Page 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

SURPRISES

EMMA

T he exam room hasn’t changed since the last time I was here, it’s still cold and sterile. Stark and intimidating. The buzz of the fluorescent lights and whir of the machines around the room threaten to overstimulate my senses, but I remember the breathing technique that Amanda taught me just before I left; it helps me to recenter myself and calm my mind for what’s to come.

The team insisted on a full physical before signing off on me playing in the match, including an MRI to ensure that my ACL and MCL are healed. My physical is done, now all that’s left is the MRI. I’m waiting to be taken to the machine and can feel myself starting to panic, even with Amanda’s breathing exercises. It’s not long before I’m taken to the room and asked to get on the table.

“If it’s not too much trouble,” I ask the nurse before she helps me into the machine, “could I get some earplugs?”

“Of course,” she steps out of the room and comes back in with a set of moldable foam earplugs that cancel out most of the room noise, and once I have them situated, she helps me onto the table. When I’m moved into the machine, I focus on my breathing, closing my eyes and picturing a day spent in the blanket fort with the girls, remembering the fun that we had on the snow day. Before I know it I’m moved back out of the machine and a gentle hand on my shoulder startles me. Sitting up, I remove the earplugs and the nurse tells me that results will be sent to the team and I’ll meet with them in the next day or so.

I’m free to go once I’ve changed back into my clothes. After getting through the MRI I feel like I can take on the world, so I place a quick call after stepping out into the California sunshine.

“Scott Sanford’s office, how may I help you?”

“David,” Scott’s assistant answers the phone, “This is Emma Mitchell, does Scott have a minute to talk?”

“He’s…uh…” David hesitates, a hint of nervousness in his voice. “He’s got a pretty packed schedule today. I can…take a message?”

“Not a problem, David,” I inject my voice with all the people-pleasing sweetness I can muster. “I don’t want to bother him.”

But that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

I hop in my rental and punch the address to Scott’s office into the map on my phone. With windows rolled down and my Game Day playlist blasting through the speakers and pumping me up in a way that only this music can. Deep breaths. A reminder of the panic I felt when I talked to Jax. And a reminder of the front door slamming shut behind my mother the day she left is the mood I take with me as I open the door to Scott’s building and punch the up button on the elevator.

The elevator moves at a glacial pace as it carries me up to the top floor of the building, my sights on the corner office and the man sitting inside, his eyes wide when he sees me.

“Emma,” Scott stands up and comes out into the reception area as David scurries off down the hall. “I wasn’t expecting you today.”

“Don’t talk to me about surprises, Scott. Not today.”

“Now Emma, don’t make a scene…”

Don’t make a scene.

Be on your best behavior.

Don’t ask for what you want or else you’ll be called a diva in the press.

Be quiet. Be kind. Be nice. Be the good little soccer player who doesn’t stand up for herself.

“Scott, you’re fired.” His jaw drops and it’s almost comical the way he sputters and searches for a response. “You’ve taken advantage of me one too many times, and starting a rumor in the press is the final straw. I’m done – with you, and the game. When my ninety minutes are up and the whistle blows at the end of the game, I’m done. I will talk to the press and I’ll do it without you. I will meet with the team tomorrow to go over my physical without you. ”

“I made you,” he sneers. “You wouldn’t have a career if not for me.”

“That’s not true,” I shake my head and try to contain the laugh that bubbles up inside me. “You don’t get to take credit for the things I’ve been doing on the pitch since I was a kid. You don’t get to take credit for making me anything. You have no power over me anymore, Scott. And if I get word that you’re doing this to any of the other women on your client list, I’m going to the media myself.”

“No one will take you seriously.”

With Jake, Penelope, and Molly in my corner, I’m not worried. Sure, they cover baseball, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have connections.

“It was nice working with you, Scott. It’s a shame you had to go and ruin it like this. David,” I seek out Scott’s assistant, “Scott is no longer needed at any of our meetings this week. Go ahead and cancel them, and while you’re at it, cancel his ticket for the match.”

David’s eyes go shifty as he looks to Scott who gives him a terse nod before turning and stepping back into his office, slamming the door behind him. Good riddance.

“Have a nice day, David.”

Alone on the elevator my breath leaves my body in a rush, my hands shake, arms vibrating with tension as I realize what I’ve just done, and a laugh bubbles out of me as an odd sense of calm washes over me.

I did it.

I call my sister.

“Molly, I just left Scott’s office.”

“What?” There’s a twinge of anger in her voice. “You weren’t supposed to meet until tomorrow. What did he do?”

“He didn’t do anything,” I grin. “I fired him.”

“Sorry, what? I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

“You heard me just fine, Molls. I walked in a day early and I fired him.”

“What will you do if he goes to the media and paints you as the villain?”

“I have some friends who work for the American Sports Network, and a contact in the Detroit News sports department.”

“Darn right you do,” I can hear the grin in my sister’s voice. “I’m proud of you, Ems. I wish I could be there to see you play. I’m always cheering you on.”

“I know. Thanks Molly, I love you.”

“I love you, Ems.”

I settle onto the bed in my hotel room with food I had delivered, a movie streaming on my television, and a video call with Jax on my laptop; we’re watching a movie together while he unwinds after putting the girls to bed. At the start of our call, I recounted my surprise visit to Scott’s office, while Jax beamed with pride over every word. I wish more than anything that I was sitting on the couch beside him rather than separated by three time zones, but I remind myself that this is temporary.

“I’m glad we were able to have this date night,” Jax stifles a yawn as our movie wraps up, a quick glance at the clock tells me that it’s gotten later than I realized.

“Me too. It’s getting awfully late for you, I don’t want to keep you up.”

“Any other time I’d be happy to have you keep me up,” Jax’s lopsided smile sets my insides to fluttering, and I resist the urge to kiss my screen. “Rain check?”

“Sounds good to me. Get some rest, Jax. I love you.”

“I love you, Emma.”

After hanging up with Jax, I clean up from dinner and take a long hot shower, giving myself a chance to finally process everything that happened today, starting with the appointment and the visit to my former-agent’s office. All of the pent up emotion evaporates under the steam and pressure of the shower and by the time the water runs cold, I’m physically and emotionally spent, and not at all ready for the surprise of exiting the hotel bathroom to find Lara Estep unpacking her suitcase into the dresser under the television.

“Lara!” I yelp, clutching my towel to my chest. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been assigned to your room, babe,” she waves a key in my direction. “The team has us rooming together. Didn’t anyone tell you?”

“Nope, they sure didn’t.” My heart rate finally gets back to somewhat normal as I cross to the suitcase I haven’t bothered to unpack and throw on some pajamas. A little yellow puff ball falls out of my suitcase and Lara picks it up, turning it over in her hands. I didn’t pack that and I’m not sure how it got into my suitcase…

“What’s this?” Lara asks, continuing to turn the yellow fluff in her hands.

“He’s Walter.” Tears prick my eyes at the sight of Alice’s fluffy creation.

“What on earth is Walter?” Lara asks, laughter dancing in her eyes.

Walter is a reminder of the life I left behind in New York. A reminder of the kids – and their dad – who changed my life. Walter is a reminder of what I never thought I could have but somehow managed to find. A reminder of the life that I can’t wait to get back to.

“He’s um…” Alice’s voice rings in my head, telling me all of Walter’s attributes and skill, his origin story and why he’s so fluffy and all my brain can come up with, as I whisper through impending tears is, “He’s a bug.”

Lara tosses Walter to me and after I catch him, I nestle him carefully into my suitcase so that he doesn’t get left behind. I’m still wondering how he got into my suitcase in the first place as I crawl into bed and pull the covers up to my chin.

“Just like old times,” Lara grins, sitting on the edge of her bed and taking off her glasses. “Ready for one last ride?”

“One last ride.”

“I heard what you did today,” Lara’s voice is a whisper in the darkness of our hotel room. “I think there might be a few others that follow your lead.”

“Seriously?” I don’t even bother with a whisper as I click on the bedside lamp and sit up in bed, staring wide-eyed at a bleary, squinty-eyed Lara.

“Yes, seriously. Now turn that light off,” Lara groans and throws her arm over her eyes. “I ditched Scott years ago, but some of the younger girls have stuck with him, and last I heard Lorena is leading a crusade to ‘stand in solidarity with Grandma.’”

“Those better be your words and not hers,” I laugh.

“They are,” Lara chuckles.

“Good.” I reach behind me and grab a pillow that I’m not using, and fling it across the room to Lara’s bed. The soft, muffled oof that answers tells me that I connected with my target. “If anyone is going to step up and be a leader, it’ll be Lorena.”

“She’s young.”

“So were we, once. She’s got a good head on her shoulders, though. I can see her leading this team, and the National Team someday.”

“Just like you did.”

Just like I did.

There’s no greater honor than wearing that captain’s armband. And now I have to fight to wear it one last time.