Disregard the Lies

Sadie couldn’t believe that there was less than a month left until the regular season was over. Granted, it was more than likely that the Red Wings season would last longer, as they were set to make the playoffs yet again.

She had been talking to Lydia more and more recently, trying to get everything set for her article. Lydia had been trying to convince her to have the article ready for the following week, but Sadie had finally talked her into waiting at least another couple of weeks.

Sadie still had yet to talk to Jonathan about everything. She had no idea how she was going to tell him that she had been partially lying this entire time about her job, and that she had only become an Ice Girl because it was her assignment for the newspaper.

She was sure that Jonathan wasn’t going to be happy with her, but she was hoping that he would eventually come to understand why she had done it and why she hadn’t told him the truth from the beginning.

She heard her cell phone ring and she rummaged through her purse, trying to find it. She finally grabbed it, instantly answering it. “Hello?” she asked, not having looked at the screen to see who was calling her.

“Hey, Sadie,” she heard Jonathan say, and she smiled to herself. He and the rest of the team were currently in Chicago for a game that night.

“Hey, Jonathan,” she said to him. “What are you up to right now? Shouldn’t you be at the morning skate or something?’ she asked.

“I’m getting ready to head there right now, but I thought I’d give you a call first to see how you were,” he told her. “Do you have a road event tonight?” he asked her.

“Yeah,” she sighed, not wanting to be reminded about it. That was one thing she wasn’t going to miss when she stopped being an Ice Girl after the article was published. “Can we not talk about that right now?” she asked him.

“Sure,” Jonathan laughed. They talked a little while longer until Sadie heard Valtteri yell in the background, “Get off the phone already! You’ve talked to Sadie long enough!”

Sadie started laughing. “Tell Val to call Kristina and leave us alone,” she told Jonathan, who relayed the message to Kristina.

The next thing she knew, Valtteri was on Jonathan’s phone talking to her. “I already called Kristina today, thank you very much,” Valtteri told her. “But, unlike you two love birds, I don’t have to talk to her for hours at a time.”

“Hey!” Sadie cried. “We have been talking for like ten minutes, so don’t give me that! And, I’m sure Kristina would love to talk to you for hours at a time,” she added.

“Whatever,” Valtteri told her. “Just say goodbye to Jon so we can leave and go to practice,” he said before handing the phone back to Jonathan.

“So, I’m being forced to hang up with you,” Sadie laughed when Jonathan came back on the line. “So, I guess I’ll let you go, and I’ll talk to you later, okay?” she said.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to you after the game. Bye,” he said, hanging up.

***

Sadie walked into the Buffalo Wild Wings with Kyra, dreading having to spend the next four hours there in her Ice Girls outfit. They walked inside and saw Amber sitting at the bar laughing with Ivy and Dana. “Why does she have to be here tonight?” Sadie groaned.

“I think Maria does it on purpose because she knows we can’t stand her,” Kyra laughed, walking towards the bar.

“So,” Amber said, looking straight up at Sadie, who had an uneasy feeling come over her. “I was just reading an old article from The Detroit News. There’s this writer named Sarah Richards, and I’ve been reading all of her old stuff,” Amber told her, and Sadie immediately flushed at the mention of her name.

“Sadie, are you okay?” Kyra asked, noticing Sadie’s sudden change in demeanor. Sadie nodded her head, not taking her eyes off of Amber who was staring right at her.

“Richards is your last name, isn’t it, Sadie?” Amber questioned, and Sadie knew right then and there that Amber was up to something.

“Yeah, it is,” Sadie told her with a small nod.

“What’s your point, Amber?” Kyra asked.

“Oh, I was just wondering if she was related to Sadie or something,” Amber said offhandedly, looking down at her Blackberry and pushing some buttons. “Oh, look, here’s something interesting,” she said, looking up at the girls.

“What?” Kyra asked, not wanting to play any of Amber’s games.

“Well, according to their website, The Detroit News is doing a big piece on the Ice Girls!” she exclaimed with fake enthusiasm. Ivy and Dana started discussing it, while Sadie’s heart dropped. “Wait a minute!” Amber exclaimed, causing everyone to quiet. “According to this, one of their reporters has been posing as an Ice Girl to get the inside scoop on us!” she exclaimed, causing all the girls to look at her. “Do you hear that?” she questioned. “There’s someone among us that’s been pretending to be one of us just to get a story!”

“You’re lying,” Kyra stated, not buying her story.

“Read it for yourself,” Amber said, shoving her Blackberry into Kyra’s hands, and both Kyra and Sadie read the small screen. Sure enough, there was an announcement saying that the story would be published in the following week’s paper. Sadie couldn’t believe it. Lydia had told her she would give her the extra time, but apparently she changed her mind.

“I can’t believe it!” Kyra exclaimed, while Sadie remained quiet, not knowing what to say.

“Oh, and look here,” Amber continued. “It’s this Sarah Richards girl.”

“What?” Sadie asked, her eyes going wide.

“Wait a minute,” Amber said. “Isn’t Sadie short for Sarah?” she asked, looking directly at Sadie.

“Yes, but,” Sadie began.

“No!” Amber interrupted. “You’re Sarah Richards! You’re the one who’s been undercover this whole time pretending to be one of us just so you can get a story! How do you live with yourself?” she asked.

Dana and Ivy began yelling at her, too, but Sadie didn’t listen to anything any of them had to say. Instead, she turned around to Kyra, who was standing there with her mouth slightly open, staring at Sadie. “Kyra,” Sadie began.

“Is is true?” Kyra asked, and tears formed in Sadie’s eyes. “Is it true?” Kyra repeated more forcefully this time.

“Yes, but,” Sadie tried.

“I don’t want to hear it!” Kyra yelled. “How the hell could you do this not only to the Ice Girls, but how could you do this to me?” she questioned. “You’ve been lying this entire time!”

“Kyra, I only lied about my job. Everything else I’ve ever said to you has been the truth,” Sadie told her.

“I’ve let you into my life. I’ve let you into my daughter’s life! And, this is what you do? You lied the entire time about who you are? Does Jonathan know?” she suddenly questioned, and Sadie’s eyes went wide as she looked around at the other girls whose eyes were now focused on Sadie.

“Kyra,” Sadie began, trying to get her to quiet down to no avail.

“Does Jonathan know?” she repeated. “I mean, you’ve been dating him for how long now? Six months?” she yelled.

“Jonathan?” Amber interjected. “As in Jonathan Ericsson?”

“Yeah, didn’t you know?” Kyra asked, looking at Amber. “That’s how we knew you didn’t sleep with him when you claimed to. He was dating Sadie at the time. He’s been dating her since the beginning of the season! But, that’s not the most important thing right now,” she said, looking back at Sadie. “He doesn’t know? How is he going to feel about all of this?”

“Kyra, please,” Sadie tried.

“I don’t want to hear any of the bullshit you’re going to try to feed me,” Kyra said, turning away from her.

Maria walked up behind them, demanding to know what all the screaming was about. “Here,” Amber said, giving her the Blackberry to read. “Sadie’s the one doing the article,” she informed her.

Maria finished reading the announcement before turning to look at Sadie. “Is this true?” she questioned, and Sadie slowly nodded her head.

“So, what are you going to do about it?” Amber asked.

“Yeah, I think she needs to be fired!” Dana interjected.

“Yeah, she’s not one of us! She shouldn’t be here right now!” Ivy agreed.

“Girls, we can’t fire Sadie,” Maria said calmly, and Sadie let out a sigh of relief.

“What? Why not?” Amber asked.

“She hasn’t violated her contract in any way. If we were to even try to fire her, she could sue us,” she informed them. “So, Sadie’s here to stay. Now, I want you all to get ready because there are plenty of people here to see you right now. We’ll have a group meeting tomorrow to discuss everything that’s happened, and we’ll figure out what to do. But, for now, go out there and mingle,” Maria ordered, pushing Amber and Ivy towards the crowd.

“Kyra,” Sadie called as Kyra walked out towards the crowd. “Just let me explain,” she begged, tears stinging her eyes.

“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say ever again,” Kyra told her through gritted teeth, turning her back on her former best friend and walking to where Dana was standing.