“Oh, in what way?”
“You seriously cannot be asking me that after what we did last night,” Olive laughed.
Charlie moved closer and kissed her softly. “Will you come watch my game now?”
“Of course, I’ll be there today,” Olive replied.
“Right. Today.”
Charlie kissed Olive again, but moved away after a moment. Though Charlie was mysterious in so many ways, she was also too easy to read. Olive wanted to make that promise to be there for her in Toronto, but she had to be realistic; this would end in disaster. It had not been a week since Olive had been dumped,and there was no way she could make a commitment then and there. To someone who regularly travelled for work, no less. To someone who was more of a celebrity than Olive could ever hope to be.
Olive was lost in thought, and she could only watch as Charlie moved about the room and changed into her clothes from yesterday. Olive snorted as she watched Charlie pull out a pair of underwear from her inner jacket pocket.
“Wow, you had high hopes for yesterday?” Olive asked.
“Well, you never know when you may need a fresh pair,” Charlie responded back, as if it was a perfectly rational thing to bring to a date. Maybe it was.
Charlie finished dressing and walked back to Olive, kissing her again. Olive let herself melt against Charlie, choosing to forget the worries that had clouded her mind.
“I’ll text you with details later. Make sure to cheer for me.”
“I will,” Olive promised.
That much, at least, she could do.
When Charlie textedOlive later that day that she had a ticket saved for her at Will Call, Olive had no idea that it would be this close to the ice, and right behind a closed off tiny room that she assumed was the penalty box. Olive did not know much about hockey, but she had read a few hockey romances that mentioned it. She was sure that when the game started, she would probably be more confused, but at least she would be able to learnmore about Charlie this way. Olive was curious to see her in her element.
Olive was seated next to a few older people, folks holding handmade signs and wearing Canadian paraphernalia that made her believe they were the parents or family members of other players. Olive wasn’t sure if Charlie’s parents would be there, but considering that there was no particular hubbub around her, Olive figured that wasn’t the case. From what Olive remembered when she googled, the Lajoies were famous all around. She assumed if Charlie’s parents were in attendance, her dad would be fawned over.
The announcements overhead were loud, and Olive tried to focus on them as the music cut off and the announcers began stating the starting players. They introduced all of Team Sweden, and Olive clapped politely with everyone else in her section.
When the starting players for Team Canada were announced, everyone in her section stood up and clapped. Olive joined them, trying to channel their excitement. All the names were unfamiliar, and Olive found it amusing when a player with the last name Campbell was called ‘Soup’ by the crowd. When Charlie was called, Olive momentarily paused, unused to hearing her legal name. She regained her composure quickly as Charlie skated onto the ice to where the rest of the Canadian team stood. Olive may have even hooted and hollered with everyone else. She did not dare to imagine that Charlie heard her, but it was still nice to show her support.
The audience all waited patiently for each team’s national anthem to play, and when it was over, a single player from each team moved to the center of the ice, where they circled a referee holding a hockey puck. As the players faced each other, Olive couldn’t help but try to see if she could spot Charlie in the lineup. Olive did not believe she was the player in the faceoff—she belatedly realized why so many hockey romances had this name!—and she tried to figure out where Charlie was on the ice.
That didn’t last long, because as soon as the puck dropped, allthe players were a flurry on the ice. The Team Canada players moved swiftly, trying to keep the puck away from the Swedish players. It was a fast-paced game, and Olive could barely concentrate on anything but the motion of people skating across the ice at great speeds. It was gripping, and she found herself on the edge of her seat with the rest of the people in her section.
They all watched with bated breath as the Canadian players attempted to score, the Swedish goalie not giving them any room to maneuver as they expertly stopped each puck. The folks near Olive would cheer when the puck got close, then inevitably groan when it bounced off the net or when the goalie would stop the puck with their large equipment. This happened for a few minutes, and Olive was finally getting into the rhythm of the game with the crowd. Though some people chatted around her as they watched, Olive was glued to the ice, wanting to see everything. Finally, the Canadians regained control of the puck again, doing their best to try to score one more time.
“Go, Charlie!!!” Olive yelled as she watched her work with another player to score. Olive could tell it was Charlie from the last name printed on her jersey. She knew there was no way that the player heard her, but she still wanted to support her with her energy at the very least.
Finally, miraculously, Team Canada managed to get their first goal. It happened so quickly that Olive was unable to track the exact movement of the puck, but the energy around her came to life as everyone stood up and screamed.
“Go Canada!!” everyone yelled, and Olive joined in. She was not particularly patriotic, but she could feel the sense of unity from everyone around her, and it was nice to feel part of a group for once. She didn’t want to think about it too deeply, but maybe she had gotten too used to being independent.
“That was amazing!” the person next to her yelled.
“I know!!” Olive yelled back. It was not an invitation to a deeper conversation, which Olive appreciated, but it was still nice to feel that camaraderie.
When the cheers finally died down a little, she was able to focus on what the commentators called out for the game.
“Lajoie goal, scoring her first goal of the game, number 23 for Canada. Assisted by Plaker, number 12. time of the goal, 17:46. That’s Team Canada goal, scored by Charlotte Lajoie, number 23, first of the game. Assisted by Plaker, number 12. Time of the goal, 17:46.”
Had Charlie scored that goal? Why did that instantly make her ten times hotter than she already was?
“Go, Charlie!!” Olive cheered again when the announcement faded away.
The players were now back on the ice, on some sort of short break while attendants came to sweep the ice. Olive had no clue there was so much cleaning in the game, but this was already the second time this had happened. Unfortunately, Team Canada’s bench was on the opposite side of where Olive sat, so she was unable to see Charlie from up close.
