“Huge pass for me,” Alejandra deadpanned.
“Rain check for me too, sis.”
They all laughed, descending into a bickering spiral about that pact they made years ago during a summer in Conil—right when Sofia’s phone started to ring.
Jamie.
She stood, wobbling slightly on the uneven rocks, and walked closer to the shore to answer.
“Hello, Jamie. How are you?”
“Sofia, nice to hear from you. I hope you’re doing well.”
My dad is dying, but otherwise fabulous.
“Yes. You?”
“Oh, great. Managing the shitshow caused by Ilias dropping the USL and you not going to Brazil.”
“I’m sorry about that, I—”
“We gave you 200k for a contract you’re not fulfilling. You two posted happy-couple pictures, but there were conferences, Sofia. Commitments. You’ve let down a lot of people.”
Is she shouting at me?
“Yet I haven’t let down the one person who actually matters to me,” Sofia replied, voice calm but venom in her words. “I don’t know if you’ve ever lost a family member—”
“But you haven’t. Your father is still alive. I’m losing money because of you.”
Sofia’s stomach twisted. Her voice rose. “Are you seriously comparing my father’s failing health to a sponsorship budget?”
“In business, you can’t have a soft heart.”
“Isn’t TerraVive all about mental wellness and supporting its athletes?” she snapped, putting the call on speaker as Ilias joined her, his brows furrowed.
“You had a contract. Both of you. Promote Ilias’ comeback. Attend the events we scheduled. In exchange for that money. And now Ilias dropped out of the tour with no explanation. His fans are angry.”
“We’ll explain everything online,” Ilias said, calm but firm. “We’ll be transparent. Maybe people will show more heart than you.”
“I overlooked a request from a major partner to drop you both,” Jamie went on, bitter. “I protected you. But now… you’ve made me look bad, too. Expect an email. Consider your contracts with TerraVive terminated.”
“Who asked to drop us?” Sofia asked, voice flat, not even surprised by the outcome of the conversation. Since she had picked up that call, Jamie had been utterly disgusting in her behavior. She’d rather lose money than be in debt with a company, with a manager that didn’t show a bit of humanity.
A pause. Then Jamie’s voice came through, cold as ice. “Your ex-boyfriend’s family has a lot of influence. Maybe you should’ve stayed with him.”
And then the call disconnected.
Sofia stared at the screen.
Ilias stared at her.
And together, without missing a beat, they both muttered under their breath: “Me cago en la puta.”
50
ILIAS
Soldadito de Hierro – Nil Moliner
