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"So how does it feel to be on the road to the Olympics?"

I tried not to shift in the uncomfortably firm high chair for the interview. Jason sat on my left, Finn on his left, and Ant on Finn's left. Rob sat on my right. He chose to answer the dark haired man first.

"Honesty? It feels almost surreal. I think Jason, and maybe even Anthony, would agree that after spending so much time in a sport professionally and not getting recognition sucks. We love the game but now that we're finally on the world stage, it feels surreal." The selection process for the interviews was pretty straightforward. Nike basically pointed at the girl, the Asian, the African American, the Latino and the token white guy and said 'we'll pay you an extra ten grand for doing an interview' it was a no brainer. We were all hear already for a photo shoot with the team but the interview was just an extra.

The man interviewing us seemed to be in his forties or early fifties. He nodded thoughtfully at Rob's answer while Jason and Anthony voiced agreement. Ant hand only been pro for one year but he agreed anyway. "And how does it feel for you, Finn and Sylvia?"

"I think I can for both of us when I say that it feels beyond surreal. I mean, we were just two high school kids and then we're graduating early to go to DC to train for the Olympics. Lacrosse was always our passion but I don't think we could have even dreamed making it to this point." Finn answered.

"Especially me," I added while William, the interviewer, nodded.

"I hope you don't mind fellas, but this ones more aimed at Sylvia." We all nodded respectively as the older pale man continued. "Did you face any discrimination through out your career? Feel free to name drop, that's how we sell more articles." He joked with a smile, earning a chuckle from me the laugh from the others.

I tried not to move my crossed legs too much as I answered. I felt like my knee was in my chest. He was obviously trying to get me to talk about my rape but I wouldn't let that happen. The trial had finished, the facts were all out there. I wouldn't speak about it anymore to the press. "Of course I did," I answered without hesitation. "At my old school in California, there were a lot of private schools in the area who had issues with my school letting me play on the boy's team. Junior year I found out they were closing my school and I had to search from coast to coast to find a team willing to let me play. Somehow, that lead me to one of the lacrosse capitals of the world."

"Did your teammates ever discriminate against you?"

I smirked a little, knowing that Finn was wondering how or if I'd call him out. "No, my teammates never discriminated against me. I actually never had any issues with any of my teammates except for this one guy in Senior year. Granted, that was just a battle of egos but we got over it."

"Are you friends with this person?" Will asked with a raised eyebrow. No one would know it was Finn expect maybe Jason.

Until now.

"We were best friends by November," I assured him. "But I'd say he's more of a lover now." My lips formed an obnoxious smirk.

"I should have known were this was going." Jason groaned while Will smiled warmly at Finn. He didn't let it phase him, my boyfriend looked as impassive as ever with a small smirk on his lips so he didn't look too hostile to the cameras. "What do you mean by that Jason?" Will questioned.

"Exactly what I said. I didn't know why Sylvia was talking about but Finn and her probably have the two biggest egos in the world. They're replicas of each other."

"Oh, yeah?" Williams slender hand turned a page in his printed packet of questions. "I have it hear that you three were friends at the Trials."

"Yeah," Finn jumped in. "Our try out group was a bunch of college kids, Jason, Sylvia and I so naturally the three of us stuck together."

"Next thing I know they show up in April's and I'm suddenly designated third wheel."

Will allowed himself to laugh at Jason's mock bitterness before returning to his line of questioning. "Sylvia, would you say you were rejected from any colleges because of your gender? Remember, name dropping is totally okay." This one I answered a little more hesitantly. The season hadn't even started yet and I was about to make enemies. "It's hard to say if I was rejected because of my gender or because of my skills. Or perhaps some colleges just didn't need any more defensive players. By, I do know for a fact that Notre Dame rejected me specifically because of my gender, the letter said as much."

William smiled at me calling out a big college like Notre Dame. I could practically see the dollar signs glimmering in his brown eyes. "Do you think you were rejected out of fear of another situation like the one you were recently in court for?" Damn dollar signs.

This time I actually shifted in my seat without meaning too. I wanted to appear confident but my eyes diverted from Will to Finn's because I found his green emeralds calming. I couldn't help it, it was an instinctual reaction. After a moment of tense silence between everyone, my eyes wondered back to Will's. "More than likely which is the problem. Women shouldn't be punished for being women. I'd like to remind the world once again, that rape happens to other men too. That doesn't stop colleges from accepting men onto their men's teams so why should it stop them from accepting a woman?"

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I relaxed my shoulders once I answered but it didn't last long. "Do you think you were asking for it? Or that you weren't clear enough that you were not interested?" Damn it, William. I was starting to like you before this.

My fists clenched in my lap and my jaw tightened. I knew all the cameras were probably on me but I didn't care. It's not like I could get up and clock William either. Everyone in the room could probably sense the furry brewing beneath my skin but only Finn sensed it enough to jump in.

"It doesn't matter if she was asking for it, which she wasn't. 'No' was communicated very clearly. I think that's enough with this line of questioning. If you want to get into the nity-gritty of the events than you are welcome to watch the trial online. It's all uploaded."

"But men-"

"I said that's enough." Finn's strong diplomatic voice interrupted William. His tone might be diplomatic but it was clear that there was no room for negotiation.

I sent Finn a grateful look to which he sent me a small, comforting smile. My body automatically relaxed after that. The interview carried on without any more questions directed at me biased on my sex. For that, I was eternally grateful to Finn. When we were dismissed, I was more than happy to rise from the seat and walk off the set, to take Malik's water bottle from his hand. I guzzled it while the jet black haired lacrosse player scoffed but let me keep it. The water was luke warm but I didn't particularly care.

While the interview had gotten back on track, there was still some underlying tension that everyone in the room could feel, similarly to that time I was on the radio at practice.

"Sylvia Mason?" A tall elderly man in a grey suit asked as he entered the room with a flock of three assistants with tablets beside him. I turned to face him like everyone else in the studio.

"Yes?" I asked. His blue eyes found mine and he smiled, holding out his hand for a handshake when he approached me.

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"Derek Smalls. Pleasure to meet you." He said while I took his rough hand in my own. "Would you mind having a word with me? It won't be long."

"Sure," I responded hesitantly. What have I done this time? I should have just answered Williams questions.

Regardless, I followed the lanky man out of the studio and into the grey hallways of offices and conference rooms with his assistants trailing behind us.

"Ms. Mason, you might want to call your contract lawyer because I am about to offer you a five million dollar sponsorship for one year with Nike. You will wear Nike shoes and clothing at the gym, do Nike campaign photo shoots, and Nike ads. You will receive extra money for any Nike sponsored posts on your social media."

I didn't even process that while we walked down the quiet hallway. Five million what? Five million dollars? No fucking way. Is this man shiting me? My mind went blank. What was I supposed to say? "Um...isn't that against NCAA rules?" Was all I could come up with.

"No. You are part of the Olympics, this has nothing to do with NCAA or Maryland lacrosse. As long as the contract is signed by the start of the season, it will be fine. Besides, I have more teams of lawyers than the NCAA and Maryland could ever dream of having."

I found that slightly hard to believe but none the less, I went along with it. Derek pushed open a the light wooden door to a large conference room with a packet already sitting on the dark table. "We would love a chance to extend our reach into the lacrosse market while creating a company wide campaign biased around strong women such as yourself. Then of course there is the Olympic campaign where you would be in the spotlight along with stars like Micheal Phelps and Simone Biles."

19 Komentar

What? I hadn't even won a gold metal yet and they want to put me next to those two legends?

1 Komentar

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to make yourself even more famous and earn a living before you are confined to NCAA rules for the next three years. I'm a busy man, as are you so I'll make it brief. Review this contract with your lawyers and give me a call. We can sign it and get to work."

Derek handed me the thick packet and his card.

Holy shit, is this real life?

I hope it is.