Caufield's girl

Chapter Eight

Two days have passed, and it's already time to relive this nightmare again. I've barely had a chance to recover from Tuesday, and I am once again walking through the main entrance of the Bell Centre. It's around 6 o'clock, and I am welcomed by the indistinct chatter of passionate as well as crazy fans. But this time I don't need to wait for my supervisor because we are supposed to meet directly next to the rink. Today I'm wearing my favorite black suit with a white blouse, and my hair is pulled up in a claw clip. Honestly, today I wasn't really in a mood for making too much effort to look good, especially when I am not going to broadcast on live television this time. As soon as I spot Sarah, my supervisor, we greet and find our way to our seats.

As soon as we occupy our seats, we start discussing the hockey stuff, and after a while, we just start to chat. "By the way, what did Cole want back then, you know?" she asks curiously. Oh, fuck. Did she really have to mention this?! It's big enough torture for me to even sit here tonight. "I... He just thought I was someone else, I guess. Only a misunderstanding." I make up a lie as fast as I can, and thankfully, she doesn't want to investigate any further. "Okay, if you say so." She lets it be, and thankfully, she changes the topic of the conversation to something much more professional.

In the meantime, the Canadiens are already on the ice, doing their warm-ups. Unfortunately, I became an object of interest as his gaze found me through the plexiglass. It doesn't take long until Nick joins him, and now four eyes are looking in my direction. Just spectacular. It wasn't until now that Cole pointed his finger directly at me while mumbling something to Nick. That little bastard, why can't he just leave me alone? A wave of anger washes over me, so I let my intuition guide me.

As a response, I show him my middle finger, and judging by the expression on Nick's face, I can tell that Nick's amused. Now he's teasing Cole about it, but he only manages to give us both a hateful stare as he skates away. At this point, he only gives me a shrug and waves at me. So, I wave back at him and smile, only because I can sense that he's on my side. Luckily, Sarah didn't witness any of this due to a phone call she had to resolve elsewhere. But she's back in the blink of an eye, just in time for the beginning of the game.

During the game, I have plenty of time for preparing my questions for the press conference and also for overthinking. I feel kind of bad about lying to Maddie about everything that happened on Tuesday, but I did what I had to in order to keep things casual. I just didn't want her to freak out again, so I didn't tell her basically anything. But I did it just for the sake of both of us. My mind keeps spinning until I'm pulled out of my thoughts by the blaring goalhorn. I look up at the gigantic scoreboard, and there he is. But that wouldn't be the worst part if he didn't score twice in the span of ten minutes.

Habs are losing 3:4, but after a while, the good old powerplay takes place and Bell Centre is on fire. There are two minutes left until the end of the match, and the whole Bell Centre is buzzing. Everyone's screaming and shouting as the shots are blocked by the Flyers's goaltender until Mr. Businessman scores the balancing goal just 1.9 seconds before the end.

The ovations were insane, and the whole stadium was going absolutely crazy because Caufield sent the Habs to overtime, and they ended up winning. But I was probably the only resident of Montreal who wasn't at least a bit thrilled about this. You're kidding me? A hattrick? Oh lord. He's coming to the conference, and I curse furiously. Screw this.

***

I'm already seated in the conference room as we all await Mr. Businessman's arrival. We wait only two more minutes until he appears in the Montreal Canadiens dark blue hoodie. The conference starts, and a few questions have already been asked, but I didn't come here to be quiet, so I raised a hand and confidently managed to do my job. „Cole, before sending the Canadiens to overtime tonight, did you practice this particular shot from this kind of angle, or do you consider it just as good luck tonight?" He only lets out a small sigh as soon as he recognizes me.

„I would say both. I must admit, I've practiced shooting like this a few times before, and I believe that with a bit of luck, it worked out pretty well." He says he is already giving attention to other reporters, which made me feel relieved. „Oh, he's so humble. Don't you think?" Sarah blurts it out of the blue. "Incredibly," I say ironically, as I only manage to roll my eyes.

The conference finally comes to an end, and I feel slightly better, mainly because I'm aware that this is the last time I have to be here involuntarily. When everybody else seems to be getting up from their seats and leaving, I stay there a few minutes along with Sarah, discussing the last details for my report that I have to hand in by the end of this week. After we talk it over, we say goodbye, and she's already rushing to some important meeting of hers.

In the meantime, I put on my coat, and I'm already heading out of the conference room, determined to leave since I'm the last person in the room. As I'm walking out, I stop for a moment to see if I haven't forgotten anything. That's when a voice startles me from behind. „Looking for something?" I turn around, and I almost get a heart attack. „What the hell are you doing here?" I say in shock. "Just wanted to know if you've changed your mind since yesterday." he says.

„I tell you my whole life story, and you give me lies in return. How do you expect me to react?" I say it defensively. „I already said I'm sorry. How can I make it up to you then?" he asks in order to compensate for the inconvenience. „Well, I know about one way." He listens carefully. "Never speak to me again, and don't ever approach me; that'll do." I say furiously as I rip off my reporter tag and shove it into my purse, but I don't realize that I simultaneously rip off my favorite necklace, which falls to the ground without me noticing. I turn on my heel in an attempt to leave as fast as I can, so I don't see him pick it up. By the time he holds it in his hand, I'm already in the middle of my way to the main entrance of the arena, leaving him stranded.