Page 2 of Gridlocked on the Gridiron

They’d done long-distance for the three years before she’d joined him in Virginia, and now she worried what exactly he’d been doing when they'd been apart. There had been times that she didn’t hear from him for a few days, and while she’d always chalked it up to him being busy with football, now she couldn’t be so sure. Had he been cheating on her the entire time? Could she really be certain that this was an isolated event? Had she been so blind that she’d missed the red flags all these years?

Isa and Abby guided her onto the couch, the long tray of food balanced across their laps. Isa turned on an old episode of The Bachelor, knowing Lucia found comfort in the arms of reality television.

During the third commercial break, Isa set the tray down and turned toward her.

“Real talk, what’s our plan?” Isa exchanged a look with Abby, silent communication coursing between them, before continuing, “We’ll obviously help you pack up your stuff, and you can stay with us until you find a place. But you just say the word, and I’ll key his cars, smash his windows and tail lights. Anything. Just tell me what you need.”

Lucia slipped her hand into Isa’s as Abby excused herself and went into their bedroom. Isa had been Lucia’s best friend since their freshman year of college when they’d floundered through an English literature class together. She’d held Lucia together many times as she’d struggled through her advanced computer-science classes. While Lucia had moved around the country working with different teams, Isa got her master’s degree and then followed her to Richmond. Her anchor, her rock. Now they worked together for the Vipers, Lucia as an analyst and Isa as an athletic trainer.

“I think…I need to take some more time to process, but I think packing up and moving when he’s away would be best. I worry that if I see him, he’ll convince me to stay. Or that I’ll ask him for all the sordid details.” Self-sabotage had always been her favorite form of torture.

“We’ll go when he’s at lift or practice. Charlotte will completely understand,” Isa said, referencing Lucia’s boss. “Do you think…” She stumbled a bit. “Do you think you’ll stay with the Vipers?”

Lucia hadn’t even thought about her job. Over the past two years, the Vipers’ offices and training facility had become a second home for her. Richmond, a place she never would’ve seen herself enjoying, had suddenly become the place where she could picture raising children. And her job? Her absolute dream job? She couldn’t imagine leaving it.

She rested her head on Isa’s shoulder, too exhausted to respond.

“I’d go to war for you, you know,” Isa murmured.

Lucia just squeezed her hand.

Lucia felt eyes following her everywhere she went, from the streets of Richmond, to the training facility, and into her office. It made her skin crawl. Those who were brave enough came up to her and apologized, which only made her feel worse. All it did was remind her of the fact that the affair and inevitable breakup were entirely public knowledge. She’d never minded being in the spotlight, but to be humiliated so publicly felt like more of a violation than usual.

Her phone buzzed for the fifteenth time in five minutes—whether from Max trying to get her to come home and listen to his thousands of excuses, or from journalists hunting her down for an exclusive, she couldn’t be sure. If she caught one more sympathetic glance, she was going to take a baseball bat to the glass-encased trophies and accolades of the Vipers franchise.

Or not.

But the thought of it was certainly cathartic.

Apparently, spending the night on Isa’s couch had imbued her with the same vicious fantasies of retribution as her closest friend. Maybe she’d have to crank up that rock playlist Abby had created.

The intact (for now) glass reflected the now-perpetual crease between her brows. She grimaced at the shortness of the skirt she’d borrowed from Isa, and the woman before her grimaced right back. Charlotte was very forgiving, and Lucia hoped she could look past this transgression just this once. Just while she figured out how best to pack up her entire life during Thursday practice.

All she wanted was to get back to her work. She wanted to disappear for the next fifteen hours, crunching numbers and watching film in her not-so-spacious office. Instead, her brain kept getting sidetracked by the whispers, louder than if her colleagues had been speaking directly into her ear. She’d hoped to find solace in Charlotte’s office, but the door had been closed. It was a sure sign John, the general manager, had something important he needed one of the analysts to work on as soon as inhumanly possible. She hoped the task would be assigned to her so she could finally pay attention to the voice in her head telling her to put her headphones on and stop listening to the unending gossip that threatened to swallow her whole.

She’d been right. When the door opened, John gave her the smallest of nods.

“Lucia.” He pronounced her name wrong, the c of her name coming out like an s rather than a ch, but she couldn’t complain since she hadn’t even expected him to know her name at all. Before she could process that fact, he’d disappeared down the hall, no doubt headed to the beautiful penthouse office he spent most of his time in. Charlotte stopped at the doorway, a momentary panic sweeping across her face. She waved a frowning Lucia in.

“Good morning, Lucia.” Charlotte closed the door gently behind her, Lucia’s frown becoming more pronounced.

This was new. Charlotte never had closed-door meetings with the analysts, besides for their annual reviews. Bile rose hot and fast in Lucia’s throat, her body already beginning to decipher the look on her boss’s face.

“Have a seat, please.”

“Uh, why are you being so formal? Are you…” Lucia let out a disbelieving laugh. “Are you firing me?”

She’d meant it as a joke, but Charlotte’s silence was answer enough. Lucia lurched toward the trash can beside her boss’s desk and heaved. The fact that she’d hardly eaten anything that morning was clear as Charlotte ran over to hold her hair and rub her back, making soothing noises.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” When she noticed Lucia was no longer heaving but also not moving from the trash, she grabbed a water bottle from her mini fridge and forced it into Lucia’s hand. “Drink this and sit, please. I promise it’s not all bad news.”

When Lucia felt more stable, she followed Charlotte’s directions and sat, refusing to make eye contact. Charlotte clicked her mouse a few times and then clasped her hands together, laying them on her large, walnut desk.

“As you saw, John was just talking my ear off. He was telling me that he believes your…situation, for lack of a better word, might cause issues with his—”

“Is this about Max?”

“Star quarterback.”

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