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“Okay,” he said. “We’ll release a statement saying just that. You were a kid when this happened, that you’ve grown up since then, and you are remorseful. You’ll apologize to Jennifer and stay out of sight for a while. It will all go away.”
Reese bristled at that. “Apologize?”
“We need to make this disappear before it gets out of hand.”
“No way! I will not apologize to her!”
John frowned, deep lines forming around his mouth, and when Reese looked to Marnie and Daria, she could see they were firmly in John’s camp.
Reese’s heart picked up beats. She needed to calm herself down with the breathing exercises she’d learned in therapy. The thought of saying sorry to Jennifer Brennan made her sick. Jennifer had done everything in her power to sabotage Reese’s skating career, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that Jennifer had essentially aged out without showing more promise, they would have been rivals for years to come. Jennifer had gone on to coach young kids, and it made Reese’s blood boil. Jennifer was one of the cruelest people she’d ever known. How would she treat her students?
“You will. We will craft a response for you and find the appropriate way to deliver it to her. I’m suggesting a phone call.”
Reese sucked in a huge breath. “Call her? I haven’t seen her since we were eighteen. I don’t want to ever see or talk to her again.”
“Reese, you need to cooperate,” John said. “We need this in our rearview mirror.”
Reese popped off her chair and paced her long kitchen. The thought of hearing Jennifer’s voice, having to grovel…it made her skin crawl. How many times had the other girl left Reese in tears, crying herself to sleep and wishing the world would swallow her whole? Even when Jennifer had pushed her to the breaking point and Reese had spewed how much she’d hated her, she knew it had been wrong. But she’d been so hurt and angry. At fifteen, hormones were raging, the pressure to perform on ice was intense, and having to endure the meanest bully around didn’t help matters.
“Fine, I’ll do it,” Reese said bitterly.
John gave her a perfunctory pat on the back. “Good. This is the right thing to do. In the meantime, I want you to start going through old emails, see if you can find any evidence that Jennifer was mean to you. We’ll talk to Cam, get a statement from him and from others who know anything.”
“My mom may have kept an old phone of mine, maybe a laptop. I’ll take a look at her house. And I’ll see what I can find.”
“I’m going to hire some people who specialize in dealing with this. It may cost a few bucks. Are you okay with that?” Marnie asked.
“Whatever it takes. I want this to go away as soon as possible. I don’t want it to interfere with the launch.”
Or my reputation.
“I’ll make some calls right away.”
She could see that Marnie and John were ready to leave.
“There’s one more thing.” She bit her lower lip, pained at what she was about to say. “There is more. The few things Jennifer has provided…they’re the tip of the iceberg.”
* * *
Reese tried calling her boyfriend three times. Each time, her call went to voicemail. She knew Jordy was in the office, and surely he’d heard what had happened? Her face was all over social media. She’d gone from the Queen of the Ice to evil villain in a few hours. And right now, what she needed more than anything was a shoulder to cry on. She finally left a message asking him to call her back right away.
Her next call was to Cam. The second she heard his voice, she started to cry. She could always count on him. He’d never let her down.
“Damn, Reese. I saw it all. What was Jennifer thinking?”
“I don’t know,” Reese said, grabbing a tissue and blowing her nose. “After all this time? Holding this grudge?”
“It’s crazy. John and I talked, and he prepared a statement for me. I’ll share it on social media, and he has some interviews he wants to set up. A part of me feels responsible.”
“Responsible? You have nothing to do with it.”
He sighed heavily. “Come on, we both know she had a thing for me.”
And you had a thing for me.
“Still, it’s been more than ten years. You think she’s still pissed off that you wouldn’t go out with her? Even if that were true, why would she blame me? I didn’t stop you.”
“You know that she thinks you did.”
