Page 30 of On the Line

She laughs and says, “Please call me AJ. Everyone does.” I wonder if this is something left over from childhood, or if she’s chosen to use her initials instead of her first name so as to not draw focus to her gender in such a male-dominated industry.

“It’s nice to meet you, AJ.”

“Much better.” She gestures toward the couch. “Here, have a seat.”

We chat for a few minutes about the people we know in common and why I’m interested in working in hockey specifically before there’s a knock on the door. She introduces me to Patrick Patrona, the Director of Marketing for the Boston Rebels, and he takes a seat in the chair next to hers.

They both ask me questions about hockey, checking not just that I understand the game, but also that I understand the unique needs and goals of the Rebels as an organization. They ask questions that touch on my previous experience in sports marketing, and I’m about to pull out some samples of my best work, when Patrick says, “So, when could you start?”

I cough to cover my gasp. “Are you offering me the job?”

“Yes,” AJ says, “we are.”

“But ...” I pause, willing my heart to stop racing as my eyes dart back and forth between the two of them. “At the risk of sounding like I don’t want this, don’t you at least want to interview me first?”

AJ quirks her head, looking at me like she’s trying to figure out if I’m okay. “That’s what we just did.”

“But ...”Just stop speaking, now!I yell at myself inside my head. “I guess what I’m really asking is: you’re not hiring me just because Jameson Flynn recommended me, are you?”

AJ’s smile is the small, closed-mouth type. “He’s never led me astray before, and he highly recommended your work.”

“But, no,” Patrick says, “we’re not hiring youbecauseof him. We were really impressed by your resume and the samples of work you did with athletes while you were at Kaplan. We’ve already seen what you can do. This interview was more about making sure you’d be a good fit for our organization.”

“And we do think you’d be a good fit,” AJ says, as though she can see I’m still having trouble making sense of this all.

They give me the logistics, like hours and salary, and it feels like enough pieces are lining up that this could actually work out.

“This is just happening more quickly than I anticipated.” It’s not totally unlike what happened in Salt Lake City, which might mean that I’m a more desirable employee than I’m giving myself credit for. “I have twins who aren’t quite two yet. Since I just moved back to Boston, it might take me a bit of time to find childcare for them.”

“We can be flexible on the start date,” AJ says, “just let Patrick know what you need.”

“I have to run to another meeting,” he says, “but I’ll be in touch with more details and to discuss your contract. You should hear from me by the end of the week.”

I thank them both and stand to walk out with him when AJ says, “Lauren? A word?”

My stomach drops in the same way it would if a teacher had said this while my whole class was on the way out the door.

I turn to face her, and she’s closer than I expect.

She’s got her arms folded lightly across her ribs and her eyes crinkle as she gazes at me. “Being a woman in sports is hard enough without getting in your own way.”

I can feel the groove between my eyebrows deepen as I try to make sense of what she’s telling me. “Getting in my own way?”

“Yes. You came to us highly recommended by one of the most well-respected men in this industry and then suggested we shouldn’t hire you based on his recommendation. You think any man in your position would do that?”

I shake my head. “I really wanted to be hired based on my own merit, not on someone else’s recommendation.”

“Was he coerced into recommending you?”

“What? No, I didn’t even know about the position until after he had talked to you about it.”

“Is your work as good as he says it is?”

I swallow down my self-doubt and remind myself that before Josh, I was a badass at my job. My work spoke for itself, enough so that Jameson was recommending me to other agents at Kaplan after I’d only been there a year or two.

“Yes.”

“So why, when Patrick offered you the job, did you try to talk yourself out of having earned that?”

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