She was already there when I got to the coffee shop. I held my hand up to wave to her as I walked over to the counter and ordered a latte. The place wasn’t busy, which didn’t surprise me. It was the middle of the afternoon on a Saturday. The fall air hadn’t gone too crisp yet and with the sun still shining, it was a beautiful day outside.
“Are you ready for your first day?” Ava asked as I sat down across from her at the small table by the window. She was wearing an oversized Vipers crewneck and had her dark hair pulled back in a sleek bun.
I took a sip of my latte and nodded. “Yeah. I’m a little nervous but I think I’ll feel better after I get this first shoot out of the way.”
“That’s usually how it goes,” she said with a knowing smile. “You’ll be fine. I haven’t run into anyone who wasn’t cool there. Most of the other staff members just leave us alone anyways.”
“That’s honestly the way I like it.”
Ava stared at me for a moment before she leaned forward on her arms. “Okay, we need to talk about the other night. You’ve been gatekeeping and I need to know what happened.”
“I told you, I was dancing with some guy.”
She shook her head at me and propped her elbow on the table before dropping her chin to her palm. “I call bullshit. I saw you coming out of the VIP lounge, I just couldn’t see who you were with.”
Heat crept up my neck and spread across my cheeks. “I don’t know who he is. I only got his first name.”
“Oh my gosh, look at how you’re blushing.” Ava’s eyes widened as a shocked expression consumed her face. “No way. You hooked up with him in the VIP lounge?”
I cringed and shook my head. “We only kissed… and it was in a storage closet. We got interrupted before it could go any further.”
Ava’s face cracked and a string of laughter fell from her lips. I couldn’t help but laugh along with her after realizing how ridiculous it sounded. Of all the places—a storage closet. That was probably low on my list of places to hook up with someone.
“Damn, girl,” she laughed softly and shook her head. “I know you said your ex fucked you up, but he must have done a number on you if you’re hooking up with random strangers in closets at the club.”
“Dear God, please never say it like that again,” I told her as my shoulders sagged in defeat. “That just sounds like I’m a slut.”
Ava shook her head. “Absolutely not. You’re a goddess and this is your time to shine. Fuck the guys and the relationships. You do you, boo.” She paused for a moment and winked. “That asshole doesn’t deserve any of your energy. Preserve that shit and save it for someone who earns it.”
“You know, I wasn’t so sure about you, but you might not be that bad,” I admitted, although I kept my tone light and playful to pass it off as a joke.
Ava checked her watch and rose to her feet as she motioned for me to follow. “Please. I am the best friend you will ever have. You just haven’t realized it yet.”
Our laughter followed us out of the coffee shop and we parted ways after Ava pulled me in for a hug and promises of seeing each other in literally ten minutes at the arena. Traffic wasn’t too bad and I ended up being directly behind her as we showed our cards and pulled into the staff parking lot.
The entire building was already buzzing with energy as we walked through our entrance that led to the media staff room. It wasn’t the one where they did the post-game conferences. It was where all of the media staff met and where the photography team would meet up to get our assignments.
As Ava and I walked in, there were already a bunch of people grabbing some food and drinks from a little buffet station they had set up. It surprised me. This was the first professional organization that I had worked for, but I wasn’t expecting all of this.
We all gathered in the center of the room and everyone took a seat as Phillip, the head of media, stood in the center to read off our assignments.
“Harper, we’re going to have you at the players’ entrance and then you’ll be at the goal line by the home net for the first period.”
I nodded as I wrote that down and looked back over the players list. I had spent last night going through the matchup and highlighting the star players on the team that they would want more photos of. There were two rookies on the team that I needed to make sure I got some shots of. There was a lot of talk about them and the spotlight was on the two of them. Nicolai Cirone and Weston Cole.
The fact that my ex played professional hockey had completely turned me off from following along with the sport. Both of their names were familiar, but that was the most that I knew about them. That and their stats. I guess I would find out what the team really looked like when their skates hit the ice.
After we all broke apart from our meeting, I quickly set up my small station with my laptop and everything ready to go. It was an insane job. Taking thousands of pictures during one twenty-minute period and then having to race back here during the intermission to edit and send some off before taking my next position for the next period. It was a lot. I had done it for some AHL games before, but that was just as a freelancer.
It was high stress and a part of me really enjoyed it. The other part of me wanted something a little more low-key. This was where I was at in life right now and until I had my own business established, this is what work looked like for me.
“Just take a deep breath and everything will be fine,” Ava told me as she walked over to my station. “We decide the rest of our assignments usually between the first and second period. Sometimes Phillip will assign them before the game, other times he does it on the fly.”
I nodded, taking in any words of encouragement she could offer me. “I shouldn’t feel as anxious as I do right now, but I have a feeling this is going to be crazier than what I’m used to.”
Ava smiled at me as she adjusted her own camera bag on her shoulder. “They picked you for a reason. You’ll do great.”
I smiled back at her before glancing at the watch on my wrist. “I should probably head downstairs and get set up.”
“Yeah, they should start heading in within the next twenty minutes or so.”
Ava and I parted ways and I took the elevator down to the ice level floor. As the doors slid open, the cold air washed over my skin. A shiver rolled down my spine and I fought the urge to pull my hood up over my head. It wasn’t as cold as it was right by the ice, but this floor was definitely the coldest in the building.
I made my way over to where the players’ entrance was and I set my bag down on the floor before making myself comfortable. It wasn’t the easiest to do, given that the ground was concrete, but I tucked my legs underneath myself and it provided a little comfort and warmth.
My settings were already set up on my camera and I lifted it to my eyes as I took a few practice shots to make sure I had the perfect angle for when they came walking in. Once I was in the right position, I checked my phone for the time and made myself as comfortable as possible.
The first few guys who walked in greeted me and I took my shots of them as they strolled down the hall in their suits. I recognized some of them after checking out the team roster. I offered my name to the ones who asked and they kept on moving.