Page 60 of Pitcher Us
Callie
Well this day has taken a drastic turn and it’s not even nine in the morning. I fully anticipated not handling my first interaction with Nic very well when we ultimately crossed paths again but that? I did not expect that.
Punching him was an out of body experience. A very freeing experience. but I surprised everyone—myself included. Now I’m begrudgingly following Adam and Will to one of the college locker rooms to hash out this entire issue.
I guess it’s good I’m getting this out now. If dating Will could get me fired, assaulting a player at a game would be ten times worse…even if he deserves it. Maybe the guys can help defend me to Olsson, if it comes to that.
Walking in, Adam huffs when he realizes he can’t lock the door from the inside. “You probably have ten minutes before people start showing up. I don’t know if any will come in here, but hit us with it, Cals.”
I’m a little surprised Adam hasn’t questioned Will being here for this. But I’m going to follow his lead and not question.
“Okay, but I’m asking you to just listen to me first. Start to finish.” I raise an eyebrow and wait for them both to nod.
Let’s get this off our chest.
“It started at Mom’s extravagant Easter Egg party almost two years ago. Mom was on the hunt for a potential husband for me, like she had been since I was seventeen. Over the years I had mastered different ways to shut it down: annoy them with my incessant talking or ‘lack of manners’ but when one of the dads had too much to drink and got a little too touchy?—”
“One of the dads?!” Adam yells. Will doesn’t look happy, but he already knew about this.
“Why do you think I started kickboxing in college? When I thought my only option was to break his nose, Nic showed up. He pulled me away from it in the diplomatic way Dad would have loved.
“Fast forward a month, we started dating. He was playing for Sutton’s minor team so he was only half an hour outside New Haven. I was in my last semester for my master’s and things were going great for the most part. Then I graduated, got the job at Dad’s financial firm, and Mom and Dad were finally off my back. But things with Nic started moving too fast.
“Nic was getting really pushy about marriage and getting shared bank accounts. Begging me to break into my inheritance even though I told him repeatedly I didn’t have access until I turned twenty-five. After a few months I tried to compromise and I moved in with him. But it only got worse. I tried pushing through because it kept Mom and Dad at bay and there was no way I was moving back to that hellhole.”
“Callie—” Adam can’t help himself at that part.
“Let her finish,” Will snaps.
Adam runs his hands over his face. “Sorry. Go on.”
“Thank you. So, right before New Years, Nic completely blindsided me by proposing at a family dinner. I said no,” I add immediately because I can see the riot going on in Will and Adam’s eyes. “That, naturally, did not go over well. There was alot of yelling, and a lot of name calling on all fronts. Nic’s family starts blaming our family for being the reason I said no. That went over like a ton of bricks and all hell broke loose.
“Nic’s parents kicked me out ofourapartment that, apparently, they were paying for. Dad was furious at the scene he thought I made, and I had to sleep in my car for a few nights until everyone calmed down. When I showed up to work the following Monday there was a whole new problem.”
“God, it gets worse?” Adam looks up at the ceiling but holds up his hands. “I know, I’ll be quiet.”
I take a deep breath. This part isn’t going to be pretty. “I have always loved photography, and I was really able to explore my skills with it during college when Dad wasn’t breathing down my throat twenty-four seven. And when things were good between Nic and I, I might have taken some…inappropriate pictures of myself.” I cringe, avoiding eye contact with both of them.
“At the time, it didn’t seem like a big deal, but with me trying to give everyone space for the weekend before getting my stuff, Nic decided to print hundreds of copies. He put them everywhere at work. Every department, every lobby, desk, office, bathroom—everywhere had naked pictures of me. And I know what you guys are about to say—that’s very illegal. But dear ol’ dad informed me that I would officially be homeless and fired if I pressed charges. Apparently I needed to ‘save face,’ because it was my fault for taking the pictures to begin with.
“For some fucked up reason, I agreed with him. I don’t know why, but he’s my dad so I just went with it. I, at least, tried getting all of the photos back, but that was absolutely impossible. As you can imagine—based on the touchy douchebags I mentioned earlier—the harassment started. Every woman in the office looked at me like I had a scarlet letter on my chest and every man thought I was a porn star. No one attackedme directly, but the sexual harassment became bad enough I knew physical advancements weren’t too far off.
“I tried talking to Dad, ya know, the CEO—our father—about it but he just said, ‘You get treated how you act.’ So, I walked out of the office, broke into Nic’s house, took what I couldn’t live without, and flew to you.”
Finally, I take a deep breath. I thought that it would feel good to get this off my chest, and I guess it does. But it also kind of feels like it’s moved from my chest to my stomach. I just told the two most important men in my life my darkest moments. Shit’s starting to feel real heavy again.
Pulling my lips together to let them know I’m done talking, both Adam and Will look at me completely shell shocked. I get it, it’s a lot to process, so I wait.
“I-I, hmm…” Adam struggles to start. “W-Why didn’t you ever tell me? I’m your brother, Callie! Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“Hey, calm down,” Will tries to say when Adam’s voice starts getting louder.
“No, I will not calm down! Callie, you went through all of that and never said a fucking word! I was a phone call away! Why?!”
“Because you escaped, Adam! You fucking got out. You think I didn’t know where your bruises really came from? You think I didn’t hear the curses or yelling? I wasn’t pulling you back into any of that. Coming to you last year was my last resort. My last Hail Mary. So, no, I didn’t fucking tell you.”
The room goes dead silent. Adam’s whole body, my bear of a brother, deflates in front of me. He turns around and grabs one of the wooden bats and swings it repeatedly against the closest locker.
