Taking Strides

Sarah's perspective:

'It's finally over.' She thought, 'No more flying for me, no more long trips, no more of this. I'm finally here.' She had been staring out the window during her flight's descent, but something about finally being out on the streets of Boston, started to make it sink in.

She had graduated a year ago from Penn State with her dual major in Business: Finance and Management, but never in a million years would have thought that she would have gotten a chance to work in Boston. Pittsburgh, maybe, after all, it was closer. Boston was a completely different place. While they might have the same weather at times, similar accents, she knew that Bostonians were a completely different type of people. The passion of the city, she felt from an early age, but it was overwhelming and completely surreal to be here.

"Checking in, miss?" Piped the older gentleman managing the front desk.

"Yes, sir, the reservation should be under Bayard." She replied. It took her a second to realize he was talking to her, she had been taking in the front lobby. Much more extravagant than she had ever seen, she was grateful for her father to be able to put her up in this hotel for a week.

'Note to self: Don't stare! You don't want to seem like a tourist.'

"May I see your ID, please?" He asked again. It took her a second to dig it out of her carry-on, but once she found it, she was able to head up to her room. Room 2754.
'Well that's a mouthful...' She thought to herself.

No sooner than she entered her room, her phone started ringing. An unknown number, which began to get her nervous.

"Hello?" She inquired.
"Hello, I'm looking for Sarah Bayard, is she there?" The deeper voice replied from the phone.
"That would be me, what can I do for you, sir?" She replied.
"Ah, my name is Don Sweeney, calling from the Boston Bruins." She relaxed a little. "We understand that your flight hasn't been in long, but there's a meeting tomorrow where your interview is, and we were wondering if we could perhaps do it this afternoon?"

She paused, taking a second to think. She had intended on looking at apartments today, but they wouldn't be of much use without a job...
"I think I could do that sir, what time were you thinking of?"
"Perhaps something around 2 o'clock, if that would work with you?" He asked.
"That'll work fine, thank you for fitting me in today, I apologize for the inconvenience." She replied.

He paused for a second, chuckling. "No inconvenience at all, merely a mistake on our part. We're looking forward to meeting you, young lady."
"I'm looking forward to meeting everyone too." She smiled. "So, I will be there for two."
"Alright then, we'll see you then." He remarked. "Don't stress out too much about this."
"I'll try not to. Goodbye sir." She smiled at his concern for her.

She checked the time as she hung up the phone. '11:15... not too much time for lunch...'

-- Two and a half hours later --

'What if they don't like me?' she thought. 'I mean, I don't exactly have much work experience...'
She seemed to stress about every little detail on her walk into the building. So much so, that she didn't seem to look where she was going, up until her run-in with a tall, muscular chest.

"Someone ought to look where they're going." Said a gruff voice, laughing slightly.
She looked up, into the grinning face of Milan Lucic.
Jumping back a little, she began apologizing profusely. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, didn't mean to run into you, I promise. This wasn't intentional, dear lord, I'm sorry."
He laughed again, more like a rumbling. "It's really okay, I mean at least you weren't carrying hot coffee or something."
She couldn't help but smile. "I guess that's true. I'm still sorry!"
"Where were you going in such a hurry?" he asked.
"My appointment with Don Sweeney---" she started to reply. "Which I'm probably late for."

She turned away from him and ran slightly, into the building. She couldn't be late, not for this, not for her chance in Boston.
As she reached the door it opened for her. She cursed mentally, wishing she would have realized that there was a morning skate just getting out.

"Woah there!" Someone exclaimed. She couldn't look, she had to push through and get up to her appointment. Hopefully she wasn't too late.

As she stepped out of the elevator, the girl behind the desk looked up.
"Sarah Bayard?" She asked.
"Yes, sorry, am I late?" Sarah replied hastily.
"Right on time, the conference room is this way." The girl smiled warmly at her and took her down the hall.

Her thoughts jumbled together as she followed her down the hallway. 'Please don't let me screw this up!'
'Wait, who did I run into down there?' and 'Why are we going to the conference room?' seemed to be the most coherent thoughts.

"Well here we are, and good luck." The other girl stopped against a set of double doors, glass engraved with the logo of the team she had loved for so many years.

Sarah took a deep breath and pushed her way through.