New Beginings

Five minutes. Five minutes is all it takes for me to get lost. I was told exact directions to get to his office, but I still get lost. Maybe if I had written them down I wouldn’t of gotten lost, but that is a long shot. I made a right at the bathrooms then followed the hallway until I reached the exit sign. At the exit sign I was supposed to make a left, or was it a right? I believe I suffer from short term memory loss, but being only 22 makes that a slight chance. Finally I some how made it to a black door. On it was an emblem of a penguin holding a stick and a sign that said Locker room. I sighed and knocked on the door.
The room got silent and I heard foot steps approach the door. It was late July, so the players would be at camp and I doubt they expected anyone, let alone me. The door handle slowly went down and then stopped. I put a hand on my hip and rolled my eyes. Who ever was behind it was being overly cautious. Finally they opened the door as slow as possible and only enough to peek through with one eye.
“Anyone expecting a chick?” The guy yelled. I tapped my foot and fiddled with the paper I was folding. A chorus of no’s rang through the room beyond the door and the eye came back into view.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” The man said in a hushed tone.
“I’m a Russian assassin. I was hired by the government to kill you.” I said in a serious voice and his eyes opened in alarm. He turned away once more and opened the door a little more in the process.
“Geno! Come here. Someone from your home country is here and I think she has a gun.” He yelled and the room got silent once again.
“I kill with my hands. Guns are too messy.” I whispered with a smirk. He couldn’t see me and I wanted to play with him more.
“Never mind, she is a hard core killer! Bring back up!” He yelled and footsteps approached him. The door was flung open by two huge guys and the one who I was talking to stood with his back towards me. They all stared me down and I waved with an innocent smile.
“You Russian?” A big brown haired guy said in a Russian accent. I shook my head no.
“Do I look Russian?” I asked and pointed to my dark skin and deep brown hair. He shook his head and made room for me to walk in. “I’m not going to kill you. I was joking.” I said to the tall blonde. He backed away and made an x with his fingers as he walked back to his locker.
“How can we help you?” An older man said from next to me. He was shaking his head at his younger teammate’s idiocy. I smiled and held the paper out in front of me.
“Yeah, I’m looking for Dan By-sal-ma?” I asked in an unsure voice. He laughed and looked at me again.
“Dan Bylsma?” He asked. I nodded and put the paper by my side. The man nodded and got up after walking through another door, I looked around the large circular room. Everyone had their eyes on me and I put a hand on my hip.
“Hello.” I said and waved.
“Hi.” They all said back. “What’s your name?” A younger dark haired man said in a french accent.
“Danni.” I said and they nodded.
“What are you doing here?” They asked again.
“I need to talk to Dan.”
“About what?”
“Using the rink.” I said and they all grew quiet. I knew I was too small to be a hockey player and they all knew it. I was 5’6 and only weighed 125 pounds. Before anyone could ask anymore questions, the man I talked to earlier came out with another older looking man.
“This is Dan.” He said and I smiled.
“Hi, I’m Danni.” I said and shook his hand. He smiled and looked around the room. All eyes were on me and they were silent.
“What ever you did, I am impressed. I can’t keep these guys this silent for more than two minutes.” He said with a chuckle. “You must be Danni Rossi from Nitro?” He said in an unsure voice.
“Yes, I just talked to Mario, but he said I would have to ask you first.” I said. Dan nodded.
“What do you need?” He asked.
“Well, we need a place to practice, so on the days you don’t have camp or practice we would like to use the rink. We would cover it with boards then a fake turf like material and have to all taken down by the time you need to use the ice again.” I explained. He nodded.
“It could work. We would be glad to use our arena to support another Pittsburgh sports team. Is it big enough?” He asked.
“Yeah I mean we couldn’t do full field games, but we aren’t allowed to practice together until the arena is done.” I said. Dan smiled and nodded.
“Sure. You guys can use the rink. Just let me know when you need it.” He said to me, then turned to the guys.
“Everyone this is Danni Rossi, the captain of Pittsburgh Nitro. They are a new Women’s Professional soccer team. They will be playing in Heinz field next season until their arena is finished being built, but until they can use Heinz field, they will be coming here to practice on the ice.” Dan said and I smiled.
“You play soccer?” The Russian asked. I nodded.
“Brought home a gold medal last week from Germany.” I said with a smirk. Most of the guys looked surprised and stared me down once again.
“Your from America?” The blonde asked with an eyebrow raised. I nodded.
“Philly to be exact.” I replied and the smirk once again grew on my face. I knew who some of these guys were, but I am a Flyers fan.
“You’re a Flyers fan?” One asked. I nodded.
“Hell yeah.” I said and they stared me down once again. I got some dirty looks from the younger guys. The older ones laughed and smiled. I was in the presence of the Pittsburgh Penguins professional hockey team and it didn’t phase me. I could care less.
“What brings you to Pittsburgh?” Sidney Crosby asked me. I smiled and shrugged.
“My twin sister and best friend moved here to open a boutique downtown and I was asked to play for Nitro. I just moved with them.” I replied. He nodded.
“What’s Nitro exactly?” Brooks Orpik asked.
“It’s a new team that is being added to the Women’s Professional League. Since the football lockout, Heinz field is open. They are going to redo the turf and put a soccer field down. By the start of the 2012- 2013 season, we will have our own arena.” I said. The guys sat in thought for a few moments before someone spoke up.
“Where is your arena going to be?” Tyler Kennedy asked. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
“You guys don’t know? They are putting it where the Civic Arena is.” I replied in a cautious voice, not knowing how they were going to react. They all stared at me in shock and some jaws dropped. I guess it was a surprise for them. No one knew about the Nitro. We were going to be released to the public in a few days. Our team of 18 girls and trainers were still moving in to Pittsburgh. I was one of the first players in and some weren’t able to come for a few weeks.
“Well, I guess we will be seeing a lot of you then?” Sidney asked. I nodded and smiled.
“Yeah, I’ll probably be back tomorrow to get the rink ready.” I said and he nodded in approval.
“So where in Pittsburgh did you move to?” Tyler Kennedy asked. I chewed my lip and thought about it. I just moved to the city three days before and wasn’t familiar with it yet.
“Umm, I believe it’s called the Stone Apartments in the south side. I just moved here a few days ago so I’m not familiar with the area.” I said and shrugged.
“Red Stone Apartments?” A voice said from across the room. I looked at the guy and didn’t notice him.
“James Neal, I moved in there a couple of weeks ago.” He said and I waved.
“Yeah that’s it. What floor do you live on?” I asked.
“Third, 294.”
“Wow, hey neighbor! I’m in 295.” I said and smiled. He looked at me in shock.
“Hi.” He said. I smiled and looked around the room. Everyone was staring at me again and it was getting uncomfortable.
“Okay this is getting awkward with all the staring. I’ll see you guys around.” I said and walked out of the room. The guys yelled their bye’s and I quickly went out the first exit and looked for my car. Once I found it, I got in and used Carol, my gps, to find my way through the city and to my twin sister’s boutique.
Once I arrived, twenty minutes later, I pushed the door open forcefully and let the bells on the door scare my friends.
“Jesus! Danni!” My best friend Hailey yelled. I smirked and walked over to her. She was unpacking boxes and folding shorts to put on shelves.
“How’s the packing?” I asked. She groaned and sprawled out on the floor.
“Freaking annoying! There are so many boxes and I can’t unpack anymore.” She complained and huffed. Another set on footsteps filled the shop and the clacking on heels made me roll my eyes.
“Well, if you spent more time unpacking then complaining then it would be almost done by now.” My twin Lucelle said in a playful annoyed voice. I sighed and hopped up onto the counter and sat crossed legged. Hailey went back to pulling out shorts and Lucelle, or everyone calls her Luc, set up mannequins for the front windows.
“So what’s the shop’s name?” I asked.
“Philly’s Fashions.” They replied at the same time and I stared at them with a weird look.
“I hope you guys know that Philly is Pittsburgh’s rival city right?” I asked. They nodded and kept on working. I shrugged and laid down. I was tired, but I did nothing that day. The pressure of the Fifa Cup final caught up to me and I was tired all the time. The stress of a new city and team wasn’t helping. Meeting the guys was fun and they were all nice. I was relieved that Dan let me use his rink for a practice area. I couldn’t wait until Heinz field was ready for us. I smiled to myself and closed my eyes in peace.