Even though my heart was breaking from the sight of her, just being in close proximity again soothed me, making me feel like I could fix this, that it would be okay as long as we were together.
Because we were, and it would.
She looked up as I moved toward her, her mouth turned down as her chin started to tremble and the tears flowed again. I sat and pulled her into my chest, trying to absorb her sobs, stroking her hair as she heaved against me so heavily that my own body was shuddering.
“Baby I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
“They fired me.”
I kissed her head, pulling her in as tight as I could. “I know, Jupiter told me. I’m so sorry, sweetheart. It’s going to be okay. It’ll be okay.”
She sat up, pushing away from me, her bloodshot eyes burning with irate fire. “All you two have been telling me is that it’s going to be okay. You don’t know that!”
I stared at her as she jumped up.
“You don’t know if it’s going to be okay! STOP TELLING ME THAT!”
Jupiter appeared in the door, clearly having heard her shouting. “What’s going on?”
“You two! You two are what’s going on. You don’t know what’s going to happen, so stop telling me it’s going to be okay.”
Jupiter and I both scrubbed our hands down our faces, mirroring the frustration we were both feeling at having contributed to this situation.
“Emerson, I know everything seems like shit right now, and it is, but itwillbe okay,” Jupiter gestured between him and me. “We know; we’ve been through this before.”
“Not like this you haven’t.”
I looked up at her. “Sweetheart, we’re written about all the time.”
She pointed at us aggressively. “You work in sports! People are supposed to write about you, it comes with the territory.”
Jupiter gave a deep sigh. “Emerson, it’ll go away, I promise we’re taking care of it, but you have to ignore it. I know it’s hard, but you can’t let it get to you. I thought you didn’t care what people think.”
“BUT I DO. I DO CARE WHEN IT AFFECTS MY JOB AND I GET FIRED!”
“Sometimes it affects our job, too,” he shrugged. “Sometimes we get traded because of bad press. Maybe think of it like that.”
I watched her jaw grind in frustration.
“I don’t want to think about it as being traded. I haven’t been traded, I’ve been fired! Traded means you still have a job, which I don’t now, because of you two.”
“Hey!” Jupiter growled.
Emerson looked at the floor. I saw her wince slightly at the words she couldn’t take back. She didn’t mean it, but it wasn’t far from the truth, and I knew Jupiter and I felt like shit about it.
“I’ve worked so fucking hard.So fucking hard,and now I have nothing to show for it, and what little reputation I had has gone. All I’m ever going to be known for is being your sister,” she pointed again to Jupiter, then at me, “Or your girlfriend.”
“Emerson, these stories have involved us too,” he reasoned, although it was clear it wasn’t helping.
“Jupiter, there’s a story out every week that involves you. It’s almost expected. But with me? These optics? I’m at the start of my career, you aren’t. I bet the club hasn’t even been in contact about this, they barely give a shit because it’s the off season. I’VE BEEN FIRED. And you don’t seem to understand that. You earn nearly forty million dollars a year. No one’s going to hire me for a long time.”
Fuck that. I’d be looking after her forever. She didn’t have to ever work again if she didn’t want to.
“Sweetheart, you don’t have to worry about that.”
She shot me a death stare, but Jupiter spoke before she had time to retort.
“I can help you with money, if that’s what you’re worried about,” he said, kindly.
