Chapter 7
Daisy
Daisy shifted on the bleachers, trying to find a comfortable position.
Roxie sat next to her, hat pulled low over her eyes to avoid being spotted by Connor.
She took meticulous notes about how the players were performing.
Attending open practices was fun, despite the criticism adult fans often faced for their enthusiasm.
Some gatekeepers-of-joy on the internet claimed open practices were ‘for the kids.’ Daisy disagreed.
It was for the kids, yes. But it was also for the friends and families of the players to come see them in their element.
It allowed superfans to connect with the team.
The players would have a lot more scary stalker situations if they didn’t hold these types of events.
At least this venue was public and well lit, rather than someone showing up at a player’s house in the dead of night demanding autographs. (It had happened to Patrick.)
Open practices were especially important to her, since their podcast hadn’t gained status as official press.
The last couple of episodes had decent analytics—better than expected—but they wouldn’t get approval for a media spot any time soon.
Seeing the players when they were available to the public let them gather information.
They didn’t get interviews, but they could listen to conversations other fans had, and record dynamics on the ice.
Daisy had researched for hours on how to become press.
It seemed easy but time-consuming. They needed to prove they’d be consistent with their posting schedules and that they had a reasonable number of active listeners.
The team PR ensured anyone claiming to be press was a reliable source fans went to for information about the team, league, or players.
It would take more to get season press box passes, but they could either pay to get into games or use the information they did have access to for their reporting.
Which is why they were spending a Tuesday morning at the ice rink surrounded by a hundred other fans.
Watching the players go through their normal warm-ups and skill drills was entertaining, but Daisy was ready to see the scrimmage.
She hoped the Connors would be playing together.
There wouldn’t be a lot of progress this soon, but their interactions during drills had seemed more relaxed.
The teams faced off at center ice. Roxie nudged her with an elbow.
“Your boys are paired. Let’s hope they don’t flop again. The podcast is getting more and more painful every time we report on them.”
“They’ll get better. They want it more than we do. At least Valentine and Hazy seem to be putting in the effort. Jury’s still out on Beanie. I’m pretty sure he can’t stand me. It’s like pulling teeth to get him to interact.”
The woman in front of them whipped around. “Are you the new person they hired for team-building? Daisy, right?”
Alarm bells rang through Daisy’s head. She didn’t recognize this woman, and her NDA didn’t allow her to talk about her sessions with the Connors. Her fingers fiddled with the edge of her skirt as she tried to remain polite and aloof. “I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”
The woman turned in her seat, her face lighting up. She stuck out her hand, and Daisy grasped it.
“I’m Sarah, Connor’s sister.”
Roxie shook Sarah’s hand. “Which Connor?”
This pulled a giggle from the little boy Sarah sat next to, and he abandoned his game to swirl around and face them.
“Dylan, be careful!” Sarah said as she dodged the foot that came way too close to her face.
“Our Connor is the real Connor. Connor Greene. Beanie is what everyone calls him now.”
“Oh,” Sarah interrupted with what must have been a reminder for her kid, since he amended his statement.
“Sorry. Mom says we can’t tell people the other Connors are fake. It’s rude.”
Daisy beamed at the boy. “I agree; your Connor is the real Connor. Don’t tell him though, okay?”
The boy furrowed his brow. “Why can’t I tell him?”
Daisy ignored the flutters in her belly at the thought of Connor overhearing this conversation. He’d be obnoxious about it. From the looks of it, Sarah thought so too.
“Because I know all the Connors, and it wouldn’t be fair.”
“But my Connor is your favorite, right?”
Sheesh, kids were rough. Nobody could get you to evaluate your feelings like a seven-year-old. She pretended to think hard about her answer.
“All the Connors are pretty cool. I don’t have a favorite.”
“But if you had to choose one though.” Dylan pressed and heat climbed in Daisy’s cheeks.
Sarah pulled her son closer and ran her fingers through his hair. “They don’t have to choose favorites, sweetheart. Maybe they don’t know them well enough.”
Roxie didn’t show any surprise at meeting her ex’s sister.
The woman must be quite a few years younger than them, and as far as Daisy knew, Roxie had never met Connor’s family.
Roxie snorted. “No, no. We do have to choose favorites. Mine’s Hazy.
That man seems like a riot. What do you say, Daisy? Is Beanie suiting your fancy?”
Daisy elbowed her best friend in the ribs and plastered on a smile. “It would be unprofessional for me to voice an opinion on the matter, considering I work with them all,” she said through gritted teeth.
Sarah placed her hand over her heart and raised her eyebrows.
“Don’t worry. Our Connor seems to like you, even if he’s your least favorite.
After your little activities he wouldn’t shut up about it.
He was all, ‘Daisy bought me circus cookies, and Daisy showed us this game.’ He bought the game and played it with Dylan. ”
Dylan nodded dramatically. “It’s so fun! And I didn’t have to ask him to play! He always says no when I ask to play video games.”
She could imagine Connor sprawled on a couch with his nephew, talking about who needed to chop and who needed to serve. Daisy’s lips twitched. She hoped her plan for the boys would work. They needed all the help they could get.
Dylan abandoned the conversation when the scrimmage started, and Daisy focused on the dynamics of the team as they played.
Valentine won a face-off, and Connor picked up the puck, gaining the zone.
Daisy watched the passing between players, thrilled to see that their passes were connecting.
When Beanie scored a goal, she did her best to remain in her seat.
She couldn’t explain it, but his goal felt like her own personal victory.
It wasn’t her influence helping, but they weren’t quite as abysmal that day. Hopefully, it wasn’t a fluke.
The next few days at work were huge disasters.
When she got back from watching the early practice on Tuesday, Rob pulled her into his office and told her they had lost a huge client.
Daisy assumed he meant the NHL, but after letting her stew in her panic and disappointment for a few seconds he explained that one of the large corporations they had been doing business with for decades had canceled their contract.
Daisy hated doing extra work just because she was good at her job, but instead of Rob cleaning up his own mess, he tasked Daisy with the chore.
Daisy had to plan out activities for her own clients while also contacting every Collaborative Craft client to get feedback about their experience.
She’d been on the phone for hours every day in addition to having teenagers following her around.
Every hour she contemplated whether she needed to buy groceries or if she could walk out of the office and never return.
Close call, but she needed the paycheck. And if she quit, she wouldn’t get to help the Connors anymore. She was excited for the chance to get to know them better.
Daisy decided to take a dinner break when her brother called.
“Hey,” she answered.
“Daisy! How’s it going?”
“It’s an absolute shit-show,” she replied, leaning back in her chair and putting the call on speaker while she chewed a potsticker. “What’s up with you?”
“Nothing much. I’m calling to check in. A little birdie told me you met a Freeze player. Is that true?”
The potsticker lodged itself in her throat. She coughed, and little pieces of pork and vegetables launched across her desk. She wiped them away with a napkin as she asked, “What fucking birdie told you that?”
She could picture her brother’s smug face when he said, “So it is true! You met him?”
“Fucking Patrick. Yeah. I met the Connors.”
“All of them? He only told me you met Beanie. Did you drool all over him like in college?”
Oops. She wasn’t supposed to be telling people she worked with the Connors. She tried to avoid that part of the question.
“You and Patrick blew this way out of proportion. I had a teensy crush on a guy I never spoke to. I don’t constantly bring up your crush on Selena Gomez.”
“Yeah, because I’ve never met her. If I met her, you’d be like, ‘Ooo, when are you going on a date’?”
Daisy rolled her eyes. She couldn’t argue; he had a point. “No. I didn’t drool.”
“Patrick said you were going to woo him.”
“Patrick is an idiot. It would be unprofessional to date him.”
“Wait. What do you mean, unprofessional? Did you get a job with the team? Why didn’t you call me?”
Kicking herself, she tried to backtrack, but her voice came out too loud and squeaky. “I mean, if the podcast gets big.”
“I don’t think that’s what you meant.”
Damn him for being an attentive brother. Could it kill him to ignore her, like most siblings?
“Um, I would like to tell you, but I can’t.”
“You can’t.”
“That’s right.”
“So it’s a work thing. Or a podcast thing?”
“A work thing.”
“So you’ve met the Connors. For a work thing. That you can’t talk about.”
“That is correct.”
“Did you at least ask if they’d be on the podcast? You could get so many new listeners.”
“It would be unprofessional of me to ask for a favor from a client.”
He didn’t respond to her right away, so she checked the connection.
“Grayson? You still there?”
He sighed and answered her. “I’m here. Are you going to see them again for your work thing?”
“I can’t say…”
“Well, if you are, ask them. The worst they can do is say no.”
“Umm, the worst they can do is tell my boss I tried to coerce them into being guests on my podcast. Which could result in my being fired.”
“Would they do that?”
“They might. We’re not friends. This is a working relationship.”
“But what if they said yes? You don’t like your job. Working with the team is your dream. If you get the podcast to blow up, you could do that. It’s worth the risk.”
Daisy didn’t take risks. If she had to choose between a steady income and a dream job, she’d choose stability every single time. She wasn’t good at doing scary things.
“I don’t know if it’s worth it, Gray.”
Grayson sighed. This was a conversation they had way too often.
“You’re going to have to take a risk at some point, Daisy. Or this will be your life. Always waiting until the timing is right. Always wondering what it would be like if you could do what you want.”
He had a point, but she wasn’t ready to make the leap.