Disregard the Lies

Sadie sat on the table being examined by the athletic trainer. “Follow my finger with just your eyes,” he ordered, and she did as she was told. “Good,” he said. “Now, I’m going to give you a series of numbers for you to remember, and in five minutes, I’m going to have you repeat them, okay? Are you ready?” he asked, and Sadie nodded her head. “Eight, two, four, nine, seven,” he recited.

Kyra came flying into the training room, and she appeared out of breath. “How is she?” she asked immediately.

“I’m still examining her,” the trainer told her. Kyra remained close to them waiting on him to finish, and finally he announced he was done. “You seem to be fine. You have no symptoms of a concussion, but I would suggest taking it easy the next couple of days.”

“Okay,” Sadie said with a small smile.

“I’ve got to get back out there, but you can rest in here a bit if you’d like.”

“Thanks,” Sadie told him as he walked out of the training room. “What exactly happened?” Sadie asked Kyra as she hopped up on the table next to Sadie. “I mean, I never fall on a trick like that. I’ve been doing it since I was like six.”

“Amber did it to you,” Kyra announced. “You went up to do your turn or flip or whatever, and Amber intentionally skated towards you, hitting you, causing you to mess up and fall. You hit your head on the ice,” she explained.

“She did this on purpose?” Sadie questioned in shock. “But, why?”

“I don’t know,” Kyra admitted. “I hate to leave you alone, but I’ve got to get back out there before Maria kills me,” she said with a laugh.

“No problem. Thanks for checking in on me,” Sadie told her, smiling.

“Oh, and by the way,” Kyra said, turning around in the doorway. “Jonathan was worried about you, too.”

Sadie sat in the training room for the next hour, swinging her legs aimlessly as she sat at the end of the table. Suddenly, she heard someone come in, and she turned around to see Jonathan walking through the door. “Hi,” she said with a small smile.

“How are you?” he asked, and she could tell that he had been worried about her.

“Piet said that it doesn’t appear I have a concussion,” she said, referring to their athletic trainer. “I should make a full recovery,” she joked.

“I’m glad,” he told her sincerely, turning around and starting to walk out the door once again.

“Jonathan!” she called out, and he turned around to look at her. “Is this how it’s going to be from now on?” she asked him. “Small, awkward conversations? I know that we can’t go back to how we were, but can’t we just be friends?” she begged.

“I’m sorry, Sadie, but no,” he said, and she could feel her heart break apart with those five words as he left the room.

***

Sadie walked into the conference room where Maria and one of the Red Wings executives, Don Jennings, were sitting. “Sit down, Sadie,” Don told her, motioning to a seat in front of them. “You said you wanted to discuss something with us.”

“Yes,” Sadie said with a nod of her head. “I wanted to discuss what happened during the last game,” she began.

“We are sorry that you got injured, but you knew there was a risk associated with this position,” Don told her.

“I know,” Sadie assured him. “I wanted to discuss why it happened, though. Amber hit me on purpose so that I would fall,” she explained.

“Sadie, you can’t possibly believe that Amber would do this on purpose. I saw her accidentally run into you, but she didn’t intend to injure you,” Maria argued.

“I know for a fact that she did it on purpose,” Sadie told her, and she did know. She had overheard Amber talking about it with Macy in the locker room after the game.

“You have no proof of that,” Maria told her.

“What are you planning on doing with Amber?” Sadie questioned, ignoring Maria’s question.

“What do you expect us to do?” Don retorted.

“I expect you to fire her!” Sadie exclaimed.

“We can’t fire her,” Don said. “There’s no reason to fire her,” he told her.

“No reason?” Sadie cried. “She intentionally tried to hurt me!” she told them. “I think that’s reason enough to fire her. I am not going to continue to work with her.”

“We’re not going to fire her,” Don stated.

“Then I can no longer work for you,” Sadie told them.

“Are you quitting?” Maria questioned.

“I have to,” Sadie told her. “If you’re going to allow Amber to continue working here, then I can’t.”

“Sadie, you signed a contract,” Don reminded her. “You have to finish out the season.”

“Listen, if you try to make me stay, I will hire a lawyer and get out of this contract. I’m sure any judge will be willing to let me get out of it when my life’s at risk,” Sadie told him.

“Your life is at risk?” Maria questioned. “Don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic, Sadie. Please! Amber is not going to harm you,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest.

“I would like out of my contract,” she said, ignoring Maria’s comment and looking directly at Don. “Either you can go get it now and rip it up or I can call a lawyer. It’s your choice. But, you should know that if I have to get a lawyer involved, it won’t be good press for your team,” she said with a raised eyebrow.

“We don’t respond well to threats,” Maria told her.

“I’m not threatening you,” Sadie assured her. “I’m just letting you know what would happen so you’re not caught off guard. Now, what will it be?” she asked, turning her attention back to Don.

“Fine, let me go get your contract,” he told her, walking to his office. Minutes later, Sadie watched as Don ripped the contract up.

“And, I’d like it in writing that I’m released from my contract,” Sadie said, her business senses kicking in.

“Excuse me?” Don asked.

“I don’t know how many other copies of that contract are floating around, and I’m not about to get sued for breach of contract. So, I want it in writing that I’m free to go,” she explained.

“Fine,” Don said through gritted teeth as he did as she requested.

The following day, Sadie stood in her apartment, staring at all of the empty boxes that were just waiting to be filled. She had gotten a call from a paper in Seattle offering her a job, and having no reason to stay in Detroit, she decided to take it.

She heard the doorbell ring, and she jumped over some boxes to get to the door, swinging it open. Kyra stood on the other side, and when she saw all of the boxes, her jaw dropped. “What is going on here?” she asked slowly, stepping around the boxes to get inside.

“I’m moving,” Sadie said simply.

“Moving?” Kyra questioned. “What? I just found out that you quit your job with the Ice Girls, which I want a full story on, and now you’re moving?”

“Okay, well, let’s start with me quitting first, shall we?” Sadie asked, and Kyra nodded her head. “Well, I went to talk to Maria and Don asking for Amber to be fired for obvious reasons, and they refused.”

“What?” Kyra interjected.

“They said that they didn’t think she intentionally tried to harm me. And, after some back and forth, I finally said I quit. They weren’t going to let me out of my contract, but after I threatened to get a lawyer involved and informed them of all the bad press that was about to come their way, they finally agreed, and they ripped my contract up.”

“Wow!” Kyra exclaimed. “Okay, and as far as this whole moving thing goes?”

“Well, I have no job here, and a paper in Seattle offered me a position, so I decided to take it,” she said simply, shrugging her shoulders as if it were no big deal.

“Seattle? Couldn’t you have found something closer? Even Chicago?” Kyra asked.

“Seattle’s the one that offered me the job,” Sadie told her.

“Why are you going, though?” she asked. “Can’t you stay here?”

“Kyra, as much as I love you and Soph, there’s nothing really keeping me here.”

“You mean Jonathan’s not keeping you here?” Kyra questioned.

“He says we can’t even be friends,” Sadie told her sadly. “I don’t know if I can stay here knowing that we can’t even be friends.”

“Is there anything I can do to change your mind?” Kyra asked.

“I don’t think so,” Sadie said.

“When do you leave?”

“Monday.”

“I’m going to miss you, you know that, right?” Kyra asked her.

“I’m going to miss you, too,” Sadie said, pulling her best friend in for a hug.