Status: Posting and rather quickly
No One Told You Life Was Gonna Be This Way
Samson and Delilah
“Hello?” I answered my cell phone. The number was unlisted.
“Lily. It’s Pat,” The all too familiar voice responded, “We need to talk.”
“Are you breaking up with me Pat?” I teased.
“Yes. Actually I am.”
“What?”
“How are Ava and James? The Taylor family?”
“The kids from the corn maze? How do you know about them?”
“Well, I can only assume they’re doing pretty well. Selling photos of their kids with Sidney Crosby and his new girlfriend, Lily to the tabloids and all. You can buy a lot of Easy Bake Ovens and Tonka Trucks with $200,000.”
My heart stopped.
“Now, I have half a dozen tabloids across my desk right now. And I’m going to read you the headlines: Baring It All: The Full Expose on Sidney Crosby’s New Girlfriend¸ The Naked Truth about Sid the Kid’s Stripper Girlfriend, Fifty Shades of Sidney Crosby: The Next One’s Kinky Relationship, T-Pain M-“
“Stop. Please stop. I get the idea.”
“Turns out the father of those two little cherubs, frequents or frequented as he claims, your place of work. Also turns out that the mother would be willing to overlook anything for a pretty penny.”
“I-I’m so-“
“Stop don’t even bother apologizing. What’s done is done. The mess on my desk is nowhere near the mess in my inbox. Gatorade, Reebok, the NHL, Mario fucking Lemieux are all emailing me nonstop. Sidney’s brand was built around him being the aw shucks, good Canadian boy. And dating strippers is not part of that. Especially strippers that have sex tapes out.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, “Sex tape. There was only one.”
“Whatever. Now, Gatorade isn’t about to drop him. But Kellog’s and Tim Horton’s, those are family brands. And most families don’t like sex tapes, even if there was only one. I’m on the verge of getting Sid a contract with Reebok that would be worth almost $10 million dollars.”
“That’s a lot of Easy Bake Ovens,” I said dryly.
“That’s the biggest endorsement deal for a hockey player. Ever. You saw how the city reacted when Ben Roethlisberger got caught for sexual harassment. No one would touch him.”
“Roethlisberger raped women. Sidney and I are in a committed relationship.”
“I honestly don’t care and neither does Reebok. Or the NHL for that fact. The NHL needs Sidney to be the good guy foil to Ovechkin’s wild, drunken ways. You aren’t helping. In fact-“
“I get it. I’m awful for his image,” My voice cracked. It took every sliver of dignity I had to not break down.
“Good. Now that you understand, I can make this all go away. These tabloids are set to run tomorrow, but I can bury this, with a few well-placed favors. The thing is even if I pull these strings and you two run around like lovesick puppies, there’s no doubt in my mind that someone with a camera phone will be able to snap a picture of you two together and based on your rather extensive client list, it’ll only be a matter of time before you’re identified as a stripper or at least as Leni Thompson.”
“You want me to break up with him,” I whispered the words and then quickly covered my mouth to muffle the sob that escaped my throat.
“You’re smarter than I thought,” Pat said smugly.
“I did go to Pitt,” I deadpanned, trying to swallow the tears trapped in my throat.
“Look, I get it you two loved each other. But shit happens. Just break it off, nice and clean. He’ll go up on TV and say that the picture was just happenstance. There are 7 billion people in the world and to think that you two are soul mates is a stretch. There are 6,999,999,999 other people out there. Love is for Disney movies and little girls.”
“Is that what you tell your daughter?”
There was a weary sigh, “I know you have some student loans to pay. Do this just how I told you and they’ll go away. I can get you on a plane to wherever you want. Set up a place for you to live and everything. I can give you a new life.”
“As long as I do this for you,” I couldn’t even say what I had to do. I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
“Yes,” Sensing my apprehension, “It’s for the best, Lily. Sidney can’t handle the media circus right now. The concussions, the injuries, and then you. It’s the best for both of you right now.”
“Why do I have to break up with him though? Can’t I explain the situation to him and-“
“What? End it mutually? You know Sid as well as I do. He won’t give you up. He’ll fight for you. He doesn’t understand the importance of a reputation like you and I do.”
“I’ll do it,” I whispered. And at that exact moment, I knew that Delilah loved Samson, despite her betrayal.
“Lily. It’s Pat,” The all too familiar voice responded, “We need to talk.”
“Are you breaking up with me Pat?” I teased.
“Yes. Actually I am.”
“What?”
“How are Ava and James? The Taylor family?”
“The kids from the corn maze? How do you know about them?”
“Well, I can only assume they’re doing pretty well. Selling photos of their kids with Sidney Crosby and his new girlfriend, Lily to the tabloids and all. You can buy a lot of Easy Bake Ovens and Tonka Trucks with $200,000.”
My heart stopped.
“Now, I have half a dozen tabloids across my desk right now. And I’m going to read you the headlines: Baring It All: The Full Expose on Sidney Crosby’s New Girlfriend¸ The Naked Truth about Sid the Kid’s Stripper Girlfriend, Fifty Shades of Sidney Crosby: The Next One’s Kinky Relationship, T-Pain M-“
“Stop. Please stop. I get the idea.”
“Turns out the father of those two little cherubs, frequents or frequented as he claims, your place of work. Also turns out that the mother would be willing to overlook anything for a pretty penny.”
“I-I’m so-“
“Stop don’t even bother apologizing. What’s done is done. The mess on my desk is nowhere near the mess in my inbox. Gatorade, Reebok, the NHL, Mario fucking Lemieux are all emailing me nonstop. Sidney’s brand was built around him being the aw shucks, good Canadian boy. And dating strippers is not part of that. Especially strippers that have sex tapes out.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, “Sex tape. There was only one.”
“Whatever. Now, Gatorade isn’t about to drop him. But Kellog’s and Tim Horton’s, those are family brands. And most families don’t like sex tapes, even if there was only one. I’m on the verge of getting Sid a contract with Reebok that would be worth almost $10 million dollars.”
“That’s a lot of Easy Bake Ovens,” I said dryly.
“That’s the biggest endorsement deal for a hockey player. Ever. You saw how the city reacted when Ben Roethlisberger got caught for sexual harassment. No one would touch him.”
“Roethlisberger raped women. Sidney and I are in a committed relationship.”
“I honestly don’t care and neither does Reebok. Or the NHL for that fact. The NHL needs Sidney to be the good guy foil to Ovechkin’s wild, drunken ways. You aren’t helping. In fact-“
“I get it. I’m awful for his image,” My voice cracked. It took every sliver of dignity I had to not break down.
“Good. Now that you understand, I can make this all go away. These tabloids are set to run tomorrow, but I can bury this, with a few well-placed favors. The thing is even if I pull these strings and you two run around like lovesick puppies, there’s no doubt in my mind that someone with a camera phone will be able to snap a picture of you two together and based on your rather extensive client list, it’ll only be a matter of time before you’re identified as a stripper or at least as Leni Thompson.”
“You want me to break up with him,” I whispered the words and then quickly covered my mouth to muffle the sob that escaped my throat.
“You’re smarter than I thought,” Pat said smugly.
“I did go to Pitt,” I deadpanned, trying to swallow the tears trapped in my throat.
“Look, I get it you two loved each other. But shit happens. Just break it off, nice and clean. He’ll go up on TV and say that the picture was just happenstance. There are 7 billion people in the world and to think that you two are soul mates is a stretch. There are 6,999,999,999 other people out there. Love is for Disney movies and little girls.”
“Is that what you tell your daughter?”
There was a weary sigh, “I know you have some student loans to pay. Do this just how I told you and they’ll go away. I can get you on a plane to wherever you want. Set up a place for you to live and everything. I can give you a new life.”
“As long as I do this for you,” I couldn’t even say what I had to do. I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
“Yes,” Sensing my apprehension, “It’s for the best, Lily. Sidney can’t handle the media circus right now. The concussions, the injuries, and then you. It’s the best for both of you right now.”
“Why do I have to break up with him though? Can’t I explain the situation to him and-“
“What? End it mutually? You know Sid as well as I do. He won’t give you up. He’ll fight for you. He doesn’t understand the importance of a reputation like you and I do.”
“I’ll do it,” I whispered. And at that exact moment, I knew that Delilah loved Samson, despite her betrayal.
♠ ♠ ♠
I think there are two or so chapters left in this. I hope you enjoyed this filler-ishy chapter. Please comment with your thoughts, predictions, and critiques!I would also like some input on whether or not you want this to have a happy ending or a sad ending.