Austin Fox was captain of the L.A. Hawks for a reason: No one could make you feel guilty like he did. If Hazel had known that in advance, she might have thought twice about signing him — and making him one of her best friends.
“We’re close to an agreement,” she lied. But it was a white lie, and when it came to Gareth Fucking Clark, white lies were allowed.
“You’ve been telling me that for two months!”
“I’ve meant it for two months. I’m not the problem,” she replied calmly, smoothing the chiffon fabric of her light blue evening gown. It was odd to call it aneveninggown at the moment, for it was 11:00 a.m., and hopefully she’d be leaving Matt and Maddie’s wedding before 5 p.m.
“You know, Moreau and I talked about it, and we agree that you two areboththe problem,” Fox grumbled.
“Oh sure, now Moreau’s speaking!” The Hawks goalie was usually as silent as a rock with social anxiety.
“Yeah, Anna’s a good influence on him. We’re not entirely sure why you and Clark are always at each other’s throats. I mean, you used to date, didn’t you? You must have hit it off at some point.”
Hazel stiffened, her stomach twisting strangely. She should never have told him that. “First, it was ages ago. Seven years already. We were in college, Gareth wasn’t quite so spoiled by his work, ego, and money.” And yet, she should have known better back then. “Second, even when we were together, we really didn’tget along.” And she wanted to stop talking about it now.
“You said you parted amicably. Why…”
“Fox, mind your own business,” she said harshly.
“I’d love to! But my business is one hundred percent hockey, and right now, you’re jeopardizing that business.”
“Your contract is as good as signed!” At least it was as soon as Gareth relented. She’d given up too much for him too many times in her life, and it had always been the beginning of the end.
Fox sighed heavily and turned onto the highway toward Santa Monica. “I almost regret taking you to this wedding. Clark will be there too, and if you two get into a fight…”
“I’m doing you a favor by coming,” she said, clucking her tongue. “I don’t like weddings, you know that! They’re like Disney movies: too cheesy, too long, and just overall too much. But you said,Come on, Hazel, please! Otherwise, Maddie will force some stranger on me because I've been single since my nasty divorce five years ago. She thinks it’s unhealthy!I agree with her, by the way. Not all women are as awful as…”
“Mind your own business, Hazel.”
“Well, my business is one hundred percent my clients, and since you’re one of the lucky ones…” She patted his shoulder, and Fox groaned in annoyance.
“Hazel. I need a contract, not emotional support!”
“I’ll take care of it!”
“By turning Gareth Clark against me?”
“Oh, please. Unlike me, Gareth successfully separates his personal life from his business.” Except when it came to her. “He’ll always love you because you bring in an incredible amount of money.”
“Hazel…”
Her phone rang. “Sorry. I have to take this.”
“Hazel!”
“Hello?” she answered.
“Ms. Barrow, this is about the watch advertisement for your client Lucas Moreau,” a somber male voice replied. “We’ve received your contract draft, yet we haven’t discussed the amount due from us.”
“Good morning to you too, Mr. Rogers,” she responded amicably, deliberately filtering the soft, natural undertone from her voice. Mr. Rogers was a man of high standing in his business. He would therefore treat her like all men of the same ilk. Many weren’t consciously misogynistic. They didn’t even realize they were treating her differently than male sports agents. Unfortunately, Hazel wasn’t so blissfully ignorant. Over the pastten years, she’d had to listen to more crap than Hercules could shovel.
At Harvard, at every job she’d had, it had been the same. In every stadium VIP lounge, at press conferences, and charity events, where she’d once been mistaken for a player’s groupie rather than his agent. Men might play up the idea that women were equal, that no one treated them differently — but the sports industry was still stuck in the Stone Age. Women were fit to be cheerleaders, but otherwise…?
“Yeah, yeah, good morning,” Mr. Rogers said crisply. “The sum…”
“We set the sum before my client, Mr. Moreau, gained media attention and widespread popularity,” she explained matter-of-factly. “His jersey sales have tripled since his relationship with Anna Temple, the sister of two hockey luminaries, Dax Temple and Jack West, went public. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s now a sweet family man too. His value has increased, and so has the sum.”
Mr. Rogers laughed mirthlessly. “You can’t just decide that!”
