Post Olympic

Job Offers for the Homeless

THIS STORY IS A ROUGH EDITION. I AM MOST OF THE WAY THROUGH A VERY DIFFERENT AND HOPEFULLY BETTER VERSION. IT WILL BE POSTED LATER: TBD. SO IF YOU LIKE PLIE AND CLOUT OR THIS STORY, PUT IT IN YOUR LIBRARY AND YOU'LL BE NOTIFIED WHEN I START TO REPOSR THE SECOND EDITION

Intro to this - the Regina Wolves is a made up NHL team. Some stuff about the day-to-day of an NHLer is probably not accurate, but I kept it as close as possible. Characters use certain terms that might be unfamiliar for someone that doesn't play hockey, if you want to know what anything means, please, I encourage you to comment and ask. 

Enjoy this

-rabid

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"I'm looking for a Nicolae Callahagn." A man in a suit is standing in the door of the girls side of the shelter. I glance around. I'm pretty sure I'm the only Nicolae Callahagn here.

"Me?" I ask. He looks down at a sheet of paper.

"USA number eighteen, yeah?" My number rings clear in my ear, and I stand up off the horrible little cot. The rain that's thundering outside has left its mark on the shoulders of the fancy man's suit.

"Yes." I walk up to him, trying to appear as tough as I can in the old sweatpants and t-shirt that I'm wearing.

"This is going to sound outlandish, but I'm here to offer you a job."

"Why me." I let out a sigh.

"We've been searching for you for a good bit, and recently you turned up on the recor-" I cut him off.

"Who are you."

"I'm the head coach for the Regina Wolves, Bernard Hadley."

"The NHL team?" I ask, trying to keep the disgust out of my tone. Why would he want me, one, and two, why would he come here to get me.

"We're in a bit of a situation, may I talk to you somewhere private?"

"Can I have ID?" I ask. He lets out a sigh, then pulls forward a badge.

"The best I have is the keycard for the arena." I examine it. The picture is from a couple years ago, I connect some dots, I've seen him before.

"Fine." I grumble. He nods and leads me away from my fellow homeless.

"You see, we're in a bit of a rough spot. Our off-ice skills coach quit just three weeks ago, five weeks before our boys ship in for their first practices." He messes with the hair that he's losing and I raise an eyebrow.

"So you think that because I'm homeless, I'm going to come help the worst team in the league?"

"Not entirely." He says. "Well, no, that's correct, but we're not trying to trick you into this because you have nothing to do. You see, the program has had its eyes on you since you got into UMass Honors for sports management and psychology on full ride."

"But as you can see, I never actually went, and my scholarship was to play hockey for them, not to study." I cross my arms over the horribly tattered UMass shirt I'm wearing. "They pulled that scholarship after the olympics and there's no way I could pay."

"But you have the skillset for it, and you're a phenomenal player," He argues with me.

"I never played a single game at olympic level." I growl. "Redford framed me for drugs, and now I live here."

"Redford came forward nine months ago and confessed to making the whole thing up." Hadley responds.

"I heard that, but it doesn't mean I'm going to be able to go anywhere from here."

"I'm offering you that opportunity." He says. "Come work for us for a year, and after that, you can go back to college, back to the olympics and start it all over."

"You really want to take that gamble?" I laugh.

"We're desperate."

"Can't you just pull up a CHL coach or something?" I ask.

"Their season is almost up and running, their boys are back in school and their practices have begun."

"So you would need me out there immediately?" I scratch the side of my face, thinking. "Do you guys have housing, and food, because I won't be able to afford that for a good minute before paychecks." I look over to him. "You're going to pay me for this, yeah?"

"Of course." He says. "So you're in?"

"Yeah," I sigh. "When do we leave?"

"I have a flight back in three hours." He checks his watch.

"So, should I get my stuff?" All that I've managed to save throughout the years is my duffel, some old gear, my skates, and some clothes stuffed in there too. I walk back into the shelter and over to my cot.

"You leaving?" I look over at Uma, her bad leg is propped up.

"I guess I am."