It’s been a grueling day. Though I’ve managed to ignore the Internet and had Anne deal with my social media, I couldn’t escape the impending doom of being called into the office to meet with Steve and Jade. A smug grin is tracing Jade’s mouth as I sit next to her in Steve’s office. My teeth are clenched together as I hear Steve deliver the bad news.

“Lexi, these videos online have looked bad on EAN. We’ve always pushed the image that you were a sweet, horse-loving Christian girl from the Midwest. The public has seen too much of you and your personal life. The network has decided to have Jade fill in for the rest of the season with the Blazers.”

My jaw drops, “But she can’t cover ALL those games by herself, Steve.”

“Yes, we know that.” Steve turns to Jade, “We decided that we would have Shonda Washington take the extra load. She’s a girl from a smaller network, but she’s been doing some great work these past couple of months. She told us she’d be willing to leave her full-time job at her small network to take part-time work with us.”

“Fine by me,” Jade says, looking at me sideways. “I’ll start prepping some questions for Brett Brock, then. I’m sure the Blazers are going to make it to the Super Bowl and he certainly knows how to make headlines.”

“Steve,” I say, trying to keep myself together, “a month ago you were begging me to do more interviews because Jade couldn’t deliver a compelling interview. Now you’re going to take me off the air for the rest of the season and hire someone better than Jade to take part-time work? That’s stupid. If we play our cards right, we can convince the public to forget that video. I’ve talked to Anne and she said she could get me an interview with—”

“Stop, Lexi. Stop. We can’t pull that kind of public relations miracle within a few weeks. The network has asked me to tell you that this will only be temporary, Lexi. Over the upcoming months, if your reputation can be salvaged, they will be willing to take you back part-time.”

“WHAT?” I scream. “YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING! PART-TIME?”

“Lexi,” Steve says in a low tone, “control yourself.”

I look back to see Jade with a triumphant expression. I sit back down, “I’m sorry, Steve. But if you’re giving me the possibility of going part-time down the road now, I’m wondering if you intend to give me my job back. I worked harder than any other journalist in this industry to get to where I am … and I didn’t have to hand out my twat or blowjobs to do it.” I glare at Jade. She sneers.

Steve gives me a sympathetic look. “I understand that, Lexi. The network knows you work hard, but we do have a brand to maintain here. Families and sports fans seeing your lady parts online will be a hard thing not to think about when they see you on their television sets at home. You know that any publicity you have for yourself right now will only lead into conversations about what you have done?”

I shrug, “Last I checked, showing your twat can be good for a career. Look at all the socialites that have gotten reality television shows for that.”

Steve brings his hand up to his mouth, trying to stifle a laugh. He then regains a calm composure. “Truly, Lexi, I’m sorry this happened to you. I promise you, I’ll do my best to see that the network considers you seriously again when the time comes.”

There’s a long silence and I take the hint that it is now my time to leave. “All right, Steve, if that’s how the network feels about me after I have had my privacy violated by Brett Brock. But does the network plan to make Brett apologize for that leak? I mean I do recall earlier this season the network wanting me to apologize to him on television after Mike directed the camera at his cock!”

“Lexi,” Steve says, but then stops as he notes the double standard.

“Yeah. Brett won’t have a price to pay for this. The American public is only going to see him as a great football player and ignore the scandal each time they see his face up on television. This is bullshit. If the network had cared for their workers they’d demand that Brett apologize. The network should refuse to do any interviews with him until he does!”

I want to cry, but I refuse to look weak. You don’t cry in front of people, Lexi. I still can’t believe I trusted him.

“Thing is, Lexi, even if the network boycotted Brett Brock, other networks would still interview him.” Steve’s eyes move to Jade, “You should go now. I need to sort some things out with Jade.

“Like what? What position she’s going to get in after I leave?” I get up.

“Steve and I aren’t fucking, Lexi,” Jade shouts. “I know you’d like to think that but—”

“Jade, you told me that you blew him off when we bumped into each other at Clarissa’s art showing. Don’t you remember? Argh!” I walk out the office, slamming the door behind me. I wait a moment by the door curious of what Jade and Steve might say once I’m gone.

“Geez, Jade! You told her that? Why would you tell her you’ve been sucking me off?”

“I don’t know,” she says with a whine. “She pisses me off. I wanted her to know that she wouldn’t be doing Super Bowl this year.”

I hear Steve groan, “Keep your mouth shut.”

“You don’t like it when I do that.”

I decide to leave—I know what’s about to happen. As I head out of the office, I put my scarf and sunglasses on. My life has changed overnight. I need to talk to Anne. I don’t know where to go with my career now.

“Christ,” Anne says. “I didn’t know it was that awful. Brett’s been seeing Izzy this entire time?”

I sigh, “Maybe. That, or he’s gone back to her. She answered the door in some lingerie, took a picture of me. When I left, I heard Brett say something to her.”

Anne cocks her brow, “Really? Why didn’t you tell me or Clarissa the other night after you came back from his place?”

My eyes sting, “Too embarrassed.” My voice cracks.

Anne rubs my back as she sits on my couch, “Why would you be? You weren’t like this with Tristan. You never shed a tear.”

“I shed a tear over Tristan,” I say. “I cried over the fact that I hadn’t said anything to Katie. She deserved to know every awful detail. But it’s different this time, Anne. I cared for Brett. I was beginning to feel that I might possibly—” I stop, unable to finish my sentence.

“You think Brett was—” Anne stops, cautiously. She’s never seen me fall in love so hard or fast.

“Mr. Right,” I say. “It felt that way. The pain is so bad this time. With Tristan, I only pretended to be hurt.”

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I knew Tristan was following all my media accounts. I knew he wanted a reaction from me. He wanted to see my pain.” I whirl my finger about my ear, “That boy was sick.”

“Why did you give him what he wanted then?” she asks perplexed. My mind drifts back to the night I saw Tristan and told him off. Anne and I were at a club, and Katie had taken a plane back to her hometown in Iowa hours before. One of the players told me where he’d be that night and Anne had mentioned Tristan was talking of ‘finding more tail’ after Katie had left.

I stood by the bar while Anne waltzed about networking with some major players at a publishing company in the city. I had spent months crafting my next run-in with Tristan. On my social media accounts, I pretended to be heartbroken. I posted songs about heartbreak or love, I wrote blog posts with a hint of desperation and sadness. I even got Anne in on it—though I had never let her know my intent—and told her to tell other people I was going a little crazy without him. For a guy like him, it’s only a matter of minutes once his woman’s away that he’ll be boosting his ego with another woman. I wanted to make damn sure that woman was me. I would make him feel so rejected, he wouldn’t bother trying to get another girl on the night Katie left.

I spot him across the bar. I can sense that he’s already seen me. He expects me to follow him home like a puppy dog. In his mind, I’m a pathetic woman that is willing to be at his beck and call. Not going to happen, Tristan.

I can’t approach him. I need him to come on to me, so I can turn him down flat. I’m confident that he will seek me out. Like every other creep, he wants to move in on his prey. I continue to look about the bar, acting as though I haven’t seen him. It shouldn’t be too long until he’s standing next to me.

I throw back the last sip of my drink and rest the glass on the bar top.

“Hey, I thought you didn’t drink?” a judgmental tone says loudly behind me. Wow. That was fast.

I turn to meet his face, “I said I didn’t drink much, Tristan. I’m not a big partier.”

“Would you like another?” he asks, smiling widely. “Hey, bar, get this girl another drink.”

Hell, might as well. It’s the least you owe me for wasting my time. “I’ll have a Malibu Pineapple,” I tell the bartender. He looks over at Tristan, “That’s going to be thirty dollars.”

Tristan’s jaw drops, bewildered at the cost.

“You are in the VIP section, sir,” the bartender says.

Tristan puts down the money, no tip. The bartender gives him a disgruntled look before he begins mixing my drink.

“Don’t lie, Driver.” Tristan rounds on me.

“Lie about what?”

“You knew. You knew I had a girlfriend.”

“Strange. If I knew you had someone in your life, why didn’t you feel comfortable talking about her to me? I mean, if I knew, as you say, why didn’t we ever talk about her? From what I understand, none of the other guys you play with knew you had a girlfriend. Not until the day you brought her to a game and introduced her.”

“All right.” He gives me a sympathetic gaze, feigning remorse, “I’m sorry.”

PFFT! Like you mean that! Anything to get laid. “You’re not sorry,” I say with a snarl. But as I say these words, my eyes well up. Though I’m moments away from achieving my goal of turning this bastard down, pangs of guilt begin to fill my core. You don’t feel sorry, but I do; I should have told Katie. But then I remember that Waneda believed Katie did know, but refused to acknowledge it. My eyes dry quickly.

He gives me an oversexed expression. “Be nice, Lexi. Come home with me.”

Anger fills every part of my being as I look at his smug face. But, I pretend not to hear him, I want him to ask me again, to remind myself of what an asshole he is. “Sorry, Tristan, it’s so loud in here. What did you say?”

“Me, you, my place.” He arches his brow.

“Tristan, you’re a douchebag. You aren’t fit to sleep with a pig that has bathed himself in his own shit.” Without giving him a chance to respond, I walk away. I can’t imagine any response he’d have worthwhile hearing; this idiot is willing to throw away someone he claims to love and wishes to marry for a one-night thrill—me.

“Lexi, you told Tristan off out of spite. You wanted to sleep with him.” Anne brings me out of my reverie.

“Ha! Spite? I told him off out of self-respect. Besides, I know I wasn’t missing much. He was one of those types that took care of his own needs well before the main course. Nothing worse than sex ending before it begins.”

“There’s some truth. I hate when guys do that.”

“It makes you question why you ever washed your hair and did your make up.”

“Are you playing the same tactic on Brett?”

I shrug.

“Why not?” Anne asks confused. “The guy leaked your sex tapes for the world to see. All while he wanted to be with Izzy Avery.”

“I was going to give him a piece of my mind,” I say. “But I don’t think Brett cares how I feel. He did what he did to cause me pain. He wanted revenge. He’s not coming back for another ride.”

“What’s the deal with the job then?”

I roll my eyes, “I’m in the doghouse. They are telling me that they might let me come back next season part-time. Jade is getting Super Bowl along with Shonda Washington.”

Anne stares at me bug-eyed. “Seriously? Jade is a terrible broadcaster. I always thought of her as making my job easier to promote you.”

“I know. I’m guessing that they are going to groom Shonda. I’m sure Shonda will take over.”

“Yeah. That woman has serious potential.”

We sit in silence as I contemplate whether I want to know the answer to the question of how my fans are treating me. But it’s better I find out from Anne then go online and see all the damage myself.

“You’ve been checking my social media lately,” I begin cautiously. “Tell me the truth, how bad is it?”

“With those kinds of comments? Don’t look for some time, Lexi. We need to wait for something else major to happen. Something else that will get people talking. I’ve been trying to think something up, talked to a few of my contacts. On the bright side, I noticed there aren’t any paparazzi outside your apartment.”

“Well, it’s been a week,” I say. “Maybe the dust has settled a little.”

BAM BAM BAM

Anne and I make eye contact. “Shit. Who do you think that is?” asks Anne.

“Lexi! You home?” a deep voice yells.

Brett.

“We need to talk, sports bunny,” Brett says. “I didn’t leak those videos of you online.”

I close my eyes, Oh my god. I whisper, “I can’t talk to him right now. What the hell is he doing here?”

“Well, he says he didn’t leak those videos.”

“That’s a lie,” I mutter. “He’s the only person that had video of us. He leaked it. How does he explain why Izzy Avery was at his apartment?”

“Huh, maybe he’s tired of Izzy and has realized he let something good go. Izzy is a nut-bar.”

“Probably true. But that doesn’t excuse what he did.”

“Lexi! I know you’re there!” Brett yells. “I’ve been waiting this past week to tell you that I didn’t leak it! It was a mistake!”

Anne looks at me quizzically, waiting to see my reaction.

“Is that so?” I call back. “Was Izzy a mistake, too? Leave Brett.”

“Izzy?” he says in a curious tone.

“I went to your apartment on New Year’s, Brett!” I storm toward my door, but don’t open it. “Izzy Avery was there!”

“What? I wasn’t there! I was at Hal’s!”

I shake my head in disbelief, “I’m not going to sit here and tolerate your lies, Brett. LEAVE!”

I hear nothing for a moment and a sigh of relief washes over me as I assume Brett has left. But then I hear his voice as he walks away. “I don’t know if Izzy was at my place, Lexi. But I can promise you, I didn’t expose myself like that!”