CHP 10

Carmen’s POV

Chase was already training at his private pitch, but I was too ashamed to go there.

I had expected Jonathan to fire me, but he hadn’t.

“Left to me, you would have gotten fired even before you woke up this morning, but that is not in my hands. You already know that Chase Maddox doesn’t tolerate bullshit, and you have made him lose a large amount of money on nothing,” Jonathan had said. “Well, you should go to his pitch,” he had added.

It was as though he had a lot to say to me but changed his mind, and I had left his office.

Now, from the net, I watched Chase practice, and I had never felt this level of shame and regret all at once. I didn’t know what to do or what to say. Judging by the way Jonathan spoke, it was obvious that I would get fired.

Twenty thousand dollars.

It sounded too much to be real. Even though I knew that Chase had more than enough of it, it still would hurt that it used it to protect himself against my foolishness. What kind of manager was I? 

I was still thinking about the whole thing and feeling sorry for myself when I noticed that Chase seemed to be limping.

“Why is he limping?” I asked myself.

He still hadn’t seen me because his back was turned to me, but I could see that his gait wasn’t as firm as I had noticed it to be. Something seemed off with the movements of his legs, and I wondered what could be wrong. The manager in me came to life instantly, and I walked into the pitch towards Chase.

“What’s wrong with your leg movement?” I asked him.

Chase wasn’t startled. He simply turned, and when he saw that it was me, he continued with what he was doing.

“What is wrong with it?” He asked stiffly.

“You are limping,” I told him, following him.

This wasn’t the first time being present in his private and personal training, so I already knew that I would have to keep up with him. It wasn’t as though he was doing a marathon race, so it wasn’t impossible to keep up with his energy.

“I am fine,” he stated firmly.

Granted, Chase had never been the kind of player who acted nicely or spoke nicely, but he was extremely cold today, just like he had been in the beginning, and it broke my heart. I realized that it must have been the grave mistake I made and the money he had had to spend, but I was so ashamed that I didn’t even know broach the topic.

“No, you are not, Chase,” I insisted.

The more I watched him, the more I realized that I wasn’t imagining things. Now that I had mentioned it, I also noticed that he was trying so hard to keep himself from limping, but it wasn’t working, and the effort he was putting in seemed to cause him so much pain, as his face contorted in pain.

I felt it inside of me immediately.

“Chase, stop,” I said, but he didn’t.

Instead, he pushed harder.

“Can you stop?!” I yelled out. “You are limping and it is not good for your health!” I barked at him.

He was being cold and stubborn and it was exhausting. Besides, Chase Maddox was like a belligerent child; he wouldn’t pay you any mind until he was yelled at or spoken to with authority, or challenged, and that was exactly how I had been able to succeed where the previous hired managers failed.

Chase stopped, but when he turned to look at me, the fire in his eyes burned so hot that I felt it in my skin.

“You don’t know what is good or bad for me,” he said coldly.

“But you are limping,” I stated, my voice low, now that I had managed to get his attention. “I think we should check you out first,” I added with concern.

“And I have said that I am perfectly okay,” Chase said.

But I knew that he was lying.

“For heaven’s sake, Chase, I have watched you train both privately and with the others, and I haven’t seen you limping before. Even the expression on your face shows that you are in pains,” I insisted, urging him with the sound of my voice. “Please, let me call the medical personnel to have a look at your legs,” I pleaded.

Chase’s coldness seemed to be increasing instead.

“You don’t know anything about me,” he said. “And you need to leave the pitch; you are distracting me, and you will hurt yourself,” he said.

“I am not going anywhere until you have agreed to get checked,” I stated. “I could check it myself if you don’t want anyone in the medical team to know about it,” I added pleadingly.

“About what?” Chase asked me.

“Your legs,” I stated, unwilling to back down. “It might be nothing, or a simply sprain, but please, let me take a look at it,” I begged him.

“You or anyone else doesn’t have any right to tell me what to do or how I feel, Carmen,” Chase said tightly. “So, stop it,” he warned.

He turned to continue with training, but instinctively, I reached out and held his strong and muscled arm, trying to stop him.

It was the first time I was consciously holding his arm, and my fingers didn’t even wrap around his arm successfully because of how big and solid his muscles were, which wasn’t a surprise because he was always training and working out, but then again, I felt the same electric jolt that I had felt when we had the kiss at his apartment.

“I am sorry about last night, Chase,” I went on to apologize. “It wasn’t intentional, and I promise, there is an explanation to it,” I added.

Maybe if I apologized, he would stop being so cold, but when I managed to look up at Chase, the rage and hostility in his eyes were too intense to contend with.

And I quickly took my hand off his.

“Don’t you ever, ever do this again, Carmen,” Chase warned dangerously, referring to me touching him.

I took two steps back in shock.