Follow the Echoes // Ryan Lindgren, New York Rangers

Chapter Five

"I want to welcome our new class of interns to our fundraising committee," Janis, the director of the committee, gestures towards the table Sydney and four other interns are seated at.

Sydney accepted the job offer almost as soon as she received the email. She knew that this position was the perfect fit for her, given her involvement at her legal fraternity when she was in law school. Aurora had been right about where her strengths were. Besides, it is not like other prospective employers were knocking on her door.

When she accepted the job offer, she was told that today would be her first day on the job and other than orientation, there will be an important committee meeting to discuss the goals and expectations for the upcoming quarter.

"We received the grant from DeepBlue, which allowed us to hire a team of motivated individuals to help us achieve our goals this year."

The rest of the members of the committee turn their focus on the interns seated at Sydney's table, smiling pleasantly at them as Janis continues to introduce them to the team.

"We have Darian, Sydney, Jack, Eleanor, and Mindy," Janis introduces, "please give them a warm welcome!"

A round of applause and cheers fills the room. Once the room is quiet again, Janis speaks up.

"We have a big rest of the year planned. We have also aligned with a player from the New York Rangers, who is committed to help us achieve our year end goals."

Sydney freezes as the interns around her talk excitedly.

"Do you think it's going to be Artemi Panarin?" The intern Sydney recognizes as Mindy asks the group around her.

"No way! It has to be Zibanejad," Darian responds.

"I would die if it's Fox," Jack says, "best Rangers defenseman since Leetch."

I would die too, Sydney thinks to herself as she snaps out of her shock.

Sydney reminds herself to ask Chris about it when she gets home. It is entirely possible that her older brother decided to get involved when she told him about her new position. However, he would never get involved in her work without at least giving her a heads up. Knowing him, he would not step in unless she asked him for help.

"We have some events planned in the last quarter of the year but the big one is going to be a masquerade auction. Our target patrons will be wealthy Rangers fans as well as art and wine aficionados. Of course, the goal is to get several players from the Rangers involved in the auction to draw larger revenue, but for now we have one. We have successfully received donations from vineyards in upstate New York and private art collectors in the city. Of course, we are going to task the interns with brainstorming more ideas for the auction."

Sydney could have sworn Janis glanced at her when she was talking about the New York Rangers. At this moment, she is starting to question if her relationship with Chris is the reason why she was hired. She did not mention the fact that she is related to Chris, but anyone who knows her brother can connect the dots with their shared last name.

"I would also task the interns with helping us receive donations for the auction. This is going to be a long-term project for the quarter."

This is totally manageable and in my wheelhouse, Sydney thinks to herself.

"We are also trying to get a few hours of time for the rink at Rockefeller to hold a fundraising event. It has been difficult but hopefully we will be able to close the deal."

"I'm on it, Janis!" One of the committee members pipes up.

Janis smiles at the woman.

"I know, Tracy," she says, "let us know if you need anything."

"Janis, I have a question!" Another committee member speaks up.

"What is it, Rod?"

"What are we using this quarter's funds for? The Flora grant from earlier this year is paying our salaries and for the staff paralegals."

Janis pulls up a chart on the screen in the front of the room. Sydney takes the time to examine the content. It seems like Janis has a plan as to how to allocate funds and expand the clinic's resources and services.

"We have not been receiving enough volunteers, so the board is now discussing hiring staff attorneys. Of course, we are hoping to receive more grants, but we have nothing secured for now. I am also hoping we have enough funds to buy or rent a building for staff attorneys to work out of."

"Thank you, Janis! That makes sense!" Rod responds.

"Any other questions?"

The intern Darian raises his hand. Janis acknowledges him and invites him to ask his question.

"Are you able to reveal who on the Rangers will be working with our committee for this quarter?"

I would also like to know, Sydney thinks to herself.

Judging by the eager look on the faces of the members in the room, Darian is not the only one with the burning question. Janis grins widely, as if she has been expecting someone to ask the question. Instead of answering immediately, she checks her phone. For a few moments, no one in the room said anything as they waited for Janis to finish her business through the device.

Janis finishes what she was doing on her phone and finally looks back up at Darian.

"I am glad you asked. The timing is impeccable. I believe our New York Rangers defenseman has arrived to introduce himself to the committee."

Sydney feels her heart drop to the pit of her stomach.

Defenseman.

If anything, Sydney has not had good experiences with the Rangers defense. Granted, there are six in the lineup and her real issues only lie with two. For all she knows, Jacob Trouba can walk through the door right now and things will be fine.

The door to the room opens abruptly, stealing the attention of every single person. Sydney holds her breath in anticipation as a brunette man in a suit and glasses walks through the door. He holds the door for the person behind him to walk through, and Sydney has to do everything to prevent herself from letting out a groan when her dark eyes land on the Rangers defenseman who just walked in.

"Ok, I admittedly do not know who he is," Sydney hears Mindy mutter under her breath.

Her gaze on Ryan hardens as his eyes land on her momentarily. Instead of expressing any signs of shock seeing her in the room, he gives her one of his signature smirks when he knows he has gotten under her skin. He knows I am here, Sydney now remembers that he was the first person she broke the news of her job offer to. She never told him that she accepted the position since she had not seen him since Top Golf. Is he here just to ruin her life?

"I don't know much about hockey, but Ryan Lindgren is remarkable and a top line defenseman, so please welcome him to the team," Janis appears to be at a loss for words when introducing him, but a round of applause and cheers fill the room.

Ryan smiles politely at the group.

Yeah, his only critical acclaim is working the top line with Norris Trophy Winner, Adam Fox, Sydney wishes she can say this out loud.

"We really are grateful that he has decided to help us with fundraising this quarter, and we hope that this partnership will provide us with record high numbers!"

Sydney rises from her seat, smiling at Janis politely as she walks across the room towards Ryan. He beams at her as the raven-haired beauty approaches him.

"We need to talk," she mutters to him and walks out of the room, under the guise of needing to excuse herself.

Sydney practically storms out of the room and begins pacing in the hallway as she waits for the intolerable defenseman to follow suit. She only waits for a few moments before Ryan emerges from behind the door to approach her. He walks over to her, and she holds out an arm to stop him from advancing towards her.

"What the hell are you doing here, Lindgren?" She hisses.

Ryan holds both hands up defensively, amusement never leaving his eyes.

"This is strictly a coincidence, I promise."

"This is not a coincidence," Sydney points an accusatory finger at him, "I tell you I get a job offer to work as an intern for Bridge to Justice's fundraising committee and all of a sudden you are aligned with them?"

"Sydney, I was..."

"I know you hate me for whatever you think happened between me and Adam, but this is a low blow! Even for you!" Sydney does not let him finish.

After weeks of taunting her for not securing a job, Ryan is coming in to sabotage her one shot of moving on from the colossal shitshow that was her experience in law school. He knew exactly what he was doing, and Sydney is appalled that Ryan is willing to go this far to ruin her life.

"Syd, I agreed to the partnership with BTJ before you even got the job offer," Ryan's expression softens as the cocky grin leaves his face.

Sydney raises an eyebrow at him skeptically. She really wants to believe him, but she does not trust him.

"I don't believe you."

"Look, just ask Janis what date I officially agreed to get on board. My agent helped me get connected with this organization. I guarantee that she will tell you I decided to work with the fundraising committee long before you got the job offer."

Sydney huffs, turning away from Ryan.

"Just don't get in my way. You know if we have to work together, shit will hit the fan," she mutters.

There is a brief moment of pause from Ryan, which surprises Sydney. He is usually quick with his comebacks, and admittedly, they are always good comebacks. Before she turns around to examine him, Ryan speaks up.

"We used to work well together."

This response compels Sydney to turn back around to face him. She tries to hide the shock from her face. Their relationship started out great. They were friends for a while before her romantic relationship with his defense partner soured everything. A part of her still misses the time when they did everything together and relied on each other's friendship.

"Ryan, this opportunity means more to me than you can imagine. Please don't ruin this for me," Sydney is not able to stop herself from letting her walls come down for this brief moment.

Her journey here has been more difficult than Ryan could ever know. She is finally able to turn a new leaf and try her hand at the one thing she was passionate about when she was in law school. If Ryan brings out the worst in her during her tenure here, she will turn into a person who will self-sabotage and destroy her chances at building a career in this field.

She just needs to stay as far away from Ryan Lindgren as possible.

"I'm not here to ruin your life, Syd. I think you're a poisonous succubus, but I'm genuinely here to help."

Sydney balks, momentarily ignoring the awful insult he threw her way.

"To help me?"

Ryan rolls his eyes.

"I meant the organization," he responds dryly and adds, "not everything is about you, Kreider."

Sydney shakes her head and turns to the direction of the restroom.

"You go back in first. I'm going to use the restroom and go back to the meeting so they don't ask any questions," she comments.

"So do they know that you're Chris Kreider's sister?"

She walks away.

"I hope not."

-*-

Ryan skates out on the ice when his name is called. He waves to the roaring crowd as he stands next to the team's superstar goalie, Igor Shesterkin, in the half circle that is forming on center ice. He gives the Russian goaltender a light stick tap on his right skate as a greeting. Igor acknowledges him before turning his attention back to the ceremony.

Tonight is the team's season opener. Finally, Ryan has been itching to kick off this season of hockey. Just a couple of months ago, the team had been two games away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals. No one had expected their young, rebuilding team to make it this far. However, this team was scrappy, and relentlessly rose to the occasion when a comeback was needed. While the ending of their season against Tampa Bay had been gut wrenching and beyond disappointing, Ryan is hungry for more. He knows this season will be an opportunity for the team to fight their way back to the Conference Finals and hopefully to the Stanley Cup.

The team is playing Tampa Bay tonight, which motivates him even more to play his best game tonight. He knows the whole team is just as fired up as he is. The Eastern Conference Finals had only occurred a few months ago. We remember.

While the rest of the team is introduced and called to the ice, Ryan cannot help but allow his thoughts to travel to the Bridge to Justice meeting from last week. He had a good feeling Sydney was going to be there. She had been ecstatic when she received the job offer. He saw the spark and pure joy in her eyes, which he had not seen in a very long time. There was no way she would not accept that job offer. He cannot get out of his head the look of shock and betrayal on her face when he walked into the meeting room.

He remembers feeling the satisfaction of catching her by surprise. It gives him the sense that he somehow one-upped her. However, he did not expect to falter and display any signs of weakness during his altercation with her. The memories of their past had overwhelmed him for a moment, and all it took was that brief moment for him to be vulnerable in Sydney's presence. To be fair, she basically pleaded with him to not partake in their usual shenanigans and ruin this opportunity for her.

Even though he despises Sydney Kreider with every fiber of his being, he misses their closeness. Before she betrayed him and ruined Adam's life, they had done almost everything together. He trusted her unconditionally and he was pretty sure she felt the same way. Everything is different now and a part of him regrets ever letting that happen.

He knows he wants to make her life a living hell, but he is not going to use an organization with such a meaningful mission statement to accomplish that goal. As long as she is not trying to mess with Adam again, he can play nice... or as nice as he can be when it comes to Sydney.

"Come on, Lindy," Mika snaps him out of his thoughts.

Ryan realizes that the whole team has already been introduced and everyone is skating back towards the bench. He chuckles to himself and follows Mika back to the bench.

"You good?" Adam asks him as he slides into a spot beside his partner.

"Yeah, let's win tonight, okay?"

Adam chuckles.

"That's the plan."

Ryan watches as the opposing team skates onto the ice. He can hear the boos from the home crowd. Let's get 'em.

"We're on Stamkos's line tonight, you know what to do?" Adam asks.

"You know I do."

"They're fast, we gotta be physical," his partner continues.

"I know, I know," Ryan replies.

Adam grins. He knows that Ryan has it under control. They have been playing together for most of their professional careers on this team. He plays much better with Ryan by his side because they are so in tune with each other. They both seem to always be on the same page with respect to strategy and how to defend against their opponents. Besides, they have discussed their game plan numerous times during the day with each other and the coaching staff.

"Kreids very sternly warned me that Sydney is in attendance tonight," Adam starts.

"Oh yeah?"

Ryan tries not to give this fact any thought. Of course, she is here to support her brother during this season opener. He is sure that Chris is also trying to limit interactions between Adam and Sydney, hence the stern talking to Adam probably got prior to this game.

"If for some reason we run into her, be on your best behavior, okay?"

"What do you mean? I'm always on my best behavior," Ryan says nonchalantly.

Adam looks at his friend incredulously.

"Are you kidding me? You are NEVER on your best behavior!"

Ryan laughs lightly.

"It's hard being civilized when dealing with the she-devil."

Adam lightly smacks him in the arm.

"Ok, we are not going anywhere near her after the game," he says before nudging him to get on the ice, "they're about to start the National Anthem, let's roll."

Ryan laughs lightly before following his partner off the bench and onto the ice.

Fine with me.