Hearts Penalty

by A. M. Williams

  I gestured to the paperwork scattered over my desk. “It seems I’ve let myself slack off too much, so I’m trying to get back on track before we travel next week.”

  Bill nodded. “Smart. You’ve never been one to let it get this bad though…”

  He tapered off at the end and my spine stiffened at his implication. “We all go through cycles. My attention was elsewhere, but I’m one-hundred percent focused on this now.”

  Bill was quiet for a few beats before saying, “Good. I’ll be honest. I’d noticed some other areas where things didn’t seem like they were up to par and that’s another reason I wanted to come down and talk to you.”

  I put my pen down and forced myself to remain calm. Just because Bill was here talking to me didn’t mean shit. He was the owner, and he had the right to express any concerns he had with me.

  “Oh? What’s up?”

  Bill sighed and tapped a finger against his lips. “You’ve been distracted. Your desk proves it and I’ve popped in for a few practices and I’ve seen it myself.”

  My hackles were rising. Yes, I’d been a little more distracted than usual with paperwork, but that hadn’t impacted my coaching ability in the slightest.

  “What specifically are you referring to?” I asked slowly, not wanting to assume and jump to conclusions.

  Bill laced his fingers together over his stomach and said, “Your coaching, while still great, isn’t packing the same punch it used to. I’m thinking I need to make some changes. I know it’s unprecedented, but I’m debating having Dax named head offensive coach with you. I’m sure the two of you can figure out a way to make that work, right?”

  My mouth dried. What the hell was Bill talking about? Two head offensive coaches? Talk about having too many cocks in the henhouse. Unless we agreed on everything, which was unlikely, that was asking for disaster.

  “Why would you want to do that?” I asked after I’d sipped from my water. “As far as I’m aware, the players haven’t had any issues with the way I’ve been coaching. I don’t see how adding another head coach to the mix will solve anything. I’d rather you tell me what you perceive the issues to be so I can address them myself.”

  “That’s just it. I’m not sure you can address them.”

  I felt like someone had slapped me. Bill and I had always had a good working relationship. I’d worked for him my entire tenure with the team and we’d always gotten along well. He deferred to me on almost all decisions with the team offensively unless Coach Mills got involved, and there was virtually no tension between us.

  Our working relationship was very good.

  So why was he in my office? And why was there a gaping pit in my stomach?

  I stared at Bill and tried to figure out what to say or do with what he was telling me.

  “Should I be worried about my job?” I finally choked out. It was the only thing that worried me at this point.

  I waited for him to smile and tell me I was fine. I had another two years on my contract after all. To release me early would mean he’d have to pay through the nose on top of what I was already making.

  He finally smiled, but it wasn’t a nice smile. It sent a shiver down my spine. “We’ll see what the future holds. How’s that sound?”

  He didn’t give me the chance to respond. He stood and immediately left my office. I gaped after him.

  Once he was gone, I felt like I could finally breathe, but it wasn’t helpful. I gripped the edges of my desk as I tried to control the gasps of air I was sucking in.

  I’d worked damn hard to get to where I was and I couldn’t believe that it was being threatened.

  And to be honest, I didn’t even know why it was being threatened. It didn’t make any sense to me.

  I wheezed and tried to get myself under control. Losing it in my office wouldn’t fix anything. I could hold it together until this had passed, because it would.

  I looked at the pile of papers on my desk I had to get through. I knew I needed to get it done that night, but after that encounter, there was no way I was staying.

  If Bill was looking to scare me, he was doing a good job.

  I organized the piles on my desk as best I could before grabbing my things and leaving.

  The entire drive home, I turned the conversation over in my mind, trying to tease anything that I was missing from it. There had to be something else to his sudden change.

  As I was unlocking my door, my phone rang. I pulled it out, and it was Dax. I sighed and considered not answering, but I had a feeling that if I didn’t answer, he was likely to come looking for me. I wasn’t sure I could face him just yet.

  “Hey,” I said flatly, kicking my door closed and throwing the deadbolt.

  “Are you just getting home?”

  “Yeah.” I dumped my things on the floor by the front door, not caring if it spilled or anything. Wine was on my mind at this point. A whole bottle of it.

  “Why were you there so late?”

  “Paperwork.”

  Silence stretched between us and I used the break to put my phone on speaker before grabbing everything I needed to pour myself a glass of wine.

  “Why do I get the feeling something is wrong?” Dax finally asked.

  I snorted and shook my head. “What gave you that idea?”

  “Well, your sarcasm is a shining light,” he said flatly. “What the fuck happened between when I left the stadium and now?”

  I pursed my lips as I swirled my now full wine glass in my hands. Should I just tell him? Would it solve anything? Or would it only make it worse?

  I sighed and set my glass down. I gripped the edge of the counter tightly and leaned over, blowing out a loud breath before saying, “Bill came to see me.”

  Dax said nothing at first until he asked, “What’d he want?”

  “He commented on how I’ve been distracted and essentially not on my A-game.”

  Dax was again silent. “What did you say?”

  I shrugged even though Dax couldn’t see me and picked up my glass. “What is there to say?”

  “That he’s full of shit.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, let me insult the owner of the team I work for. Real smart.”

  Dax blew a loud breath out on his end. I could almost see the look of frustration on his face. “What are you going to do?”

  “Be pragmatic.”

  Until I said the words, I didn’t know how true they were. I was going to be pragmatic. I needed to get ahead of whatever it was that Bill wanted to happen. If I wasn’t, then I’d be caught with my pants down. And I wasn’t going to be caught like that.

  “What’s that mean?”

  “That’s for me to know and you to find out.” I wasn’t trying to be evasive, but I also didn’t want to say too much until I had a plan in place.

  “Pru, talk to me.”

  I sipped my wine. “Dax, I’m going to go. I need to think and calm down, though I’m not sure that’s going to happen, even with the large ass glass of wine I’m debating chugging. I’ll text you later.”

  Without waiting for him to respond, I hung up on him and immediately powered my phone down.

  I felt bad for my dismissal of him, but this was something that I needed to figure out for myself.

  Like I told him, I was going to be pragmatic and that meant figuring out my next steps for a variety of possibilities. I wanted to just assume that Bill was looking to oust me, even though he assured me that wasn’t the case, and that I would need to find a job.

  Maybe coaching for the national women’s team would pan out, maybe it wouldn’t. Either way, I needed a plan of action.

  First was putting some feelers out to see what was open or coming open soon.

  The thought of leaving my team and my players sent a stab of pain through me, but I had to think of this objectively and plan for the worst. Even if that meant uprooting myself.

  10

  The pressure was on. Except no one but me, Bill, and Dax knew it. Bill had spoken to me
a few more times about his feelings about how I was coaching and I had a feeling that any day now the axe was coming.

  I was jittery and putting too much pressure on the others around me, especially the players. They’d picked up on my tension quickly and had taken to avoiding me on the pitch. I didn’t blame them. I’d avoid me too.

  They were close to the breaking point, and I knew that something had to give. Either I needed to take some time off, or I just needed to quit.

  Once I had the second part of that thought, I wondered if that wasn’t what Bill was aiming for. If he ended my contract, he had to pay me a lot of money. But if I quit and dissolved it early, he didn’t have to pay a penny.

  That was the first thing to give me pause since our initial conversation.

  Once I thought about it, I realized just how much sense it made. It made more than enough sense, actually.

  If he was serious about adding Dax to the staff as a co-head offense coach, that meant he probably wanted him as the full head coach, eventually. The only way that would happen soon would be if I left first, and then eventually Coach Mills followed me.

  It was at that point that I resolved to wait him out, even if he made Dax into a head coach with me. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of leaving.

  My phone beeped, and I checked it to see an urgent email. My brows rose as I read the subject line.

  I looked up and found Dax, jerking my head to get him to come to me.

  “Everything okay?” he asked.

  I nodded, my eyes back on my phone screen. “Yeah, I just need to run to my office real quick. You good taking over?”

  Dax nodded and studied me. I could tell he wanted to ask me what was going on, but I didn’t give him a chance to voice anything. I turned and hurried to my office, shutting and locking the door behind me. I didn’t want someone coming to see me in here.

  I wiggled my mouse and woke the computer up, typing my password in quickly and opening my email.

  My right leg was jiggling as I waited for everything to load. Once it was up, I clicked on the email and quickly read through it. At the end, I sucked in a deep breath before blowing it back out and going back to the beginning.

  I read through it again, slower this time, taking in everything that was written there and making sure I understood what it was.

  It was a job offer to coach the National Women’s team. I would be the head coach and have autonomy over my coaching staff. They had several openings, and I could fill them as I saw fit.

  My heart sped up as I realized what this meant. It didn’t matter if I left before Bill ousted me or not. I had a job lined up, and they were ready for me to start as soon as I could, even if it was at the end of this season.

  I sat back in my chair and realized that I was shaking. Everything I’d ever wanted—besides playing professionally—was happening now. This was it. This was what I wanted and what I’d been working towards.

  I leaned forward again and clicked on the attachment, a preliminary contract that would bind me to them while we went through contract negotiations.

  My hands shook as I clicked print and waited for the paper to spit out.

  Once the printer stopped, I grabbed the paper, read through it quickly, and signed at the bottom before laying it on my scanner and saving it to my computer. I then uploaded it and sent it off to the National Committee.

  I blew out a shaky breath as I saw the notification that it had sent.

  Holy. Shit.

  I’d just been hired as the National Women’s Soccer Team coach.

  With that realization, I also realized that I didn’t have to stay.

  I thought about the players and felt bad that I wasn’t going to stay. I briefly debated sticking around, but then I thought about Bill and what he was trying to do. I knew I couldn’t. My staying wouldn’t make anything better. In fact, it would probably just get worse.

  I clicked into a word processing document and typed up a quick resignation letter, putting a date thirty days out so we could have a hand over from me to whoever took my spot, most likely Dax.

  As I waited for it to print, I realized that it was unlikely I’d continue working out those last thirty days. Bill would likely kick me to the curb once this was in his hands.

  After signing my resignation letter, I stared at it, my eyes not even seeing the words in front of my face. I was instead thinking about the years I’d worked for the Lions, how I’d started as an intern, then an assistant coach, then head of offense.

  I’d worked my ass off for this organization for years. Until pressed, I hadn’t considered going anywhere else.

  But here I was, about to hand my resignation in. It was the end of an era, that was for sure.

  I blew out a shaky breath as I grabbed an envelope and stuffed my resignation in it.

  I stood and smoothed a hand over my polo and then my hair.

  There was no time like the present. I knew Bill was at the stadium because I’d seen him earlier, so it was just a matter of finding him.

  I unlocked my office door and stepped into the hall. To my right, I could faintly hear the players on the field as they played a scrimmage. There was a chance Bill would be there.

  I turned that way and walked back to the field. As I stepped back onto the pitch, it took several moments for my eyes to adjust to the glare of the sun.

  I looked around at everyone. My eyes immediately found Dax on the sidelines, staring at the players. I then saw Coach Mills and Robin standing beside one striker whose foot Robin was taping up.

  Next to them? Bill.

  Well. In for a penny, in for a pound. I blew out a breath as I walked toward Bill.

  The sounds of the guys on the field faded the closer I drew to Bill. I was almost on him when he glanced my way and saw me. His brows rose as he looked me over.

  I was sure I had an interesting look on my face. Once I was close enough, I handed him the envelope. “What’s this?” he asked, sliding a finger under the flap.

  I remained quiet as he pulled the letter out and read it.

  He froze as he realized what he was reading before snapping his eyes to me. “Is this really what I think it is?”

  I nodded. Our gazes clashed, and we had a battle of wills.

  “What is it?” Robin asked from my right.

  I glanced her way and saw that she and Coach Mills were both staring at me. Slowly, I realized that the game had stopped and not only were they staring at me, but the entire team and coaching staff was as well.

  I glanced around and found Dax, who was staring at me with concern in his eyes. “Everything okay?” he mouthed. I gave a jerky nod.

  “That’s my resignation letter.”

  My words set off a bomb. Players and coaches both started talking. I looked around and saw that many of the players looked upset and the coaches didn’t look much better. A twinge of regret worked its way into my chest as I realized that I wasn’t just leaving Bill and his toxic environment behind, I was leaving a tribe of people I considered my friends.

  I held a hand up, and people slowly stopped talking.

  Once they were quiet, I said, “I hadn’t planned to leave so quickly, but I knew today was the best day for it. In one month, I’ll have my last day.”

  Bill snorted while someone asked, “What’ll you do after?”

  A smile spread across my face. “You’re looking at the new head coach of the Women’s National team.”

  It was like the world stopped at that moment. No one moved or made a sound until suddenly the noise was deafening. I was pulled into someone’s arms and hoisted in the air. I looked down and saw that it was Dax. “Are you fucking serious?” he asked.

  I nodded. “Yeah, I am. And I want to talk to you about a job.”

  He smirked. “I think I can pencil you in.”

  Before I could say anything else, players and coaches were coming up to me, hugging me and shaking my hand. Throughout, Dax stayed at my side until the only person who hadn’t come t
o congratulate me was Bill, who was standing to the side looking like he’d sucked on a lemon.

  Everyone quieted as they watched the stare down between the two of us.

  “You don’t need to finish your thirty days. Coach Stephens can take over for you. I want your office cleared out today.”

  I nodded, not surprised. I was only surprised it had taken him that long to tell me that.

  I heard “What?” and “Are you serious?” from behind me and knew that everyone was shocked at Bill’s directive.

  “Actually,” Dax said, “I’ll be giving you a written copy before I leave today, but I’m handing my resignation in as well.”

  Silence reigned again and people were staring at Dax in shock, myself included.

  “What?” Bill sputtered. He was turning red in the face and I was sure he hadn’t planned on something like this happened.

  Dax nodded. “Yep. I knew if Pru left, I’d be going with her. I can’t stay at an organization that doesn’t value its staff members or players. So, I’ll pack my office as well.”

  Bill continued to sputter, unable to form words while the coaching staff and players clapped me and Dax on the back again.

  “We’ll have to come see you play.”

  “You’ll do great.”

  Those phrases and similar ones were said to me and to Dax. By the time I looked up, Bill was gone.

  Dax and I stuck around until the end of practice and we walked back to my office, where I found several cardboard boxes sitting outside my office.

  I arched a brow as I unlocked the door. “I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am,” I said as I stepped inside and kicked the boxes in.

  Dax chuckled and followed me inside. Before I could bend over and pick up a box, Dax was stopping me with a hand on my waist.

  I thought he was going to say something, but he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my lips.

  I brought my fingers up to my lips and pressed them there. We’d shared plenty of kisses, but this one seemed to hold the most promise out of all of them.