Chapter 3 - Tatum Reid

Tatum POV

“My eyes are up here, Mr. Ashford. I won’t tolerate anyone looking at me in a asexual way, I am here to clean up your mess, to make you look like a gentleman, and to make the fans fall back in love with you and the game, Don’t make me regret accepting this job,” I say as I scan the room and I can see all eyes on me, but there’s one set of blue eyes that keep scanning me more than the others. Frederick Ashford, the reformed playboy, is accused of rape.

I read his entire file and I believe in his innocence. The team has been dealing with the lawyers and with the press, but they are doing everything wrong. They are treating him like a criminal, instead of showing him his support. I am going to change that. I am going to make him a hero for the team. The fans will all protect him and chant his name. I will associate his name with charities and causes that will make him look innocent. The innocent man that he is.

“Yes ma’am,” all the players say at the same time and I can’t help but smile as I turn around, writing on the whiteboard. I find it easier to explain my methods like this. I don’t do things the traditional way. I like to expose them as much as I can, put them in the spotlight but for the right reasons, and I will do the same with Frederick Ashford.

“Gentleman, I expect you to pay attention to everything I am about to say, and I expect you to do what I tell you to do, failing to do so will become very difficult for me to deal with the team, and I will have three people working under me, I will supervise every social media post and every social appearance you make, I will have eyes and ears everywhere you go and I will know everything you do,” I say and then I hear some laughter coming from my right side.

“Can you repeat that? Louder for everyone to hear?” I say as I look directly into Thunder’s eyes.

“Oh, it was just a little inside joke,” he says as he digs his elbow into the of the guy next to him. I raise an eyebrow, crossing my arms in front of my chest as I look directly at him. He clears his throat as everyone’s eyes are on him.

“I was wondering if you will sleep with us as well, so you know we’re in bed,” he says and some of the guys laugh and I can see Frederick Ashford looking around the room. His eyes are feral and his face is red.

I walk to Thunder and I can see him sitting straighter, pulling his shoulders back so he looks bigger and his pecks are exposed. He is one of the guys who kept his shirt off while I spoke.

“Is that what you want? To sleep with me?” I say, and he licks his lips before he smiles slightly, nodding his head.

“Look at you, I wouldn’t mind,” he says and I nod as I walk back to the whiteboard and then turn around to look at him.

“Get out,” I say, and he frowns and then looks around the room as everyone whispers and whistles.

“Who’s next?” I say, and everyone stays quiet. Thunder stands up and clears his throat.

“What do you mean, get out? This is a team meeting,” he says, trying to sound more confident than he looks right now.

“The way you’re speaking to me, and about a woman, a woman that is here to clean the image of this team, a woman that is here to save your fucking ass from being unemployed, you surely don’t seem like a team player, because you are making remarks while everyone else was paying attention, so please, get out, and only come back when you learn to behave in front of a woman, and as a team player,” I say and he walks to his locker retrieving some of his things as he curses under his breath and then slams the door shut.

“Bitch,” he whispers as he walks past me and I look him in the eye.

“I might be a bitch, but I am the bitch that will solve all the problems this team has. Anyone else would like to leave?” I ask and everyone shakes their heads as Thunder looks at everyone and then walks out of the changing room.

I keep explaining my points and how things will work. I asked them all to come one by one with their cellphones to me so we could change the settings on their accounts. They all had to write the logins and passwords so I could access everything. My team will have a blast dealing with this.

“Nothing will be posted on social media without one of my team members or me approving it, and if you decide to overrule the decision and change the settings again and go rogue, remember, you are not only making your life harder but your teammates as well,” I say and they all nod as they form a line and greet me welcoming me to the team.

Some of them are nicer than I expected and when it reaches Frederick Ashford who stayed for last as I requested, he looks like he is about to explode. “Look, I know I am your worst nightmare, and you can relax, I won’t be posting anything on social media, my lawyer recommended me to go dark on the web, I haven’t posted anything since the night of the incident,” he tells me and I nod.

“Do you have a few minutes to speak with me alone?” I ask, and he nods. I can see he wasn’t expecting that as my answer. We walk to the restroom where the couches are more comfortable and he gives me his phone with the password and login for all his socials. I scroll through them and realize he was right. He hasn’t been active in ages and that is making it worse.

“I would like to use a different approach from what you have been recommended,” I say, and he frowns as he undoes the button of the jacket and sits back on the couch in front of mine. “I want you to be unavoidable, I want people to see you everywhere, being active, going to charity events, going to the games, restaurants, dating, I want everyone to know everything you are doing at every second of every day,” I say and he laughs loudly.

“I never posted that much. I would post a random thing here and there, and mostly with the guys, dinners with the team, nights out,” he tells me and I nod.

“I know, but I want the public to know you, the real you, the guy behind the jersey, the guy that makes his friends laugh, the younger brother of four, the uncle, the son,” I say and he frowns again.

“The son might not be a good thing. My parents are in a war over their divorce, and my brothers are private people,” he tells me and I nod.

“I bet they would make an exception if you asked them, it would help your case, it would make everyone talk about you, on how of a nice guy you are, and how you would never do something like that, and I will especially need you to volunteer in a woman’s shelter, be unavoidable and unattainable, be the guy every woman wants next to her, be the guy every man wants to be,” I say and he nods as he leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

“That I can do, with my looks and my charm, it’s easy, but what about the lawyers? They will bite my head off,” He tells me and I nod.

“The team ones leave them to me. Your personal lawyer. I can sit with him, explain my strategy, and make him see what I see,” I tell Frederick, who nods his head.

“I can do that. Just need you to tell me when you want to see him,” Frederick says, and I smile.

“Now,” I tell him and he laughs loudly as he looks at me, his open blue eyes shining in mischief as he looks at my hands and then back up at my eyes, stopping for a split second on my lips.

“I’m gonna need that,” he says, pointing at my hands and that’s when I remember I am still holding his phone.

“Sorry,” I say, passing it to him. Immediately, he got on with what I asked. He dials his lawyer's number and slowly walks to the door, speaking on the phone. I keep my eyes on my own phone as I scroll through the team’s socials and I shake my head.

They have no social presence that is positive. I need them to be more active in the account and I definitely need them to be present in more charity events, and be seen with good people and doing good deeds.

“He will be here in about one hour. I am sorry if you have anything else you need to do. I don’t mind waiting on my own and then I can go find you,” Frederick says, and I nod.

“I do have some things to do, but I will be right here,” I say, pointing at the table that has my laptop and my folders. He nods as he watches me take my seat as I open my laptop and start working.

I can feel his eyes on me, I can feel him watching me and I have to say I don’t dislike the attention, but at the same time, I don’t like it. I would prefer if he did what every other man in the world would do. Scroll through his phone and ignore me.

“I’m going to get a coffee. Do you want anything?” He asks and I raise my eyes to meet his and they are shining, those pools of blue ocean water looking directly at me.

“No thank you,” I say but immediately regret and clear my throat. “Sorry, yes, can I have a diet Coke please?” I let out and he nods. I have a small addiction to Diet Coke. I drink more Coke than I drink water. I know it’s not healthy and I know I shouldn’t do it, but hey, each with their own.

I keep reading emails and exchanging correspondence with the company I am taking under me to help me manage the social disaster that is this team and when I realize Frederick is back in the room, it’s too late. I am in his arms because I was distracted reading a contract while walking around the room without looking at where I was going.

His hands resting just above my ass on my lower back, keeping me in place. His eyes glued on mine and slowly move down to my lips as I bite my lower lip. My hands are both resting on his upper arms, where I can feel his muscles moving as he holds me.

“Sorry, thank you,” I say as I come back to reality and pull away from him. Slowly he smiles, passing a hand through his hair, and then grabs the coke from the table and passes it to me. The silver can shines on my hand as I smile.

“Thanks, again,” I say and he chuckles loudly, walking to the chair in front of mine.

“Are you always so focused?” He asks and I frown and then I nod slightly.

“I guess I am,” I say and he smiles as he places his phone on the table with the screen turned up. I have to say I find that nice. I always think that if the screen is turned down is because they have something to hide, but he keeps surprising me, he keeps giving me signals that he will cooperate with my ideas and that he has nothing to hide, only confirming my suspicions that he is innocent.