Chapter 4 - Fred Ashford

Fred POV

“How do you feel about being in the spotlight again?” Moore asks, and I shrug.

“I don’t know man, it feels weird to have all eyes on me, but I think this will be good for me,” I say and he nods as he places one hand on my shoulder. We’re sitting in the changing rooms after practice and I couldn’t be happier. Tatum works fast, and she made the bosses put me back in the game.

“How’s your brother feeling about the flash wedding?” Moore asks and I chuckle as I bend my back, hanging my head low.

“He’s the one that is making it happen. It’s like she put a spell on him,” I say and Moore nods.

“Well, he’s been in love with the girl forever, hasn’t he? That’s what I read in some magazine that Letty left in the bathroom,” he says and I laugh out loud.

“Yeah, in the bathroom, Letty, I think you have been buying all that stuff and now you’re blaming it on her,” I say, and he smacks me on the back of the head lightly.

“What can I say? It’s my guilty pleasure okay,” he says and I nod as I stand up, opening my locker as Thomas walks past me.

“It’s good to have you back, but you’re slow,” Thomas says, I throw my towel at him and he swerves. The towel falls on his feet and flips me the bird. I smile. I missed this. I missed the boys and the game.

“Are you coming to the game in Alaska?” Moore asks and I shake my head. I am not allowed to leave the city, but I don’t know if the team knows those sorts of details. I can’t wait for all of this to end. I want my life back.

“I can’t leave the city,” I say, and Thomas takes a deep breath as he sits beside me.

“This is bullshit. We need you back. I wish I had come that night,” he says and I look at him, shaking my head.

“No, you have a family and you shouldn’t be caught in places like that. Hell, none of us should.” I say and Thunder walks past me and looks at us.

“Are you girls getting dressed or are you just going to keep gossiping?” He asks and Thomas stands up, ignoring Thunder’s words. He likes to provoke us, but he doesn’t mean anything by it.

“Great practice Ashford, if you keep going like that we won’t even stand a chance, might just have a nap during the game,” he says and I look at him ready to talk back but Thomas places one hand on my chest as I stand up stopping me.

“Not worth it mate,” he says and I nod, opening my locker and retrieving my things to have a shower. I know I am not in my best condition. I haven’t been practicing with the team for weeks, but I am not that bad.

After having a shower and getting dressed, Tatum stops me in the corridor and I look at her with a smile on my face. The girl is stunning, but she dresses to hide away her body and that is a fucking shame. “Need a tour guide?” Thunder says as he approaches us. Immediately Tatum’s guards are raised, and she crosses her arms in front of her chest.

“No thank you,” she says and he shrugs.

“Shame,” he says walking away and I watch as he walks away, followed by Moore and Thomas.

“Do you have a minute?” She asks and I nod. She guides me to the place where she has her things set up and I sit in front of her as she places magazines in front of me.

“Do you see these?” She says and I nod, not really understanding what she is trying to say.

“I need you to be on the covers, I need you to be news, so the team is hosting a charity event where you will be auctioned for a date, we will have set dates and the people will have to auction for the players and the dates,” she tells me and I take a deep breath as I rub my hands over my face.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say, and she shakes her head.

“I will create the dates. It will be a private hockey lesson, or some ice skating time, lunch at the cafeteria, things like that, nothing romantic,” she says and I nod. I guess I can do that.

“I need you to trust me, Frederick,” she says and I raise an eyebrow and she looks at me, biting her lower lip.

“Fred, or Freddie,” I say and she nods as she looks at the magazines again.

“I don’t know if this is of interest but my brother is getting married this weekend and I have to go, and I would like for you to keep the press away from there,” I say and she raises her eyes from the magazine to look at me.

“What? Why? That would be great publicity for you, going to the wedding with a girl, introducing her to the family,” she says, and I shake my head.

“The wedding is out of the question. I am not pretending anything while I am with my family,” I say, and she nods.

“Okay, but I need you to be seen at a charity event soon,” she says, and I nod. “While the team is away, I need you to volunteer at a women’s rescue center. I need you to go there, interact with everyone, be seen but not heard,” she tells me and I take a deep breath.

“Fine, can I go now? I have to get things going for the wedding this weekend,” I say, and she nods. I stand up and she does the same as if it was an involuntary act. I frown, watching her but leave the room. I have so much on my mind that I can’t even begin to understand how my life has turned into a shitshow like this.

As soon as I get home, I turn my phone off and flop down on my leather couch, turning the tv on. Maybe some brainless TV will help me out, but instead, I find something that triggers my curiosity. I press stop and look at the screen.

I stand up, walk to the TV, and frown as I recognize that face. It’s the girl… She’s on some old show about Mardi Gras that is on repeat. Her boobs are out while she was receiving the necklaces.

Immediately I ran for my phone, turned it back on, took pictures of my screen, and sent it to Julien. My phone rings almost immediately.

“Where is that?” He asks as soon as I answer the phone.

“I was just watching some random stuff on TV, and I found that. Can you use that? She can’t be a minor, not if she is doing that, can she? Or was she a minor there, and this is her normal behavior?” I ask, and Julien takes a deep breath.

“Whatever it is, it’s good for you my friend, I have never been so happy that you enjoy these types of shows, record it, and send it to me, then I will try to get the entire show from the network and we will work on that,” he says.

“On it,” I say. We end the call and I record the show from the point I am on and she appears several times more. She keeps trying to find the camera, but they don’t find her interesting enough. This is good. She is doing this for the fame, for the money. Well, I kind of already knew. She has been going to interviews everywhere, sharing her story and bringing awareness about rape.

I shake my head as I feel like punching a wall. She is destroying my life for fame and money. I will ruin hers after this. I can’t believe people still do this. Who do they think they are? Why is she doing this?

My phone rings and I see Richard’s name flashing. “Hey, what’s up?” I ask as I answer.

“Mia, please, I am trying to talk to your uncle,” I hear Richard say, and Mia starts to complain in the background.

“Mia said she recognized that girl from somewhere,” Richard says and I frown.

“What?” I let out.

“Let me talk to him,” I hear Mia say, and the phone makes some noise.

“Freddie, that girl, she’s been in several reality TV shows, nothing big, but she is trying to be famous, I knew I knew her from somewhere and I figured out today, that she did a dating show on YouTube a while ago, it doesn’t have many views, and it has been removed from there, but I found a recording from one episode, I am sending it to Uncle Julien,” she says and I take a deep breath sitting on the couch with my head between my hands.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” I say and Mia laughs on the other side.

“I would love to know what you Ashford man would do without me,” she says before she passes her phone to Richard.

“Your daughter is amazing. I am going to buy her a fucking car,” I say, and Richard takes a deep breath.

“No, don’t you dare,” he says and I can’t help but laugh.

“She just pays attention, and she is always on social media. That girl someday will do great things,” Richard says, and I agree. Finally, things are getting better for me, or so I hope.

“I found something today as well,” I say, and Richard is interested in hearing everything I have to say. After telling him and making sure Julien has everything he needs, Richard thinks I might get out of this earlier than we hope.

I sure hope so because being falsely accused of Rape is terrible. I would never do that to a woman. I would touch no one without consent. I love them too much to be fucking around like that. Besides, I love my life and I would never do anything to destroy it. I worked hard to become one of the best hockey players in the country. I don’t need anyone fucking around with that.

In the beginning, no one took me seriously because they thought because I had money it was just a thing I wanted, but I really love the game and I am superb at it. This is what I want for my life, and I want to go back to playing full-time. I want my team to count on me and I definitely want to be the team captain someday.

After ending the call with Richard, I just kept watching. Watching the girl on TV, the girl that destroyed my life, the girl that decided I was an easy target. I bet she wanted us to pay her off and because we didn’t do it; she is now coming for me. I would never settle on something like this. That is not me, and I am no criminal.