Page 5 of The Closed Off Captain

“I don’t have a plan, not yet.”

He blinks. “But you always have a plan.”

“Yes. And I will, but I don’t have a plan...yet.” I fight the urge to be snippy.

“I know you have something in mind, so tell me. What is it?”

I tap my foot under the table. “Gunner, this woman isreallygood at this. I’ve been scouring her socials and internet presence for hours. If I didn’t believeyou, I would believeher. And I don’t believe anything I read online.”

He gives me a dark look. “She can’t be that good; we have no history together.”

“Doesn’t matter. Not in this day and age.” I turn my tablet around to face him and swipe one photo after another. Some of them are from high school, some of them are from when Gunner first became captain. Others are recent. When I finish, he’s silent. “Convincing, right?”

He still doesn’t say anything, and I write down a few more notes for the night before I start packing my bag. When I stand up and shoulder my bag, he finally breaks out of his dark stupor.

I walk towards the door, but he steps in front of me, blocking my escape. “I’m sorry I was a jerk earlier. I need your help, Chloe.”

Chapter 3

Chloe

I stare up at him. “And you’ll have it. I’m going to figure it out, Coftman. I promise. This is my job.” I look him dead in the eye. “And I’m good at it.”

“I know.”

His words give me a boost of confidence as I walk out the door, and he surprises me by joining me. “You don’t have to escort me out,” I tell him without looking at him. “Mike will walk me to my car.” Mike’s one of the security guards on the weekend.

“Okay.” He continues to walk beside me and doesn’t say a word. When we get to the front door, one of the guys doing maintenance stops him; and I quickly make my escape. I pull my jacket around me and walk through the rain to my car. With fall officially here, the temperatures are reflecting it. I make it to my car, throw my bag in the backseat, and climb into the front seat. Thankfully, I don't see Gunner as I leave the parking lot. I turn on my audiobook as I begin the commute. Audiobooks are my official companion on my daily commutes to and from work. They help me not to get too frustrated with all the down time. As a rule, I hate traffic and long commutes. They’re such a waste of time. All I can think of is how much I could be getting done if I weren’t sitting in traffic. When I first started this job, I thought I would lose my mind during my commutes. Audiobooks quickly became my salvation and the salvation of those around me.

I get lost in the romantasy book I’ve been listening to, and the time seems to pass quickly. I kick off my wet shoes and hang up my jacket to dry once I get inside my condo. After warming up my favorite chicken and rice bowl, I settle on the couch and turnon a hockey game. I spend about an hour setting up posts for the team page before I begin to make a schedule for next week. It’s the only way to survive my job without working eighty plus hours a week. There are so many parts to my job, the only way to keep up with everything is to make a master list of what I need to accomplish a week at a time and then break it down into daily tasks. From running the team’s social media posts to organizing charity and community events for the team, to coordinating interviews, working with journalists and reporters, writing press releases, reporting who’s playing and who’s injured...there’s always more to do. And that doesn’t cover dealing with crises that pop up, like the one Gunner’s currently going through. So yeah, my job’s never really done, but I love it. I wouldn’t want to do anything else or work for any other team. The Green Thunder ismyteam.

I work late into the night and finally crash, thankful that tomorrow is Sunday, and there are no games scheduled. After a slow morning of coffee and getting current on everything that happened in the hockey world overnight, I get to work making my chicken and rice casserole. It’s my day to go visit Grandma May.

I pull into the nursing home parking lot at exactly noon and carry in my bag of groceries and my casserole. “Hey, Nancy,” I call out on my way past the front desk. I’ve been here so many times, they don’t require me to sign in.

“Hey, Chloe,” she calls back with a wave.

I knock on 302 and wait a moment before opening the door. “Hey, Grandma May.” I close the door behind me and step into the small kitchen and drop off the casserole and the bag of groceries. After putting away the perishables, I walk over to the bedroom and knock. “Grandma May?”

“Hold on to your panties. I’m coming.” The door opens a moment later, revealing Grandma May with her snow white hair and sagging skin. She looks me up and down.

“What?” I ask, not sure if I want to hear what she’s going to say.

“Just trying to figure out who you are.”

“It hasn’t been that long,” I remind her.

“I’d forgotten what you looked like,” she says, sounding miffed.

I shake my head. “I only missed two Sundays.” I lean down and kiss her on the cheek. “You know it’s hockey season. Did you lose the schedule I posted for you?”

“It’s on the fridge,” she grumbles as she walks out into the living room with the aid of her walker. I don’t bother helping her; she would probably cut my arm off if I tried.

“Are you hungry?” I ask as I walk over to the kitchen.

“What’d you make?”

“Your favorite. Chicken and rice cracker casserole.”

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