Take Me as I Am

Faith had decided to go to bed, and Summer and Patrick had gone back to his apartment, leaving Jonathan and Olivia alone. Currently, they were sitting on the couch, flipping through channels on the television. “Can we talk about the whole job thing?” Jonathan asked, looking over at Olivia.

“Why?” she asked, turning her head to look at him. “I promised you all that I’d think about it, and I will,” she promised.

“I just want to know why you’re so reluctant in taking your job back. I mean I know you’ve told me that you feel that you’ve hurt the team more than you’ve helped, but that’s not true. So, what’s holding you back?” Jonathan asked her.

“I don’t know,” Olivia admitted. “I just feel like all this bad stuff has happened since I started working there. I mean everyone found out that Sokolov was my dad. Then, my entire life became newsworthy.”

“Well, what about the good things?” Jonathan asked.

“What?” Olivia asked. “Like meeting you?”

“Yeah, like that,” Jonathan replied with a smile. “And meeting Kaner and Sharpie and all the guys on the team. And having a job that you love.”

“And getting to see my best friend and my boyfriend every day. And getting to travel all over the United States and Canada,” Olivia continued.

“So, doesn’t it seem like the good outweighs the bad?” Jonathan asked.

Olivia thought about it for a minute, going over the pros and cons of taking her job in her mind. “Do you think Dale’ll take me back?” she asked.

Jonathan laughed. “I think you’ve got a good shot,” he said as he put an arm around her. “I love you,” he said kissing her temple.

“I love you, too. And thank you,” she said pressing her lips to his.

“I didn’t do anything,” Jonathan told her.

“You’ve done more than you know. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know how I would have dealt with everything. You, Summer, and Pat have helped me through all of this. And for that, I am forever grateful,” she added with a smile.

The following day, Olivia went to go try to talk to Dale to see if she could get her job back. As she walked towards his office, she could see a man sitting across from Dale at his desk. Deciding not to interrupt, Olivia leaned against the wall, waiting for their meeting to finish.

Ten minutes later, the door opened, and Dale and the other man walked out. “It was nice meeting you, Marcus. You’ll hear back from us on the job really soon,” Dale promised him.

As Marcus walked away, Dale looked over to see Olivia standing there. “Olivia, what are you doing here?” Dale asked her.

“Um, I was actually coming to talk to you about getting my job back, but it appears I might be too late. Was that interview for my job?” Olivia asked, pointing towards where Marcus had just exited.

“Yes, it was,” Dale admitted. “He was actually the last one we had left to interview. However, I think I could make an exception if you’d like to interview, too.”

Olivia looked down at her clothes, noticing that she was not exactly dressed for an interview. But, knowing this was her only chance at getting her job back, she nodded her head, while saying, “I’d love to interview.”

Dale walked back into his office with Olivia following closely behind him. She took a seat across from him and looked up in anticipation.

“Okay, Olivia. Why don’t you tell me about your experience with video analysis,” Dale began.

Olivia looked up at him, trying to figure out if he was joking or not. She could see the twinkle in his eye, and she immediately knew that he wasn’t taking this as a serious interview, but instead as a formality.

“Well,” Olivia started. “I worked for the Chicago Blackhawks for about five months, but I ultimately left that job after some extenuating circumstances.”

“How was your boss there?” Dale asked.

“He was pretty laid back,” Olivia said. “I mean he did allow his players to date the employees,” she added with a smile.

“Really, now?” Dale asked. “That’s an interesting concept.”

“Yeah,” Olivia said. “And he actually fired the coach, and no one in the press can figure out why.”

“He seems like an interesting fellow,” Dale told her.

“Oh, he was,” Olivia agreed.

“And, you said something about relationships between employees and players,” Dale said, and Olivia nodded her head. “Well, here we don’t exactly encourage that sort of thing. Is that going to be okay?”

“Um,” Olivia said, pretending to think about it for a minute. “That should be fine. Unless, you know, someone like…Patrick Sharp asked me out. Otherwise, I think I can contain myself.”

“One more question,” Dale told her.

“Yes?”

“Tell me about your family,” he said.

“Okay. My mother died a few years ago, and I was adopted by two great people, and I now have an adoptive sister, who also works here. My adopted dad died a year ago, but the three of us having been doing okay since then.”

“And your biological dad?” Dale questioned.

“He means nothing to me,” Olivia stated.

Dale smiled at her. “Thank you. That’s all the questions I have for you,” he said, standing up and opening the door behind them.

Olivia turned around to face him. “And, when do you think I’ll be able to find out if I got the job or not?” Olivia asked.

“Well, seeing as how you’re the last one to interview, I’ve already got my mind made up. And, just keep this between you and me, but you’ve got it.”

“Really?” Olivia asked him.

“Yes,” Dale said nodding his head. “Glad to have you back.”

“I’m glad to be back. Thank you so much!” Olivia exclaimed.

“Oh, I do have another question for you, though,” Dale said.

“Yeah?”

“How do you think Jon’s going to feel when I tell him that you told me that you would break the rules for Sharpie?”

“Oh, I’m not worried. Jon knows that Sharp’s my fantasy guy,” she said jokingly.