Chapter 29 I Can't Break Up With Crew
Harper's Pov,
I DIDN'T SLEEP.
Maya and I stayed up until three in the morning going over every possible angle the Titans could use against me.
We made lists of responses, practiced answers to questions Morrison might ask, tried to prepare for a meeting that felt more like walking into an execution.
At around 9:30am, I stood in Maya's bathroom staring at myself in the mirror. I'd picked the most professional outfit I owned; black pants, white blouse, blazer that Maya lent me because mine had coffee stains on the sleeve. I looked like someone trying very hard to appear stable and put-together.
More like a liar.
"You ready?" Maya called from the living room.
No. "Yeah."
The Titans offices were downtown, all glass and steel and expensive everything. Maya's access card got us through the lobby but she couldn't come up with me. Conflict of interest, since she worked for the team.
"Text me the second you're done," she said as I headed for the elevators. "And Harper? Don't let them bully you into anything."
"I won't."
The elevator ride up to the executive floor felt like it took a hundred years. When the doors finally opened, a woman in her fifties with a tight smile was waiting.
"Ms. Sinclair? I'm Rebecca, Mr. Morrison's assistant. He's ready for you."
She led me down a hallway lined with photos of Titans players. Action shots, victory celebrations, team photos. I saw Crew in one of them, mid-game, his face intense and focused.
I wondered if they'd already taken it down.
Rebecca stopped at a conference room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. "Right through here."
I walked in and immediately wanted to walk back out.
David Morrison sat at the head of the table; fifty-something, expensive suit, the kind of smile that never reached his eyes.
But he wasn't alone.
Two other people sat with him. A woman with grey hair and glasses who looked like she ate PR crises for breakfast. And a man in his thirties with a laptop open in front of him, clearly there to take notes.
This wasn't a conversation. This was a tribunal.
"Ms. Sinclair." Morrison stood and extended his hand. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."
I shook his hand even though I wanted to break his fingers. "I didn't have much choice."
"Please, sit." He gestured to the chair across from him. The one that put me facing all three of them with my back to the door. "This is Linda Chen, our VP of Communications, and Mark Santos, team counsel."
Team counsel. They'd brought a lawyer.
I sat down and tried to keep my hands from shaking.
"Can I get you anything?" Morrison asked. "Coffee? Water?"
"I'm fine."
"Alright then." He folded his hands on the table. "Let's get right to it. As I mentioned to Mrs. Lawson yesterday, we're very concerned about Crew's recovery and the external factors that might be impacting his treatment."
"By external factors, you mean me." I said.
"We mean the situation surrounding your relationship, yes." Linda spoke up, her voice clipped and professional.
"Ms. Sinclair, I'm sure you're aware that Crew's relationship with you has generated significant negative media attention."
"Because my ex-boyfriend's agent has been orchestrating a smear campaign against me." I shot back.
"Regardless of the cause, the effect is what concerns us." Morrison pulled out a tablet and slid it across the table. "These are headlines from just the past two weeks."
I looked down at the screen.
......
CREW LAWSON'S GIRLFRIEND FACES PRISON TIME FOR ASSAULT
IS HARPER SINCLAIR A VIOLENT MANIPULATOR?
SOURCES: CREW LAWSON'S RELATIONSHIP STARTED AS PR STUNT
TITANS STAR'S REHAB COMPLICATED BY TOXIC RELATIONSHIP
......
Each headline hit like a punch to the gut.
"We've also received multiple inquiries from sponsors expressing concern about their association with Crew given the ongoing controversy," Linda added. "Three of his endorsement deals are currently under review."
"That's not because of me. That's because of Richard Moss feeding lies to the media."
"Perhaps." Morrison took the tablet back. "But the reality is that Crew's value to this organization—both on and off the ice—has been significantly compromised by his association with you."
"So what do you want?" I asked. "You didn't bring me here just to show me headlines."
Morrison exchanged a look with Linda. Some unspoken communication passed between them.
"We want what's best for Crew," he said carefully. "And right now, we believe what's best for him is space. Distance from the situation that's been causing him stress."
"You want me to break up with him." I said, forcing the words out through clenched teeth.
"We want you to consider that staying in this relationship while he's in treatment might not be in his best interest." Morrison's voice was so reasonable it made me want to scream.
"Crew needs to focus on his recovery; rebuilding his health, his career, and his life. And right now, worrying about you and your legal issues, with all the media attention, is a distraction he doesn’t need.”
"Have you asked Crew what he wants?" I met his eyes.
"Crew is in no position to make objective decisions about his personal life at the moment," Linda said.
"He's in the early stages of addiction recovery. His judgment is compromised. That's why we're having this conversation with you instead."
"Oh, I see… because you think I'll just do what you tell me to?"
"We think you care about Crew enough to put his wellbeing first." Morrison leaned forward.
"Ms. Sinclair, I'm going to be very direct with you. If this relationship continues, it's going to destroy what's left of Crew's career. Sponsors are backing away. Media coverage is increasingly negative. And our ownership is questioning whether someone who makes such poor decisions in his personal life can be trusted to represent this organization on the ice."
My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.
"So here's what we're proposing." Morrison pulled out a document. "You release a statement saying that you and Crew have mutually decided to end your relationship. You cite the pressures of his recovery and your legal situation as reasons. You wish him well. And then, you move on. It's clean, it's respectful, and it gives Crew a chance to rebuild without this hanging over him."
"Absolutely NOT! I'm not doing that." The words burst out before I could stop them.
And the room went very quiet.
"Then we'll be forced to reevaluate Crew's contract with the team," Morrison said. "His current deal has a morality clause. Conduct detrimental to the team. Given the circumstances… we would be within our rights to void the contract."
There it was.
The threat I'd been waiting for.
"You'd fire him because he fell in love with the wrong person."
"We'd be terminating his employment because his personal choices are damaging the organization." Linda's voice was cold. "That's a completely different thing."
"No, it's not." I stood up because I couldn't sit there anymore. "You're threatening to destroy his career unless I do what you want. That's coercion."
"That's business." Morrison stood too.
"Ms. Sinclair, I understand this is difficult. But you need to think about what's actually best for Crew. Right now, you're a liability. Every day you stay together, his value decreases. Every headline about your legal troubles reflects on him. Every social media post dissecting your relationship damages his reputation."
"So I should just disappear?... Make it easy for everyone?"
"We're asking you to make a mature decision that prioritizes Crew's future over your feelings." Linda closed her laptop. "Is that really so unreasonable?"
I stared at all three of them for a moment.
These people who'd never met me, who knew nothing about what Crew and I had been through together, who were sitting here telling me that loving him was the wrong choice.
"Yes," I said. "It's completely unreasonable. Because you're not asking me to do what's best for Crew. You're asking me to do what's most convenient for you. What protects your brand and your sponsors and your bottom line. You don't actually care about his recovery. You care about whether he's profitable."
"That's not fair—" Morrison started.
"Isn't it?" I cut him off. "If you really cared about his wellbeing, you'd be supporting the relationship that makes him happy instead of threatening to fire him over it. You'd be going after Richard Moss for orchestrating this smear campaign instead of punishing me for being the victim of it. But that would be complicated and messy and it might make your sponsors uncomfortable. So instead you're taking the easy route. Get rid of the girlfriend, problem solved… right?"
"Ms. Sinclair—"
"I'm not breaking up with him." The words came out clear and final.
"Not because you told me to. Not to save his contract. Not for any reason except that he asks me to himself. And since he's locked in a facility with no way to have that conversation, you're just going to have to wait."
Morrison's expression hardened.
"Then you leave us no choice."