“That’s great news, sir. I mean, Brandon. Thank you, so much.”
I was so happy I was grinning, and I felt like jumping up and doing a little dance. This one moment made it feel like I hadn’t completely wasted the past three years waiting.
“But,” Brandon said, pulling me out of my happy daze.
I froze and felt my heart clench in trepidation. “There’s a but?”
Of course, there is. How could this be that simple?
I had to realize something like this would happen. Of course, it was too good to be true. There had to be some kind of condition to taking the job. Then, I calmed myself down. So, what if there was a condition? It wouldn’t be something unreasonable, and I was sure I could meet just about everything. I’d looked forward to this for years, there was very little concession I wouldn’t make.
“It’s not anything that serious,” Brandon said. “It’s something everyone should be aware of already, but because you’re so much closer to the team, I have to remind you. There can’t be a conflict of interest with your job. While you’re the team’s General Manager, you can’t be in a relationship with a player on the team. With another member of the staff, it’s fine as long as you stay discreet, but nothing with a player.”
Dammit.
I knew it. I just knew it was all too good to be true. I got the idea that Dad had to be behind this. It couldn’t be a coincidence, how Howard had gotten his contract and was told to stay away from me, then the owner of the team offers me my dream job and gives a similar condition. Except, it made total sense, so there was no way to say for sure if it was a plot or not.
A lot of teams functioned that way. There was nothing wrong with dating, but dating your co-workers was discouraged in just about any profession, and this was no different.
“This isn’t going to cause any trouble for you, is it?” Brandon asked.
“Oh, no,” I said quickly. “Um, thank you so much for this opportunity, but do you think you can give me some time to think about it?”
He looked at me curiously, probably surprised I wasn’t immediately saying yes. It would probably give him some ideas, since I only hesitated after he stated the condition.
“To be honest, your dad led me to believe that you’d jump at this kind of chance. But of course, you can think about it, it’s not an ultimatum or anything. It will take time to draw up the contract as well. I’ll give you until the end of the month to get back to me. I owe your dad, but if you reject this offer, I will have to look for someone else, Zoe. I hope you understand.”
“I understand perfectly, sir.” I stood up with a nod. “Please excuse me.”
I turned around and left the office in a daze, then walked all the way back outside. He wanted a reply by the end of the month. I had to think a little, but that should give me like two weeks to consider this. I shouldn’t need that long. This was exactly what I wanted, and Brandon was right, I should have been jumping on the chance, but I just couldn’t bring myself to be happy about it.
Even though I had what I wanted right in front of me, I couldn’t reach for it because I was hesitating.
It’s because of Howard that I’m hesitating.
How could I have missed it? It wasn’t until Howard told me he loved me that everything clicked for me. Why it hurt so much to think of us not seeing each other anymore, even before I knew I was pregnant. I’d told him I was in love with him, too, and I meant it, I just couldn’t believe it took me so long to figure it out. It just made this whole thing harder, because while I wanted my dream job, and wanted Howard to keep his position on the team, I didn’t want us to be apart, either.
So, what was I going to do?
I can’t go back to the house like this.
I’d left in a mess, and now I was in a bigger mess. There was no way I could stay in the same house with Dad and Katie. The world really was determined to drive me crazy. I thought about going to one of my friends, but I didn’t want to impose. I even wanted to go to Howard, but I hadn’t told him about the baby yet, and now I was second guessing myself over it. I couldn’t tell him just yet, not before making up my own mind about my future.
Mom, if only you could be here right now...
Then, it hit me. Grandma.
I hadn’t s
een her much since Mom’s death, because she lived too far away, but we still talked regularly over the phone. I worried about her because she lived on her own, but I’d completely forgotten her after the fiasco of the past few weeks. Feeling guilty, I pulled out my phone and found a place to sit to make the call.
Chapter Thirteen
Howard
“Dude, what are you doing? You’re going the wrong way!”
“Get your head in the game!”
I groaned. I’d heard that several times already today, and we were barely half an hour into practice. I was laying under a pile of heavy football players, and the weight on my chest was making it a little hard to breath. I was grateful when they pulled away quickly, and someone, Ted, held a hand to me to help me up.
“Thanks,” I said, taking his offered hand.
I winced when I stood up, and it got me a pat on the back.
“Are you okay? That looked a bit rough, but I think you might have tripped before anyone even landed on you.”
“I’m fine.” I stretched the muscles in my body, and there didn’t seem to be anything wrong, just a bit of ache in my back from the fall. “I’m good, the guys were just heavy.”
“If you say so. Try to keep focused, though, okay? No one wants you to get injured in the middle of practice before we even get to our first game.”
I huffed out a humorless laugh. “Believe me, it’s the last thing I want, too.”
Ted ran off to retake his position in the field, and I got into position, too. I heard Calvin’s voice as he started the set, and I waited to receive the ball. My job was pretty simple. I just had to run as long as I had the ball in my hands, and I had to know who to pass it to. There was more to it than that, of course, but this much I could do subconsciously, since I’d been doing it for years.