AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After a restless night of sleep, I headed into the office the following morning, trying to push away my self-loathing and the need to make things right with Betts. Instead, I turned my attention to sports news, eager to see how the press conference had gone.
With my twenty-ounce cup of coffee I bought on the way in, I powered on my laptop and began to click on all the saved news tabs in my browser.
The first item was a news article that briefly outlined the two minor-league hockey teams in Nevada and how they’d been struggling but had made gains in the last season, with us winning the league. All that seemed pretty good.
I skimmed down until I saw Mikael's name, and as I read, I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach.
Watchingold footage of Mikael Virtanen in his home country of Finland, it's clear to see he has talent. We might even be able to get past the fact that he's like a teenage boy discovering porn for the first time in his eagerness to meet hot women. The challenge I see for Coach Naomi Jackson is that Virtanen believes he is the sole star of the team. I don't know if we can solely blame him for that thought as it appears the owner, billionaire Todd Marshall, seems to have put him in that position. You only have to glance at the rest of the team to see that they feel unappreciated. It was a bit surprising that coach Naomi Jackson allowed it.
Fuck.I opened the next tab which had a video with a commentator standing outside the ballroom of the hotel. She initially started talking about the Buckaroos and the coaching adjustment they’d made in which Bo was taking the lead as coach while Pierce stepped back. All her comments were positive, even the question she asked about whether the team was finally fully gelled to reach their potential.
Then, she reported on us.
It’sclear the Silver Nuggets know that a repeat of last year’s league victory isn’t a foregone conclusion with both Max Blake and Ed Samson gone. Team owner Todd Marshall has recruited Mikael Virtanen from Finland to be his ace in the hole this season, but it's unclear whether or not Mikael can fill either of their shoes, much less both.
She referencedsome of Mikael's statistics while he played hockey in Finland, which were impressive. They were the whole reason I'd brought him out here.
But neither Mr. Marshallnor Virtanen said anything that would make Silver Nuggets fans feel confident for a second league victory. Virtanen may play great hockey, but his focus seems to be only on adopting the American way of life and finding hot women. And of course, one person, a team doesn’t make, and based on the rest of the team’s reaction at the press conference, it's unclear whether Mikael has fully assimilated with them. It was also clear that whatever announcement was supposed to take place wasn’t happening when Mr. Marshall's team marketing director, Elisabeth Adams, came up and interrupted the presentation. It’s unlikely Mr. Marshall was appreciative of that, but it was good to hear from the other team members, and along with Mikael, I think Dylan Katz would be another player that Silver Nugget fans should watch.
I continuedto read and watch all the other news reports. All echoed the same thing, that Mikael might be a good player, but he was immature and held questionable attitudes toward women. Mikael's attitude didn't come off as endearing and charming, as I’d expected, but instead cocky and misogynistic. Just as Betts had said.
Thinking, or more like hoping, that the fans might have a different attitude, I perused social media looking for hashtags about the team and Mikael. The fans weren't quite as scathing about him as the sports news people were, but the only positive thing the women talked about were his looks. Even so, most of them agreed it wasn't enough to make them be interested in going on a date with him or watching him play hockey. The men called him an asshole and then told me he'd better live up to the hype or they’d switch allegiance to the Buckaroos.
"Fuck!" I slammed the lid of the laptop down and ran my fingers through my hair. Betts tried to warn me, and I didn't listen. Being wrong didn't sit well with me. It wasn't that I was never wrong. I had been. But it had been a while. Usually, my wild ideas panned out. And while I still felt like Mikael was the key to the team's success this season, Betts had been right in that he wasn't ready for the media.
I needed to fix this, and the only person who could help me do it was Betts.
I could have checked to see if today was the day that Betts worked here at corporate offices or was working down at the rink. Either way, I could go to her and discuss this situation. But I couldn't get the image of the pain and self-loathing I had seen in her eyes when she accused me of using her just for sex.
She was ready to quit, and I was a bit surprised there wasn't a resignation letter already on my desk. She wanted to be treated as a professional, and so that was what I needed to do. So instead of calling her in directly or going to her office, I did what I’d do to summon any other employee.
I picked up my phone and called my admin. I asked her where Betts was working today. She informed me that Betts was here in the corporate offices, so I instructed her to contact Betts to have her come to my office.
Impersonal? Yes, but also professional. Lording my authority might not seem like the best way to show respect toward Betts and her job, but hopefully, it would show her that I understood the need for us to be professional.
When she arrived, I wanted to stand and go around my desk, but I couldn't trust myself not to touch her if I did, so I remained seated.
"Please have a seat." I motioned to the chair in front of my desk.
Her eyes were tired and wary as she made her way toward me and sat down in the chair. I needed to apologize for the other night, but I didn't think starting with that was the best way to start this meeting. I needed to focus on the job.
"Have you seen the reports from the press conference?"
She gave me a nod but didn't say anything. She didn't have to. The expression on her face was saying “I told you so.”
I gave her a sheepish smile, hoping it might lighten the atmosphere slightly. "You tried to tell me, and I didn't listen."
Once again, she nodded.
"Because I didn't listen, we’re in a bit of a quandary, and I need your help to get us out of it."
She tensed. "I told you that I can't work with you regarding Mikael."
I sighed because I really wanted to respect her wishes, but at the same time, she’d been promoted to deal with marketing and PR for the team. I cocked my head to the side. "Are you resigning?"
Her eyes widened for a moment. "Not today, I'm not."
I took that to mean she was actively looking for another position.Fuck, fuck, fuck.How was I going to salvage this?
