I can't do this anymore.
Negotiating Logan's endorsement deal is a conflict of interest. If anyone at this firm discovers that I'm in a relationship with a player whose contracts I'm handling, my credibility is finished. The partnership track is finished.
Everything I've built at Caldwell, Price & Associates over the last six years goes up in smoke.
I need to recuse myself from Logan's file. Transfer it to another associate. But doing that means explaining why. Telling Mabel that I have a personal connection to a player on the Renegades account. Not the full truth — not yet — but enough to justify the transfer.
It's a risk. Mabel doesn't tolerate complications. She gave me this account as a test, and admitting that I have a personal entanglement with one of the players could change how she sees me.
But getting caught is worse. Getting caught means I wasn't just entangled — I was dishonest. And dishonesty is the one thing Mabel will never forgive.
I need to discuss this with Logan.
For dinner,I make pasta and set two places at the kitchen island because I still haven't cleared the dining table of work files.
Logan arrives at seven with a bottle of red and a paper bag from the bakery near his apartment.
“Almond croissants,” he says, putting the bag on the counter. “For tomorrow morning.”
“You brought me breakfast for tomorrow?”
“I'm planning ahead,” he says with a cute grin.
We eat at the island and talk about the dinner last night — properly this time, not the exhausted, sad version from the car.
“My mother called me this morning,” he says.
“What did she say?”
“She said she hopes I know what I'm doing and that she only wants the best for me. Same words she's been using my whole life.”
“Did she mention me?”
“She said, 'Jasmine seems very accomplished.' Which, from my mother, is as close to a compliment as you're going to get.”
“Accomplished. Not very warm,” I say, sadness coming over me again.
“Baby steps.”
“Baby steps with a glacier.” I twirl pasta on my fork. “Your father?”
“Dad hasn't said a word. He'll process it in his own time, and then he'll have an opinion, and he'll deliver it at Sunday dinner like a postgame analysis.”
“Something to look forward to.”
“He'll come around. He's stubborn, but he's not cruel. My mother is the one we need to work on.”
I put my fork down. “There's something else I need to talk to you about.”
“Okay.”
“I had a meeting today about your endorsement deal with the sportswear brand.”
“I know about the deal. Wilder mentioned it.”
“The brand wants you for a solo campaign. Print, digital, social media. The money is significant.”
“Okay.”
