Page 9 of Gross Misconduct

Tangi fidgeted in her seat, grimacing just a bit. “You make him sound like the devil.”

She’d known him for years, but I didn’t care. His behavior was inexcusable and reckless. She wasn’t going to change my mind about that. “Well, he’s close. Who does something this stupid? It’s the equivalent of gross misconduct.”

“I see you’re picking up the hockey lingo,” Tangi said, sipping her coffee. “Here’s the thing,” she said, setting it down, “yes, he did a very silly thing. But he’s really not that bad. He’s someone I’ve always liked. He’s a great community guy, andwhen a charity asks for his help, he never says no. He just happened to use really poor judgment.”

I shook my head and wanted to scream. How had he bamboozled Tangi. She was one of the smartest people I knew. “Tang, he is the captain of our team. He’s our leader. Leaders don’t sleep around with their teammates’ wives.”

“I think if you look back in history, many leaders slept?—”

“Cut it out!”

She held up a hand in surrender. “You’re right. I know. I do like the guy, and I feel bad for him even though he’s totally to blame for this. Like all things, this will eventually pass and some other scandal will come along.”

“Great. And until then, I’ve got to deal with it and wish for another scandal.”

We ate our breakfasts and went our separate ways. She was the physiotherapist for the Kodiaks farm team, the Ravens, and while training camp was on for both teams, they couldn’t use the same facility. I looked forward to when the season started, and my friend would be sharing the same building with me.

Before my ten o’clock meeting with Clay, Dave, Doofus, and his agent, I checked my email, looked at the promotional material the marketing department had sent me, then got myself a cup of coffee. I needed caffeine to counteract all the carbs I’d scarfed down at breakfast. As ten approached, I slowly made my way to the boardroom. Clay was there, his trademark disheveled blond hair looking as messy as ever, and yet, he was in his expensive tailored suit. I didn’t get it.

I took my seat next to Clay as we waited. Clay had taken a liking to me, claiming he reminded him of his no-nonsense ex-wife. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, but he’d assured me it was and that he’d been an idiot for letting Beth get away. That statement put me on edge, and he realized his faux pas and told me he was happily married to his fourth wife, and thatI needn’t worry. Something about his fourth wife killing him if he fooled around again. AGAIN? If he’d been any other man, I would’ve been concerned, but Clay was all over the place, and he didn’t appear to have any real interest in me even though he said so many questionable things.

“You never talk about your husband,” Clay said as we waited.

“I don’t have one,” I said, pulling out all the prepared statements we planned to make once Doofus and his agent looked them over.

Clay’s faded-blue eyes narrowed. “I thought you had a husband. I could have sworn you mentioned one.”

“No. No husband, no boyfriend, no nothing.”

“Then a wife?”

Again, Clay sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, but Clay didn’t see any of the lines he crossed. “No wife. No girlfriend, no nothing.”

“You’re such a lovely woman. How has no man … or woman snapped you up?”

“How about I put you out of your misery? I’m heterosexual.”

“Of course it’s not my business.”

“Right. It’s not,” I said as pleasantly as possible.

“I’d suggest my son, but he’s too silly for a woman like you. You need a real man.”

No, he wasn’t implying himself, that much I could tell, but his wheels were turning. I had to get him off the subject before he arranged a marriage for me and crossed a few more lines. “About today. The statements are prepared. You didn’t have any changes?”

“They were fine. Such a shame we are losing Lex. If I didn’t like Jeremy so much, he’d be playing in a rec league at the North Pole.”

I tapped my fingers on the boardroom table. “Have you thought that Lex might be the bigger asset?”

Clay wagged his finger at me. “No, It’s decided. Dave and I have already spoken about it, and our depth at defense is deeper, and we can afford to lose Lex in the long term.”

Who was I to argue, but something wasn’t sitting right. Why chose Jeremy over Lex?

Dave came in with a deep frown. Within minutes, Doofus arrived with his agent, Taylor Ridley. Taylor looked pained being there, and how could I blame the guy? His client was a liability. Between Dave and Taylor Ridley, I felt as if I was at a funeral.

The men took their seats, and Dave began. Dave had a way of looking unbothered by all this despite the fact he’d raged about it when the whole thing went down. He’d replaced his frown with no expression at all. He adjusted his tie and set his unimpressed gaze on Doofus. After a heavy sigh, he cleared his throat and spoke. “I’m not going to lie. I’m really disappointed. As captain of our team, you are expected to be a leader both on and off the ice. You’ve worked hard in the community, and we haven’t forgotten about that, but your behavior has been unacceptable, and if we wanted, we could boot you off the team or send you down to the Ravens.”

Doofus watched Dave intently while I fought hard not to roll my eyes. In no discussion was that ever considered, but I guess Dave had some kind of endgame. Regardless, Doofus seemed to be concerned. If anyone had asked me, I would have traded him, but my job was to put a positive spin on this, not kick Doofus to the curb.

---