Leaping for Your Dreams

***Mari’s POV***

I leaned back in my chair; I had just spent nearly an hour arguing with tomorrow night’s guests and their increasingly outrageous demands. In the end I had won, after all I was looking at the contract and knew exactly what was and was not included. That didn’t mean it didn’t take a toll though.

Having closed my eyes I don’t know how long I sat there before there was a knock at my door. “Enter!” I called out, not even bothering to move.

I heard the door open and close and shortly after felt a strong pair of hands rubbing my shoulders and neck. “Tough day already?” I looked up into the most beautiful set of brown eyes I’d ever seen. “Morning skate done, going to lunch now. Want come?”

I laughed dryly. “I’m pretty sure they’d frown upon me getting drunk this early. Besides I have a game of my own while you’re napping.” That smile lit up his face. I sat up with the chair. “I suppose you want me to get dropped off so that we don’t have more than one car here tonight.”

He shrugged. “Don’t care. You want one car, we make it work.” He pulled me out of my chair and sat down with me in his lap. “You not tired like this before skate, what wrong?”

I laid my head on his shoulder. “Stupid people thought I was going to let myself and the staff be pushed around. They found out wrong.”

Geno nodded. “Never make goalie angry, end up with no chance. Go to lunch now?” He was casually draped around me and honestly I didn’t want to move.

My phone, however, decided to ring. “This is Michaela, how can I help you?” It was an automatic thing to answer it. However my surprise on the other end was a nice one.

“Yes Ms. Krejci I’ve been directed to you by Donna Sommerville. I am Leslie McGuire from the Make A Wish Foundation. We have a very ill child who really wants to go to a game in early March. Ms. Sommerville said that her suite was already full for the day that we want to have this happen but that yours might not be. Is there a way we can book your suite for the night of March 11th?”

I flipped the schedule to March and looked at the 11th. Home game against the Bruins. It’d be too easy to get them to come over and say hi after the game. “The 11th you say… Well it looks as if Suite 66 is _not_ booked yet on that night.”

She interrupted. “I was told that you would be the person with a Suite close to the ice. Is this correct?” She sounded angry.

I got up from the chair and tried really hard to be nice. I loved Make A Wish, but she was being a bitch. “I assure you Ms. McGuire there is not a suite closer to the ice than 66. I can also assure you that the players, once they find out, will probably draw lots to come and meet the child. I can _almost_ assure you of that last for _both_ teams. There’s _no_ one we want to make happier than a child who can’t normally come to a game. As for being close to an exit in case of a medical emergency, we have that covered as well. If you would like to come down and look at 66, I have time on Monday after 1 pm.”

Geno was grinning. Make A Wish kids were special to the guys, no matter where you played. Ms. McGuire on the other hand was not as happy. “Why can’t I bring the father down today to look at it?”

“Honestly Ms. McGuire because I’m trying to do my job and make yours easier but I feel as if you’re attacking me. Suite 66 is the finest suite that the Consol Energy Center has. The team that serves it has all been handpicked for their positions, in some cases _by_ Mr. Lemieux himself. There isn’t anything that you can tell me that we can not handle.” I was trying hard not to raise my voice but she was making it difficult.

“Even if I said that the child does not speak English and in fact is Russian? How can you handle that?” That was spat with venom into the phone.

While I was surprised, I knew I could handle this. “Are either of the parents there?” I asked calmly, not showing my proverbial hand.

“Here’s the father’s translator.” I heard the phone being passed.

“Hello?” It was tentative, like the person was afraid of being on the phone. It also sounded like either a sibling or someone young.

I took the chance that this would put that person at ease. “Здравствуй, которые я говорю с? (Hello, I'm talking to?)” The phone was again quickly passed. Once I heard someone grunt into it I asked again.

“Говорят, что вы можете помочь моему сыну видеть его любимый хоккеист Евгений Малкин. Правда ли это? )They say that you can help my son to see his favorite hockey player Evgeni Malkin. Is this true?)” If there was anyone I knew how to handle it was a Russian father.

I waved to Geno to come closer. “Да, я знаю Евгений очень хорошо. Как больной ваш сын и сколько лет? (Yes, I know Evgeni is very good. How sick is your son and how many years?)” The conversation continued like that and I saw a smile bloom on Geno’s face. He’d do anything to make this child happy. “Г-н Токарев есть ли что-нибудь еще я могу сделать, чтобы эта игра специально для вашей семьи? (Mr. Tokarev is there anything else I can do to make this game special for your family?)” I was fishing for my phone in my purse while I asked. _If_ I could, I’d make this the best night ever.

“Я так не думаю Мисс Мне жаль я не слышал ваше имя. (I do not think I'm sorry Miss, I did not hear your name.)” The father sounded tired. “Просто сделать это лучшая ночь для моего сына. Я буду видеть Вас в понедельник, чтобы помочь сделать планы. (Just do it the best night for my son. I'll see you on Monday to help make plans.)” He handed the phone back to Ms. McGuire and I heard him talking to his translator.

“When you said you could handle anything you were right. We’ll see you Monday at 1 pm then.” She hung up the phone as I put the date and time onto my planner.

“Let’s go get lunch. I need time to think about how to make this the best night for this family.” I grabbed my purse and coat. We walked out and I jotted down my new appointment for Monday in the main book. “Stace, new appointment on Monday for me. I’m going to lunch, I’ll be back after my rec game.” We went down and grabbed a few of the other guys. After that I was lost in my own thoughts for a while.

***Geno’s POV***

I could tell that the new client was going to weight heavily on Mari’s mind until Monday. It was kind of trying to do the same to me, but I had other things to worry about too. We grabbed a few guys and went for lunch. She was quiet all through it, talking only when she needed to. I even was able to drop the guys off before I finally had to find out what was going on inside that head of hers. “Talk to me Misa.” I elbowed her lightly as we drove home.

“He sounded so defeated in the end. Like there’s no hope.” She looked over at me. “I _have_ to make this the best night for them all. I don’t even know where to start.”

I kept on driving. “First, talk to Mario. He help with this one I know. I talk to the guys get them to stop by. Maybe we get close Russian NHL to send get well cards. Have teams who come sign banner maybe. Maybe just Russian players who come. You figure it out. Call Moka, he bring you back to play rec game. I bring car later, come home together.” We’d pulled into the driveway while I had been brainstorming. I know that most of the Russian born players I knew would gladly sign a banner for a sick Russian kid.

That when I realized I hadn’t ever _seen her gear. I mean I knew she had it but she kept it on a rack in the garage so I never really did more than glance at it. “Want help packing? Got time before nap.” I wasn’t really tired right now, she was more important just this second.

I closed the garage and she seemed to perk up a little bit. “You wanna help. Ok, I mean you know how to pack a travel bag.” She was moving towards her rack, flicking the cover off of it with practiced ease.

I couldn’t have told you what kind of gear it was, but it was nice. Not a lot of marks on it either. She grabbed a larger bag than I was used to packing and then put her pads into it. I found and began packing the other bag. She had some top of the line stuff here. I’d have to ask Flower or Johnny how good it really was. “This nice stuff.” I discreetly took a sniff and was surprised that there was no stink to it. “Not used?”

Mari turned laughing. “No, I have a secret weapon to make it not stink.” She grabbed the bottle that had been sitting on the rack. “Aleks taught me Febreeze works great, I found a better homemade version that disinfects as well. I also like to use the Sani Sport machine if I get a chance. Probably not this time maybe while you guys are gone I can grab a chance.”

I nodded, that made sense. It had reduced the amount of stink in the locker room and how many guys got minor injuries due to bad gear. “If works, then use.” I saw her text Moka before lugging her gear into the house to set by the door. I grabbed her hand once it was free. “Tuck me in?”

Mari shook her head. “You just want to try and make me late again. You have a game tonight, I have one this afternoon.” She didn’t resist me tugging her up the stairs though. “It’s a good thing I have to find a change of clothes for tonight.”

Once in our bedroom I pulled off most of what I was wearing and she went into the closet. The first thing she came out with was a pair of grey boots. I slipped into bed confused but interested. I kept watching her choose her outfit. Next came a grey blazer and skirt. Was that hemline a little too flirty? I had to trust that she knew what she could wear and she couldn’t. Still, I crawled down the bed and was relieved to find that there was more to the skirt than I thought at first.

Coming out of the closet for the last time, Mari had something green in her hands. She went over to her jewelry chest and began picking out that. She changed some of her earrings to another set and packed the rest into a small bag. Coming over to the bed, she wrapped the green top in the blazer and looked at it critically for a moment. She must have found it to be fine cause she went to the door and grabbed a bag sitting there.

When she was packing she looked up at me. “Shouldn’t you be resting?” She finished packing her bag and came over to me. Turning my face towards her gently, she laid a chaste kiss on them. “Have a great game Zhenya. Have someone come get me when you’re ready to go. I’ll probably be in the suite still.”

I watched her walk to the door, turn and blow me another kiss and then close it behind her. I let my mind drift for a little bit before remembering to set my alarm. I heard Moka come get Mari and then nothing until the alarm sounded. I hope she had a good game; it was my turn now.