Page 22 of Wildcat
“They couldn’t spring for a new chair?” I spin around in it. “Or a maid.” I lift the banana and toss it into the wastebasket, which is empty, so maybe they do clean in here.
“I’ve had that chair for fifteen years. It’s lucky.” He winks and goes about switching his shirt and tie.
I move a few items on his desk and uncover a sandwich that definitely shouldn’t be eaten and another ugly brown tie that Mom would probably pay me to make disappear for good.
“How do you work in here?”
“It isn’t usually this bad.” He takes out the jacket and pulls it on, grimacing as he rolls his shoulders and shifts to get comfortable. “Anna needed to take some time off to visit her family in Michigan.”
“Who’s Anna?” I stand and straighten his tie.
“My assistant.”
“I don’t remember you being this disorganized at the last place.”
“It’s been busy with camp and practices. I’ll get to it eventually.”
A phone rings from somewhere on his desk. I stifle a laugh as he rummages around until he pulls the receiver free and answers.
“I’ll be right there.” He fidgets some more with his tie after he hangs up. “Look okay?”
“Yep, and now I have fulfilled my daughterly obligations.”
“You don’t want to come check it out? Media day is pretty impressive. Lots of fancy cameras and photography equipment.”
My eyes light up, and he grins like he knew the mention of cameras would have me following him down a hallway and into a tunnel that eventually leads to the ice. A quick look, and then I’m out of here.
On the ice, a big green backdrop is setup, and in front of it, another man in a suit sits on a stool, smiling as a woman snaps pictures of him. She moves from left to right, to center, capturing every angle. They have music going and lots more people with cameras and video equipment mill around the ice.
Eventually she has him stand and takes more photos that way, then has him don a Wildcat hat and takes a few more.
Dad sneaks a glance over his shoulder to check my expression. The buzz of excitement that’s worked its way into the very core of my being must be radiating from me because he smiles and says, “This is just for the coaches. Once the players get here, the real fun starts.”
“Coach Miller.”
At his name, Dad and I both look up to see the man on the stool has vacated his seat, and the photographer is walking toward us with a friendly smile.
“Lindsey, this is my daughter Scarlett,” Dad says, adjusting the cuffs on one sleeve.
“Hey. Nice to meet you,” she says. She removes the camera from around her neck and hands it to someone else. “Are you ready for us, Coach?”
“Yeah. Let’s get this over with.” He messes with his tie. If they manage to capture a photo with the thing not crooked, I will be amazed.
“Great. Give me two minutes.” She starts off the ice with a bounce to her step that makes her short blonde hair sway around her head, then stops. “Oh, hey. Do you have the schedule for the rest of today and through the week? Anna mentioned there were a few changes. She was going to email it over, but…”
“Right.” Dad frowns. “It’s probably on her iPad, but I think she printed me a copy.”
Green catches my eye on the other side of the bench, and I glance over in time to see the first players arriving. Three of them huddle together in their full uniforms. I don’t see Leo’s head, but I pull my gaze away so quickly, I can’t be sure he isn’t among them.
“I’ll grab the paper,” I say, a little too eager.
Dad’s forehead crinkles as his brows lift, but he nods. “It’s on the desk. If you can’t find it, bring the iPad. It’ll be on there somewhere.”
“I’ve got this,” I say with far more confidence than I feel the second I step back into the tunnel. I’m not even sure I can find his office again, let alone a single sheet of paper on his disaster of a desk.
When I get to the end of the tunnel, I pause and look left and right, then left again. More green jerseys are headed this way from my right, so I gamble and go left.
Dad’s office isn’t that hard to find, thank goodness, and I start sifting through the piles of paper. I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for, but Lindsey said it was a schedule, so I look for dates and times.
