REM [A.G]

three

I inhaled deeply as I fixed my blazer, exhaling when I dropped my arms. "Confident, be confident." I muttered to myself while staring in the mirror.

Today was probably the biggest day of my life solely because I didn't have many chances after this.

Ever since I was a kid, I dreamt of joining the NHL, playing for the big leagues.. making history. As much as I enjoyed women's hockey, it wasn't the same. We barely received any funding, scrapped arenas and no publicity.

The NHL was it. The hype, the sounds of the cheers around the arena.. it's all perfect. I've been to a fair amount of games in my life and I wanted nothing more than to skate across that ice with the official jersey on my back.

Today could solidify that.

"Y/nn?" I looked up as the door cracked open, my dad walking in. "They're ready for you." I nodded and pushed away from the counter. "Listen? No matter what, remember you know your worth, yeah? You don't need acceptance from a room full of man."

I nodded again before turning around to walk out of the bathroom. "Let's do it." He clapped my back slightly as I started down the long corridor to the meeting room.

The thing that scared me the most was that the thought that I'd be turned down again. I'm twenty so.. the next time I'd be eligible is when I'm twenty one. Twenty one was also the age that most college students decided to join the NHL which would make their draft stocks higher than mine.

I'm good at what I do but compared to shiny new college kids? Image was everything.

Once we reached the meeting room, I saw the four men in suits seated at the table with serious expression. Doing this three times before should've given me an edge but nope, still scared shitless.

I felt my dad tap my back reassuringly before pulling the door open and letting me walk in ahead of him. "Y/n," Lance, the head of the board said while raising up. "Good to see you." He shook my head as I forced words out.

"You as well." I shook each persons hand before sitting down on the opposite side of them, my dad next to me.

"Okay, Y/n, first and foremost.. congratulations." Lance said and I smiled in appreciation. "Only the second ever gold medal win for the US women's hockey team, that's huge."

"Yeah, we worked very hard for it, thank you." I bit my bottom lip nervously when he glanced at Will, the coach for the LA Kings. That's a bad sign. "Here's our fears. You're obviously very talented and capable to play for the league but you also get into fights easily."

Should've seen that coming. A fight at the Olympics? Of course..

"We're afraid that if or when a fight comes, our players will get into trouble or catch backlash if retaliation occurs." I nodded slowly, understanding where he was coming from. It was like putting a girl in a boxing match with a guy for the world to see.

But I was willing to fight or.. stop fighting all together. "I could sign something." I said, watching when they silently looked at me which was a green light. "Like, a disclosing agreement that none of the players would get into trouble if something were to happen. I'm obviously not a regular female so there's gotta be some sort of loopholes."

Lance nodded and interlaced his hands, his eyes holding mine. "I have a few questions, answer honestly." I nodded slightly but felt a bit shocked. They never asked me this before. I glanced at my dad and he nodded calmly. "How do you deal with conflicts with teammates?"

Oh easy. "I never have conflicts with my teammates but if something were to come up, I'd try to hash it out immediately. I hate confrontation but when it comes to the team, chemistry is everything." He nodded and glanced at Will again.