Page 76 of Catching Our Moment
“I know, but a girl needs to pay her bills, and it's either you pay, or a tabloid will. We think leaning into helping the boy with the podcast will help boost your image before she tries to take it down for profit.”
“Riley wouldn’t do that,” I said with more conviction than I felt.
“Trust me. Let’s get some photos of you and the boy—TJ mentioned he was autistic or something. Maybe we can get you working with a non-profit autism program.”
Red filled my world.
“Yaz, we’ve worked together for years.” My voice was as thick as concrete. “So take what I’m saying as a line drawn in the sand. Nothing about Aaron or his mother is up for discussion. I will be severing all ties with the YES agency and all your agents the next time it’s considered. Do you feel me?”
She quieted herself and said softly, “Shaw, I didn’t mean it that way?—”
“They are family to me. Not a prop.”
“I understand. I am sorry. I didn’t mean to offend or imply you meant to capitalize on them.” Her tone was placating. “How about we just get photos of the three of you working on the podcast? We don’t have to mention the autism or anything, but this is a great opportunity for Aaron if he’s interested in it.”
“I doubt his parents will even let him go back on.”
“Most teenage boys would kill for this opportunity. Hell, most men too.”
He would love to do it regularly, but James would shit a brick. Then again, that might be the perfect reason. “I will talk with Kelcie.”
“Ah, Kelcie. I talked with Davy the other day, and he mentioned you were ga-ga for an old girlfriend.”
“She wasn’t my girlfriend—just my best friend.”
“Tomatoes, tomatoes… When is she coming to Charlotte?”
“Don’t know. Next topic.”
She spoke to someone in the background and then refocused on me, as if I hadn’t just threatened to drop her. A door opened and closed, and I imagined her settling into her desk for what was bound to be her piéce de résistance. “Okay, now for the important stuff.”
Oh, jeez, she thought Riley going after me for money wasn’t important?
“I know you’re happy in your cozy small-town alternate reality, but you need to get back here and defend your job.”
“Hold up. What?”
“Shaw, hon. You’ve been out half the season. The doctors are telling the staff you should be ready to return?—”
“I am, but?—”
“They need you. It’s clutch time.” She referred to our team’s prospects of being in the playoffs and the team’s current lackluster performances. “The pendulum could swing either way, and they need their best players back in the pack.”
“Okay, fine. I was going to get the sign-off at my doctor’s appointment in Baltimore tomorrow, anyway. But what is all this drama about defending my job?”
“Come on, Shaw. You’re not naïve. You know there are younger guys behind you who are gunning for your position for less money. And your contract takes a chunk of change out of the salary cap. You need to justify it. So, stop playing house with?—”
“That’s none of your business, Yaz.”
“Darling, everything about you is our business. It’s our job at YES to know about everything before anyone else. Of course, I’ve already done a background check on her. I have an NDA ready for you to give her to sign?—”
“You are getting precariously close to that line again, Yaz.”
“Don’t be an idiot. If it weren’t for that NDA breathing over her, Riley would be spilling all about the two of you to any gossip podcast she could find, just to extend her five minutes of publicity.”
“She’s still threatening to sue me, so what good is the NDA?”
“The lawyers are dealing with it.”
