Page 45 of False Play
“Do you know what’s happening with the main rink schedule?” I asked. “I had the kids scheduled for Saturday, and it’s not there anymore.”
She tilted her head. “Did you check with Christopher?”
Christopher was the director of operations for the Strikers. And did a half-assed job most of the time, too. But the worst part of it all? He was best friends with Matt.
And this situation had Matt Smith painted all over it.
“He’s not in today,” I groaned as I quickly started typing an email to him.
“Can we get back to the very important topic of you and a certain hockey player?” Val asked.
Before I could reply, a knock on the door interrupted us as Matt’s head popped in.
Great. Was IMing not a thing anymore? The last thing I wanted to do was to deal with him in person.
“Ah, lovely use of resources. Just two best friends gossiping,” Matt quipped, a hint of sarcasm lacing his tone.
Val was still facing me, so she rolled her eyes, then stood and turned around, a fake smile plastered over her face. “Always so lovely to see you, Matty.” Valentina was too nice for her own good. Sometimes, I wished I were as pragmatic as her. She turned to face me. “I’ll talk to you later.” With that, she quickly strode out of the office and mouthed,Good luck.
I interlaced my fingers and rested my hands on my desk. “What’s up?”
He waltzed into my office like he owned it and shut the door then casually sat, even though I hadn’t even invited him in. “I wanted to let you know I switched the main rink schedule. I need it for a photo op with the AHL team.”
I reared back in my seat with a frown. “The rink is first-come-first-serve, and I had that scheduled for a while now. The press is going to be here. Ineedthat rink. You know how this works. You can use the smaller one.”
It had taken me almost a month and a half to plan this. And fuck him if he thought I was going to let him walk all over me.
He leaned back on the chair with a smug grin. “That does suck for you, but it’s not my problem. The rink is mine now.”
So this was how he wanted to play it? Fine by me.
“How you managed to switch the schedule without speaking to me, I don’t know.” I feigned innocence. I knew damn well he and Christopher were in cahoots. This was, unfortunately, not the first time this had happened. “But I’m going to need it back.”
“Better luck next time. It’s not going to happen,” he said, casually.
“I’d hate to go to Brad and bring him up to speed on this unfortunate situation.” A coy smile played on my lips. “I have screenshots and evidence that I scheduled the rink first. Next time, you can come to me and I’d be glad to be more accommodating.”I stood from my chair, placed my hands on my desk, and leaned forward slightly. “That’d be all.”
“You’re going to run to Brad like a little girl and complain?” He scoffed. “Let’s see how far that gets you.”
“Fine. I won’t go to Brad, but believe me when I say, I’ll get that rink back one way or another.” I strode to the office door and opened it. “Now, if you could please see yourself out, I have a lot of work to do.”
“This attitude of yours won’t get you very far in an industry that’s already very difficult for you to work in.”
I don’t know how I managed to keep my face cool. There was no way he had said something so ridiculous to my face.Again. He was the one who waltzed into my office with a smug grin and asucks-to-suckattitude, and somehow, I was catalogued as the rude one in this torture of a conversation.Figures.
“What exactly are you implying?” My voice was laced with amusement.
He stared over his shoulder with a knowing smile. “You’re a smart girl, you can figure it out.”
“I think it’s time for you to go.” I opened the door wider.
Matt stood from his chair, eating the distance between us in a few slow strides as he stared at me, trying to intimidate me.
He was going to have to try harder.Two could play at this game.
After a few moments, when he finally realized his staring contest was doing nothing to intimidate me, he stepped out of my office.
“Oh, and Matt?”
