Page 53 of Losing Faith

I go still before I turn to him.

“Our coach didn’t add that part, did he?”

I let out a defeated breath before running my hands down my face.

“We were at a party,” he starts. “And I know you told me not to go to any more parties after videos of me acting like a drunk fool were circling last time. Spare me on that speech.”

I settle in my seat as he explains.

“The minute I noticed yourpreciousclient was there, I was saying my peace and about to leave, but when I went into the living room I saw him in the corner with a girl on his lap.”

He paces as he continues.

“Nowyes, I was already mad because I was sleeping with her first, so Coach had that part right, but he had his arm wrapped around her extremely tight and she looked uncomfortable, so I went over and I heard her tell himcountless timesto let her get up, and what did he do?”

He doesn’t let me answer.

“He ignored her and kept trying to kiss her. She kept saying stop, and when he put his hand up her skirt, I lost it.” He throws his hands up in defeat. “I grew up with five sisters and if it was any of them on his lap, I would want someone to stand up for them. I wasn’t going to just stand there or leave. If that cost me my future, then so be it, but you have a baby girl and I thought you’d understand. If you want to defend arapist,then I’m fine with getting a new agent.”

He storms off, but I stop him before he can leave.

“Wait.” I lean back in my seat as I pinch the bridge of my nose. “In no way am I defending him.”

Rome turns on his heels before focusing on me. “I can’t believe you preferred him over me.” He crosses his arms now.

“That was before this information came to light,” I defend myself but his face drops.

“Youreallyliked him more than me?”

I let out a scoff. “Kid,” I deadpan. “You are my only client who makes my job hard. I like everyone better than you.”

“Even Chase the sexual assaulter?”

“Please do not call him that.”

“Why?” he pushes. “Because it’ll make it harder for you to clean his image?”

“Because it’ll be harder for me to cleanyourimage. As of five seconds ago, he’s no longer my client.”

His arms drop as he focuses on me.

I rub my forehead as I weigh my options. “I need you to make a video addressing this. I’ll give you a loose script to follow, but you need to focus more on how the situation made you feel and shine light on the girl needing help rather than painting Chase as the villain.” I put a hand up when he opens his mouth.

“I know he’s the bad guy here, but the media is going to pick apart your statement. You can’t spend five minutes talking about how he’s an asshole. You need to take accountability and defend yourself. This isn’t about him,” I tell him more sternly.

“I’ll give a statement to our PR team announcing we’re dropping Chase from Athletic Prime and why. I’ll make sure they highlight you and maybe we can get some of your offers back.”

His shoulders slouch as he settles in the seat in front of me. “Is your boss really going to let you drop him that easily?”

“Without a doubt.” I sink into my seat. “The company is run by women and there’s a zero-tolerance policy for these kinds of things.”

Rome nods in thought.

“Who is this girl?”

His eyes meet mine. “Her name’s Izzie. We’ve been messing around for a few weeks, but it’s nothing serious. I met her in my chem class.” He shrugs and the fact that her name is so close to my daughter’s hits a nerve.

“Is she okay?”

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