Physical Therapy

Roxy’s POV

We brought out the desserts before Dan wanted to talk to us; we decided to go downstairs in the basement for this little talk. Dan went down first and I stopped Geno before he could follow,

“What?” he asked

I reached up on my toes and gave him a small kiss before pulling away and resting my forehead against his “I love you no matter what he says” I told him and I heard him sigh in relief.

“I love you too” he said before taking my hand and walking down the stairs, I felt like this was our death march. When we entered the room Dan was sitting on the love seat and we took the couch.

“So, how long has this been going on?” he asked

“Two months on Wednesday” Geno said surprising us both.

“Two months?” he asked looking between us with both hurt and anger. “You have been lying to me for two months?” he asked raising his voice a little. I hated when people yelled especially at me so I shrunk down in my seat and hung my head.

“I’m sorry Dan. But if you will let me explain…” I said before he cut me off

“Why should I? So you can lie some more?” he asked and that brought tears to my eyes. I hate not being trusted. Geno grabbed my hand and squeezed for comfort when all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry.

“I never lied to your face; I just didn’t tell you everything. But in all honesty what would you have done? Fired me on the spot if you knew the second week on the job I started seeing Geno. I didn’t want to be seen as a gold digger or a puck slut, I am sorry that I fell in love with a co worker. I didn’t choose this” I said looking up at Geno then over to him.

“Were you ever going to tell us?” he asked now sounding more hurt then angry.

“The team knew only because G punched Max for kissing me, but that is all in the past” I said and wiped the tear that fell. “And yes I was going to tell you but it is still new and I was waiting for the right time”

“So am I the last to know?”

“No, the only people who know are the team, my sister and my parents” I said

“And mama” Geno said beside me

“So it was you who answered the phone?” he asked and I nodded my head.

“Is this just a fling?” he asked and I thought Geno’s head was going to snap off from the force he looked up at.

“No, not fling. I love her” he said and I squeezed his hand.

“So this is serious” he said more that asked

“Dan, do you honestly think that I would throw away the best job that I have ever had on just a fling?”

“From what I have learned about you so far, no you would not throw this away on a fling” he said with a sigh “So is there anything else you need to tell me?”

“Um, not that I can think of” I said and turned to Geno

“Nothing from me” he said

“So I guess there will be some rules now that you are out” he said

“Oh we already have rules I guess you could say, we have never even held hands in public so no PDA, and we keep it professional when in Consol” I told him

“Good, I want it to stay that way. Roxy we will be having a meeting with Ray on Monday to explain everything.”

“I understand” I said

“Okay now I am done with the coach and boss part of me, I had no idea you two were together. You hid it well.” He said

“Thanks I guess, it was really hard to keep it quiet” I said

“So hard” Geno said from beside me

“Well this has been sufficiently awkward, so how about we go and rejoin the party?” he asked

“Please” Geno said standing up and pulling me with him.

“Wait can we play a prank? I still have to get everyone back for messing with my car and this would be perfect because they would never suspect you to be in on it” I said pointing to Dan.

“Sounds good, what did you have in mind?” he asked with an evil smile.

“How about you pretend to yell and fire me in front of everyone?” I asked him

“Brilliant” he says “How about I start yelling now and end it up there?”

“Perfect” I say and wait for him to start yelling.

“HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO THE TEAM AND EVERYBODY INVOLVED?” he yelled at me and made his way up the stairs. He busted through the door and everybody’s eyes were on us.

“Dan, I am so sorry” I said back almost in tears.

“NO I AM STOPPING THIS NOW; YOU CAN COME CLEAN OUT YOUR OFFICE IN THE MORNING! YOU ARE FIRED!” He yelled then stomped out of the house and slammed the door. You could hear a pin drop in the entire house; I don’t think anyone was breathing. They were all staring, waiting to see what I would do next.

I slowly turned around to see them all with wide eyes I spoke barely above a whisper “That is what you get for messing with my car” everyone looked confused.

“What, I couldn’t hear you?” Max asked from the back of the room.

“I said, THAT IS WHAT YOU GET FOR MESSING WITH MY CAR!!” I yelled at them with a huge smile on my face.

“Are you fucking kidding me? That was a joke?” Kris asked

“I had to get you back somehow” I said with the most innocent smiles on my face. “Dan! You can come back in!” a couple of seconds later Dan walked in with a shit eating grin on his face.

“Dan, you were a part of this?!” Marc asked

“What you think because I am old and your coach I can’t make a joke?” he asked and looked at them

“No sir,” Sid said “We just thought you were serious, with everything going on” he said and looked at me and Geno.

“Oh that, we talked about it and yes I am hurt they hid it for so long but happy they are happy” he said and looked over at us.

“Thanks Dan” I said quietly with a small smile on my face.

“Okay, change of subject” he said “Since most of you are here I will tell you this now. All of you know we are playing in the Winter Classic this year again, and this year is going to be a little different” he said with a hesitant smile.

“What is it Dan?” Marc asked

“Um this year for the month of December up until the game HBO wants to film everything” he said and it was silent again.

“What does that mean?” someone asked from the back, I believe it was TK

“Has anyone seen the show 24/7 with the boxers?” He asked and looked around the room

“Yeah I have” Jordan said “So it will be like that?”

“Yeah it will be really similar. They will tape practices, in the room before game time, tape the games, go on road trips, do interviews about the season and to get to know you guys on a more personal level” he said “They will also be taping the Caps for the month too” he said and every one let out a sound of displeasure for the rival team.

“How do we act around the cameras?” Kris asked

“Enough questions, we will have a team and staff meeting Saturday morning and we will get all of this explained the best we can” he said “In the mean time I would clean your houses and apartments because you might have a camera follow you home at night” with those final words the subject was dropped. Everyone started up their own conversations about the news Dan just revealed.

***********************************

A few hours passed by and the last to leave was Sarah and Sidney. I had almost forgotten about the talk I wanted to have with her about Sidney but remembered as she was saying goodbye to Geno.

“Hey, we still need to talk” I said as she got ready to go. She sighed before nodding; we went into the empty living room for privacy. “Spill”

“Well he texted me this morning and asked if he could come over after practice to talk. He came over and we talked for a long time, he said he was really sorry he didn’t call and thought I didn’t want to hear from him. He thought I thought it was just some drunken hook up and was embarrassed to call me.” she said

“But I see you have made up” I said

“Yeah he apologized and I forgave him” she said with a small smile.

“So what now?” I asked

“I don’t know, I think we are going to take it slow and see where it leads us”

“Just be careful, I don’t want to see you get hurt again” I said and leaned over to give her a hug.

“Thanks Rox” she whispered “Well it is getting late and I need to get home”

We walked back in to join the boys and found them in the foyer. Sid was already bundled up and holding Sarah’s coat for her. After slipping on her shoes and coat we hugged goodbye.

“I will see you tomorrow sometime” I said to her and turned to Sid.

“Dinner was amazing, thanks for having me over” he said very properly

I leaned in and gave him a hug, when hugging I whispered in his ear “If you hurt her, I will kill you” I pulled away with the sweetest smile on my face. “It was so nice of you to come and I hope you enjoyed yourself.”

“Yeah I did” he said and nodded “Thanks, I will see you tomorrow” With that they left and I was left with Geno, a messy kitchen and left over food.

“Come on, I need help” I said and grabbed him to help put everything away

“Let’s just go to bed” he said as I dragged him to the kitchen.

“I won’t be able to fall asleep knowing this is all just sitting down here” I said and started cleaning. He groaned before helping me put everything away.

“Okay but leave dishes, do them later” he said

“Deal” I said and we worked in relative silence for about thirty minutes.

After everything was put away and somewhat clean we made our way upstairs. After changing and collapsing into bed I started to think about the day.

“I think my first Thanksgiving was a success” I said and looked over to him

“Da, so good” he said and rubbed his belly.

I rolled over and looked into his eyes “I am actually happy that Dan caught us, I feel like this weight is taken off of my shoulders” I said

“Yeah, no more hiding” he said before giving me a kiss on the forehead

“Except now we have to hide from cameras” I said with a pout.

“Will be fine, don’t worry” he said and rubbed my back.

I laid my head down on his chest as he continued rubbing my back “That feels so good, I am so tired” I said

“Go to sleep, you work hard today” he said and continued to rub my back

“I love you so much” I said before yawning

“I love you too, sleep” he said and I closed my eyes. Within minutes I was out and down for the count.