“I’m sorry,” I said.“I know we need to talk…”
Olly shook his head without taking his eyes off the road.“Not as much as you need to be there for her.I’ll wait.It’s probably safer at your place than mine right now.”He hesitated.“If you don’t mind me sitting on your couch for the rest of the day.”
“You can sit in my bed all night if you want,” I blurted out.I immediately regretted it.“I mean, if that’s still the kind of thing you would even be interested in doing – I don’t want to assume –”
“I would very much like to share your bed with you tonight,” Olly intoned solemnly.
“Good,” I said.In spite of everything, a grin and a warm flush spread across my face.“Great.”
“And… Keaton Dunbar.”
“Yes?”
“This isn’t what I would have chosen.”He took a deep breath.“But I’m glad.I didn’t want to hurt you.I didn’t want to make you feel like you were nothing because I was in the closet.”
I could only smile.
He’d heard me.He’d listened when I talked about Jordan, and he had heard me.
And even though all of this was awful, and Fernando shouldn’t have done any of it, and it was going to take a long time to fix all of the damage he had left behind…
Now I knew, just by the solemn look on his face when he told me he was glad, that everything was going to be okay.
We were almost there when Olly’s phone began to ring.
He ignored the first one and the second, letting them ring out.The phone was connected to the car’s dash and it seemed like the whole vehicle was completely filled by the sound of ringing, endless and maddening.On the third number, Olly grunted and hit the button to answer it.
“Mr.Harvey!”Someone’s voice heralded us from the car’s speakers.“I’m so glad to get hold of you.Your phone must be ringing off the hook.”
“You could say that,” Olly replied.His tone was dripping in wariness.
“Congratulations,” whoever it was continued.“I’m so pleased for Ridley.That was a hell of a way to win a game.”
We exchanged a quick glance.“Uh, I’m sorry,” Olly said.“I actually left the game at half-time.I’m not in the loop yet.”
“It was the performance of a lifetime,” the man on the line gushed.“I just wanted to let you know that we’re thrilled with his latest results.I’m sure this will give our brand a chance to shine in the headlines again once he shares the posts we have planned this week.And, you know, ah… I wanted to let you know a message of personal support.”
“You’re happy with your sponsorship,” Olly said carefully as if he was trying to figure out some hidden meaning behind the sponsor’s words.
“Very happy,” he assured us.“I’m not going anywhere, you mark my words.Well, I’ll let you go – I imagine you must have a lot of calls to get to!”
“Right,” Olly agreed slowly before hanging up.
The phone started to ring again.
I put a hand over my mouth to keep myself quiet as he answered it.
The calls were all the same.One by one, sponsor after sponsor and client after client called just to let Olly know that they were still on his side.That the leaked footage meant nothing to them.That they were happy for him to remain their agent of choice.
By the time we pulled up outside of the apartment, he seemed to be completely at a loss for words.
“If you don’t want to come up right now…” I suggested.
He shook his head quickly.“Is it okay if I take calls in your living room?”
I nodded.“Of course.”
And so I led him upstairs to my home.
