Training the Team (Dougie Hamilton)

Office Days

Saturday, June 19

I wake with a start to hear my phone ringing. 

"Hello?"  I answer it groggily, still half asleep. 

"Kylie, where the hell are you? I've been waiting outside your house for 15 minutes!" 

"Dougie? What?" I sigh, rubbing my face with my hand. 

"Kylie, we have work. You don't have your car. Let's go!" 

"What time is it?" I ask, starting to return to normal functioning capacity. 

"Almost 9. Come on, you need to go!" 

"Give me 15 minutes," I say and then hang up the phone. 

In a hurry, I throw my sheets off of me, run into the bathroom, and get ready for the day. 

Fifteen minutes later, I'm climbing into Dougie's truck, out of breath. 

"Thank you."

"Can we get coffee please? I need a kickstart," I say, stifling a yawn with the back of my hand. 

"How long have you been up?" Dougie asks, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. 

"15 minutes. Thanks for the wake-up call, by the way." 

Dougie whistles. "And here I thought you were all put together..." 

"I am, but I forgot to set my alarms last night." 

"What kind of coffee do you want?" Dougie asks, abruptly changing the subject as he pulls into Dunkin' Donuts. 

"Medium iced toasted almond with cream and sugar, please." 

"Got it." 

Dougie orders through the drive-thru, and in no time at all, I'm drinking the caffeinated goodness. 

"Oh, my god," I practically moan as I drink my coffee. 

"Kylie, chill out- it's just coffee." 

"No, you don't understand. I adore coffee but I can never have it because this-" I shake my coffee at him "-is what I like." 

"I understand that you enjoying your coffee does not warrant sounds that I'd rather not mention." 

"Shut up, Hamilton." 

Dougie rolls his eyes but falls silent, leaving me to quietly enjoy my coffee. 

We get out at the rink, and I march right up to Brad (after leaving my coffee on a table, of course). 

"You crossed a line the other night that was not yours to cross and you better have my goddamn keys or there will be hell to pay. " 

"Well, hello to you to Kylie. Isn't today just a dandy day?"  Brad's grinning like a madman. 

"It would be even dandier if I had the keys to my car," I say, feigning being chipper. 

"Bergy has them. Ask him." 

"Thank you, Brad." 

Before I leave to track down my keys, I give him a smack upside the head. As he clutches his head in mock pain, I go find Bergy. He sees me coming, grins, digs in his pocket, and tosses me my keys. 

"Thank God," I say, inspecting the keys. 

"I've had them the past 2 days. Nothing's happened to them." 

"Thanks, Bergy." 

I put my keys in my bag and head back to where I put my coffee down, only to find that it's not there.