Page 12 of Blood on the Rocks

Right?

“For the sake of the franchise, we’ll have to pull him,” Seraphina said. “We can’t have our fans boo against us. Against Thorpe, I should say.”

Henry looked like he was about to say something, but thought better of it. Instead, he pressed his lips together and nod his head once in assent. “You’re the boss,” he said, before turning and heading into the locker room.

What was good for the franchise didn’t actually feel like a good decision. As Seraphina headed back to her seat, instead of feeling like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, she felt as though more had been added to her already heavy load. It didn’t feel right. Didn’t the right decision, no matter how disagreeable it was, always feel right?

“So?” Katella asked once Seraphina took her seat. “What’d you do?”

“I decided to pull Thorpe,” Seraphina said, “but for whatever reason, I really don’t feel good about it.”

“That’s not a good sign,” Katella murmured. Katella and her signs. But even Seraphina agreed that she probably shouldn’t be feeling this. But she couldn’t do anything about it now. Instead, she leaned back, tried to get comfortable, and opted to see how the second period went.

It didn’t go well.

Poor Sam Miller surely had heart, but he wasn’t as experienced as Brandon Thorpe was, and Miller’s nervousness at suddenly being thrust into the spotlight with an enormous amount of pressure on him. Because even though it wasn’t the actual season, he heard the audience booing which meant he had to step it up or else it’d be easier to start booing him too. And while they didn’t actually boo him, they weren’t really cheering for him either. Due to the fact that he let in four goals, two of which happened to be power play goals.

Seraphina watched as Matt Peters got into another fight, and then, twelve minutes later, the rookie defenseman Michael Thompson got into a fight which prompted Phoenix getting the second power play. Thompson definitely needed to build up some more muscle on his lithe frame, but he was tall, at six foot one, with sandy blond hair and blue eyes. He seemed green, having skipped the American Hockey League thanks to her grandfather wanting to sign him after watching him play for a local league, but he was fast and an amazing defenseman. And he was only eighteen. At least that was what Katella had informed her in the two minutes he had to sit out for the fight.

“They probably took a shot at his inexperience,” Katella guessed.

On the bright side, Alec Schumacher managed to score a goal a minute after Phoenix scored for the second time. But thanks to Mike’s fight, the team seemed to burn out and it wasn’t long before Phoenix was in the lead, four to one.

Throughout the period, Seraphina’s eyes drifted down to where Brandon Thorpe was. Even though she didn’t know him that well, she could tell just how upset he was. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were colder than they normally were, but he still looked passive, like even though he was upset, it still didn’t bother him that he should be playing and he wasn’t. That even Seraphina Hanson gave in and persecuted him despite saying that she believed he didn’t do it.

By the time the second period ended, she could tell the players looked dejected and hopeless. Thorpe’s shoulders were the only ones that weren’t sagging as they headed into the locker room, and Seraphina wasn’t sure if it was because he hadn’t played and therefore wasn’t tired or if he was just completely upset that it was impossible for him to loosen up a bit.

This couldn’t go on.

Sure, the crowd hadn’t really booed – save for the penalties the refs called against the Gulls, but that was only to be expected – up until the buzzer rang, ending the second period, and the scoreboard reading four to one, with Phoenix in the lead.

“I made the wrong decision,” Seraphina said, along with the buzzer’s mocking tone.

“You didn’t have a choice, Sera,” Katella said, reaching out to squeeze her sister’s hand. “But you can make it right.”

“That’d be like admitting I made a mistake,” Seraphina said, turning to Katella. “Didn’t Papa make a decision and see it through, no matter what?”

“Yeah, but when Papa made the wrong decision, he always took responsibility for that decision and he always corrected it.” Katella squeezed Seraphina’s hand again, as though she were silently telling her sister what Seraphina might want to consider doing, and raised her brow in order to emphasize her point.

Sighing through her nose, Seraphina stood up. “I have to make this right,” she said more to herself than to her sister, and without another word, headed back down to the staircase and then into the Gulls’ hallway.

Each footstep she took heading to the locker caused her to get more and more furious. Furious with the fans for being so judgmental and hypocritical. Furious with the players for giving up on themselves. Furious with Thorpe for being so calm in such a tense situation (although that degree of anger probably stemmed from a slight touch of envy which Seraphina would never admit aloud). But more than all of that, Seraphina was furious at herself. How could so easily let the fans’ reactions sway her decision? How could she lose her resolve because she was afraid of what people would think of her? Because that was why she pulled Thorpe. Yes, she honestly believed it might help the franchise, and without the fans, there was no way a team could thrive. But Seraphina was worried that this first major decision that she had to make in regards to her team – her team – would ultimately be like a first impression, one that people would associate her with for the rest of her life.

And even though she did what she thought people would think was right, she made the wrong one. Which meant she made the wrong decision. But she could fix it. And yeah, people would probably think that she was some kind of flip-flopper, but right now, she was past the point of caring. She was going to make this right, and that was that.

Seraphina walked into the Gulls’ locker room. The different thoughts that probably should have run through her head such as maybe now wasn’t an appropriate time to give a pep talk and to apologize and perhaps it was even more inappropriate since she was a young woman going into a men’s locker room and her presence might make players uncomfortable, considering there might be things going on in there that she didn’t want to see or be exposed to, actually never even made it to her consciousness. Her mind was too focused, and she knew that until she got everything off of her chest, she would continue to brim with frustration.

People exclaimed, some called Seraphina out, but for the most part, the majority of the Gulls just stared at Seraphina as she pushed opened the doors and went over to Henry, who was in the middle of giving the players his own lecture. He stopped when he saw Seraphina, but he didn’t snap at her or admonish her for coming in. In fact, he cleared his throat and gave her the floor.

“Let me start off by saying that this, indirectly, is my fault,” she began. It was abrupt and straight to the point, because Seraphina couldn’t waste time with some flurry preamble. She couldn’t explain it, but even though she couldn’t see Brandon Thorpe, she could feel his eyes on her. “I decided Henry should pull Thorpe, and even though the fans seemed less upset now, the scoreboard says that we’re being fucked. You guys have given up. And the third period hasn’t even started yet.” She proceeded to look into an individual player’s eyes, hoping they would see that she meant what she said. “I know it’s hard, but you can’t let them dictate how you play. Don’t listen to them. Focus on the game, because even though this is a first game for preseason, I want us to play our absolute best whether that means we scrimmage or we play in the postseason. I have faith in you. All of you. Which means that Henry, if he feels it, will put in Thorpe.” Suddenly, Seraphina found him, sitting among his players on the bench. He actually looked surprised at what she said. “If I learned anything from my grandfather, it’s that we stick together, no matter what. People, even our fans, aren’t going to be happy with the decision. But I have faith in you. Now you guys need to have faith in your teammates and in yourselves.”

Suddenly, Seraphina realized she was out of breath. She paused in order to catch it, and when she realized she had nothing more to say, she proceeded to turn red. “Okay, that’s all,” she said. And with that, she rushed out as fast as she had entered.

“Well?” Katella asked once Seraphina sat back down.

“I fixed this,” she replied. “No matter what happens, I did the right thing. And that’s what matters.”

The third period wasn’t brilliant on the Gulls’ part. The Phoenix Panthers maintained their three goal lead and the fans booed more and more every time Thorpe made a save, and she royally fucked up by making that first decision, but it didn’t matter. Seraphina knew with every fiber in her being that she made the right decision in the end.

Maybe she would get the hang of this sooner or later.

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