“Listen, I wanted to talk to you about the issue with Brooke. I just found out today, because I told Tina not to email me anything except an update report every two weeks.”
“What issue?”
“Her contract wasn’t extended.”
I sat up straight, unable to wrap my mind around that at first.
“Wait... she’s been fired?”
“That’s what I got from the report.”
“Why?”
“Haven’t spoken to Tina yet. I opened the report after the game was over.”
“I didn’t know about it.”
Graham said nothing. My heart was pounding. Why the hell didn’t Brooke say anything to me?
“Graham,
let’s talk another time. I need to call Brooke.”
“Sure.”
The second the call disconnected, I dialed her number. I got up from the bed, heading to the windows. The room at this hotel was on the twentieth floor, and they didn’t have balconies up here. I opened one of the windows, but I still felt like I wasn’t getting enough air.
Brooke didn’t answer, but I called her again, and this time, she picked up.
“Hey, sorry, I didn’t hear the phone. Great game—"
“Why didn’t you tell me they didn’t extend your contract?” I wasn’t in the mood for tiptoeing around.
“Oh... how did you find out?”
“Graham received his report.”
“Okay.”
“Brooke, babe, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I just didn’t want you to worry about this when you have so many games to focus on.”
“Fuck the games, okay? I don’t care about that, or the sponsorships. I told you I want to know when something is wrong. Is this why you didn’t want to come to the game?”
“I wasn’t feeling up to facing the team or for you to have to pick sides. And I’m also regrouping. Sending applications, stuff like that. It’s why I don’t even want to think about vacations. I also have to find another place to live.”
“What, why?”
“The apartment is going up for sale.”
“Move in with me.”
“Jace, thank you for saying that, but I don’t want you to feel pressured into this. I’ll find a solution.”
What the hell? Pressured? I’d just offered. I rested against the window, trying to cool down. I couldn’t understand what was going on and decided to ask about the facts. Maybe then I could piece things together.
“What happened?”