right I had my chance. It was a good hit, too far for the infielders but too short for the outfielders. The base coach waved the runners on as the ball left the infield. However, my burst of speed allowed me to catch it. I threw the ball to first for the second out and we won the game. That is when they first called me the comeback kid.

By the time I was in high school, I was riding the bench but had solidified my status as the comeback kid. Occasionally I would start but only if the regular starter was missing for some reason. Not a starter, but I was always sent in when we were losing in the 6th or 7th inning. I didn't often get a chance to make a fielding play, but my batting average in those situations was around.850. Yes it was ridiculous, but it was true. Just to show how average I was otherwise when you added my other at bats to the average I was only a.280 batter. If you took out the clutch batting attempts altogether I was a dismal 1.25 batter. Also, when the ball was hit to me in the field after I went in it was golden glove all the way.

My high school could afford to keep me on the bench for just those occasions. In my senior year we had a great team, so I wasn't' called upon too often. Then in the playoffs I was subbed in almost every game. The Headline of our town newspaper read, "Comeback Kid Does it Again!" after I drove in the winning runs in the state final. I hoped that a university would be willing to use up a spot on the bench for my special ability. My parents couldn't afford to send me to college and although I had been saving for years I knew I wasn't going to make it without a scholarship.

Apparently Georgia, Oklahoma and Stanford had a full ride spot for the 'comeback kid.' It was more of the same in university, but I knew the MLB would have no place for me. I had my degree, great memories as an NCAA champion, no debt and a great job offer. Why not go and become a commodity trader for an investment bank in Chicago?

It wasn't only in baseball that I was the comeback kid. I bounced back from every major adversity I met.

My first serious girlfriend was Maddison Banks in grade 11. She was above average looking and just at the fringes of being a popular girl. Last pick for the cheerleader squad kind of girl. I felt pretty lucky that she dated me. The whole 'comeback kid' thing certainly played a part in her acceptance of a date with me. I thought things were great. Then after we had been going steady for about six months she dumped me in the most humiliating way possible. It was after a baseball game that we had won in the seventh when I hit a triple. The usual crowd was waiting after the game for us to come out. Parents, fans, and the girl friends were all there to watch what happened when we came out.

Madison walked right past me and put a lip lock on our shortstop. I was crushed but I wouldn't give the cold-hearted bitch the satisfaction of any response at the time. I had to make a comeback, that would be my response. I spent the summer licking my wounds and plotting.

When I went back to school I went after the hottest girl in school. Her name was Jada Horner, and she was the head cheerleader. She also never had a boyfriend or dated. The Horner's were rich and conservative, you could say puritanical. We attended the same church, and I had heard plenty of rumors about her. Her parents demanded she wait for a suitable candidate for marriage before she dated, stuff like that. However, they did have a pool and allowed her to have great parties (with chaperones) that fed her popularity. I spent the summer trying to ingratiate myself to Jada and more specifically her parents.

It took me until December to get a date with Jada. It was a double date with her parents no less to a play. I was always the perfect gentleman with her when we were with her parents or not. We continued to date but we kept our relationship low profile at school. I never said anything to my friends, nor did she. It was a month away from prom when Mr. Horner informed me that "we had to talk." At this point I had done no more than kiss Jada, but I did enjoy her company and surprisingly her parents company as well.

The next time I arrived at the Horner's house Jada and her mom were out. Mr. Horner sat me down with a coke.

"Parker you are a nice guy, I must admit my wife and I even have grown to like you. You seem to be a smart fellow, however, in case you have figured it out, yet you have no future with Jada. The only reason we permitted her to associate with you is because you were safe, and she was lonely. Jada is going to Yale where she will get a good degree that will lead to a good job. She may meet her future husband there or she may meet him later, but he will be worthy of her. No offence Parker but there will be no intimacy after prom or a happy ever after for you and Jada. Do you understand?"

I like Mr. Horner and since he laid his cards on the table so would I,

"Sir, I really like Jada and if circumstances were different I am sure I could fall in love with her and spend my life trying to make her happy. But to be frank I knew that wasn't going to happen from the start. I have been using Jada, and the prom will be the culmination of my comeback."

Mr. Horner's face went red, and I started to fear violence.

"Please sir let me finish. I have a deep respect for Jada, and I would hope after we can still be friends. I think she feels the same. She informed me of her life plan on our second date. It was a carbon copy of what you just told me. I then told her what my plan was. Not a life plan but a comeback plan. Jada agreed at that point to help me."

I then explained the story of my humiliation at the hands of Madison Banks and my teammate.

"So, you see those two are still dating and people still talk about my humiliation behind my back. Some people have seen Jada and I together alone as well as with you and your wife. There is speculation about what that means but Jada and I say nothing. This feeds the speculation. When I walk into Prom with Jada on my arm it will end the guessing, and it will be an epic comeback! I know it is kind of petty or juvenile perhaps but those two went out of their way to make me a cuckhold and fool. If she just had broken up with me in private I would have let it go but she didn't so this is my response. I hope you are not mad at me Mr. Horner and let Jada continue to play her role in my comeback."

Mr. Horner smiled and laughed. He shook my hand,

"I knew you were a good guy Parker; I admire your style. I won't say a word and I hope it succeeds."

It did succeed, better than I ever dreamed. The cherry on top of my comeback prom night was when Jada and I were elected as Prom King and Queen. One of the other contending couples was Maddison and the shortstop. That's why I am the Comeback Kid!

Now I can tell you about my greatest comeback.

In my last year of university, I had met Clara Hughes. We hit it off and were living together by graduation. She followed me to Chicago and life was good. Clara found a good paying job and we were having fun. We even were talking about marriage and kids. Then unfortunately it ended. I didn't know it was going to end however until it was the worst possible time and way. It was an even bigger humiliation. Before I tell you about how it happened I have to briefly tell you about my job.

The commodities division of the investment bank I work for has two sections. The larger section is for domestic, including Canada and Mexico commodities and then a smaller section for the rest of the world. I work on the world side. Our boss's name is Pam and the other two guys in my section are Sawatsky and Pepsi. Alesky Sawatsky is married and has been there the longest. Pepsi is really Jose Rodriquez, but everyone calls him Pepsi because he always has one. It is either in his hand or on his desk.

I really like working with Sawatsky and Pepsi, we make a great team. Pam also is an amazing boss. She accepted my 'different' approach to trading without reservation once I showed her it worked. You see I watch the news, business and political. I don't care about politics really I just am looking for the opportunities created by mostly political turmoil. For example, a South American company's gold mine is seized by rebels, and they need a way to move the gold. I arrange to buy the gold before someone else does or the government gets it back. Do not be confused however, I stay away from 'blood diamonds.' I also don't deal with governments or others that are labeled pariahs like North Korea or Myanmar. I also stay away from hurting the profits of legitimate US companies or our close allies. Since China became such a big player in the world of commodities it is often a Chinese company that is going to lose money in my trades. For me this is a bonus, you just can't trust those guys. This however isn't the majority of my work; I mostly just do boring commodity trades like everyone else.

Normally our bank tries to make dimes or quarters on the dollar in a commodities trade. I am aiming for dollar on a dollar or more. More risk obviously but also much more reward.

I also have done my best to salvage Sawatsky and Pepsi's deals that are going sour. It's just like baseball, it's the bottom of the ninth the deal is going to fail, and we are going to lose money, but I get in the zone, and we make a profit. I am the 'comeback kid.' After a few of these Pepsi and Sawatsky started calling me 'the kid," or 'kid."

Now I can tell you how it went south with Clara.

Clara showed up unexpectedly one day at my work. I didn't know she was there until I went to go to the bathroom and saw her talking to one of the domestic traders, Darryl. Darryl has a reputation for being a pussy hound. Our section seldom interacted with his, so I had never even spoken to him before this. I was surprised to see Clara but nothing untoward seemed to be happening. I approached them just as Clara was turning toward me,

"Clara this is a surprise, what brings you here today?"

She smiled at me,

"I wanted to surprise you for lunch, do you have time to eat with me?"

"Of course I do."

We went to lunch, and nothing was said about Darryl. Life continued on with no change in our relationship. Not a thing, zip, zilch, nothing. Looking back, I still can't identify a single hint of a red flag. Things were going so well I was contemplating buying Clara a ring. My annual work party was coming up in a few weeks and I knew that's when they handed out the yearly bonuses. I was sure I was getting one and it would pay for the ring and probably a holiday for Clara and me too.

When I told Clara about the party she was excited. She had to go out and buy a new dress and all the accessories. The night of the party she looked amazing! I was looking forward to showing her off at the party. When we walked in all eyes were on Clara. I was so proud. We sat with Sawatsky and his wife, and Pepsi and his date. Pepsi went through women like water and this one's name was Rose. I left the table to go get us a drink and when I came back Darryl was sitting in my seat. Pepsi and Sawatsky had troubled looks on their faces. I tried to keep it light, trying to make a joke of it.

"Excuse me that's my seat, thanks for keeping it warm but I'm back now."

I expected him to get up, say something polite and leave. Was I ever wrong.

"No problem you can have your seat back and the one beside it, we were just going back to my table."

with that Clara and Darryl stood up and walked away hand in hand.

I was stunned. I only came out of my shock when I heard Rose say something things in Spanish, I'm pretty sure one of the words was "puta."

Pepsi was furious,

"As soon as this is over Parker we are gong to kick his ass!"

Sawatsky was all in. Sawatsky's wife was more philosophical,

"I heard you were thinking of buying her a ring, it's a good thing she showed her true colors before you did that. You were lucky, I'd say good riddance to a conniving bitch."

My reaction was just like baseball I had to get in the zone and make my comeback. There was nothing left of Clara and me. It was another humiliation at the hands of a woman! Was I such a bad guy? I didn't think so, but maybe I was wrong. Obviously, something had been happening between the two of them in the time between her coming to lunch and now. I had clearly missed it.

"No Pepsi nothing to be gained there. We would just end up getting in trouble. Maybe with the police definitely here at work. She's clearly moved on, betraying me in the most public way. I will make my comeback you'll see."

Nothing more was said that night and I held my head high for the rest of the night ignoring the looks of pity I received.

I dove harder into work and fitness. I always was a runner, so I continued to do that six days a week. On Saturday's I would run the farthest and then stop at the park near my apartment. I found that watching the kids play gave me a sense of peace. I still wanted kids and a faithful wife to have them with. Despite my bold front I was still a mess inside.

It was about a month after stopping at the park that I noticed one of the kids. She was about three and was so happy to be there. She always came with her mom a beautiful brunette with a big shiny wedding ring. There was no way I was going anywhere near her, but her daughter was enchanting. Then one Saturday there was no where else to sit, and the woman sat beside me. I couldn't help but tell her how much I enjoyed seeing her daughter play.

"Excuse me, this may sound a little bit strange, and I am not some kind of weirdo or anything like that, but I have to tell you watching your daughter is the highlight of my Saturday. She has such a joy for life it inspires me."

The woman gave me a long look and decided maybe I was harmless enough.

"Well thank you I guess, I must confess her joy for life sometimes is all that keeps me going."

I didn't know what to say to that and we sat in silence the rest of the time. The next week however she sat beside me again. We shared some small talk, again I was not interesting in starting anything with a married woman. Yet in the weeks to come we became friends. Her name was Stacey and her daughter was Kaylee. The first time Kaylee spoke to me she had me for life.

"You always sittin, you push me."

She grabbed my finger with her little hand and pulled me to the swing. What an amazing girl. I envied the father of such a precious child. I also wondered why I never saw the guy; he had a beautiful wife and child it made no sense to me. One day I asked Stacey about it when I was buying them ice cream.

"Stacey it is none of my business and If my question is offside in any way please just forget it but why doesn't your husband ever come to the park?"

Stacey sighed heavily,

"He is busy, he is a salesman of some kind, and he works every other weekend. I don't know what he does or where he works, if I ask he says, 'don't worry your little head about it.'"

To say she sounded bitter would be an understatement.

"Ok that explains every other Saturday, but he never comes any Saturday, I can't believe that."

"Like I said he is busy and Saturday morning he likes to sleep in. We come here to give him peace. Other times he has work to catch up on. He keeps telling me he is working so hard for us and once he gets promoted he will have way more free time. If I ask him when he will finally be able to spend more time with us he responds with 'soon, don't worry your little head about it, it will all be worth it."

I thought this very strange, but It really was none of my affair. Stacey also clearly didn't want to talk about it, so I didn't ask her anything about him again. I did enjoy Stacey and Kaylee's company though and tired to never miss a Saturday with them at the park.

Meanwhile, I was working on my comeback. I needed to find a replacement for Clara. I dated a few women and even had a short relationship, but they just weren't the one I was looking for. My annual work party was coming up however and I needed a date. I had no idea if Clara was still with Darryl, but I was adamant I would not be going alone. It would be the first step in my comeback to arrive with another woman on my arm. Hopefully, she would be prettier than Clara. With only a month to go in my search for a date to the party I was starting to get a little desperate.

Then it hit me, I would ask the woman I often saw at the restaurant I ate lunch at who worked for another firm near mine. We saw one another all the time and usually made some small talk. Her name was Judy, and she was about as good looking as Clara. She never gave me any indication she was romantically interested in me, so I had never considered pursuing her. I didn't know it at the time, but she had just broken up with her longtime boyfriend and needed a date to a function from her work. With three weeks to go before my party we arrived at the restaurant at the same time one day. I worked up the nerve to ask to sit with her at lunch.

"Judy, I was wondering if I could join you for lunch?"

"Certainly, Parker I was just about to ask you the same thing."

We ordered and then I made my pitch,

"Judy I was hoping you could do me a favor. I have my annual work party coming up in a few weeks and I was wondering if you would come with me?"

"Are you asking me for a date Parker? Or is this just a fill in because your sister is busy?"

She smiled as she said it and before I could continue,

"Just jerking your chain, I also have a function coming up I need a plus one for so certainly I'll be your duty date if you will be mine."

Details needed to be sorted out, but it was a done deal. Things were great. Judy would be sufficient for my comeback.

Her work function was nice. I think I was successful portraying the attentive boyfriend. She was definitely happy with my performance, inviting me back to her place after it was over.

"Parker I really enjoyed the evening, and I've got an itch that needs scratching that I was hoping you could help me with. No strings attached but it's been a while for me and probably for you. So, what do you say to a duty date with benefits?"