CHAPTER 8 JOLENE

I'm nervous as I dial the number as soon as I'm back home, and I'm not even sure why.

"Finally!" Ellie answers. "What the hell is going on? I heard about the accident but neither you nor the coach are answering me, and are you okay?"

"We're both okay. But you should probably know I ended things with him."

She gasps. Loudly. "What? Why?"

"You should ask him that." I simply can't tell the story again.

"Okay, I'm on damage control. I saw the article Rivera published, and I assume it has something to do with that."

"It has everything to do with that," I admit.

"What about the podcast?"

"I picked up all your equipment. I'm still planning to expand it, but I wanted to talk to you about your client list and potentially partnering with you instead of Lincoln." The idea hits me out of nowhere and the words are out of my mouth before I even think it through.

"But it's called Coach and Correspondent: Aces Wild Vegas Style," she argues. "I'm not a coach."

"And I'm not a correspondent anymore," I point out. "So we rename and rebrand."

"To what? The publicist and the ex?"

"Too soon," I mutter. "I was thinking more like Aces Insider."

"That sounds like a porn podcast. Like the Aces are inside-her."

"Oh my God, Ellie," I say, and I can't help a giggle. "Is porn podcast a thing?"

"I don't know. Seems like they've got something for everyone, so maybe?"

"We're getting off track here. I still want to do the podcast. I want to expand it, and I'd love to work with you and maybe have a different co-host each week from the Aces," I say.

"Babe, Lincoln is your co-host. It's what your audience expects, it's how your contracts are set up, and I'm not cutting him out."

"So you're saying I should start my own?" I press.

"Did you read your contract at all before you signed it? There's a non-compete in your contract that says you can't start your own podcast for a full year after the final episode of this one publishes."

Fuck.

"Right. Okay, so I'm stuck with the podcast, and I'm stuck with Lincoln," I mutter.

"You're not stuck with the podcast. You can leave any time, but if you do, you just can't start up another one for a year."

I sigh. "This was my big plan, though, Ellie. I was going to throw everything into the podcast moving forward since I quit the station. And you're forcing me to work with him."

"And you may hate me for it now, but I have to be honest with you, Jo. It won't be now, but someday I think you'll come around and thank me for that." She pauses. "What are you doing this week?"

"I pieced together enough that we hadn't used before to make a decent episode," I say. "I scheduled it for tonight."

"Do you need me to check it over?" she asks.

"Nope."

"Then I have to go work on damage control, but I'll be in touch with your guests for the next few weeks, okay?"

I sigh. "Okay." She's right about one thing…I won't be thanking her now for forcing me to continue working with him.

My other line beeps to let me know I have another incoming call, so I say a quick goodbye and check who it is.

Marcus Dean.

I sigh as I take yet another phone call I don't want to face.

"Hi, Marcus," I answer.

"I heard about the accident. You okay?"

"I'm fine, and you should probably know why it happened," I say dryly.

"I should?" he asks. "Why?"

"Because Rivera let me know what he was planning to publish, and then I confronted Lincoln about it, and I shouldn't have gotten behind the wheel when I was as emotional as I was, but I did."

"Jesus," he mutters. "Well you should know after the article he published, I fired Rivera."

"That was all it took? An article with his name on the byline? Harassment's okay, but publish a slanderous article…"

"That's not what happened and you know it," he snaps. "We have to follow protocol and run an investigation, and as an aside, it wasn't slander. Nothing in that article was false."

"No, but it was sure good timing to use it, wasn't it? He knew he was on his way out, so he went ahead with it. He didn't care what it would do to me in the crossfire. He was hoping he could take me down even more, and he as much as admitted that to me at the office."

"When were you at the office?" he asks.

"Monday night—the night before he published it. I was picking up the rest of Ellie's recording equipment for the podcast."

"Right. Well, bring it back when you come back," he says.

"Pardon?" I say, certain I misheard him.

"We want you back, Bailey. You're the best sports reporter on our staff, and I can't run this station without you."

I grunt out a laugh. "Too little, too late, Marcus."

"Come on, Jolene," he begs. "You know you were made for this position."

"I thought I was, and for a minute, I thought the only thing I needed to hear from you was exactly what you just said—that I should come back. But you know what? I have no idea what's next for me, but I'll take the unknown over being betrayed by my boss any day. Goodbye, Marcus." I cut the call. Maybe I burned a bridge there, or maybe he will finally understand that what Rivera did to me was unacceptable.

I feel good when I hang up, but the truth is I really don't know what comes next for me. The podcast? Maybe. Or maybe I'll start up some other sort of venture. I've always thought it would be fun to write about traveling. Maybe on Jonah's breaks we can go different places and I can freelance for a while.

I do know one thing, though. If I'm working for myself, at least I won't have a boss who would do to me what Marcus did.