Leaping for Your Dreams

***Mari’s POV***

I spent Sunday unpacking and turning Geno’s place into _our_ home. I did go out and find a good grocery store so I had food too. I had even worked on several routes to get to the CEC and my new job. I was now standing in front of the closet trying to find the perfect first day outfit. I finally settled on my Scarlet Isadora tunic, I loved the drop sleeves it had. I paired it with some heavy leggings and a pair of black lace up boots. I added my butterfly rhinestone ring, leather choker and a great watch. I was as ready as I could make myself.

I got to the CEC without a problem; even found a parking spot that already had my name on it. Going into the offices I got directed to Human Resources. I didn’t have a problem finding it, nor any of the paperwork I was filling out. True to his word I had to disclose my relationship with Geno just like Ray said I would. When I was done, I got my badge picture taken, making me even happier I was in something I loved.

After getting all that done I was _finally shown to where my office would be. Well the door didn’t have my name on it yet; it had the name Tyrone Aline on it. I guessed that was whom I was going to be replacing. In a sing-song voice, I began searching for my GBFF. “Moookkkaaaa. Oh Moooookkkkaaaa!”

He stuck his head out of what I truly hoped was his office. “Mari!” Mike came over, hugged and picked me up. “You’ve survived so far. That’s _cute_.” We had a few people starting at us oddly, not that either of us cared. It was great to be able to be myself from day one.

The door I noticed earlier opened and there was a man standing in the doorway of the office I was guessing would end up being mine. Moka put me down and I turned towards the voice. “Just _what_ is going on out here?”

I saw a secretary eyeing us as well. “Well I _thought_ I was greeting my assistant. Rather happily I would say.” I saw the secretary grin. “I’m Michaela Krejci.” I stuck my hand out hoping for a handshake but he just looked at my hand and then at me like he was looking down his nose.

“Mari are you here?” I heard a familiar voice and one that I hadn’t heard in person in many years. I looked towards the secretary who had paled and industriously began to work again. I had to laugh to myself; Mom had scared another one.

“I’m over here Mom!” I called; I caught Michael’s face also pale a bit when I called out. I turned a bit to him. “Relax, she won’t hurt you. I won’t let her.” That got a chuckled turned cough.

Ok so she’s not my real mom, but I love her like she was. Katya Malahkov rounded the corner fully with a broad smile on her face. “There’s my second daughter. Give us a hug.” She held her arms out wide.

I didn’t run into them, but it was a near thing. Besides Moka she was about the only person I knew here at the moment. “Hi Mom.” I said hugging her as I normally would. “I didn’t think I’d see you before lunch, what brings you down to this level?”

She snorted. “I can come and go whenever I like with the boss man gone.” I knew her well enough to know that was a joke; she’d never shirk her duty, that’s why she was feared here. “Actually he and Ray wanted me to make sure you got keys to everywhere important. And that you’d found the correct offices, which I see you have.” She leaned in close and in a near whisper continued. “It’s also nice to see Michael be more of himself. Make this a fun place to work again Mariposa, bring back the life.” She then handed me an envelope. “In here is a letter explaining each key,” she set a key ring on my palm. ”On this key ring. I took the liberty of making sure they were on a retractable key ring already for you.” Oh the woman knew me too well.

I laughed. “Do you know me or what?” I heard a snicker from behind me, and saw Moka trying not to laugh. “What? I can’t lose keys if they aren’t tied onto me?” I grinned.

Mom noticed the cold welcome I was getting. “Tyrone, do you want to show Michaela around or would you prefer Michael did?” Her tone said the latter.

“He can, _I’m_ busy finalizing this weekend’s Suite 66 plans.” Clearly he didn’t think much of Michael or me. “If you’ll excuse me I’ll get back to that now.” He didn’t wait, just ducked back into the office and I heard the lock snap into place.

Mom snorted again. “How long do you think it’ll take you to get rid of him for good dear?”

I smiled evilly. “Well if he’s only _now_ finalizing this weekend’s plans, he’ll be _gone_ by Aleks’ Birthday.” I looped my arm in Moka’s. “Come on, let’s go find the kitchen and start my tour there. Then I want a good look in _our_ space.” I hoped I made it clear that we were a team and I’d expect him to actually work.

We began walking out of our set of offices and I noticed the secretary. I stopped by the desk. She had several set of earrings and I thought at least one tattoo on her face. Looking at the nameplate, I spoke to her. “Stacey when I’ve completely taken over as long as your earrings are tasteful and you look professional, you can wear whatever you’d like. I prefer people to be comfortable in their skin even while at work.” I saw her give a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank the goddess.” Giving me a bit more information about her. “Do you give time off for religious observances as well?”

I smiled. “I think we can work something out. We’ll be the office everyone is jealous of when I’m done. We’ll have fun; laugh and best yet communicate honestly with each other. I think the hospitality of Suite 66 starts with how people feel when they call or come into our office. I don’t want to scare people away, but I do want them to feel as if we’re old friends.” I saw her smile.

“So do you want to go over the schedule for the rest of this month right now or later?” She asked, flipping pages in a book.

“Let’s start with the first home game that Tyrone hasn’t started on. We’ll make that our first _team_ event. Just get me the information and meet us in 66 in what a half hour?” I looked at Michael.

“That sounds about right. There’s a phone in there so we can make the first calls as well. Matter of fact, bring everything we’d give the client down with you so we can start fresh.” I saw Stacey smile and nod.

Clapping my hands together once, I smiled broadly. “Well, let’s get this show on the road.” We waved goodbye to mom and Stacey and began our journey into the center of the CEC. Once we were _well_ out of earshot, I leaned against the elevator wall and sighed. “He doesn’t like anyone does he?”

“Tyrone the tyrant he’s called, so no. I’ve never seen Stace so animated before. I think you made her millennium with your proclamations. She’s a sweetheart who Tyrone has abused. I’ve talked her out of quitting a lot in the last week.” Michael sighed.

I shook my head as the elevator stopped and we got out. “We’ll change that. She’ll be the one everyone envies and she won’t be afraid of mom either anymore.” We turned a corner and I heard the kitchens before I saw them.

Stepping into the kitchens I looked for the head chef. He wasn’t difficult to spot. Moka helped by pointing him out. “Dominic! Got someone for you to meet!” He said loudly, as to be heard.

Dominic came over with a huff. “Moka, I don’t have… Oh, Hello.” The man was a breath of fresh air. Chocolate was the best way to describe him.

Michael chuckled. “Dom, this is Mari my new boss. Mari this is Dom, our Head Chef and Angel’s boss.”

I stuck out my hand. “Nice to meet you. Can I get a quick tour without bothering anyone? I’m trying to get my bearings.” We shook hands and I could tell he’d easily be a part of my plan.

“Well seeing that you already know about Moka and Angel sure. You’re the new head for Suite 66? So do you have any plans to lighten our load?” We walked around the state of the art kitchens while my worst fears were confirmed.

“Let me guess he lets the clients pick their entire menu, doubling your work load on game days.” I cringed as Dom nodded. “_That’s_ going to change. I don’t know how much just yet but I’m sure we can come to a consensus if you’re willing to come to a little meeting I’m going to be having in Suite 66 in a little while.” His eyes lit up.

“You truly want my input. Not just making it look good.” He was cautiously hopeful.

“Chef, this is _your_ kitchen. I don’t want to make you and your staff work any harder than I have to. Of _course_ I want your input on lowering that workload. A currently offered menu to peruse during that meeting would go a long way too.” If I could get as many as I could on board with my renewal of what was offered, it would go a long way to making the suite even more popular.

Dominic sighed in relief. “That’s the best news I’ve heard today.” We were now outside his office. “Please come inside for a minute.” Once we were inside and the door closed. “So when does the revolution begin?” His eyes were dancing in anticipation.

I laughed full out. “It began the second I accepted this job. I’m just trying to get a handle on how _big_ it’s going to be. So far it looks like he’s doing things too close to game day for my liking. That’s the first change.”

Dom smiled. “That will make things easier on my staff. Give me a estimated time for this meeting and I’ll be there with all of the paperwork.”

I looked at the clock, “I’m thinking in about 20 minutes. I don’t know how long it will take so leave someone in charge that you trust.” I remembered the keys and envelope. I tucked the keys onto my leggings and opened the letter. Not only did I now have keys to the Suite itself and our offices (even Moka’s), I also found myself in possession of one more key. It was a key to the locker room. In the letter Ray made it clear that I was to have access to the gym whenever I needed or wanted it. That gave me another idea. “Who does the events with the suite Sid gets for the sick kids?”

Moka thought about it for a bit. “That would be Donna Sommerville. Why?”

“Invite her to the meeting. We’ll see you then right Dom?” My wheels were turning to make this a place everyone wanted to come.

“Wouldn’t miss it. I’ll leave Angel in charge, he can handle it.” We all got up and shook hands again. As he led us out, he loudly proclaimed. “If there’s every _anything_ my chefs or myself can do for you Ms. Krejci, please do _not_ hesitate to ask.” I smiled. This might be easier than I thought.

20 minutes later I was opening the Suite for my first time in it. I flipped on the lights and gasped at the luxury I saw before me, not to mention the priceless collection of memorabilia inside. I ran my hands over a few places and actually felt welcomed by the Suite itself. Ok that sounds odd, but that’s how I felt. Like it was breathing a sigh of relief as it now had a caretaker who could and would appreciate what it could do.

Stacey, Dom and Donna all were there shortly after I opened the suite and entered myself. “Thanks for coming to this very impromptu meeting. I’m Mari, the new head of this space. I know that Moka, Stace and Dom know why they are here.” I faced Donna, “But you don’t yet.” I leaned against the glass that was right next to the players’ entrance to the ice. “I’d like to make some time available for the kids of the suite Sid sponsors for them to come down and see the guys make their warm up entrance onto the ice.” I saw Donna lit up.

“That’s a great idea! Before games they don’t have time but for warm ups, that would give the families time to get upstairs and settled before the game started. I know that Sid tries to get by and say hi to everyone but some nights he doesn’t make it. Do you know any of the players? Is there some way we can make this even better for those kids?” She was already on the path I wanted to go down.

I nodded. “I know them all. In fact, depending on who is talking to the media we could have the families come down after the game and meet some of the guys where it’s quick for the guys to get to.”

Donna nodded. “Won’t your own guests feel slighted by this intrusion though? I don’t want you getting into trouble for trying to make things even better for those kids.”

I laughed. “We’ll tell them up front, if they have a problem then they might want to look into another suite for the game. I know Mario; he won’t have a problem with those kids coming down to meet players if the players don’t have to go far. Who knows he might even drop by.” I couldn’t count on the last, but I could count on him being behind my idea.

Nodding along, Donna took some notes. “When do you want to begin this new plan?”

I looked at the calendar. “How about 2 weeks from today? That makes it the 21st of this month. The Rangers will be town. That’s the event I want _us_ to make this place our own with anyways.”

Stace paled. “They haven’t started anything yet. How are we going to do this in such a short amount of time?”

I laughed. “I only _look_ like a flake Stace. Trust me when I say I’m about the most organized person you’ll _ever_ meet.” Moka was taking notes so I continued. “When the suite gets booked for an event, we schedule a preliminary sit down meeting that same time. I don’t care how far out it is. Let’s get them in here and begin talking to them. Give them options for the event and a price range. Then, if it’s far enough out, two weeks in advance we get a head count of how many will be coming. That’s when we’ll give them the menu. For ease I’m thinking who _doesn’t_ want to have the same things as Mario does?” I saw everyone nodding. “We’ll give them no more than 3 dishes they can change from the preplanned menu. Those need to be finalized _no_ _later_ than one week in advance. When we get to one week in advance we get a final head count and make sure we have all the I’s dotted and T’s crossed.”

Dom raised his hand. “What if I don’t yet have a menu 2 weeks in advance for the Owner’s Suite?” It was a valid question.

“I’ll talk to Mom about that, tell her what my plans are. She’ll make sure you have them in time. Donna, do you have any questions I can answer?” She thought for a moment.

“Actually yes, what do I tell Sid when he wants to meet the kids and they are down here?”

I picked up my phone, showed her who I was texting and sent the following. ‘Hey Sid, do you mind if we bring the kids from your suite down to 66 instead of you going up there to meet them?’ I sent it and hoped he’d get back to me soon. What I _didn’t_ expect was him calling me. “Hello? Oh hey Sid. It’s easy, have the kids come down to 66 and watch the guys go out for warm ups, then they can go upstairs and watch the game and at the end of the night they can come back down here and meet some of the guys and have a great night.”

Sid listened and laughed. “Oh my god Mari that’s a great idea! How soon will that be starting?”

I smiled. “I’m starting with the 21st in my planning. I might be able to start it sooner but for sure that night. Donna was just worried that you wouldn’t like the idea is all. I’m doubling checking with her in the room.”

“Sounds great Mari, Geno is trying to take my phone and I’ve got practice to get ready for. Will you stop, I’m not going to sneak off with her!” Sid I knew was utterly devoted to Aleks. “Oh god, would you talk to him please so I can survive.”

I laughed aloud. “Sure.” I hear Sid give up his phone. “Hey. No everything is fine. I had an idea I needed to run by him is all. Well and truly that’s all. I don’t know I kind am still working on settling in. Of course we can talk tonight. Ok, time for practice and I’ll get back to work. I’ll talk to you soon.” I rolled my eyes as I hung up the phone

They were trying hard not to snicker. “What? Haven’t any of you ever had someone in their life who was a bit insecure? Not that he’s got any reason to be.”

Dom shook his head. “So who it is? You call the captain and end up talking to someone else… I wanna know who.”

I sighed. “You might as well know. I’m dating Geno, we’re still a new item and he’s still a bit worried I’m going to leave.” I saw heads nodding.

Donna spoke up after I admitted to that. “That would explain why they all came back from the All Star Game happy. So how do you know Sid?”

I laughed. “He’s now engaged to my best friend, hell she’s pretty much my sister. We’ve known each other forever. She met Sid before I did and everyone saw them falling for each other before they realized it. I’m really happy for them both. They deserve to be in the open and beloved by everyone. Aleks loves the game as much as Sid does.”

We met for another few minutes and started to get all on the same page. I was now going to go talk to Mom about menus, Moka was going to call the people who were scheduled for the 21st and Stace was going to set up a meeting with the people for the 25th and 26th for this week.

At lunch I was confronted by Tyrone, not that I expected him to be happy. “How dare you. This is _my_ hospitality suite and you’re just someone who knows nothing about this place and won’t last.” I set down the sandwich I had taken one bite of and stood up.

“You want to do this here, fine. If no one has given you the memo, I’m your _replacement_. Hand picked by Mario himself. I not only love the game, I play it. I not only know Hospitality I did it for the _League_ up until I took this job. I know by your behaviour you aren’t really happy I’m here. Suck it up and get over it. You’re supposed to be making sure I have all the contacts I’ll need do to this job properly. Now either you can be a man and do this or I can find out who they are for myself and possibly make you look bad in the process.” I paused hoping to have some of what I said would sink in. “If you have a problem with me, or how I’m changing this place for the better or even don’t believe that I _have_ the credentials to do this job. I suggest you take it up with Mrs. Malahkov, Mr. Shero or even Mr. Lemieux himself. Now if you will excuse me, I’d like to continue my lunch in peace.” I sat down and waited for either him to blow up or actually get what I was saying.