Page 154 of The Alternate Captain
Johnny
I’m sorry
Can I call you at least?
I hope you’re doing okay.
How’s your practice going?
Please just let me know you’re okay.
Kelly
I’m okay x
I’m as desperate to see him as he is me.
And it’s only been two weeks.
But right now—this is the only thing I can think of as part of my plan. Just getting a glance of him in his natural habitat, and you never know, he may see me and realise that I am still here, and I support him. Because if I can do this, he can surelytell Mike.
“Just the one? Not bringing Tom or whoever? Or Darren?”
There’s a playful jibe in Mike’s tone, which pisses me off. “Why would you mention Darren?”
“Oh, I bumped into him the other day in town, and he mentioned—” My soul nearly escapes. “—that he still really likes you.”
Phew.
I can live with that.
“Well, he can suck it. But the ticket, Mike...”
“Right. I’ll be sure they’re ready for you to collect from the box office. If they ask for a passcode, it’s ‘Bettsy is a legend’.”
He laughs at his own joke, and I cringe.
“I only need the one,” I say, pulling the conversation back to business.
“Sure, whatever. I’ll fix it. But you best be coming to actually watch the game and not mope around in the bar area. Because we’re making waves here, Kel. We’re on fire, and Ffordey and the twins are—”
“—bringing the best out of the team,” I say without even thinking.
A nervous laugh rumbles down the line. “How do you know how they’re doing?”
Shit.
My eyes flick over towards my open laptop, a copy of Johnny’s dissertation, work in progress, on the screen. I said I’d review it for him before Christmas, and this morning I finished—but it’s put him right back in my mind. And his approach to leadership is in the forefront of my mind.
“I just pay attention to the social media feeds. I take an interest, you know.”
And I’m obsessed with Johnny.
He makes a noise that has me under the impression that he doesn’t really believe me, but he doesn’t press anymore, opting to say goodbye in favour of his nap.
And it’s only when I’m sitting in the post-call silence that it really hits me—I’m going to watch a hockey game.
Ithought I’d feelbetter coming clean to the twins and my sister, but I don’t. In fact, I festered for another week before concluding that the best thing to do would be to buy a one-way ticket back to Canada.
