THIAGO
The morning started with another long leadership meeting and the pressure around the upcoming championship only seemed to grow with every passing minute of the season.
"We need to remember that this specific season will completely define the future of the entire franchise," the head coach said, standing right at the front of the room by the large whiteboard.
The rest of the coaching staff took turns speaking to the group and reminding everyone about the high expectations from the fans and the massive media pressure. Every single person in attendance knew exactly how much was on the line for us this year.
While they were discussing these details, several people turned their heads and looked directly at me.
I sat at the center of the long table with my arms crossed and I just nodded my head slowly because I knew exactly what they wanted from me as the team leader.
Being the captain of the New York Titans meant carrying a lot of responsibilities that nobody else wanted to handle, and lately it felt like every single conversation ended with someone reminding me not to fail.
"Thiago, we need you to keep the players focused and in line during the away games," the general manager said, catching my eye and giving me a serious look.
"I will handle it well," I replied.
I understood my job perfectly well, but the constant reminders were starting to get old, and I wanted to finish the meeting as quickly as possible so I could get out.
After the meeting finally came to an end, the management staff started packing up their folders and papers, and I walked out with two of the assistant coaches. We were walking down the hall toward the coaches’ office to drop off the new playbooks, and one of the assistant coaches brought up Anastasia out of nowhere.
"You know, Thiago, she is probably the very first person in years who isn’t completely intimidated by your strict attitude," he said, laughing a little bit under his breath.
A few other staff members walked out of the conference room right behind us, and they all started laughing when they heard him make the joke. They immediately joined our small group, and they mentioned how she had already stood her ground and argued with me more than once.
I stopped walking for a second and looked at them with a completely flat expression, and I did not find any part of their conversation amusing at all.
"She completely lacks professional boundaries around the team," I said, frowning at them. "She really needs to understand how professional sports organizations work if she is going to survive as our official photographer."
I wanted them to realize that team discipline was a very serious matter for a championship run, but my serious expression did not stop them from teasing me, and they only laughed even harder as they turned the corner and walked away toward the break room.
Later that afternoon, I finished my extra weight room session and showered, and I was walking past the media department on my way to the main exit of the building.
The hallway was mostly quiet at that time of day, and I happened to glance through the open glass doorway and spotted Anastasia sitting entirely alone at a large desk while editing her photographs.
She had her black headphones resting around her neck, and she was completely focused on the computer monitor right in front of her.
I was fully about to continue walking away because I had a lot of personal things to take care of, but one of the pictures on her screen caught my attention, and I stopped right outside the door to get a better look.
It was an action shot of me from the practice session earlier that morning, and it showed me skidding on the ice right before taking a hard shot at the net. I stood there in the doorway and looked at the screen for a few long seconds, and I reluctantly admitted to myself that the picture was actually good. Actually, it was much better than good, and the perfect clarity of the movement showed that she really knew how to handle her camera during fast drills.
The lighting from the arena rafters was perfect, and she had managed to catch the exact second the puck left the blade of my hockey stick.
Unfortunately, I stayed there standing in the doorway a second too long, and Anastasia noticed as she turned her head around quickly.
"Are you here to tell me I am breaking another team rule, Captain, or did you just come by to watch me do my work?" she asked, leaning back in the chair and crossing her arms over her chest.
I scooped my hands into my pockets, keeping my face completely neutral. "The photos are acceptable for the website," I said.
She blinked at me in surprise, and then she stood up from her chair and stared directly at me as if I had just insulted her work to her face.
"Acceptable?" she repeated, and her voice sounded incredibly sharp and annoyed. "I spent hours editing these specific shots so they would be completely perfect for the team website, and all you can say to me is that they are acceptable?"
"You always act like you own every single thing and every person in this entire building, Thiago," she said, stepping closer to the desk and glaring straight into my eyes. "You think you can just stand around the media room and judge my work when I am just doing exactly what Mr. Hunts hired me to do for this team."
"I am the captain of this hockey team, Anastasia, and protecting the team from outside distractions and maintaining total discipline is my main responsibility," I said. "I don’t care about the hours you spent editing, I care about keeping distractions away from my players, and you are already becoming a constant topic of conversation among the staff members."
"I am not a distraction to anyone, I am just a photographer trying to do a job," she snapped back at me quickly, but before either of us could continue our argument, Cassian appeared out of nowhere.
He walked right into the office with a big, casual smile on his face, and he did not even acknowledge my presence as he dropped down into the empty rolling chair right beside her.
He sat much closer to her than was necessary for a coworker, and his broad shoulder was almost touching hers as he leaned forward on the desk to look at her files.
"Hey, Ana," Cassian said, completely ignoring the cold look I was giving him. "You look like you really need a break from all this serious hockey talk, and I came by to see what your lunch plans are for today."
Anastasia looked down at him, and her expression softened a bit compared to the harsh way she was looking at me just a second ago. "I am still finishing up these practice files for the media drive, Cassian," she said, tapping her keyboard.
"Well, you have to eat some food eventually," Cassian said, flashing his deep dimples and leaning even closer to her computer screen. "There is a really good sandwich place right down the street from the arena, and we should go eat together after work finishes up today, so what do you say?"
Anastasia glanced up at me for a split second to see my reaction, and then she turned back to look at Cassian’s face. "I will think about it," she said with a small shrug.
For some strange reason that I could not explain, that short answer irritated me much more than it should have, and I felt a sudden tightness in my jaw as I watched them sit together.
I did not want to stand there anymore and watch Cassian flirt with her in front of me, so I turned around on my heel without saying another word and walked straight out of the media room.
~
That evening, I was sitting alone on the couch in my apartment, and my mother’s name flashed on the caller’s ID.
I immediately picked the call.
The conversation started out completely normal, and she asked me about the team’s practice and how I was feeling after the hard training sessions this week.
I answered her questions politely and gave her short updates, but the entire tone of the conversation shifted when she suddenly mentioned Cressida’s name out of nowhere.
As soon as she brought up Cressida, I immediately lost all interest in the phone call, and I shifted uncomfortably.
"You need to make sure you are completely free next Friday night, Thiago, because Cressida and her father will be joining us for dinner at the club," my mother said, and her voice sounded very firm and demanding on the line.
"I am very busy with the team travel schedule right now, Mother, and we have a lot of away games to worry about this month," I replied, trying to dismiss the topic as quickly as I could.
"You know how important this real estate partnership is for your father’s business, Thiago," my mother said, insisting that I could not avoid the subject forever as she hinted once again that both of our families expected something significant from the two of us in the near future.
"I have to go get some rest for the travel day tomorrow," I said, and after ending the call, I tossed my phone on the coffee table and sat alone in the quiet apartment feeling incredibly frustrated.
I rubbed my face with my hands and tried to clear my head, but it was completely impossible to relax after everything that happened today. The absolute worst part about the entire evening was that instead of thinking about the family business deals or the upcoming hockey match, my mind kept returning to Anastasia.