“Maybe I should go over and say hello. She doesn’t seem near as friendly as she was Tuesday night.”
“Yeah, I noticed, but we need to go get changed first,” Shealyn said.
Nicole led Shealyn onto the court as the fans began to fill the arena. She nodded towards the scorer’s desk and turned to Shealyn. “We’d better check in with Keeley.”
The three officials were standing and talking in front of the table then two of them walked over to each bench.
“Hi Maggie,” Nicole said.
“Hey,” Maggie replied. “I saw you talking to the New York players before the game.”
“And the Connecticut players, too,” Shealyn added. “I go way back with Tanisha.”
“That’s right,” Tanisha Harris said, sneaking up behind Shealyn and putting her arm around her shoulders. “You’d better tell everyone how dangerous we are this year.”
Nicole chuckled. “What happened to not playing favorites?”
“Ah, we all have them. Don’t we?” Maggie commented.
Shealyn looked over at Nicole and furrowed her brow. “I hope you don’t,” she said to Maggie. “That could affect the game. At least Nicole and I aren’t on the court.”
Maggie shrugged and walked away.
“Have a good game,” Shealyn said to Tanisha.
“Thanks, you too.”
Nicole and Shealyn walked across the court to their table. They checked their equipment and did a few tests. Nicole couldn’t keep from looking over to where New York was warming up. She didn’t know how often their schedules would allow her to see Ariana play in person so she planned to enjoy this.
“Maggie was not happy to see us,” Shealyn said. “It’s your fault. You took that phone call and dumped her at the elevator Tuesday.”
“And I’m sure she didn’t appreciate my comments during dinner.” Nicole shrugged. “Oh well, maybe that means she’ll stay out of our way tonight.”
They heard Jeannie in their headsets giving them a countdown to when they’d be live on the air.
“Showtime.” Nicole smiled.
They introduced the game and shared with their viewing audience what to look for from the key players. Moments later the game started.
New York didn’t win the tip and Ariana had to immediately play defense. Connecticut scored and everyone ran down to the other end of the court as Ariana dribbled the ball across the center line.
Nicole watched as the defense did just as she warned Ariana and tried to block her path to her left. Ariana faked to the right and smoothly dribbled into the lane making an easy layup.
A whistle blew, stopping play, as Maggie called an offensive foul on Ariana.
“What the…” Nicole said, confused.
“That wasn’t a foul,” Shealyn told the viewers. “I didn’t see any contact.”
Nicole could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks. She knew Maggie had called that foul on Ariana simply because they were laughing and talking before the game. What if Maggie took out her displeasure with Nicole on Ariana and Cameron? How unfair. Nicole was trying to work through what she should do and who she should contact when Ariana caught her eye.
She smiled at Nicole and shook her head then she gave her a thumb’s up. Nicole knew she was telling her to stay calm because that’s what she was doing. Nicole released a deep breath, trying to tamp down her anger. She caused this and Ariana was paying the price.
“Stop,” Shealyn said. They’d sent the broadcast over to Keeley as she reported from the sideline while listening to the referees discuss the play. “You did not cause this.”
“Yes I did!” Nicole exclaimed. “Fucking Maggie Patterson.”
“It’ll be okay,” Shealyn said. “She got her point across and Ariana knows what to do now.”
