Disregard the Lies

Sadie walked into Joe Louis Arena three hours before game time. They had been told to be there two and a half hours beforehand, not that Sadie had the faintest idea why. Was there that much that they needed to go over? Her phone beeped, indicating she had a text message, and she looked into her purse, trying to retrieve it.

With her head down, she felt herself run into a wall, and she fell backwards onto the floor. She looked up to see the wall was actually the body of Jonathan Ericsson, and she blushed as he reached his hand down to help her up. “Sorry,” he apologized.

“Oh, no, it was my fault,” Sadie told him as she grabbed his hand. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going,” she admitted.

“So, Sadie,” Jonathan began.

“You remember my name,” Sadie stated, impressed.

“How could I forget a beautiful name for a beautiful girl?” he asked her.

Sadie rolled her eyes at his attempt at being suave. “Do you always use lame pickup lines, or am I special case?” Sadie questioned. “Because just to let you know, it’s not going to work on me. But, there are a couple of other ice girls I’m sure it’ll work on. In fact, I think you were one of the guys that was claimed,” she told him, remembering that Amber had said his name yesterday, not that Sadie had known who she was talking about at the time. And, now that she finally had a face to the name, she couldn’t exactly argue with her. Jonathan was a sexy guy.

“I was claimed?” Jonathan asked, confused.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought when they first told me about it. But, yes, you have been claimed, and I think that means that no other girl is supposed to even talk to you,” Sadie said with a laugh at how stupid that sounded.

“And, yet, you’re still standing here talking to me,” Jonathan pointed out.

“Because I don’t follow their rules,” she told him.

Jonathan smiled at her. “How would you like to go get some lunch tomorrow. That is, if you’re free,” he added.

“Why, Mr. Ericsson, are you asking me out on a date?” Sadie asked him. “Because, you know that’s against the rules, right, for a player to have a relationship with an ice girl. Or, did they not inform you of that?”

“Oh, they told us about that,” Jonathan told her. “But, who said it’s a date? I was just asking you to go to lunch with me as friends, to get to know you better,” he told her with a smile that Sadie knew she wouldn’t be able to deny.

“And will there be any other people on this lunch as just friends?” she asked.

“Well, I’m sure the restaurant won’t be empty,” Jonathan joked. “What do you say?”

Sadie bit her bottom lip, knowing it would be a bad idea to say yes. While it wasn’t in their contract that they couldn’t have relationships with players, they had had a lecture from Maria about how it was frowned upon, and how it was practically an unwritten rule. But, looking up into those chocolate eyes, Sadie could see she wouldn’t be able to say no. “When and where?” she asked him.

“How about you give me your phone number, and I’ll call you about it?” he asked, and Sadie handed her phone over to him. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he told her before continuing to walk down the hallway.

Sadie heard a screech come from behind her, and she turned around to see Amber and Macy standing there. “What did he mean ‘I’ll call you tomorrow’?” Amber asked.

“Who knows?” Sadie shrugged, not wanting to get into an argument with Amber. She continued walking towards the conference room, where they were supposed to meet.

“Do you not remember what we told you that first day?” Macy asked, and Sadie turned around to look at her. “Amber claimed Ericsson. So, you can’t just go and hook up with him behind her back!” she exclaimed.

“First of all,” Sadie said, stopping right in front of the door to the conference room. “You can’t claim someone. He is not an object, he’s a person. And, second of all, what makes you think that I’m hooking up with him? Not all of us are whores like you!” she exclaimed, opening the door and walking inside, not giving them any time to say anything else to her. Sadie made a mental note to herself to remember that some of the girls claimed the guys, as this would be something good to add to the article later on.

She saw Kyra sitting on the other side of the room, and she made her way over there, hearing Macy and Amber yell her name the entire time. “What’s that all about?” Kyra asked, motioning to Macy and Amber, who had sat down in the middle of the room, but who were glaring at Sadie.

“Oh, they caught me talking to Ericsson, and Amber already claimed him,” Sadie said, shrugging it off.

“She claimed him?” Kyra questioned.

“Yeah, they think that they can claim the players that they want to hook up with, so no other girl on the squad is allowed to talk to them or something,” Sadie explained. “It’s stupid. But, anyways, I ran into Ericsson when I was in the hallway, and we were talking, and they got mad at me,” she continued, feeling as if she were back in high school.

“Ericsson? Is that the one you were asking me about?” Kyra asked, and Sadie nodded her head. “Ooh, he’s hot,” Kyra said.

“No kidding,” Sadie laughed. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Maria walked into the room, making everyone go quiet.

“Ladies, can I have your attention?” Maria asked, even though everyone was already giving her their full attention. “As you all know, today is the home opener for the Red Wings, and we want this to be the best home opener ever. You will all be split into groups of three, and you will be placed in various places around the arena, welcoming our guests inside. I will come around later on and give you your assignment as to where you will stand during the game, and when you will go out onto the ice. Okay, now let’s put you into groups, shall we?”

Sadie turned to look at Kyra. “Twenty bucks says I get put with Macy and Amber,” she whispered.

“You’re on,” Kyra laughed.

“Okay, first up, we have Heidi, Ivy, and Dana. You will all be at ice level on the side opposite the benches. Sadie, Amber, and Maggie, you will all be at ice level on the team bench side. Carmen, Dawn, and Esmeralda, you will be at the western entrance. And, finally, Macy, Kyra, and Laura, you will be at the eastern entrance,” Maria announced.

Kyra looked over at Sadie. “So, does this mean we break even since you’re with Amber and I’m with Macy?” she asked, and Sadie laughed at her, nodding her head.

“Well, don’t just sit there!” Maria cried. “Get changed and get out there!” she exclaimed as all the girls jumped up, going to put their Ice Girl outfits on, which seemed similar to a bathing suit for Sadie. She still couldn’t figure out why they were wearing next to nothing when they were down on the ice.

After squeezing into her tight outfit, Sadie stared at herself in the mirror. And they wonder why all the drunk guys in arenas yell at the Ice Girls when they look like this! she thought to herself.

“Let’s go!” Maria yelled and Sadie made her way with Amber and Maggie down to ice level.

As they waited for the fans to arrive, Amber, Maggie, and Sadie sat down in some of the seats. Maggie turned around to look at Sadie. “So, Sadie, what do you do for a living?” she asked.

Sadie could feel her heart rate rise, as she didn’t know what exactly to say. It wasn’t like she could tell them that she was actually a reporter for a newspaper. She looked on in silence for a few moments, and she could feel Maggie and Amber stare at her with interest. Finally, Sadie answered. “I write,” she told them, deciding to tell them the truth.

“You write?” Amber questioned with a disgusting look on her face. “Like what? A diary?”

“What do you do, Amber?” Maggie asked, not wanting the two of them to start fighting.

“I’m a model,” she stated, smiling proudly.

Sadie opened her mouth to say something when they could hear fans coming down the aisle towards them. All three stood up, making their way towards them, welcoming in.

As the time on the scoreboard dwindled down to when the teams would come out for the pregame skate, everyone in the lower section made their way down to the glass. Sadie got pushed into the corner, right next to one of the benches. The horn blew, indicating the teams were making their way out to the ice, and Sadie jumped when she felt something bump into her bare lower back. She spun around to see Jonathan smirking at her, skating out onto the ice. Sadie rolled her eyes, but found herself continuing to stare at him while he skated around, shooting the puck at the net.

Fifteen minutes later, the teams made their way off the ice, and Sadie was being pushed even further against the bench, as everyone was trying to get close enough to high-five one of the players. As Jonathan walked by, he flashed her a smile, continuing to walk into the tunnel.

“He is so going to be in my bed within two weeks,” she heard Amber say, and she turned around with a confused look on her face. “Ericsson,” Amber clarified. “Did you see the smile he flashed me? He’s already hooked,” she smirked, walking away.

Sadie rolled her eyes, finally able to move away from the bench as everyone made their way to their seats. She made her way to the entrance of the section she was assigned to, which happened to be on the other side of the penalty box, waiting for the game to begin.