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“But I have the laptop and my old phone. There will be evidence that shows she’s the aggressor.”
John frowned. “Right now, all we have are two devices we can’t access. I’m going to hand them over to some tech guys I know, but it could take days or weeks to get the information. Until then, she could make your life even more miserable than it is now.”
Reese read the script again. “It’s too long. We need to cut it back. That’s all I ask.”
John and Marnie exchanged looks. “All right, we’ll do that. And so you know, Jennifer is expecting a call in a few hours. We need to get this down pat.”
They eventually settled on the wording of her apology to Jen. It would be sent via social media, private message, and the phone call. John would be recording the call, and as Reese watched him dial Jen’s number on his phone, a part of her wanted to turn and run. Offering any kind of apology to the person who had made her life hell for years made her sick to her stomach. This wasn’t right. And when John handed her his phone, she wanted to throw up.
“Hit send when you’re ready.”
She took in three deep breaths and hit the button. After two rings, the voice she’d hoped to never hear again answered.
“Hello, Reese.” She sounded so smug.
“Hi, Jen. How are you?” Reese said, fighting to keep her tone light and as friendly as possible.
“I’m good. I’m better. I’ve been doing a lot of therapy, you know, to deal with my childhood trauma.”
Reese shot Cam, John, and Marnie a perplexed look, but she soldiered on. She wasn’t about to be sucked into Jen’s drama.
“I’m calling today to offer my sincerest apologies. I said some things at the age of fifteen and sixteen that were inappropriate, and you didn’t deserve it. I’m hoping that you can accept my apology.”
“You said a lot of really mean things when we were older too. In fact, you were saying horrible things to me right until I retired from competitive skating. You were an adult by then.”
Reese was flustered, but she knew she had to recover. John and Marnie were both furiously writing something down on paper, but Reese didn’t have time to wait.
“I really don’t remember that. Again, I apologize if that was upsetting. Those were tense times. We were both tough competitors, and as a teenager, stress may have gotten the better of me.”
“You told me that you wished my real mother aborted me.”
Oh God.
“Honestly, I don’t remember saying that.” Reese genuinely didn’t, but thinking back on that time, it easily could have been something she’d said when she’d snapped. She wanted to be sick again. She wished she’d been a better person, but she’d been a stupid teenager, dealing with hormones she couldn’t handle, tough competition, and a crumbling home life. They were terrible excuses, but they contributed to her anger. And despite what Jen had said, Reese was certain they hadn’t spoken after the age of eighteen, and if they had, it hadn’t been anything meaningful. Reese was sure of it.
“You told me that I was ugly many times. I find that strange since you’re all about body positivity now.”
I said you were an ugly person! You calledmeugly! You saidIsmelled, that my hair was greasy. You gave me a complex!
Reese took a quick breath. She needed to calm down, and it didn’t help that John had shoved a paper in her face telling her to apologize for everything.
“Again, I don’t remember saying that. But I’m sorry—”
“You told me I’d never amount to anything. That I wasn’t a good skater. That I should quit and be a whore like my birth mom.”
Reeseknewshe hadn’t said any of that. She’d said some reprehensible things to Jen, but nothing like that. “Jen, I’m sorry if this has affected your life. Speaking from my own experience, I was bullied too. It was hard some days—”
“So I guess you decided to take it out on me?I’mthe victim here. You ruined my life. You made me quit skating.”
This was getting ridiculous. “No, Jen, that’s not how it was. You aged out. A lot of skaters do.”
John was shaking his head now, so hard it was going to give him whiplash, but Reese ignored him.
“No, I left skating because you made the environment impossible. You stressed me out to the point I would go home each night and cry. I would get so stressed just at the thought of seeing you at the rink, wondering what you’d put me through next.”
This was bullshit, and Reese knew it. Jen was putting on a performance, and Reese wasn’t having it.
“I applaud you for being smart enough to keep these old texts and emails. I didn’t, so good on you. But the way you’re reinventing history? You’re ridiculous! You made every day miserable for me. You and your crew were always laughing and making fun of me. Making fun of my clothes, my hair, my crooked teeth. If anyone went home crying, it was me. But the main reason I was a success and you weren’t was because I was the better skater, especially with Cam at my side. And maybe you couldn’t accept that. And yes, I said some shitty things to you, but why don’t you release what you said to me? Why don’t you show people who you really are? A nasty, vengeful bitch.”
