Chapter 17 #2
“Ah, man. I hate this question,” Hazy joked.
“Everyone wants some profound explanation as to why the points aren’t coming, and there isn’t one.
We aren’t in sync. Sometimes players go cold for a while.
Sometimes the chemistry takes time. It’s normal, and nothing to worry about.
If we keep playing our game, the points will come. ”
Daisy gasped and tried to give Hazy a hug, failing because of their horrible positioning and lack of wiggle room.
“Oh my God! I forgot to congratulate you on your assists with Valentine! That’s progress!
Roxie and I screamed so loud at my TV multiple neighbors started pounding on my walls to shut us up. ”
Hazy seemed pleased but asked, “Can you say that?”
“I think so, but we can edit it out if needed. That goes for everything. If you say something you don’t want in the episode, we’ll cut it. I’ll be pretty quiet this episode though so I don’t risk it.”
“Wow, that makes it easy. I’m so used to being live, I’ve started editing my answers in real time.”
Roxie got them back on track. “We saw last night that you and Valentine were able to convert on a power play. We were thrilled to see your efforts pay off. Is there anything special you guys are doing to address the cold streak?”
“Yes! We’ve been working hard. For our line, it’s the chemistry that’s been missing. We’ve been spending a lot of time with a team-building consultant off the ice to get more comfortable with each other.”
“Well, hopefully it pays off. How long has this been going on?”
Hazy hesitated before saying, “A couple weeks now. It feels longer though.”
“Is this something the team is having you do, or are you three taking the initiative outside of the organization?”
“The team thought it would be good for us.”
“How would you say it’s going?”
Hazy met Daisy’s eyes as he answered. “At first I didn’t think it was going to work.
In the first session we went to, we were all so cranky.
We got to the office, and it was one of those fancy gray offices.
They look all luxurious, but really it’s a soulless building.
I felt caged in. Lover and Beanie did too. ”
“That sounds awful. And you guys went again after that?”
Amusement laced Hazy’s voice. “Yeah, we went back. We thought it would be horrible, but we were also desperate for it to work. We tried everything. The team therapist worked with us; we did the full team bonding events together; we tried hanging out outside of work. It was like forcing a square peg into a round hole.”
“Is it still horrible?”
“Absolutely not. It’s the best part of the week.”
“So it’s not in the soulless building with the horrible trust fall activities anymore.” Roxie tried to lead Hazy into more detail. Daisy pinched her.
“Ow! Fuck, why did you do that?” She rubbed at the sore spot on her arm.
“Stop digging for information. Hazy if you don’t want to talk about the team bonding stuff you don’t have to.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to. I’ve got nothing to hide, but I can’t violate the trust of the group.”
Daisy knew he included her when he said ‘the group.’ “Talking about what the activities were is fine, but details of specific conversations and sobriety levels should be avoided.”
Roxie rolled her eyes. “I know some stuff. But make this fun for me too!”
Hazy laughed. “I can do that. Where were we?”
“I asked if you were still doing trust falls and boring corporate icebreakers.”
“Ah, no. It’s more like the coach is forcing us to act like we’re already best friends, and in the process we’re learning a lot about each other. On the second day, they had us pick out snacks for each other. And then we played video games. We had a good time.”
Roxie said, “That sounds like hanging out. I don’t see how that’s team-building.”
Hazy smiled. “I thought so too! But it’s working.”
Roxie asked a follow-up question. “Has it all been snacks and video games, or do you do other stuff?”
“We went on an overnight trip during our long weekend last week. It was fun. We went out together and danced and sang karaoke. Engaged in a little friendly competition and some games. And then the next day was super chill. That was a super personal trip for us, though. I can’t share too much.”
“Ohhh, karaoke! I love karaoke. What did you sing?” Daisy asked, to rub her win in one more time.
He mumbled into the mic, “Bye Bye Bye.”
Roxie gasped. “Did Beanie do the dance? I spent weeks teaching him! That man has two left feet, but he can do that one specific dance.”
Hazy got excited. “Yes! He did! It was so surprising. The crowd loved it.”
“Incredible. I’m going to tease him about that later,” Roxie’s eye twinkled with delight. “But now that we touched on the hockey stuff and the actions your line is taking to correct some of their issues, I’m hoping you can give me a few juicy details about your guys’ relationship with Daisy.”
“Oh, yeah. Um, I think it’s okay and accurate to say we’re friends. We’ve spent time with her to various degrees, and hanging out as a group is fun when she’s around.” He raised his eyebrows at Daisy, double-checking. She nodded. “We all kind of have different dynamics with her.”
Roxie pouted. “Ugh, Daisy. Why did you have to go and win their hearts? The loyalty you inspire is so frustrating. It ruins my fun.”
Daisy sighed, deciding to take pity on her friend. Daisy would eventually tell her every detail of their trip, anyway. She reached over to switch off the microphones and stood. “That’s enough. We can wrap up later.” She opened the closet door.
“Hazy, there are no secrets. If you’re willing to be interrogated, I’m fine with you answering her questions off the record. I’ve already told her more than you know.” She whipped around to face them and pointed a finger at Roxie. “The same is not true for you. Keep your mouth shut.”