Family Feud

Chapter 1

I always wanted to travel the world from a young age. Sometimes I could see myself living somewhere far away from my comfort zone. A place where no one knew my past. I earned for a freedom away from being someone’s “baby sister”. The same title I wore whenever I visited the Bay Area. And when I was given the opportunity it was an easy choice.

"Mom are you ready?" I called out through her condo.

"Yeah I just need to find my phone." She replied as she finally emerged from the master bedroom with purse in hand.

"Is it in the kitchen?" I asked looking around searching from the ginormous green case covering an iPhone.

"It must be on the counter." She stated as she passed by me with determination. Her sunglasses sat on top of her light brown eyes while her green eyes darted in all directions seeking the item.

Waiting for her to announce her find, I glanced at the mirror hanging in the entryway. It was the same one that hung in a similar place in our home for the entire length I had been alive. At twenty four my mother decided to sell the house that all four of her children had grown up in. The house had been in our family one year longer than the youngest of my older brothers. I had actually had the same bedroom since birth. All of us we sad to see it disappear from our lives but all of us knew that our mother needed less space as she had less house guests than usual.
"Found it!" Her voice called as she happily called from the other side of the wall.

"Good we said we were meeting Miles in like fifteen minutes." Before I could continue my speech she simply passed me and headed towards the door.

"You coming?" She asked deadpanned and then turned her head down to face our half terroir and half dachshund. "Say goodbye to sissy. We aren't going to see her for a few months."

"Man you lay the guilt on thick." I replied as I swept my long brown ponytail off my shoulder that was covering my loose lilac blouse. Crossing the threshold, she turned to lock the door and then glanced up at me since we had a good seven inch difference with my three inch black boots and her simple sandals.

"You're the one that keeps moving." Her statement was quick and simple as if she had just proven the obvious in court.

"But I always come back and it's not like I am living out of the country. I am an hour long flight away." Both of us moved down to the hall towards the elevator to wait.

"However you travel more than last time. At least when you were in London I could visit for week and you would be there the entire time." Sometimes I really hated her reasoning. Years as working as a lawyer made it almost impossible for anyone of us kids to ever win an argument. Usually it was more about coming to a compromise rather than one side winning.

"Come when we have a few home games. I can get you tickets and you can bring one of the boys. I am sure Austin or Miles would love to come plus you can meet up with a Mark and he would show you are the town." I really tried to pull out the artillery when working with my mom. I wanted to show her what I was doing with my life. My life was at a place where I was happy with it

"Maybe but we will see. Austin is having some problems with his back and I offered to help Gwen with the kids." My mom explained as she unlocked the doors to the car.

"Do you want me to drive?" I asked looking at the car. Usually she would rather one of the kids drive rather herself because that allowed her to do anything she wanted on her phone without having to worry about crashing the car.

"Yes please." She answered as she handed me the keys while we changed positions. Adjusting the seat in the car slightly, I pulled out of the parking garage and onto the busy streets of San Jose. Knowing the restaurants that we were meeting Miles and his family at I left the talking to my mom. She quickly turned the radio up when her favorite song came on.

"I love this song!" Her voice carried in the small confinement of the mid sized car, I suddenly felt sixteen again. While I was learning how to drive I remember my mom constantly wanting to sing the songs on the radio but could never get the words right. Today I realized how much I missed those times. How different I was back then.

Ten minutes passed before we were parked in front of the restaurant. Finding a spot quickly I was happy to be back in the middle of San Jose. Just down the street was the San Jose convention center where I spent many of weekends playing volleyball in high school. It brought a lot of memories with my parents. Mostly my dad since he had a love affair with volleyball. My mom however spent most of her time with my sister Marissa who was playing softball. She wanted to be there but the relationship between my father and sister was strained and still is.

"You have everything?" I asked grabbing my purse from the back. "I am treating by the way."

"No you are not." She demanded but I had already started walking into towards the front door.

"Addie you are not buying." I laughed at how serious her face was but I knew she would cave.

"I make good money and I barely pay for food. It won't break my bank to take you guys out for lunch. Besides I don't get to be the cool Aunt that often anyway." Opening the door I allowed her to go in first.

The restaurant was a popular steak place near the SAP Center where most events happened in the city. Most of the time it was packed and today was no different. You have to wait for your party to arrive and then you order bore you even reach the table. I was never much for a good steak place but I never passed up the chance to eat there.

Standing off to the side I watched as people came and went as a small corner held a man singing and playing a guitar to the group waiting. The bar was busy and bustling. Another group came into the waiting area but they went unnoticed as an Warriors game was occurring at the minute. Glancing over to make sure that it wasn't Miles , I noticed it was in fact someone I know. Then Miles, his wife Kate, their four year old Sophie, and the newest addition of five months Marshall walked in.

"Addie!!!” I could barely open my arms and squat down before Sophie ran into my arms with a face splitting smile on her face.

“Sophie!” She giggled as I lifted her feet off the floor and covered her face with kisses. “I missed you.” Her statement was accompanied with with a small frown but quickly changed into a smile.

“I know I’m sorry.” I replied as I set her on her feet again before stepping towards Miles who had just pulled away from my mom.

“How are you?” His words were the same every time we saw each other.

“I’m doing good, I think I have finally adjusted to Southern California life.” I answered as we pulled away. “How are you doing? Getting any sleep?”

“Yeah he is sleeping mostly through the night.” Kate answered for him while we both embraced. Feeling a tug on my hair, I laughed as I saw a drool filled smile in my eye sight.

“That’s good probably helps since you have to deal with the monster during the day." Looking over at Sophie, I could only smile as I saw her cuddle my mom in a strong hug.

“She has her moments but most of the times she helps out a lot. He is more of a doll right now than a little brother.” Miles explained as Marshall reached out for me. Once he was placed in my arms, my hair became his immediate fascination while I took a moment to watch as my mom and brother jump into a conversation as Sophie happily giggled in her arms.

“Those guys over there are looking directly at you. Do you know them?” Kate asked looking over my shoulder.

“Who?” I immediately looked behind me and couldn’t help but smile at the sight in front of me. “I can’t believe he is here.”
“Who is he?” She asked but could see that she no longer had my attention.

“We went to college together. I’ll be right back.” Without a second thought I handed over Marshall before making my way over to the small group huddled in the corner.

As I got closer the realization came over me. Ben had entered my life when I was in my final semester back east. Even though we went to different Universities in New York City and we both worked for the Rangers, the professional hockey team in the area. I had gotten the job in the public relations department while he overseeing the management team. Both of us immediately created a bond being that we were far from home. He was from the suburbs of Chicago while I had grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Together we helped each other get through the struggles of being away our final year of school.

“Ben?” I asked hesitantly as I approached hoping that all the staring he had done was because it was Ben and not some random guy on the street.
"I knew it was you." Immediately I smiled as I laughed in relief that I was not going to have to do deal with the awkward moment if I had been wrong. Both of us reached each other and "How are you?"

“I am doing good. Got in town this morning. How about you?” Ben reiterated the question back at me before I caught sight of the other two men in his presence. Both were well known in the hockey community. Jackson, the tall brunette was the typical Canadian boy with honey eyes and a Captain spot for Chicago. Pat, his wingman in all ways, was also with Chicago.

“Good we are just finishing up our long streak and then we can finally be back in L.A for a good week.” I replied before glancing at the other guys. “Hi, sorry Ben didn’t introduce us, my name is Addie Collen.”

"I'm Jon and this is Patrick." The Captain replies as he takes my outstretched hand before releasing it to allow Pat a chance.

“It's nice to meet you.” Turning towards Ben, I couldn’t help but smile as all the memories flooded my head. “What is up with you? It’s been what, four years since we’ve seen each other?”

“Good I’ve been with Chicago since I’ve graduated. How about you? From what i could tell from social media, you have been everywhere since you graduated.” Ben laughed at his observation.

"Yeah I had to do a little searching before I figured out what I wanted to do with my degree." I explained trying to paint the picture of my constant moving.

"I could tell. London, Paris, Vancouver, and then a very brief trip to Australia. I was exhausted just looking at your Instagram." Ben glanced back to Jon and Pat who seemed taken back with my residences in the past four years.

"What were you doing for work?" Jon suddenly burst with the question before Ben could drop another one of his own.

"I worked for a fashion house that was based in London. They kept sending me to different countries so they could open up their stores. I was the best at dealing with chaos." Both seemed to be quiet as they took in my words. "But I hated it so I contacted Jeremy who had been our supervisor when we worked with New York and he helped me find the job in L.A."

"You were always his favorite." Ben muttered under his breathe.

"Why hockey?" Pat finally spoke up.

"I kind of fell in love with it while I was back in New York with school and got to go to my first game when I got the internship and never looked back." I explained back glanced back at my family who were staring at me. "I almost forgot, congrats Ben you are a very lucky man. She is beautiful."

"Thanks I am just lucky she agreed to go out." Last week Ben had proposed to his girlfriend and it had been all over social media.

"She is too good for you." Pat let that one slip but had a smirk on his face to show that he was being completely funny.

"That's no surprise there. But I must admit he was a lot better than any of the East Coast boy I met while I was back there." I replied before I heard a name called over the loudspeaker. "That's me, text me when you get into L.A. We can have dinner or lunch."

"You still have the same number?" Was his reply as I started to walk away.

"Of course." I gave the group one last smile before I turned and met my family in front of the hostess. With our order placed all of us were lead into the back room where the larger tables were placed.

The rest of the day was spent rushing through all procedure. My job was to make sure the boys didn't do anything wrong while also trying fight off the beast that was also called Media. I sat in on all of the interviews while also checking our own players accounts to ensure that nothing irresponsible would be posted. Sometimes I felt more like a babysitter than a professional but the pay was good and the experience was invaluable.