Her eyebrows shoot up. “You haven’t been reading the comments online, have you?”
“About me? No, not for several hours.”
She grabs her phone. “It’s not exactly the same, but you’re using who you are and your position to talk to people, and to connect them with each other.” She scrolls for a little bit on her screen, then stops and turns the phone toward me. “Look at these comments. Yes, they’re impressed by Quinn, Josh, and Beckett. But look at this one. This guy is thanking you for getting his teenage son to ask him abouthisjob. This one is saying that you put all the guys on his roofing crew in a better mood on the job today. This one says his little girl asked if she can go to workwith him next week.” She looks up. “People’s jobs are a huge part of their lives, and you’re making people feel good about their work. That’s making their lives happier, too. You’re doing that, Alex.”
“I am?” I read through the comments, and sure enough, there are people thanking me.
“You do a job that is very public and that people get to come and watch. Hell, peoplepayto come and watch you work. It just feels great to have someone like you turn around and look at them and really see them.”
“Wow, so this could be a good thing,” I say. “I mean, I don’t want to make money off of it or anything, but I do want to learn about how this works—how these towns and communities come together and help each other. As long as I’m doing that, sharing that seems like a good thing, right?”
Astrid grins at me. “It’s a very good thing. And I love seeing you enjoying it too. That’s what really matters. That’s when using your platform means the most. When it’s something you care about.”
I smile. “Thanks.”
“You’re doing great. I’m proud of you.”
My chest feels warm. “I appreciate that.”
“And you’ll host Sam at the crawfish boil before the game on Friday, right?”
“Sam?”
“FromSam The Sportsman. He wants to interview you. I told him yes, if he comes to Rebel and hangs out at the crawfish boil and goes to the game.” She grins. “I want to give him the whole experience.”
“You’re accepting interview requests for me?”
“I’m your boss so…yes.” She lifts her cup.
I’ve talked to Sam before. It’s fine. “Okay, I’ll do it. But I’m going to talk about the other players. And I want to pull Beckettor Ingrid in with me. They’re from here. They can talk about the crawfish and tell him all about the swamp werewolves and stuff.”
Astrid frowns and sips, then shakes her head. “I hear you. But I need you to be a hockey player for this. You’re the big name. His listeners want to hear you.”
I sigh. “But I want to do more.”
“Like what exactly?”
“I’m not sure. Something.”
She laughs. “You’ll figure it out. You’re using your platform to make people look at hockey differently, and it’s makingyoulook at it differently. Something will come from that. Something for you and for the fans.”
“Does that matter?”
“What do you mean?”
“You are the queen of making things matter after they change.”
She smiles softly. “Aw. Well, yes. I mean… loving hockey is the foundation, and you’re focusing people on that by focusing on these regular people who are playing and watching hockey here versus the glitz and glamor of the pros. And I think it’s helping you look at hockey differently, too.”
I think she might be right. “Thanks.”
“But you’ll do the thing with Sam? And be the big shot hockey player he wants to interview.”
I chuckle. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll hang out with Sam.”
“Thank you.”
I pull my phone out, realizing that I haven’t looked at it since I showed up at Nora‘s hours ago. I want to check in on a couple of other platforms, too.
