First Position (33 page)

“I’m not the one playing.”  Alexis flipped her hair over her shoulder.  “Mason’s been playing house with his home-wrecking whore.”

Mason jumped out of his seat.  “You fucking bitch!” 

“Now everybody just keep calm,” the lawyer pled.

Steven stood up and placed his hand on Mason’s shoulder, telling him to breathe and let him handle the situation.  Mason ran his fingers through his hair and kicked a yellow legal pad on the floor into a box, as Alexis flashed a wicked smile at the brothers, clearly enjoying herself.  Mason stood against a bookcase, glaring down at her.  Her lawyer, too, looked at Alexis -- in awe.  Of all his peculiar clients, he’d never had one quite like her, intent on torturing her adversary.
 
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Steven sat down.  “By the way, the house in Charlotte is not negotiable.”

“Relax, boys, I didn’t say I wanted the house in Charlotte.  Although after your little outburst, maybe I should rethink my position.”

“Enough bullshit, Alexis,” Steven said.  “Sign the damn papers, and we can all leave.  I think I need a tetanus shot after being in here.”

The lawyer adjusted himself in his chair.  Alexis picked up the pen and paused, holding it over the agreement.  “I want a minute alone with Mason first.”  The brothers exchanged a glance, and Mason shook his head.  She put the pen down.  “After six years, Mason, you owe me a minute of your time.”

“I owe you nothing,” Mason snapped.  “Not even what I’m paying you.”  Steven shot his brother a look, urging him to stop.

“And that’s the problem,” Alexis said.  “I’ve always played second-fiddle to Emory.”

“That’s not true,” Mason said, but he knew Alexis was right.  She was doing all this, making a big scene, because he was back with Emory.  She’d initially challenged the prenup out of pure greed -- upon learning his career wasn’t over -- but ratcheted up her wrath when he reunited with Emory.  And he’d done nothing to keep his new relationship out of the public eye; indeed, it was all over the papers.
 
I should’ve listened to Mom and Steven
.
  Alexis was always the prettiest woman in the room -- except when Emory was around -- and he’d given her the ammunition she needed.  He’d pushed Alexis over the edge, now regretting he hadn’t done more to protect his assets and Emory.

“Can we speak alone?”  Alexis asked for the last time.

“No.”

“Fine.  I’ll say what I need to say in front of your brother.”

Mason motioned for her to proceed, Steven taking a deep breath to brace himself for the impact of whatever was coming.  He couldn’t stop it.
 
They don’t cover this in law schoo
l
.

“I spent six years in her shadow,” Alexis said, a hint of sadness in her voice.  “And when we broke up, you ran to her.  It’s always been about her.  Even when we had sex, you thought of her.”  Steven hid his face, mortified, trying not to form a visual image.  The lawyer kept his eyes fixed on his messy table.

“You forget that you broke up with me, Alexis,” Mason responded.  “And our marriage, you know, never was based on love.  I got a pretty face, and you got an NFL lifestyle.  It was that simple.”

“It wasn’t that simple for me,” she pled. 

“It seemed to be.”

“Well, it wasn’t.  I wanted some attention, too.  And not just attention from fans or other players’ wives.  I would’ve liked some fro
m
yo
u
.  But you were always just pining away for Emory, and I could always tell.  You never even tried to hide it.”

Mason threw up his hands.  “Jesus Christ!”

“I got your name, but she had your heart.”  Alexis briefly diverted her eyes from his.  “Did you ever stop for one second to think about how that made me feel?”

For the first time, Mason wondered if she’d actually entered their marriage with the hope of something more than a posh lifestyle.  It didn’t really seem like it, but perhaps she had loved him and wanted him to love her, but he didn’t know how or was entirely incapable of loving any other woman besides Emory.  But he knew that if Alexis truly had wanted love, her hopes for a loving marriage were dashed long ago, and she settled for financial security.  And when that was threatened by his injury, she left -- because he had nothing else to give.  Then Mason reunited with Emory, bringing back all of Alexis’ insecurities, and she was determined to make them both suffer for it.
 
Is that what really happened
?
  Mason felt a twinge of sympathy, his Catholic guilt churning inside.

Alexis whispered something to her lawyer and turned directly to Mason.  “That’s why you owe me, and that’s why you’ll pay.”

With that, Mason’s sympathy and guilt disappeared, and his eyes bored into hers.  “Nice speech.”  He put his hands on the table, leaning over her.  “Sign it!”

Alexis twirled her wedding ring.  “I’m going to need to give this agreement some more thought.”

“Unbelievable,” Steven said.

“Alexis, we can go out and talk in my office, if you’d like,” her lawyer said, standing up with his client.

“This is a fucking joke,” Mason said.  “I’m ready to get out of here.”  He walked towards the door, placing his hand on the knob.  But the door flew open at him, striking him in the chest and pushing him back, nearly causing him to trip over a box on the floor.  He regained his balance and saw what his brother, Alexis, and her lawyer had already seen -- Kathleen standing in the doorway, polished in navy slacks with a crisp, white shirt and red peep toe pumps.

“Mom?” Steven asked, stunned.

Kathleen didn’t answer.  She walked into the small conference room and surveyed the clutter, criticizing it with her eyes.  She kissed both of her sons.

“Mom, what are you doing here?”  Mason asked.

Kathleen again didn’t answer, but pushed Mason down into a chair.  She looked at Alexis, still standing, herself confused by what was going on.  “Take a seat, Alexis.”  She slowly lowered herself into her chair, then whispered nervously to her lawyer.  Kathleen pulled a chair to the table and sat next to Steven.  “Sorry, I’m late.”  She looked at her sons and shook her head slightly, indicating her displeasure.

“I’m Kathleen,” she said to Alexis’ lawyer. “Your client’s mother-in-law.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said.

Steven leaned over and whispered to his mother.  “Mom, I’ve got this handled.”

Kathleen whispered back, “I was listening outside.  It was a train wreck, Son.”  She patted Steven on the cheek. 

Mason mouthed to his brother, “You got Mom involved?”  Steven shook his head, baffled by her appearance.

Kathleen coldly stared down Alexis, feeling her blood pressure rise, knowing she had lost control of the room.  During her marriage, Alexis considered Kathleen an ally, a strong-willed woman like her valuing financial stability.  But now in the conference room, her mother-in-law projected a totally different vibe -- one of dominance against a helpless, weak prey.  Kathleen’s presence had brought the negotiations to another level, cornering Alexis.

“Just when we were being honest with each other,” she lashed out at Mason, “you have your fucking mother come rescue you.”

“You watch your nasty, little mouth, cunt,” Kathleen replied, her words freezing everyone at the table, her boys looking at their mother, astounded. 

“Excuse me?”  Alexis said.  “You have no right to talk to me that way!”

“Ms. Kathleen,” the lawyer said nervously, “I’d ask that you please watch your language towards my client.”

Kathleen smiled at him.  “I don’t usually talk that way.  You can ask my boys or even Alexis.  But I actually thought it was appropriate here.  Your office is such a fucking shit hole.  Can’t believe you work here.  And next to a gas station?  My GPS couldn’t even find it.” 

The lawyer fidgeted with his tie.  He couldn’t control his own client, and now her mother-in-law appeared just as crazy.  His small contingency fee seemed hardly worth the trouble.

Kathleen turned her attention back to Alexis.  “From what I hear, you have been running that mouth of yours for months, making demands and threatening my son.”  She pulled out a large envelope from her purse and set it on the table.  “Making all kinds of false claims about him and Emory.”  She ran her fingers over the edges of the envelope.  “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Alexis snapped back.  “Before you barged in, Mason and I were finally getting to some truth, actually.”

“Truth?”  Kathleen laughed, fingering the envelope again, her eyes burning with an intense fire, as if possessed by some demonic force.  “I’m all for the truth.”  Mason and Steven looked at each other, stunned and impressed, with no idea what their mother was up to.  She was a force of nature who couldn’t be controlled, but they’d never seen her quite like this. 

“Well, let me give you some truth, Kathleen,” Alexis said, leaning forward.  “I know you think your little boy is perfect, but he’s not.  He was a lousy husband and . . . .”

“Oh, be quiet!  I will not sit in this nasty ass office and listen to your lies about my son,” Kathleen interrupted, raising her voice.  “I really will not.  I know exactly who my son is.”  She picked up the envelope.  “I’m more interested in the truth about you.”

“Kathleen, you are losing it.  I think your age is catching up with you.”

“I may be old,” Kathleen said, cocking her head back, “but that just means I’ve been a bitch longer than you have.  And my age won’t stop me from exposing your dirty, little secrets.”

Alexis shifted in her chair, ever so slightly, but still everyone noticed -- a turning point.  And Mason could sense it, a change in momentum, something he’d felt so many times before on a football field.  His mother inexplicably had taken control of the negotiations and now had the upper hand.
 
Mother bear.

“I’m still thinking about how to handle this,” Kathleen said, stroking the envelope.  “I might show you here, or we may just lay it out in the lawsuit we’re filing in Charlotte.  I haven’t yet decided which way.  But I’ll be calling the shots from here on out.”

The lawyer reached for the pen.  “Maybe it’s time we sign,” he offered, feeling his fee slipping away, and placed the settlement agreement in front of his client.  Alexis took the pen.

“Oh no, dear.  Not that one,”  Kathleen said sweetly, then turned to Steven.  “Where’s the original settlement offer with the prenup?”  Steven reached into his briefcase and handed the original agreement to his mother.

“What’s going on?” the lawyer asked.

Kathleen slid the papers to Alexis.  “My boy won’t be giving you one cent more than you agreed to in the prenup.”

Alexis laughed nervously.  “What makes you think I’m going to sign that?”

“Because if you don’t, I will spend the rest of my life exposing every secret you have to anyone who will listen.  I will devote my entire life to it.”
 
Mother bear had come to protect and destroy.

“No one is going to listen to you.”

Kathleen leaned back in her chair and pulled out her phone, scrolling her fingers down the screen.  “Let me just look over my client list here.  Oh, what about that pretty, little anchor on the Channel 2 morning news show.  I did her master bathroom.  And then the police superintendent’s wife -- I placed the most lovely damask curtains in their dining room.  Yes, and the Governor, too.  He wanted the most terrible paisley sofa in his executive office.  Had to talk him out of that.  Took me three days.”

Alexis swallowed hard, her lawyer whispering something in her ear, and she picked up the pen.  She looked at Mason, conjuring up some tears, then signed her name to the original agreement.  “I’ll file the documents today,” Steven quickly said, and Alexis rose to leave.

“Just one more thing, dear, before you run off,” Kathleen said, rising to her feet and staring directly at Alexis.  “If you ever again fuck with my son’s career or his relationship with Emory in any way, I will bury you under the new wood floors I’m installing for a client in The Woodlands.”

Steven lowered his head in embarrassment, while Mason couldn’t believe his ears.
 
Tremendous threat.  Maybe she’s more like me than I thought
.
  Alexis walked out defeated, her head down, her lawyer following behind. 

When they were gone, Kathleen collapsed into her chair and slapped both her sons on their arms.  “I just cannot believe what you were offering her.  Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I suppose it wasn’t your business?”  Mason offered gently.

“Everything is my business, Son.  You should know that by now.”

“Mom, how did you even find out we were here?”  Steven asked.

“Olivia’s big mouth.”

Mason punched Steven in his shoulder.  “You violated attorney-client privileg
e
agai
n
!”

* * *

Emory and Olivia got a text from Kathleen summoning them and little Noah to her house.  She gave no other information.  Emory and Olivia didn’t know why they were invited -- they both wondered if they were in trouble -- and also didn’t know why Kathleen was even involved on a day supposedly focused on Mason and Alexis.  But the women did as they were told: they stopped taking pictures of Noah and made their way to Kathleen’s house.