by Leslie North
“Well, I don’t know,” she answered sweetly, “depends on what you mean.”
“I’m curious if you could give us some insight into how you're feeling right about now? Must be a bit of a head-turner, standing up here next to such a well-known name on the circuit.”
“Who, Nate?” she laughed, noting the way he stiffened and paying it no mind.
“Sure, Mr. Nate Grant. Surely you must know—”
“What a big deal he is? If that’s where you’re going with this, then I should probably let you know that the two of us go way back,” Nate interrupted.
“Do you now?” the reporter asked, clearly surprised. His fellow reporters began whispering amongst themselves excitedly, as if this was the most revolutionary thing they had ever heard. It was something in Nate’s tone, in the way he said it. Everyone knew they had grown up in the same town. That was no kind of news at all. But the way Nate made it sound now, it was as if there was a whole other kind of history between them. The kind that wound up on the cover of entertainment magazines.
“We do,” Nate agreed, shooting Athena a sideways glance as he spoke. It was only the smallest gesture and Athena doubted very much that anyone else noticed it, but she sure did. It was the kind of look that made it plain that he didn’t enjoy being surprised; not by anything and certainly not by the way she was taking over this interview. Unfortunately for him, Athena didn’t intend to be any less surprising in the foreseeable future.
“We’ve known each other since we were little kids,” Athena confirmed, “you guys all know that. Although it’s been quite some time since we’ve seen each other. We were always plenty competitive with each other, only he went away before we could really put things to the test.”
“Is that so, Mr. Grant?” the fat reporter asked, practically eating out of the palm of Athena’s hand now.
“It is,” he answered, his jaw tightening ever so slightly.
“And now we’re going to get our chance to set the record straight, once and for all,” Athena finished, gripping Nate’s arm just a little tighter. “Don’t you just love it when things come full circle?”
“I must confess, I dearly do,” the reporter answered, his comrades nodding in agreement, “but what about you, Nate? Are you enjoying this outcome as much as…”
“Athena,” she reminded him, trying not to bristle at how easily her name was forgotten by these people, “Athena Moore.”
“Right. How do you feel about the serendipitous nature of the match-up?”
“It’s all in good fun, you know? That being said, I don’t intend to lose. Not now, and not anytime soon.”
This was met by a rousing round of cheers from the press people and a chain of flashbulbs going off as if on cue. Athena turned to Nate and wrapped him in a hug that would surely grab the attention of anyone watching. She rose up onto the tips of her toes, cupped her hand, and put it flush against his ear.
“Guess what, Nate Grant? I don’t intend to lose anytime soon, either.”
5
“Nate, my boy! Glad to have you. What’s your poison?”
Nate offered Gus, the bartender, a half-hearted wave, then he requested a beer and settled himself on a barstool. He made sure to choose the one against the wall, furthest from the entrance. Despite his success, despite all of the fanfare, he didn't feel much like celebrating.
Truth be told, he thought the fanfare was part of the problem. There had been less of it than he had been expecting. Now that he was off the stage, away from the gaggle of reporters, he couldn't help thinking that there was less of an overflow of excitement for his sake than he had been expecting. He was used to being hounded after things like these, borderline stalked by both reporters and fans who couldn't get enough, and that wasn't happening for him now.
“Stupid, man,” he whispered to himself, “you’re being stupid.”
“What’s that, Nate?” Gus asked with a wry smile, setting a beer down on the counter and looking at Nate with amusement. Nate shrugged. He wasn’t feeling a lot like having a conversation, especially not with someone who saw through people’s bullshit for a living. Gus wasn’t the kind of man to take no for an answer, though, and Nate knew it. What he didn’t know was the answer to what was really bothering him.
“Nothing, Gus. Nothing at all. Just giving myself a little talking to.”
“Anything to eat while you do it?” Gus asked, that damned smile still playing at the corners of his mouth.
“I wouldn’t say no to a plate of nachos,” Nate answered, hunching over his beer.
"And you certainly do sound excited about it too," Gus laughed. He laughed hard this time, slapping his knee like it was the best joke he'd ever heard. Part of Nate was annoyed by it, but Gus had one of those infectious laughs that was hard to resist, and Nate couldn't help but smile. Gus stopped laughing when he saw it, pulling a towel out from beneath the bar and going to work on a mess that was best described as a losing battle.
“There you go, Nate. That’s better. That smile is what I like to see. You’re the conquering hero, my boy. Did you forget that?”
“Nah, I didn’t forget anything, Gus. It’s just a little weird being back here, that’s—"
His words were cut off neatly by the sound of many voices coming from just outside of the bar. Nate sat up straighter, already beginning to feel like the world’s biggest fool. The town’s people, his town's people, were coming to see him after all. Apparently, they just hadn't gotten there fast enough to suit his tastes. And had he really become so reliant on the praise of others? He didn't like to think so, but it was looking a lot that way, and he felt hot shame wash over him at the very notion. It was something worth exploring, maybe, at a later date. For now, though, it was time to play things up for the fans. Fortunately for Nate, that was something he never had any trouble doing at all.
"Gus, my man! You see this pretty lady here?" Norman, one of the town's more frequent bar guests, hollered into the room. He stood squarely in the open doorway and Nate had to squint through the intruding rays of the sun, but there was no doubt as to who he had standing beside him. It was Athena, looking slightly uncomfortable with a flushed face and a sheepish grin.
“I do indeed,” Gus called back loudly.
Behind Norman and Athena, Nate saw a crowd of people that looked to be steadily growing. It was no wonder the bar had looked so damned empty when he walked in. Nearly half the town had been following Athena around.
“Well, I want you to pour her a round of the finest thing you’ve got back there. None of the crap you serve the rest of us, I mean the really fine stuff. And I want you to keep them coming, you hear me? Keep ‘em coming for as long as she wants them.”
Athena gave a little curtsy and laughed as she, Norman, and the whole lot of them came streaming into the bar. Nate watched their progress for a moment, slack-jawed and uncomprehending, before turning back to his beer.
For a moment, he couldn’t identify the feeling rising up inside of him. When he realized what it was, his entire body felt flushed.
It was anger. He was angry at Athena, angry at the way this thing was playing out. There was the uncomfortable notion that it was because she was getting the attention he was so accustomed to having to himself. He didn't think of himself as a particularly jealous guy, and he didn't like to consider that he might really be that shallow.
Upon further inspection, he was pretty sure it was more than just jealousy. It was the lie, or rather the lie by omission. She hadn’t even mentioned that she’d been part of the competition, so he’d been totally blindsided by the announcement of her name. He didn't like being caught off guard, and that was most certainly what had gone on here. And it was because of her, because of a decision she had made. The two of them had spent enough time around each other since he'd been back for her to have told him something, given him some kind of a heads-up. Instead, she had left him in the dark, and it wasn't exactly sitting well with him.
“Hey, where are you g
oing, sugar? We want to drink with the champion!” Gus’s voice rang out over the abrupt cacophony of noise, causing Nate to look away from his beer despite his intention to stay out of their celebration. At the moment, he wasn’t in a celebratory mood. What he saw was Athena, headed purposefully in his direction.
“Wonderful,” he muttered under his breath, taking a big swig from his beer and wiping the foam off with the back of his hand. As he set the glass down, Athena slid onto the stool next to his.
“Hey,” she said, leaning over and nudging him in the shoulder. Gus brought her a tall glass of beer and nodded at them both, giving Nate a warning look before walking away again.
“Hey yourself,” he answered, looking steadily forward.
"You disappeared kind of quickly, Nate. Is everything okay?" she asked. There was a tremble in her voice he hadn't heard before, and it was enough to break his resolve. He glanced in her direction and saw that she was tapping her foot nervously. It was almost enough to melt away his anger. Almost, but not quite.
“Sure, okay. I guess you could say that.”
“So,” she answered slowly, the first hint of annoyance entering her own voice, “clearly not. What is it, Nate? What’s eating you?”
“You could have told me, that’s all. You didn’t have to leave me to be shocked right along with the rest of the community. Seems like a pretty simple courtesy to extend, but hey, that’s just me.”
“Are you serious right now?” she asked incredulously, “You’re actually mad at me?”
"I'm not thrilled with the situation, no. Can't say that I am," Nate answered, keeping his voice clipped and to the point. He didn't like the idea of losing control of his temper with her, and he had a feeling that he might if he wasn't careful.
"That's completely unreasonable; you know that right?" she said quickly. It didn't take a genius to see that she was well on her way to pissed off now too. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why though.
“No, actually, I don’t. I don’t think it’s so much to ask for you to keep me in the loop. Seems like the least you could do, seeing as we’re friends and all.”
“Okay, hold on just one minute. For starters, I would appreciate it if you would look at me if you’re going to accuse me of things. Speaking of ‘the least a person can do.’”
Her tone surprised Nate into doing exactly what she was asking for. What he saw was enough to make him feel like he’d been hit by a ton of bricks. In her anger, and she was obviously pissed, she was undeniably beautiful. Her green eyes were flashing fire, her cheeks flushed and full of life. It was almost enough to make him want to back down completely.
"All right, that's better. Now, I'm going to tell you something I think you already know, but it seems to me that you've forgotten."
“What’s that?” he asked, doing his best not to stare.
“I wasn’t allowed to tell you about being in that competition. I wasn’t allowed to discuss it with anyone, not even my family. It was one of the stipulations of signing up. The sponsor set that up, I guess to make things more interesting. You know that, don’t you?”
He did. In his surprise and subsequent righteous anger, he had forgotten, but he remembered the rule now perfectly. He’d even been a fan of it. There was a certain level of exciting showmanship in the idea of keeping everything so secretive. It had never occurred to him that it might come back to bite him in the ass.
“Fine, that’s true, but you could have made an exception,” he insisted, bound and determined to stick to his point whether or not it made a whole lot of sense.
“Are you kidding me?” she asked, rolling her eyes and shaking her head in disgust, “Why on earth would I do that? Why would I endanger my career that way?”
“Because, we’re friends, Athena. We go way back. That’s what friends do. They help each other out,” he answered, understanding how weak the words sounded even as they left his mouth. She sighed and took a long sip of her beer before moving her stool closer and angling her body towards him, leaning in close.
"Nate," she said gently, "we're not friends. Not really. We may have been back in the day, but that was a long time ago."
“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?” he asked, rather lamely, if he did say so himself.
“No, honestly, I don’t. It’s not like you’ve used any of your success or influence to help me out with my career, right?”
“No, but—” he started, his face growing hot with embarrassment.
“No,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken, “you haven’t. And that’s okay. I don’t hold it against you. But if it’s all right for you to do what you think is best for your career, then I need to be able to do what’s best for mine without worrying that it might hurt your feelings. You have to see the logic in that, right?”
“I... I guess I didn’t look at it that way,” he said sheepishly.
"And you have everything going for you," she continued, "you have a good family name, an established career, and you're a man. The way things are for you, at least now, you've got it made. Winning this competition, this is a lucky break for me. This might be the only big break I get, and I'm going to take it."
“That makes sense,” he said quietly. It was a stupid answer, not nearly enough considering everything she had just said, but it was also the only thing he could come up with.
“What’s more,” she continued, really on her soapbox now, “if you were really my friend, you would be happy for me. You would recognize that this is a big deal for me and you would be supportive. That’s what friends do.”
Nate sat stock-still, trying to figure out the best way to eat crow. He hated being wrong, hated losing an argument, but there was no denying that she was right. He was about to bite the bullet and tell her that when his phone buzzed on the bartop. He grabbed it, grateful for the distraction. While Athena looked on, clearly exasperated, he read one of the more surprising emails he’d ever gotten from his agent.
“What?” Athena asked, responding to the expression on his face, “What’s the matter?”
"Well, I wouldn't exactly say something's the matter. I think it falls under the heading of another lucky break, if you want to know my opinion on the matter."
"Okay, what is it? Spare me the fanfare and tell me what we're talking about here," she answered. She sounded annoyed, but she couldn't hide the excitement on her face. It was a good look on her, and it made it hard for him not to get excited about it too.
"I just got an email from my manager. Apparently, people loved the ‘spark' between you and me with those reporters."
“The spark, huh?” Athena asked dryly, a small smile on her face, “Is that what they’re calling it?”
“It is, and they want to capitalize on it. Looks like they want us to take this thing to social media. Some kind of a reality-TV thing, to play up the rivalry.”
“Are you kidding me? Why would we want to do a thing like that? It makes us seem like a joke, doesn’t it?” Athena asked, disgusted by the prospect. Nate raised an eyebrow, folding his arms over his chest.
"Better be careful, darlin. You were the one talking about a leg up, right? A lucky break?"
“Yes, but—”
“But nothing. The kind of free exposure this could give you, it could be a game changer. Either you want the recognition, or you don’t. And if you don’t, maybe it’s time for you to ask yourself how much you really want this thing.”
“Point taken,” she answered grimly. “I’m in.”
6
"Come on, Gretta! You’ve gotta hold that thing like you mean it! Remember, you're the one in charge when you're in this ring. In charge of the rope and in charge of everything else too. You keep that one rule straight, and you'll be good as gold."
Athena stood a few paces away from her girls, watching Nate with hands on hips. The camera crews were in the barn today, and they were all but impossible to ignore. Everyone and their mother, Nate included, had promised her that the camera cre
ws, producers, and the rest of the staff with them wouldn't get in the way. In reality, they had only been in the barn for fifteen minutes, and they were already getting in the way.
“Well, now, pretty boy really does eat this stuff up, doesn’t he?” Shelly asked, coming up next to Athena and mimicking her posture.
“What, the attention? He really does seem to, doesn’t he?” she agreed distractedly.
Nate was definitely turning on the charm, there was no doubt about that. The girls clearly loved him, with Gretta currently beaming in the spotlight of his attention. He was all laughs and had everyone laughing along with him, with one glaring and notable exception. He had hardly said a single word to Athena.
Once again, he was treating her like she had the plague or something. He was acting like even getting near her was going to contaminate him. It was almost funny, how annoyed and frustrated she was by it. Or at least it would have been funny if it hadn't been so damn annoying.
She had thought the two of them were past this. Sitting next to each other in Gus’s Tavern, they had hashed it out and, she had thought, parted ways as friends. Now, he was acting like that conversation had never taken place. He had a smile and a word for everyone in the barn except for her. She might as well have been a ghost.
“Well, nuts to that,” she muttered to herself, shoving her hands in her pockets and walking out to where he was still working with Gretta.