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The girls laugh. Camie pipes up. “Yeah, we kind of let loose last night. I don’t know. It’s been all the stress, right? Of making this work. Somehow, last night, we both knew we had our careers down cold, and we finally relaxed.”
I take a seat on a nearby bench while the girls do their stretching routine.
“Hey, I get that. And it’s not like I tried to stop you two. I felt the same. Like the three of us have weathered a storm, and now there is only bright sunshine ahead.”
“Wow. Look at the waxing lyrical orc? Is that even possible with your DNA?” Chey chides.
I snap a towel and Chey yelps. I snicker.
“Listen, serious talk now. While you two were rocking the ring last night, Chad McAllister sidled up to me.”
The girls stop in their tracks. “The Chad McAllister?” they chorus.
I look up and smirk. “Yeah, the Chad. Geez, you’d think he was the Second Coming.”
“What did he want?” Camie runs over and plunks down on the bench. Chey follows suit.
“Well, he wants an exclusive. A Q and A session with the wrestling world’s new It girl wrestlers. That’s what he wants.”
Camie squeals. Chey sits silent.
“Settle, petal. Remember? Chey is under contract with Raucous. This media invite is a no-go.”
Camie deflates like a punctured balloon. “What? No sneaky workaround? C’mon, Ronan. This is the best media hype going on in Briarwood. We can’t turn Chad’s invite down.”
I turn to Camie. “In normal circumstances, I would have had you girls do the Q and A right there in the ring last night. But this isn’t normal. Chey could be sued into bankruptcy if it got out. She’s moonlighting as another brand.”
“Okay, fine. Let’s have Chey drop her contract. Pay an early exit fine or something.”
“Uh, guys, I’m right here beside you.”
Camie and I turn and shrug our shoulders.
“Sorry, Chey. You have a buy-out clause. They can’t refuse you that. But it would come with a lot of media hitjobs from Raucous. You can be certain of that,” I warn.
I know as soon as the words leave my mouth Chey won’t go for that. Like with her issues with Archimedes and her loyalty to her mom, I’m talking to a very diminutive brick wall. Who knew humans could be so tough?
All Camie and I get is a silent head shake. We both know Chey refuses to even discuss that option.
“Okay. How ‘bout I do the interview on my own?”
I get up and slam my fists into the ring mats. I’m pissed. Not at the girls. At Raucous for taking Chey prisoner like this.
I turn around and face the girls. “It’s a no-can-do, Camie. You know for a fact that Chad won’t get through that interview without peppering you with a thousand questions about Chey. Where is she? Why isn’t she here? What’s her background story on Disastra? Does she have a new publicity team? A new website? Blah, blah, blah. It would be a complete mess.”
Camie sighs. “More so if I hesitate to answer or outright lie. What a messy web we weave…”
“…When we wrestle and deceive.”
Chey ends that talk. Her on-the-spot poem doesn’t make any of us laugh.
CHAPTER 15
Cheyanne
Ronan and I wait in Marie’s office. Ronan is relaxed, munching on some wild grass pretzels the CEO has in a crystal bowl. He makes a face with every chew, and I suspect orcs must not be fans of grass, but he doesn’t stop eating.
My right knee can’t stop shaking. I feel a pressure-cooker of questions coming on.
