Public Relations

It had been a couple days since I saw James. We had two days off and I spent pretty much every hour that I was awake with Sid and Reid. We went out to dinner twice and we took Reid to the zoo. He had such a great time seeing all the animals and playing on the jungle gym. Sid and I had a great time with him. The preseason would be starting tomorrow night and in just over a week we would be starting the regular season. I was nervous because Jennifer would be leaving in November so in just over a month I would be leading the public relations department all by myself. I knew I could do the job because I’ve done it for a couple years, but never in a leadership role.
When I woke up that morning Reid was in bed next to me fast asleep. I rolled onto my side and stared at him for at least five minutes. I heard a small knock on my door. I don’t want to wake up Reid so I quickly got up and went to the door. I slowly open it up.
“Moring Lily.” I say stepping out of the room and shutting the door leaving only a crack open.
“Alex, is Reid in there?” She asks looking a bit nervous, but clearly trying to hide it.
“Yeah, he came in about two am.” I say. I could see a look of relief on her face.
“I went to get him up and he wasn’t there. I figured he was in there with you, but I have to admit I was a bit worried.” She says.
“Yeah he’s in there sleeping.” I say. “Go get him up if you want.”
“Thanks.” Lily says walking past me into my bedroom. I laugh to myself a bit before going downstairs to the kitchen. The coffee was already brewing. I sigh and sit down at a barstool. I put my head in my hands and close my eyes. I think I feel asleep like that because I woke up with a start when I heard Reid running across the room.
“Hey baby.” I say getting off the bar stool and picking Reid up. I gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Mommy.” Reid screams trying to get away from my kisses. I laugh and put him down. He runs off into the living room. Lily comes into the kitchen shaking her head.
“He took off.” She says. I smile and laugh. “Breakfast?”
“Sure.” I say. She busies herself in the kitchen making breakfast for all of us. I drag myself off the bar stool and back up the stairs to find my phone. I find it in my purse next to the bed. I unlock it to see all the notifications I have. I sigh and fall backwards on my bed. I lay there for a while staring at the ceiling. After a couple minutes I sit up. I jump and scream.
“Holy crap you scared me.” I say holding my chest. Sid just chuckles. “It sure as hell isn’t funny.”
I shake my head at him.
“Sorry.” He says innocently. He walked over to the bed and sat down next to me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, wait what are you doing here?” I ask looking at him.
“Came by to give something to Reid.” He says. “Lily said you were up here.”
“Oh what did you bring?” I ask.
“Reid and Lily’s opening game tickets.” He says.
“That’s awesome.” I say.
“I thought we could ride to work together.” He says.
“I have to be there before you.” I say.
“Not really, I have to get some new equipment today.” He says not looking very happy.
“Oh your favourite time of the year.” I say sarcastically.
“How did you know?” He asks.
“You’ve told me about a hundred times.” I say laughing and falling back on my bed.
“It’s true. I hate new equipment, but I need new skates.” Sid says falling back on the bed beside me.
“You need a new jock.” I say.
“No.” He says.
“I’m not saying you are going to get one, I’m just saying you need to get one.” I say trying not to laugh.
“Its okay, maybe some day.” He says. We lay on the bed for a little while until Lily calls us down to breakfast. We sit down and Sid talks to Reid about being in Pittsburgh. Once we finish breakfast Sid tells Reid he has something for him again.
“Gift?” Reid says looking so excited.
“Yes.” Sid says going in his jacket pocket. He pulls out two tickets.
“One for you and one for Lily.” Sid says. He hands each of them their ticket.
“Ticket!” Reid yells.
“It’s your ticket for the opening game.” Sid says. Reid examines it carefully. He stares at the picture, then he looks up at Sid.
“This is you.” Reid says.
“Yeah, it is.” Sid says. “Don’t lose that ticket, and don’t throw it out after the game.”
“Why?” Reid asks.
“I have a feeling that you might be able to get that ticket signed by the whole team.” Sid says.
“Really?” Reid asks his face full of joy.
“As long as mommy says its okay.” Sid says.
“Can I mommy?” Reid asks looking up at me.
“I don’t see why not.” I say. “But we have to keep those tickets safe because we can’t get a new one if you lose it.”
“Okay.” Reid says handing me the ticket.
“Can you put these upstairs in my room?” I ask Lily.
“Sure.” She says. I crouch down in front of Reid.
“Mommy has to go to work now, I love you baby.” I say.
“Okay mommy. I love you too.” He says hugging me. I kiss his cheek. Reid runs off to play with his toys. Sid and I decide to take his car to work and leave mine at home. I invited him to dinner tonight and he accepted so he would be coming over anyways. We talked the entire way to the rink about the upcoming season and all of the things we had to get done for the press. I started pulling out my file about Sid and asking him which things he wanted to participate in. Every time I checked something off my list he laughed. I still had a lot of paperwork to do and things to figure out, but at least I got most of his stuff done on the way to the rink.

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When we got to the rink Sid parked in his normal spot and I quickly packed up all my papers. We got out of the car and walked toward the building. I noticed James’ car pull in while we walked. I took a deep breath as he got out of his car.
“You okay?” Sid asks quietly. He could feel me tense beside him.
“Yeah, I just don’t want James to think something is going on between us.” I say quietly back. James comes up to us.
“Hey guys.” James says.
“Hey.” Sid says.
“James.” I say smiling at him.
“Did you guys come together?” James asks.
“Yeah.” I say.
“Oh.” James says. He looks a bit disappointed.
“I have way to much paperwork to go over with Sid. I have to catch him out of the office as well as in.” I say.
“Makes sense.” James says.
“Which reminds me, I need you to come to my office at some point today.” I say.
“Alright.” James says. By now we are at the door.
“I have to run upstairs quickly.” Sid says.
“I have to hit the dressing room first.” I say. “I’ll catch up with you later. What time is practice over today?”
“Four.” Sid says hitting the button for the elevator.
“Okay.” I say. “If I’m not around here, I’ll be upstairs.”
“Okay.” Sid says. “See you in a bit James.”
“See you man.” James says. Sid gets on the elevator and the doors shut.
“If you needed a ride today you should have called me.” James says.
“Don’t read into it.” I say.
“Fine.” James says. “Do you want to get dinner with me tomorrow night?”
“Like a date?” I ask smiling.
“If you want it to be a date then yes, if not then just as friends.” James says looking at the ground.
“A date sounds good.” I say as we walk through the dressing room.
“Good.” James says. “I need to get some new gloves so come find me before practice.”
“Alright.” I say before giving him a kiss on the cheek and walking toward the gym. I spot Brandon on a bike in the far corner. He smiles at me as I get closer to him.
“Hey girl.” He says.
“Hey.” I say.
“What’s up?” He asks slowing down a bit.
“Just need to talk to you about some stuff.” I say.
“Sit.” He says. I smile and take a seat awkwardly on the bike next to him. I try to cross my legs as much as possible without my skirt rising up to far.
“I need you to be here on Friday for press day.” I say.
“Anything for you.” He says. I shake my head.
“Seriously, they want you a part of it this year.” I say. “You’ve become a big part of this team.”
“Cool, sounds good.” He says.
“Be in by nine.” I say.
“Alright.” He says.
“How’s the ankle?” I ask.
“Better.” He says. “Doctor said I should be good to go by the last preseason game.”
“At least you will be playing before the season starts.” I say.
“Yeah, it’s a test run.” He says taking a towel from the handle bar and wiping his head with it.
“That’s good.” I say. We’re both silent for a couple minutes.
“Are you okay?” He asks.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” I ask.
“It seems like something is bothering you.” He says.
“I don’t want to talk about it here, but I will take you up on your offer to talk.” I say.
“Sure, let me finish up here and I’ll come up to your office.” He says.
“Do you have time?” I ask.
“Yeah I don’t need new equipment and practice doesn’t start till one.” He says.
“Okay, I’ll see you upstairs in a bit.” I say.
“Sounds good.” He says. I stop and see a couple of the other guys on the team that need to be at press day on Friday before going up to my office. I get settled into my office and start working on a couple press releases. I try not to think about anything distracting because I have a lot of work to do and I’m going to be taking time out to talk to Brandon. I get everything organized before I hear a knock on my door.
“Come in.” I say. The door opens and Brandon comes in. He has a tray of coffees in his hand. He closes the door behind him and walks over to my desk.
“When did you get those?” I ask.
“Got on of the guys to pick them up on the way in.” He says handing me one of the drinks.
“How did you know I needed this?” I ask.
“You seemed stressed downstairs.” He says.
“Just a lot of work to do.” I say. Both of us are silent as we take a sip of our coffees. “Wait, how did you know what I drink?” I ask.
“I asked Sid.” He says blushing a little. I smiled and laughed.
“Of course you did.” I say.
“So what’s wrong?” He asks.
“It’s James.” I say.
“What about him?” Brandon asks.
“Well, he asked me out on a date.” I say. A flash of disappointment went over Brandon’s face, but I could tell he was trying to hide it.
“Is that a bad thing?” He asks.
“No, but do you remember when we went out to the bar?” I ask.
“Yes.” He says leaning back in the chair.
“Some girl, who is apparently his ex girlfriend, told me to stay away from him.” I say. “I’m just afraid.”
“Don’t worry about her, she’s crazy.” He says.
“You met her?” I ask.
“We all did.” He says.
“You met my son.” I say. “I’m afraid to let him meet Reid and get close with him, then what happens if we break up? I don’t want to upset Reid.”
“I know James has a bad reputation, but you need to decide what you are going to do.” He says. “You either have to try or let him know you aren’t ready.”
“I guess you are right.” I say. “I think I’m going to give him a chance.”
“That’s up to you.” Brandon says. “If you are ready.”
“Brad and I couldn’t make it work. We tried for Reid, but we could do it.” I say. “We weren’t together before we found out, just sleeping together.”
“So it makes sense that you guys didn’t work out.” Brandon says.
“I agree.” I say. “We are still really good friends though.”
“That’s good for Reid.” Brandon says. “He’s super cute.”
“Thanks, I love him. I wouldn’t trade him for the world.” I say.
“Have you told James yet?” He asks.
“No.” I say.
“Are you going to?” Brandon asks.
“I’m not sure yet.” I say. “I’m scared he will be mad.”
“Mad about what?” He asks.
“Mad that I didn’t tell him before.” I say.
“It’s none of his business until you make it his business.” He says.
“How are you so full of advice?” I ask.
“I don’t know, I just think about if it was me.” Brandon says. I smile and look at the clock.
“It’s almost time for practice we should get going downstairs.” I say.
“You’re right.” He says.
“Thanks Brandon, I’m happy we talked.” I say.
“Me too.” He says. I stood up and gave him a big hug.
“I’ll walk down with you.” I say.
“Okay.” He says. We go down to practice and we talk about Reid the whole way down. I feel much better after talking to Brandon, but I can’t stop thinking about the disappointment on his face when I told him that James asked me out. I had a feeling that he didn’t want me to be going out with James and that he was hiding something. I would have to ask Sid if he knew anything. I was just happy to have him as a friend.

Notes

Pretty long chapter! They are going to start getting a bit longer now because I want to make this story less chapters than Captain Clutch!
Hoping to get this story done by the last week of October!

I will participating in National Novel Writing Month, which is November! I will post the link on my blog so check that out http://elizagraceox.wordpress.com/

Thanks everyone who reads this!!!!

Enjoy xoxo ;