“No.” I say pointedly. I march right past her to the waiting elevator. She keeps up with me easily.
“What are you gonna say? Did you practice in the mirror?”
“No.” I scoff though I totally did. I take a deep breath and straighten my shoulders. Jameson’s office door is shut but I strut right to it, shooting Emalyn a pointed glance. She holds her hands up in surrender, muttering under breath but waits in the hall regardless.
I lift my chin and push open the door to Jameson’s office. The floor to ceiling windows showcases the cityscape behind him but I’m not here to admire the view. He looks up in surprise when the door falls shut behind me— a little harder than I intended. He opens his mouth to speak but I’ve gotten myself all worked up before this moment, so I don’t give him the chance.
“I’m a hard worker. Andrew handpicked himself. I basically run this entire department myself alread—“
“Alli—“
“— And let’s be honest if I was going to smear anyone’s image it would be TJ’s, but he does a good job of that all by himself. I mean would you have these same worries if I were a man? I've protected this team and this franchise, you’ve said so yourself—“
“Allison.” Jameson says sharply, effectively cutting me off.
“What?” I say a little too snappy. He raises a brow. I take a deep breath. “Sorry, sir. Gotta little carried away there.”
A chuckle comes from the chair across from Jameson. I didn’t even see Coach King sitting there in his game day suit.
“I have to say, I enjoyed the rant. You were on a roll there.” He says grinning from his spot in the chair. Randall King sits in it more like a throne with his hands resting on the arms of the chair, ringed fingers on display.
“Would you mind waiting outside until we are done here?” Jameson says, flipping through a folder in front of him.
“Respectfully… No.”
Jameson set the folder down, giving me his full attention. I refused to cower, only lifting my chin. Randall chuckled again.
“It’s okay, James. I’ll come see you about that info later. Ladies first.” He rises from his chair, towering over me with his six-foot-seven frameand making me feel about two feet tall next to him. He shoots me a playful wink on his way out. I take his chair.
“So, Allison. Let’s talk about your email last night.” He clicks his mouse a few times, pulling it up, I suppose. I wiped my palms on my pantsuit. “The one where you call me a bitch for trying to dim your sparkle.”
I blanch.Emalyn.
“Uh, sir— “
“Don’t apologize. My wife quite enjoyed reading that one. She also agreed that it was in fact a ‘dick move’.”
Fucking Ronan. That’s what I get for asking for their help. I scratch my temple, trying to justify it somehow. Honestly, I couldn’t. That was about as unprofessional as it got.
“I’m assuming if you checked your email this morning, you wouldn’t be here either.” He straightens in his chair. “In which case, I will just tell you my response in person, I suppose.”
I steeled myself.You’re fired. Fraternizing with the players and sending your boss a drunk email is way over the line. Way to go, Alli.
“I apologize. You have been dedicated to this team, and I undermined that by trying to make you choose. Per this email thread and this discussion, I believe we can both conclude you are more than capable of handling this team andits players. I hope you’ll accept my apology along with an increase to your salary by five percent.”
I sat up straighter, taken aback. “Oh. Well, yes, I suppose that’s acceptable.”
Jameson smirked, “I’m glad you find that agreeable. Now if you don’t mind, I do have other meetings today.”
“Yes, sir.” I say quickly rising from my seat and exiting the office.
“Fuck yes! I heard every word. Good job, girlie!” Emalyn cheers and holds both hands up for a high five. “We are so going out tonight. Assemble the girls!”
Chapter 37- Tate
“Best puck boy ever.” Ryan grinned, rubbing it in as he skated by. Flipping him the bird, I tossed the rest of the pucks onto the ice as everyone else got started on their game day warmups.
My ass was parked on the bench the entire game. Suspension sucked. I’d keep my chin up through the consequences. After meeting with a lot of people from the team, franchise and league along with my own agent, we finally sorted out the entire mess. They were much more lenient with me once they had the full story. Once they realized it wasn’t just bad blood over a woman. TJ, however, was facing the full wrath of the league. It’s not likely he’ll be a hockey player much longer.
