I reached forward and viewed what had made my parents’ tune change so quickly.
I paled. My jaw dropped. My eyes widened. My stomach, and heart, plummeted to the floor. I blinked long. And I blinked long again, not believing the words written in bold black, purposely printed to catch everyone's attention. A deafening sound filled the room as I sat stone-still in my dad's office rereading the front page over and over, a newspaper strictly printed for the residents of Amelia Island.
'POSH PALM BAY PRINCESS GETTING AWFULLY COZY WITH HER COACH.'
Beneath the headline in italics, it read…
'Caught in the act! Teen socialite Adrianna Rossi seduces renowned gymnastics coach.'
Next to the headline were pictures of me at my meets. Me hugging Kova with his back to the camera. Another photo zoomed in on my face as I gave Kova a megawatt smile, again his back was to the camera. The next showed him squatted in front of me, his hands on my hips and fingertips pressed to my butt over my leotard. His ball cap was pulled low over his face, only the stubble on his chin was visible.
None of them were offensive or distasteful in my eyes. All gymnasts and coaches were close and very hands on. It came with the sport. But the one photo that held my attention the most, the one that took up the most space and center stage, was the one taken somewhere outside of my complex.
Someone had hidden in the bushes.
Kova had me cradled to his chest, my face buried in his neck with one arm draped over his shoulder, as he entered my building.
Now this looked like the definition of intimate. The sun had set, and I wore very little, next to nothing clothing. My duffle bag was on his shoulder and it looked like I had fallen asleep. The angle of the photo hid his face and made it seem like Kova was pressing a kiss to my cheek.
Fuck. I swallowed hard, trying to figure out how the hell I would get out of this. Kova hadn't kissed me outside, we’d always been careful in public. I knew at once I had to play it off as nothing unusual, when in truth, this particular photo wasn’t good. It looked bad, really bad, especially next to the others where I basically had throbbing hearts in my eyes while I gazed upon him like a lovesick teenager.
The other photos from the meets were common but completely taken out of context, and that's what I was going to go with. If this paparazzi had done their homework, then they would've seen that it was nothing out of the ordinary. But of course, why do that when they can spin it to make money. Especially when the family was well-known and lived on the prestigious Amelia Island. Fame. Money. Privilege.
I sighed inwardly and schooled my features. Placing the newspaper down, I looked up at Dad, then to Mom.
I feigned confusion, my voice piqued. "What? What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" Mom retorted, her voice much higher than mine. She leaned forward and grabbed the paper and held it up for me to see again. She shook it, the sound of the papers thrashed together. "You don't see what the issue is?"
Straight-faced, I shot another quick look at the newspaper and then back to her. Of course I did, but I had to play dumb.
I shrugged blandly and thought she was going to pop a blood vessel in her eye. "They're pictures of me and my coach. What's the big deal? You can find the same kind of photos of any other coach and gymnast on the internet."
"So you're telling me every coach carries his gymnast to her home and kisses her cheek? You seriously don't see the issue?"
"He didn't kiss me." I glanced at Dad. He tilted his head to the side. I felt like he could see right through me.
Definitely not the welcome home I was expecting.
An exasperated, yet ladylike huff expelled from Mom. "Is this not exactly what I suspected when we were at the competition, Frank? That I said they looked a little too friendly at the meet, and then in our hotel room?"
He dipped his chin. I looked into my dad's optimistic eyes; I knew he was trying to figure out what was real and what wasn't.
"See?" She threw the paper dramatically onto the desk and sat back. "Even your father saw it."