Follow the Echoes // Ryan Lindgren, New York Rangers

Chapter Three

"Okay, you have got to tell me about this Ryan Lindgren guy."

Sydney sighs at the thought of the infuriating hockey defenseman. Her run-in with him earlier this week had not been pleasant at all. She admits that the day ended fine for the two of them. She offered him water after he carried Jade's painting all the way across Tribeca. He did not say anything mean to her during that time and left once Jade returned from a planning meeting with the other wives and girlfriends of the team. It was probably one of the least brutal experiences she had with Ryan in a very long time.

Still, just thinking about him makes her want to flip a table.

"How much time you got?"

Her friend on the other phone line chuckles, clearly amused by Sydney's blatant frustration with the man in question.

"I got all day, Syd. I am living vicariously through you. There are no sexual tensions with a guy I hate with every fiber of my being over here."

"Rory!" Sydney exclaims.

Aurora Chen was one of her best friends back at UC Berkeley Law before she decided to drop out. The two had been thick as thieves ever since Aurora was assigned as Sydney's mentor in their legal fraternity. Aurora was a year ahead of Sydney and more than willing to take the studious first year law student under her wing. Their mentor-mentee relationship organically developed into a true friendship. They were attached to the hip before Sydney decided to drop out.

Admittedly, one of the downsides of dropping out is losing out on the opportunity to do everything with Aurora like she used to. Right now, frequent phone calls will have to suffice.

"I mean, you cannot be this obsessed with hating someone. I think he has the hots for you," Aurora hypothesizes.

Sydney scoffs. The thought of Ryan ever being interested in her romantically is laughable. This man hates her guts. No man would ever treat someone they were interested in the way he has treated her.

"Yeah no, he hates me for breaking his friend's heart allegedly," Sydney rolls her eyes, "and before then, he thought I was cancer to him."

Aurora knows about the younger woman's history with Adam, and to this day is still baffled that most people think she is the one who left her ex-boyfriend behind. Anyone with half a brain would think otherwise.

"Well, come back to me when you both start having some passionate hate sex," Aurora responds nonchalantly.

"Ewww, stop! That's never going to happen!"

You were staring at his arms the other day, you slut, Sydney reminds herself, And I'm pretty sure he was checking you out in that dress. Still, the thought of ever having intimate relations with Ryan makes her grimace.

"Alright, I'll stop!" Aurora gives up, "So what have you been up to?"

Sydney sighs in exhaustion. The answer is nothing. Ever since she returned to New York, she has not taken any steps to figure out what her next endeavor is going to be. It is extremely frustrating for her since she was so sure she wanted to be a lawyer. Law school was brutal and proved her wrong. Now she is as lost as ever.

How does she verbalize this to Aurora, who is likely going to graduate as valedictorian this winter? She knows exactly what she wants to do after she graduates law school. Corporate law has always been her passion and moving to New York City has always been her biggest dream. Sydney is a bit envious of her friend for having her life figured out and pursuing her passion tirelessly.

"I'm trying to figure that out," Sydney admits.

"Hey, I'm not asking if you picked out another career path within weeks of going back to the city. I just wanna know if you're doing anything for yourself! Are you jogging every morning or painting?"

Well, I'm trying to figure that part out too.

She has done nothing but mope around all day and run errands for Jade. She tried to cook dinner for everyone two nights ago, and it was a complete failure. The pasta sauce burned, and she somehow could not get the pasta to cook. Sydney is no cook, and the kitchen fiasco from that night only reminded her of that.

"I'm pretty good at buying art at an auction with a blank check," Sydney offers.

Aurora's laughter fills her ears.

"Alright, you still got your sense of humor," the older woman stops laughing and adds, "Syd, I know things are rough, but you are not a failure. You are smart enough to figure out that this isn't your career path. I know you're going to find what you are looking for. It will come eventually."

Sydney does not even know where to start. She may not hate a job that is law adjacent, but she does not want a job that involves her practicing law. However, without a law degree, she figures her job prospects in the legal field are slim.

"Thanks, Rory! I'll let you go. I know you're very busy."

Despite Sydney's best efforts to end this conversation, Aurora is not done with this conversation.

"Hey, you loved doing fundraising work for Phi Theta Phi, maybe you can look into a fundraising role for a legal organization. I don't know what types of jobs are out there, but the New York Bar Association might be a good place to start," Aurora suggests.

Aurora has always been determined to find a solution to Sydney's problems. She will forever try to be her mentor, even when Sydney is no longer enrolled in law school. Sydney is grateful for that. However, she feels guilty that Aurora still has to take time out of her day to help her when she should be focused on finishing law school and graduating.

Aurora is not wrong about her passion for fundraising. Sydney's role in their legal fraternity was indispensable. She was the head of the fraternity's fundraising committee and raised plenty of money for various causes associated with Phi Theta Phi. However, she has no idea how her skills are going to translate into real life.

"Thanks for your help! I really should let you go so you can actually focus on being in law school," it is not that Sydney does not want to talk to her. She just is exhausted.

Aurora chuckles.

"Trying to get rid of me, huh?"

"No, I..."

"I'm just kidding, Kreider!" Aurora laughs, "But I really should go! Got some reading I need to do for M&A. Take it easy, okay? Let me know if you ever need anything!"

Sydney knows she can always count on Aurora to make time for her.

"I know. I'll talk to you soon!"

-*-

Ryan and Adam walk out of the team gym panting and stretching out their arms. The team had played Boston in a preseason game the previous night, which ended in a rough loss. Although the game has no bearing on their record, it never felt good to lose. The two defensemen decided to hit the gym and continue to take their conditioning seriously in anticipation of the regular season.

"So I saw Syd the other day..." Ryan pipes up randomly.

Adam turns to him with an eyebrow quirked.

"Yeah? Where'd you see her?"

"At that dumb art auction I told you I was going to," Ryan pushes open the door to the locker room, gesturing for his friend to walk in first.

Adam thanks him under his breath and walks into the locker room. Ryan trails behind him.

"She, of course, was there with a blank check. Only reason why she beat me," Ryan continues.

His friend laughs.

"Just take the L, buddy. She had a blank check and you didn't, that's on you!"

Ryan scoffs.

"Not everyone is a Norris Trophy winning defenseman like you. We can't all afford ugly art for a ridiculous sum of cash," Ryan teases and quickly adds, "Besides, Syd's a law school dropout. She's got a rich sister-in-law. I'd call that an unfair advantage."

Adam has always been perplexed at Ryan's attitude towards his ex-girlfriend. He is always finding opportunities to compete with her and trying to be better than her. This art auction is not any different. Ryan acts like Sydney is his ex-girlfriend, which is sometimes amusing when Ryan does not take it too far.

"Alright, well let's just disagree to agree. If she didn't have an heiress as a sister-in-law, you'd have best her, easily," Adam begins changing out of his gym clothes, "how is she, anyway?"

Ryan sighs. Maybe it was not the best idea to bring up Sydney Kreider to his friend. His goal had been to prevent Adam from revisiting his heartbreak after Sydney left New York. He vowed to do whatever it takes to prevent the vixen from entering their lives again. And yet, his long-standing rivalry against her has clouded his judgment. He is not sure how to even answer Adam's inquiry about Sydney's well-being.

She did look good in that stupid dress, Ryan admits to himself.

"Don't know," he shrugs, "just seems like she has nothing to do all day."

"Well, she just dropped out of law school. Seems like she's trying to figure it out," Adam surmises.

Ryan scoffs again.

"Yeah, by attending art auctions and spending Jade's money."

"You saw her once, Lindy, you don't know what else she is doing with her time," Adam responds.

Why is he still defending her?

Ryan has always been perplexed by Adam's lack of vindictiveness towards Sydney. She hurt him and left him behind without a warning. She practically pulled the rug out from under him after she took everything from him. Adam has always been the better person, but he is allowed to display some bitterness from time to time, especially if it is just between the two of them.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Adam stuffs his discarded gym clothes in a duffel bag, "lunch?"

Ryan zips up his own duffel bag and slings it over his shoulder.

"Tempting but I gotta meet with my agent about endorsements and community involvement this season," Ryan rolls his eyes, "and I think Key still needs help setting up his Roomba."

"Key asked for your help?"

"I'm good at following instructions," Ryan says, "Don't need a Harvard degree for that."

Adam shakes his head. His defensive partner has a comeback for everything. Although he recently graduated from Harvard, his friend is the smartass of the two.

The two defensemen walk out of the locker room and into the parking lot of the practice facility. Once Ryan spots his vehicle, he reaches into his pocket for his keys.

"I'll see you before the game then."

"Yeah man, see you later!" Adam responds, turning to the direction of his own parked car.

The two give each other one final wave before going their separate ways.

Ryan dumps his duffel bag in the trunk of his vehicle before hopping inside and pulling out of the parking lot.

The drive to his agent's office takes him about fifteen minutes, which gives him a couple of minutes to spare after he has successfully parallel parked into a spot outside the building. He sits in his car, contemplating what to do for the next ten minutes. Ryan knows his agent will likely be in an appointment since he is a busy man. Ryan will have to sit in the lobby and wait for the exact time of his appointment, and he would rather wait in his car.

He takes out his phone and types in a name he never thought he would pull up on his phone ever again. Sydney Kreider.

Why am I obsessed with making her life miserable?

His thumbs hover over the keyboard for a few moments as he contemplates on how he can taunt her on this fine afternoon.

Got a job yet?

Ryan cannot believe he still has Syd's contact information in his phone. He never got around to deleting her number after she moved to Berkeley, but to be fair, the thought has never crossed his mind. In fact, he was too busy cursing her existence to think about removing her from his phone. Besides, they have not exchanged a single phone call or text message, so there was never a reason for him to do that.

His phone buzzes almost immediately. He opens the message.

Working on it. Still don't have a Norris Trophy yet?

Ryan rolls his eyes but manages a chuckle. It appears that Sydney did not remove his contact information from her phone either.

Real original. Still employed though.

He checks the time on his phone and decides to make his way into the building. It is getting closer to his appointment time. As he exits his vehicle, his phone buzzes again. Ryan glances at the message as he walks into the building.

If that's what you tell yourself to feel better about being second best, that's fine.

"Damn SK, that's cold," Ryan mumbles to himself.

He knows Sydney is comparing his accomplishments to that of Adam's. It is no secret to anyone that Adam Fox is an accomplished defenseman. Ryan is fully aware that when they are both on the ice, everyone is looking at Adam. However, that never phased him. He knows what his role is on the ice, and he is more than happy to do what he can to make sure that Adam excels at what he does.

Ryan decides to end the conversation there and focus on getting himself to his agent's office. He waves at the receptionist on his way to his destination. Once he turns the corner, he sees that his agent's office door is wide open. Awesome, let's get this over with, Ryan invites himself into the office, knocking on the open door to get his agent's attention.

Thomas Walker looks up at the sound of Ryan's knocks and smiles pleasantly at him.

"Lindy!"

"Hey Tommy, how's it going?" Ryan closes the door behind him and takes a seat in front of Thomas.

"I'm good! I think the wife is due anytime soon," the older man runs a hand through his hair.

Ryan is aware that Thomas's wife, Janet, is about to give birth to a son. It sounds like she is going to be in labor any day now.

"If we need to stop this meeting at any point to get you to the hospital, fine with me," Ryan quips.

Thomas chuckles at his client's humor.

"Appreciate your understanding, man," Thomas beams at him, "Let's get started then."

Ryan has no issues with public image or giving back to the community, but these meetings are not his favorite. Something about meeting with his agent to figure out how to help the community at large to boost his image seems inauthentic to him.

"Another stint at NYU Hospital? Visiting kids dressed as Captain America?"

Thomas glances at his client in mock exasperation.

"What do you mean you do not want to work with NYU Hospital for three years in a row?"

Ryan folds his arms across his chest.

"Third time's the charm, right?" Ryan has nothing against working with NYU Hospital and collaborating with them to raise money to fund its operations, but it is a bit redundant for him.

Besides, his team captain, Jacob Trouba has already aligned himself with the healthcare sector. Ryan wants to do something different.

"In all seriousness, I have something else in mind this year. This may be a little too out of the box, and I have other ideas if you hate it," Thomas prefaces.

"You're really selling this, Tommy."

"Ok smartass, I just wanted to be honest with you," the agent rolls his eyes, "I have been in contact with a legal clinic, Bridge to Justice, that offers free legal services to underprivileged individuals whose financial resources falls below the poverty guideline."

Ryan perks up.

"That's a new one," he comments.

"Yeah, I know athletes very rarely dip their toes in the legal sector, but my sister-in-law is a lawyer, and access to justice has always been something that was important to her. This gave me the idea to contact a legal clinic that offers pro bono services."

"Pro bono?"

"Like for free," Thomas responds.

"I knew that."

Thomas clasps his hands together excitedly.

"So?"

Ryan ponders for a moment before responding.

"Why the hell not?"

Ryan is up for trying something different. The thought just occurred to him that if he is helping a legal clinic obtain funding to run their operations and offer legal services to individuals in need, he is entering into a field Sydney has failed at. In his mind, it is something he can do to emerge victorious. Deep down inside though, Ryan knows this may be a cause that he can really stand behind. He just wants to believe that the work he is doing is leaving an impact and not just opportunities for him to look good in the public eye.

"Great! Let's discuss endorsement deals next!"