Page 45 of Play to Win
They stood for a few seconds in silence and then both looked up as they heard the footsteps running up the stairs.
“We’ve got a big problem downstairs,” Lance said to both of them, but his gaze had settled on Portia.
She followed the guys down the stairs to an almost silent lower level. Sure, the music that always played at the bar was still going, but the television sets that normally played sports games or the news were now playing something else. Her name whispered in a male voice echoed throughout the room and for the second time today, Portia froze where she stood. She hadn’t even made it to the bar yet but stood just a few feet away from the front door.
She knew that voice. She knew the words that were about to follow her name, just as she knew the scene that was about to appear on those many television screens.
Bobby Adleman chuckled as he directed Portia to, “Spread your legs wider.”
Portia closed her eyes to blink but couldn’t bring herself to open them again. It didn’t matter, she didn’t need to watch the scene because she’d been there when it was recorded.
“Just like that. Now, just give me a minute…ahhh, yeah…that’s it, baby,” Bobby continued.
There was a shocked gasp, a hand clap and an offensive whistle coming from the room. The sounds were magnified since Portia’s eyes remained tightly shut.
“Yeah. Ahhhhh, yesssss,” Bobby continued before his next words were abruptly cut off.
“Oh, dear, there must be some technical difficulties,” Melissa Bannon chirped amidst a few complaints from the male customers in the room.
“Well, it’s okay. There’s a complete version of this video up on The Wire dot com. There’s also a very interesting story about one of the stars of the video, our very own Portia Merin. I guess this video proves the age-old adage that a person could actually sleep their way to the top.”
Her voice was like nails scraping over a chalkboard. No, it was like sand being caught in every possible crevice of your body even after a long hot shower. It was irritating and infuriating and when Portia’s eyes finally managed to open, she immediately sought out the redheaded bitch through her tear-filled gaze.
Camy and Lance were on either side of Portia as she took a step toward Melissa.
“No,” Camy whispered behind her. “She’s not even worth it.”
“The police are on their way,” Del said as he stood in front of the bank of televisions with now blank screens. “Whoever was responsible for hacking into our system and uploading that video will be punished to the full extent of the law.”
Portia’s chest hurt. She was breathing, because surely death was too easy of an exit for her. Tears flooded her eyes, but she shook her head praying they wouldn’t fall. She couldn’t cry. Not here. Not in front of everyone, especially Melissa. That’s what the woman wanted. That would be the perfect victory for her. So instead, Portia looked down at Camy’s hand on her arm and then up to her new friend.
“I’m good,” she told Camy. “You can let me go.”
With a nod, Camy did as Portia said. Portia walked across the room until she stood directly in front of Melissa.
The woman wore a haughty smirk. She folded her arms across her chest and stood with one leg forward, her chin tipped up, daring Portia to touch her.
“You’re so beneath me, you can’t even see your way up here,” Portia said evenly. “You think you’ve won something, but you’ve only proven how childish and miserable you really are. I’ve already endured that video being played for millions of people on YouTube years ago, Melissa. This small crowd here in poor little Providence, is nothing. The fact that you thought it would be is quite funny.” Portia surprised herself by chuckling.
“Oh. Look how quickly your look of triumph turns to one of indignation. Can you do tears at the drop of a dime too? If so, I might be able to talk to some of my friends in the film industry to see about getting you a job,” Portia continued.
“You filthy little—”
Melissa’s words were cut short when two uniformed officers came to stand beside her. “Melissa Bannon Colefield,” one of them said. “We need you to come with us.”
“What? Are you serious?” Melissa yelled as she was being directed toward the doors. “You can’t prove a thing, Del Greer! You and your delinquent friends are going to pay for this! I promise you that!”
She squawked and complained the whole way out of the bar and a few of the customers actually applauded. Portia felt nauseous and as soon as Melissa and the officers were out the door, she followed.
* * *
Ethan watched her load another box onto the back seat of her car before closing the door. He stepped out of his truck then and met her where she stood on the sidewalk. It had already grown dark, but he could see her as clearly as if she were in a fully lit room. She was beautiful and dangerous and he couldn’t let himself forget that.
Every second he was near her, all he’d believed he needed in his life to be happy was threatened. But he couldn’t stay away from her. Not after what had happened earlier today.
“I was going to send you all a card with my apologies,” she said when she noticed him.
She’d tucked her hands into the back pockets of her jeans so that she now looked as defenseless as she had back during their high school days. He knew now that look was a façade, there was nothing defenseless about Portia Merin.
