Page 115 of More Than Chemical
I shook his hand. “No problem. My name is Adriana. Ade for short.”
He squinted. “Do I know you?”
“Yes…well…kind of.” I glanced away. His gaze had become intense. “We met the night of the ice cross race, in the tent. I live in Dallas’s dorm.”
“Oh, right. I thought you looked familiar.” He nodded, his shoulders relaxing. “Are you interested in buying a car?”
“No, actually…I came about something else. Could we talk in private?”
He hesitated, cocking his head, his eyebrows furrowing. “Sure. We can use my office. Follow me.”
In his office, he shut the door and went behind his desk. I sat in the chair across from him. On his desk was a picture of a woman laughing. Dallas’s mom.
My heart squeezed. Poor Dallas’s dad. Poor Dallas.
“I assume that this is about my son. Is he okay?”
“Yes, he’s fine. I mean…I think he’s fine. I haven’t talked to him lately, but I…well…Did Dallas ever mention anything more about me to you?”
He shook his head, leaning back in his chair and rocking. “Not that I remember.”
“I’m David Bianchini’s daughter.”
He froze. Solid.
Several seconds of silence went by.
He rolled himself up to the desk and laid his elbows on it. “I know Bianchini has a son. I didn’t realize he also had a daughter.”
“Well, he does, and it’s me.”
“They never subpoenaed me to testify, only Dallas. Which was probably for the best. I couldn’t even get myself to go the day he was called to the stand.”
“I don’t blame you, and I’m sorry. Sorry about the whole thing.”
“You’re sorry?” He shook his head. “You had nothing to do with it. I’m the one who is sorry.”
“But it’s not your fault either.”
He slouched. “Sometimes it feels like it was. I definitely wish I could go back in time and do things different.”
“Mr. Reynolds…”
“Call me Mike.”
“Mike, I’m here because I want to make things right. I want to help get Dallas’s NCAA eligibility back.”
“You do?” Mike sat straighter.
“My brother, Eric, spoke with the Minnesota University athletic director, and according to him, if we can give him proof that Dallas is no longer in violation of any NCAA rules, then he could make a request for reinstatement.”
“Dallas had said that the lawyers were going to help him with that.”
“They haven’t, and it is unclear if they will. We want to get the reinstatement process rolling before too much time goes by.”
“That makes sense.” He pushed himself away from the desk. “So what do you need from me? What kind of proof?”
“During his testimony, Dallas said that you gave the money back that you’d received when Dallas signed his letter of intent. I’m thinking if you could log into your bank account and print a copy of the transaction, or if you wrote a check, a copy of the check that cleared, I think that would suffice.”
