The Ice Queen

Chapter Fifty Three
“Alyssa, just relax,” Milan said as he placed his hand on my tapping leg and gave me a reassuring smile, “It’s going to be all right.”

“But what if they change their mind? What if I can’t be a Bruin, I don’t want to be a Capital anymore, I really don’t,” I said and Milan kissed my forehead and patted my knee.

“It’s going to be all right, trust me,” he said and I sighed and nodded my head, “I need to go before they come in, I’ll be in the locker room.”

“All right, I’ll see you later,” I said and Milan pressed his lips against mine and then quickly snuck out of the conference room before anyone showed up.

Two minutes later, the door opened and three men walked in, General Manager, Peter Chiarelli, Head Coach, Claude Julian, and Owner, Jeremy Jacobs. They sat in the seats across from me, “Alyssa Brace,” I stood up and smiled towards the men, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, congratulations on winning the Lady Byng and Calder Trophies.”

“Thank you, the pleasure’s all mine,” I smiled and shook all over their hands.

“Now let’s talk business,” Peter said and then we all sat down.

A week has passed since the NHL awards, and I had indeed won the Lady Byng and Calder Trophies, I was so excited and tried my hardest not to cry, because it was just another accomplishment to my life. Three days ago, I had gotten a phone call from the Bruins General Manager asked for me to come to Boston to discuss my possible contract.

We were in the room for almost an hour before the men got right to the point and told me that they were without a doubt interested in me, Mr. Jacobs even apologized to me because he didn’t understand why I wasn’t informed that Boston was on the list of teams interested in me. It was no big deal, I was here now.

“So what do you say, Ms. Brace?” Peter asked as I looked over the contract in front of me and read the last line.

“Well gentlemen, I think the only thing I have to ask is,” I smiled and closed the file, “What number am I going to be?”

The three men smiled and nodded their heads. Claude stood up and was the first to shake my hand, “Number Fifteen.”

I smiled brightly and nodded my head, “Sounds good to me.”

“Welcome to the team, Ms. Brace,” Mr. Jacobs said and he shook my hand, “The press conference will be held tomorrow to announce the news.”

“Wonderful,” I said and then we stood there and spoke for a few more minutes before I was dismissed. I smiled brightly as I walked down the hall, down the stairs, heading towards the locker room. As I got closer to the room I could hear voices, lots of voices, and I saw that the door was opened. I smiled again and walked towards the door, slowly sneaking a peak to see that most of the team was there.

“So do you think they gave her an offer?” Tuukka asked and I leaned against the door, still not noticed by anyone.

“Yeah, they have to, Pete’s not that stupid,” Nathan said and I snorted, causing everyone to look towards the door.

“Alyssa!!!” they said and most shot up from their seats.

“What’s going on?” Milan asked and I walked over towards the guys and smiled brightly.

“You’re looking at your newest centre/ right winger,” I said and the guy cheered and gathered around me and hugged me.

‘…Finally things are going good…’

-Milan-
“What about this one?” Alyssa asked as she looked at her sister as we walked around the apartment.

“I like it,” Rebecca said and I sighed and walked over towards the window looking down towards the city.

‘…Finally, this is only the fifth one we’ve looked at…’ I thought and leaned against the wall.

“Milan!” I heard and turned to see Alyssa looking at me.

“Oh, yeah?” I asked seeing Alyssa, Rebecca and the realtor looking at me.

“We’re going to sign some papers, you all right?” Alyssa asked and I nodded my head and walked over towards them.

“Yeah, let’s head out,” I said and Alyssa smiled and nodded her head.

We were out apartment shopping because Rebecca was transferring to Boston University because she wanted to be with her sister. The girls finally agreed on a three bedroom, three and a half bath, two story condo. Everything was big and they had enough room. There was a dog park down the street for their boxer, Duke, and the place was close to the arena.

We left the apartment, signed some papers and talked to some people, I wasn’t really paying too much attention, I was really bored. When everything was finished we went out to lunch and then headed back to my home where the girls were staying. Alyssa and I sat on the couch as Rebecca went to the guest bedroom where she was staying. We were watching some TV, I sat with my legs propped up on the coffee table and Alyssa had her head on my stomach and was sprawled out on the couch.

We ended falling asleep on the couch, only to wake up to my phone ringing. I groaned and then pushed myself off of the couch, gently laying Alyssa down, being sure not to wake her. I walked out of the room, grabbing my phone and walking into the kitchen. I saw that it was my mom calling me and then instantly remember, that my family has yet to actually meet her.

-Alyssa-
“This is unbelievable!” I growled as I looked at the TV while lying in bed with Milan, seeing that the NHL channel was announcing that there was a lockout for this season.

“This is fucked up,” Milan growled and I sighed and nodded my head.

“Of course, I’m finally on the team that I wanted, and there’s a lockout,” I muttered and Milan placed his hand on my knee.

“It’ll be all right,” he said and I sighed and nodded my head.

Milan’s phone went off on the nightstand and he sighed, grabbed it and then walked out of the room. I tried to listen in, but was interrupted by Duke coming into the room and wanting to play. A few minutes later Milan came into the room and sighed.

“What’s up?”

“You want to go on a trip?” he asked and I looked at him confused because he looked a little sad.

“What’s wrong?” I asked and Milan walked over towards the bed and laid down.

“An old friend of mine was killed in a car accident,” he said and I looked at him sadly and rubbed his back.

“Oh Milan, I’m sorry,” I said and then kissed his cheek.

“The funeral is in three days,” he said and I nodded my head and climbed out of bed and walked over towards the closet, “Babe?”

“I’ll start packing,” I said and Milan sat up and walked over towards me and placed his head on my shoulder, “I’m sorry, Milan.”

I wrapped my arms around Milan’s waist and laid my head on his chest. Milan sighed and I knew he was sad, “Will you come with me?”

“Of course,” I said and Milan kissed my forehead and sighed, “Tell me about him.”

“Derek?” Milan and I nodded my head, assuming that that was his friend that died, “He was my best friend growing up.”

“Did he play hockey?” I asked but Milan shook his head.

“No, only Canadian I knew that hated the sport, busted me every time, but still came out to see me games,” Milan said and I smiled.

“How come I’ve never heard of him?” I asked and Milan sighed and sat on the bed.

“He was at the game when we won the cup,” he said and I shook my head, I wasn’t there so I wouldn’t have seen him, “But something happened that night and I we hadn’t really talked to each other since.”

“What happened?” I asked and Milan looked down and shook his head, “Milan?” I asked worriedly because he was covering his face.

“I did a shitty thing,” he said and then shook his head, “Alyssa, you gotta understand, this was before we were together, this is before I knew that you had feelings for me.”

‘…What did he do?...’ I thought as I looked at him.

“Promise not to hate me,” he said and I sighed and placed my hand on his knee.

“I promise.”

Milan sighed and then ran his hand through his hair, “We were partying like crazy, so excited for winning the cup, Derek and his sister came out with us and we were having a good time. Brittany and I had too much to drink and ended up- Um-“

“Sleeping together?” I finished because Milan seemed a little too scared to say it. He nodded his head and I sighed, “It’s fine,” I said lightly and tried to control my anger because it was before me.

“I promised Derek a long time ago that I wouldn’t do anything with his sister, and I would have kept that promise if I wasn’t drinking,” Milan said and I hugged his shoulders.

“I’m guessing he got really pissed at you?” I asked and Milan sighed.

“Yeah, he never forgave me,” Milan said and I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder, “I’m sorry, Alyssa.”

“It’s in the past, Milan, she’s the past,” I said, “Maybe you can make your peace with him.”

“It’s too late, I waited too long,” he said and I sighed and kissed his neck.

“It’s never too late.”

“You know you’re the best,” Milan said and I gave him a small smile, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”