18. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Jackson
I open my door for Rome and he has the nerve to look as pissed as I feel.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he grumbles as he rolls his eyes at me. He attempts to walk into my house, but before he can pass me, I grab him by the arm more harshly than needed.
“You’re in my damn house, little boy. You’ll respect me or you’ll leave and find a new agent.” I stare down at him and he watches me for a beat before silently nodding. I let go of his arm before walking into the house with him.
We’re heading for my office when Isabelle hops down from the steps. “How about this one?” She poses as she shows me her third costume option, and I don’t understand why my mother bought her every costume idea she’s had the past two weeks.
I examine her Tinker Bell outfit. “I think this one is my favorite.”
She looks down at herself before turning to Rome. “What do you think?”
He gives her a once over before turning to me and I raise my brows, silently telling him to agree with me so she can stop trying on all eight of her costumes. “I agree with your dad. This one looks very nice.”
She hums in thought before turning to me. “Can you put my hair in a Tinker Bell bun so I can see if I really look like her?”
“I have to talk to Rome, but when I’m done I’ll do your hair… again.” I force a smile but when she smiles in return, I can’t even be annoyed because she’s too damn cute.
“I just had a better idea.” She lights up. “How about I take all my costumes to Uncle Sigh’s house and he can help us?”
“Okay.” I take a step for my office but she speaks up again.
“But”—she puts a finger up—“Everyone needs to help, so can you make sure Uncle August and Sagey and Titi Hazel and Titi Vid and Lissy will be there?”
My smile widens at her excitement. “I’ll call them and make sure they’re all there.”
She nods in return before taking off to change and I quickly escape into my office with Rome.
“She’s taking Halloween very seriously.” Rome raises his brows at me, amusement in his tone, but I’m too pissed at him to even crack a smile.
“You’ve been blowing up my phone for days, so now is your chance to explain to me why a video of you beating Chase to the brink of death is circling the internet.”
He opens his mouth, but I yell before he can finish.
“Over a damn girl ? I cannot have my clients pinning against each other. Tell me now if this is all a game to you because I won’t try to save the last contract you have. One , Rome! That’s all you have left because no one wants to fucking work with you anymore.”
He shakes his head at me before his temper clearly rises. “You think this is just because of a girl?”
I pace the office. “Your coach told me—”
“Our coach is covering for him,” he snaps. “If you answered my calls and had a bit more faith in me, you’d know he was forcing himself on her.”
I go still before I turn to him.
“Our coach didn’t add that part, did he?”
I let out a defeated breath before running my hands down my face.
“We were at a party,” he starts. “And I know you told me not to go to any more parties after videos of me acting like a drunk fool were circling last time. Spare me on that speech.”
I settle in my seat as he explains.
“The minute I noticed your precious client was there, I was saying my peace and about to leave, but when I went into the living room I saw him in the corner with a girl on his lap.”
He paces as he continues.
“Now yes , I was already mad because I was sleeping with her first, so Coach had that part right, but he had his arm wrapped around her extremely tight and she looked uncomfortable, so I went over and I heard her tell him countless times to let her get up, and what did he do?”
He doesn’t let me answer.
“He ignored her and kept trying to kiss her. She kept saying stop, and when he put his hand up her skirt, I lost it.” He throws his hands up in defeat. “I grew up with five sisters and if it was any of them on his lap, I would want someone to stand up for them. I wasn’t going to just stand there or leave. If that cost me my future, then so be it, but you have a baby girl and I thought you’d understand. If you want to defend a rapist, then I’m fine with getting a new agent.”
He storms off, but I stop him before he can leave.
“Wait.” I lean back in my seat as I pinch the bridge of my nose. “In no way am I defending him.”
Rome turns on his heels before focusing on me. “I can’t believe you preferred him over me.” He crosses his arms now.
“That was before this information came to light,” I defend myself but his face drops.
“You really liked him more than me?”
I let out a scoff. “Kid,” I deadpan. “You are my only client who makes my job hard. I like everyone better than you.”
“Even Chase the sexual assaulter?”
“Please do not call him that.”
“Why?” he pushes. “Because it’ll make it harder for you to clean his image?”
“Because it’ll be harder for me to clean your image. As of five seconds ago, he’s no longer my client.”
His arms drop as he focuses on me.
I rub my forehead as I weigh my options. “I need you to make a video addressing this. I’ll give you a loose script to follow, but you need to focus more on how the situation made you feel and shine light on the girl needing help rather than painting Chase as the villain.” I put a hand up when he opens his mouth.
“I know he’s the bad guy here, but the media is going to pick apart your statement. You can’t spend five minutes talking about how he’s an asshole. You need to take accountability and defend yourself. This isn’t about him,” I tell him more sternly.
“I’ll give a statement to our PR team announcing we’re dropping Chase from Athletic Prime and why. I’ll make sure they highlight you and maybe we can get some of your offers back.”
His shoulders slouch as he settles in the seat in front of me. “Is your boss really going to let you drop him that easily?”
“Without a doubt.” I sink into my seat. “The company is run by women and there’s a zero-tolerance policy for these kinds of things.”
Rome nods in thought.
“Who is this girl?”
His eyes meet mine. “Her name’s Izzie. We’ve been messing around for a few weeks, but it’s nothing serious. I met her in my chem class.” He shrugs and the fact that her name is so close to my daughter’s hits a nerve.
“Is she okay?”
He nods in return. “Shaken up but she’s fine. I think me nearly killing Chase scared her more than he did, but she’s still talking to me, so I guess that’s a good sign.”
There’s a knock on my door before Isabelle walks in wearing a new costume. “Can we make my hair black for this costume?”
I open my mouth but quickly shut it when I realize she cut her damn hair.