The Rookie

“Here.” I said as I forcefully set the frappuccino down on the desk and then began to walk away towards my own office.

“Uh, uh, uh. Redo that. Nicely.” Millie’s voice called back to me.

I dramatically turned around, swearing under my breath, and gave in to her demand. I had never been so resentful to any individual in my entire life. Millie Shero had to be the devil; maybe that’s why she was a red head?

“Here you go Millie. I am so sorry that I was so rude the first time. Won’t happen again.” I said in a cheerful, yet overly sarcastic tone.

Millie grinned smugly, took a sip of the iced beverage, grimaced, and then tossed it into the trashcan on the side of her desk.

“Did I not specify that I wanted a chocolate drizzle on top?”

I began to argue. That was not part of the bitch’s order.

“Oh, well silly me. I must have forgot.” Millie said in an innocent, high-pitched voice. I thought this was the end of our spat, but as I was walking out the door, she once again spoke.

“Get me another one. Now.”

Millie should have considered herself lucky that she was not within my view. At this point, I was giving her the bird. I had thought that by agreeing to be her personal slave, that I would only have to be put through hoops every once and a while. This was just day one of Millie’s wrath and I had absolutely had it.

Words honestly couldn’t even begin to describe how much I loathed this girl. I had not spoken to Beau since he stormed off a couple days prior and this was just the icing on top of everything.

A deal was a deal, however, and the only thing I could really thank Millie for was that I still had a job. She had held up to her end of the bargain and not said anything to her father over the weekend. Unfortunately, if I wanted to keep it that way I would have to make my second trip to Starbucks for the morning.

*A short walk later*

Earlier when I had been here, I had come at the right time. There was hardly even a line and I had gotten my drink within a couple of minutes. Now, the place was swarming with people and I was forced to take a seat and wait. It had been ten minutes and only one out of the five people in front of my order had gotten their coffee. Sighing, I went back to checking my Facebook and Twitter.

“Mind if I join you?” A familiar voice asked. I had been so distracted on my phone that I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings. Looking up though, James Neal was towering above me.

I smiled and nodded as he sat down.

“Starbucks doesn’t seem like the type of place that I would find Pittsburgh Penguins’ hockey royalty at.” I teased.

“Hey, hey, hey. Even us hockey player’s need our coffee in the morning. Actually, I’m on a Starbucks run for Sid, Geno, Beau, and myself.” He laughed as he said it, but at the sound of Beau’s name I became quiet and more serious. I thought James hadn’t noticed, but apparently I was wrong.

“Alright, spill. What’s up between you and Mr. California?”

I neglected to answer. James seemed like a trustworthy guy, but I knew how team dynamics were. As much as I hoped he wouldn’t go off and blab about us, I knew there was a chance he would. I didn’t need Beau to be madder at me then he already clearly was.

James continued to pry however.

“Come on Sage. I saw the connection between you guys at Danny’s. He gave you a ride home. I mention his name and you get all tense. What happened? Did he drop the saintly act and get some action?”

Oh sheesh…

“No, nothing happened that night.”

“THAT night.” James grinned.

I really didn’t know how to respond to that without telling him about our outing at the Consol. I was thinking of some way to manipulate the truth in my favor when the barista called my name.

Apparently the Starbucks gods were looking out for me today.

Without giving James the information he was looking for, I got up to grab Millie’s drink. As I walked back by the table I had been sitting at I stopped to tell James goodbye.

“If you want to know what happened, pick your teammate’s brain. I’m not the type to kiss and tell.”
Beau’s POV

Neal came busting into my apartment with coffee loaded into a handy carrying tray. He distributed the drinks accordingly; I was the last.

He held the cup in front of me and as I went to go take it from his hand, he held it up in the air out of my reach.

“You want Starbucks, then you better start talking rookie.”

I gave him a confused look. What the hell was he talking about?

“Do you, Beau Bennett, have a crush on Miss Sage Allen?”

At those words, the other guys had taken notice and were now obnoxiously teasing and harassing me.

“Atta boy, Beau.” Crosby said as he patted my shoulder.

“Mmm, good choice. She pretty. Kiss her no?” Malkin added.

I had been the new kid on the team not too long ago. I had taken a lot of shit from the guys. Usually, I took it in stride but not this time. They could tell that I was getting legitimately frustrated and ceased their torment.

James thruster the coffee cup into my hands.

“Jeeze kid. Calm down. It was just a question. I ran in to her today when I went to get this stuff. I mentioned your name and she got all quiet. By the way you’re acting, something bad must’ve happened.”

I hadn’t even attempted to contact Sage over the weekend. Before Millie had interrupted, I was so happy just to be there with her. I was hoping that I would be able to ask her out on an official date and it wouldn’t be long before the press was writing about Beau Bennett’s new girlfriend. She put her job before me though. Part of that I understand, but you can’t just kiss someone like she had if you plan on ultimately walking away. I felt like I was just her little puppet. That’s what I had a problem with.

I thought she wouldn’t even feel a hint of remorse, but if what James was saying was true maybe there was hope after all? Maybe I had jumped to conclusions?

I knew I couldn’t do anything before I actually talked to her though.

Without really saying anything, I was making my way to my car.