Chapter 72: With Great Power

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That night, Lisa treated Nolan and Susan to dinner at a well-known steakhouse in downtown Orlando to celebrate the win.

Nolan settled in as if he had returned to his natural habitat. Filet mignon, New York strip, ribeye, porterhouse - he ordered with easy confidence. He ate politely, even slowly, but the food vanished at a frightening speed.

Across the table, Susan began to worry for the cattle population of Los Angeles.

Lisa, seated beside Nolan, only looked pleased. In a strange way, this trip had placed her in Mia’s old role. She was the one taking care of Nolan away from home.

"Susan," Lisa said suddenly, "come to my room tonight. I need to discuss something with you."

"If you have something to say, say it here."

"You..." Lisa looked genuinely impatient. "I am trying to help you."

Nolan coughed at exactly the right moment.

"This steak really is excellent."

Susan gave him a small nod.

"Thank you." Then she looked back at Lisa. "I understand that you want me to move on. I do. But not like this."

She could not quite accept it.

"So you want to spend every night with a photograph and your own hand?" Lisa muttered.

"What are you saying?" Susan denied it immediately.

"The truth. Susan, I am speaking as your friend, not as your employer."

"I barely know Nolan."

"So that is what bothers you? You could have said so." Lisa pushed back her chair. "I will go back to the hotel. When you two return, take your time and talk."

"That is not what I meant!"

Lisa was already standing. She handed Nolan a credit card.

"This is an additional card on my account. Use it to pay tonight. Keep it afterward too. Use it for normal expenses."

Nolan accepted the card with all the disdain of a man who had no intention of being managed.

Then he asked, "What is the PIN?"

After Lisa left, the air at the table became more awkward than it had ever been.

"What is she arranging?" Susan shook her head and did not dare look directly at Nolan. Being exposed like that had left her thoroughly embarrassed.

"Lisa is rushing you," Nolan said. "But I do think it has been long enough. You should let yourself live again. Meet people. Stop sealing yourself away."

"I am afraid Lisa would be angry," Susan admitted softly.

"Remember what she said. She is speaking as your friend, not your boss." Nolan paused. "And do you know why she arranged it this way?"

"Why?"

Susan could not hide her curiosity.

Nolan thought for a second, then chose to tell her. When he described Lisa’s own helpless, disheveled reaction to him, Susan could not help laughing. The atmosphere loosened with it.

"Are you really that good?" Susan asked. For the first time, there was open interest in her eyes.

"You cannot know without experience."

Nolan held her gaze.

Under that look, Susan’s heartbeat quickened in a way it had not in years. Then Nolan reached across the table and gently wiped sauce from her collar, thoughtful enough to make the small touch feel intimate.

Susan began to understand why Lisa was so attached to him.

The next evening, the All-Star awards ceremony was held in one of the Rosen Centre’s conference halls.

"And now, the Offensive Player of the Game for this year’s National High School Football All-Star Game..." the host announced. "The winner is Nolan Callahan!"

The room applauded, but the sound was not explosive.

Everyone had known the award was his.

The problem was that the winner did not come to the stage. Even the spotlight lost its target, drifting over the crowd like a confused searchlight.

Then a figure hurried onto the stage.

It was not Nolan’s friend Pat.

It was a girl.

"Nolan Callahan had something urgent come up," Allie said nervously, clutching the moment with both hands. "He asked me to accept the award for him."

People in the audience began whispering about who she was. Only Pat Barrett, seated below, smiled like a man who had just discovered his own accident had become a favor.

He had helped Nolan this much. Next time, Nolan absolutely owed him introductions to a few BHHS cheerleaders.

Pat did not yet understand Nolan’s personal philosophy.

Female friends came in.

They did not go out.

When the ceremony reached its final and heaviest award, MVP went to Nolan as well.

He had become the biggest winner of the entire All-Star Game.

By the time the ceremony ended, Allie was walking through the hotel corridor alone with two trophies in her arms. Before she could get far, a crowd surrounded her.

They introduced themselves as "fans," "training-program staff," "friends of a school principal," and other harmless things.

In practice, they were middlemen connected to colleges, high schools, equipment brands, and private football events.

Their goal was simple.

They wanted Nolan’s contact information off the record.

At the same time, Nolan was sitting bored in a Delta lounge at Orlando International Airport, watching heavy rain lash the glass outside.

They should have been in the air already, but hurricane conditions had grounded the flight.

Lisa stood nearby with her arms crossed. She had spent the entire day trying to stay on her feet. Even on the plane, she had planned to recline the seat and lie forward.

Last night had been another kind of first for her.

All Nolan’s fault.

As for Susan, she would sit whenever sitting was possible. At the airport entrance, she had even perched on the luggage and let staff push it forward. Her legs still felt unreliable. She had fallen twice in the hotel.

Her health was usually fine. This was the first time in her life she had encountered that particular kind of aftermath.

Now Susan finally understood why Lisa was so loyal to Nolan.

Nolan really did have a superpower.

A very large one.

Watching one woman who could barely sit and another who could barely stand, Nolan shook his head.

Neither of them had any endurance.

"Lisa."

He patted her lightly.

"Ah..." Lisa sucked in a breath. Of all the places to touch, he had found the one that had suffered most. She glared at him.

"You looked tired standing there. I was helping."

Nolan slid a hand beneath her and let her lean against him.

Lisa hit him once.

"You caused the damage. You fix it yourself. Every night for the next few days, you come over and put medicine on it."

"Does the ointment work as lubricant too?"

He looked thoughtful.

Lisa shook her head at once.

"Is there a small-plane business service?" Nolan asked.

"Why are you in such a hurry to get back?" Lisa teased. "Miss Katherine?"

"With great power comes great responsibility."

Nolan reached over and pulled Susan in as well.

Few things warmed a relationship faster than intimacy, and last night had not stopped at once.

"Boss," Susan said, wrapping her arms around Nolan for the simple comfort of holding him, "I need time off."

"I want time off too," Lisa said with a sigh. "What am I supposed to do tomorrow? There is a mountain of work waiting."

In the end, under Nolan’s encouragement, Lisa finally agreed to use the power of money. She started contacting private aviation services in Orlando.

"Reese dropped it again!" the home announcer shouted, and the Canoga Park crowd roared with delight.

This was the CIF Southern Section semifinal. BHHS had entered as the top dark horse after knocking off Santa Ana, but with starting quarterback Nolan absent, the Normans had been forced to use Reese, their recently returned backup.

Everything had unfolded exactly as feared.

Reese was several tiers below Nolan, and because he had only just rejoined the team, his timing with the offense was poor. Mistakes came one after another.

By the third quarter, BHHS trailed by twenty-eight points.

They needed four touchdowns, and they needed Canoga Park to stop scoring.

The Normans were running out of time.

"Coach Thomas!"

"Coach?"

"What do we do?"

The players on the sideline looked to Thomas for help, but no matter how many times they called, he stood with his eyes closed and his lips moving.

If anyone listened carefully, they would hear scripture.

At this point, all Thomas could do was pray that Nolan got back fast.

Then he heard the voice he had been waiting for.

Thomas turned so quickly he nearly cried.

Of course he was emotional. He had money riding on Nolan too.

Nolan looked tired, but his body seemed even heavier and stronger than before.

At four in the morning, the moment the hurricane cleared Orlando, Nolan, Lisa, and Susan had boarded a small business aircraft back to California. They landed that morning at the private side of Bob Hope Airport, separated at the airport, and Nolan rushed straight to Canoga Park High in the San Fernando Valley.

He looked at the scoreboard and froze.

"Twenty-eight points?" Nolan stared at Thomas. "You should spend your energy figuring out how you are going to explain to your wife where the money went."

This gap was absurd.

"Nolan," Thomas whispered, "if we win, the return is five to one."

How much?

Nolan coughed.

"As team captain," he said, suddenly upright and righteous, "I believe I must stand up in a moment of crisis."

He struck his right fist into his left palm.

"After all, with great power comes great responsibility."

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