ANASTASIA
The next morning, I followed the team to their game-day skate at the arena, and I focused completely on my work to keep my mind busy.
The hockey players seemed much more relaxed than usual despite the big championship match coming up, and several of them had started treating me like a real part of the group as I walked along the ice barrier with my camera.
One teammate kept jogging over to my section between his skating drills.
"Hey, Anastasia, look at this shot you took of me by the net," he said, leaning over the plexiglass barrier and pointing at my small camera screen. "Can you make my arms look a little bigger in the edit, and maybe make me look a bit taller next to the goalie?"
I couldn’t help but laugh a little bit at his request, and I nodded my head as I checked the settings on my lens. "I will see what I can do, Miller, but you already look big enough in the jersey."
"Just give me a little bit of help on the internet," he joked, and then he skated back toward the main circle where the coach was waiting.
Another younger player demanded I delete every single photo where he looked tired or messy and he spent five minutes making sure I picked his best side.
"Seriously, if my mom sees a picture of me looking completely exhausted on the team page, she will call me and complain for an hour," he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his glove. "So just delete all the bad ones, please."
"Don’t worry, I always filter out the bad shots," I said, and he smiled before skating off to join the rest of his line.
For the very first time since getting hired by the New York Titans, I actually felt like I belonged here and the familiar clicking sound of my camera shutter felt good in my hands.
The anxiety that usually sat in my stomach started to lighten up, and I really believed that I was finally moving past all the stress from my old life.
The good mood lasted until I took a short break by the bench and checked my phone for updates.
The single online post Bellamy had warned me about yesterday had grown everywhere across the major sports forums, and the situation was quickly spinning out of control.
More random people were actively discussing the false accusation that got me fired from my previous magazine job, and a few anonymous comments even claimed I had leaked those private athlete photos on purpose to make money from rival blogs.
My chest tightened immediately as I read the harsh words on my phone, and I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath.
The friendly voices of the players skating on the ice grew distant and fuzzy, and I quickly locked my phone screen and shoved it deep into my jacket pocket before anyone could see my face change.
I tried pretending everything was perfectly fine, and I picked my camera back up to start shooting the final goalie drills, but Thiago noticed that something was wrong with me.
I realized he must have been watching me from the center of the rink, and he kept his eyes on me as the whistle blew to end the morning session.
After practice finally ended and the rest of the guys started walking away, but he stopped me right by the exit gate before I could leave the ice area.
He blocked my path with his large frame, and he looked down at me with a very serious expression.
"What is wrong with you today, Anastasia?" Thiago asked, crossing his arms over his hockey jersey and leaning on the door. "You were doing fine an hour ago, but now you look like you are about to pass out."
"It’s nothing, Thiago," I said immediately, trying to push past his shoulder to reach the media room, but he didn’t move an inch out of my way. "I am just a little bit tired from the travel schedule, and I need to go download these files on my computer."
He didn’t look convinced by my quick excuse at all, and he kept staring directly into my eyes with a flat gaze that made it completely impossible for me to keep lying to his face.
His silent look was tensed up and I realized that he wasn’t going to let me leave until I told him the truth.
When he kept staring at me without saying a single word, I finally let out a long sigh and admitted the truth to him.
"People are talking about my old job scandal online again, Thiago. Someone posted a thread on the main hockey forum this morning, and it is spreading fast, so you must have known about the whole mess by now anyway."
I braced myself for his reaction, fully expecting him to start asking a lot of difficult questions about my past or demand to know if the online rumors were actually true.
I thought he would tell me that I was a liability to his team, just like my brother Kier had said back then.
To my complete surprise, he didn’t ask a single question.
Instead, he simply looked down at my camera bag and spoke in a very calm, direct voice. "If the Titans hired you for this job, then your past doesn’t matter to me at all, Anastasia. I only care about how you do your work for this hockey team right now."
The unexpected comment caught me completely off guard, and I just blinked up at him while my heart hammered against my ribs.
I had spent weeks preparing myself to fight off everyone’s judgments, but the cold captain of the team was just dismissing the entire internet drama like it was nothing important.
Before I could even find the right words to respond to his statement, one of the assistant coaches poked his head out of the locker room door and called his name loudly.
"Thiago, we need you in the video room right now for the team meeting!" the coach shouted down the hall. "The coaches are waiting for your input on the Boston power play."
"I am coming," Thiago called back, and then he gave me one last look before he turned around on his heel and walked quickly down the corridor.
I stood there entirely alone for several long seconds afterward, replaying his exact words over and over in my head as the doors slammed shut behind him.
~
I got home later that evening and I met Kier watching the show. It was one of our top five favorite shows we used to watch when we were young.
I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him chewing his pop corn.
He glanced at me for a second and back at the TV.
"The show just started," He said, like I didn’t know it just did.
I knew Kier had heard about the rumors and wouldn’t want to ask me to ruin my mood.
I dropped my bag on the other couch by the side and sat right next to him, crossing my legs, sharing his popcorn till I fell asleep.