Break Myself

Marty was meeting the team athletic trainer to work on his shoulder. They weren’t doing much, just making sure that it was ready for surgery in a couple of weeks. On his way in, he was stopped by John McDonough. “Marty, hey,” John said.

“Hey,” Marty said, stopping and turning around to look at the team President.

“Listen, I wanted to apologize for the game yesterday,” John began, and Marty gave him a confused look, having no idea what he was talking about. “I know that you didn’t get that box to yourself,” John continued. “Natalia wasn’t supposed to be in there. I always told her that she was welcome anytime she wanted, and she is, but usually, she tells me when she’s going to be coming. It must have slipped her mind or something.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Marty told him. He had thoroughly enjoyed Natalia’s company. “It was fine.”

“Well, next game, I’ll make sure you get your own box. I know Natalia isn’t exactly the best person to spend time with,” John said.

“What are you talking about?” Marty asked.

“I love my daughter, but she isn’t always happy when she’s around a bunch of people, especially when she doesn’t know them,” John said.

Marty nodded his head before he digested what John had just said. “Wait a minute,” he said. “Did you just say your daughter?” he asked.

Now it was time for John to nod his head. “Yeah, didn’t she tell you?” he asked.

“No, she just said her name was Natalia,” Marty replied.

“Yeah, Natalia McDonough,” John told him. “Well, maybe she was trying to keep it a secret. Maybe she didn’t want to be associated with me,” he said jokingly with a laugh. “Well, I have to go, but I’ll make sure you get your own box next time,” he promised.

“Wait,” Marty called, and John turned back around. “I enjoyed Natalia’s company. If she’d be willing, I’d love to share a box with her again.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to her about it,” John said with a smile. “I’ll see you around, and I hope your shoulder gets to feeling better.”

“Thanks,” Marty mumbled as he looked at his bum shoulder and started walking to find the athletic trainer again.

Three days later, the Blackhawks were back at home, and Marty once again found himself climbing the stairs to the box, wondering if Natalia was going to be there or not. He walked in, and saw her looking out at the ice. “Hey,” he said, letting her know that he had walked into the box.

Natalia turned around, a smile on her face. “Hey! So, I hear you’re now requesting that I stay in a box with you,” she said jokingly as she laughed. “Apparently, you enjoy all my little comments during the game,” she added.

Marty smiled. “Actually, I do enjoy your comments,” he admitted. “I never get to hear what fans say during games, so it’s nice to hear your point of view.”

Half way through the game, the Blackhawks were winning three against one, and Marty turned to look at Natalia. “So,” he began. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were McDonough’s daughter?”

Natalia looked over at him with a smile on her face. “You never asked,” she replied. She started to say something else, when she was interrupted by two girls running into the box, practically tackling Marty.

“Marty! We finally found you!” the girl with red hair said.

“Yeah, they said you were up here in a box watching the game,” the brunette told him.

“Why aren’t you down there watching the game?” Marty asked, pointing down towards the ice. “You two get good tickets, but you decide to come up to a box?” he joked.

“We had to come see you,” the red-haired girl told him, hugging his side, as some waiters came into the room.

“Hey, do you guys need anything?” the young waiter asked.

“Um, I don’t think so,” Marty said, glancing over at Natalia, who had backed herself into a corner and seemed extremely uncomfortable. “Natalia, do you need anything?” he asked her.

Natalia shook her head, staying as far away from everyone as she could without leaving the box. The waiters nodded and left.

“Oh, I forgot to introduce you,” Marty said suddenly. “This is Natalia McDonough. She’s John’s daughter. Natalia, this is Summer Livingston and Olivia Martin,” he said, pointing to the red-headed girl and the brunette girl. “Sum is Kaner’s girlfriend, and Olivia’s dating Tazer,” he explained.

“Nice to meet you,” Natalia said shyly.

“You, too,” Olivia and Summer both smiled.

“Well,” Olivia began. “We’ll let you to go, and we’ll go back down to our seats. We just hadn’t seen you in a while, Marty, so we had to come up and see you. I hope your shoulder gets to feeling better soon. The boys need you out there,” she told him, giving him a hug.

“Yeah, they’re not the same without you,” Summer agreed, hugging him. “We’ll talk to you later,” she said with a smile as they walked out of the box. “It was nice meeting you, Natalia,” she repeated with Olivia echoing her.

“You, too,” Natalia smiled. After they had left, Natalia turned to look at Marty. “They seem really nice,” she commented.

“They are,” Marty agreed with a nod. “Summer’s the team’s translator, and Olivia works on the video of the opposing team.”

“Cool,” Natalia said quietly.

“Hey, are you okay?” Marty asked, noticing that Natalia was still a little jumpy.

“Yeah, why?” she asked him.

“Well, when Sum and Liv came in here, I noticed you kind of backed yourself into a corner. And, then yesterday, when that guy came in here, you fled,” Marty explained. He started putting things together in his mind, and he looked up at her. “Your dad said that you didn’t deal too well around a bunch of people. Are you claustrophobic or something?” he asked.

“Um, yeah, something like that,” Natalia said with a nod. “Listen, can we not talk about that right now?” she asked. “Let’s just watch the game.”

“Okay,” Marty agreed, going back to the edge of the box to watch the game. He noticed that at first Natalia seemed to be kind of quiet, but as the game continued, she became louder, screaming at the team again. He smiled, happy that she was back to her normal self once again.