Evening the Score // Book One

Chapter 11

Elena looked down at her phone when it buzzed. Thankfully the incessant texting from media outlets had stopped, so she could at least know that it was Harry texting her now. But the calls hadn't. She didn't really want to discuss her relationship, much less whittle it down to some 30 second soundbite on E News Daily to satisfy those who shouldn't have been wondering in the first place.

Elena wasn't an especially private person and she had nothing to hide, but this was not for public consumption. The things Harry did for her, the things she did for him, the way they made each other feel was no one else's business.

Thankfully this text message was just from her mother reminding her about dinner later that night. She responded she'd be there and dropped her phone back into her purse as she headed into Chrissy's front door,

"Hey." She said when she passed through the frame.

Chrissy looked up from the couch,

"Hey. Don't you have practice?"

"Yeah...at three. Then dinner with Frank and Carolyn, wanna come?"

"Sure. How'd they handle meeting Mr. Wonderful?" Chrissy asked as she closed her laptop and set it on the coffee table.

"Fine. They liked him."

"And Eric? Did he threaten him with bodily harm if Harry ever hurt you?"

"He didn't have to. Harry knows he's military."

Elena grabbed a Diet Coke out of Chrissy's refrigerator and sat down next to her on the couch. Chrissy studied her for a few moments,

"You ok with everything that happened with the media and all that?"

Elena shrugged as she took the can away from her mouth,

"Not much I can do about it now. Cat's outta the bag."

"What'd Harry say about it?"

"He apologized. But it's not his fault. It's probably my fault."

"How is it your fault?"

"I'm not exactly discreet about our relationship. Especially with the Instagram I posted the other night. How are the renovations going?"

"Fine. What are you gonna do if things get more invasive?" Chrissy said switching back to the subject though she knew Elena didn't want to discuss it.

"I'm gonna ignore it. It's nobody else's business. Did Brian decide what color to paint the kitchen?"
"Gray. He's ok with doing that?"

"Doing what?" Elena said now confused by the direction of the conversation.

"Ignoring it?"

"I suppose so. He can handle it how he likes and I'll handle it how I like. That's what we decided."

Chrissy studied her best friend closely. She couldn't say she was surprised by how Elena was handling this, but it was slightly alarming that she'd decided to ignore it. Elena didn't really ignore things. She handled them immediately so they didn't fester, because things that festered ended up taking her mind away from the game and Elena never let anything deter her from the game.

"So do you have pics?" Elena asked, once again changing the subject to the kitchen, "I wanna see progress."

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When Harry looked at the notifications on his phone, the last thing he was expecting to see was pictures of Elena in a bathing suit. But that's exactly what Glenne had sent to him in a few rapid fire text messages. Her last one being,