Judge, jury, and executioner…
“You!” Steffi screamed at him. “You are the biggest jerk I’ve ever met…”
“Steffi, babe, what’s…” Drake began looking panicked and shoving past the other players to exit the dugout – but she wasn’t waiting. Security was behind her, coming up fast, and she had to get out of here. She didn’t want to hear his excuses, his lies… and…
She snapped.
“I HATE YOU,” she wailed, her voice shaking with intensity as she launched the keys to his Camry at him, wadded up the eviction notice before throwing it too. “Keep it! Keep it all. Keep everything – I’m done!”
Hands clamped onto her as Drake scrambled to get over the fence. He was climbing quickly, like a spider monkey, and nearly fell off, before catching himself – yelling back at her.
“STEFFI! STEFFI, WAIT! HEY – HOLD HER! I’M COMING OVER THERE!”
“Miss, come with us…”
It was a chaotic mess of limbs as she fought them off. Hands were everywhere, latching onto her arms, dragging her away from the field, away from the players. She probably looked the part of a crazed fan, a jilted girlfriend, anything else – except she barely fit any of those categories.
“Stop!” Drake said, running in front of the security guards with his hands up. “Fellas – stop. I’ve got this…please,” he begged, looking concerned. “Don’t do this. Don’t call the cops. This is my fiancée…”
“No, I’m not!” she railed, trying to reach for the diamond ring on her finger – and Drake stopped her. Her eyes met his, and she saw something that finally broke through the intensity, the firestorm within her… and crumbled.
A sob erupted as she crumpled onto the ground indelicately in the tunnel that led to the front entrance of the building – awayfrom the locker rooms. Drake’s warm hands, his arms, circled her as he knelt beside her, making worried, crooning noises in an attempt to comfort her, but she was inconsolable.
“Steffi, talk to me…”
“Go away…”
“Steffi, please, honey…”
“Walker, you’re needed on the field!”
“Gimme ten minutes,” Drake screamed in a panic, much too close to her ear, making her wince. He seemed to sense it and lowered his voice. “I need ten minutes, Jeffery – please. Tell Coach I’ll be back in just a few minutes.”
That seemed to placate whoever it was as Steffi slowly pulled herself under control and shoved Drake’s hands away from her. She glared at him, saw the concern in his eyes as he sat back on his heels beside her.
“What’s wrong?”
“You’re a disaster,” she choked out. “Disaster Walker…”
“Okay – why?” he said simply, waiting.
“Today just sucks…”
“Why?” he repeated, looking concerned. “What is going on?”
“You know what’s happening,” she gritted out between her teeth as she grabbed a handful of dirt, throwing it at him. He ignored it, even if it left a mark on his shoulder.
“Actually, I don’t,” he said quietly, watching her.
“I got fired.”
“I assure you that I had nothing to do with it…”
“And I’m being evicted,” she interrupted, watching him.
Drake slowly stood up – silent – and her heart crumbled in her chest as she stared at him in nightmarish awareness. He took a step backward, like she’d struck him, and gave a slight nod, looking away.
“I see,” he whispered painfully. “I think I understand and get why you’re mad now.”