Chances Risked

“The only time I was really in LA was for the bars or the games,” I said as I looked at Tosha, my agent, or really my assistant. I was being called in for an interview for the Kelly and Michael show in New York and then People magazine wanted a cover shoot, Tosha was there to take down all of the information and fit it all into my schedule. We had met yesterday, the next day I was on the plane to LA with her and she was reading off the list of people that wanted me to do something for them, ‘…A brother has to die for me to get fuckin’ recognized…’ I thought because some of the places wanted to interview me more on how I was coping with Mike’s death, rather than me being the only girl in the NHL.

“Well, we don’t need to be at the studio until late afternoon tomorrow, so we can drive around and try to find the studio tomorrow morning or tonight when we land,” she said, we were currently waiting in for our connecting flight in Phoenix, Arizona.

“We’ll do it tonight, before we go to the hotel,” I said and she nodded her head.

“So before I call all of these places back, can I double check on who you want me to saw no too?” she asked and I nodded my head, “All right, People wants a cover shoot and an interview on your life story, as well as Sports Illustrated, I guess they’ve been goin’ after you for a while.”

“Sports Illustrated wanted me to do just a bikini shoot, and nothing else, then all of a sudden they want me back story and how I’m going to play without Mike, they’re a no,” I said and she looked at me.

“It could be a great market for you to at least do an interview,” she said and I looked at her.

“Is there a photoshoot?” I asked and Tosha looked at her paper and nodded her head, “With or without my gear?”

“I’m not sure, they just said photoshoot,” she said and I sighed.

“Find out, if it’s not with my gear on- I’m not doing it,” I said and she nodded her head and wrote on her paper, “What else?”

“People?”

“I’ll do that,” I said and she nodded her head and wrote that down.

“Uh, Kelly and Michael Show- That’s in New York,” Tosha said and I nodded my head, “I can call them.”

“Yes, I’ve met Michael Strahan before, he’s a pretty cool guy,” I said and she nodded her head, “What else?”

“Uh, Cosmo and Women’s Health,” she said and I looked at her, “Both for background story, fitness advice and cover photos.”

“Why am I all of a sudden getting popular NOW?” I asked and Tosha giggled.

“They all want to get to know the only girl in the NHL, the person in the top five lead scorers, the Lady Byng winner and the 2012-2013 MVP,” she said and I sighed and nodded my head, “So is it a yes?”

“Call them all, I’ll do it- Well Sports-“

“Only if the shoot is with your gear on,” she repeated and I nodded my head.

“Thanks.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” she said and I gave a small smile and nodded my head.

We still had another hour and half before our flight was due to take off to LA. I looked down at my phone and saw that Pat had texted me, telling me that he was so bored at my house and missing me. I giggled and sent a Snapchat of me bored at the airport, while listening to Tosha get her papers in order before she called the companies back.

“Hey Tosha,” I called and looked at her, “Do you have the script for the ‘Girls Can’ commercial?” I asked and she nodded her head and started to dig through her bag and then pulled out a file and handed it to me, “Thanks.”

“No problem,” she said and then I watched her place the phone to her ear, “Hi, this is Tosha Wogan returning your phone call for… Yes for Maggie Marshall,” she said and I giggled when she rolled her eyes.

That was the first of many phone calls that Tosha dealt with in that hour and half in the terminal, the whole time I went over my lines for the commercial and listened to some music. I learned that I was going to be working with Pink, Queen Latifah, Ellen Degeneres, Sophia Vergara, Katy Perry and some others, I was excited about it because I was a huge fan of Queen Latifah, I absolutely loved her in Just Wright, Beauty Shop, Bringing Down the House and Valentine’s Day.

Five hours later I found myself in my LA hotel room, it was late, after nine and Tosha and I were in our separate rooms, but we were in an apartment style suite. We had arrived in LA, grabbed our luggage, rented our car, found our hotel, searched for the studio that we would be at tomorrow afternoon, grabbed some food and then went back to the hotel to relax.

I was sitting on my balcony looking out at the city, the script in my lap, though I wasn’t looking at it anymore. I looked at my phone and saw that it was almost nine thirty, which meant that in Pittsburgh it was almost twelve thirty. I really wanted to talk to Pat, but I didn’t know if he was sleeping or not. I sighed and decided to risk calling him.

It rang three times before he answered with a tired voice, “Did I wake you?”

“No, no,” he said and I smiled.

“Liar,” I said and he chuckled and I heard him move, “I did wake you didn’t I?”

“Lies,” he said and I giggled, “I miss you- You dogs are horrible cuddlers.”

I let out a laugh and then walked back into my room and laid on the bed, “I miss you too, the pillows are terrible cuddlers.”

“Seeeee, I should have come with you,” he said and I giggled, “It’s not too late, always jump on a plane and come- Have Nicky watch the house and dogs.”

“Don’t dump the dogs on Nicky-“ there was a knock at my door, “Hold on,” I said and then pulled the phone away, “Yeah!” the door opened a little, “You can come in,” I giggled and Tosha appeared in my doorway, her pen, paper and phone with her, “How long is this gunna take?” I asked because she looked like she had a lot to say.

“Uh,” she just looked at me nervously, “I can come back-“

“No,” I giggled and put the phone to my ear, “Hey Pat, can I call you back?”

“Yeah, like how long?”

“I’ll call you in the morning, you need your beauty sleep,” I teased and Pat chuckled.

“All right, love ya, babe,” he said and I smiled.

“Love you too, give the pups a hug for me,” I said and I could hear him rolling his eyes. I hung the phone up after our goodbye and looked at Tosha, “Sorry.”

“No, no, it’s all right, sorry, I shouldn’t have-“

“Have a seat, Tosha,” I smiled towards her and she sighed and nodded her head, “You know you don’t need to be so nervous around me, I’m not gunna bite ya,” I laughed and she just nodded her head, “So what’s going on?”

“Um, well I know that you said you wanted to get everything finished as soon as possible, so I got you in for this week and next for everything,” she said and I nodded my head, “Um, well tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday you’ll be working with Covergirl, for the interview, photoshoot and interview. Friday we’ll fly to New York, Saturday we’ll be with People, Monday we’ll be with Sports Illustrated, you will be in your gear, I’ll call in the morning to have your things sent there for Monday,” she said and I nodded my head, “Tuesday, you’ll be on the Kelly and Michael show, Wednesday, you’ll be with Women’s Health and then Thursday you fly to Texas, you said you wanted to see your family?”

“Yeah, thanks, uh, on the way back, you have an extra seat, right?” I asked and Tosha nodded her
head.

“For Emma, right?” she asked and I nodded my head.

“Can you call tomorrow and schedule to have a ticket from Pittsburgh to New York for Friday?” I asked and she looked at me, “I’m going to call Pat and have him come to New York, I don’t think he can handle being at my place for two weeks alone,” I giggled and Tosha nodded her head.

“You want me from Pittsburgh, to New York, and then New York to Dallas and then Dallas to Pittsburgh?” she asked and I smiled.

“Yes please,” I said and Tosha wrote it all down and nodded her head.

“All right, I’ll call the airline company in the morning and set it all up,” she said and I smiled, “I need to call and get ours set up anyways- Oh, and call for a hotel room too.”

“Thank you!” I said and Tosha yawned and then stood, “Why don’t you get some sleep, you look tired. We’ll get breakfast in the morning.”

“All right, goodnight,” she said and then waved towards me and then was out of the room.

So because it didn’t take as long as I thought it would take, I called Pat back and laid on the bed. I giggled when he answered the phone and called me a liar, “I’m sorry, it took less time than I thought it would take.”

“What was it?” he asked and I heard him yawn.

“Tosha just wanted me to go over my schedule,” I said and sighed, “So apparently I’m not going to be coming home before I go to Dallas to get Emma.”

“What?” he asked and he groaned, “What now?”

“On Friday, I’m flying to New York, have interviews, photoshoots and shit like that,” I said and heard him whine.

“Baaaaaaabe,” he whined and I giggled.

“Which is why I have Tosha ordering you a ticket for you to come to New York on Friday and I’m going to call Nicky in the morning to watch the dogs for me,” I answered.

“Really?” Pat asked and I smiled.

“Yes, I miss you, ya goof,” I giggled, “And I want you to go to New York with me- And then Dallas!”

“How long are we going to be away?”

“From Friday to Thursday in New York and then from Friday to Monday in Dallas,” I said and Pat yawned again.

“All right, I’m in, I’ll get myself ready!”

I giggled, “You have a few days to get yourself psyched for the trip.”

“When’s your commercial thingy?”

“Tomorrow afternoon I meet up with everyone to go over the commercial, the next day we start filming,” I said and sighed, “Hopefully it’ll be finished before I leave- Because I can’t really stay.”

“It’ll be fine, babe, you’ll kick ass.”