Page 71 of Passing the Red Line
He looks at me for about twenty seconds before he lets out a sigh and breaks the silence. “I know she is living with you,” he admits.
Do I admit that he is right by asking him how he knows that information? Or do I keep quiet?
I go with keeping quiet.
Eventually he lets out another sigh and continues on to give me the answer that I’m looking for.
“I called her last week. She had called me a few weeks ago asking if it was okay to stay with me for a few weeks while she found a place to live. I hadn’t heard from her, so I called and she told me that she had found a permanent place with a friend.”
Friend.
She told her dad I was her friend. It’s cute, and it makes me want to show her how much of a friend I’m not when we are in bed later tonight. Even though I know why she told her dad I was her friend.
“She must have had me on speaker, because right before we ended the call, I heard a male voice in the background. It took me a bit, but I finally was able to figure out that it was you.”
He called her last week? She didn’t tell me that. I did notice that she was a little off, but I just put it as her being nervous about her new job officially starting soon.
“Are you trying to make me admit to living with your daughter so that you can get rid of me? Or are you just telling me that you know I’m living with your daughter for the sake of conversation?” I ask, because if it’s the former, I’m going to walk out of here without saying a single thing.
Anderson looks at me with a stern look on his face until he finally nods. “The second one.” He admits.
Now it’s my turn to give him a nod. “Okay, then,” I say, relaxing a bit. “Yes, I’m living with your daughter. Actually, she’s living with me. She told me that she hadn’t even looked for a place here in the city and I asked her to come live with me.”
“Are you two friends?”
“Am I going to get traded if I say something other than friends?”
Anderson shakes his head. “No. I’m not going to let them trade one of the best left wingers in the league. No matter the price.”
One of the best left wingers, huh? And here I was thinking I was just average.
“Okay, then, we’re in a relationship.” I admit, watching his expression to see if it changes. When it doesn’t, I continue. “We know about the no fraternization rule, so we decided to not even look at each other while we are in or on any Dark Knight property. That will go on for however long either of us wears a Knights logo. Outside of that, I won’t hide her. I won’t hide my relationship with her.”
My head coach sits in his chair as if what I just told him was just mundane talk and I just didn’t admit that I am in a relationship with his daughter.
He lets out a sigh. “Okay, just go to HR and get it squared away, that way you won’t have any problems.”
That’s all he is going to say?
I guess that’s what you have to do when you don’t have a great relationship with your daughter.
“Already have it planned. Have a meeting with them tomorrow morning.”
“Good. That’s good.” He says, nodding his head as if he were a bobble head.
The man made such a big ass deal about calling me in here and all he has to say about this is make sure we meet up with HR and good? We could have had this conversation in the hallway or something.
“Great. Can I go now?” I say, placing my hands on the arms rest about to push myself up when he stops me.
“Did Eliana tell you about our rocky relationship?” He asks. There’s something in his eyes that has me slightly confused.
I give him a curt nod. “She did.”
“I’m trying to repair it. I don’t know if she told you that.”
“She said that your relationship was definitely better than it was a few months ago. And even though she didn’t tell me this, I know that she hopes that her working with the team will help with that.” It’s true. Every time she brought up her new position, she mentioned something about being okay with spending more time with her dad. That she wouldn’t mind it as much as she would a few years ago.
“I hope that too. I also hope that after learning all this new information about me, it won’t cloud your judgment of who I am, off the ice and on it.”
