Page 48 of Try Hard

Fia

M y boss, Simon, had been talking in my ear for an hour already by the time there was a knock at the door.

Fuad had managed to wrangle himself an invite to the meeting somehow, and I wasn’t sure if that was making things better or worse.

In the moments where Simon stopped speaking, Fuad was quick to chime in, leaving me to simmer in silence, but maybe that was just drawing the whole thing out and delaying the inevitable.

I pulled the door open, certain it was going to be some parcel delivery.

The sight of Eve was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.

In a tornado of discomfort and powerlessness, she was home.

She was grounding and real, and her mere presence saturated me with a confidence I hadn’t been feeling since Simon had sent me an urgent meeting request.

She stepped through the door looking concerned. That wasn’t difficult to comprehend. Eve understood my desire for privacy. She’d worried about the attention her presence in my life would bring. Despite it all, I wasn’t sorry. I’d do it all again to be around her.

I just had to figure out how to get through this next part.

“So,” Simon said, sounding like all his Christmases had come at once, “you can tell we’re eager to get started. We need to ride this wave. It’ll be great for business.”

“I’m on annual leave,” I said sharply, leaning into Eve’s chest and grateful for her arms that wrapped protectively around me. Plenty of people had been scared away by the spikier side of my character, but not Eve. She was the same warm, sweet woman as always.

“Oh, of course. But, when you’re back, we’ll need to start recording immediately. People want news and, right now, you’re the news!”

I was going to be sick. It was a shame Simon wasn’t in the room with me for it. “If you recall my earlier statement, I haven’t actually agreed.”

Simon laughed in that way I was realising he did when he was about to steamroll you. “Of course, of course. We’ll get the new terms and contract out to you by the end of day tomorrow.”

“It’s going to be great!” Fuad enthused. “But we probably should let Fia have time to think about it. This is a new and unexpected turn of events and it’s likely to be overwhelming.”

Okay, I was glad Fuad was in the meeting. There was no telling Simon right now. He wouldn’t listen. But buying time was good.

Simon laughed again and I clenched my free arm around Eve. It had always been a grating sound. Now, it felt mocking and painful.

“If she’d wanted to live under a rock with no attention, she wouldn’t be dating one of the most famous women’s rugby players the country has ever produced,” he said, as if who I dated was any of his or anyone else’s business.

Also, Eve was one of the most famous rugby players. Her gender wasn’t required in that statement.

“The pictures you’ve seen,” I said, hard and measured, “were taken at a private event where we’d had a reasonable expectation of privacy.”

“At a party?” Simon scoffed. “Everything makes it to the internet these days, Fia. We’re just monopolising on that.”

“Monopolising on my private life and an invasion of my privacy?”

“That might not be the best look,” Fuad said, making me eternally grateful for him.

Simon wasn’t having any of it, though. “Nothing quite so… dirty. We’re simply moving up a timeline that was already in action and using our assets to the best effect.”

I wasn’t naive enough to think my office cared about me as a person.

That wasn’t how these things worked. But, there really was something about being explicitly named an asset—not a person, not someone with feelings or choices.

Just an asset, a means to a monetary end.

It felt like the final nail in a coffin that had been closing ever since Fuad’s first call about them wanting us to switch to video content.

“Well,” I said, “as illuminating as this has been, I’m still on leave and I need to go.”

“Great talk, great talk,” Simon replied, sounding ridiculously smug. “We’ll get that contract written up and sent out to you ASAP. Keep an eye on your inbox.”

“I’m on leave.”

He laughed again and bid us both farewell, ending the call.

I shoved my phone into my back pocket and held Eve tightly, pushing her backwards until she was leaning against the wall, just like she had been at Kim’s hen party. At least nobody had seen that moment.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, her usually happy voice broken. “I had no idea anyone was taking pictures or that they were selling them. The site that published them didn’t reach out to Andra with any warning so we couldn’t even try to stop them. I—I’m so, so sorry.”

I shook my head, face still pressed into her shirt. “It’s not your fault. We were both there. I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to.”

“Wanting to do it and wanting it to be outed to the entire world are two very different things.”

“I know. But it’s still not something you should be sorry for.”

“I already talked to Andra and Row. I’ll be putting out a statement on my feeds—”

“You don’t have to do that.”

Her arms wrapped tighter around me. “Yes. I do. And I want to. What’s happening is entirely unacceptable and I’m done pretending all of that behaviour is okay.”

I pulled back to look at her, realising just how coached statements released on her behalf had been in the past, how much all of that had never been just her decision.

She’d been required to act certain ways, say certain things, all to ensure her career wasn’t ruined.

Sure, she had a whole line of merch—including the shirt I’d worn for her last Tuesday—that referenced the commentary on her body, but she’d never been allowed to just tell the critics to fuck off and leave her alone.

I slid my hands up her body to cup her face. “I’m sorry this is simply the latest in a long line of these things.”

She shook her head. “I won’t let people make comments about you and turn away like I didn’t see it, as if, in my silence, I’m allowing it to happen. Protecting you is more important to me than protecting the feelings of online bullies.”

“Someone should have been protecting you like that all along.”

“Maybe, but I could have pushed back more on—”

“No. I know how these things work. That shit is hard when nobody is in your corner and you’re being threatened with losing everything you care about if you speak out. It was never okay.”

“The only thing I care about not losing is you.”

“Eve,” I whispered, brushing my fingers through her hair, “I’m not going anywhere.”

“But… the comments online, the impact it’s clearly having on your job.” She winced. “I’m guessing they’re seeing this as the perfect opportunity to get you on camera. A celebrity presenter of sorts.”

I laughed bitterly. “Pretty much. Though, they seem to be going with the ‘girlfriend of a celebrity’ angle, as opposed to thinking I’m a celebrity.”

Despite it all, hope flitted undeniably across Eve’s face.

That was the moment I realised we hadn’t actually talked about that, about being girlfriends.

The world had simply decided that for us and slapped the label on.

As much as I’d always wanted to be her girlfriend, it was still pretty shitty of everyone to steal that from us.

I cleared my throat, my eyes running over her face like I was trying to engrave her into my brain.

She didn’t seem to want to go anywhere, but, with the sudden social media circus, there was a part of me that worried I’d lose her anyway.

When I’d only just gotten her back, too.

“I wonder who the wannabe paparazzo was.”

“Kieran texted me when I was on my way over. He says they’re looking into it.” She sighed heavily, her hands running soothingly up and down my sides. “My first thought was Sammy…”

I laughed ruefully. “Mine too. But then—”

“—she was in some of the pictures.”

“Exactly.” I pulled my phone out again. Texts from Kim and Tanika. “I have a similar message from Kim. Oh, and threats of death against whoever it was from Tanika.”

Eve laughed, leaning to look at the message. “She always was protective of you.”

“Never threatened to kill anyone for me before, though.” I put my phone away again and looked at Eve. “And she was never as protective as you are.”

“Yes, well. I like to think she and I love you in very different ways.” She blushed and I felt my stomach jolt.

It wasn’t a declaration of love, not quite, but that was there, simmering under the surface of her words. And we both knew it.

I hummed and pressed a kiss to her soft lips. I’d take her telling me she loved me in any situation, but there were, perhaps, better moments than this one. “Well, let us hope we don’t need to bail Tanika out of prison to attend this wedding.”

“It’d be okay if you didn’t want to attend, you know?” she asked before pressing another quick, reassuring kiss against my lips. I was never going to get over Eve Archer kissing me.

I shook my head. When I’d first realised what was happening, that had been my second thought—right after needing to speak to Eve, though, that quest had been interrupted by Simon.

Now, I didn’t want that. “I still want to go, I think. It’s been nice, reconnecting with Kim and Tanika.

And, you know, they, uh, brought me back to you—”

“And I’ll be forever grateful for that,” she said quickly and emphatically, holding me against her body.

I smiled blissfully at her. “Me too.”

A month ago, if someone had told me this would happen, I’d have been horrified, convinced I’d never feel happy again. But, with Eve at my side through it all, it was easier to smile than I’d ever have guessed.

“Well,” Eve said seriously after a moment of adoringly staring at each other, “we can keep our distance from each other if they haven’t figured out who sold the pics before then.”

I chewed my lip. I didn’t want that. But I also didn’t really want more photos of us together being sold for public consumption. That was the price though, right? Eve had warned me about that. And I was going to have to make a choice.

“We can work it out,” she said urgently, like she was reading my mind and wanted to give me anything to prevent me walking away.

“We’ll figure out how to avoid getting photographed together.

And, you know, I’m not that famous anymore—not really relevant.

Andra thinks the interest will die down quickly.

And we’ll find a way to make it tolerable. ”

I nodded and kissed her. I didn’t want to hide her.

She was exquisite, and I knew how ridiculously lucky I was to be with her.

I just needed to wrap my head around this whole thing and figure out how to handle it.

Eve had been upfront about what she could offer.

I had known the deal going in. Of course, intellectually understanding something and experiencing it were two very different things, but I would figure it out. For her.

She kissed me like she thought I was going to break, like she was terrified I’d disappear. Her hands traced over me, revelling in our closeness. Her mouth was desperately sad and loving. I’d never been wanted or understood like this before.

I wasn’t going anywhere, though. I didn’t want to lose her either. The road might not be clear and easy, but I was committed to navigating it with her. And I poured every bit of that certainty into the kiss.