chapter 2: meeting the team

Despite loving the fact that the other “babysitter”, as she so nicely had put it, was a girl, Nathalie found her a bit odd and she got the feeling that she didn't really want to be there. Nathalie was the complete opposite: she was excited as ever about the week she'd be spending in the Canadian capital city, and the fact that she knew about half of the players on the team already would only make things better.

The two found their way down to the hotel lobby, where the players were already standing, and Nathalie walked over to one of the team staff. Autumn slowly followed her, not quite sure she was supposed to be there. She felt out of place, like an outsider, and she didn't like it.

While Nathalie talked to the assisting coach, Autumn looked around the room and eventually caught the eye of the guy from the night before. She rolled her eyes and nudged Nathalie, trying to get her attention.

Nathalie turned away from the coach, “Yes?”

“That guy keeps looking at me...” Autumn said, crossing her arms.

“So? It's Jacob... He probably likes you, or thinks you're hot... Either way, it's a compliment, you don't know how many girls want him back home.”

“Him?!” Autumn scoffed. “Ew, he's like 15...”

“More like 19.” Came a voice from behind them, and a tall boy with blonde hair winked at Nathalie.

“Well look who qualified,” Nathalie smirked, looking him up and down. This was clearly someone she already knew.

“You surprised?” He raised his eyebrows at her.

“Of course not, I'm just kidding, good to see you!”

“Yeeah, good to have you around, Nat...”

“You'll never get rid of me,” Nathalie winked. The two hugged, and Autumn rolled her eyes, walking away and standing over by Jacob.

Jacob took one look at her and had a comment immediately, “Don't look so grumpy.”

“Do you SEE what I'm wearing?” Autumn snapped, looking more pissed off than ever.

“Our colours suit you, so don't make that face.” Jacob looked over his shoulder, “Tim seems to want something, he keeps looking over here, but I think he's scared of you.”

Autumn sighed, “He should be... And I hope this is over as quickly as possible...”

“Hey are you going to do the roll call?” Tim, the guy Nathalie had talked to, asked, interrupting the conversation.

“Oh...” Autumn got a little flushed, “Right, where did I...” She looked around her and walked over to the front desk, where she had left the paperwork.

After a long process of getting the megaphone to work and making sure everyone had been counted, the team all got on the bus that would take them out to the practice arena, where they would also play their first game on December 26^th.

Team Sweden's first practice on Canadian ice started off intense and focused, making the players stop for water a fair few times. Nathalie's camera was getting a workout too, while Autumn couldn't look less enthusiastic. At least she was doing something productive, taking notes on how the players' names should be pronounced. She wouldn't want to embarrass herself.

Sitting in her own world, Autumn barely noticed Jacob sitting down next to her. She wouldn't have, if it hadn't been for his enormous pads and goaltender gear, “Jesus Christ, you're HUGE.” She exclaimed, looking at him.

Jacob raised his eyebrows, sipping from his bottle, “... thanks? What's that you got there?”

“The list of all of your weird ass names... What's it to you?”

“Geez, do you have to be so hostile? You should really try smiling more...”

Autumn rolled her eyes, “Trust me, when I get paid, I'll smile all the way to the bank. It won't even be close to what you make, but it's something...”

“It'll be more than I make,” Jacob said. “I don't make anything yet.”

Autumn frowned, “Yeah, you do... You have a contract with Brynas.”

“That's a junior contract, I'm not paid until next- wait how do you know that?”

“I have it on here...” Autumn sighed, obviously annoyed. “Jacob Markstrom, age 19, born in Gavle and playing for Brynas IF.” Frowning, Autumn looked down at her clipboard, “Please remove the stick from your ass, who the FUCK wrote that?!”

At the same moment, Tim Erixon skated by the bench, making a V with his fingers and sticking his tongue through it, making Autumn glare at him with rage in her eyes. Jacob couldn't keep himself from laughing, and Autumn quickly checked her clipboard for who it was.

“4, Tim Erixon...” She muttered, standing up. Jacob saw the danger ahead and pulled her back onto the bench.

“Dooon't...” He said, holding her by her arm. “Don't take him seriously, he'll stop eventually.”

“Don't touch me!!!” Autumn exclaimed, pulling her arm away. “And don't tell me what to do.” In a rush, she made notes next to Tim's name on the clipboard, ignoring Jacob when he rolled his eyes.

“So...” Jacob tried to start a new conversation. “What are you doing later?”

“None of your business...” Autumn snapped yet again. “And CERTAINLY not what Erixon was suggesting... Yuck.”

Jacob sighed, “Would you stop already? We get it, you hate all of us and you want to get on a plane back to wherever you're from, but seriously stop with the attitude.”

Autumn glared at him, “Don't just make conclusions about me like that.”

“Why not?” Jacob asked. “You make them about us.”

“I have proof of them, though. You don't know me.”

“Proof? I'd like to see that...” Jacob muttered, making Autumn wave her clipboard at him. “That's all? Our names, ages and teams?”

“And your value as players.” Autumn added.

“So that makes all of us scum, then?” Jacob snapped. “Good to know.”

“At what point did I even say that?” Autumn was getting very annoyed. Who did he think he was?

“You don't have to say it,” Jacob said. “It's written all over you.”

“What do you even mean by that? You think for some reason you're gonna get lucky with me just because you're some hot, muscular athlete with a sexy accent and cute dimples? Well, I'm not that kind of girl.”

Jacob smirked, “So I'm sexy, huh? And you like my dimples... And my accent...”

Autumn was turning white, “I never said that... You're twisting my words!”

“Nooope, that's what you said.” Jacob still had the smirk on his face.

“Don't MAKE ME slap you!”

“What do I have to do to make you do that?” It was too easy for Jacob to ignore, he just had to say it.

“... excuse me?” Autumn looked shocked. “I'm... I'm taking away your visitation privileges for tomorrow, so you'll be stuck at the hotel with me!”

“Alone at the hotel, huh?” Jacob smiled. “Sounds perfect to me. My room or yours?”

Autumn stood up, getting close to his face, “Fuck you.”

“Will you?”

“Not if you were the last man on earth. And stop looking at my breasts.”

“Then why did you say it? And they were looking at me first.”

Autumn rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she looked over at the conversation taking place between Tim and Nathalie.

“So, Nat. After this, wanna go for dinner with us? It's on David.” Tim said, leaning over the boards to talk to Nathalie.

“I don't wanna eat off David...” André Peterson pointed out, having stopped right next to Tim.

Tim looked at him, “Nathalie probably does.”

Nathalie's eyes grew wide, “WHAT did you just say?!”

Tim smiled as he looked at David coming over, “Nothing...”

“I heard my name, what am I doing?” David asked, stopping on the other side of Tim.

“Buying us dinner, apparently.” Said Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, who had been standing there throughout the conversation.

“NO!” David exclaimed. “Tim eats like a pack horse!!”

“Actually...” Nathalie said. “I think I'm gonna grab dinner at the hotel.”

“Don't leave me with them!” David begged, giving her the puppydog look.

“We can eat at the hotel together, if you want.”

“Sounds good!” Tim said, misunderstanding who Nathalie was talking to. “Hey, caretaker lady!”

“WHAT?!” Autumn yelled back, glaring at him.

“Come to dinner with us!”

Autumn looked at Jacob and back at Tim, “Not if HE'S coming!”

Jacob held his up his arms, “Heeeey...” as Autumn walked over to the others. Jacob was then accompanied by David, who skated over and sat with him.

“What was that all about?” David asked him, quickly looking over at Autumn and the others.

Jacob smirked, “Nothing... What about you? Got something going with her yet?”

“Not yet...” David sighed. “Forever friendzoned, David Rundblad's ultimate peril.”

“You've gotta be kidding me. She likes you, you haven't realized that?”

“As a friend, yeah...” David said, looking over at Nathalie with a sad look on his face.

“Uhh... I think there's more than that. Didn't she just ask you to have dinner with her?”

“Nope...” David sighed. “That boner's gotta be hurting your jock. See you at dinner.” He said before getting up and leaving again.

Jacob rolled his eyes and took another sip from his bottle before heading to the locker room. This dinner would sure be interesting.

chapter 1 : nathalie, photographer

The photographer wound up being two things that relieved Autumn, female and fluent in English. She greeted Autumn with a hug, which she gingerly accepted.

"I'm Nathalie! So great to meet you, this is gonna be a great week!" she exclaimed, her long flowing blonde hair falling around her face in curled whisps. Pure Swede, Nathalie's bright eyes matched her smile. Autumn found herself staring at her for a moment and the realized she had to respond.

"Yeah, Autumn," she hauled her suitcase, "Where's the hotel?"

"Oh, a taxi ride away, but seriously, have you ever been here? Ottawa is SO beautiful!" Nathalie seemed to have had at least six cups of coffee, Autumn thought. Why the hell was she so excited about being co-babysitter?

"So, here's the list, I was told to give it to you," Nathalie said as they got into a cab, handing her a clipboard, "If you have any trouble trying to pronounce their names, I can definitely help you. Some of the boys go by nicknames anyway, and-"

"How do you know that?" Autumn asked, looking down the page. What kind of name was Johan, other than some German weirdo?

"Oh! I worked for a few of the teams in the Swedish Elite Series, mostly MODO, if you've heard of them?" Nathalie asked hopefully. Autumn said nothing.

"Right, well...you'll find they're all pretty nice guys, very friendly, definitely excited to be playing your home country. Canada IS the best, and-"

"You don't have to kiss my ass," Autumn snapped, growing tired of her enthusiasm, since she was jetlagged and it was not even noon yet, "I could care less about hockey."

Nathalie fell quiet for a minute or two.

"Oh...ok...well, if you don't mind me asking...why did you take this job if you don't like the sport?"

Autumn sighed, "Nathalie. A few things. This will be a strictly professional relationship, and nothing too personal here. So my reasoning for taking this giant pile of crap they're having me do is my business, and not yours. Got it?"

"...ok, yeah.." She was silent for the rest of the ride.

It turned out the hotel was the famous Chateau Laurier in downtown Ottawa, which overlooked Parliament Hill and the majority of the city, built in the 1800s. It was a built green-roofed cooper building, and as Autumn stepped out she felt her jaw drop. She had never even set foot in one of these places, let alone stayed in one.

"We're staying here with the Czechs," Nathalie explained, "The Canadian team was supposed to take this place, but they pulled out last minute. Apparently it's haunted or something." She laughed. Autumn swallowed.

"So where's the team?" Autumn cringed at the thought.

"Should be here any moment, actually, I-"

"Nathalie...Andersson?"

Nathalie stopped mid-sentence and her eyes grew wide. A tall young man in what Autumn thought was a Baby Gap style dark blue track suit with three yellow crowns embroidered on the chest was standing in the lobby, wearing a small blue toque. He smiled when she met him.

"David Rundblad," he said with a grin, and the two broke into excited Swedish. Autumn rolled her eyes and went to check in to her room. This was going to be a long week.

She turned around and walked right into someone, "Oh sorry...excuse me..."

"It's fine," the giant she had walked into peered down at her, blinding her with a white smile, "You the caretaker?"

Autumn rolled her eyes, the Swedish accent heavier than Nathalie's, "Yeah, I guess so. You're one of the kids, then."

"Kids? Sorry, but you don't look much older than me," he kept grinned, "I'm Jacob Markstrom, I'm the goaltender." He paused. "Can I help you with your bags?"

"No thank you," she said sharply, pulling them towards the elevator.

"You sure?" he followed her, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Autumn," she snapped, pressing the elevator button, "Ugh, hurry up, I'm tired..."

"Well, I'm supposed to give these to you, anyway," Jacob continued, nudging her. She turned and saw he had a small bag with folded clothes inside.

"What is that?"

"Your uniform."

"I beg your pardon?" she took the bag from him and peered inside it.

Jacob kept smiling, which was starting to annoy her, "You're part of our team now. It includes your ID and pass with a landyard. Go to your room, put it on and meet us downstairs."

"Listen, I'm not taking orders from-"

"I'm just doing what I'm told," Jacob held his hands up, "Seriously, I don't mean anything by it."

Autumn groaned, stepping into the elevator and lugging her things with her, "Right, whatever. Thanks, Jason."

"It's Jacob..." he said, the elevator doors closing.

–

"You have got to be kidding me..."

Autumn twisted and turned in front of the mirror. A deep blue sweater with a white collared shirt underneath, the Tre Kronor three crowns embroidered on the left side of her chest. Dark blue pants with the same symbol on the pocket. She slipped on her black Converse, the cleanest shoes she had. She sighed.

"How's it look?" Nathalie asked from her bed. They were sharing a room.

Autumn walked out and showed her, "Like a lost librarian from 1982."

Nathalie bit her lip, "It's not that bad..."

"There's more, I've even got this sweater in yellow," Autumn rolled her eyes and flopped down on the bed, "I'm in hell..."

Nathalie finished fastening her hair into a ponytail, "Hell or not, we're supposed to meet them downstairs."

"Right now?"

"Yeah, the guys have practice. Will be a good time to get to know them."

"Who was the guy you were talking to?" Autumn asked. Nathalie frowned, "I thought we weren't getting personal..."

"Was just asking."

"David, a defenceman from Skelleftea," Nathalie said quickly, "Old friend of mine. Don't look at me like that, it's not like they've all got weird names."

"Some guy down there, called himself something that started with a Y..."

"Oh, that was Jacob Markstrom, you can call him by the American pronunciation of his name, I'm sure he won't mind. He's pretty easygoing."

"Alright, well...let's get this over with, then."

"You know, you should really be more positive."

Autumn turned, "Do you wanna wear this old lady sweater, and I'll wear the Team Sweden hoodie?"

Nathalie shook her head quickly, "Nevermind, let's go."

intro : dream job.

I'm losing my mind, Autumn thought to herself. She'd been on a steady diet of bottled water and airplane food for awhile now. Vancouver doesn't seem to be so close anymore. She was away, and definitely ready for a new adventure. Except, not this one.

The last job anyone wanted was to supervise teenagers – forget the fact she was only 19 herself – but this was it. The International Hockey Federation wanted her to work for them because she had the skills available. Well, that, and she was the only applicant. Babysitting hockey players would be easy, right?

Wrong. Especially considering that, instead of the everyday ones she was used to, Autumn was stuck on the task of monitoring the Swedish players for the upcoming World Junior Championship. Swedish, though, really? The only Swedish thing Autumn was familiar with was IKEA, and she'd only been there once.

So here she was, getting off a plane in Ottawa, Ontario. Going to meet the team photographer who arrived two hours before the team would. She would meet Autumn at the airport and they would go to the hotel to meet the team. It was an experience that Autumn hoped would finish quickly.

Thankfully, it was around Christmas, and she wouldn't have to spend it alone. Or at least, forced to think of being alone at Christmas. That was a plus in itself.

The only reason she took this job was the pay. It was more than anyone was aware of, and would surely be enough to cover the three she was already working in order to keep her small apartment. Paying off her mother's medical bills in hopes of eventually going to school to become a musician, yeah, that was what was going on. There was even more going on deep down, but she would never admit it to anyone.

It would all be over soon, she told herself, as the plane finally landed, and her water bottle spilled all over the front of her pants.