Maybe it’s the fact that he’ll no longer be my single friend and wingman.As a married man, he won’t want to go out and party with me any longer.Look what happened to Keeners.
That must be the reason I’m so annoyed.Nobody likes to be left behind as their friends partner up.This is all good old-fashioned abandonment issues on my part.
Another whistle blows and Coach wraps up our practice with a quick pep talk before we all head off to the locker rooms.
As I leave the ice, I give myself a mental shake and make a promise I’ll get my head back in the fucking game.I should be focusing on playing excellent hockey tonight instead of worrying about Cale’s love life.
Or Halle’s.
Heading down the tunnel, I deposit my stick and gloves with the assistant equipment manager and head toward the locker room.During this trek, I decide that it’s time I track Halle down and confront the elephant in the room—at least, the one that’s been taking up headspace for me this past week.I just need to be an adult about it, have a conversation to catch up, find out how she’s doing, what’s going on in her life now, and then I can get her out of my mind.
Just as I come to that conclusion, Coach Thomas calls out my name.
“Hey, Ax.Ballas wants to see you in his office.”
I snap my head toward Coach and wrinkle my forehead.“What the hell for?What’d I do?”
He just shrugs.“Don’t know.Guess you’ll find out.”
Christ.Being called into the GM’s office is like getting sent to the principal in high school.It’s never a good thing.
Let’s just add something else I need to worry about.
6
Halle
I’ve been in my new job for a week now and I’ve learned enough to make my head spin and question how I’ll ever figure it all out.That aside, and putting away that awkward first-day mishap with the team meeting and Dane, I couldn’t be happier to be part of this organization.It’s everything I’d hoped it would be.
Speaking of which, the team has been out on the road the last few days and are scheduled to be back in town for tonight’s game against Florida.Trevor insisted that I take the team seats for our department tonight so Dad, Lenni, and I could attend before he heads back to Calgary.
I look up from my desktop monitor to check the time.It’s getting late in the day, and I have about an hour to finish up what I’ve been working on before Dad swings by with Lenni.I’d promised them both a tour and to introduce her to the daycare teacher.
I’m about to open a file I was working on earlier when PJ Takatsuka, one of my new coworkers, peers over the cube wall.His dark hair nearly covers his eyes, and he pushes it away behind his ear.
“Hey, Halle,” he says in a quiet, almost shy voice, brushing the hair across his forehead again.His gaze flits to my desk, avoiding direct eye contact.If I had to guess, he’s a total introvert.“Trevor wants me to show you the SQL report and individual player dashboard I created to track the points scored on power plays and team penalty kills stats.Do you have time now?”
I smile and grab my phone and notepad, glancing at the time one more time.“Sure, PJ.Yeah, I’d love to see what you created.”
This earns me a smile, which jostles the tiniest ‘stache I’ve ever seen on a guy’s face.For as much hair he has on his head, his lip curtain looks a bit goofy.
Stifling a giggle, I round the corner of the wall and enter his immaculate work area.It’s already clear that PJ is a perfectionist.Everything on his desk is neatly in its place, with nothing out of order.I find that somewhat comforting in a way.It tells me that he’ll be someone I can count on to get accurate reports when they are needed, unlike one of my classmates in college.That guy did only the bare minimum on group projects and had me carrying the brunt of the workload.It made me madder than a wet cat that he got the same grade I did.
Putting those irritants aside, I pull up the chair next to PJ, who swivels around to his desk and taps out a few keystrokes using only his index fingers.I find it strange that a guy who enters data all day, every day, can only use two of his fingers to type so fast.I won’t judge, but I chew on the inside of my lip to keep from commenting on his talent.
I stare over his shoulder at his dual monitors and the crazy busy displays of graphs, stats, and charts.A nervous shiver runs down my spine at the reality of my new situation.Once I’m thoroughly trained, I’ll be expected to manage all of these reports and data.I wonder if my tiny-mustache colleague felt the same way when he first started.
“Out of curiosity,” I hedge, nervously fiddling with my badge hanging around my neck, “how long did it take you to learn all this?”
PJ’s fingers come to an immediate halt, and he snaps his head up to stare at me.This time, he meets my gaze straight on, the mustache moving when he screws up his lips.“What do you mean?It’s pretty basic database management.You should know this already.”
Wow.
Okay, don’t I feel pathetic now.I bristle at the patronizing tone that has me wanting to shrink down in my shoes.Belittled by a guy who looks like he’s a twelve-year-old boy.I inhale deeply as I try to figure him out.Maybe he doesn’t realize how insensitive his response sounded?I lean back in my chair and offer some grace—after all, we’re both learning to work with one another.
“Well, yeah, but I’m sure you didn’t have this all nailed down the first week you started, right?”I lift my hand to wave it at all the information blinking back at us on the monitors.
PJ seems to consider this for a second as he turns back to his screen.
