Page 8 of Puck King
I shook my head. “Sorry, I wasn’t really paying attention.”
Hollie took a gulp of her coffee. “That was Everleigh King.”
I nodded. “Who is Everleigh King?”
Hollie shook her head. “Are you serious?”
My shoulders shrugged involuntarily. I was not exactly plugged into the city’s social scene. “Is she a celebrity?”
“Kind of.” Hollie’s eyes remained wide, as if she couldn’t believe I didn’t know who this Everleigh was and why it was important. “We’ve sat beside each other in spin class for the last three years.”
“O—kay.” I didn’t know why this was so important. “Is she a big deal?”
Hollie spread her hand on the table as if bracing herself to tell me something important.
“Everleigh is Colton King’s sister.”
I racked my brain. I had heard the name, but didn’t know where.
“Omigod. Alison,” Hollie groaned. “Colton. King.” She said it slower as if that would help me figure it out.
“I’ve heard the name…”
She slapped her palms on the table. “The captain of the New York Thunder. The biggest star in sports right now.”
I still wasn’t impressed. “I think I’ve heard of him, but I’m pretty sure there are bigger sports figures right now.” My mind ran to football, Brian’s favorite sport. I could name a few of those players.
Hollie took a deep breath. “Okay. He’s the biggest star in the hockey world right now. And Everleigh has been promoted to general manager of the team.”
“That’s cool. What does that have to do with anything?” I didn’t realize that Hollie was such a fangirl. I had bigger and more important things to think about than Hollie’s infatuation with a celebrity sports figure.
Hollie’s voice had grown a little higher in pitch with her excitement. “Everleigh has just fired ALL of the support staff for the New York Thunder. Everyone except the coaches. And she knows I work – worked,” she corrected, “at a physiotherapy clinic.” Speaking like she’d just drank twenty-five shots of espresso, Hollie continued. “She wants to talk to you about doing acupuncture for the team.”
“Oh.” I blinked. “Why didn’t you start with that?” I swatted at her arm.
“She wants to meet with you tomorrow. Get your purse, we’re going shopping.”
I glanced at my pile of clothes on the bathroom floor. “I could just do laundry.”
“Not in a million years. We’re burning those clothes.” Hollie was already shoving her feet into her winter boots.
With my boots and coat covering my elven-sized outfit, I tramped into the sleet and snow of the city to get ready for one of the most important job interviews of my life.
Five
Colton
Lights flashedand blinded me as I hurried from the car to the front of my building. The doorman, Reggie, saw me coming and ushered me inside. Even when I was in the comfort of the glassed-in lobby, the bulbs flickered like a lightning storm.
“How long have they been there?” I asked as I walked to the bank of gold-plated elevators.
Reggie was a professional, but I could hear the annoyance in his voice. “All day, Mr. King. All day.”
As I waited for the elevator, the yelling and screaming intensified. “I’m sorry, Reggie. I’m sure it will blow over soon.”
“I’m sure it will, Sir.” He didn’t sound convinced.
My shoulder throbbed during the ride to the penthouse level and I rolled my head back and forth, cursing Everleigh for firing everyone – especially the massage therapists. It was all part of her and my dad’s plan. They didn’t know what was wrong, so in classic King fashion, instead of troubleshooting, they just scrapped everything entirely.
