Pretty simple.
Coach already said I won’t be allowed back until I’ve had at least one session on the couch. Maybe that’s all it’ll take. I’ll show that I can be a team player and follow directions. Maybe they need me to be a good example for other players.
This isn’t a completely new experience for me. I’ve met with psychologists over the years. Usually, it’s for a screening that everyone has to participate in. I’ve never had to go to talk about my issues.
I don’t have issues.
I eat, sleep, and breathe soccer. It doesn’t leave much time for anything else. This is what I inform Watson Ross the minute he asks how I’m doing.
“Oh, I see how it is. Okay.” He nods.
This guy looks like he’s straight out of casting for “middle-aged hippie.” He’s got long dark hair and an unruly red beard, both streaked with a generous helping of gray. He’s wearing loose-fitting cargo pants and flip-flops.
It’s February in Massachusetts, for Christ’s sake.
It’s official. I’m at an all-time low.
Chapter 30: Hannah
This is an all-timelow, even for me.
That says a lot considering I ended up in the ICU and lost a kidney one time. This—this is somehow worse. So much worse.
Yet, nothing’s changed. I’m exactly where I was in November when I first saw Callaghan Entay again. Literally. I’m at The Tower, working Ophelia and Xavier’s wedding.
I tried to get out of working, but Ophelia wouldn’t hear of it. She requested that I be their personal staff member, meaning I’m only responsible for taking care of the bride and groom. Even when I fessed up to being the person who leaked the story toThe Looking Glass, she still wouldn’t let me off the hook. She was upset that they’d scooped my story. When she found out it was actually me, it didn’t seem to bother her anymore. And apparently, Xavier was relieved that it was good press rather than negative, so he’s letting that transgression slide.
If only everyone could be so understanding.
Callaghan won’t take my calls or respond to my texts. I suspect he blocked me. He had to know I’d never do anything to jeopardize his career, even if it meant getting ahead in my own.
My career that’s going nowhere fast. Especially not since I turned down the job forThe Looking Glass. I want to report sports, not gossip. Sure, I’d done some tongue-in-cheek posts for ClikClak, but that’s not how I want to spend my life. I want to be at the game, not at the afterparty, waiting for someone to cheat on their significant other or get caught doing something illegal.
And I’d rather be serving prime rib than doing something that makes me feel like I’ve sold my soul to the devil. I was so excited by the thought of the possibility that I didn’t think of the reality of what I was doing.
I sneak out of the kitchen to watch the ceremony. We’re in a holding pattern until this part is finished, waiting to transform the Library from a ceremonial space to a dining and dancing space. Ophelia looks beautiful, naturally. She’s beaming at Xavier, waiting for her at the end of the aisle. Xavier’s best man is his brother Philip, who’s in charge of the caged dove Ophelia had brought in.
