46. CADE
CHAPTER 46
CADE
Me
Is it posted?
Social Media Princess
Yes, off to the presses
Godspeed, Cowboy
I return a saluting emoji and pocket my phone.
“You really want to do all this for a woman?” Lou asks beside me, his hands above the table in a manner I can only describe as businesslike.
“All this and more.” I lean back on my chair and fold my arms like Hope does. “I’d do anything for her.”
He hums while deep in thought with who knows what. Probably doing the math about when he can drop me as a client because I’ve clearly gone off the deep end.
Unbothered by that, I check my watch. I have to start practice in forty minutes so I guess this will be quick. The problem is that the big wigs have kept us waiting for twenty minutes already, further increasing my desire to sock each one of them the second they walk in the door.
Speaking of. The door finally opens and in comes the jury panel. It consists of Rob Beau, team manager and surprising choice for something not related to the team’s performance; Steve Franklin, Hope’s boss; Michael Watson, head of HR; and none other than Charlie Cox, the team owner. I’m not clear on whether this is a good or bad ensemble.
What I do know for sure is that I’m freaking fuming. Lou rises to his feet to shake hands and I cannot bring myself to do the same.
“We all know why we’re here so let’s get started,” Watson begins, lacing his fingers in front of his face. “Starr, it has come to our attention that a female staff member has engaged in a non professional relationship with you. Is that correct?”
“Her name is Hope Garcia, not female staff member, and yes, she’s my girlfriend,” I respond through a smile of gritted teeth.
He scribbles some notes on an old school notepad with yellow paper sheets, and is smart enough to angle it away from my eyes. “You can relax, Starr. This isn’t a trial on your character.”
“Why not?” I lean forward, elbows on the table, and look at each one of them in turn. “Hope and I are two consenting adults who happened to fall in love. Why is this a trial on her character but not on mine? It would probably be a bad idea for this organization to engage in double standards, right?”
Cox takes a big, deep breath and releases it slowly. He slouches back in his chair and runs a hand down his tie to smoothen it. “I figured something like this would happen the moment I allowed hiring a woman into the staff. But it was good for publicity, and now we can’t let it turn into bad publicity. So how do we prevent that, gentlemen?”
Watson ducks his face but says, “Well, in my opinion the first step to that is ensuring player safety so?—”
“Man, I can assure you. Hope is the best thing that’s ever happened in my life,” I say in earnest, scooting even closer to the table in hopes that, by seeing my face and my eyes from closer, they’ll find the truth behind my words. “Better than baseball or my paycheck. Did you all forget how she was the only person who even had the balls to pry those stalkers off me?
“Steve.” I turn to the head of the trainers. “Do you even know how hard she works? That she does all the menial tasks that you and your other guys refuse to do because you think it’s beneath y’all?
“And Beau.” I face our manager. “Did you know Hope knows absolutely everything about every player? Down to what they’re allergic to, to exactly which muscle group is affecting their play or quality of life?
“Like, I’m sorry.” I shake my head. “She’s not just the best thing that’s happened to me, the woman I eventually want to start a family with, or someone I’d go to war for even in front of four powerful men biased against her. She’s the best damn employee in the wider medical team and deserves a freaking raise, not to get fired because she dares to be happy with me.”
In the ensuing silence after my rant, where I breathe harder than after striking out Machado in the seventh inning, Lou clears his throat to speak very clearly.
“May I also remind you that nowhere in Cade’s or Hope’s contract is it stated that they’re not allowed to date a colleague?” He points at Steve. “She only can’t date you and thank goodness, because that would be a power dynamic that would really interest the press.”
Steve’s face reddens but he says absolutely nothing.
“Three,” Beau says out of the blue, resting his hands on his belly. As we all turn to him in confusion, he adds, “Three men in power biased against her. Not me. I see everything she does and have no intention of losing her to another organization.”
My mouth opens.
“I don’t particularly care about her,” Cox says with his whole chest. “I just want to make sure we spin this favorably for our image. If we decide to fire her, we need a NDA strong enough to keep her quiet. And if we decide to keep her, we have to spin this positively.”
My hands curl and I open my mouth to spit out some fire at this asshole, when Steve finally interjects.
“We’re not firing her.” We all zero in on him but his attention sets on me. “I also refreshed my mind by rereading her contract, and nothing in there would construe this as a breach. But we do have guidelines about appropriate conduct and there is a clause about decorum.”
“Decorum?” I deadpan, as if we weren’t talking about an environment where players are regularly naked.
“My suggestion would be…” He has the nerve to drag this out until I glare hard enough. “That we establish some clear, professional boundaries for the two of you. For example, I may permanently assign another trainer to you to prevent any bias that may cloud her judgement of your performance. And we definitely can’t walk into another scene like yesterday’s.”
“Oh.” I lean back, pretending like my heart isn’t thumping like a drum. “That’s reasonable.”
“But that would be uncomfortable for the rest of the team,” Watson says with a frown. “Which is distracting and potentially harmful to their performance.”
“I can assure you the team doesn’t care, and I have solid proof of this,” I say, and this is when I search for my phone and bring it up.
Swiping the screen, I tap a few times until I find the video our social media manager, one Rosalina Mena, posted just a few minutes ago. The staggering numbers it has already amassed make me smirk. I place the phone on the table, screen up, and slide it over to them.
“Just watch that.” I tip my chin at the device.
Cox is the one who picks it up and the others huddle around him.
My own voice sounds tinny as the video plays. “ A lot of you may remember a video from a couple of months ago where I talked about my ideal woman. Well, I finally found her and I want to ask my teammates what they think about it .”
It cuts to me asking in the background, “ What would you say if you found out I’m dating someone from the staff? ”
And O’Brian responds with, “ Oh, good for you. You’re lucky to have her .”
Brown. “ Lucky dog, you get to see each other every day .”
Thomason. “ For real? Who? Spill the tea .”
Lucky. “ You guys are so cute it gives me cavities .”
Miller. “ What? Man, I kinda had a crush on her .”
Kim. “ Finally . Took you long enough. ”
The video goes on with a few more players, none of whom seem to care one whit. Maybe except for the guys who are now coming out of the woodwork to say they were into Hope all along. Too bad for them.
“These are really good numbers,” is what Cox says as he looks at the screen. He taps on it and moves it away from his face, eyes shifting side to side as he reads. “The comments are overwhelmingly positive, too.”
“Isn’t that all you were concerned about?” Beau asks with a semblance of sarcasm.
“As long as the team doesn’t suffer for this, I don’t care.” Cox sets my phone down and without further ado, he pushes away from the table and stands up. “And Starr?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Just make sure this also doesn’t negatively affect your performance. Or then I might put a new clause in your next contract.”
I shrug because I’ve only pitched better and better since the moment my Hope-era started. “Sure.”
Watson splutters but no one’s paying attention, Steve and Beau are also getting up.
“I will call her and discuss what was agreed,” Steve says with a nod to me and one to Lou.
Then Beau points at me. “See you at practice and bring your A game. You also don’t want to get in trouble with me.”
I guess Watson must not want to be left alone with my manager and I, because he scrambles out of the room right behind them. The door shuts and I collapse on my chair.
“Happy now?” Lou asks with a grunt.
“As can be.” I sound drunk as the adrenaline starts draining out of me. I roll my head to face him. “You didn’t have to come in person to deliver one line, you know? There’s something called a teleconference now, I don’t know if you’ve heard about it.”
“Don’t get cheeky with me, boy.” He also gets up and avoids my eye. “It seemed very important to you, so I didn’t want you to get screwed over.”
I grin. “So you do care about me, you big ol’ softie.”
Ignoring that, he says, “Go call your woman with the news and let me off now. I have to fly to Miami to deal with a much more annoying client.”
Finally, I also get up and offer my hand to him. “Thank you. For everything.”
He harrumphs but shakes my hand, and I’m happy that for the first time in my life, I realize that I’m not truly alone.