On the Way Down - Andre Burakovsky

CH. 4: "I think you're going to fit in just fine."

Today was my first day working for the Avalanche, today was the day I met all the guys and to say I was nervous was an understatement. Tom had left a week ago to go home, and it was lonely without him so I was happy to be starting work to have someone to talk to besides him and Janell over the phone. He never told me what he talked to Andre about, and still refused to give me any contact information even though he was going to be the only person I knew here. I sighed pulling myself from my thoughts and threw on some dark jeans and a nice shirt before grabbing my keys and walking out the door. I lived pretty close to Pepsi Center so it only took me a few minutes to drive there. I parked in the back and showed the security my badge before walking down a long hallway. I walked for what felt like forever before realizing.. I was lost.
I tried retracing my steps to find the guards to ask them where to go but no luck. I finally came to a hallway I was sure I'd seen before and turned down it, then pulled out my phone to call my boss and see if there was anyway he could find me. I was looking down at my phone when I ran into someone.
  "I'm so sorry." I studdered and looked up my eyes going wide. I hadn't met anyone on the team yet, but I knew from watching hockey who they were. I had run into Erik Johnson.
  "It's okay, are you lost? Where are you trying to go?"
  "It's my first day and I'm trying to find the social media office."
  "Ah, you're Chelsea. They said you were coming today, you're pretty close here follow me." he turned the way I had come from and started walking. I followed next to him, feeling a little intimidated by his presence. He was much taller than I had thought he would be.
  "Here you go, I'll see you in a bit when they bring you to meet the whole team." I nodded and he started to walk away. "It was nice to meet you!" he yelled when he had gotten to the end of the hall.
  "You too." I giggled and knocked on the office door.
  "You're going to be working alongside Emily here. She'll take you down to meet the boys." my new boss said as he practically shoved Emily and I out of the office.
  "Well, it's nice to meet you Emily." I giggled a little bit.
  "You too. Don't worry, hes always a little uptight at the beginning of the year. He loosens up though. You ready to meet the boys?"
  "I'm a little nervous, but yes lets go."
 It took us a few minutes to get from the office to the locker room and me and Emily talked the whole way, I could tell her and I would be friends in no time. I had told her how I had run into Erik and how I thought he was intimidating and she laughed.
  "EJ is a teddy bear, he just looks tough." she said as she knocked on the locker room door, waiting for the all clear to go in. "Hey guys! Welcome back, I have missed you. This is Chelsea and shes going to be working with me to make sure you guys look good during the season."
  "They think it's gonna take 2 of you to make us look good, we're that bad?" someone joked and I looked over to see Gabe Landeskog as the culprit.
  "Oh she just needed a little help with you, the rest of the guys are fine." I chirped. A chorus of 'ooooooo' broke out before some laughter. Gabe came walking up to me and threw his arm around my shoulder.
  "I think you're going to fit in just fine." he said and dragged me around the room to meet everyone.

  "And this little guy is the newbie, Burakovsky." Andre looked up from where he was tying his skates and his eyes went wide.
  "I met Burks when he played for Washington. His roommate is my best friend."
  "Oh shit guys, we'll have to be nice to this one. Wilso is her bff." I laughed and shoved Gabe's arm.
  "He's harmless."
  "You obviously haven't played against him. He's anything but harmless." I shrugged and Gabe went back to getting ready for practice and I sat down next to Andre.
  "How you adjusting?" I asked him, watching Emily interact with the boys. She had a good relationship with all of them, and I only hoped that I would fit in and not mess with chemistry.
  "I'm doing okay. I've been here a couple weeks trying to get used to being here. I've hung out with a couple of the guys, they're all really nice."
  "Well at least we aren't the only newbies huh?" I bumped his shoulder and he smiled at me.
  "Willy asked me to make sure nothing bad happened to you. I feel honored he trusted me with you." he smirked and I giggled.
  "Well I'm glad he chose you too, I know he probably could have asked any one of these guys, I know he knows some of them."
  "He's worried about certain ones, but I'm not allowed to tell you that." he whispered and I rolled my eyes.
  "He worries too much, he's going to give himself heart failure." I stood up and walked over to Emily to start shadowing her. We were doing fun media stuff today and I was ready to get started and get to know these guys a lot better.
 When media day ended I was exhausted to say the least. I hadn't realized how much running around would be involved and my feet and legs were killing me. The team had invited me and Emily out for dinner and I asked her if she wouldn't mind coming over and helping me get ready since I had no idea what kind of attire would be appropriate and she had agreed.
  "Hey thanks for helping." I said opening the door a short time later, she had gone home to get ready herself first.
  "No problem, I wish I had someone around to help me when I started. It was awkward for awhile." she chuckled as I led her to my closet and let her have free reign to find something. She came walking out with some black slacks and a red button up top.
  "They never go super fancy when they can avoid it, but since it's your first dinner it'll be a little more laid back then usual." I nodded and walked into the bathroom to get ready. I curled my long dark hair at the ends, the curls ending just below my chest and put on just a little bit of makeup. I hated makeup most of the time, it always made my face feel dried out and my eyes always felt heavy so I didn't wear it much. When I was done I slipped on some little black booties and we headed out.