Take Me as I Am

Olivia sat on the couch in her living room watching television. She had no idea what to do with all the free time she now had since she didn’t have a job anymore. She had been searching for a job, and the Milwaukee Admirals had actually said they were looking for someone. She had an interview with them tomorrow. But, she had nothing in her schedule for today.

She flipped through the channels, purposely bypassing anything to do with sports. Finally, she stopped on one of the soap operas. As she watched, Olivia kept thinking that her life would fit perfectly on the show.

A couple of hours later, her cell phone began ringing, and she looked at it to see it was Jonathan calling. She looked at her watch and couldn’t figure out why he was calling right now since he was supposed to be at practice.

“Hey, Jon, is everything okay?” Olivia asked, answering the phone.

“Yeah,” Jonathan replied. “Is it on the news yet?”

“What?” Olivia asked.

“Sokolov being fired,” he explained.

“What?” Olivia exclaimed. “He was fired?”

“Yeah,” Jonathan told her. “I assumed it would already be on Comcast. I mean I’m sure that he went and talked to the press, probably to try to spin it in his favor.”

“I can’t believe he’s fired,” Olivia said in disbelief.

“I can’t believe that you didn’t know. Are you at home?” he asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“I’m on my way home, but I’ll just go to your place if that’s okay,” he replied.

“You’re on your way home? Why aren’t you practicing right now?”

“We have no coach,” Jonathan reminded her.

“Oh, right,” Olivia said.

“I’ll be there in a little bit, okay?”

“Okay, bye,” she said hanging up.

Ten minutes later, Jonathan walked into her apartment and sat down on the couch, looking at the television, which currently was displaying ESPN.

“And now we bring in Matthew Star, a reporter from the Chicago Sun Times, with a developing story with the Chicago Blackhawks. Matthew?” a reporter on ESPN said before the screen went to a tall guy who was standing outside the United Center.

“Yes, there is breaking news coming from the Blackhawks. They have just fired their coach, Alex Sokolov. Now, a lot of people are asking themselves why. I mean, they have a winning record and are currently in fifth place in the western conference, and they are pretty much guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. So, why would they fire they’re coach?” Matthew said.

“And, we are now waiting on the press conference that is set to begin in about five minutes with Sokolov himself. I’m sure we all want to know what his take on this firing is. We all know that Sokolov is a very vocal coach, and I’m sure he will say what is on his mind.”

Olivia looked over at Jonathan. “Great, what is he going to say now?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Jonathan told her. “But, that reporter’s right when he says Sokolov is vocal.”

“I wonder if he’s going to tell them the whole truth or not?” Olivia asked, as the front door opened behind her. She turned around to see Summer and Patrick running through it.

“I’m assuming you’ve heard, right?” Summer asked Olivia as she sat down in one of the chairs that sat around the television.

“Yeah, Jon called and told me,” Olivia said nodding her head.

“Has he had his press conference yet?” Patrick asked.

“Not yet. It’s supposed to be coming up in the next few minutes, though,” Jonathan answered him.

“This should be interesting,” Patrick said.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Jonathan told him.

“Ooh, here it is,” Summer said grabbing the remote and turning the volume up.

Sokolov appeared before all of the microphones in a nice suit and tie. “Hello, everyone,” he began. “I just want to start off saying that yes, I have been fired as the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. Coaching them for this past year has been amazing, and I was very upset at the fact that they no longer felt that I was the right person for the job. Now, I’m willing to answer any of your questions.”

One reporter stood up and asked, “Why were you fired from your job? The Hawks were having a magnificent year, so why would they choose now to fire you?”

Olivia looked over at Jonathan with a worried expression on her face. He leaned over and grabbed her hands in his, letting her know that he was going to be there for her no matter what. She gave him a small smile as she turned her attention back to the television.

”Well,” Sokolov began. “This is actually kind of a long story, but I’ll try to shorten it. I was concerned that our captain wasn’t spending enough time worrying about the team ever since he began dating an employee of the Blackhawks organization. I discussed my concern with Dale, and he said that he would try to work something out. When he did nothing, I decided to talk to the girl myself, and I told her I would like Toews to worry a little bit more about the team. She didn’t like what I had to say, and she went to Dale and, let’s just say, she embellished the truth a little bit. Dale didn’t like what she had to say, and he said that he had to do something about it, so I was fired.”

The four of them couldn’t believe what they were hearing. “That’s complete bullshit!” Summer yelled. “That is not how everything happened!”

“I’m sorry,” Olivia said, looking over at Jonathan. “I’m so sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?” he asked, as he kept her hands in his.

“I’m sorry that you have to deal with all of this. I’m sorry that Sokolov decided to tell everyone at the press conference that you weren’t focusing on the team, even though that’s completely untrue. I’m sorry that you’re in the middle of all of this because of me,” she said looking down at the floor in order to avoid his eye contact.

“Olivia, I love you,” he told her. “I don’t care what Sokolov has to say about me. I’m more concerned about how you’re taking all of this."

“What do you mean?” she asked looking up at him.

“He’s lying about all of this. I know you’re upset about it. I just want to know that you’re okay,” he told her.

“Of course I’m okay,” Olivia replied with a smile. “I’ve got my best friends here supporting me, and I’ve got the most amazing boyfriend in the world,” she said as she kissed him.