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“I know.” I force myself to smile as I nod, to make sure Megan knows that I approve and that I’m happy for both of them. Because that’s the truth. Even though smiling is the last thing I feel like doing right now.
“Your dad told me about you and Liam.”
The words come quickly from her mouth like she’s ripping off a Band-Aid. My stomach tightens.
“First of all,” she follows up. “You’re not in trouble.”
The tension slacks a little bit. I don’t know what to say in response, so I just wait for Megan to continue.
“Your dad made me promise neither of you would get in trouble if he told me.” Her eyes become sympathetic. “The reason he told me, is that he’s feeling bad that you’ve been distant with him since he found out. He misses you, and I can see that he’s hurt by you ignoring him. He wanted me to talk with you and make you understand why these rules against players and staff becoming involved are important.”
I gnaw harder on my inner lip. A lecture about me and Liam is the absolute last thing I need right now.
“But I’m not going to do that,” Megan surprises me by continuing.
“Then …?” I question.
“Anyone with eyes can see how miserable you and Liam have been lately. It reminds me of …” she trails off, her eyes flitting up to the corner of the room, staring blankly and silently into space for a beat of time. Then, she takes a deep breath and continues. “When I got my first job on a professional team, they had the same rules. But one of the players and I fell for each other. It was the first time I was ever in love.”
Her cheeks redden, a new glint in her eyes telling me that she’s reliving cherished memories in her head. For the first time in so long, I actually feel my lips curl up into something that approximates a smile.
But my smile falters when hers does, and the look in her eyes is replaced by one of sadness.
“We had to break up when we were found out. We both would have lost our jobs. We were both just starting out on our careers, and we felt we had no other choice.” She sighs. “Things worked out fine for both of us, in the end. He has a beautiful family. And I’m happy with where I am in life right now, too. But … it took a long time for both of us to get there. I worked on the team for two more years before leaving for a promotion, and it was torture.”
Megan looks to the side, glancing at a picture on her wall as she collects her thoughts.
“It’s true that these rules do exist for a reason. But blindly following rules isn’t always right. Sometimes, things that were meant to protect people end up hurting them. And you didn’t even ask for a position on this team. You were assigned to it without your knowledge or your own choice.” Her lips perk up in a smile again. “You’ve nailed it, by the way. I’ve never even had a full-time employee who took to this job as quickly and as skillfully as you have.”
My cheeks flush. “You mean it?”
She nods, pride obvious in the motion. “I can tell from looking at the two of you lately that you and Liam really care for each other. No one can be as hurt as you two clearly are without real feelings. I know, because I’ve been there.”
She takes another deep breath. “Your dad won’t be happy about this,” she says with a laugh. “This is the exact opposite of what he wanted when he told me what was going on. But he’ll just have to get over it. Since you’re not a real employee with the social media team, just a temporary student intern, I’m going to make an executive decision and interpret that condition as only applying to full-time staff.”
A couple beats of silence pass as my mind works to absorb so much unexpected information dropped on it at once.
“Really?” I ask.
She nods. “Yes. Neither you nor Liam will run into any consequences from the administrative side of the team.”
What she leaves unsaid with those words is clear to me, however: she has no say over how my dad handles Liam under his own authority.
“Thank you, Megan,” I answer. There’s a swirling, complex concoction of emotions in my chest, but gratitude for how Megan cares about me and Liam crests above them all.
Megan nods and smiles warmly back.
But I know she’s also a woman who likes to keep the personal separate from the professional, as much as she can; so, she quickly turns her attention back on her computer screen.
“Don’t forget about that Instagram video,” she says.
I press my lips together to keep a laugh from bubbling out. “I won’t.”
Once I’m back in the hallway, though, the smile fades from my lips.
This might have been one roadblock moved out of the way of me and Liam being together. But my dad can still bench Liam if he wants to.
Just because I’m in the clear, that doesn’t mean that his future isn’t still at stake.
