12. Omiri #3
She looked like she wanted to punch me in the face.
If I wasn't so pissed about this, I would have laughed.
"You pay me to manage your personal shit, Omiri.
They've worked out a timeline that makes it incredibly hard to dispute that you have a daughter with this woman.
Had I known I could have gotten ahead of this but now we're going to have to play catch up. "
"How do we fix this? We don't want the information out there about Avi."
"Well too fucking late and we don't fix it. We decide how much you want to share and?—"
"We're not sharing anything. I don't want strangers in my personal business."
"They're in it whether you like it or not, Omiri."
"Fuck…" I gripped the back of my neck.
"It gets worse."
She reached for the tablet and I handed it over, watching while she moved through the screen then handed it back. "They know exactly who Makari is. Social media strategist who works with multiple NBA and NFL players. They're spinning this like she targeted you."
I scammed the article and got pissed. They were saying Makari was an opportunist who used her professional connections to come after me, get pregnant, then conveniently surfaced after my second Super Bowl win.
My money and status damn near doubled after the second ring and I was about to sign a fat ass contract.
All of what they were saying was bullshit but it was believable and people loved to glorify the bullshit.
"We need to issue a statement immediately to shut that down. I'm assuming since you had me making plans for family day that the relationship is cordial?"
I really fucking hated this. Vanessa was doing her job but Makari and Avi weren't business or like my typical messes she had to clean up.
"Omiri, what's the deal? Tell me where you stand so I know how we're handling this."
My eyes narrowed on her briefly but she matched my intensity so I relaxed because my issue wasn't with Vanessa. "We're figuring shit out but yes the relationship is mutual. She’s not a problem I’m trying to get rid of."
Hell, I was the one pushing for this but I wasn't about to get into that.
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
I sighed and walked to the chairs in front of her desk and sank down. Vanessa walked behind it and filled her desk chair.
"My daughter is young. She just turned six months old. I didn't want her or Kari attached to my shit. You know what my life looks like."
She scoffed. "Of course I do. I'm the one in charge of making sure you keep your contract and don't make the city hate you."
I smirked. "I'm not that bad."
She arched her brow and placed her hand on her mouse. "Okay, so we confirm the relationship and deny that Ms. Phoenix manipulated you. We'll explain this is a private family matter?—"
"Nah, no statements. I'm not confirming shit. We don't want Avi out here like that."
"Omiri, she's already out there. The story is all over everywhere. We need to control the narrative and redirect the energy."
"We confirm that shit and it gives them more access to come for Kari. I'm not doing that. Have you seen the comments they're making?"
"Yes, I have. They're harsh…"
"This shit is vicious as hell."
They were calling Makari all kinds of bitches and hoes, saying she knew what she was doing, probably fucked half the athletes in the city until she lucked up and got pregnant by one of us. I wanted to pull up on every single person that commented on the article. Hell I might…
People who didn't even know her were making up lies about Makari's sexual history and debating her worth as a mother just because of who she had a kid with.
"We need to respond or they get to make up what they want. You need to let me do my job. You know how this works, Omiri. Give them a story. It dies down and goes away because they can no longer make up one of their own."
"Fine, make it minimal. Confirm that Makari and I have a daughter, that we're together and request privacy. I want them to leave us the fuck alone."
"That's going to be hard to guarantee but I'll spin it and make some calls."
"I don't give a damn if it's difficult, Van. This is my daughter and her mother. I don't want them in the middle of a shitstorm." My tone left no room for an argument and she nodded, already typing something out.
"What about Ms. Phoenix? Are you offering her my PR support as well? My team can help manage her social media and prepare a statement."
"That's what she does for a living. I'm sure she'll want to handle that."
"I understand but she's likely never dealt with this type of attention from a personal standpoint. Her clients’ problems, sure, but not her own. It would be smart to let me cover her too."
"Aight, go ahead and prepare a statement but send it to me before you get it out there. I want to talk to Kari first."
"I'll have it to you before you get home, and stay off social media."
I nodded and left her office, knowing I wasn't going to do that.
I barely used my accounts, but as soon as I got in my car I dug my phone out of my bag, powered it on, and was flooded with notifications.
I even had texts from Makari with jokes and reels which had to have been before our connection was leaked.
I navigated to Skroll and searched Baller Alert.
The comments had congratulations, jokes about my player days ending, questions about whether or not being a father would affect my game, and those suggesting that I get a DNA test.
When it came to Makari they were going in, calling her a gold digger, opportunist, and hoe. There were so many comments about her trapping me and women saying she was going to pop out with a new body now that she locked down a baller.
I tried to call Makari and it went straight to voicemail, which wasn't a good sign.
If I had to guess, she was already overwhelmed with notifications.
I had no idea how I was going to fix this, but I had to get it done.
There was no way in hell I was about to lose the most important two people to me before I even got a chance to appreciate what my life looked like with them in it.