Fourth Down and Dirty: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (28 page)

He took a step
forward and a part of me hurt inside to see him look at me with such anger.
“I’m
set
? Do you have any fucking
idea what it took for me to get here? No, you don’t. It’s all about you, Ali.
Think of someone else for a change. I
do
know what it is like to be passed over for a promotion I’ve worked hard for.
What I don’t know is the fear of possibly losing my job. Know why? Because just
as fast as your life
started
crumbling
down, mine actually collapsed. And that was all thanks to
you
.” He pointed right at me with his index finger. The sound of
his heavy breaths filled the space between us.

“What the hell are
you talking about?” I said, face scrunching up in confusion.

That was when Hayden
went off. He went on to tell me how it was that we first met and what memory he
had of me from that period of time in his life. He told me how I had ruined
everything for him in his first career. He didn’t hold back in telling me how
hard his long bout of unemployment was and how it hurt him even after he had
managed to get back on his feet.

“So, you see,” he
said with a strange smile of satisfaction on his face, “now that your career is
starting to fall apart because of Via, I can’t help but be a little amused.
Maybe you never meant to hurt me but, guess what? Neither did I. It’s just the
way it worked out.”

The room was dead
silent.

It was minutes
after his rant, though it felt like hours, when Hayden finally walked out of my
room. Neither of us had spoken a single word to each other. I sat down and
tried to process everything that had just happened but it seemed to be an
impossible task.

My headache had
gotten worse so I took a sleeping pill and crawled into bed. There was nothing
left for me to do.
 

Hayden walked into
the hotel lobby and looked around for a place to sit. He wanted it to be
somewhere where he could make sure I wouldn’t miss him. He looked around and
found a nice, comfortable chair right in the middle of the lobby near the
elevators. He walked over to it with his hands shoved in his pockets, a smug
look on his face. In his mind I was finally getting what I deserved.

Hearing me screech
at him about my job had awoken all his feelings from the past. Hayden sat down
and waited while trying to figure out what position to sit in that would give
him a look of casual confidence. He kept looking out for signs of me to show
up. He didn’t wait long. He smirked when he saw me in the distance, exiting
from the door of the stairwell. It was show time. He pulled out his cell phone
and pressed the “call” icon under the number he had already prepared.

"Hello, it’s
Hayden Dunn.” He paused and chuckled before saying, “I’m great, thanks. I’m
actually calling you regarding the advertisement for Mind Lash. I just wanted
to do a quick check-in. What do you have so far?" Hayden spoke loudly
enough to be overheard, but not so loud he would get ugly stares. "Oh,
that sounds great. You know, I was also thinking we should go even
bigger," he proposed. "Yes, that’s what I’m talking about!
Advertising on a major scale is definitely the way to go. I’m glad you’re
looking into it already. So where would those billboards be?"

As Hayden continued
with his call, I stopped and stared towards him. I had walked in to my hotel
lobby thinking about what was becoming of my life. I knew I needed a plan or at
least to know what my next step was. However, as I walked in and looked towards
the elevators, my eyes landed on him and put a stop to my thoughts. There he
was, smug as ever and speaking rather loudly.

 
I couldn’t believe he was there yet again. He
wasn’t even staying at this hotel so what else could he be doing there other
than waiting for me? I rolled my eyes and walked directly towards him.
Hopefully he had come to his senses and wanted to work something out, but I
doubted it. As I stopped in front of him I couldn’t believe what I heard.

"Make sure to
get those TV commercials lined up. I don't want anything going wrong or we will
never be able to work with KTSF with dignity again. Oh they're going to tie
them with deals on the Internet as well? That’s a great idea," Hayden
wanted to make sure that I heard every single wonderful thing about Mind Lash
and his life.

I tried to stop
him once and now he was going to make sure to rub salt on the wound. Seeing me
there with that stone face listening to his conversation gave him a
gratification not much else could. He wished he could read my mind right then.

"We should
have the billboards up in Las Vegas and Times Square go up around the same time
the deals with those three big chains of game stores is announced. That would
be smart.” He paused and nodded his head, listening to whatever the other
person was telling him. “Yes, that is how you work the magic! I want Via Mace’s
picture e-very-where!” He broke down the last word and stared directly at me,
the corners of his mouth slightly curling up into an unkind smile. “Mind Lash
will be on everyone’s mind."

I couldn’t believe
what I was hearing, or rather tuning into seeing as how he was very clearly
having this conversation for my benefit. How was I going to stop my life from
falling apart if this man seemed determined to destroy it? Were billboards, TV
commercials, and Internet ads on such a large scale all that necessary? All the
media exposure so far had been bad enough, I couldn’t even imagine what it
would be like if he got his way. All that was going through my mind was how I
could possibly compete with all of that while keeping my reputation intact.

I could feel the
anger flush my cheeks red. I was going to give him a piece of my mind. How dare
he come to my hotel and wait for me just so I could hear this conversation? He
was taking this too far. He was enjoying it too much. I couldn’t believe I
admitted to myself that I had feelings for him. How could somebody be that
vindictive? I wanted to slap him as he looked at me with that cocky smirk,
boasting of arrogance and eyeing me from head to toe.

Slapping him
wasn’t the answer. I wanted to turn around and walk away, but for some reason I
couldn’t. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction I knew he was looking for
with this gross display, but I was rooted to the spot. While all of these thoughts
flooded my mind, his conversation carried on and all I wanted was for it to
end. All of it.

"That all
sounds great." Hayden went on. "I want this game to be the biggest of
the century. With its current traction, it
will
be. Alright. Keep me posted.” As Hayden ended his call, he stood up and looked
directly at me. He could see my cheeks were flushed and that alone gave him an
even greater sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. He wanted to bask in all
of his glory right in front of me. Just as he opened his mouth to give me a
snarky hello a phone rang. He closed his mouth and waited for the ringing to
stop.

We were both
staring at each other and I didn’t want to break the eye contact, but the phone
ringing was mine. I looked away from him to reach in to my purse and pull it
out. It was my boss. My stomach sank. This was the last thing I needed.

"This is
Ali," I answered, hoping it would be a quick call. My blood had been
boiling while I listened to Hayden. I had been ready to give him an ear full,
but that would have to be placed on the backburner for now. My stomach was
churning with a mixture of rage and anxiety. "Is everything okay?” I
paused as I listened to my boss. My eyes went wide. “Wait, what?” I practically
shrieked right there in the lobby. “What do you mean?"

I felt like I had
been slapped in the face for the second time that day. My boss called to let me
know I didn’t need to come back to work– at all. I didn’t know what in the hell
was going on. Sure they had asked me to take some time off, but I figured it
was to give the whole Via Mace debacle time to blow over or until they figured
out a way to deal with it. This was unexpected. It was a moment I had feared,
but I never expected it to actually happen. I knew Hayden was studying my every
move. I didn’t want to give him anymore reasons to gloat at my expense.

There was a longer
pause during which my boss droned on and on, but it only incited me more. I was
done. I had lost my job and everything I worked for. So I was also done trying
to remain calm and show respect. My ex-boss would get what was coming to him,
as would everyone else who had aided in the collapse of my life.

"Vacation?!”
I shrieked. “This was not something I up and decided to do! You asked me to
step away for a bit so I don't know why all of a sudden it became something
you’re claiming was 'without proper notification'!" I couldn’t help it any
longer, so I let it out. I was fed up with everyone pointing fingers at me as
if my life was fine and dandy at the moment. "This was
YOUR
idea! You said the–" I stopped
abruptly.

I saw the edges of
Hayden's lips starting to curl and I wasn’t about to say the words I was sure
he was hoping to hear.
Bastard
, I
thought.

As my boss continued
on the other end, essentially firing me for something he himself asked of me, I
really couldn’t control myself any longer. I didn’t care if that smug bastard
was right in front of me. What else could I really lose at this point?

"I have
worked so hard for you, trying to prove myself, and something like this, that I
had no idea was happening nor had any control over, comes along and this is
what I get? You say 'Hey take a bit of an extended vacation' or whatever it was
you told me and all of a sudden you dump me like a pile of shit?! You are the
smarmiest, most fucked up person I can think of! And believe me when I say I’ve
been around a scumbag as of late, but you still take the cake. I don't even
know how I ever admired or respected you!" I felt my face red-hot. I was
shaking but I didn’t care.

"You know
what you ass, you can take your shitty job and shove it right up your cheap
suit wearing ass! I'm glad I no longer have to work for such a lowly and
deceiving piece of shit excuse for a human being like yourself!"

 
I couldn’t believe that I had just been fired.
I had accepted the "leave" because I wanted to fix things so badly. I
even traveled halfway across the world to figure something out with the man who
essentially ruined my life. And now I just didn’t know what to do. I was lost.
My eyes went blank.

This wasn’t the way Hayden thought his revenge would go. It
isn’t like what he had heard wasn’t something that interested him. I had just
gotten fired after all and that was a good start; however, something was off.
As he had stood there and listened to my conversation with my boss he couldn’t
help feeling something more, something other than gratification at my life
starting to crumble. His eyes traced across my face as I tried my best to clench
back a tear. His smirk had faded away and now he was looking at me with
concern.

Was the guilt crawling back in again? He paused, but
realized it wasn’t
only
that. Hayden
took a second and realized that it was a positive feeling as well. Hearing how I
confronted my boss and let him have it made him admire me, much to his
surprise. He had done his best to bury any feelings he had for me once he
realized who I was, but this act of raw emotion had stirred it all up again.
What he loved about me was coming together with what he loved about Via. He
couldn’t ignore it and it made him panic for a second. He looked at me and felt
a sincere smile starting to form.

I was red all over and shaking yet my eyes were glued to one
spot. He could feel the anger radiating from me. Hayden shook his head. He felt
conflicted. He felt that rush of passion and gush of feelings for me. I seemed
to have a lot of Via in me at that moment, but was that enough to overpower
years of resentment towards me?

"This can't be," Hayden whispered to himself. He
wanted me to pay for the humiliation I had made him go through. How could he
have such strong feelings for someone who, at one point, made his life so
miserable?

Even if
he
could
get past that, he couldn’t see how
I
could possibly get over everything that had happened between us. After all, his
game had pretty much destroyed my career and reputation. And he hadn’t been the
least bit sympathetic or helpful to my situation.

Thinking about that stung him with pain. He felt so mixed up
inside. On one hand, the cut-throat-businessman inside of him smiled at
screwing me over. But there was a deeper feeling he had bubbling up inside of
him. He hated seeing me in pain and the thing that terrified him the most was
that
he
had caused it.

 
At that moment his
thoughts were interrupted by an angry voice.