Promises to Keep

unwritten

"Yes" Tayla nodded her head, wondering how the hell she was going to say this. "Some comments were made today, made very publicly that I wanted you to be aware of before the media shit storm ensues" Tayla chose her words carefully. Both Tyler and Jamie sat in their seats, silently, so Tayla continued. 

"Obviously there's been some talk about the team's performance"  Tayla began, and Tyler and Jamie frowned, but nodded. "Well, it seems like Jim's got a little- erm, 'ballsy'?" Tayla wasn't sure how to phrase it. 

"Can we just cut to the chase?" Tyler snapped, scaring Tayla slightly. 

"Fine." Tayla snapped back just as aggressively. "Jim called the two of you out for playing terribly"  she began, and Tyler and Jamie simply looked at her, confused. "He said it pisses him off that nobody is saying what is completely obvious to him: we are getting terrible play from our top two players. If the both of you don't lead, you won't succeed. He's tired of getting e-mails from the owner asking what the hell is going on with our two best players" Tayla ended, though he did go on to rip into them a little more. 

"Did you write an article?" Jamie asked, and Tayla nodded, glad he wasn't freaking out and reacting like Tyler did. "Can I read?" he asked, and she slid the paper across the table. She slid two copies; one to each of them. She tried to read their facial expressions, but she wasn't able to. After a terrible Christmas, between running into Jason, and dealing with her sister, she was glad to come back home to Dallas, where it was just her and Tyler. Of course things were fine until this moment; when Tayla decided to break the news of the comments made about them. She didn't want to be the person to do it; but she knew they would both be pissed if she didn't at least warn them, especially since she was told to write an article about it. 

"Wow" Jamie finally ended, putting the paper down, looking defeated. "I mean, obviously we know we aren't performing or producing like we'd like to..." he trailed off, his eyes just searching for an answer. "But-" he cut himself off, regaining his composure. He breathed heavily, closing his eyes. 

"Well that's fucking nice" Tyler threw the paper on the desk. "I'm aware I haven't been scoring like I did last year, but is he for fucking real?"  Tyler asked, raging. "Thanks for writing this" he then turned to Tayla, snapping forcefully. 

"Dude- she's doing her job" Jamie turned to Tyler, sensing he was a lot angrier about this than he was. "She didn't say any of this stuff" he pointed  out. 

"Doesn't mean she had to write about it" Tyler snapped back. 

"I was just doing what I was asked" Tayla defended softly. 

"Exactly- and just because we aren't doing ours, doesn't mean she shouldn't be doing hers" Jamie pointed out. He was angry about the comments too; who wouldn't be? He was called out, in front of the entire world, for not playing well enough. He knew he wasn't playing to his potential; he wanted to be better; he needed to be better. 

"Whatever" Tyler grumbled, rolling his eyes. 

"Look, just because he made those comments, doesn't mean-"

"Just stop" Tyler interrupted Tayla, who looked at him, shocked. "You wrote this piece of shit- just stop" he huffed, and stormed out of the office, leaving Tayla and Jamie alone, feeling stunned. 

Was Tyler an asshole for how he reacted? Absolutely. He shouldn't have taken his anger out on Tayla; he was just very taken aback from the comments; he wasn't expecting it. Now Tayla slept upstairs, haven't spoken to Tyler since he stormed out of her office only hours ago. 

"Can't sleep?"

Her voice startled Tyler out of his thoughts. 

"No, I can't" Tyler muttered. 

"I can't either" Tayla confessed, feeling bad about the article, but still feeling angry with Tyler. 

"That's my fault" Tyler frowned, apologizing. "I shouldn't have freaked out at you the way I did. You were only doing your job" Tyler sighed. "I'm sorry, Tay"

"I know you are" she sighed heavily. "It was some pretty rude stuff he said; I know I'd be angry too" Tayla affirmed, approaching Tyler. "I know you're upset; but it's your response now that he's looking for. Show him how damn wrong he is" Tayla clarified when Tyler looked confused. 

"I know I'm not playing the best- but we're a team, you know? It's a team sport. It can't be just Jamie and I- though we both know we've got to be better" he sighed, Tayla sitting beside him, rubbing his back lightly. "I'm lucky to have you" he whispered, resting his head on her shoulder and closing his eyes. 

"I know you are" Tayla replied smugly, and Tyler rolled his eyes. 

"I love you" he smiled. 

"I love you too"