17. Chapter Seventeen
Is Karlsen’s new girl keeping a roster? Is he not man enough?
Photo of Calliope and Thad from last year
It seems Viktor Karlsen’s girlfriend has another man on the roster according to her social media which is suspiciously void of the professional hockey player. While he has proudly posted her on his Instagram, she hasn’t returned the gesture. Instead her profile is full of another mystery man.
Who is he? That’s the question we’re all asking ourselves. And why isn’t Viktor enough? I think many women of Houston would think he is.
“Who the fuck is posting this shit?” I slam my phone down on the table in the restaurant where we’re having girl’s night with Joy, and our moms.
Joy reaches out to touch my arm. “Hun, we’ll figure it out. We can hire a PI? ”
“Viktor thinks that Ken can handle it. He’s all about Ken handling it. But Ken isn’t in this relationship. He isn’t affected by it!” I sigh.
“His job is affected. Bad press for the team that he can’t fix isn’t good for him. So maybe he is taking this seriously.” Catherine loves to play devil’s advocate.
Mom laughs at the glare I shoot in her direction, “Oh Calliope, it is so frustrating, I’m sure. I can’t imagine having my relationship publicly attacked like this. But you have to remember that being with Viktor is going to be this way as long as he’s in the public eye. Someone is always going to misconstrue a situation.”
“You’re defending these assholes, Mom?” Joy sucks in a breath next to me and tosses the rest of her wine back. Catherine does the same to avoid the confrontation.
“No way. I’m not defending them. I’m just saying you’re never going to stop them, and they might not be one person, so I’m one hundred percent on your side. I just think it’s better time spent to find a way to cope with the situation.”
“Ugh, Moooom, can you just be my mom instead of the therapist for one situation?” I groan like a petulant child, I just don’t like being in the public eye and dragged through the mud.
She scoots her chair over to me, giving me a side hug from her own chair. “I love you so much. But, you do need to let it slide off your shoulders. They aren’t worth your time, just like the man in the photo.”
She kisses me on the cheek before scooting back to her spot next to Catherine.
“Can we move on to something else? Maybe Joy’s dating life perhaps?”
She chokes on the wine she was swallowing at my suggestion.
“Why me? Why am I under attack now?” Her eyes are wide and her lips are pursed. Annoyed with me for moving the attention onto her.
“Oh yes, honey, how are those apps going? Did you ever meet with that sexy man from the other night?” Catherine wiggles her eyebrows and Mom and I laugh.
“Oh, yeah. I did.” She winks at us. “And we ran into Callen so I got the added bonus of pissing him off, and hot, jealous sex up against my—”
“Okay, you know, mothers don’t want to know the details.” I laugh at the both of them.
“You asked, and you absolutely knew where that was going!”
They are saved by the waiter coming to take our food orders, and Joy is still laughing when he leaves.
Getting out for our girls’ night was exactly what I needed today. I needed to destress from all this media mess.