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“Twenty-seven missed calls. I’d say he doesn’t want to accept your answer.”
“He doesn’t have a choice, because you were right. The choice is mine, and I choose to never be that guy ever again.”
His lips pick up in a little half smile, and he drops the phone to the bed and steps toward me.
“Tell me again,” he says.
“I’m not doing it.”
He shakes his head. “I meant, tell me again how right I am.”
I laugh. “You would focus on that part.” I grab his waist and pull him close. “You were so right. You were the most right a person on this planet has ever been. I should have listened to you before. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
He shrugs. “Pretty much.”
“Okay, so now when I’m fired, can I please still stay with you on the tour? I might be able to sell some freelance stuff if the Banana Ball bosses agree to let me stay on, that is.”
“I don’t think your editor will fire you.”
“You didn’t hear him on the phone earlier.”
“No, but when he sees that the photo he was sold is fake, he might look at the situation differently.”
“What do you mean, fake?”
“Oh, don’t you follow me on socials? I posted a blast a little while ago with the real photo.”
“What are you talking about?”
He swipes his phone and then hands it to me. I immediately see the image. It’s similar to the one my editor sent through, only this one is taken in the early morning, and instead of it being of just Will and Alan, there’s another older guy there, too, and he’s shaking Will’s hand. I read the title,Banana Ball is giving back.Clicking the text, I enlarge the piece and read.
Media manager, William Davies, and player, Alan Beaker, secure deal with Hyped, a local family-run club that will see several of its players joining club regulars in a themed celebration night. Come along and meet some of Banana Ball’s hottest new additions and help keep this local legend alive. Doors open at eight.
“How?”
“I went to give Alan a warning about the article.”
My chest tightens.
“He knows I was going to write that shit about him and Will?”
Brendan shakes his head.
“I wouldn’t do that to you. I just couldn’t bear the thought of them being blindsided the way I was. I figured they could get on the front foot, maybe.”
“I’m really sorry you didn’t get that chance,” I say, as I move around him to the bed and bring up the other photo.
Holding the blast on his phone up to the screen, I can see they’re the same image. I don’t know how I didn’t spot the fake. They’ve flipped Will around and put him in the place of this Hyped person to make it look like he’s walking out with Alan. Making it nighttime does a good job of hiding the inconsistencies, but the shadows on their faces are not quite right. It’s like they’re coming from different directions.
“You don’t think my editor knew it was fake, do you?” I ask, handing back Brendan’s phone.
“Who knows, but either way, you helped them dodge a possible lawsuit if you had written that article. At least with my photo, it was really me.”
His cheeks blush. I reach out for him, and he takes my hand and pulls me to him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t make the right choice right away,” I say, and he smiles and all the stress and worry about what happens next drifts a little away.
“You made it. That’s what matters most.”
