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The next few weeks passed, but the NFL had not changed in its opinion so far. The lawyers Mike had provided Elle were working with every little chance they could get to get Elle her job back.

All the uncertainty took its toll on Elle, even though she tried to be brave. She didn't always succeed. Especially at night, Joe had woken up once or twice from her sobbing or her restless tossing and turning, and had held her in his arms until she fell back asleep.

Everyone tried to distract her as best they could. Ja'Marr visited them both often. Elle's parents visited several times. Zac ordered her in to babysit. Nick invited her to dinner. Leila showered her with chores for upcoming events for the future is female. And Joe also tried to keep her busy every free minute.

But the biggest support besides Joe was still Celine. Her best friend didn't give up on Elle. She dragged her along to clubs, bars or concerts, used every free minute to get Elle out of the house and when Joe went with Sam and a few old friends from his Ohio State days on the long-planned golf weekend, Celine took Elle on a spa trip lasting several days.

Joe had considered canceling the golf outing, but Elle had demanded that he go. She would feel bad if he missed it because of her, after all, he had been looking forward to it for a long time and really deserved it. Besides, the few days away from each other would be good for the two of them as well. After all, they had been hanging on each other for over three weeks almost all the time.

In the meantime, Joe had postponed the idea of a vacation together. As soon as the whole thing was finally settled, no matter what the outcome, Elle and he would go away for a week. He had decided against hotels and in favor of a vacation home and was just waiting to finally book it. A week of just the two of them. No cell phone, no disturbances, no media.

Speaking of Media, to put a little more pressure on the NFL, the Bengals Media channels had released a statement from Mike explaining the situation and at the same time announcing that the Bengals would fight this decision.

It had sparked a real wave of online hate. While many people were upset about the baseless decision to fire Elle, many ATs or staff members from other clubs had also come forward and complained about it.

They reported situations or events like having dinner together or similar with players of their club and claimed that after all it was the same as Elle's situation and they should be prosecuted for it too.

They also complained that this ruling seemed to be saying that there should be no personal relationships between staff and players and that was total nonsense.

Also, many players or other important personalities associated with the NFL or other sports, even from the ranks of the Bengals posted the hashtag elle stays in cincy, which in a few days already had countless tweets.

No statement came from the NFL since then. They had withdrawn and had also no longer contacted the lawyers, who conducted the purest telephone terror every day.

Elle had already looked around for job alternatives. She had written to all the football teams and any other jobs she could possibly get as an AT that weren't too far from Cincinnati, but even her old internship had to turn her down.

There had been no jobs for her anywhere in the area, so she had widened her circle and with the help of her old coach and his contacts, she had gotten an offer from Auburn University.

Auburn's football team had just had a new AT position open and wanting to take advantage of the opportunity to bring a woman into their ranks, they had also assured Elle at the same time that she would even have a chance to move up to head AT over the years, which was definitely not a bad option.

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