There's Things That Aren't Worth Giving Up

Natalia woke up to an empty bed in the hotel room. She and Marty had arrived in Minnesota the previous day. Marty had done some interviews, and then they both went out to eat and went back to the hotel. They had both been exhausted and had immediately fallen asleep.

Natalia turned over and saw a pad of paper from the hotel lying on the pillow next to her, a note from Marty written on the top sheet.

Nat,

I know you were tired, and I didn’t want to wake you. I’ve got a few interviews, but I was hoping we could meet up for lunch. Call me when you wake up. I love you.

Natalia smiled to herself, grabbing her cell phone that was setting on the nightstand and immediately dialed Marty’s number. It went into voicemail, and Natalia assumed he was in an interview. “Hey, Marty. I just woke up, but lunch sounds great. Call me when you get a chance. Love you,” she said, leaving him a message.

She walked into the bathroom, taking a quick shower before going back into the bedroom and grabbing some clothes. She wasn’t sure where Marty had wanted to go for lunch, so she decided on a simple black skirt with a red top. Just as she started to dry her hair, her phone started ringing. She looked at the caller id before picking it up. “Hey, babe,” she smiled when she saw it was Marty.

“Hey,” he said, and just by that one word, Natalia could tell that he was exhausted. “I’ve still got three more interviews, but I’m hoping to be out of here by one-thirty. But, I’ve got a meeting with a couple of the team’s management people at three,” he told her.

“So, do you want to have lunch at one-thirty?” she asked him.

“Yeah, that sounds fine,” he told her.

“Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t even know.”

“What about we just eat here in the lounge. And then, we can go out somewhere for dinner,” Natalia suggested. Marty agreed, but then he had to hang up to go to do another interview. “Bye,” she told him. “Have fun,” she added before hanging up.

She started to mess with her hair once again when her phone started ringing. “Do you miss me already?” she joked, picking up the phone without looking to see who was calling her, assuming it was Marty once again.

“Yes, I do!” she heard Summer exclaim, and Natalia couldn’t help but laugh at her friend. “I miss you so much, and you’ve only been gone for two days. It’s ridiculous!”

“Sum, what did you do before I was in your life?” Natalia asked with a laugh.

“I don’t know,” Summer replied. “I can’t remember.”

“Okay, well, Summer, I’ll be back in a few days.”

“Yeah, I know,” Summer sighed. “I was actually calling to ask you how much better Chicago is than St. Paul.”

“Hmm,” Natalia hummed, pretending to think about it for a moment. “Well, seeing as I’ve only been here for a day, and I haven’t seen much more than the hotel room and a restaurant, I’d have to say Chicago’s much better. Plus, there’s a few people there that aren’t here,” she added.

“Oh really? And, who would these people be? Do I know them?” Summer asked, intentionally being oblivious.

“Oh, you know, like Olivia, Jon, Pat, and this girl named Summer who just won’t leave me alone about moving to Minnesota. But, for some reason, I still love the girl,” she added with a laugh.

“Okay, I get it,” Summer said. “I’ll stop trying to get you to stay in Chicago. But, seriously, how’s Minnesota?”

“I really couldn’t tell you that much,” Natalia said, “Marty and I were so exhausted yesterday that we just crashed, and he’s been in interviews all day today. We’re going to lunch, and then he’s going to meet some people in the management,” she told her.

“Well, I hope you have fun. I’ve got to go,” Summer told her.

“Bye, Sum, I’ll talk to you later,” Natalia said, hanging up the phone.

***

Natalia sat at a table in the lounge, waiting on Marty. Twenty minutes later, she saw him rush through the front door and walk over to her table. He gave her a kiss before apologizing to her, telling her the interviews ran over. “It’s fine,” Natalia said with a laugh. “You’re a hot commodity here,” she added with a smile. “I hope you don’t mind, but I went ahead and ordered since you need to be back over there by three.”

“Thanks,” he told her. “So, what have you been up to today?” he asked.

“Nothing much. Summer called, but I think I finally convinced her to stop trying to get me to stay in Chicago. But, other than that, I haven’t really done anything. How were all your interviews?”

“Good. Everyone was really nice,” Marty answered as the waiter brought their food to their table. They quickly ate their food before it was time for Marty to leave. “Do you want to come with me?” he asked her as he started to get up.

“Are you sure?” Natalia asked. “I don’t want to intrude or anything.”

“No, it’ll be fine,” Marty assured her. “It’s just a meeting with some executives. Come on,” he said, holding out his hand for her. Natalia gladly accepted it, a smile on her face.

As they walked into the conference room, Natalia looked around at all of the men in business suits, and she felt out of place. She was glad that she had dressed up a bit, but she still felt as if she shouldn’t be there. “Marty!” one of the men, who Natalia recognized as the Wild’s general manager, Chuck Fletcher, called out.

“Hello,” Marty said politely, shaking Chuck’s hand, followed by everyone else’s who were introducing themselves to him. “This is my fiancée, Natalia,” he introduced.

“Hi,” Natalia replied shyly. Marty looked over at her, grabbing her hand, realizing this might not have been the best decision. While she was able to get her post traumatic stress disorder under control, she still wasn’t comfortable around a large group of people that she didn’t know, which was exactly what was happening right now. Natalia gave him a small smile, letting him know that she was alright for now before looking around at everyone in the room.

“You look awfully familiar,” Jim Mill, the assistant general manager said.

“I don’t think we’ve met,” Natalia replied. “You may know my father, though,” she told him. “John McDonough.”

“John McDonough’s your father?” Chuck asked.

“Yes,” Natalia answered with a nod, wondering if that was a good or bad thing. But, she didn’t get her answer as they began talking to Marty.

Twenty minutes later, Natalia’s phone started buzzing, and she glanced at it to see who was calling. “I’m sorry,” she excused herself. “I’ve got to take this. It’s my father,” she explained. All of the men seemed to be understanding, as they nodded their heads, and she walked out of the room.

“Hello?” she answered the phone.

“Natalia!” her father exclaimed. “I was hoping that we could get together for dinner tonight, just the two of us, like old times,” he told her.

“Dad, I’m in Minnesota right now,” she informed him. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re in Minnesota?” John questioned.

“Yeah, I came with Marty,” she replied.

“Oh, well, I really need to talk to you,” he told her.

“Dad, you just said that you wanted to get together for dinner. And, now it’s that you need to talk to me? Is everything okay?”

“Call me as soon as you get back to Chicago,” he told her. “I have something very important to discuss with you.”

“Dad, what’s wrong?” she asked, worried.

“Just call me when you get back in town,” he ordered.

“Okay?” Natalia said. “I’ve got to go, but I’ll call you as soon as I get back to Chicago,” she promised.

“Bye, Natalia,” John said, hanging up the phone.

Natalia walked back into the conference room quietly to see that their meeting was almost over. She sat down next to Marty, listening to what everyone was saying. Five minutes later, everyone was saying their goodbyes. Marty put his arm around Natalia as they walked out of the room. “Is everything okay with your dad?” he asked, noticing that she had been acting different when she had come back in after the phone call.

“I don’t know,” Natalia admitted. “He called asking me to come for dinner. And, after I told him I was here, it escalated into him needing to talk to me about something important. He wouldn’t tell me what it was, though. He just said that I needed to call him as soon as I got back to Chicago. I’m actually a little worried,” she admitted.

“Do you want to go back?” Marty asked.

Natalia thought about it for a moment before answering. “No,” she finally said. “I came here with you. I can wait.”

“I think you should go back,” Marty stated, and Natalia looked up at him curiously. “You know I want you here,” he quickly said. “But, if your dad’s got something important to say, then you need to go back and talk to him. I’ll be back in a few days anyways.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding his head.

“I love you,” she told him, kissing him. “I guess I should go back and pack, then.”