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."
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