1:11 am

I exhale as I look down at Hal’s message. He sent it hours ago. It’s three a.m. now and I still haven’t left my car. I’ve been sitting outside Lexi’s apartment the last couple of hours, watching the paps outside her doors. I can’t bear to watch the video, but it has gone viral online and the comments on it are horrendous. There’s a bunch of death threats, too. Some of her fans are trolling her ‘unchristian values.’ I desperately want to talk to her, though I know there isn’t much I could say that would console her. How the hell do I explain that I lost my phone? I should have told her when it happened. I’m calling her.

I phone her, but it goes directly to voicemail. Who the hell could she be talking to at this hour? I hear her voice message;

“Leave a message, or better yet, text me. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!”

BEEP!

“Hey, bunny. It’s me,” I say in an anxious tone. I sigh, trying to calm my nerves. “I want to apologize. I think this might become a big misunderstanding and we need to talk. Truth is a couple of weeks ago, when I told you I got a new phone, well I didn’t. I lost it while we were in Chicago. I’m sorry. I should have told you that. I thought I may have left it at the silver bean, the hotel, The Great American Pie, or in the locker rooms. I hadn’t seen it since you interviewed me that night. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry, unless you had something to worry about. Hal and I were both trying to find it. Please text me when you get this.” I pause a moment. “On the other hand, I completely understand if you don’t want to talk to me right now, or ever again. But, regardless, I want to tell you how sorry I am.” I hang up.

She’s blocked you from her phone, ball boy. Shivers turn my skin to goosebumps as the thought crosses my mind. I’ve texted her a few times with no response and my phone call went straight to voicemail. Yup. She’s blocked me. If she thinks I intentionally leaked those videos, how would I convince her that I hadn’t? I go on all her social media accounts. I’ve been blocked from all of them.

I text Hal.

As soon as I read his message, I realize how true his words are. Lexi doesn’t want excuses; innocent or not of leaking the video, I still lost my phone. I was careless. I’ll have to wait until she hears my message and decides if she wants to speak to me again. I turn my car on and head to Hal’s.

When I arrive at Hal’s, he’s busily searching the Internet and his emails. I cringe. “You don’t think this is going to affect my promotional work, do you?”

“Hard to say. There’s a couple of beers in the fridge. Get them.”

I open the fridge to find a couple of light beers and pass one to Hal. He closes his laptop. “We need to discuss some things,” he says in a serious tone. He opens his can and walks into his living area. I follow, plopping down onto one of his recliners.

“I’ve seen people come back from worse,” he says, putting his hand to his hip. “If anything, I think Lexi is in the fire more than yourself. I’ve contacted all the companies that have been interested in you, as well as Branded Athletics. I haven’t heard back from anyone. But I haven’t seen any emails come in saying they no longer want you to represent them. Thing is, because it’s New Year’s, we may not see anything. You know each company will probably sit down with all their bigwigs and decide if you’re still good for them. That will take a couple of days. But don’t fear, I’ve seen athletes come back unscathed from worse scandals.”

“What about Lexi? What does this mean for her?” I ask, anxiety ridden.

Hal presses his lips together, “I think her career is over.”

My blood boils, “What? Isn’t there anything I can do? I mean, could I do a press conference and explain all this crap? I don’t want people to think that Lexi’s uh, well, a skank. We are in a relationship, but we haven’t gone public yet.”

Hal turns to me, “Not wise, Brett. Besides, going public with Lexi is not going to change people’s views. Everyone thinks what she did was stupid. The American public won’t care that you dated. What she did is considered unacceptable.”

I scrunch up my face, “Hal, if I don’t say anything, Lexi’s career will be over. I have to take some heat off her, even if it comes at a price for me.”

Hal pauses in thought, trying to find the right words. “I don’t think you understand. If you associate with Lexi, you’ll go down with her. Has she been in contact with you? You said you texted and called her.”

“Yeah, I did,” I reply.

“I’m sure she’s still up right now, freaking out about this. She’s probably read your messages, but doesn’t see that as an excuse for what you’ve done. She’s done with you, Brett. Do you expect her to want to spend any time with you after what has happened? It took Lexi years to get to where she is. Other than a piece of her mind, I’m sure she wants to give you a piece of her fist.”

As humiliated as I am knowing that my reputation is tarnished, and my career and prospects are on hiatus, I can’t stop thinking about what will happen to Lexi. She’s all I care about right now. “Hal, I don’t care how she feels about me. I’ve read some of the crap people have written in the video comments. She’s done nothing wrong. I don’t want her to take the fall for this. I was irresponsible.”

“If she doesn’t want to be in contact with you, consider it a blessing, Brett. Being seen with her now would lose you some fans; she’s been called everything imaginable online.”