9. Victoria
VICTORIA
Ididn’t realize my hands were trembling until Cambrie put her palms over them and flattened them on the table.
I glanced around, suddenly remembering I wasn’t alone, and people could definitely witness my breakdown if I didn’t pull myself together.
“Thanks,” I whispered as I pulled away and shook out my arms.
“I really don’t like Joe.” She folded her arms over her chest. “He’s so fake, and I don’t mean his teeth, skin, hair, or clothes.”
I tried to smile, but failed.
“Did you know, during the NFL season, he has his own glam squad? It's in his contract.”
I closed my eyes. I did not need additional reasons to despise Joe; I had enough to fuel my rage for years, but it did make me want to laugh. At him.
“That was supposed to be you, right?”
I glared at the screen, watching one of the most boring interviews ever, and nodded.
“Miles told me. I’m really sorry,” she sighed.
“I was supposed to cover the surfers in Tahiti during the Summer Olympics. I was one of two people with experience, but they gave it to some new guy, who I later found out was dating the daughter of some higher-up. The coverage was garbage, of course, and he got fired, so at least there was some victory, but I get it. It’s not fair. ”
“Thanks.” It wasn’t uncommon in our industry for great assignments to be ripped away from deserving people.
Joe cleared his throat, clearly frustrated with Piper Pierce. “Do you have anything to add?”
She’d only given one-word answers to all of his questions.
Was she excited about this tournament?
Yes.
What was she most looking forward to?
Playing.
Did she find it a challenge to unite her team?
No.
It was on him for not asking open-ended questions and putting himself in the position of looking like an idiot. I couldn’t help but appreciate Piper, though. It wasn’t like she was being purposely spiteful on my behalf; at least, that wasn’t the entire reason.
He was treating them as though they were this sudden, come out of nowhere, fluke. Like they hadn’t been working for years and years for the same level of recognition as their male counterparts.
She was visibly annoyed, and with great cause.
I could only hope our bosses caught on and realized their mistake.
“Well, unless he, too, gets fired, we’ve got our own work to do.” Cambrie pulled me from my thoughts.
I nodded and turned to the TVs. The men’s teams were about to switch for practice, so we’d be able to interview the West Stars as they trickled out.
As much as I wanted to stomp my foot and go on about how unfair this was, it wouldn’t change anything, and I doubt it would even make me feel better.
It wasn’t even Joe’s fault. I doubt he wanted this assignment; he obviously hadn’t prepared for it.
He hadn’t even read the notes I sent him.
I knew because the email was marked unread.
The only thing in my control was what I produced, and I refused to flounder like he was.
I might not like the men’s teams as much as the women’s, due to my personal bias, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t come up with meaningful and entertaining interviews.
I couldn’t give Chris, or his bosses, any reason to deny me or put me in a similar position again.
My portfolio was going to be strong when I met for my contract renewal.
I’d show them that while they could put me wherever needed, I belonged with the women’s teams, especially at this vital moment in the sport’s history.
I wanted to be on the front lines as their fame and popularity took off; I wanted to be a part of the reason why it did.
But I couldn’t do that from here.
So, I needed to suck it up and do my very best now to get the leverage I’d need later.
“They’re coming in,” Cambrie pointed out. “Oh, it’s Henson and Schultz.”
Just perfect. Cambrie asked about our awkward encounter yesterday, and I told her he’d been giving me attitude, but I didn’t know why. Maybe he was just hostile.
“Do you want to skip them?”
Yes, but unfortunately Schultz was a fan favorite and Henson was the starting goalie, so people would notice if we weren’t interviewing them.
“No, let’s just get it over with.”
I smoothed my shirt and lifted my microphone as Schultz finished with the group next to us. His smile wasn’t as friendly when I caught his attention, but I didn’t react. We were both professionals, even if his buddy didn’t seem to like me.
“Erik, you’re looking great out there. How excited are you for the first game?”
He beamed at the camera and leaned in to answer, “Very. The guys are working really hard, and we’re ready to face off with the East.”
“Thanks.” I was prepared to keep these short and sweet today, so when he moved on, I didn't stop him.
But Henson was next, looking at me with thinly veiled disdain.
“Josh, would you mind?”
While the players were very strongly encouraged to engage with the press during these breaks, no one could force them to participate. Especially not me.
“Sure.” He didn’t smile, but he moved to stand a very respectful distance from me. Barely within the same frame.
“Could you just…” Cambrie waved for us to scoot together, and I didn’t look at him as I shuffled in a few inches. He didn’t move. “Thanks.” She shot me a look before dropping her eyes to the screen.
“We had the privilege of watching most of practice today, and you look great. The Stars are lucky to have such a talented goaltender.” It was true, even when multiple players were taking shots at the same time, he was blocking more than any other goalie I knew.
He scoffed. Some people would say thank you to such a compliment, but he was not one of them. Got it.
“Does it help to have your Utah coach here with you?”
His jaw tensed before he finally answered, “Yes.”
Great. This is a train wreck.
At least Piper didn’t look at Joe like she wanted to squash him.
I sighed and made the cutting motion for Cambrie as I faced him. “Did I say something wrong?” I didn’t mean to snap, but I refused to keep this up for two weeks. “I just said you were talented.”
“Oh, so you do know what a good player looks like?"
His sharp retort caught me off guard.
I shook my head. “What? Yes, of course.”
He cocked his head. “Is that a newly acquired skill?”
Cambrie snorted, but I ignored her. What was his problem?
“Have I somehow offended you in the three days we’ve been here?”
His eyes narrowed. “You really don’t remember, do you?”
My brain searched through any memory of him, but came up blank.
I’d covered every team in the league, at least once, but it had been a while, at least two seasons, since I’d done Utah.
Was he mad about that? Had I not given him enough coverage?
I definitely didn’t during the Olympics, which was a massive oversight on my end.
One I still wasn’t sure how I managed. Was that what he was mad about?
“You don’t.” He scoffed. “So you don’t care about the things you write or say.”
My brows shot up before I could control my reaction. That was an incredibly bold thing to say to someone whose words are their profession. “I take my job very seriously.”
He glared down at me. “Then you stand by everything you’ve published?”
“Yes,” I immediately answered. “I write facts.”
A mask of indifference slipped over his features so quickly I almost questioned if I’d seen him upset at all. “We’re done here.”
His words were loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, but so calm that there was a beat when no one reacted.
Then the players turned to the reporters they were talking to and wrapped up before leaving.
As they disappeared down the hall, he watched me.
I looked around as my peers turned to stare. At me.
Without another word, he walked away.
His teammates were gone.
With a single command, one I hadn’t realized pertained to everyone else, he cleared the room.
A few of the other reporters shook their heads or shot me looks as their teams started to pack up, muttering and complaining just loud enough for me to hear.
“What was that?” Cambrie whispered as she put her camera away.
“I’m not sure.”
“You set him off. Again.”
“I don’t know why.” My voice rose, and I ducked my head before continuing. “Obviously, I pissed him off, but I don’t know when or how.”
“Well, he just initiated a walkout. I bet there won’t be a single word spoken to any of us by a Stars player until he gives the all-clear.”
Judging by the muttering and glares aimed at me from around the room, she was right.
His team was supporting him over something I did. He was getting his revenge and turning a dozen more people against me in the process.
“Whatever just happened,” Terry, a well-respected veteran reporter from Hockey Today, stopped in front of me with his cameraman next to him, “fix it before tomorrow.”
I nodded like a chastised child, and they left, along with everyone else.
Cambrie waited until everyone else was gone before coming to my side with her phone screen pointed at me.
I read the headline, and my heart sank through the floor.
“This Year’s Rookies: From Most Anticipated to Most Disappointing.”
“Oh, no.”
“Is it as bad as I’m assuming it is?” she asked.
I cringed. “I don’t remember word for word, but it wasn’t flattering.
It was years ago, and one of my very first assignments.
” I tried to hurry to explain. “My boss at the time turned out to be a huge jerk. He got fired a few months after I started, actually. He was trying to mentor me and told me if I wanted to make a name for myself, I had to write what people wanted to read, which was scandal, shocking, or satisfaction. The three S’s were his big push.
When I sent in my initial copy, he tore it apart and said it was too boring to speak highly of all of them.
He made a bunch of edits, none of which I had control over, and published it before I could even argue.
” I glanced at her, and she gave me an understanding frown.
“I wish more than anything my name wasn’t attached to that, but I had no say. ”
“Oh, Victoria.” She slipped her phone into her bag.
“I know. I honestly forgot about that stupid piece because I didn’t write it.
Only a few of the players featured have ever brought it up, and it was within the first few weeks of it being out.
I explained to them and apologized, and they let it go.
I figured everyone else either didn’t read it or didn’t care. ”
“Henson cares.”
“That must be why he avoided me at the Olympics,” I realized aloud.
She blew out a long breath. “Can’t blame him."
No, and I didn’t. I would have hated something scathing being written about me when I was a player. Those things can sink into your psyche.
“I’ll find him and apologize.”
“Good luck,” she called as she turned toward the exit.
I would need it.