“You’re welcome. I figured you hadn’t seen anything yet since you were in a game, but I wanted to be the first one to let you know. I’ve been praying that Alex didn’t get to you first, because I’m sure that would have landed your ass in jail tonight.”
“You act like my rep is that bad,” I replied, lacing up my shoes.
“In the past, I would have said no. But the shit you’ve done in the past compared with the way you’re crashing out now, yes, your rep is definitely heading down the toilet.”
“Shit just keep getting in my head, Amé. Muthafuckas won’t let me be great. First my wife, then Alex, now this bullshit about me cheating.”
“Listen, I’ve told you what to do. Let my PR team address it and?—”
“No. Because what you’re talking about doing is trashing her name, and I’ve done too much to protect her for you to go back and trash her now. It’ll only look like I’m saying shit out of retaliation. Give it some time; everything will die down.”
“You need to consider how this will impact your new business and your business partners.”
“I’ve been talking with them.”
“How does Chanel feel about all this?”
I tilted my head at her. “Didn’t you tell me to stay away from her?”
She twisted her full lips and widened those big brown eyes at me. “I also told you to stop fighting, but you haven’t listened to that either.”
“I don’t know. She’s been shutting me out lately.”
“What do you mean shutting you out?”
“I guess she’s got everything that she needs for her article. Every time I reach out, she’s been busy.”
“Have you asked her how she feels about these rumors that are circulating the blogs and talk shows?”
“I have, but she brushes it off and only says that she’s fine.”
“She’s saying she’s fine?” Amélie asked in disbelief.
“Not really. She didn’t start saying that until after I refused to do what she wanted.”
“Which was?”
“The same thing you want. She believes the only way to clear her name is to tell people the truth about what Muffin is doing. She wants me to put it out there, and I won’t.”
“She’s a smart woman.”
“No, she’s stubborn as hell like you are.”
“Did you see her tonight? I saw her at the game, but only as a participant and not as a reporter.”
“I saw her, too, but tonight was the first time that I saw her in a while. But how about I go find out what’s going on now?”
“I would think that rather than worrying about that, maybe you might want to go out and celebrate.”
My head dropped as I dragged my hands down my face. “Honestly, I didn’t want to even think about it, Amé.”
“It should be the happiest day of your life. That chapter is over, and you can move on in peace.”
“Yeah, I hear ya.” I stood and grabbed my bag from my locker. I had interviews after the game, and I had stayed in the shower a little longer than the rest of my teammates. I hadn’t been in the mood to be bothered, so I avoided everyone as long as possible.
Amélie followed me outside, and we split up and went in two different directions. Once I got off the private elevators to the parking lot where the players parked, I was surprised to see flashing lights. I expected only a handful of cars to remain, if any at all, but there were several police cars, and they were all surrounding one person. A few other bystanders were there and a couple of building security.
I jogged toward the group, and that’s when I saw the person they were surrounding; it was Chanel. She looked like she was on the verge of tears and struggling to keep it together. I could tell from where I stood that she was trembling and afraid.
