For Aphrodite most things she did when it came to Xena's public image was probably a conflict of interest but what was she supposed to do? She met the girl when she was 15. She had taken her under her wing, which was her duty as the national team co-captain at the time. But it was different with Xena. She had been so young and in such a short time had gone through so much. It had been a luck of the draw that they had ended up at the same club team for a few years, where they had grown even closer. She had eventually been part of her wedding party.
So, when Aphrodite retired from international and club soccer to start her sports marketing and agency company Xena was a natural first choice for a client. She had always assumed that Cyrene had some influence on that decision, but she did not mind. Representing one of the greatest stars in the world skyrocketed her company to fame. So, much so that she was eventually hired to consultant for the Red Stars and then to run the marketing department for the national team.
That was when the conflict of interest with representing Xena became too much and she to pass it on to someone else in Sports Goddess Representation, Inc. Her protégé Genia had been doing an excellent job of technically being Xena's agent. But when things got too big or too queer – Genia was one of the few straight people on her staff – Aphrodite would drop back into her national team captain role of protecting Xena at all costs. Of course, she never let the superstar know about any of it. She'd be utterly mortified.
All of that was running through Aphrodite's mind as she received a series of texts from Genia. They were screenshots of various social media posts of Gabrielle and Xena together on the Stanford campus. Most were from nothing accounts, just the average Stanford student. Aphrodite began looking into it for herself. A few were from the accounts of reporters from The Stanford Daily but the student newspaper itself had not posted anything as of yet.
"Thank you, sweetie,"Dite texted Genia in reply. "Good work."
She then sent a text to Gabrielle and Xena in a newly created group message.
Aphrodite: Darlings. We need to talk about your recent activity.
Gabriele snorted awake with Xena pressed against her in her bed as she reached for her illuminated phone on her bedside table.
"It's from Aphrodite," Gabrielle stated as she held the phone in front of her face.
Xena groaned as she turned and buried her face in Gabrielle's neck. "Tell her to fuck off. It's too early."
Gabrielle scoffed. "Xena! She wants to talk about 'our recent activity'. So, I cannot do that."
Xena groaned and pulled herself away from Gabrielle just enough to grab her phone and fall back against her. She rubbed at her face before trying to decide what she would reply.
"What's she talkin' about?" Xena questioned as she turned her head resting in Gabrielle's shoulder toward her face.
The blonde shrugged. "I really don't know. I mean, it was a populated party. Maybe someone got…something of us?"
Xena groaned as she typed a text.
Xena: What activity we talking about?
Aphrodite: It seems you were attending college parties and being a gay about town in Stanford this weekend, Xena.
X: I was only in Salt Lake. Gabrielle's friend was called up for the England-Russia game. It just made sense for me to come here for it.
A: Oh, you adorable naïve child. Gabrielle, I am so sorry that you have to deal with this.
Gabrielle: According to my sister, my parents are completely out of the loop. So, I don't really care at this point.
A: I need you to tell me how sure about that you are, sweetie.
Gabrielle looked up from her phone and over to Xena, her messy hair was covering the left side of her face and she still had a rather sleepy expression. Gabrielle laughed as she leaned into her and kissed her.
"What was that for?" Xena questioned as she eventually pulled away from the kiss.
Gabrielle smiled and laughed lightly to herself. "I'm sure. I'm so sure. I-I-I…wish my parents weren't like this but I'm not nervous anymore. I'm ready to do this with you, Xena. You know, publicly."
Xena reached over and placed her hand on the side of her face. "It's gonna be a lot. Like not regular gay shit. We…Lao Ma and I were…"
Gabrielle kissed her to stop her nervous rambling. She pulled away and stared into her crystal blue eyes. "I know. As odd as it seems now, I was a fan of the two of you. So, I followed your relationship and I know how people felt about it. And how they felt about the divorce."
"And how they are gonna feel about this?" Xena added with a guilty expression.
Gabrielle took a deep breath. "I think I can handle it. And if not, you're here to help, right?"
Xena scoffed. "Yeah, of course."
G: Completely sure
Over the next week, Aphrodite and Geina monitored, tracked, and catalogued every photo and the few videos of Xena and Gabrielle that made it onto various social media platforms. They created responses and strategies that thankfully for the most part were not needed. One of the trashy tabloid entertainment news shows, which always caused the most problems for Aphrodite contacted Sports Goddess about their relationship. But after Dite had coached Geina on how to press them about reliable sources, they were forced to admit they had none and dropped the story.
Unfortunately, Aphrodite's power did not have as much global strength as she wished it did. So, the Chinese tabloid media was reporting that Lao Ma's ex-wife was now dating the replacement for the American player, who Lao Ma had injured in the divorce match-up. Though Lao Ma attempted to keep track of all of Ming Tien's media exposure, he still went to daycare and had a series of nannies for when she was out of town with Dalian WFC.
Lao Ma figured he had probably seen it somewhere when he nervously asked her to leave the room during one of his weekly Skype calls with Xena. She had been seated behind him like usual. She could not see Xena's reaction to the request, but she with how it had all been going recently she trusted her to handle it appropriately.
Lao Ma nodded. "Yes, darling," she told her son as she stood and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. It wasn't too far away but it would be harder for her to hear the conversation.
Ming Tien peered over his shoulder to watch Lao Ma leave the room. He then turned back to the laptop feed of Xena from her apartment in Chicago. He spurted awkwardly in Mandarin for bit. Xena assumed this conversation would be in Mandarin, he had a better grasp of it than English.
He crossed his arms over his chest and tensed his shoulders awkwardly. "Are you…are you dating Gabrielle now?"
Xena sighed for his figured this was where the conversation was going. "Yeah," Xena stated truthfully. "I am. And I'm sorry, buddy. But your Mama and I ain't together anymore."
He nodded. "I know. Yeah, I know." He pressed his lips together and peered down sadly.
"Aye, aye," Xena called to get his attention back. "You know that ain't changin' nothin' about this, right? Okay? I love you just the same as before, buddy. Okay?"
Ming Tien looked up at the camera with tears in his eyes. "Yeah?"
Xena covered part of her face with her head and sniffed back her own tears. "Yeah, buddy. And I'm going to come visit you when I can, okay?"
Ming Tien tearily nodded. "Okay, Mom," he replied. "Okay."
Xena sadly laughed as she wiped her tears away. "Okay." She took a few deep breathes. "I think it's your bedtime, bud. Wanna put your Mama on?"
He nodded. "Good-night, Mom."
"Good-night, bud," Xena replied, forcing to keep her tears down.
Ming Tien sniffed a few times as he walked away from the computer and toward his room. Xena could partially see him waving off Lao Ma, telling her everything was fine as he tearily made his way to his room.
Lao Ma sat in his seat without saying anything.
Xena took a deep breath and spoke first. "I'm real sorry about that. He seems pretty upset and that's on me."
Lao Ma gave her a warm and understanding expression. "I was never far away, Xena. And even if I wasn't, you should know that I understand."
Xena shrugged and nodded.
"It seems to be getting rather serious with Gabrielle," Lao Ma stated.
Xena's nerves nearly made her explode. "Uh…I mean, yeah, maybe. No, yeah. Yes. Yes, it is rather serious."
Lao Ma warmly smiled. "I am happy for you, Xena."
"Are you?" Xena asked confused.
Lao Ma seemed to take a moment to formulate her response. "I know how hard it was for both of us to admit but you and I were never going to be long term. We fit together well for a time, but there was always an end in sight."
Xena scoffed. "Nobody can survive that much fightin'."
"No," Lao Ma replied with a small smile.
Xena shifted awkwardly on her couch and ran a hand through her hair. "How's the media goin' over there? I'm sorry if this is blowin' back on you."
"Nothing worse than usual, Xena. I can handle it. I always do," Lao Ma replied.
Xena nodded with a pleased smile.
"I overheard you promising to visit," Lao Ma pointed out.
Xena blushed. "Yeah," she admitted curtly. "I should've run that by you first."
"I'm not the empress of China, Xena. I cannot bar you from entering the country," Lao Ma joked.
Xena laughed in reply. "You probably could if ya tried. I'll have to look over my schedule and see if I can fit something in before France. I promise I'll tell you about it before him."
Lao Ma nodded in approval.
"Good luck against The Philippines," Xena said of China's next qualifier game.
"Good luck with your media storm," Lao Ma replied.
Xena chuckled. "Good night, Lao Ma."
"Good night, Xena."
