Disregard the Lies

“I still hate these stupid outfits!” Sadie called out, squeezing into her Ice Girl clothes. “I mean, you’d think after a month and a half, I would have gotten used to them, but nope, I still hate them,” she continued, as Kyra laughed at her from Sadie’s living room. They were getting ready to go to a Buffalo Wild Wings for a road game event. “And, I still don’t understand why people go to Buffalo Wild Wings just to see us! These guys need to get a life!” she cried, walking out of the bathroom, her hair straightened.

“Yes, these guys do need to get lives,” Kyra agreed. “But, as far as why they come out to see us, all you have to do is look in a mirror. It’s these outfits,” she told her.

“I hate these damn outfits,” Sadie mumbled.

“I know I’ve asked you this a million times already, but why did you audition to be an Ice Girl if you hate everything about it?” Kyra asked jokingly.

“You know why,” Sadie said, looking over at her. She had told Kyra a thousand times that it was because she wanted to make money on her own, and this seemed like an easy job.

“Yeah, I know,” Kyra told her. “Are you ready to go?” she asked, and Sadie nodded, grabbing her keys off of the table and walking out the door, locking it behind her.

As they drove to Buffalo Wild Wings, Kyra asked, “So, how are you dealing with Jonathan being away?”

“What do you mean?” Sadie asked. “You make it seem like he’s never been on a road trip before. We’ve been dating for over a month, and he’s been gone before,” she laughed.

“I know,” Kyra said. “It’s just, this is the longest road trip they’ve been on this year. And, it’s only half way over,” she added.

Sadie nodded her head in understanding. The Red Wings were on a two week road trip, and they still had a week to go. Sadie and Jonathan talked as often as they could, but their schedules never seemed to match, so it would only be for a few minutes at a time. But, Sadie had her duties as an Ice Girl to keep her busy. She had been assigned to six of the eight road game events, so she seemed to always be busy.

“I’m dealing with it just fine,” Sadie answered. “It’s not like I don’t have a life outside of Jonathan,” she joked. In fact, she had found it easier to do her job when Jonathan wasn’t around. She had sent Lydia tons of information on Ice Girls in the past week, and she had gotten good feedback from her on it.

“I know that!” Kyra cried.

“Plus, it’s not like I never get to see him. I see him every single time I’m forced to go to these road events, and have guys put their hands all over me,” Sadie told her.

“Yeah, I’m not too happy with that part of the job either,” Kyra told her. “I feel like a stripper or a hooker or something with the way these guys act.” Sadie started laughing at her, and Kyra gave her a questionable look. “What?” Kyra asked.

“Sorry, it’s just, you feel like a hooker?” Sadie asked in between her laughter.

“Yeah,” Kyra told her. “I mean, look at the way we dress. We look like hookers!” she said, pulling into the parking lot. “Stop laughing at me!” Kyra cried, hitting Sadie in the arm, which only caused Sadie to laugh even harder. “You are so going to be walking home!” she joked.

“I’m sorry,” Sadie apologized. “Really, I am. Let’s just go in and do our hooker job so we can go home.”

“I hate you,” Kyra said, stepping out of the car.

“Aw, you know you love me,” Sadie smiled, putting her arm around Kyra’s shoulders as they walked into the restaurant. They watched as it seemed that everyone’s heads turned in their direction, skimming over their bodies. “I hate this part,” Sadie muttered, and Kyra nodded in agreement, both walking towards the bar where Ivy and Heidi were standing.

Sadie turned her head, and she saw Amber walk inside. “What is she doing here?” Sadie whispered to Kyra, discreetly pointing towards the door. “I thought she wasn’t scheduled here tonight.”

“She wasn’t,” Kyra said, shrugging her shoulders. “Apparently she took the place of Laura.”

“Hey, girls,” Amber smiled to Ivy and Heidi, sitting her purse down on the bar, and completely ignoring Sadie and Kyra.

“Okay, you’re all here,” Maria said, walking up to the group. “Let me introduce you all, and then you can do your thing.”

Two hours later, Sadie was sitting on a barstool between Kyra and an old, bald guy who kept trying to put his hand on Sadie’s leg. Sadie kept scooting her barstool closer to Kyra, trying to get out of the man’s reach, but it was to no avail.

Trying to ignore the guy, Sadie kept her attention on the large television screen that was showing the Red Wings game. The entire place erupted in cheers as Valtteri Filppula scored, giving the Red Wings the lead. Sadie took that moment as her chance to move seats, as everyone jumped up. She quickly moved to the other side of Kyra, sitting on the currently vacant barstool.

“Tired of the old guy touching you?” Kyra whispered so only Sadie could hear.

“You have no idea!” Sadie told her.

“Actually, I can,” Kyra told her, leaning over so Sadie could hear. “He’s been at practically every single road event, and usually he’s always touching me. And, you wonder why I said I felt like a hooker,” Kyra said.

Sadie nodded her head. She knew that there was nothing that either of them could do. Maria had warned them that this was likely to happen when they were at a bar and they were dealing with drunken men. Maria had told them to merely move seats instead of making a scene, which is exactly what Sadie had done.

She turned her attention back to the television, as the camera focused in on Jonathan in the middle of the ice. Suddenly, a player on the opposing team came over and checked him, causing Jonathan to fly up into the air, landing awkwardly on the ice. Sadie watched on, her eyes wide with shock, as she realized he wasn’t getting up.

Everyone in the bar went quiet, as they all looked on, wondering if he was okay. She suddenly heard them scream out about how it was a dirty hit, but she didn’t care what anyone was saying; she was only concerned with if Jonathan was okay or not.

She watched as the athletic trainer went out onto the ice, and Jonathan slowly started to move his body on the ice. Kyra put her hand on Sadie’s shoulder, knowing that she was internally freaking out, even though she couldn’t show it on the outside how concerned she really was.

Jonathan finally stood up, but he wasn’t putting any weight on his right leg. Sadie watched on as the athletic trainer and Henrik Zetterberg helped him off the ice, and he went straight back to the locker room. Her stomach filled with knots, knowing that he wasn’t going to be okay after leaving the game like that.

“Are you okay?” Kyra asked Sadie, who seemed to be frozen on the barstool.

“Why wouldn’t she be?” Amber questioned, walking up behind them.

Sadie glared at Amber before addressing Kyra. “I’m fine,” she assured her with a small smile. She stood up, walking to the other side of the room where Ivy was standing.

“Why wouldn’t she be fine?” Amber asked Kyra.

“She just wasn’t feeling good,” Kyra lied, walking around Amber to avoid any more questions from her.

***

Sadie sat in her bed, still trying to get a hold of Jonathan. She glanced at her clock, which read two in the morning, and she sighed to herself. She had been trying to call him since she had gotten back from the road event at eleven, and he hadn’t answered his phone. She didn’t know if he was sleeping or what was going on. She didn’t want to seem like an obsessive girlfriend, but she couldn’t help but call him every so often, praying that he would just pick up his cell phone.

Finally, after what seemed like the millionth phone call, he picked up, and Sadie let out a sigh of relief. “Sadie?” she heard Jonathan ask.

“Thank God, Jonathan,” she said into the phone.

“Sadie, is everything okay?” he asked in a tired tone, and she knew she had woke him up.

“I’m sorry for waking you,” she immediately said. “But, I’ve been trying to reach you for the last few hours. I was worried after seeing you go down in the game,” she admitted.

“I’m fine,” he assured you. “And, I’m sorry for not calling you. I literally crashed as soon as I got back to the hotel room.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked. She needed to hear him say it one more time to be certain.

“Yeah,” he said with a small laugh. “It was my knee, but they said I didn’t tear anything, and I should be able to play in the next game. They just took me out of the game as a precaution. Have you been worried about me this entire time?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Sadie admitted. “It’s just, I saw you go down, and you didn’t get up immediately, and I thought something bad happened.”

“Don’t worry about me,” he told her. “I’m just fine. So, how was your night?”

“You know, we don’t have to talk right now if you’re tired. I realize it’s nearly three in the morning,” she said with a small laugh as the time of night registered in her brain.

“No, I want to hear about your day. Did you have a road event tonight?” he asked.

Sadie smiled to herself. “Yeah,” she told him. “It was okay except for when this guy kept putting his hand on my thigh,” she confessed.

“Wait a minute. Did you just say some guy put his hand on your thigh?” he questioned, and Sadie knew he had set up in bed.

“Yeah, but…” she began.

“I’ll kill him,” Jonathan interrupted.

“Don’t worry,” Sadie said with a laugh. “He was some old, bald guy. He’s not competition for you,” she assured him as she yawned. “Listen, I’m going to let you go before I fall asleep talking to you. But, I’ll talk to you again soon?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’ll call you tomorrow,” he promised. “Bye, and don’t worry about me,” he added jokingly.

“Bye,” she said hanging up and immediately falling asleep on her pillow.