Page 84 of Duchess Material

He hung up the phone and Natalie burst into tears again, flopping on the couch next to Lucy who looked over at her sympathetically. Natalie didn’t want her friend’s sympathy.

“How can I help?”

“Just… make it all stop. Stop the wedding talk. Stop the Americans from being shitheads—no offence to your former countrymen—”

“None taken. Fuck ‘em!” Lucy laughed.

“I must don a tiara on and act bubbly and deep down, my heart hurts. And the best part? No one understands at all. They couldn’t if they tried.”

“I could try,” Lucy offered.

“Lucy, when you look at a man who has been to war, what do you think?”

“I’m not the girl you want for that question. My dad is a nasty alcoholic who made me hate men in uniform. But I see what you are getting at.”

“Everyone sees a man home from war and uses the term ‘hero’. People understand why maybe he’s a little off. With me, they just assume I was some showpiece. They think I’m the diversity hire. They have no idea how good I am. They don’t care. What they want is for me to put my tits out and smile for the cameras. They want the magical princess to show up and dance a waltz. They want me to be the queenliest version of me. I don’t even mind that sometimes. I don’t. However, when they deny me the three-dimensional version of myself, I’m not allowed to be serious or to grieve. Fine, they don’t want to praise my accomplishments or call me a hero. I’d rather they not. But they don’t get to talk about war like they know what the fuck it is. They don’t get my rubber-stamp endorsement.”

Lucy smiled and gave a slight nod. “And I’d agree with that. All of it. We aren’t granted a fully fleshed existence as women. Let alone as soldiers. Women aren’t given any credit for being fully formed humans even as we keep the world running with a baby on our hips. I’ve seen you at your best, Natalie. You’re amazing. Those dickheads don’t deserve one word with you. They don’t deserve the tea on George, either. They’d be just as happy to denigrate him and Patrick if it sold more papers.”

“Without a doubt.”

“I will back you,” Lucy said. “And if you want to call out sick—”

“Nope. I will go and hold my head high. If I’m not sufficiently charming, they can all fuck off. I’m not here to make friends or enemies. I’m here to do my job and go home.”

* * *

A camera faded in on famed announcer, Rob Ruder. It then pulled out to reveal the illustrious panel of talking heads joining him.

“We’re here at the Kellogg’s Grand Prix and I’m joined tonight by two people who have won more events here than I can probably count, Ed Winslow and Katie Morrison. And, of course, the wonderful Tom Rhodes. Tom, Katie, and Ed, so nice to have you here.”

The three athletes nodded.

“Now, Katie and Tom, you’ve been with us for the swimming and diving championships for several years now. We’re just welcoming Ed to the ranks. How would you say it’s been for you all?”

Katie chuckled. “He’s fine. I’ve known Ed for a while. Well, I knew him before he became super famous, and you saw his face everywhere.”

Ed flushed bright red.

“And before he kept such interesting company,” Tom snickered.

Ed was keen to pivot. “It’s been good to be here. Doing some interviews with the athletes scratched an itch. There is nothing like being poolside at an event like this and thinking about the immense pressure these athletes are under.”

Tom nodded. “First meet of the year. It’s an interesting time.”

“Lots of nerves,” Katie said.

“And staring down your rivals?” Ed joked.

“Look, you gotta get in someone’s head. We can’t all be the ones joking around in the warmup like you, Winslow.”

“He was a joker?” Rob asked.

“Ed is the nicest guy you will ever meet. One time, I saw a Brit lose a heat. She was livid. I was coaching at that time, and I said something encouraging as she was stepping back. We’ve all had bad runs. And then she looks up where the men are in the cheering section and Ed is literally doing a hoe-down to get her attention.”

“Louise Carleton, yeah,” Ed said.

Rob asked, “The gold medallist?”

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