26. James #2
“This is making me feel like I’m at the gynecologist,” I said as I finished a set on a contraption that required lots of wide thigh opening and closing.
“That’s why I’m body-blocking you,” Steph said. “No one can see your crotch with me standing here.”
“Is this seatbelt really required?” I asked, plucking at the thing she’d insisted I clip on.
“You’re a newbie, so yes.”
Her face looked odd, like she was keeping a secret.
“What are you up to?” I looked around the gym. “You’re acting weird.”
“Moreso than usual?” She laughed. “Okay, yeah, I’ve got news for you. And I think you’re going to like it.” She pulled her phone from inside of her sports bra and wiped down the screen. “Did you know that not locking your phone can lead to all sorts of mischief?”
“My phone? What do you mean? What did you do, Steph?” Ice water shot through my veins, because I knew my friend was capable of anything.
Including reaching out to James. My heartbeat picked up at the thought of it.
“You know that group chat you have with your classmates?”
I ignored the wave of sadness when I realized that she wasn’t working behind the scenes to try to repair things with James.
“Yeah, of course. For projects.”
She nodded. “Yup, for projects, and for starting a tsunami.” Her mischievous grin widened. “A #MeToo tsunami.”
“Oh my God.” My mouth dropped open. “Did you…”
Her face lit up as she smiled triumphantly at me as she showed me a text thread she forwarded to her phone.
“I did! I sent the group screenshots from some of the creepy messages MG sent you. Not the one where you talked about James, but some of the other gross passes that he made to you. Don’t worry, I didn’t impersonate you or anything.
I said it was me and I was stepping up because I thought everyone had the right to know—and the chance to share their own experiences, too. ”
“What…how did they respond? Did they think I was exaggerating?”
Everyone seemed to love the man, so me calling him on his bullshit could go either way.
“They lost their damn minds because you’re not the only one, Nat! Six women had similar stories, and a few of the men said he’d texted creepy shit about the women in the class to them.”
“No way!”
Steph nodded vigorously. “We talked about reporting him to the school, but we worried that they might look the other way because he’s a star.
So one of the guys, I think his name is Ted, compiled the screenshots and sent them to a reporter he knows who works at The New York Times.
She’s putting together a story on this, and she’s been interviewing the other women in your class.
She wants to talk to you, too—but only if you’re interested. ”
I went cold despite feeling sweaty. “Hold on… I don’t want that sort of attention, Steph. What if MG sues me for defamation or something? I can’t afford to go to court. And if Branson was mentioned…”
I couldn’t help caring about the damn company, despite everything I’d been through there.
“You don’t have to be part of the story if you don’t want to. Or you could go on background, or ask the reporter not to use your name. It’s not just you, so it’s not like you have to be the face of this thing. But it’s happening. He’s not going to get away with what he’s done.”
I managed to untangle myself from the machine and stood up to give Steph a hug. “You’re amazing. Thank you.”
She patted me on the back, then pushed me away. “Oh, something else happened too! Do you know Carly?”
I nodded. “Yeah, she’s super talented. I like her.”
“Well, once I got onto the chat, we got to talking and Miss Carly just got a gig designing for Athleta, and she asked me to be her fit model!”
“What? How did this happen? And when?”
She squeezed my shoulder. “You’ve been a little, uh, distracted over the past few weeks.
Carly and I met for coffee a few times. It’s been in the works for a bit, but I didn’t want to say anything until it was official.
Carly said there’s a chance they’ll use me on the website and in their catalogs. Imagine it; me, a model!”
“I don’t have to imagine it; I’ve seen you in action. Steph, it’s perfect. I’m so happy for you.”
She puffed up with pride. “I’m psyched. But you know what it means, right?”
“Fame and fortune?”
She laughed. “No, it means a complete moratorium on sugar and alcohol at our place. My abs are going to be on display every damn day!”
I smacked her tight belly. “Doesn’t look like a problem to me.”
“Says you. Anyway, it’s time for some stress-release,” she said, beckoning me to follow her. “We’re going to box.” She put her hands up in fighter position.
We walked through the gym laughing about the different poses she was going to do in her first shoot, passing by the treadmills and bikes on the way to the boxing room. The bank of TVs were all tuned to the same channel, some inane entertainment program.
Steph’s happy expression dimmed when she glanced up at the screens. “Uh-oh…”
I looked up and saw grainy footage that showed two women dancing in the darkness of a nightclub.
“Wait, that’s Heidi,” I said. My heart fractured when I spotted James in the shadows behind her.
“And Brayleigh D’Amato, the TikTok star.”
We watched as the dancing turned to shoving.
“Yikes.” Steph sucked in a breath. “Heidi looks really drunk.”
The footage cut to a close-up of Heidi that looked like it came from someone’s live feed. She seemed unhinged, yelling at Brayleigh. The subtitles censored what she was saying, but the meaning behind it was still unmistakable.
“Heidi called Brayleigh the c-word!” Steph slapped her hand over her mouth in shock.
I didn’t notice what was going on between the two women because I was too busy watching James, as much as it hurt me to do it.
There he was, looking weary and disgusted, with his arms crossed as he watched the drama unfolding.
The footage cut to James leaning over to whisper in Heidi’s ear, and her screaming at him.
The next stitched together scene was of him outside the club, getting into his Maybach alone.
“Wow,” I said softly. I didn’t even realize that I was rubbing my hand against my chest, over my heart, as if trying to soothe an ache.
“You okay?” Steph asked, studying my face.
I shrugged. “Whatever. It’s not my business. This is what he wanted.”
“Yeah, but he didn’t seem happy at all, even before the slapfight. He looked like he’d been taken hostage or something. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who appreciates that sort of attention.”
“That’s because he doesn’t,” I said.
A part of me wanted to grab my phone and dive into the rabbit hole of Reddit gossip about what had gone down.
I was sure there was more footage to watch and eyewitness accounts of the whole thing.
But what good would it do me? James wasn’t a part of my life now.
He’d made his choice, which clearly included late nights at clubs and an unhinged girlfriend who threw the c-word around.
I didn’t recognize this version of James. I thought I knew who he was, that I’d met the real James. The man who had so much more to him than the bosshole persona he showed the world.
I was wrong.
“Let’s glove up,” Steph said, sliding her arm around my shoulder. “I have a feeling that you have some pent-up rage that’s ready to come out.”
I didn’t answer her, because my rage was long gone, and all that was left was sadness.