“Okay,” she said out loud to no one. “Okay. It’s fine. He’ll call me back.”
When hours passed without a call or text back from Mitch, Lexie’s panic had reached astronomical levels. The constant spike of anxiety-induced adrenaline had her fingers shaking and her head feeling as light as a balloon.
So she did the only thing she could think of: she got in her car and drove to his condo.
The security guard at the front desk greeted her with a strained smile, saying, “Good afternoon, Lexie.”
She nodded in response, hurrying toward the elevator banks and up to Mitch’s floor.
When she reached his door, she didn’t bother knocking; she simply punched in the code and burst inside, her voice a strangled cry as she yelled his name.
Sprinting from room to room, she was sure she’d find him in his office or lying in bed, his phone off or broken or something.
And she did find a broken phone, along with an accompanying dent in the living room drywall.
But Mitch was nowhere to be found.
Her anxiety was now full-blown hysteria as she dialed his number for, according to her call log, the fortieth time.
“Hello, you’ve reached Mitch. Leave a message.”
“Fuck!” Lexie yelled into his empty apartment. She tossed her phone down on his couch and dug her hands into her hair, pulling at the strands near her scalp.
Why the fuck isn’t he answering?
A loud buzzing echoed through the room and she snatched her phone up, hoping it was him.
But it wasn’t. It was Berkley, who had been calling off and on all day.
Lexie was terrified to answer, knowing what it would mean, but she needed to get this over with.
“Berk, what the fuck is going on?” She asked by way of greeting.
“I…Have you talked to Mitch?”
“No! I’ve been trying him for hours and hours, but his phone keeps going right to voicemail. I got so worried I came to his condo but…he’s not here. What is this I keep seeing about him being traded? Please tell me those are just rumors.”
“Lex…” Berkley said, her voice cracking on the word.
And Lexie knew. Had known since this morning when that well-groomed NHL Network announcer had said Mitch’s name. She sat down hard on the couch, her legs collapsing under her. “No.”
“Lex, I’m so sorry…But it’s true. Brent confirmed with management.”
“So Mitch is just…gone?” Lexie surprised herself by how calm she sounded. In the middle of this shitstorm her life had just become, she was a rock. Steady. Immovable.
At least until she got off the phone with Berkley.
“I’m going to try calling him again,” Lexie said. “I want to hear this from him.”
“Let me know if you get through to him,” Berkley said. “He hasn’t been picking up for me or Brent or any of the other guys either.”
Fuck,Lexie thought.This is bad.
“Yeah, I’ll let you know.”
She disconnected and tried Mitch again.
This time, it rang only once, and hope leapt into her throat, her heart pounding harder with the shot of adrenaline.
