Page 102 of Puck with Karma
“Xander, what can I do for you?”
He sounds like an asshole, just as always, his voice grating on my last nerve. However, I do see him in a different light now.
“Why did you show me this now? You could’ve taken it all.”
The pause on the line is filled with horns honking and traffic noise in general.
“Because I finally understood that you hate me.”
He is clinical in his assessment of our relationship, almost as if no emotion runs through his body. But the papers in my hand tell a different story.
“I pushed you too hard,” he admits. “But you would’ve never made it as far as you have had I not,” he makes sure to add.
I smile. An hour ago, I would’ve thought of that statement as arrogant, and him shoving it into my face.
“But after our last… conversations…” That’s a too kind of a word. There were more like screaming matches between us. “I realized that what I managed to do was make you hate me more. And I messed up with Janie, too. I always thought we were giving her a good life. She travelled quite a bit over the years, did she not?”
I think back. She did come with us to some of the games. Not all, like my parents, but some. She saw some cool things, I’m sure.
“But she didn’t get any family time,” I mutter into the phone loud enough for my father to hear.
“That is correct,” he agrees. “Some would say that is neglect. I choose to look at it as choices. We all make choices. And right now, I choose to step away as your manager. It’s time I let you loose, to find your own path. Be smart about it. I don’t know what’s going on with you lately, but…”
“I met someone,” I interrupt him.
Confessing my problems to my father feels awkward as fuck. This is not who we are, neither one of us. But it feels good to get it off my chest.
“I figured as much.” He surprises me when he says that. “I was expecting it to happen sooner. I thought a woman would fuck up your game in your rookie days. I’m not sure how you lasted this long.”
I bust out laughing. “What?”
“I’m assuming it is the new intern at the arena,” he continues. “Abigail Bennett?”
I don’t confirm it or deny it. Just hearing her name is making me miss her like crazy. It’s also making me angry. I want to punch a hole in the wall just from that.
“You need to know that the office people are watching you. They called me to inquire about the two of you. I told that woman, Laura something, to fuck off.”
I lick at my suddenly dry lips. That is the same chick who was trying to get me off the team.
“I’m pretty sure they want to get rid of you,” dad confirms to me. “That fucker, Cole Samson, he wants your position in line one. He is fucking Roger’s daughter, so they’ve been working behind the scenes to sabotage you. I’ve been doing my own sabotaging of them. But just watch out. The coach is on your side, so you have that.”
“How do you know about Roger’s daughter and Cole Samson?”
“A lot of people know it.” He says it like it’s old news, but not to me. “But I have no proof at all. It’s all rumors swirling around, and we can’t base anything off rumors. Just… be careful.”
With that, he hangs up. I lean back in my seat and let out a long puff of air. What a damn cluster. It’s like I’m in a soap opera. Now I gotta watch my back so I don’t get stabbed. Figuratively speaking. Hopefully.
My eyes are blindly staring at the TV that’s still on. Some sports entertainment section comes on. I have it on mute, so I can only see whatever pictures they’re showing. It’s all from a gossip rag that now has a show on cable.
Suddenly, I jump out of my seat. Right there, in bright colors, Abby is in the middle of a sidewalk in New York City. She is standing next to Brandon Karlsberg, smiling up at him. He has an arm wrapped around her shoulders. They seem to be having a great time.
My brain is about to explode in my head when I see the word engagement across the screen, then the image moves to Karlsberg with some other chick. This one is the complete opposite of Abby. She has dark hair to Abby’s bright blonde, she is shorter and plumper. Still pretty, just in a different way.
I blink to clear my head when they show another picture. In this one, I see the other chick’s face better.
“What the fuck?”
It is Mallory, my sister’s best friend. She is shacking up with Karlsberg now? While he’s engaged to Abby? What the fuck are these people doing?
