Sequel: Our Heads May Hurt Tomorrow ›
I'm Addicted to the Thrill
Feel It Coming In the Air
My first few days in Chicago had been absolute hell. I didn’t know it was possible to be as miserable as I was in a city that I had just moved to. The girl, whose roommate ad I had responded to, was the most intolerable type of person imaginable: a morning person. Then when I tried to escape her perkiness and go to a coffee shop yesterday morning, my car decided that it was just going to up and die on me. Now it sat waiting in the shop to be fixed for more money that I was really willing to spend. The only thing that I had to look forward to this day was the fact that within the next hour or so, I would be starting my new job at the United Center. The opportunity to help out with media coordination for the Center, but more specifically the Blackhawks and Bulls, was amazing. It combined my favorite things, sports and media, in a big city. I guess I was just lucky.
When we pulled up to the relative area of the employee entrance of the United Center, I got out of my roommate’s car and waved goodbye to her. She drover off and left me standing there with the building looming over me. I sighed and swallowed any first day jitters that I could have had before walking towards the door that I figured I needed to use as an entrance. Without the badge of authorization, I had to wait for the security guard at the door to get the okay from whoever was telling him that I was allowed to be inside the building at this time. He smiled and waved me in quickly once he got the word. As I stood on the other side of the door, I took it all in. This was where I worked now, and I wasn’t sure what to do. My supervisor was supposed to be waiting for me, but I was alone with only the receptionist who insisted that someone would be down to greet me shortly. I waited.
“Hey. Sorry. I got caught up in something. I’m Anna,” said a small redhead who was scurrying towards me. Anna, who I guessed was my supervisor, shook my hand as I extended it towards her. “Let me show you around. The boys are all getting ready to meet with the media since opening night is tomorrow. I’ll make sure to introduce you to them later. What’s your name again, doll?”
“Danielle Halbrook, but please just call me Dani,” I smiled. This girl who must have barely been five feet tall and at most three years my senior made me feel at ease with just the fact that she called me ‘doll.’ I was used to darling and suge from my hometown down in Tennessee, but doll was somehow sweeter. Perhaps, Anna was destined to be my newest friend, or my only one. That was all just a matter of perception. I stood there thinking this while my coworker retrieved my parking pass from the desk.
“Later, or tomorrow, you’ll have to get a picture taken for your ID badge,” Anna informed me as she handed me the necessary item for my return tomorrow. She stole a glance at the clock on the wall and sighed. I followed her gaze. It was 10:23. I wondered what the time had to do with anything.
The redhead motioned for me to follow her through the very doors that she had come through only minutes before. She laughed as we entered the main part of the offices. My guess was that it wasn’t often that there were new office staff once I read the banner that someone had put up, ‘Welcome, New Girl ’09.’ Anna took out her phone and used the camera feature to snap a quick photo. She shook her head as she put her cell phone back in her pocket.
“They reused the sign from when I joined them. It’s a running joke. They kept it up there with the word boy and ’05 for a few days before changing the numbers and the word to ‘girl’ and ’09,” she chuckled. I laughed at that bit of information as we were greeted by my new coworkers. At least they were who I was expecting to work with all of them.
A group of them herded Anna and me into the break room so that they could, I figure, get a better look at me. One of the older women asked me if my hair was naturally blonde; I nodded. Another asked if I smoked; this time, the answer was no. I got hounded by questions that I was certain any other newcomer would get asked as well. Someone offered me a cup of coffee, and I gladly accepted. The coffee, my second cup of the day, would help me through this interrogation. Anna waited patiently, but as I watched her wondering when she would stop the craziness, I could tell that her patience was running out and that she couldn’t figure out hot to stop it. I cleared my throat and announced that I should be going to learn my surroundings. Anna mouthed her thanks. We exited the break room.
“They could have asked you questions all day,” she smirked. I figured that was true. Anna was used to the routine since that was what she had gone through only two years before.
“Anna, do I have to meet the players?” I asked as we worked our way to the elevator. She nodded as she pressed the button to go down to the lower levels near the locker rooms. I sighed. My mom had always told me that I could never be a Blackhawks fan just because I was from right outside of Nashville. She wasn’t too pleased when she learned that I was working for them. At least she didn’t have to know that I was going to be meeting them all.
We got on the elevator and stood there quietly. There wasn’t much to talk about. Anna was someone who was used to this environment, and I was just trying to take it all in at once. The elevator stopped, and we got out. My heart started racing. My job was finally going to start. I could hear people talking as we walked through the hallways. Voices got louder and louder with every step we took. They changed like people carrying on a conversation. Some I had heard before in interviews while others I was just now experiencing.
“Dani, we’ll wait until all the reporters leave. They can be kinda annoying. Trust me,” whispered Anna. We stood there watching the players and coaches with the reporters. They all seemed to be so excited and asking about the breaks that the players took and how they felt about the upcoming game. I recognized players, and despite my self, I felt as though I wasn’t looking at my best to be meeting these boys. I chided myself internally and stood there quietly. These boys that I was about to meet were the means of my getting a living. Somehow, that only worried me more.
When we pulled up to the relative area of the employee entrance of the United Center, I got out of my roommate’s car and waved goodbye to her. She drover off and left me standing there with the building looming over me. I sighed and swallowed any first day jitters that I could have had before walking towards the door that I figured I needed to use as an entrance. Without the badge of authorization, I had to wait for the security guard at the door to get the okay from whoever was telling him that I was allowed to be inside the building at this time. He smiled and waved me in quickly once he got the word. As I stood on the other side of the door, I took it all in. This was where I worked now, and I wasn’t sure what to do. My supervisor was supposed to be waiting for me, but I was alone with only the receptionist who insisted that someone would be down to greet me shortly. I waited.
“Hey. Sorry. I got caught up in something. I’m Anna,” said a small redhead who was scurrying towards me. Anna, who I guessed was my supervisor, shook my hand as I extended it towards her. “Let me show you around. The boys are all getting ready to meet with the media since opening night is tomorrow. I’ll make sure to introduce you to them later. What’s your name again, doll?”
“Danielle Halbrook, but please just call me Dani,” I smiled. This girl who must have barely been five feet tall and at most three years my senior made me feel at ease with just the fact that she called me ‘doll.’ I was used to darling and suge from my hometown down in Tennessee, but doll was somehow sweeter. Perhaps, Anna was destined to be my newest friend, or my only one. That was all just a matter of perception. I stood there thinking this while my coworker retrieved my parking pass from the desk.
“Later, or tomorrow, you’ll have to get a picture taken for your ID badge,” Anna informed me as she handed me the necessary item for my return tomorrow. She stole a glance at the clock on the wall and sighed. I followed her gaze. It was 10:23. I wondered what the time had to do with anything.
The redhead motioned for me to follow her through the very doors that she had come through only minutes before. She laughed as we entered the main part of the offices. My guess was that it wasn’t often that there were new office staff once I read the banner that someone had put up, ‘Welcome, New Girl ’09.’ Anna took out her phone and used the camera feature to snap a quick photo. She shook her head as she put her cell phone back in her pocket.
“They reused the sign from when I joined them. It’s a running joke. They kept it up there with the word boy and ’05 for a few days before changing the numbers and the word to ‘girl’ and ’09,” she chuckled. I laughed at that bit of information as we were greeted by my new coworkers. At least they were who I was expecting to work with all of them.
A group of them herded Anna and me into the break room so that they could, I figure, get a better look at me. One of the older women asked me if my hair was naturally blonde; I nodded. Another asked if I smoked; this time, the answer was no. I got hounded by questions that I was certain any other newcomer would get asked as well. Someone offered me a cup of coffee, and I gladly accepted. The coffee, my second cup of the day, would help me through this interrogation. Anna waited patiently, but as I watched her wondering when she would stop the craziness, I could tell that her patience was running out and that she couldn’t figure out hot to stop it. I cleared my throat and announced that I should be going to learn my surroundings. Anna mouthed her thanks. We exited the break room.
“They could have asked you questions all day,” she smirked. I figured that was true. Anna was used to the routine since that was what she had gone through only two years before.
“Anna, do I have to meet the players?” I asked as we worked our way to the elevator. She nodded as she pressed the button to go down to the lower levels near the locker rooms. I sighed. My mom had always told me that I could never be a Blackhawks fan just because I was from right outside of Nashville. She wasn’t too pleased when she learned that I was working for them. At least she didn’t have to know that I was going to be meeting them all.
We got on the elevator and stood there quietly. There wasn’t much to talk about. Anna was someone who was used to this environment, and I was just trying to take it all in at once. The elevator stopped, and we got out. My heart started racing. My job was finally going to start. I could hear people talking as we walked through the hallways. Voices got louder and louder with every step we took. They changed like people carrying on a conversation. Some I had heard before in interviews while others I was just now experiencing.
“Dani, we’ll wait until all the reporters leave. They can be kinda annoying. Trust me,” whispered Anna. We stood there watching the players and coaches with the reporters. They all seemed to be so excited and asking about the breaks that the players took and how they felt about the upcoming game. I recognized players, and despite my self, I felt as though I wasn’t looking at my best to be meeting these boys. I chided myself internally and stood there quietly. These boys that I was about to meet were the means of my getting a living. Somehow, that only worried me more.