Chapter 10
Sasha
The past week had been crazy at work. On the road trip Wes Darling had taken a hard hit and had to be taken off the ice and rushed to the hospital. It had put everyone in the organization on edge because Wes was an integral part of the team and the top scorer. He and Conner had amazing chemistry on the ice and him being out was going to be tough, especially for Conner. He had been in even more of a foul mood than usual.
But for Sasha, all things considered, it was still going well. She had a few posts that were doing well. The team had started to loosen up around her and have fun, which had been her goal all along. There was just one hold out. One handsome red-headed hold out. But even he seemed to be slowly coming around.
They had been a shoe in for playoffs and while they still were, that looked a lot different if Wes Darling was out for the season. There were some teams that pushed their players to compete on injuries, but the Magic was not one of those organizations. And things were not looking good.
But right now, Sasha had to focus. The entire PR division was meeting for updates and for the gala that was coming up next month. While Sasha wasn”t part of the gala planning, she was an important part of getting the word out and helping the community to understand what an amazing organization the Magic was. So, she was busy getting her final numbers and upcoming release schedule finalized for the meeting.
Once she felt organized it was time to head up for the meeting. So far everything was business as normal, but it was Sasha”s turn to present. She pulled up her PowerPoint and went over all the numbers and the campaigns that had started.
“But here is the part I find the most interesting,” she said, moving to the next slide. This was the one she had been waiting on. It was a graph with this year”s ticket sales, last year”s ticket sales, and when she had started posting and had some of the big posts hit. The ticket sales were on a steady incline and the days when she had a video go viral there was a spike in ticket sales too.
“Wow, that is impressive,” said the head of the department. “Carol, you should bring her in on the gala planning and some of the other outreach.”
Hillary looked over at her with a big smile. Sasha had been nervous for this meeting, but it had really gone way better than she had expected. As she made her way back to her office, she felt like she was floating. She had been made to feel by so many people who didn”t understand what she did that she was just playing on the internet all day, but to be able to show how that directly correlated with ticket sales. Being taken seriously for once felt amazing.
When she got back into her office, she looked for Bill, but he was out. She was still on a high, so she closed the door and cranked up some music. She was going to email her dad that graph with the ticket sales and call him tonight, but right now she had the Chiffon”s cranked up, dancing her joy to One Fine Day. She had done it. She had turned her ”little videos” into a financial contribution for the organization and people had valued her for it.
As she spun around, she caught sight of a tall looming figure standing in her doorway and she screamed. As her heart thumped in her chest and her body came down from the burst of adrenaline, she recognized Conner leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest smiling at her.
“Conner!” she said her hand over her heart. “You scared me!”
“Sorry, I knocked on the door that must not have been latched and opened. You”re certainly in a good mood, which is a novelty around here currently.”
“I know, but I just had a meeting, and I was able to show a direct correlation between my posts and ticket sales and I”m now helping with the gala and outreach. Even you can”t get me down today, Conner McPhee. Me and my ”little videos” are on fire!”
The look on Conner”s face was one she hadn”t seen before. He was usually serious, calm and polite. Well to most people, he was a grumpy Gus when it came to her, but here looking at her his eyes were lit up. He had a smile, and she could even see teeth. Something about that look made her want to go over there and kiss him. Gah! Why was he so handsomely infuriating?
“I’m glad. You’re an asset to this organization.”
“Me and my little videos.”
His smile vanished, and his brow crinkled, but she couldn”t be bothered with that right now. She was too busy being proud of what she had accomplished doing something many people didn”t take seriously.
“Well, I just stopped by to see when you wanted to film the videos we talked about on the plane,” he said.
“Oh yeah, let me look.” She sat down and pulled up the schedule. “It looks like there is another family skate next Saturday. Do you want to meet on the ice before or after that?”
“Yeah, I can suit up and do it before,” he said with a hint of a smile.
“Yeah, I thought we could do a puck handling video and maybe a hockey stop one,” Sasha said looking down at her laptop wishing Conner McPhee didn’t affect her as much as he did.
“That sounds perfect.” He just stood there looking at her like there was something he wanted to say.
“Well, I better get ready for practice,” he said finally.
“Okay, thank you for stopping by,” she said, still grinning from the day she”s been having.
He just patted the doorway with a small smile before he turned and left.
That may have been the most pleasant interaction she had ever had with Conner McPhee. She did notice her heart still pounding in her chest that didn”t really have anything to do with the startle he had given her.
She just remembered she didn”t ask him about Wes. The team was finding out if Wes was out for the season.
“Conner,” she called, just seeing if he was still out in the hallway talking to some of the players who were milling about before practice.
She could just check in with Hillary. After that meeting, she was on cloud nine.
She pulled up her email and she saw one that was from the website, not from anyone in the organization. Most people contacted her on the social accounts if they had any questions about the team or their social presence. She wasn”t even sure how people would get her work email outside of that.
She opened it and her heart just about stopped.
Sasha Maloof, is it? You look remarkably like Sasha O”Neil.
She had used her mom’s maiden name as an influencer, O’Neil. Had he found her?
“Hey Sasha, congratulations on the meeting,” said Bill coming into the office.
She screamed and her heart continued to pound out of her chest.
“I’m sorry I startled you.”
“It’s fine, I was just focused. I guess.”
“You must be pretty happy with the way that meeting went,” he said with and uncharacteristic smile on his face.
“I am. I think things are really coming together.”
He sat at his desk and got to work. Sasha just closed her eyes and tried to breathe. She couldn”t do this again.
“Hey Bill, is my picture on the website?”
“I believe so,” he said. He pulled up the employee page. There was her ID picture and job title.
She clenched her shaking hands in her lap. “Can you please take that down?”
He cocked his head and looked like he was going to protest.
“Right now. Could you please take it down right now,” she said quickly trying to hide the panic slipping into her voice.
“Yeah, I’ll take it down,” he said, eyeing her carefully. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just don’t want my picture on the site,” she said, trying to sound as professional as possible.
“I’ll do it right now,” he said, still watching her.
“Thank you. I gotta go talk to Hillary,” she said as she stood to leave.
She went to the bathroom first, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It didn’t mean anything. It could have been anyone. She had over a million followers. And she was halfway across the country. She was safe. Now if only she could believe that.