Page 54 of Puck with Karma
Some chick, whose name I don’t remember but who I know works in the HR and Legal department, is sitting comfortably in one of the two chairs positioned in front of the desk. It leaves one chair open for me.
On the other side of her, sitting awkwardly on a wooden stool, is none other than Abigail Bennett. The woman whose brains I’ve been fucking from the moment we met. I almost smile at her but catch myself just in time when I notice the worried look on her face.
“Mr. Hamilton,” the legal chick speaks first. “Come on in and have a seat.”
I follow her directive, and the door slams closed behind me. It is obvious that Coach is not in the mood for any of this. He walks around me and drops in his chair at the desk, rocking back and forth.
“My name is Laura Cantor,” she gives me a cool smile. “We’ve met before, I’m sure you remember.” The confidence with which she speaks only shows how full of herself she actually is.
“No.”
My one word answer seems to throw her off, but she recovers very quickly.
“Coach Harris here,” she points toward the man in question, “thought it would be better if we met in his office.”
I raise an eyebrow in question. “Where else would we meet?”
“My first choice would’ve been our large conference room.” She looks down at her notes, pretending like she’s about to write something down. “But we are here to discuss your most recent behavior out on the ice.”
“Figured as much.” I wink at her, and she blushes. My eyes go to Abby who is sitting quietly to the side.
“Why is she here?”
I never really asked Abby what she was interning with the Cats for. I never cared. But now it looks like our worlds are colliding.
Laura gets a sour look on her face. “This is Abigail Bennett. She is one of our interns. She went to school to become a sports manager. She is here to learn.”
“Learn what?” I smirk again, knowing that it aggravates everyone in this room. Well, mostly everyone. Abby just looks worried to death.
“Learn how to communicate with a client who is potentially losing his job and throwing his hockey career out the window because he cannot control his temper.”
I don’t react in any way. I know they are expecting me to trash this entire office, scream and yell, and put holes in the walls.
“Do you understand where this conversation is going, Mr. Hamilton?”
I never take my eyes off her face. The longer I stare, the closer she is to squirming in her seat. Coach Harris is rocking back and forth in his chair, and I swear a small whimper just came out of Abby, but I refuse to break eye contact with the snake of a woman in front of me.
“I do,” I finally say, and she lets out a breath of relief.
“And?” She is definitely aggravated by my non-reaction.
“And I don’t give a fuck.”
Chapter 18
Abby
When Laura called me back to the office, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
“You’re about to witness how to fire a client without it blowing back on you or the organization,” she informs me in a cool tone.
Her words stop me in my tracks, heart beating out of my chest.
“What? Why?”
“That is none of your concern. Not in this case,” she adds almost on second thought. “But I can tell you that Xander Hamilton is on his last leg with the Cats. This is finally it.”
The one sided conversation I overheard this morning when I first walked in is coming back to me. I am now convinced that it was Xander they were talking about. Someone wants to get rid of him so that another player could take his spot. A player who is dating the daughter of whoever was on the phone with Laura.
