16. Omiri #2
I chuckled at the sarcasm in her tone. “But I will say that regardless of how irresponsible you’re being with this woman I have absolutely no reason to believe that she will be a problem, now or in the future. I’m honestly rooting for her.”
“Why the hell are you rooting for her?”
“Isn’t that what this is all about? Convincing the world that she’s your one, deserving of the great Omiri Hayes.”
“You’re not the world, Van. You’re my publicist who doesn’t trust a gotdamn soul when it comes to my life or my brand.”
“Which says a lot that I trust her. Like I said before, I don’t know her but what I do know is since you found out about your daughter, you’ve been a lot easier to manage and anyone who makes my job easier is worth rooting for.
I also respect the work she’s done. She’s good, hell, I’ll hire her if she’s looking.
She can take over my social media division. I barely have time anymore.”
“Nah, that’s the last thing I need. I’m gonna stick with separation of church and state. The two of you together would be a whole fucking problem.”
“For you maybe, but for my clients, it’s a perfect solution to all the dumb shit that you guys do.”
I chuckled. “You sound just like her.”
“Good, tell her the offer is on the table.”
“Kari has her own thing. She’s not trying to work for anyone.”
I didn’t know that for sure but I damn sure didn’t want her working for Vanessa. She was enough of a headache as it was.
“I’m open to hiring her if…”
“Van, get the hell off my phone and don’t bring that shit up tomorrow either.”
She was typing again. “Mhm. I have to go. I’ll send over a draft of questions within the hour. As soon as you approve them, I’ll get them over to Kaz.”
“Aight, bet.”
I ended the call and dropped my eyes to Avi who was out cold with her fingers tangled in my beard.
I carefully removed them and kissed her little hand.
The way this little girl had my heart was unreal.
There were days when I still didn’t feel worthy of her love but I absorbed that shit every chance I could.
It wasn’t just my daughter. Makari was my safe space.
She was a safe place for me to accept that I was allowed to be heartbroken about losing O’Rion and she was also the voice in my head reminding me that I wasn’t the reason he wasn’t here.
I still blamed myself, probably always would, but deep down inside I knew there wasn’t a damn thing I could have done because the decision was made by a force stronger and more powerful than me.
I had to trust God’s will, even if I hated the way it broke me to lose the one person who loved me most in the world.
Makari was quiet the entire drive to the studio the next day.
She was nervous and for good reason. We were about to put our personal business out there directly from the source.
This could go two ways. People would take our words and twist them, making the situation worse or they could just accept that we were what we said we were and move the fuck on.
I had a feeling the outcome would be a mix of both but hopefully they would move the hell on and leave us alone.
We arrived an hour before the interview after dropping Avi off with Tiana so Makari could focus on what we were doing and not have to worry about our baby girl. Once we were situated in the green room, she paced back and forth, mumbling through talking points so she was prepared .
Whether I liked it or not, I was used to being in front of the camera and understood she wasn’t, so I left her alone while she stressed herself out. That didn’t, however, stop me from enjoying her pretty ass while she anxiously moved around the room.
“Stop…” I grinned when she spoke but didn’t turn to look at me. There was no way she couldn’t feel my eyes on her.
“What am I doing?”
“Staring at me.”
“I’ve seen your footwork while you’re chasing Avi. I’m just trying to make sure you don’t haul ass out of here.”
She rolled her eyes but smiled. “I promised you I would do this. I’m not going to run.”
“Then relax. It’s really not that deep.”
She turned to face me and I almost fucking laughed but knew better.
“It’s very deep. We’re about to put our lives out there.
If she asks my favorite color and I say yellow, they’ll flip that and say, she hates the Sharks and doesn’t support his career because there’s no yellow in the Sharks’ uniforms.”
I chuckled because as crazy as that sounded she was right. That’s how extreme these people could be. “You want to shut this down and go home?”
“Yes.” She sighed. “But we have to say something, so no, we’re doing this.”
“Come here.”
Makari moved to where I was sitting on the arm of the sofa in our green room and stepped between my legs. I gripped her hips and brought her closer, cupping her face with my palms and brushing my thumbs over her cheeks. I pulled that same shit she did with me.
“You’re not me, this isn’t working.” The smile she delivered said otherwise.
“When we get out there, say whatever you want. Don’t overthink.”
“I’m not overthinking. I just know how this goes.”
“There’s no win with this, Kari. We’re just going to lay that shit down and keep it moving. Our truth is our truth.”
She frowned slightly. “What is our truth?”
Okay, now this was making sense. She was stressing about the unanswered questions that lingered between us.
“Our truth is whatever you want it to be. I’m in this with you. Not just as Avi’s father but as your man…”
“My man?” She arched her brow and I brought her face closer to mine.
“You’re in my bed, on my dick, and in my head with every move I make.
It doesn’t get any more defined than that.
We’re not playing house. We’re a family, you and Avi are my home.
That doesn’t have a damn thing to do with an address or a location. ”
She looped her arms around my neck and kissed me. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, with your overthinking ass. Say whatever you want out there. I’m gonna support that shit, aight?”
“Okay.” She paused. “But what if she goes off script?”
“You don’t have to worry about that. She won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yeah I do. Kaz is married to our defensive coordinator.”
“Wait, how did I not know that?”
“Most people don’t. They keep it lowkey because of both of their positions, but trust, Kaz isn’t trying to fuck up the reputation of any Sharks players.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want to put their business out there but I want you to calm the fuck down so I’m telling you now. This will help the situation, not hurt it. Kaz isn’t going to twist anything we say.”
A few minutes later, someone from their production team knocked on the door and stuck their head in. “Five minutes, Mr. Hayes. I’ll be outside to take you on set.”
I nodded and made sure Makari was good before we left the room and walked through the studio. The set held a small sofa for me and Makari with Kaz next to us in a matching leather chair. We were mic’d up one by one.
“I appreciate you both for being here. I know this isn’t easy but we’ll make it work in a way that feels genuine and real.”
“Thank you.” I reached for Makari’s hand and linked our fingers when her palm slid across mine.
Kaz nodded, did a mic check, then turned to the cameras, waiting for their prompts before she started.
“Welcome to Putting You on Game. I’m Kaz Rivera, your host, and today I’m joined by Omiri Hayes, two time Super Bowl quarterback, and Makari Phoenix, social media strategist. These two have been subjected to extreme media speculation about the nature of their relationship after confirmation that they share a daughter.
Omiri and Makari are here today to offer a bit of insight about their story and to set the record straight. ”
When Makari tensed beside me, I lifted our hands and kissed the back of hers.
“Thank you both for being here. It seems you two have been under fire lately so let’s just dive right in. “How are the two of you holding up with all the recent attention?”
Makari was the first to express her thoughts.
“It’s frustrating more than anything. It’s disheartening to think about the impact this has had on our personal lives and careers.
We’ve both spent years building our brands and suddenly have been reduced to headlines and opinions.
Me more than Omiri but we’re both feeling the backlash. ”
“I agree…” Kaz said and glanced at both of us but focused on Makari. “We also have to acknowledge that you’re receiving the majority of the negative press.”
“She is, which makes this worse. They assume shit about her, make her the enemy, and I’m getting a pass. They don’t know Kari and they damn sure don’t know me but they’re apparently experts on our lives.”
“Fair point and unfortunately that’s the nature of things with those in your position. Also, it’s clearly not balanced when it comes to how actions are viewed.”
“Nah, it’s not. Hell, for all they know, I was the one trapping. Maybe I just wanted to make sure I had her by my side by any means necessary.” I glanced at Makari and winked. Kaz smiled.
“Is that the story?”
“No, it’s not. We had a mutual attraction and we now have a daughter,” Makari cut in.
“Avianna, correct?”
“Yes, Avi.” Makari smiled. Her entire mood shifted and lightened.
“How is life as new parents?”
“Stressful, exhausting, confusing at times, but ultimately beautiful.”
“ She’s damn sure beautiful,” I added.
“Sounds like she already has you wrapped around her tiny little fingers, Omiri.” Kaz smiled warmly.
“Yeah, she’s running things. Between Avi and her mother, I can’t win for shit.”
“How old is she now?”
“Eight months,” Makari said proudly.
“Ah, that’s a fun age. My niece just turned nine months. The adventure stage.”
“The getting into shit stage,” I corrected, making Makari and Kaz both grin.