She kisses me at the door. Her face doesn't crack. I think it might later, when I'm gone, but it doesn't crack now.
The GM's office is cold and very orderly. Team management on one side of the table. The team's lawyer, the PR director, Coach—looking like he hasn't slept—and me.
"Tyler." The GM doesn't bother with hello. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and you're going to answer them honestly. We're trying to assess the situation and get ahead of it. We're not adversaries here. Understood?"
"Understood."
"Has Ms. Collins ever displayed violent behavior in your home, around your daughter?"
"No."
"Have you ever known her to instigate physical confrontations?"
"No. Yesterday was the first."
"Was she acting on your behalf? Did you ask her to confront the captain in any way?"
"No. I had no idea she was coming. I tried to stop her when she got there."
"What is the nature of your relationship with Ms. Collins?"
I look at the GM. I look at Coach. I think about Nora at the kitchen table making coffee with her face deliberately not cracking.
"She's my girlfriend. We've been together since January. Before that, she was, and continues to be, the primary caregiver for my daughter, who came into my custody at eight weeks old after her mother left her on my doorstep. Nora has lived in my home in a professional capacity since August. The relationship developed over time."
The PR directorandthe lawyer are taking notes. The GM doesn't react.
"Did anyone in the organization know about the relationship before yesterday?"
"No."
"You concealed it deliberately."
"Yes. Pending finalization of custody."
"Custody is contested?"
"Not currently, but it could be if Harper's mother resurfaces. The relationship complicates the picture."
There’s a long silence.
"Tyler," the GM says finally. "I'm going to be straight with you. The captain wants you off this team. He came in this morning making a case. He didn't get any traction, in part because every man on your line vouched for you within an hour of practice ending yesterday. Coach has documented the behavior in question for months, and the board reviewed his notes last night. We are not going to support the captain's position, but we are also not going to be seen ignoring an assault on team property. The notice you received this morning is the minimum we could do without further investigation. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Ms. Collins is barred indefinitely. The relationship is, at this point, public. We will release a statement this afternoon. You will not be quoted in it, and you will not speak to the media without clearance from this office for the next two weeks. The story will pass. It will pass faster if you give it nothing to feed on. Understood?"
"Yes."
"Good. Practice at one. Don't be late. We are done."
I leave the office. Coach catches up with me in the hallway.
"Tyler."
I stop. I'm not sure I have anything to say to him, though.
"For what it's worth," he says, looking somewhere past my shoulder. "I should have shut him down a year ago. I didn't, because I was a coward, because keeping the captain happy was easier than doing my job. That's on me. Not on her, and not on you. The cameras really were on a maintenance cycle. I checked. But, I was prepared to lie if they hadn't been."