So does practice.
The watch on my wrist shows it’s five past the top of the hour, but my steps remain unhurried as I make my way to the hockey athletic offices tucked inside the campus’s rink. Most people wouldn’t want to show up late for their first meeting on a new job, but I truly don’t have it in me to care as I stride across the pebbled path.
When my alarm went off this morning, I debated snoozing it. Almost took another sleep vitamin and rolled back over. It’s not like I particularly want to be here.
But that’s the thing. I don’t really want to beanywhere.
Been like that for the last three years.
But I owe it to Alice to at least show up and let her decide whether or not she wants to keep me around. She probably already stuck her neck out to get me this job in the first place, and if my mom were still here, she’d kick my ass if I disrespected her old friend by not even showing up to my first day of work.
My T-shirt clings to my back with a light sheen when I finally reach the rink. I trudge up the stone steps like they’re leading to my execution instead of the first day of this new chapter in my life. The solid wood doors creak loudly in the quiet morning breeze. It smells like old money and furniture polish as I make my way down the hallway, scanning the numbers on the outside of the doors until I find the one I’m looking for.
It’s the only office that has a light on inside, and as far as I can tell, we must be the only two people here today. The door is slightly ajar, and I get a glimpse inside. Alice is hunched over her desk, studying a slip of paper. She doesn’t notice me, and it runs through my mind that I could turn around and leave right now. Get out before I have the chance to get pulled in.
But what the hell else do I have going for myself right now?
I knock and seal my fate.
Alice’s head whips up at the sound, her short blonde hair falling in her eyes. “Just the man I’ve been waiting for!” She pops out of her cushioned chair so quickly it spins behind her as she rounds the cluttered desk. I step inside the office, and in a few short steps, she’s across the room and batting away my offered hand with a chuckle. “Don’t go pulling that formal shit on me already.”
“Old habit,” I murmur as she pulls me in for a hug. Alice may be pushing sixty, but she’s strong as hell as she squeezes me. “It’s good to see you.”
Her soft, familiar eyes crease at the corners with a smile as she pulls back and takes me in. “It’s good to see you too,Coach.” She emphasizes the name, and it’s strange hearing it directed at me. I’ve been around coaches my whole life but never thought the title would ever be one I’d wear.
“Gonna have to get used to that one,” I say.
“You’ll grow into it.” She pats my arms then heads back around her desk. “Take a seat.”
Doubt it.
I fold myself into the offered chair as Alice takes her spot once again. She takes a moment and just looks at me. I stare back at her, but unlike others, she doesn’t shrink beneath my gaze. She smiles warmly as she takes me in. “Look at you all grown up.”
My lip twitches. “Yeah, time will do that,” I deadpan.
“Gosh, I mean, it’s been, what, ten years?” she muses.
“Eleven,” I correct.
Pain flashes in Alice’s eyes as she realizes why I know exactly how many years it’s been since I last saw her.
My mom’s funeral.
“I miss her,” she says softly.
“Me too.” Admitting it doesn’t hurt like it used to. Talking about her doesn’t either. “You know if she was still here, she’d show up and crash our meeting.”
Alice chuckles and shakes her head. “She didn’t like to miss out on anything. Hell, she’d probably be jockeying for a job as the zamboni driver if it meant she could be included.”
The image of my mom driving the giant machine between periods is almost enough to bring a genuine smile to my face.
Almost.
“How’s your brother doing? Still coaching the boy’s team at Eastridge?”
I hum my confirmation. “Surprised you didn’t call him up when you had an opening.” My older brother, Sebastian, has been coaching the boys team at the high school he teaches history at since he got his first job there after graduating college. Like me, he grew up playing hockey but never attempted to play past college.
“Well, sounds like he already has a job.”
