Tricks of the Game

Faintly in the background, the sound of the 6:30 alarm could be heard blaring. Rolling over, I tried to snuggle back into Jonathan, but his side of the bed was already empty. This is how we had started every morning recently, and for the life of me, I could not figure out why. The faint sound of the blender starting alerted me to Jonathan’s whereabouts. Kicking the sheets off, I snuggled my feet into my slippers as I stood from the bed. Grabbing the robe off the back of the bedroom door, I threw it on over my sleep shorts and tank top, the chill of the house becoming more apparent compared to the cozy sheets the alarm forced me from. Making my way down the stairs, I held onto the banister that wrapped around the metal posts. As I got closer to the kitchen, I could hear Jonathan talking. Rounding the corner of the staircase, I could see Jonathan pacing in the kitchen with his phone to his ear.

“I don’t think it should be a problem; I’d have to check with Emerson to make sure she’s not doing anything important.” Walking through the threshold into the kitchen, I went right to the refrigerator, grabbing my meal replacement shake. “Hold on, let me ask her. Are you able to keep Evelyn with you today when Sharpie brings her to the rink or do I need to get ahold of the nanny?” Turning around, I looked at my handsome husband, a shrug falling from my shoulders.

“I have a lunch date with Jess after practice, do whatever fits into your schedule.” Huffing, Jonathan placed the phone back to his ear as he walked into the adjoining living room.

“Bring her to the rink, I will call the nanny to come and get her. Emerson has girl time scheduled with Jess so she doesn’t want her daughter to be in the way.” I snapped my head in Jon’s direction, a poisonous glare shooting from my eyes. Grabbing my shake, I stormed my way out of the kitchen, running up the spiral staircase to the bedroom to change for work. Slamming the door shut, I ripped open my closet door, going straight for my work shirts that hung in the back. I grasped the hanger in my hand as I took a deep breath; slipping the shirt off of the hanger, I walked out the closet, shutting the doors behind me. Sitting on the bed with his phone in his hand, Jon looked up at me as I leaned against the door. “You want to explain why you’re stomping around the house and slamming doors?” Taking a deep breath, I walked over to my dresser, grabbing a pair of black slacks out of the middle drawer.

“You want to explain why you made it sound like my daughter is a nuisance to me?” Throwing his phone on the bed, Jon came to stand behind me, peering at our reflection in the mirror.

“You’re always pawning her off to people so you can do something.” It took all of my strength to not turn around and give him a brand new shiner.

“Work, that’s what I’m doing when I call the nanny to come pick her up. It’s hard to run around the rink with a 4 year old attached to your hip. Of course, you wouldn’t understand that because you only have her during her nap time when she’s not running around like a wild woman getting into every little thing.” Turning to face him, I pushed him away from me, a wild look forming on his face. “Don’t ever say that my daughter is a problem in my life. Right now, you’re my only problem. You’re telling your teammates that I don’t care about my daughter and that paying a babysitter is my only solution. If I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, I would’ve chosen that career instead of being the Media Relations manager for the Blackhawks. I had the job before you knocked me up.” Walking to the bathroom, Jon muttered that we were leaving in 20 minutes. It took all of me to not cry; how dare he insult my parenting skills when all he does is baby her. He doesn’t understand the pain of not being able to go out for a simple dinner with a friend and having to tote a 4 year old with you. I rushed through my morning routine, finishing with a spritz of my favorite perfume, Forever Red. As I travelled back down the spiral stairs, I could hear the garage door opening. Pulling the front door closed and locking it, Jonathan backed the car out of the garage as he waited for me to make my way to the passenger door. As I took my seat in the car, my phone started ringing with the first of many conference calls. Slipping my bluetooth earpiece in, I answered the call.

“Emerson Matthews.” A deep chuckle on the other end made my head snap towards the screen of my phone.

“Good morning to you too sis. I wish you would check your caller ID before answering like I’m just another conference call.” Shaking my head, I began to answer the mountain of emails I had the pleasure of going through today.

“Can’t make you feel any more special, Auston. Your head is already big enough, so it’s my job to knock you down a few pegs.” A roaring laugh came from his end and it did not belong to him. “Don’t tell me, your boyfriend Mitch is in the car with you?” Both of them were laughing now, as a pissed off Jon sped up as he started weaving through traffic.

“Headed to the rink sis, just like you. So get this, I got a call from our favorite Saskatoon boy last night. He said that he plans on murdering both of our teams this season since he’s with the Blues now.” A smile lit my entire face at the mere mention of Brayden Schenn. One summer at his lake house and it was like we had known each other our whole lives.

“You told him the Blues are gonna choke in playoffs again even though he’s playing for them now, right?” I could faintly hear Mitch in the background as he stated that he wanted me as a sister.

“Well no shit. He said the two of you would make your seasonal bets at the first preseason game when you go to St. Louis.” A shiver ran down my spine at just the thought of having to look into his bright blue eyes as I made my deal with the devil for the season. Looking up, Jonathan was pulling into his usual spot at Johnny’s Ice House.

“Let’s just say that he’s gonna owe me a lot of money at the end of the season. I’m gonna let you go baby bro. Skate hard, but not too hard. Love ya.” A chorus of love yous blasted through my ears as I ended the call. Exiting the car, my phone rang again as Jonathan stocked towards the door to the locker room. An all too familiar name popped up on my screen, the reason for my wet dreams lately and I was not about to admit that to anyone. Clicking accept, I quickly began in the direction of my office.

“Good morning Mr. Schenn. Might I say that this call is a little unexpected?” A throaty chuckle rang in my ears as I flashed my badge at the security officer.

“Let’s just say I couldn’t stop thinking about you last night and needed to hear your voice before practice.” I bit my lip in an attempt to hold back a moan as his voice sent shock waves to a very unholy place.

“Good things I hope. Auston mentioned this morning that he had talked to you last night and you’re already talking shit and we haven’t even started preseason yet” I could hear his turn signal come to life as he laughed.

“Yeah, I was gonna call you last night but I figured Jonathan wouldn’t like you taking “business calls” during family time.” As I unlocked my office door, I quickly shut and locked it as I slid down the door.

“It was just Jon and I last night; Sharpie had Evelyn so that we could have a night alone, which was nothing more than a decent dinner at home and a kiss on the cheek goodnight.” The jingle of keys on his end eluded me to fact that he had arrived at his respective rink as well.

“I hate the way he treats you, like you’re nothing more than a placeholder. You need a man who can love you like you’re the best thing since sliced bread.” A smile formed on my lips as he sighed. “I wish I had gotten to you first. You would never have to worry about me getting bored of you. I would make you a queen so fast, you would never even remember the way you’ve been treated. Why do you stay with him if you’re not happy?” A question that my mother had even asked me. I had already used Evelyn as an excuse, but my mother just blew it off.

“I think I’m scared to leave him. I’ve been so reliant on him since we met that he will use it to keep me around. He questioned my parenting skills this morning, saying that pawn my daughter off to the nanny when I have girl time planned with someone I haven’t seen in 4 years. I just want one day with my best friend where I’m not having to watch my daughter like a hawk. She’s always at the rink with me and I can never get any work done. It was easier when she was an infant because she would sleep most of the day and only wake up when she was hungry. It’s almost like my happiness doesn’t matter anymore. 4 years of marriage and he’s already done with me.” A growl floated from Brayden’s lips as I mentally cursed myself for saying too much.

“He doesn’t deserve you Em; he doesn’t deserve to lay next to you in bed every night. I will make him pay for it when you guys are here 2 days from now for the first game of preseason. He can’t love you like I can, and I’m gonna prove it.” A sob threatened to fall from my lips as I pressed my hand against my mouth to hide the sound. A pounding on my door made me jump to my feet.

“One minute. Brayden, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you when we get to St. Louis.” Another sigh escaped his lips.

“2 more days babe, 2 more days. Until then…” The line went dead as I unlocked my office door, Patrick on the other side with a smirk on his face.

“I figured with your door locked, cappy would be in here finishing what was started last night.” I glanced down at my daughter, her chocolate waves pulled back into a ponytail.

“Hi baby girl.” Lifting Evelyn to my hip, she snuggled her head into my neck as she wrapped her arms around me. “Tell Uncle Patrick that mommy and daddy had dinner last night and went to bed since that’s all daddy wants to do anymore.” Evelyn simply nodded her head as Patrick gave me the stink eye.

“You and I both know he’s just stressed. It’s the start of a brand new season and we have rookies that need to be taught the ropes.” Walking Evelyn over to the couch, I placed her on the cushion and handed her my tablet as she clicked on her favorite game.

“I don’t think new season stress starts in the middle of June Sharpie, but thanks for trying to understand. Don’t you have a practice to get to?” Sharpie held up his hands as he walked in the direction of the locker room. Snatching my phone off of my desk, I scanned my contacts for the all too familiar nanny, Lindsay. Evelyn seemed to like her, as did Jonathan, which is why we kept her around. I on the other hand, was not a fan of her. Her lingering touches on Jonathan’s biceps or the way he would hug her before she left the house. I was suspicious of the the behavior, because not long after we hired her is when Jonathan lost all interest in me it seemed. A woman knows when another woman has taken her place, and I was absolutely sure of it. Dialing her number, I sat at my desk as I turned on my computer to finish the mountain of emails that still begged to be tended to.

“Hello?” Her chipmunk voice was just absolutely too much for me.

“Hey Lindsay, it’s Emerson.” Evelyn looked up at me, her chocolate orbs digging into mine.

“What up?” Rolling my eyes, I mentally stabbed my eardrums out.

“I was wondering if you could come pick Evelyn up from Johnny’s Ice House. I have tons of paperwork to do and it’s the day before we leave on our first road trip, which means the pressure is on.” A soft sigh vibrated through the phone.

“Wish I could, I’m terribly ill.” I knew for a fact she wasn’t sick; she always faked an illness.

“Too bad, I was gonna pay you double. Guess I will find someone else. Feel better!” Before she could respond, I ended the call as I looked back at Evelyn. “Guess daddy will have to take you home after practice, huh munchkin?” She nodded and turned back to her game, not even realizing what I was actually saying. My phone vibrated on my desk as a text from Jess popped up on my screen.

‘Hey, I gotta cancel our lunch date today. I will come up to your office after practice to explain everything, but there’s something I need to take care of today before our trip to St. Louis.’

In all my years of knowing Jess, she only cancelled things when it would be absolutely necessary. Sending a thumbs up reply, I continued to respond to the pointless emails that were sent out to the entire staff as it was mandatory. As my fingers started to go numb from the constant typing, I glanced down at the clock on my computer. Knowing what time practice ended, I stood up and went over to the couch as Evelyn set the tablet down. Reaching up, she looked up at me with the same eyes as her father. Picking her up and settling her on my hip, I grabbed my phone off of my desk and headed down to ice level. Exiting the elevator, I could faintly hear Jess yelling on the ice, her stern voice directed at Duncan. Nearing the glass, Duncan came storming towards us as he headed in the direction of the locker room. I could tell Jess was absolutely fuming as she ended practice early. As the guys filed off the ice, they sent smiles my direction, except for Jon, who didn’t even take the time to notice his daughter waving at him; some father he was and he wanted to discuss my parenting skills. Jess followed at the end of the line, a sad smile on her face.

“We’ll talk on the plane, I promise.” With that, she walked into her office, shutting the door behind her. Standing outside of the locker room with Evelyn asleep on my shoulder, I waited for Jonathan to come out of the locker room. More yelling could be heard from around the corner, Duncan’s voice towering over Jess’s. Peering around the corner, I could see Duncan backing Jess against the wall as he took a fist full of her shoulder into her hands. I was ready to round the corner to interject, but like clockwork, Patrick round the opposite corner, shoving Duncan back as he got in his face. I shuffled back to the locker room doors, Evelyn becoming more of a dead weight than she was 10 minutes ago. Slumping against the wall, I looked in the opposite direction of where the fight had just occurred, only to find my husband staring across the ice. Walking out of the back entrance was the bounce of familiar blonde curls, Lindsay. Jonathan had a slight smile on his face, the same one that made me fall for him in the first place. Turning back towards the locker room, he finally noticed me standing there.

“Take her home with you. I couldn’t get Lindsay to watch her today. Apparently she’s sick again and I don’t want my daughter to catch whatever it is she has.” Handing Evelyn off to Jonathan, I stocked off back towards my office. Two could play this game, and our flight to St. Louis couldn’t get here fast enough.

Notes