No sense in creating even more bad blood between us.
Even Ellie is out of statements to make up. We’ve circled the same verbiage a hundred different ways. She has other clients, but I don’t. This is wholly on me, and I hired Ellie to help me. I’ve turned to her a million times in the last twenty-four hours, but not being able to give her the full picture makes it harder to ask her for help.
Still, she’s working on some things in the background. Appearances at youth camps, more charity events, things of that nature, while she also reaches out to his sponsors with our plans of what he’s doing to turn himself back around.
It’s just hard to sell that when he’s being photographed at places he shouldn’t be. I lost what little control I tricked myself into believing I had when I said those nasty words to him—when I chose against him instead of with him.
My phone rings just before I’m going to take a lunch break on Friday, and I see it’s Penny calling.
My chest tightens as I realize what a horrible friend I’ve been.
“Hey,” I answer brightly.Toobrightly.Fakebrightly.
She sees right through me. “You can fool the media, but you can’t fool your best friend.”
“I should be the one calling to check up on you, not the other way around,” I say.
“Yeah, probably, but honestly, I’ve had a little time for it all to sink in, and despite everything, I’m happier than I’ve been in years. So what’s going on with you? I keep seeing these headlines about Maverick Jennings, and Stuart has been running around here muttering things under his breath all morning.”
“Stuart has?” I ask, my voice trembling a little. If Stuart is upset over what’s going on with Maverick, well…that can’t be good for me. It likely means Jack has been in touch with him.
And that could mean the end of this job for me.
“Yeah,” she says quietly.
“Shit,” I mutter.
“Yeah,” she repeats. “I wanted to give you the heads-up, that’s all.”
“Great. Just fucking great. I’m going to be fired because Maverick Jennings is an asshole.”
“You’re not going to be fired. Maybe just taken off his project,” she says, trying to be comforting.
“Same difference. It won’t matter. It’ll be a hit to my reputation, and I won’t be able to open my own firm because nobody will want to work with the girl who couldn’t fix Maverick.”
“Some people just don’t want to be helped,” she points out.
Isn’t that the truth? I blow out a breath.
“Nobody has to know he was your client,” she adds.
“I knew I didn’t want to work with an athlete. This right here. This is why.” I hang my head as I try to come to terms with all of this. My career and my personal life are coming to a screeching halt at the same time, and there’s not a damn thing I can do to save either one of them.
The prospect of opening up my own firm is slipping further and further from my reach.
I lost the man I loved.
I’m in a city that’s not my home.
I feel alone and lost. I feel like everything has been ripped out from under me in one fell swoop.
And it feels like it has an awful lot to do with my very own father.
“I know, Ev. What can I do?” Penny asks.
“Nothing,” I mutter. “I have to let this play out and see what Stuart decides.”
“You know I’m right here if you need to talk.”
