Page 127 of Home of the Brave

“Like waxing our eyebrows?” Schultz offered.

“Or wearing green morph suits and running around downtown?” I cringed at the memory.

“Or trimming cats’ claws at the shelter,” Derek shivered.

“Yeah, like those.” Hartman stepped out of the elevator first, and we headed down the hall. Derek tapped his key card, and we filed in to find all the women in fluffy hotel robes surrounded by dozens of room service trays and a romcom playing quietly on the TV.

This seemed like a good sign until I noticed how red and puffy Victoria’s eyes were. The moment they found mine, they glistened. I hurried over to her, wrapping her in a tight hug and kissing the top of her head.

“What is it?” I whispered as everyone seemed to focus on us.

She pulled away enough to look up at me. “I got fired.”

Of all the things I imagined, this hadn’t crossed my mind once.

I let out a breath and sat next to her on the end of the bed. “What happened?”

She leaned into me, resting her temple on my shoulder. “I was getting ready this morning and got a call from my boss, Chris. He and his higher-ups were told about my content and how popular it got over the last few days. He demanded that I delete everything and have no further contact with any of the athletes as a representative of Sports Now. So my press credentials are no longer valid.”

“They would have let you in,” I argued. “They all know you.”

“Well, I sort of had a breakdown because he told me I had to delete all my content because everything we filmed technically belonged to the company since we were using their equipment."

Oh no. All the work she put in––

“But I’m a genius.” Cambrie jumped in. “I thought ahead. From the very first prank, I used my personal cameras for everything we did.” She winked. “I only used the network's equipment for the standard interview questions.”

“I did wonder why your camera bag was so large compared to the others,” Schultz mentioned.

“I’ve run into this before with different assignments. I learned from my mentors to always record with my own equipment if there was ever content I wanted to use personally, just in case.”

“Beautiful genius,” Victoria smiled at her.

“Okay, so it’s not a problem?” I asked.

“I can keep up my accounts, but I still don’t have a job.”

“So it wasn’t about the videos?”

“It was,” she sighed against me. “The higher-ups were pissed I wasn’t using that content for the company’s posts. When I pointed out that Chris had rejected them, they ignored that. Apparently, he hadn’t told them about that part, but it’s too late.”

“We can talk to them. Go directly to the top and let them know that you proposed the ideas to Chris, and he denied them,” I suggested, looking at the Pride for support. This was exactly the kind of thing they got behind.

“I could try that,” Victoria agreed. “But I’m not going to.”

“Why not?” I searched her face, trying to understand. “Your contract renewal and the new assignment. That’s everything you’ve been working toward.”

“It was,” she gave me a small smile. “But things have changed.”

“They have?” How could her dreams just switch over a few days?

She looked over to Madi and nodded. “I never thought a week could completely change a person, but it has. I’ve realized, thanks to you,” she held my gaze for a moment before looking around the room, “and your friends, and Cambrie, what a full life looks like. What being happy looks like. What I can have if I allow myself to want it.”

My heart was pounding in my chest. There were a million directions this could go in, and I felt like I was holding on as we took corners going a hundred miles an hour. I didn’t know if the next thing would be her declaration that she was moving to Africa with Cambrie to do a documentary on safari animals, or that she wanted to go back to school to completely change her career.

“I’ve had a taste of what I want, but have been hiding behind my fears and excuses to keep from having to take a risk.”

“And what do you want?” I was terrified of the answer.