Chapter 2: A fresh start

Jason was pulled back into the present as he heard his name called out by someone in the office "Jason, the chief wants to see you in his office".

Jason stood up from his chair and massaged his temples real quick before putting the smile back on his face "coming".

Jason stood outside the door for about five minutes before he heard a voice from inside call for him "come in". Opening the door Jason saw a man who appeared to be close in age to himself.

The man had light brown skin and an average body build. His black hair was cut to a short fade on the sides while the top had medium length curls.

Jason walked in with a smile "heard you wanted to see me Mr. Collins".

The man shook his head and looked at Jason with a grin "Come on man, is that what we're doing now? You want me to start calling you 'Mr. Yang'? Boy, if you don't get your fake ass manners out of my face"

He stood up and extended his fist out to Jason and the two then proceeded to do a fist bump that transitioned to a handshake and then a bro hug.

Jason laughed with a much more natural smile on his face as the two embraced each other "I was just playing my cards safe Devin. Who knows, the promotion might have gotten to that big cauliflower looking ass head of yours"

Devin gave a sarcastic chuckle as he gave Jason a light punch to the shoulder "haha, real funny. Glad to see you didn't lose that bad sense of humor while I was away, that and your fake ass smile that you wear all the time."

Seeing that his friend hadn't changed after a few years Jason felt comfortable and at ease. He took a seat in the guest chair in front of Devin's desk.

Jason leaned back and stared at the ceiling, the fake smile was gone. The angles of his eyes that were constantly elevated to appear more friendly were now relaxed.

The fake smile and forced facial expressions were all gone, his body language and facial expression made the energy surrounding his body seem much colder.

Jason's natural appearance was a far cry from his friendly self produced mask. His intense gaze and natural vibe felt far from warm and inviting.

As Jason stared off into the ceiling "You think I want to wear that fake smile every day? You can blame god for giving me the worst case of resting bitch face in the history of all mankind. If I don't put on a fake face then everyone would just think that I was pissed all the time."

Devin shrugged his shoulders "I know man, I know. I've been seeing that fake face since high school, no need to give me the schpiel."

After a few moments of silence Jason moved his gaze from the ceiling to Devin "Nice to finally see you again man. I thought that you jumped shipped after tricking me into joining this fucking place."

Devin looked at Jason with an apologetic expression "I'm sorry bro. I know I'm the one that convinced you to work here. So for me to just up and leave.... I didn't mean to do that to you."

Jason seemed surprised with how seriously Devin had taken his words.

Jason jolted upright into the chair "Come on man, I was just busting your balls. I know that the company was sending you all over the world to get experience.

Besides, we shot each other emails and video called every once in awhile. So wipe that look off your face alright? My bad for the bad joke."

After hearing Jason's words Devin started to smile "Alright, I'll give you a pass for that bad joke. So how are your parents doing?"

Jason leaned back into the chair and got comfortable again "You know them. They're still running the diner and they're both still in good health.

To be honest my mom has been the happiest since I've had a real job the last couple years. How bout you man?

You had a chance to see your folks yet? Auntie and Uncle been missing you real bad these past few years man."

Devin smiled hearing that "Really? Cause I saw them yesterday and they barely noticed I was back.

All they talked about was how they were thankful that they had at least one good son that cared about them."

Jason threw his hands up into the air "Hey man, what can I say? My charm just works like that".

Devin smiled and shook his head "If you're done joking around I got something for you. A chance to move up the food chain." Jason gave him a questioning glance "Really?"

Devin looked at Jason with his hands on his desk "I've been around you since high school. So I know that you probably ain't too happy with being stuck at the same place for five years.

But now that I'm back and now that I got a little bit of power Ima try my best to help you out.

But I can't just move you up the chain with just my word. All I can do is give you the opportunity to move up."

Jason responded "That's all I need man. You know I don't do handouts."

Devin opened the drawer of his desk and pulled out a flyer "The company is picking out ten people to make a basketball team to play in the Tech of Tomorrow charity fundraiser that's gonna be in L.A. this weekend. I managed to get you a spot on the roster."

Jason seemed a little disappointed "This is the opportunity you were talking about? How is balling out at a charity event supposed to get me a promotion?

And even though I never made it to the big leagues I still played high level collegiate basketball, wouldn't it be cheating for me to be on the team?"

Devin laughed in amusement "Damn, and you said I had a big head? You think you're some kind of cheat code huh?

Well I hate to burst your bubble man but some of these other companies are trying to get a leg up to.

Some of them have gave top high school recruits internships just so that they could have them play.

There are even some ex college players like you that will be playing so don't worry. I didn't put your name on the roster expecting you to carry the team to the chip haha.

I just want you to make sure we don't get booed off the court and get embarrassed."

Jason's face blushed just the tiniest bit in embarrassment "Alright I get it, I'm good to play. You still didn't explain to me how I'm supposed to get a promotion from playing some ball".

Devin explained "The CEO is a big fan of basketball. So he really wants his company to do well in the sport that he loves.

But most importantly, this charity event is gonna be broadcasted all over the world. So if we do well then that would be great PR.

On the other hand, if we get our asses handed to us it wouldn't look to good on the company.

So if you show out in front of the CEO I'll have an excuse to bring your name up for a promotion, got it?"

Jason nodded his head "Guess it's time to ball out"

A few days later Jason and a group of other guys were standing around dressed in the same red and white jerseys with the name Tomo Electronics on the front.

Jason looked around and was slightly worried about this team. One person played basketball in high school but wasn't even nationally ranked. Everyone else was a casual gym baller.

The ex high school player was 6'5 but everyone else was shorter than Jason. Devin was dressed in sweats and he was carrying a clipboard.

Jason walked up to Devin and groaned "Why the hell are you coaching? Do you see what this team looks like? You should have suited up."

Devin was an inch taller than Jason. And although he only played up to the high school level Jason would have felt more confident in having one more baller on his squad.

Devin shook his head as he smirked "Man I haven't touched a basketball in years. Besides there wasn't anyone else who even knew a thing about Xs and Os in the company."

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Jason walked up to Conner, the ex high school player. Conner was a lanky white guy with a blonde buzz cut.

Jason asked "Hey Conner, what position did you play in high school?" Conner turned to Jason "I played Small Forward and a little bit of Power Forward."

Jason leaned towards Conner "I'm not trying to be mean but I don't think we can expect to much out of our other teammates.

If we're going to do well in this tournament then it's going to be up to us to carry them. You'll slide up and play Center while I'll play Power Forward, at least on defense. On offense I'll be the main ball handler, you cool with that?"

Conner thought for a second before responding "I was thinking the same thing. I'm kinda glad that you're on the team. Without you here they would probably want to rely on me to carry the team as the tall guy."

Jason nodded " For offense let's keep it simple. I'll handle the ball and you be my screener on the pick and roll okay?"

A pick and roll is an offensive play in which one player (the screener) approaches the ball handler and uses his body to create a wall that the player guarding the ball handler has to get around.

This gives the ball handler space from his defender to attack the rim or to pull up from a jump shot. The screener can then either roll to the basket or fade to the perimeter.

As Jason and Conner discussed how they would play Devin walked up to them "Alright guys, we're gonna head over to court 13. Our first opponent is the team for H-Town Motors."

The team made their way to court 13. Some appeared nervous, scared or excited. Jason was the only one with a calm smile on his face.

But under his calm demeanor his blood was beginning to boil 'It's been awhile since I've gotten pumped like this'

As the teams got ready for the jump ball Jason looked at the opposing team. Their tallest player was going against Conner for the jump ball.

He was a few inches shorter than Conner and he didn't look particularly athletic. The referee tossed the basketball into the air and Conner was able to tap it to one of their teammates who then gave the ball to Jason.

Jason signaled for his team to spread out in order to give him enough space for an isolation play.

Jason decided to iso in order to gauge the opposing team's strength. His defender was a dark skinned man with long dreads a few inches shorter than himself.

Jason started off rhythm dribbling left, right, left right. Then he added a hesitation move faking to his right, the defender fell for it and went in that direction to try and cut Jason off.

Seeing the defender fall for his hesitation move Jason then crossed the ball over to his left and made his way to the basket.

The opposing team was playing man to man defense so by the time that they had seen their teammate being beat off the dribble it was too late, Jason laid the ball in with his left hand.

The crowd watching started cheering after seeing Jason hit his defender with the hesi crossover combo but got even louder after he made the lay up.

Jason looked up at the scoreboard and saw that they added his 2 points. They were playing with 2s and 3s and the game stopped when a team reached 21, but the team has to win by at least 2 points.

This time it was the other team's chance at offense. Their point guard instructed for them to run a play but Jason was able to anticipate the pass.

Jason left his defensive assignment and jumped into the passing lane. He was able to steal the ball and then towards the opponents basket.

Seeing that there wasn't anyone close by Jason measured his steps to the basket focused his power into his right leg and jumped with everything he had.

He elevated off the ground and dunked the ball with both his hands.

The crowd went wild seeing Jason dunk the ball. As soon as Jason landed back to the floor he turned to the crowd and shouted "LET"S GOOOO!!!"

Jason walked past their bench and did an elaborate handshake with Devin that ended with both of them flexing their arms.

Devin shoved Jason in the chest with a huge smile on his face "That's what I'm talking about man! Ball out!"

The game ended quickly as Jason and Conner dominated their opponents.

Devin was smiling the whole game. 'Compared to when he was in college his offensive game has really developed. It might not be at the pro level but it's more than enough to handle amateurs'.

Jason played completely differently than how he would play at a team tryout or against high level competition. He shot off the dribble, he shot stepback jumpers and even managed to get a couple of dunks in.

The day passed by with Jason and his team dominating most of their matches. They only lost to 2 other teams.

One team had an ex college player that was 7 feet tall and the other team had the number 5 and number 8 ranked high school players.

Jason and Conner just couldn't do anything against the 7 footer even though he was older and less athletic he was still able to dunk on the both of them with ease.

Against the 2 top ranked high school players Jason did well enough guarding his assignment but Conner got cooked, he even fell to the floor after getting his ankles broken.

Jason was elected to be the team representative as he stepped up to the podium where he received a bronze trophy to signaling the team's 3rd place ranking in the tournament.

He stood with the 7 footer and 1 of the 2 high schoolers as they lifted the silver and gold trophy respectively.

Jason shook hands with the 7 footer and then the high school player "Hey, good game out there man. You and your friend over there have real bright futures ahead of you."

The young man responded as he shook hands with Jason "Thanks man, you played a hell of a game yourself. That was some of the most intense D I've ever seen."

Devin walked toward Jason as he made his way down the stage. Jason laughed as he tossed the trophy to Devin "Here you go coach, good job today".

Devin stumbled as he caught the trophy "Damn man, you could at least give me a heads up."

He smiled as he put his arm over Jason's shoulder "I got some good news for you. The CEO called me and said that he loved the show you put out there on the court.

He was watching the game with a bunch of his rich friends and he couldn't stop bragging. I can't promise anything but I feel like you have a good shot of getting that promotion man."

Jason was thrilled to hear that "That's great! I can't believe your plan actually worked"

Devin responded "Hey man you need to have more faith in me, other than in high school and college have I ever let you down?"

Jason thought for a second but before he could respond Devin interrupted "Don't answer that. Anyways, the CEO told me to use the company card to host a celebration for the team.

So everyone's going to be meeting up later at the Smoke and Choke steak house later, you better show up Mr. MVP."

Jason pushed Devin away as he promised to join them later.

Jason got in his car and he entered the address of the steak house into his phone's GPS. Jason was in a great mood.

He got to show off and put on a show on the court. His career prospects are looking better and his best friend is back in town. Everything seemed to finally be going in his favor.

Jason sang along to the song playing on the radio. Just as he was driving through the street Jason turned his head to the side just in time to see a large semi-truck that had ignored the red light.

Jason looked at the sleeping driver as the truck rushed towards him "You've gotta be kidd-" he didn't get to finish his words as everything turned to pitch black.

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