“Together?” Patrick asked incredulously.
“That’s what I said,” Jaya sighed. “I couldn’t believe they wanted to interview me. Sebastian is the spokesperson after all. And you know how shitty I am at presentations…”
The fact that her oldest friends bit their lips and avoided her gaze didn’t make her feel any better about her presentation skills.
“You’re not shitty at presentations,” was Sebastian’s attempt to comfort her. “The report you did for the kick-off was pretty good.”
“Let me guess,” Arlene butted in. “She used a fucking PowerPoint.”
Everyone grumbled when Sebastian and Jaya confirmed it.
“Anyway,” Corey said, “An interview isn’t a presentation. It’s a conversation. Relax and just speak from the heart. You both believe in the campaign. It shouldn’t be hard to explain why it’s important.”
Jaya smiled at her friend. “Thanks, Corey.”
“Promise me one thing though, Sebastian.” Corey reached over and put her hand over his forearm.
“Yeah, sure,” he said, surprised and eager.
“When she drones on about childhood developmental markers or the cost of counselor licensing, promise me you’ll shut her up,” she pleaded with a straight face.
“Hey!” Jaya protested.
He snorted. “When I find out how I’ll let you know,” he teased.
“Aren’t you there to talk about how you two met through the campaign? Since your relationship is going viral and all that?” Arlene inquired.
“Well, umm,” Jaya started to say.
“It’ll be easy to shut her up, hotshot,” Arlene said with a wink. “Kiss her.”
***
The Wednesday morning of the interview started off fine. Jaya didn’t particularly enjoy her cardboard-flavored cereal, but she could get over that. The coffee carafe in the break room was empty but making a batch wasn’t a hassle. A snag at the printing of the activities catalog was annoying, though she was now proficient enough in the software to make necessary changes at the last minute. Fine. Everything was fine.
The interview was going to take place at 2:00 p.m. It was a live filming in a studio located in an affluent neighborhood at the edge of Cincinnati’s city limits. Sebastian was picking her up at noon, which was why, at 12:15 p.m., she was rather alarmed that she was still waiting in the lobby with no text or call to explain the delay.
Jaya: Should I just meet you there? I can take a cab.
Nothing. That was weird. However, she reminded herself that she was a big girl and could get herself to an appointment. She wished he didn’t offer to bring her in the first place, but that was fine. Everything was fine. She wasn’t nervous at all.
After the cab dropped her off, Jaya took a moment to appreciate the clean, modern lines of the building. She stayed outside for a beat thinking she might arrive at the same time as Sebastian. After a few minutes, she decided he was probably inside. Decided was a strong word. She hoped. Because her last few calls went to voicemail so all she could do was hope.
Just as she walked up to the receptionist, one of the producers summoned her. She was unceremoniously plopped in a chair in front of bright lights and immediately accosted by a woman with brushes. Lots of make-up brushes of many sizes. Ordered to close her eyes, Jaya didn’t see the interviewer, Tracey Archer, until it was too late.
Tracey was a stunning, petite blonde with perfectly contoured cheekbones and eyelashes that looked like she was carrying a pound over each lid. She had a nervous way of posing while she was standing. Her fit and attractive body was abuzz with electric energy.
“Jaya, Jaya, have you by any chance talked to Sebastian?” she asked.
“No, I couldn’t reach him. Are you telling me he’s not here?” Jaya exclaimed more forcefully than she intended.
“I see it was a surprise for you too. It seems he’s playing for Buffalo tonight. An emergency. His agent just called my producer to say that Sebastian is on his way to meet the team in Calgary.”
“Oh,” Jaya said with an inexplicable wave of relief. She didn’t realize how vexed she was about not hearing from Sebastian. She was around him a lot this past week, that’s all. And they did make plans. When they made plans, he didn’t seem inclined to break them. So, when he didn’t show up, she couldn’t help but worry.
That was a ridiculous thought. Sebastian had a lot of people to keep track of him. And if he didn’t take her call, he had every right not to. She trusted him to tell her what she needed to know. They had a deal to make this fake dating believable for the sake of the campaign, but everything else was none of her business.
“Does this mean we’re rescheduling?” Jaya asked hopefully. “Since Sebastian can’t make it?”
The electricity powering the little woman in front of her seemed to short-circuit. Tracey made a squeaky sound that could be mistaken for an anxious laugh. “Oh honey, we have a six-minute segment. You’re going on for six minutes.”
Little did Tracey know how much she would regret that directive. Because after the first forty-five seconds when the interviewer got Jaya to talk about meeting Sebastian at the Hockey-For-All program, things went in an entirely different direction.
Jaya spent five minutes and fifteen seconds talking about programming benefits for kids, inclusion efforts during after-school care, and early mental health intervention. Jaya could see Tracey’s eyes gloss over but these were statistics people should know. These were facts viewers should want to know. If only she was allowed to bring her PowerPoint, she could show everyone how important benchmarks were for psychological development. Tracey did not seem to agree, giving Jaya a cold interruption before the commercial break.
When they wrapped up and she was excused from the interviewee chair, Jaya saw that Sebastian finally texted her back. A lot.
Sebastian: I left you a voicemail. I’m so SORRY Jaya. I thought I would have time to call once I boarded the plane.
Sebastian: Looks like I missed you. You’re going to be great! I will MAKE THIS UP TO YOU.
Sebastian: You’re probably in that interview now. Can’t wait to catch the recording. You’re going to be great!
Sebastian: I’m an idiot. I forgot to say I’m in Calgary, suiting up for a game tonight.
In a voicemail, he explained further. He was prepping to pick her up when he got the call. Things were frantic. A car was waiting to bring him to the airport. By the time he went through security and gathered his wits, he realized he had a dead phone with no charger. Because he landed in Canada, he wasn’t allowed to do anything with his phone till he crossed immigration.
“I feel like a complete asshole,” he said in another voicemail. “You’re not mad, are you? Tell me you aren’t mad. Call me back. Please.”
Of course, she would call him back. She wasn’t mad, exactly. Well, she wasn’t happy either. Being Jaya, fretting about her performance was unavoidable. And the fear of not doing enough for the campaign would always be at the back of her mind.
Though something else nagged her. Something both new and yet familiar. New because when the hell did she start caring about Sebastian? Except to complain about him, of course. New because part of her was disappointed that they didn’t get to do the interview together. That after all their practice, they wouldn’t reap the benefits of the ruse.
She also recognized something else. Something familiar because…hockey. Right. Of course. This is what it was like to be a star hockey player’s girlfriend. An afterthought. Yup, that was familiar. Good thing this was all pretend and she didn’t need to analyze her feelings too closely. She didn’t have to acknowledge how much not hearing from him brought equal share disappointment and alarm. In fact, she didn’t need to have feelings at all. Hooray.
When she texted back, Jaya teased. Because teasing Sebastian was safe.
Jaya: You may commence your groveling.
Her phone rang immediately.
“Hey!” he said breathlessly.
; “Calgary, huh. You didn’t have to leave the country to stand me up, you know,” she joked, and it was fun to hear him groan.
“I’m an idiot. I’m so fucking sorry. How was it? I haven’t seen it yet but my agent says he’ll send me a link to the segment.”
“It was…fine,” she said while waving past the receptionist to meet her Uber outside.
“Yeah? I’m sure you were fantastic. No one knows the community center and kids more than you. How was the, you know…”
“The kiss and tell part?”
“Yeah,” he said in a voice that turned gravelly. “The kiss and tell part.”
“Honestly, it only came up at the beginning. I got to talk about programming so that was good.”
“Programming. Huh, you mean the stuff Arlene told me to stop you from talking about?”
“Wait a minute, you don’t get to do that. You weren’t here to stop me,” she said and immediately regretted how hurt she sounded.
Quickly recovering, Jaya continued. “I tried my best and honestly, the more I think about it, this is how it should have been from the beginning. I don’t know why I thought we had to do the fake dating thing to get the campaign going. So, well, you’re officially free, Sebastian Beaumont.”
“Free,” he said so quietly she couldn’t be sure if he just exhaled.
“Yup! We’re done,” she confirmed cheerfully and looked out the window. Jaya felt relief wash over her at the realization that she no longer had to lie. Or wait. Or wonder. Or worry. Super fucking feeling, that.
“I have to go, Jaya,” Sebastian said, somewhat flustered. She heard him over a muffled speaker. He was being called by someone, but Sebastian returned to the line.
“I have to go but let me be clear.” He paused and his voice sounded closer. Like his lips were right against her ear and not thousands of miles away. “We’re not done. Not even a little, sweetheart.”
When he hung up, Jaya realized that trepidation and excitement were, at the moment, exactly the same sensation.
CHAPTER 10
Free. Officially free, she said. What the fucking hell. Sure, missing the interview was a major screw-up. The timing was so tight, he barely caught the flight that would get him to Calgary for team practice. If it wasn’t for the time difference, he would have had to go into the game without ice-time.
Sebastian admitted that today’s misunderstanding was ultimately his fault. He could have been more organized. But last-minute international travel was such a pain. And as anyone who lives with him knows, Sebastian was messy and absentminded, even on good days that didn’t involve emergency call-ups to the big leagues. His housemates only put up with him because culinary skills were such a rare commodity for bachelors. Not that his particular expertise helped him apologize to Jaya when he really, really wanted to apologize to Jaya.
Still. For fuck’s sake, no one goes from having a public romance to…done. And he couldn’t believe how casually she said it. Done. Was there anything worse than someone who was wrong and infuriatingly indifferent about their mistake?
He had to shelve this internal dialogue though. The game against Calgary was important and would require all of his concentration. They were playing in front of a tough Canadian crowd, passionate about hockey and at the edge of their seats about every penalty, every shift, every play. They truly knew their hockey in this country.
Sebastian pushed away thoughts of Jaya and focused on the game. Calgary was a fucking rough team. Large and heavy. He was brought in because Buffalo’s third-line centerman had an undisclosed injury that management wasn’t sure would survive the onslaught of hits from a roster like this. Coach called him up because Sebastian didn’t just survive this shit. He fucking loved it.
Nothing made Sebastian focus on a game more than physical clashes. One of the Calgary players aggressively skated to the net and bowled over Seth Jones, the young goalie superstar on whose shoulders all of Buffalo’s playoff hopes were hefted. Sebastian made the Calgary player pay for his cheap shot with a jaw-crushing, open-ice hit. It was a legal hit, but that fucker would surely think twice before crashing the net again.
The game commentators got a kick out of his addition to the team. They provided background stats to introduce Sebastian to an NHL audience. But his stats were not as impressive as his physical presence that night. After the open-ice hit, the commentators had fun tracking him all game. “One thing Calgary players need to do is keep their heads up when this kid is on the ice,” a SportsCenter host said, “because Sebastian Beaumont is collecting heads tonight!”
He got a great reception in the locker room. He met some of these guys through the last year and a half, having been called up a few times. But there hadn’t been room for his position. And if he was being honest, Sebastian was a better player today than he had ever been. Bigger, tougher, smarter.
He always loved the physical game, but as he matured in the league, he timed things just right so hits were both clean and brutal. You gotta love a sport that marked that distinction with a sharp blade. And like Jaya said, if he was going to fight, he wouldn’t be the one called for an instigator penalty.
The next game was back in Buffalo in a couple of days. He had orders to grab what he needed in Cincinnati. Sebastian was being called up to the NHL indefinitely.
***
He landed in Ohio Thursday morning and was expected to report for practice in Buffalo by Saturday morning. The next game was Saturday Night Hockey, televised nationwide.
His agent was ecstatic on the phone and his Thrashers teammates were supportive when he went to the gym straight from the airport.
After working out and running errands, Sebastian started packing. Throughout the day, though, he tried reaching her. Jaya didn’t take his calls and didn’t answer his texts.
He counted the hours before she got off work. They needed to talk. There’s only so much avoidance she could do if he showed up at the community center. Three hours. He would see her in three hours at 5:00 p.m. sharp.
In the meantime, Chris Hoffer was keeping him in the loop about negotiations.
“Nothing is one hundred percent certain but it’s looking good, big guy. If things go well on Saturday, we’re a step closer to securing your place in the line-up.”
“Hmmm,” he managed to say absentmindedly because he was busy packing clothes and toiletries.
“And the energy drink endorsement is shaping up to be amazing. They’ll expect some YouTube ads and festival showings, but all you need to do is be seen drinking the stuff. I’ll meet you in Buffalo after the Saturday game and we can hash out the details. Everyone loves the charity thing by the way, with the kids and all. Fucking great! Even if the interview didn’t pan out.”
The mention of the interview put him in a sour mood, so he didn’t say anything, barely managing another “hmmm.”
“Why aren’t you happy? You can stop that arrangement with the pretty girl and move on beyond the campaign. The big leagues are calling, and Cincinnati is in your rearview mirror this time next month.”
“Wait, what do you mean beyond the campaign? I’m still part of it, Chris.”
“You did a lot already, Sebastian. Their metrics are much higher than they expected at this point of the fundraising. They’ll be fine without you.”
Sebastian let out a humorless chuckle. “Except they won’t be without me. I’m seeing this through.”
“How? You’ll be in Buffalo and what’s expected of you now is far more than anything you’ve ever had to perform. Trust me. You need to focus on the game. Even if Buffalo doesn’t pony up what you deserve, there’s free agency around the corner. What a community center needs is not your problem.”
“Chris, don’t take this the wrong way. I get that you’re just doing your job, but what the fuck happened to your soul?”
To Sebastian’s surprise, Chris burst out laughing. “I left it in hell because that’s where I’m willing to go for clients like you.”
“So selfless,” Seb
astian said, deadpan.
“Just wait, big guy. You’re about to get the fat contract you deserve. Let’s hear what you have to say then.”
At that moment, Carlos burst into the room. He must have woken up late to recover from another one of his all-night parties. Even while Sebastian was on the phone, Carlos ruffled his hair and gave him a robust pat on the back.
“I’ll talk to you later, Chris,” Sebastian said and hung up.
“My man!” Carlos exclaimed when they clasped hands. “Travis told me. That’s awesome! You leave when?”
“Six in the morning, on Saturday.”
“So what you’re saying is we got two nights to mess you up before the big leagues.”
“Right,” Sebastian shook his head and continued to pack.
“Seriously, man. We gotta party. This is like the end of an era! Travis’s agent is on him all the time too. Looks like the New York deal is firming up.”
“Yeah, he told me.” Sebastian was glad to hear it, but the news was also bittersweet.
Change was in the air. He and Travis worked hard to get to this point. The fact that they did it together was a blessing he never realized was unique until he felt that tinge of isolation, walking into a locker room where you had teammates, but nobody was completely in your corner. Travis was never just a teammate. He was a brother in every way that mattered.
Still, they were getting what they spent their whole lives chasing. A chance to play at the NHL. A spot on a playoff team. A shot at a career in the sport they loved. Two kids from the streets of Boston were at the cusp of making it big.
Instead of feeling proud, Sebastian experienced something close to melancholy. He thought about the kids at Hockey-For-All and the kids at the Freedom Community Center. Their paths were still uncertain. Their future could be bright or bleak, depending on how the next few years would go. The moderate effort it took for him to lend his name to their campaign and volunteer when he had time was the least he could do. As a child, Sebastian benefitted from people who cared about kids in his community. People like Jaya.
The Love Campaign (Romantic Revelations Series Book 1) Page 11
