Cloricia vs Erik 2
Sorry this came so late, but the next edition to Cloricia and Erik's battle continues. Enjoy.
Cloricia vs Erik 2: February 29, 2016
Three loud knocks on the door. Shandra called out from behind the door of Erik's apartment.
"Hey, little man. Let me in!" She said.
A few minutes passed. Shandra was getting a bit restless. Finally, the leopard opened the door. Shandra was greeted by a heavy breathing Erik with a towel over his shoulder. He smiled for a short time.
"Hey Shandra. What's up?" He asked.
"What's up?" Shandra repeated as he she walked inside the apartment. "What have ya been doin'? I've been callin' ya all mournin'."
"Oh?" Erik said as he quickly looked at his phone. "Damn, eight calls. My bad."
"What have ya been doing?" Shandra asked as he walked around the messy apartment. "Ugh, boy, ya need to clean this place up. I keep telling ya that!"
"I just cleaned up."
Shandra then gave Erik a very stern look. She new he was lying. Erik didn't say anything back.
"So....what did you want to talk about?" Erik said, moving the conversation along.
"I done told ya that we need to talk about dese Kijani toys from Pink day."
"Ugh, I don't want to talk about that."
"Erik, I done told ya that dis be serious." Shandra persisted. "If we get dis to be a selling toy, we can get ya brand out there and maybe be gettin' ya some of that advertisement money."
"I don't really care about money....not with the way I'm playing."
Shandra just sighed in disappointment. Erik then walked to the entrance to his room. Hanging from the door frame, there was a built in pull-up bar. Erik then put down his towel and jumped up to the bar and started doing pull ups.
"What a surprise. You've been working yourself to death again." Said Shandra.
"Never stop training." Erik responded.
"Erik, I told ya about dis. Ya doing a fine. The team appreciates ya. Just keep doing what ya doing and ya get the hang of it soon."
"Not soon enough. You see what these damn reporters write about me. 'Too crazy' 'sloppy turnovers' 'should've stayed in college'. I put my heart out on that court every time and I have to deal with this bullshit."
"So what? Ya playing for fame? So people can just adore ya no matter what ya do?"
"No! It's not that...it's......."
"What Erik?!"
"It wasn't supposed to be like this!......It just.....not...."
There was a pause. Erik jumped down from the pull-up bar and stood in front of Shandra.
"I never expected it to be easy....I knew I would have to work at it.....to get the wins, make the playoffs.....get a championship....but I feel like I'm just doing this all wrong....."
Shandra leaned down to Erik and put a paw on his shoulder.
"Listen Erik.....just because ya got a plan, don't mean ya got control. Life....will always surprise ya.....you just have to be strong.....and don't give up."
Erik didn't respond. Shandra took in a deep breath and continued.
"Ya doing fine Erik. Ignore the reporters. Don't worry about popularity and fame. Just keep playing, keep living, and keep fighting, okay?"
Erik crossed his arms in anger. He was still frustrated, but he nodded his head in agreement.
Meanwhile, in Cloricia's apartment, Cloricia was already getting her stuff for the game. Teresa was doing her usual run down of all the things Cloricia had to manage.
"This interesting hair company wants to shoot a commercial with you." said Teresa.
"Hair commercial?" Said Cloricia jokingly. "Really? I don't care about my hair enough to do that."
"I think it looks great."
Cloricia just gave Teresa a friendly scolding. She knew Teresa was just faking it.
"Next." She said.
"The GO-BARS corporation want you to sponsor their new energy bars."
"I hate bars. I like yogurt more. More flavor. Next."
"Ugh, how about this local restaurant in Huntsville? They said they will name a burger after you?"
"Eww, a burger named Cloricia."
The two coyotes looked at eachother for a moment. Then they laughed at the very thought of a burger with such a strange name.
"Are we done here?" Asked Cloricia. "We have to leave for the game."
"Come on Tex. I know you're excited about this call from Infuriade, but we have to have a solid plan B here."
"Teresa. I play a sport that is literally surrounded by infuriade logos. It's on our drinks, on our seats, it's even on our freakin' towels. So if there is anything that I'm going to do a commercial for, it's infuriade."
"Fine."
"Okay then."
"But just hear this one."
"Teresa!"
"Last one, I promise!"
"Ugh.....what is it?"
"Okay, there is the guy who wants some money and support for a basketball camp that he's running in our home town."
Cloricia couldn't believe it at first. She stopped packing her bag and took a moment to think about it.
"Someone wants to build a camp in Holyoke?"
"Yea, and they're gonna put your name on it."
Cloricia was speechless at first. She never felt like she was deserving of such an honor...but it seemed easy enough. If she gave the place enough money then the camp will have a big old picture of her....it may have been worth it.
"Alright, I'll..." Said Cloricia.
"You'll.....?" Asked Teresa.
"I'll see about it."
"Great! He wants to meet with you on the All-Star Game."
"Who?"
"The guy asking for money. Make sure you wear something professional."
"I always dress professional."
"Says the coyote wearing those apple-bottom jeans."
".....I thought they looked cute."
"Tex, I'm sorry to break it to you, but you are all tail and no ass."
"Shut up." Cloricia said laughing with Teresa. The two then walked out the door.
Sadly, the game did not go as planned for both players. The Keystones were able to beat the Mayor's 110 to 86. Erik was able to get a few assist in, but struggled to score ending the game with 0 points, the first time this season. Cloricia was able to score 9 points, but fell hard on her hand and strained her thumb. She had to leave in the fourth quarter as the Keystones finished them off.
The post game interviews hit both players hard. Even though the Keystones were able to take the win, the reporters were very interested in what Erik thought of his 0 point game.
"It's....really frustrating to be honest." Said Erik. "But...some games just...don't go your way. And I was told from a good friend that the only thing you can do is train harder and learn from it."
"How would you rate your effectiveness to this team?" One reporter asked. "Do you feel like you still mean a lot to this organization?"
"I give everything I have for this team. That hasn't changed. But it's cool. It's fine. I understand why you're asking me all these questions. Ya'll just want a reaction out of me.....sorry to ruin your fun. I got nothing else to say."
The leopard gave a very stern scold to the crowd of reporters. No further questions were asked. Kijani seemed to already have his reputation with the reporting community and he also seemed to not even care.
Cloricia received questions just as tough as she had ice strapped to her hand that was caring for her hurt thumb.
"This last few games you were put in the starting lineup and we could see a very sudden increase in your numbers." One reporter said. "But, your team is still unable to get wins. Why do you think that is?"
"Well, we...we have definitely been, um....struggling with injuries as you can see, but we're not using it as an excuse. We'll keep fighting. No matter what. That's Mayors basketball."
"Yea, well all that aside, with the injuries and a non solid starting lineup, do you really think you have a chance to make the playoffs this year? It's really not looking so good for 'Mayors Basketball'."
"I respect your....honest. But I'll be back and so will this team. We're not giving up."