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My heart sinks. I don’t want to talk to anyone right now. But, of course, I grab my phone quickly in case it’s Alex. It’s unlikely since he’s training or with his coach or something. I can’t stop the anticipation from flooding my veins anyway.
“Oh!” But it’s my mother’s name across the screen. I hit the answer button quickly, desperately hoping that she has some sort of good news for me. I need something to lift me up. “Mom? Hi, how are you?”
“Riley, what on earth is going on?” The panic and stress are evident in her voice, crushing any hopes that she was going to make me feel better. “Has something happened?”
I didn’t think about this, but obviously, she’s heard something. It isn’t like I can keep my New York life a secret from her when it’s splashed all over the Internet. Shit, maybe I should have called her to warn her about this.
“I… erm…”
“This is why I’ve been worried about you, Riley. It’s so hard to be in the public eye these days, even from behind the scenes. If people take a disliking to you, then…”
“Wait, what?”
I thought she was going to tell me that she’d seen the photos of Alex and me kissing. I don’t quite know what all of thisis about. She can’t possibly know that I’m struggling with the people I work with. I haven’t said a thing about Jace and Rich, for this exact reason. She’s a worrier.
“The trolls. The comments. They’re horrible…”
She keeps on talking, but my ears have tuned out. I click onto my Internet browser, unleashing something that probably should be left hidden.
‘Eww, who is THAT? Alex could do way better?’
‘So ugly, is this some kind of PR stunt? Gross, do better, Alex. She’s a nobody.’
‘Some journalist. Sleeping around for stories.’
I can hardly stand to read them all. Sickness swirls violently around in the pit of my stomach.
“Oh my God,” I mutter as my heart thunders so hard against my rib cage that I fear it might break free. “Oh shit…”
“I take it you didn’t know any of this was going on then?” I almost forgot about Mom until she speaks a little louder, shaking me from my thoughts. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to drop this bomb on your lap, but you have to know what’s going on. Who’s the guy?”
“Alex Barrett.” It hits me that Mom doesn’t follow sports. That was a thing I shared only with Dad. “He’s a hockey player, someone I’ve been interviewing.”
“Did things happen with him?”
I deflate like a balloon, sinking down further into my seat as if I’m trying to hide away from the vile words that are attacking me. I don’t want to read anymore, but my eyes keep scanning the screen anyway.
‘We know what paper she works for, I bet we could find her and dox her.’
‘What a slut. Find her down a dark alley.’
‘I could kill her. Easily.’
How did it go from hate to threats? Every sound from outside now feels like it’s coming towards me, threatening to destroy me. My God, why would anyone want to be in the public eye? This is awful—the worst feeling in the world.
“Do you want to get a train home for a while, Riley, to stay safe? I mean, all of this might be threats at the moment, but you never know when this sort of thing will become real.” My silence must speak volumes. But truth be told, I just don’t know what to say. I never expected to end up in this mess. “The least you can do is go to the police about it all. I mean, who knows what they’ll be able to do, but you can’t just leave it.”
She’s making it worse. Mom is making my head spin out of control. I can’t even wrap my head around what she’s saying because it’s as if the foundation that I’ve been living on has been ripped away from underneath me, and I’m tumbling so hard I might never stop falling.
“I… I don’t know, Mom,” I finally just about manage to stammer out. “I need some time to think. I can’t just leave my job like that.”
“Some things are more important.”
I press my hand to my pounding head. Why is this so damn hard? As if I need anything else to make my life worse. My chest starts to feel tight. It’s like I can’t get enough air into my lungs no matter how hard I breathe.
“I can’t really be in danger, Mom. I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’ll just talk to my boss about it and see what he says.”
“Does he really care about you? Will he help you get it sorted?”
