What You Work For

The game against Vancouver had ended in our favor, although not without a hard fought shoot-out goal by Tanger. I’d actually enjoyed my time on the headset, being able to help out in some way improved my mind set for our first practice in Edmonton.

“Working hard out there, Bug,” Jordan bumped me in the hallway as we all trudged back into the locker room.

I grunted in response, too tired to form real words. I sat down in my stall just long enough to strip off my jersey, pads, and skates before I was picking up my clean clothes to go to the trainer’s room. It had become an easy routine for me and even though I found it tedious to go back and forth between rooms, I wasn’t as disgruntled as I once was.

Within an hour, we were all making our way out to the waiting charter bus that would take us all back to the hotel. Rounding a corner, I saw a familiar, young face.

“Nuge!” I laughed as I watched him fail at catching a cracker in his mouth.

“Ollie!” he smiled as I pulled him into a hug. “Long time no see!”

“Yeah, really,” I agreed. I turned to my teammates who were watching us curiously. “I’ll catch up. Don’t let the bus leave without me!”

“I make no promises!” TK yelled over his shoulder.

“Asshole,” I muttered. Looking back up at Ryan, I smiled again. “Look at what the NHL’s done to you, Ry! Bulkin’ up.”

He laughed. “Maybe a little.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Please tell me dev camp was tough on you too?”

I nodded furiously. “Physically, it was the hardest week I’ve had in a while.”

A look of relief washed over Ryan’s face before he turned to two other Oilers. “Olivia, these are Jordan and Taylor. They’ve got some sort of weird, romance.”

“Bromance,” I corrected him. “And hi, nice to meet you.”

We shook hands before I began to say goodbye. “I would say that I’m looking forward to the game tonight, but since I won’t be on the other side of the faceoff, I’ll just leave.”

“Still not playing?” Ryan frowned.

I shook my head. “I’m hoping for the regular season.”

I booked it back to the charter bus, managing to get what had become my usual seat next to Jordan with TK and Nealer across the aisle.

“Ollie was getting chummy with the enemy!” Jordan shouted to the bus.

“Oh please,” I rolled my eyes. “Nuge is, like, the little brother I’ve never wanted.”

“Same with Landeskog?” James teased. “You three share some…friendly tweets.”

“Stalking me, Nealer?” I laughed. “And we were the ‘top 3’ so we all got pretty close.”

“Just to be sharing any of our top-secret, super covert, Pittsburgh secrets,” TK tried to look intimidating, but ended up looking constipated.

*****

Back in my hotel room, I changed out of jeans and into a pair of yoga pants and a Nike hoodie. The majority of us had plans to grab something quick to eat from the team lunch before going back to our rooms and I certainly didn’t feel like being in my skinny jeans any longer.

Grabbing a plate, I put together a chicken salad and a wheat roll. I hated lettuce, but ate it anyway, simply because I was too lazy to find something else.

As some of the guys talked hockey, the rest of us sat on our phones, most likely tweeting or texting family. I was among the former.

‘@Olivia00Dupont- Got to see @RNH_92 a bit after practice. Boy’s getting big!’

‘@RNH_92- @Olivia00DuPont are you saying I was a twig before? I’ll just have to kick your team’s ass tonight.’

‘@Olivia00DuPont- Not gonna happen, kid. @RNH_92 and the Edmonton Oilers won’t know what hit ‘em!’

‘@GabeLandeskog_93- Oh, I see how it is. Just because we don’t play each other in the preseason @Olivia00DuPont forgets about me. Thanks a lot @RNH_92!’

‘@Olivia00DuPont- Aw, I love my brothers equally! No favoritism here! @GabeLandeskog_93 @RNH_92’

I set my phone down then, to let them continue ‘arguing’. My stomach was growling and that bread was looking better and better. Tearing a piece off, I listened to the conversation around me.

“Got to make traffic at goal,” Geno was diagramming a play using a soup bowl and two spoons for Cookie and Brooks.

“Watch out for Eberle on the PK,” Tanger suggested.

“Don’t take stupid penalties,” I chimed in, sending a pointed glare to Jordan.

“What!” he said, trying to defend himself. “Kesler was all up in my grill. What was I supposed to do?”

“Your grill?” I snorted with laughter. “Just because you’ve lived in Pittsburgh for a few years does not suddenly give you the ‘okay’ to try and act…not Jordan,” I let my voice trail off as my phone buzzed with a text from Mark. We had talked on the phone the night before and patched up our little misunderstanding from Dallas. We’d both been pissed about different things and it got lost in communication, but it was all sorted out eventually.

‘Eva and I were out today. Look what we saw.’

Attached was a picture he had taken at a Nike store of an ad that mentioned me. It was pictureless, as I hadn’t had a photo shoot yet, but had my name in big letters.



I smiled and tapped out a reply to him.

‘Sweet! Wait until you start seeing my face everywhere!’

‘Ew, I put up with that for WAY too long. Don’t need it anymore!’

Yeah, we were definitely okay.

*****

Even though I wasn’t playing, I wanted to get my body used to taking naps at certain times. But of course, just as I was settling into the soft hotel bed, I got an alert on my phone saying I was being asked to sign in to Skype on my lap top.

Groaning, I dug it out of my bug and plugged it in, only to find that it was all worth it when I saw who was requesting me.

Nick.

“Babe!” I smiled as his picture crackled to life on screen. “Hi!”

“Hey, gorgeous. How are you?” he waved.

“Tired,” I said. “But excited to see the boys play tonight.”

“I’ll assume then that you won’t be on the ice?” Nick phrased his words carefully, trying not to offend me.

I smiled sadly and nodded. “Yeah. But did you get the package?”

Nick’s grin grew wider and he stepped out of view. When he came back, he was wearing a black DuPont jersey.

“How do I look?” he posed.

I laughed. “That jersey makes you look so much better!”

He faked an angry face before taking off the jersey, not wanting to get into trouble with his superiors.

“So when can I tell the guys I’m dating the first woman to score a goal in the NHL?”

“Soon, hopefully. I’m crossing my fingers and toes for the season opener, but it’s still up in the air,” I sighed.

“I know a guy out here who’s trying to get a feed set up so we can watch,” Nick said. “Who are you guys playing?”

“Boston for the opener on a Friday and then on Sunday we have Chicago,” I recited off of memory.

“Philly anytime soon?” Nick loved to watch the black and gold go against the City of Brotherly Love.

“The week after,” I explained, stifling a yawn.

“Someone’s tired,” he laughed. “I love you, babe.”

I smiled. “I love you too,” I kissed my fingers and pressed them to the screen as he did the same. “Stay safe, Nicky.”

“Always, Ollie,” he waved before I cut the connection.

I sighed. It seemed that whenever I spoke with Nick, I only ended up feeling lonelier. The trials of an army girlfriend, I supposed.

*****

Once again, the Penguins pulled through. We ended the night with a 4-2 victory in regular playing time. Although, the some of the excitement I had after was due to the fact that Ryan had his first goal. Sure, it was against Flower and my team, but I was happy nonetheless.

After interviews were over, I caught Ryan in the hallway, having just finished in front of a camera for the NHLNetwork.

“Ry!” I exclaimed. “Congratulations!”

“Thanks!” he beamed before pulling me into a sweaty hug.

Years of dealing with my teammates after games prepared me for the stench of the close contact, but usually, I was just as bad. Then, I was in a dress and heels, not pads and skates. I cringed away, laughing too.

“I have to go,” I sighed as I heard some of the guys making their ways out of the locker room. “But I think you guys are in Pittsburgh in December. We’ll celebrate your first goal then.”

“And yours too,” he reminded me.

“Hopefully,” I nodded. With a wave, I bade him goodbye and began the short trek to the bus.

Leaning my head against the seat, I smiled. I was just one plane ride away from home.