Page 27 of Off-Limits as Puck
Dr. Chelsea Clark
Mental Performance Coach
Chicago Outlaws
I hit send before I can second-guess myself, then turn to the mountain of paperwork that comes with avoiding one player while trying to help twenty-nine others.
My email pings four minutes later.
To:Dr. C. Clark
From:N. Hendrix
Re: Subject:Scheduled Performance Sessions
[Single animated GIF of a man winking]
That’s it. His entire response is a winking GIF.
I stare at it, watching the loop repeat. Wink. Reset. Wink. Reset. It’s simultaneously the most juvenile and most effective response he could have sent. Professional enough that I can’t report it, but personal enough to remind me he’s not playing by my rules.
Another email appears.
To:Dr. C. Clark
From:N. Hendrix
Subject:Forgot attachment
You forgot to attach the forms. But don’t worry, I already know what issues we need to work on.
See you soon, Dr. Clark.
P.S. - Interesting subject line. Especially the “enhancement” part.
I close my laptop harder than necessary.
My phone buzzes. Maddy.
Maddy:Just saw Hendrix’s response to your email. A GIF? Really?
Me:You saw it?
Maddy:He cc’d me. With a note that said, “Per your request for documentation.”
Maddy:Get in line. But also... kind of brilliant?
Me:Whose side are you on?
Maddy:The side that keeps my job. But between us? This is the most interesting thing to happen here in years.
I spend the rest of the hour creating detailed session plans that will keep tomorrow’s appointment clinical and structured. Standardized assessments. Specific protocols. No room for improvisation or personal tangents.
13
I show up to therapy thirty minutes early because I’m a masochist who likes to watch Chelsea panic through her office window.
She’s arranging and rearranging papers on her desk, checking her watch every thirty seconds like I might burst through the door unannounced. The black blazer she’s wearing is buttoned up to her throat—a clear fuck-you to my text message suggestion—but she’s paired it with a pencil skirt that makes me remember exactly how those legs felt wrapped around my waist.
