Joel nodded and muttered, “Sorry.”
Coach gave him a sympathetic look and walked away with a mutter of his own, “Yeah, I bet you are.”
Joel showered and dressed in record time, glad that he had a pair of dress pants and a nice shirt in his locker for those emergencies that required more than jeans or sweatpants. He took several breaths in the hall outside the Coach’s office before he knocked on the door.
“Get in here,” Coach barked.
Joel opened the door and was surprised not only to see Mr. Jenkins already there, but Taylor Bradley, the general manager of the team also in attendance.
“Gentlemen,” Joel nodded to each of them.
“Sit down and let’s get this over with.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Joel, I have to tell you I was disappointed to open my newspaper this morning and see your name in conjunction with this online dating situation.”
“Sirs, I think I can explain.”
“Please do,” Taylor advised him.
“Well, I met a girl through one of those online dating apps…”
“The same one you endorsed, and that has your face plastered all over the city?” Mr. Jenkins asked.
“Yes, the same one. Anyway, I thought things were going well, but she got upset and took her side of the story to the newspaper.”
“Is the information in the article true?” Taylor asked.
“It doesn’t matter to me whether it is or not,” Mr. Jenkins stood up and paced to the other side of the office. “The fact that this organization has been tied to this situation is simply unacceptable.”
Joel should have seen this coming. Mr. Jenkins was from a very old and respected family. There was a right way and a wrong way to do things. This situation most definitely fell in the latter category. Football players were known to rough it up from time to time, but this guy got furious every time.
Taylor and Mr. Jenkins conferred quietly and then Taylor spoke to Joel and Coach. “We need you to clean this mess up. If you need to consult with legal counsel, Mr. Jenkins has consented to you contacting the team’s attorneys…”
“That won’t be necessary, I assure you.”
“You don't know that; we may have to sue the paper,” Taylor said. “Until we’ve done that, or made a public statement to sort this out, you will be benched. Mr. Jenkins doesn’t want this bad publicity to impact the team’s reputation. That means you don’t talk to the media until you have your story in place and everyone is on board with supporting it.”
Benched? Joel hid his reaction the best he could and nodded. “I completely understand and will see that this situation gets resolved immediately.”
Mr. Jenkins met his eyes and nodded once. “Good. Taylor, we’re through here. Coach, we’ll talk later.”
Joel watched the owner and general manager leave and then looked at Coach with a raised brow. “Can I get out of here?”
Coach waved him toward the door. “You can’t get those reporters off my front step sitting on your ass in here. And I mean, get them away from there today. I don’t want to see a single one of them when I go home later.”
“Got it. I’ll do my best.” Joel left the office and headed down to the parking area.
The security guards headed him off. “It’s crazy out there.”
“That’s what I heard. One of you doesn’t happen to have a copy of the newspaper, do you?” he asked, thinking he should probably read the article, so that he knew how to respond.
“In the guard shack right there,” one of the security men nodded his head.
“Thanks.” Joel ducked into the shack and read the article, seething with anger when he realized that she’d given enough information that everyone would be able to guess his identity. Hence, the current problem.
He took several bracing breaths and then headed out to try and make a clean getaway. After reading that article, he definitely needed some time to regroup before he tackled the problem.
“We’ll open the gates, but you need to just keep driving and try not to run over one of their sorry carcasses.”
“Thanks.” He made it away from the stadium without injuring anybody. He made sure the reporters were aware he was leaving the field, doing his level best to draw them away and give the coach and owner a chance to cool down.
He was furious with Veronica, angry with Derick for putting him into this position, and incredibly saddened by the development with his team. Football was his motivation to get up each morning, and without it, he already felt completely lost.
He headed to his apartment, but reporters already surrounded it. Bypassing his solitary penthouse, he got back on the freeway and headed to his childhood home. He did his best to lose the reporters following him and was gratified when he realized he’d won this round.
Joel parked and then announced his arrival when he found the front door open. No one answered him, but he figured they were around somewhere. He let himself in, kicked off his shoes, and tried to hold back the tears that seemed stuck in his throat.
He sank down on the couch and buried his head in his hands. He looked up with tears in his eyes when he felt a cold nose nudge his cheek and then a wet tongue licked his ear. He lifted his head and wrapped his arms around Chester, his golden retriever. The dog loved the large yard outback, so Joel had made the hard decision to leave him with his mom when he’d moved out after college.
“Hey, Chester. Boy, my life feels like it’s falling apart.”
Chester whined and leaned into the hug for a moment, but then he was off, his nails clicking on the hardwood floors as he headed for the kitchen and the doggie door. Joel sighed and got up, going to the mantle and picking up a picture of his dad. He rubbed a thumb over the glass covering the photo, his heart crying inside because he wasn’t there. He missed his dad. Plain and simple, and it was in moments like these that he felt completely incapable of handling the situation because he didn’t have his father’s strength to lean on.
His father had been his hero, always there to cheer him on, even when cancer had started to ravage his body. From the time he was a little boy, Joel had followed in his father’s footsteps. His dad had loved the game, and while he’d never risen above being a junior high coach, he’d made sure Joel had every opportunity to play professional ball. Training camps. Special equipment. Gym memberships and trainers. Joel had had access to them all, and it had paid off when it came time for college.
He looked at the rest of the pictures and then spied the family photo albums on the bookshelf. He sat in his father’s chair and looked through them, laughing and crying inside as memories flooded him. In each picture, there was a story of failure and accomplishment hidden somewhere. The motivation almost always came in the form of a quiet word or simple action from one of his parents, mostly from his father.
The man had been so influential in Joel’s life, and he tried to figure out what he might recommend for his current situation. He thought about a time in the eighth grade when he’d stepped out and signed up for the school play. Football season had just ended and there was a girl he’d been crushing on. She was in the play and Joel had thought by volunteering to do the play he might have an in with her. The only problem was, Joel couldn’t act to save his life.
The director was so enthralled with having one of the star football players in the play, she cast him in the lead role, against complaints from parents and students alike. Even Joel had tried to turn down the role, but she’d been adamant. Joel had warned her that failure was imminent, but she hadn’t believed him until opening night when he’d forgotten more than half of his lines and messed up his costume changes twice. He’d been humiliated in front of the entire school.
He’d told his parents he was going to walk home that night. His mother had objected that five miles was too far, but his father had nodded and slapped him lightly on the shoulder. About halfway home, he’d seen his father waiting on the side of the road from him. They’d completed the walk back mostl
y in silence. Joel hadn’t needed words to know that he had his father’s support. And he’d never forgotten the words his father told him that night, standing under the porch light outside their house.
“Never give up, Joel. Never let them see you cry or that their actions hurt you. Don’t be the source of a feeding frenzy. Be the lighthouse amid the storm and stand tall and strong. The waves and wind will eventually dissipate, and in the meantime, you stay the course.”
Joel closed his eyes in gratitude. He didn’t know where those thoughts had come from, but he wasn’t going to look too hard. He knew if his father were sitting here today, he’d tell him the very same thing.
“Joel, is that your truck outside?” his mother’s voice called out.
“In here, mom.” Joel put the picture albums away and forced a smile to his lips. He’d come home to nurse his wounds, but he wouldn’t intentionally drag his mom into his problems. Just being here with her would be enough to see him through the coming days.
“I’m getting ready to make lunch. Are you staying?” she asked with a warm smile.
“Sure, mom. That sounds good. I need to make one phone call, and then I’ll come help.”
He placed a call to Jim, hoping the children’s center wasn’t also being bombarded with reporters. As far as Joel knew, no one knew of his involvement with the center unless they worked there.
“Jim?” he didn’t even wait for the man’s greeting before speaking.
“Joel. I wondered when you’d be calling. How are you holding up?”
“I take it you saw the newspaper?”
“I did, and I’m sure you had some involvement but not with the intentions they stated.”
“Thanks for that vote of confidence. I’m actually calling to ask for a favor.”
“If I can, you know I’ll help in any way that I can.”
Joel briefed him on the situation. “She doesn’t know about the children’s center, and it might not make a difference, but…I really like this girl. I have to try.”
“So, tell her everything,” Jim suggested.
“She won’t take my calls. That’s where the favor comes in. Would you call and talk to her on my behalf? I wouldn’t ask if I thought there was another way.”
“I’d be happy to. Text me her number, and I’ll call her right away.”
“Thanks. I’ll do it right now.” He disconnected the call and then sent Veronica’s number to Jim. He didn’t know if it would make a difference, but at this point, he would take all the help he could get.
As for the reporters and their dog-with-a-bone attitude, they wouldn’t be silenced. He’d just have to wait them out. Another story would come along, and when it did, he would be considered old news. He’d weathered the press before; he’d just have to do it again.
Chapter 19
Two days later…
Veronica wasn’t usually a football fan, but she’d not wanted to stay at home on her day off and had called Steph and asked her to meet at one of their favorite bars. It just so happened that the Patriots were playing at the same time, and she couldn’t escape hearing the game in the background.
She and Steph ordered appetizers and a couple of beers and then talked about everything except the article in the newspaper. When they ran out of things to discuss, Veronica turned her attention to the game reluctantly.
“Man, where’s Marketis at today? Those other jokers haven’t caught a single pass yet.”
“Someone said he got benched.”
“Probably from that stupid article that gal wrote. He probably didn’t want to date her anymore, and this is her way of getting back at him.”
“Well, he did sign up for a membership on that online dating app.”
“It was all designed to get people interested.”
Veronica had heard enough. She finished her beer and then told Steph, “I’m going back home.”
“So, we’re not going to talk about this?”
“What’s to talk about? You read the article.”
“Yeah, but did you? Did you get what you wanted?” Steph asked.
Veronica sighed. “I don’t know what I wanted.” I certainly didn’t intend to hurt his career. She felt terrible that Joel had been benched, but there wasn’t anything she could do to reverse his coach’s decision. He’d just have to work that out on his own.
*****
Monday morning…
“Veronica, there’s a Jim Marshall on the phone insisting he speak directly with you,” Kevin called from her doorway.
“Jim Marshall? Do I know a Jim Marshall?” she asked.
“Well, I don’t know about that, but he was very emphatic that you would want to hear what he had to say.”
“Did he happen to mention what that would be?”
“No, and I didn’t ask,” Kevin told her with a sad shake of his head.
“Okay. Transfer it to my office.”
“On the way.”
Veronica looked at the phone, and when it blinked, she picked it up. “Miss Samuels.”
“Miss Samuels, you don’t know me, but my name is Jim Marshall, and I’m the director of the children’s center down in the Westgate section of the city.”
Veronica pursed her lips. “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe I’ve ever been to the Children’s Center. How can I help you?” There was a commotion on the other end of the line, and it sounded like the man had dropped the phone for a minute before he came back on the line.
“Miss Samuels, are you still there?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Sorry about that.”
“I was told you had something to tell me?”
“Yes. It’s about Joel Marketis.”
“I’m going to hang up now.”
“Miss Samuels, please don’t. I got your number from Joel, and I consider him a friend. Please, just give me a few minutes of your time?”
“Fine. You’ve got a few minutes.”
“Thank you. I know you’re upset with him, and that’s what I’m calling about.”
“Mr. Marshall, may I ask how you know Joel?” Veronica asked.
“He hired me to run the children’s center because he can’t be here that often.”
What? Joel hired someone to run the children’s center? That doesn’t make any sense.
“Go on,” she encouraged him. She was dying to hear more about Joel and the center.
“The center is at capacity, and more children are waiting for a safe place to go. The building needs some major renovations and the children need more space to play in. I presented this information to Joel several weeks ago and told him what kind of money it would cost. He told me he couldn’t do anything until next year because he needed to get some money out of his investments.”
Veronica shook her head as his words set in. “How much? How much money was needed?”
“One million dollars. We were prepared to just make do for another six months or so, but then he called two weeks ago and said we would have the million dollars before Thanksgiving.”
Veronica couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Mr. Marshall, would it be possible for me to take a tour of the center?”
“Of course. Just name the day and time.”
“How about right now? I was getting ready to take a lunch break anyway.”
“That would be fine.” Mr. Marshall gave her the address, and she did a quick Google map search on her phone, confirming the best route to take. She headed down to her car, feeling completely off-kilter by the phone call. The center wasn’t the best part of town, but she was relieved to see that proper security measures were in place. She parked and then walked to the front entrance, liking the way the interior had been decorated with children in mind.
Colorful murals on the walls, child-sized furniture, and a feeling of peace and happiness permeated the atmosphere. She was looking at the pictures taped to the walls when an older woman entered from a doorway down the hall.
“Can I help you?”
Veronica turned and smiled. “I’m Veronica Samuels. Is Jim Marshall around?”
“Jim’s my husband. Follow me.”
Veronica did so, admiring the facility and the small groups of children engaged in one activity or another throughout the space. “How many children live here full time?”
“Right now, we have twenty-two, but we’re only licensed for twenty.” They stopped as an older gentleman joined them. “Jim, this is Veronica Samuels. Veronica, my husband, Jim Marshall. I’ll leave you two to talk now.”
The Right Swipe Page 14
