BR Day 14 - Celebrity

Michelle sits beside you on your bed in Pink Team’s cabin.

“I didn’t know you had to get on my calendar,” you tell her playfully.

“You’re a real celebrity now, Riley. Even I have to go through Tiff to get to you.”

Maybe so, but Michelle is still handling a lot of duties that relate to you, kind of like an agent. At least she’s doing well. She’s not dressed like a coach anymore, she’s fancier. She has makeup on, her hair looks amazing, she has new glasses and her gray slacks and white blouse are so cute on her. You’ve never seen her dressed up before.

“I’m glad to see you. You look great,” you tell her.

“Aww.” She smiles at you. “So do you.”

“You know I miss you, right?”

“You’re very sweet, Riley. Don’t worry about me. FUTA pays well, and…” she trails off, looking around at the empty cabin. “All this certainly is not boring.”

“Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know. Something’s always been weird about FUTA,” she tells you frankly. “About this camp, even before FUTA. What do you know about the Umbrella Corporation?”

“Are they even still around?” you ask. You are a horny soccer player, not a savvy news reader, but everyone knows that Umbrella got in trouble for something they did in Raccoon City a while ago. They used to be a big company. Now, not so much.

“I don’t know. But Annette used to have something to do with them. How does a biotech scientist go from that to horny soccer camp?”

Good question. You shrug at Michelle.

“I don’t know either,” she admits. “It’s just weird, that’s all. Anyway, I just wanted to check in. Make sure you’re OK.”

“I am. One of my players left,” you tell her. “I don’t like that, but it happens, you know? Everyone has a life. They can’t all put it on hold to be here. Lara’s like that. She keeps threatening to run away to Tibet or whatever.”

“She better not. You two are good together.”

You snort. “All we do is fight. But that might be because I’m dating her friend.”

“How’s that going?”

“I love her so much,” you admit.

Michelle sighs. “Yikes. Good luck with that. So look, I just wanted to have a conversation with you about your future. You’re a good reality star, Riley. You’re pretty, you have energy and personality… you’re good. But you’re a great soccer player.”

“You think I should get out?” you ask worriedly.

“No. Not necessarily. Just give some thought to where you’re taking this. You’re not hurting your prospects, at least not now. You just can’t lose your edge. Don’t get too sucked into the entertainment drama. And avoid unnecessary injuries. If you can stay more or less focused on the game, I think you can transition back to honest soccer easily.”

You let out a sigh of relief. You knew there would be difficult decisions of this type at some point, and you’re glad they aren’t here yet.

“So you’re telling me not to be stupid,” you say.

“I’m telling you to stay out of trouble,” she says mildly.