Leaping for Your Dreams

*** Misa's POV***

I _finally_ got a chance to sit down and have lunch at 1:00 p.m. I was starving by this time, having been running back and forth to get things ready for the Media Day that was going to kick off in a couple hours. Not to mention trying to _not_ be cornered by Julia. She was a nice person at times, when we weren't stressing over an event. However the death glares I had been getting on and off all day since the morning meeting made me wary of her.

Unfortunately my good luck had run out as she sat at my table. "You don't deserve that job." She sneered instead of saying hello. I did my best to not let her hostility ruin my lunch. "_I_ have the experience and expertise to do that job much better than you do." That told me why she was upset.

I put down my fork and faced her, trying to be gentle. "Julia, I didn't put in for that job. My mom put me in for it. I didn't know anything about it until Mario was at my door last night and offered me the position. I don't know about you, but _I_ don't know anyone who would be foolish enough to turn down a job when it's being offered by him." It was my dream job, not that she knew that. It could have been Ray offering it to me and I would have jumped at it. I hoped that would nip this in the bud. I picked up my fork and returned to my meal.

Julia snorted. "So what was that display outside your room last night? Kissing a player. I wonder if Zachary would be so happy if he knew that." I stopped mid bite. I hadn't seen who was around Geno and I last night, he just ushered us into my room after some jeering.

Again I put down the fork and, with a chill in my voice, I leaned towards her and made it clear what I thought of her attempted blackmail. "What _I_ do with _my_ boyfriend is none of _your_ business." I leaned back and waited, knowing she was going to try something else.

Tanger joined us then. He was all by himself, which was unusual. "Bonjour mon préféré sœur. (Hello my favorite sister.)" He kissed my cheek and then began tucking into what was in front of him. "How 'as today been for you?" He asked when he noticed the rising tension.

I sighed and shook my head. "It's been a busy one. I'll be happy when today is over." I ignored the silent jabs Julia was sending my way. "Getting everything ready for Media Day can be a nightmare. This is the first chance I've gotten to eat today." After I said that, the look on Kris' face said what I was thinking.

"You know better Mari. You, of anyone, should know better." Yeah, I was getting the nutrition lecture from him. What was hilarious is that nutrition was my minor in school. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Do I 'ave to call Geno or worse yet Aleks?" He looked over his sunglasses at me.

"Oh mon dieu non. Ils se mettaient à crier à moi. (Oh god no. They would yell at me.)" I said holding out a hand pleadingly and without even thinking about it. Julia snorted; she only spoke English. That made her great for most of the NHL's market but not the Québécois part of it. She seemed to think anyone who couldn't speak English, or spoke more than _just_ English was beneath her.

Kris took off his sunglasses and laid them on the table. He also fixed his hair, which made me shake my head. “You ‘ave a problem with French?” He asked, semi-casually. “You wouldn’t survive in Pittsburgh. Most of us at least understand a little bit if not speak it fluently.”

I knew he was right, a lot of people from Ownership and Management to the players and extended family knew at least one phrase in French. ‘I do not speak French.’ if nothing else. I just let him make her understand why she wasn’t chosen. There was more to this than I knew.

Julia snorted again. “If you want your suites to fail by all means keep Micheala on. I’m telling you she isn’t the one for this job.” Clearly she didn’t get it. As she was about to continue her “rant”, Nathalie came up and put Julia in her place.

“Mari! C'est si bon de vous voir. Mario me dit, vous serez à Pittsburgh au début de Février. N'hésitez pas à m'appeler si vous avez besoin de quelque chose! (Mari! So good to see you. Mario told me, you will be in Pittsburgh in early February. Feel free to call me if you need anything!)” Nathalie pulled up a chair and hugged me after she sat down. “I am so ‘appy that you said yes. Out of everyone we searched through, only you fit everyt’ing we wanted in the Head of Suite 66.” She had grabbed my hand and shook it as she spoke. “Oh I am interrupting your lunch. I am _so_ sorry. I just ‘ad to welcome you myself.”

I heard a familiar chuckle behind me and turned to see Mario coming up. “I knew when I couldn’t find her where we were supposed to meet she’d find you.” He leaned over Nathalie’s chair and gave her a kiss. “You know she’s not really ours yet, not until Monday. You don’t need to corner her on what might be her only meal break without being at another part of the event.”

I glanced at Kris as he laughed. “She ‘asnt eaten until now.” He revealed. I saw the shaking heads from both Mario and Nathalie and felt I had to defend myself.

“I woke up 45 minutes before the morning meeting. I was lucky to get a shower this morning.” Ok so I left out just _why_ I woke up so late initially.

Julia, however, couldn’t resist a dig. “Oh yes I’m sure it had _nothing_ to do with who left your room this morning.” I knew that Ray already knew, which meant Mario did as well. So instead of the shock she expected, Julia’s words met blank looks from everyone but Kris.

“Oh please do you know how ‘ard it is for the two of them to see each other? Only two others I know of ‘ave a more difficult time.” That seemed to break the tension once and for all, as Mario seemed to put two and two together.

“As long as Mari thinks they can handle their relationship, neither the management nor the ownership will have a problem. I suggest if _you_ have a problem with Mari and her new job _you_ leave _her_ alone. She is our handpicked choice to be the Head of Suite 66. Micheala knows the team, the city and everyone who is important to running it smoothly. She is well respected by those who matter.” Nathalie got up and placed a hand on my shoulder and then Mario placed his over hers. “She will not have to fight to be family, she already is.” He placed a kiss on the top of my head and tucked Nathalie’s arm in his. They glided out without another word.

Quickly thereafter Julia left. Kris was great and waited until she had gone until he cracked up. “If that wasn’t telling her off I don’t know what was.” Kris kissed my cheek. “You _are_ famille Mari. We protect our own.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Media Day was it’s normal whirlwind. It was now 7 p.m. and I was in my hotel room. I was waiting for Geno to show up, as we were going to go to dinner together. So while waiting I thought I’d drop a few bombs on Aleks. I sat on the bed and dialed the number I had memorized.

“Hello.” Aleks answered and my only reaction was to happily squeal in her ear. “Oh My God Michaela! What has got _You_ so happy?”

“You’ll _never_ guess what’s happened to me in the last 24 hours! Go on, try.” The high I had been on for the last day overcame me speaking with Aleks. I listened to her trying to figure out what’s happened and grinned. I knew she wouldn’t get this one.

“Well unless you got laid last night I got nothing.” I heard her pad across the hardwood floor in Sid’s home.

I, however, was in shock and dropped my phone. “What are you spying on me or something? That’s not the _best_ part though! I got a job offer there is _no_ _way_ in _hell_ I’d _ever_ refuse!” It was difficult not to squeal again.

“Wait, getting laid is _not_ the best part of your news? Who are you and what have you done with Mari?” I heard a knock on my door and went to open it. I grinned at Geno and mouthed at him. ‘On the phone with Aleks’. “Who’s that?” She asked, which made my grin get bigger.

I laughed as well. “No it’s really me. I’m moving sis. You’ll never guess where.” Geno took off his jacket and put in on a chair while he waited for me to be done with this important call.

“Moving? Wait a second. The only way you’d move is if… OH MY GOD! Where Sis, where’s the job?” I heard her excitement bulding and couldn’t hold it back anymore. I laughed and almost sang.

“Mama I’m coming home!” There was a knock on the door and I quickly covered. “Here, talk to Geno.”

I passed the phone and heard Geno’s breathing. “Hey G, how’s Ottawa?” I answered the door and found Zachary there, he didn’t look very happy either. Geno saw him and moved over the to sliding door.

“Better than I think it would be. Misa so happy to be moving, working for the team.” I tried not to listen to what Misa and her boss were saying and concentrate on Aleks. “She not stop smiling since she say yes.” I opened the door and stepped out into the frigid air. “Alekskaya, she say yes to me too.”

I heard Aleks stop breathing and grinned even wider. “Zhenya, you… you stayed the night with her?”

“Da, I not Max. Want more than that, she same. I want,” I lapsed into Russian, Iwas nervous. “Я хочу, чтобы она жила со мной. (I want her to live with me.)“ I wasn’t sure what Aleks would say, let alone Misa. I had to tell someone though.

I heard Aleks’ smile. “Geno, she’s liked you, hell I’ll be honest, she’s been in love with you for years. Don’t be upset if she says that it’s too soon, but _DO_ ask her. She’s the closest thing I have ever had to a sister; she means the world to me. You do too. Which is why I say this with love. Вы ей больно, я тебя убью. (You hurt her, I'll kill you.)“

I laughed. “I know, I know. I tell Misa that already.” It was nearly word for word which made it even funnier.

Aleks continued. “Good and I’m happy to hear you calling her that. Her grandfather called her Misa and she loved him more than anyone else in her family. To have her let you call her that, means a lot.” That news floored me a bit. I knew she liked me calling her Misa, but until now I didn’t know why.

I gulped as the gravity of the nickname set in. I heard the main door open and close, then the sliding door open. “That why she said she happy to have me call her that. Oh she done with door. Talk to you later Aleks.” I handed the phone back to Mari.

I sighed as we went back in. “I suppose he told you.” Damn him, I wanted to tell Aleks. Oh well I’d roll with it.

“Yeah, he told me probably more than he intended to _Misa_.” Aleks stressed that nickname. “Do you have any idea of where you might be staying yet?” The conversation transitioned back to the other good news I’d given.

“Nah not yet. I’ve got about 2 weeks to pack up my place in TO and get down to Pittsburgh. Thank god, I don’t have a lot of furniture. That will make moving easier. Mostly it’ll be packing my clothes and transferring my files to other people.” I cuddled up to Geno on the bed while we waited for the conversation to be over.

Aleks chuckled. “Nevermind that the boys play the Leafs at home on Tuesday and in TO on Wednesday.”

“Really? Crap. There’s no way I can make it to Tuesday’s game.” Damn it I wanted to see him play. Fortunately Geno was there to rescue me.

“Then I get tickets for Wednesday game in Toronto for you. Maybe we can help take some things back for you.” I turned my head and smiled at him. It wasn’t completely up to him, but the gesture was so sweet.

I heard Aleks moving a bit. “Mari, I hate to do this but if I don’t go rescue dinner…”

I had to laugh; Sid wasn’t a horrible cook so something must have gone wrong. “Go. See you Thursday night Aleks.” I hung up the phone and sighed. “She sounds like she’s happy to be home.”

Geno shrugged. “She is home, why not be happy.” He sat up and turned to face me. “Misa, where you want to live in Pittsburgh?” He seemed a bit nervous. It made me want to reassure him.

“Zhenya, what’s got you so nervous?” I moved up next to him and rubbed his back a bit, trying to calm him.

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Такая красивая. (So Beautiful.)” Now I _knew_ he was nervous. He took a deep breath and continued in English. “Move in with me. Live with me.”

I blinked rapidly. I hadn’t expected this. I knew he had a new house but I hadn’t even moved out of Toronto yet. Still as my brain processed this invitation, it felt more and more right. “I’m not easy to live with. I have to have things where I want them. I don’t like changing very often either once I have the furniture where it should go.” His eyes were warm as I tried talking him out of this idea.

“You change however you want. As long as you with me, I not care.” It might be really soon for this but there was no way I could tell him no. He was willing to let me change everything as long as we were together. I would have answered him but my stomach rumbled loudly. As usual during an event I had been abusing it. “You hungry, we go eat. You think; I show pictures.” He snagged his jacket and slipped it on.

We made our way to the restaurant and got seated quickly. Once we were perusing the menu, Pavel Datsyuk came over and asked to join us. Meals were hardly ever solitary affairs in either Russian or Czech culture. Always they were things to be celebrated and shared if possible. It didn’t hurt that Pav knew me as well, or maybe a little bit better than Zhenya did.

The three of us had a wonderfully enjoyable evening. Pav wasn’t alone, like he would be if he really wanted to be, and I got a chance to think about the big decision. Zheyna went to the bathroom once and I got to ask Pav what he thought. His answer was priceless. “If you love him, like I know you do. Do not torture yourselves by being apart. Fight, live and love together. Make yourselves strong and unbreakable.”

We broke up the party around 10 p.m., mostly because I had things I needed to do before I could sleep, including telling Geno what Zach said about how he found out we were together. Damn that Julia, trying to sink me while I was doing my damnedest to remain professional.

After explaining all of that Zheyna shrugged. “She sounds jealous. Your boss is upset you didn’t tell him that’s all. Mario and Ray do not care. Forget her and do best.”

I sighed as we cuddled in bed. It seemed that all the worries I thought I had about being with Geno, he just moved though simply. If he could do that here, I would bet he could do that anywhere. “Zhenya.” I said quietly and tentatively.

“Da, Misa.” He sounded tired, but cuddled a bit closer as we chatted before sleep.

“Я хотел бы жить с вами. (I would love to live with you.)” I whispered. It felt so right.

“Спи, изменить дом позже. Я люблю тебя. (Sleep, change the house later. I love you.)” Those words were hard to argue with. I double checked the alarm on my phone and the drifted off to sleep.