Chapter 13
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
OLIVE
It was another beautiful day in Milan, and Olive was eating her new favourite gelato, standing just outside the gelato shop that she got it at.
She was starting to think it was unnatural how little of it she had eaten so far while she was in Italy, but she chalked it up to being more interested in other kinds of eating.
She giggled to herself and took a selfie in front of the gelato stand. She sent it to her sister to show proof of life.
i’m in love
Bronwyn
with that Olympian????
Olive could see now where Bronwyn would be mistaken, and she tried to laugh at the insinuation.
very funny
the gelato, clearly
one week in Italy and you’re already too good to use the word ice cream
because it’s not ice cream, it’s gelato
very different
if you were here, you would know that
She wasn’t sassy with her sister often, but the occasion called for it.
A couple vacated a cute little table outside the gelato shop, and Olive quickly swooped in to sit before one of the many other tourists could take it.
Now sitting down, she was able to place her phone on the table as she watched her sister’s indignant texts come in.
The pistachio flavour of her gelato was just perfect, and she sighed in content as she relaxed back against the seat. She watched as her sister finished her tirade with the final ominous words,
Bronwyn
in any case, it is nice to see you so relaxed
Olive tilted her head, slightly confused. Huh.
She supposed she was more relaxed than usual. She hearted the message, and went to her pictures to look at the selfie she took. Her makeup wasn’t done, her hair was flying at a weird angle, but the smile on her face was genuine. She really was happy.
When was the last time she felt that?
The realization overwhelmed her, and not in a fun way. Was she so stressed and anxious normally that being happy came as such a shock?
She wasn’t sure what to do with that feeling.
Being on this trip had forced her to confront more than she’d like to admit.
She had already realized how out of sync she felt in her career.
Yes, she was amazing, but that also came with being overworked.
She was good and effective at her job, but it clearly was not her life’s purpose, and realizing that she was living without a purpose was daunting.
As she ate her gelato, she thought about this.
What should her purpose be? Bronwyn was all grown up now, and the drive to take care of her was still present but much less pronounced now that her sister could fend for herself.
To be honest, she’d acted that way with her previous partners too.
She lived for them, wanted to put themselves before her.
Now sitting here eating gelato, Olive realized how much she hated that.
When had she ever tried to live for herself?
Charlie’s face came unbidden to Olive, and she smiled.
At least one good thing about being with Charlie was that it was easy to be around her.
Olive didn’t have to worry about her, because she knew Charlie could take care of herself.
Charlie was self-assured in a way that Olive’s exes hadn’t been; confident in some ways but shy in others.
Exactly what she didn’t know she needed.
Olive sighed and picked up her phone. It was too early to be a simp, but her mind was betraying her already, so she may as well have leaned into what her heart wanted to do.
so are you ready to crush Finland today?
There was no response for several minutes, and Olive tried not to feel so disappointed.
It was to be expected. Charlie was likely practicing or trying to focus on the game she had ahead.
At least Olive didn’t even bother to hide the fact that she knew exactly what Charlie would be doing today.
It was clearly progress. She was letting Charlie in slowly, and she supposed there were worse things to be doing than daydreaming about a hot hockey player.
CHARLIE
Charlie was sweating underneath her helmet.
Canada had the lead on Finland, and she was determined to make sure they kept it.
Campbell was doing their thing at the net and had saved them many goals already, and Charlie was determined to drive back towards the opposing team’s net to give her a break.
Out here on the ice, the only thing that mattered was Charlie’s ability to shoot on goal or keep the puck in play enough for one of her teammates to score. The Finnish players were ruthless, and though Canada had the lead, they were constantly on defense.
That was about to change.
Charlie rolled her neck as she waited behind the captain for the puck to drop. Captain Fensworth quickly won the faceoff and passed the puck to Charlie, who began driving the play forward to Finland’s net.
She passed swiftly to Tam, and with the Finnish goalie distracted by Charlie’s fake-out, Melissa was able to score again.
Cheers and hollers filled the stadium, and Charlie did a victory skate to her teammates. Two-goal lead was not bad against one of the better teams.
The rest of the game proceeded smoothly, and while Finland pushed them, they were unsuccessful in beating Team Canada.
It was a joyous victory, and the entire team was giggly when they entered the locker room after the cordial handshakes with the opposing team.
Charlie wasted no time removing their sweaty gear and checking their phone. A few texts from Olive came in, including a bunch of cheering emojis sent a few minutes ago.
Charlie sent back her thanks and put away her phone, not before Fensworth noticed.
“You good there, Lajoie? You seem extra perky, even for you,” she said.
“Yep, just congratulations from my family. Big day.”
She nodded, but Plaker, who was changing next to Charlie, shook her head at Charlie’s obvious lie.
“When’s the wedding?” Heather asked.
It was clearly a joke, but the words wedding and Charlie Lajoie were not, ever, grouped together in people’s minds. All locker room chatter stopped as every player turned to look curiously at Charlie.
Unable to respond, Charlie could only blush. She had never blushed harder in her life, and she’d had some very embarrassing moments.
“Shut up,” she said, shoving Plaker lightly. She whacked her towel at the player for emphasis too, and Heather screamed in horror.
“Gross!” she screeched, and the rest of the team laughed. The moment passed as everyone continued changing and getting ready to shower.
“Why would you say that?” Charlie finally groaned to Heather now that the attention was off them.
“Oh, c’mon. You should see the look on your face. It’s priceless. No wonder Fensworth asked you. Anyone with eyes can see that you’re so whipped.”
Charlie sighed but didn’t disagree. It was bad, the way her mood was now dependent on this other person.
Now she understood why her father was so against her dating.
Perhaps he thought that Charlie only had room for one obsession in her life.
He probably wasn’t too far off, in a way, but Charlie would never admit that to him.
She was starting to think that even if this was the case, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have other interests.
She was nearing thirty soon, which was retirement age for many hockey players.
Her teammates on the Toronto Succubi were planning children and futures and lives and she was here still.
At the hockey rink.
“You okay there?” It was Fensworth again, wet hair from a post-game shower.
Charlie looked around the room and noticed everyone had mostly cleared out by then. She’d been too caught up in her own thoughts to notice.
“Yes, just going to shower back at my room.”
Alicia nodded. “You should. This is only the beginning. Can’t be slacking on us now, Lajoie.”
“I’d never dream of it.”
The response must’ve seemed more serious than anticipated, because the captain’s smile faltered for a moment before it was back on.
“Are you sure you’re good? Their chirping get to you?”
It wasn’t clear whether Alicia meant their rivals or their teammates, but Charlie shook her head anyway. She could handle a little chirp. It was just that the chirps weren’t necessarily wrong.
Charlie could tell Alicia wanted to say more, but she seemed to think better of it eventually, as she just nodded Charlie’s way one more time before leaving.
Charlie took it as a sign to get a move on too, and she grabbed her phone to send a quick message to Olive, inviting her out for a celebratory dinner.
As much as Charlie liked her privacy, she was starting to recognize that if she wanted to actually be with Olive, she couldn’t ask her to meet only for sex.
As enjoyable as that was, she really needed to get her head back in the game.
Besides, when was the last time Charlie had gone on a proper date? It was likely years at this point.
She went back to her room, oddly relieved to find Plaker there. Maybe she could help Charlie with her outfit.
Charlie went to her suitcase and pulled out the thin sweater she had packed in case she had to go out for a team dinner at some point.
“What do you think of this sweater?” Charlie asked Heather, causing the hockey player to glance up from her phone.
“It’s nice,” she said before turning back to scrolling.
“Cool,” Charlie said, trying not to sound as excited as she felt. She must’ve failed, because Heather turned back to her.
“Lajoie, I know we don’t get along but…” She trailed off before she could finish her thought, blushing slightly.
“But?” Charlie pushed.
“It’s kinda nice to see you happy,” Plaker finally finished.
Charlie laughed. “Because I’m normally such a miserable person?”
“You said it, not me.” Plaker turned back to her phone.