by Lea Hart
CHAPTER TWENTY
Friday
Jack sat on the team plane as it headed to New Jersey and tried to figure out how he was going to get Ana to listen to him. Last night had ended in a shit storm, and he was only at the beginning of figuring out how he was going to get out of it. He’d been called into the front office early and had the pleasure of Coach Bellows giving him a lecture about his morality. After the facts were revealed, he called in the team manager, and they consulted with the team attorney. He knew that the truth would come out sooner rather than later, but would it be enough for Ana?
He felt sick to his stomach and couldn’t focus. The anxiety that ran through his body was killing any hope of him pulling out a good game on Sunday. And for the first time in his life, he didn’t care. If he could stay in Miami and fix this thing with Ana, then he would. But she wasn’t going to see him until he could prove his innocence. Even when he did, he wasn’t sure it was going to be enough. He watched Clark make his way down the aisle and sit in the seat next to him. He figured only a close friend would risk getting close. Everyone had given him a wide berth all day. He had a mad going that wasn’t going to go away until he fixed things with Ana. “Do you have any news for me?”
Clark gave him a sympathetic smile and shook his head. “The women have closed ranks, and there is radio silence. Whatever is happening at Ronnie’s is not something that we’re ever going to find out about. I’m not sure if they are arranging a contract on your life or having a spell put on you or simply putting large pins in a doll with your face on it. Those all are real possibilities.”
“I wonder how Ana is doing.”
Clark tried to come up with a good answer, but unfortunately, there wasn’t one. “I imagine she’s doing as well as any woman who had the pleasure of watching a sex tape of her boyfriend in the ladies room. I understand that Gerald has taken over her care and is providing whatever she needs.”
Jack wiped his hand down his face and let out a breath. “I confirmed with Joel that there’s security at Ronnie’s. The last thing I want is someone getting to Ana right now. I don’t know how she is ever going to forgive me, but I have to find a way.” He noticed Clark had no response, which meant that he knew what a long shot it was going to be. “You know that it isn’t me in those tapes.”
Clark held up his hands and smiled. “No judgment from me, man. You were single, and what you do in your free time is up to you.”
“That isn’t me in the tapes. Someone edited it and made it look like me. Those images are from the locker room. Someone had access to the locker room and showers, and they’re selling pictures to the highest bidder. The team attorney is on this, and they’re trying to find out where the leak is. You may be next, Clark.”
He straightened up and looked at his team mates. “That sucks.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. Someone sees this team as a bank account.” Leaning back in his seat, he closed his eyes. He knew that the stuff out there about him wasn’t true, and it would soon be proven. Clark stood and clapped him on the shoulder and then moved away down the aisle. His attorney was going to make sure that the two women that made these claims were prosecuted in whatever way possible, and Jack didn’t care how much money it might cost. This was going to be shut down and never happen again. He dug his phone out of his pocket and stared at his screensaver. It was a picture that was taken last night before everything went to hell. They had their arms around one another, and they were looking at each other with big smiles. That was the truth of them, and he was going to find a way back.
********
Ana lay in bed with the covers around her chin and a box of Milk Duds within reach as she watched an old movie. Gerald had provided her with all of the necessary things for impending breakdown. She felt like it sat out there on the edge of the horizon, and she could see it coming closer and closer as each moment passed. The initial rage had passed, and now she was numb. She knew that it was her mind’s way of dealing with the trauma. Her heart had been broken, and she had no expectations that it would ever be healed. The man she thought she might marry turned out to be a…..a what? She didn’t even know what he was. Her head began to pound again, so she ate a couple more Milk Duds and returned her attention to the movie. An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, now there was heartbreak. Maybe she just had horrendously bad taste in men.
Ronnie and Ella stood outside the closed door and nodded to one another before Ronnie knocked gently. Hearing only a moan, they entered and took a quick assessment of the mood. Definitely not good—several empty boxes of Milk Duds, a trash basket filled with tissues, and a friend who did, in fact, look like her heart had been trampled. Ronnie was the first to speak. “Are we ready for stage two of your recovery?”
Ana glanced up at her two best friends and felt a small measure of hope. If she had women like this in her life, how bad could it all be? So what if the love of her life trampled every hope and dream that she held. These two would never allow her to fall completely apart. “I’ll be ready for the next stage after the movie is finished. I need another good cry first.”
Ronnie sat on one side, and Ella sat on the other, and they watched the movie with Ana. That is what you did when a man broke your friend’s heart, whatever was needed. And in Ana’s case…they needed to see Deborah Kerr get her happily ever after with Cary Grant. After this, they were going to eat a feast, drink too much, and dance in their underwear. Because, really….that was the only proper response to a man acting like a dog. It was important to remember that after something like this….there were other options. Women always had options. Sometimes it just took a little while to recognize them.
They all lay on the bed and watched the movie.
“I enjoyed wearing a caftan the other week, so I ordered several for us. That’s what we’re wearing tonight for our celebration. Gerald has our dinner planned, and we’re going to drink, dance and laugh until we flush this bullshit out of our systems.” Ronnie nodded to her friends and smiled as she swiped several Milk Duds. They had perfected the recovery plan over the last several years. They’d had enough time since they were eighteen to come up with just the right sequence. It was almost foolproof. It had gotten each of them on the road to recovery eventually. That was the key….finding the road. Once you were on it, it would eventually be okay, and the length of the road was up to you. But the three of them made sure that they found the damn road in the first place.
Ella checked her phone and read another text from Clark. She had been ignoring him all day. She told him that she wouldn’t be available for quite some time. Part of it was making sure that Ana was going to be okay, and another part of it was guilt by association. If Jack had a sex tape out there, then Clark probably had ten. She didn’t want to wait around and find out.
Maybe this was a sign from God, and she should make her exit in one piece while she could. Clark had a wild reputation, and she had played the odds for as long as she could. It was perhaps best to stop seeing him now and cut her losses. She texted him back and basically cut him loose. It might be a little crazy, but she simply didn’t have the guts to ride this one out and see where it ended up. No one was better at statistics than Ella, and she knew that this situation was not in her favor. A wave of sadness rolled over her, but she figured it was nothing in comparison to what was coming her way if she continued to date him. Turning off her phone, she shoved it in her pocket and gave her attention to the movie. When Cary and Deborah figured out that they were meant to be together in the final scene and Ella felt tears run down her face, she knew it was about the loss of Clark.
********
Clark and Jack walked into their hotel room and threw their bags on the beds. They had about an hour before they needed to be ready for the bus. They were going to the stadium and get in a light workout.
Clark let out a stream of curses as he read something from his phone. “That’s bullshit.”
Jack wondered what has his friend so fired
up. “You want to share what the hell is wrong with you?”
“Ella just broke up with me, and it’s all your fault. You need to fix this sex tape crap, because it’s affecting my life.”
Jack felt a surge of rage fill his chest as he looked as his friend. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Ella doesn’t want to see me anymore, because she doesn’t want to see all the sex tapes that I’ve been in.”
“How many do you have out there, Clark?”
“None.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. If you’d asked me last week if this was a possibility, I would have laughed in your face. But look at me now. Everyone is vulnerable. The only answer is to find the woman you love and get married. That way you have someone who will always have your best interest at heart. No one can get to you if you have a happy life with a woman who loves you.”
Clark threw his phone across the room, watched it hit the wall, and bounce off.
For a man who always tried to act like stuff wasn’t a big deal, he was failing miserably. Apparently, Ella had gotten to him, and it was more than he’d let on.
“What do you think I was trying to do? I went to Texas for the holidays and charmed my way into her family. I was planning on taking her home for Christmas and showing her that I’m a good guy.” He ran his hand through his hair and gave his friend a dark look. “We need to fix this fast, because I’m taking that girl home to meet my mama, and you are not going to ruin it for me.”
Jack threw a magazine at Clark’s head. “Yeah, man. It’s all about you. Forget about my life and how the woman I love is suffering.”
Clark sat on the bed and started to laugh. “If anyone heard this conversation, we may get our man-cards pulled. Let’s just keep this between us.”
“I don’t care. I want this fixed, and I want to know that I have a chance to make this right with Ana.”
********
Ana, Ella, and Ronnie sat at the table in the backyard in their caftans and drank martinis like they were water.
“Maybe we should give up on men and just sit around and drink.” Ana trilled. She was on her third and feeling absolutely no pain—which was the point of the whole evening.
Ella tipped her glass in Ana’s direction and missed by a mile. She was relieved and saddened by the decision that she had made earlier. She knew it was the right thing to do, but it sure felt lousy. She wanted to believe in Clark, in much the same way that she wanted to believe in unicorns when she was twelve. The thing about being twenty-six and having an extraordinary brain was that it didn’t give you much room for the possibility that there were unicorns or that professional athletes were truly good men. As much as you wished in the deep dark part of your heart that miracles were true. “To caftans! These things are the hidden gem of fashion. Who knew that you could be elegant while getting shitfaced? This is the secret of southern women.”
Ronnie, noticed that Ella was three sheets to the wind, and started laughing. This was the part of the evening where the truth was spoken. And she was right…southern women liked to look appropriate while losing their shit. “What if it wasn’t him?” Ronnie asked.
Ana set her glass heavily down on the table and stared at Ronnie. “What are you trying to say?”
“It just doesn’t add up. Jack is the last man that would be caught in a scandal and certainly not a sex tape. Something about it just doesn’t add up. I can’t figure it out yet, because I’m drunk. But when I sober up in the morning, I’m hoping for a revelation.” She held up her hand and smiled. “I’m not defending him, and I don’t think that he should be forgiven, but something is fishy, and I don’t know what it is.”
Ella nodded her head and poured another drink. “I have to agree with Ronnie. As much as I hate to admit it, it just doesn’t add up.”
Ana stood unsteadily and flapped her arms in frustration. “I saw the video, and I saw his tattoos. There is no mistaking that it was him.”
Ronnie put her hand out and took Ana’s hand. “I know. But these things can be edited. Hell, anything is possible these days. I’m not giving him a pass, but something just doesn’t make sense, and I can’t figure it out.”
Collapsing into her chair, Ana took another sip of her drink. “I can’t entertain the possibility. My heart is in a million pieces, and that is all I can deal with. The man who I thought would be the father of my children broke it, and that is not something that you get over. Someone get me another a drink.”
Ella lifted the pitcher and topped them all off. “I think we need to dance and sing, because what else can we do?”
“We can drink some more,” Ana responded. “And then we can make sure that we never make the same mistake again.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Saturday
Jack sat in a conference room at the hotel in New Jersey with his agent and attorney in the room, along with the private investigator that they hired. They were waiting for the team attorney, as well as the head of public relations, to show up. They finally had some answers about the women who had started this, and they were going to put a plan in place. He’d made a decision earlier after speaking with a very hung-over Ronnie.
She told him that Ana had been half in love with a Lieutenant Commander of a platoon in San Diego, and maybe she should give him another chance. Because clearly Jack had screwed up his, so badly.
Jack remembered Blake and had wondered how he had let the opportunity of having someone like Ana in his life.
Ronnie told him to clean this up and do whatever it took to prove that her faith in him was well deserved. Otherwise, she was going to make a phone call and see if Blake was still interested.
He was going to ensure that Ana forgave him. Because being laid back about all of this, had been a mistake. He should’ve gone after the woman who made the initial allegations, and that would have set the precedent. Instead, he tried to be a nice guy and believe that the truth would prevail. Well, the truth was going to prevail, and he was going to shout it from the damn rooftops. His team was going to pursue every legal opportunity with these women and make sure that this never happened again. He had to prove to Ana that he was worth the hassle.
The door opened, and in walked the woman who was in charge of public relations and Brad, the attorney for the team. Standing, he crossed his arms across his chest. “The bullshit stops here. We have the information, and my team is going to outline how we are going to handle this. It’s been open season on me in the last couple of weeks, and I’m shutting it down. This has cost me the trust of the woman who I’m going to marry. I’m running the show, and the story being told from now on will be mine. I made a mistake by not addressing this when it first started, and that will be my last mistake. Now, if someone wants to tell a story about me, they better be ready to pay. We are suing both of these women, and I’m sparing no expense. I’m making a new story, and if someone wants to take a shot, then they better be ready to have it returned ten-fold.” He sat and leaned forward on the table and met every one’s eyes. He was treating this the same way he faced any opponent. Head-on.
He pulled out his phone and showed everyone one of the pictures of him and Ana. Holding it up, he let everyone look. “What would you do if someone looked at you like that? Let me answer that……you would do anything.” He leaned back and crossed his arms. “I’m ready to hear the plan that you all have put together. I pay a couple of you a lot of money, and now is the time to show me why that’s a good idea.” He tipped back in his chair and listened to the strategy that the team had put in place. It was his intention that by the time that he touched down in Miami on Monday morning that everything would be cleaned up. He had a tough challenge in front of him, and the first step started in this room.
********
Ronnie, Ella and Ana sat by the pool under the big umbrella. Gerald had made them a fabulous brunch, which they had devoured. “I’m going to go home later this afternoon and resume my life. Trevor checked my house, and there’s no
one hanging around. He’ll be here at three to pick me up and take me by Jack’s house to collect my stuff,” Ana remarked.
Ronnie slid her sunglasses off her face and smiled. “Are you sure that you don’t want to hide out for a bit longer? It might be a good idea to make sure that no one is following you.”
“I’m ready to face whatever this is and move past it. I’m not letting Jack’s stupid life derail all the hard work that I’ve put into my career. I need to get my head together, so I can show up on Monday and prove to the director that I’m worth the risk. None of this media attention is helping them think that. Regardless of the foundation that Jack set up.”
Ella looked at her phone and read a text from Clark. Why he thought she still wanted to hear from him was a mystery. She had clearly told him that she no longer wanted to date him yesterday, yet he ignored it. This was his fifth text of the day. “Clark says that Jack has been a big pow-wow all morning and is planning something for Monday. Apparently, it’s going to put a stop to all of these women coming after him.”
Ana flipped her hand dismissively. “He took his clothes off when there was a camera in the room and had wild monkey sex with a woman. What can he say about that?” Shaking her head, she let out a big sigh. “I never should’ve dated a football player.”
Ronnie patted her hand. “I agree with you, but dating Jack Ellis was probably a good idea. It’s too bad that you can’t separate the man from his career.”
“That’s the whole point. Blake acted like he wanted to pursue a relationship and then disappeared for six months. And I couldn’t even get mad, because he’s a SEAL and that’s his job….go out and save the world. Then Jack wants to date, and his fame attracts women who want to publicize the relationship. Men are their career, and I’m never going to dismiss it again.”
Ella refilled their glasses and gave a steady look to both of them. “I believe I said that the first time we met these ding-dongs. Women like us do not mix with football players. There was never going to be a good outcome to all of this. I hate when I’m right.” She leaned back and let the sun hit her face. “I would’ve much preferred to be wrong about all of this.”
