Chapter Text
Trial membership in hand Kelley makes the rounds of the Good Life fitness centre and checks out the available options before deciding to keep it low key as her wonky knee has been feeling the cold, damp Ottawa weather.
Putting her ear buds in, she cranks some tunes as gets at it, soon working up a sweat and starting to feel like herself again. With her phone buzzing she reaches over to check the screen and finds a message there from Genevieve.
New Message
Genevieve: Media took longer than expected, so the team is just now hitting the ice for training. If you'd like to watch a bit of it, I've cleared you to be allowed inside just show your pass and come in through the doors from earlier. I've a call to jump on shortly but I'll find you when I'm done.
Kelley O'Hara: I'm just finishing up my workout, I'll grab a quick shower and then come inside to watch. Thanks.
Kelley finishes up her set and then heads inside the locker room, to grab what she needs to shower and get herself dressed and ready to be seen in public. Not wanting to deal with her hair, she opts just to brush it out and then replace the toque on her head as she layers up for the outside and presumably inside the arena temperatures. Tossing everything in her bag, she checks her phone for any new messages and then heads outside, up the stairs and then around to the front of the building only to go down the stairs and in the designated door where she shows the pass Gen secured for her and asks directions as to how to get to the arena.
The closer she gets to the ice surface the noisier it gets with the sound of a whistle, someone yelling and then what she assumes to be players either hitting the boards or perhaps even pucks and or shots being directed wide of the net. While she's never been a huge fan of the sport, she knows enough to get by after having taken in quite a few Washington Capitals and New York Islanders games while playing for teams in the area. Although she's the first to admit that the games occurred during the offseason and she may not recall the finer points of them all as she's allowed herself to indulge in a few adult drinks while there.
As she walks around the concourse the age and history of the building speaks for itself. The red, white and black coloured walls adorned with murals and photographs of the means hockey team house by the Civic Centre since their inception in the late 1960's. The Ottawa 67's she soon learns have won multiple trophies and cups through the years and their former Coach, now retired Brian Kilrea a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and much beloved by the entire community.
Seeing a crack in the curtains, Kelley walks towards them and lets herself inside the actual bowl of the arena, seeing for the first time the banners and large screens on the wall above the ice surface where the players are taking a quick water break. As the woman she assumes to be one of the Coaches gives instructions, Kelley finds a seat in Section 19 of the Arena at TD Place and continues to watch on.
During a break in the session, Dakota looks up and sees Kelley sitting there, lifting her trapper in a half wave towards the United States Women's National Team's star defender before putting her mask back down and getting set for the drill. The players come in 2 v 2, then 2 v1 and finally shift towards doing some breakaways to give their goalkeeper a real challenge. As Dakota goes down in the splits, Kelley cringes and hears chuckling behind her.
Genevieve steps down and sits beside her, "How was your workout? I brought you a bottle of water, I wasn't sure if you'd grab any from home."
Kelley smiles, "I hadn't. Thank you. How'd your call go?"
"It turned into a rather long-winded discussion about how they'd completely underestimated the demand for merchandise and that it was going to take months to restock as they've already completely sold out of jerseys and shirts before opening puck drop. Wasn't really much for me there as I'm more involved with the corporate sales than merch."
"So corporate sales, like the main sponsors for the team and league? I see Canadian Tire logos on stuff, I'm assuming it's taken plenty of wheeling and dealing to get sponsorships for the players and teams."
Genevieve smiles and chuckles, "Why do I feel as though you'd be a good salesperson."
Kelley smiles, "It's the freckles they make me seem trustworthy."
"Uh huh. I happen to know that you already have a clothing and merch line of your own; are you trying to test the waters to see if there's an opening here for you?"
"Well, is there?"
"If you're truly interested in working with the league and merch department, I can give you the name and contacts."
Kelley nods, "If you don't mind, I'm always interested in expanding our lineup. How long do these practices usually last?"
"Should be wrapping up soon. Why?"
Kelley chuckles, "I'm hungry."
"Speaking of hungry have you decided where you're going to take Emily tonight?"
"Bear mentioned that she likes a certain restaurant; I thought we could just go there and I'll pick up the tab. I know how important it is not to change up a routine unless absolutely necessary and being as though the season is just around the bend, I'm sure it's a safe bet that she'll be fine with it."
Genevieve smiles and nods. "Can I ask are you really interested in her or is this a temporary thing? Because, if anything happens or goes wrong, I'm sure to get caught in the crossfire and I don't need any extra stress or tension at the moment."
"You've nothing to worry about that, I promise. I like Emily however; she's just getting over a breakup and soon I'll be heading back home. It's not the right time to start a relationship other than a friendship and I think that's what she needs at the moment more than romance."
"Glad to hear that. I seem to recall you being a player both on the field and off, what happened to change that?"
"I'm not getting any younger, my playing days are coming to an end and I've no one at home waiting for me. I thought that I had the whole package with Sonny but we just couldn't make things work and as a result I lost one of my best friends. My perspective on life and relationships has changed and evolved over the years, I spent too much time focused on the temporary and not nearly enough time on the permanent and future."
"You know for the longest time I felt like I was competing with you for Dakota's love and attention."
"Really? I thought that we left on good terms, hence why we're still friends and why the two of you were in attendance at my wedding."
"Prior to the two of you meeting and getting together she wasn't in a good space and when you were together you challenged her to open up and start living again; I think then once you were apart, she started to close back off and then when I came along it was all about you at first. She struggled to process and move past a few things and it actually ended up working out for the best for both of us as we ended up in individual and couples counselling. I had some unresolved stuff as did she and together, we were able to work through it all and form a much more solid base for our relationship."
Kelley smiles and nods, "Dakota is an amazing person and one of the biggest regrets I have is losing touch with her."
"That better not be your way of saying you're planning on making a play for my wife."
Kelley chuckles and shakes her head, "I may have in the past, however, I'm not that person anymore. Bear is the happiest I've ever seen her and I can't help but see that it's because her dream of playing professionally, having a gorgeous wife and family are all coming true. She deserves to be happy and is with you. I'm no threat to you Gen and I hope that we can be friends."
"As your friend, I'm going to ask you to tread softly with Clarky; there's a lot at stake this season not only for her and Dakota, but the entire team and league."
"I understand that and just so you know, I'm most likely going to have to split my support between the New York and Ottawa teams."
Genevieve laughs, "That's fair."
"So, question is this team really going to be called the Alert? I did a bit of reading before I came and saw that was written as a possible name. Ottawa Alert, I'm sorry that just sounds more like a weather forecast then a hockey team name."
Genevieve chuckles, "The league rolled out some team names, none of which were very well received including the Alert and due to huge backlash from the fanbase decided to rethink them. This season the teams will be going by only PWHL and then whatever City they're based in, so in this case PWHL Ottawa. There's a historical connection with the name Alert as one of the first known women's teams in the area was known as the Ottawa Alert; unfortunately, the name doesn't really work modern day. Dakota was jokingly mentioning something about the logo being a goal light, which as a goalkeeper is the last thing you want to see lit up."
Kelley bursts out laughing, "Oh my God, I never even thought about that. We don't have goal lights in soccer, only officials, cameras and VAR to make the call."
"VAR?"
"Video Assistant Referee. Basically, a group of people in a room watching screens and confirming calls with the on-field officials."
Genevieve nods, "Right. You know I used to play both soccer and hockey when I was younger, switched to just hockey towards the end of High School."
"Were you any good?"
"The teenage me would have said I dominated and could have gone pro, the adult me would say the chances of going pro playing soccer at that point in time were even less than hockey. Looks like Carla's wrapping up practice. Do you want to head downstairs to meet the girls?"
"I can do that?"
"Remember I work for the league, I've got the all-access pass; also, I already let them know you were in the building and would be coming down with me." Genevieve smiles, chuckles and stand-up allowing Kelley to follow her to a set of stairs that are gated off. She opens the gate and lets them down before closing it back up and they descend into the bowels of the building formerly known as the Ottawa Civic Centre.
They walk down a hallway featuring more photos of the Ottawa 67's glory days before coming to an area set up for the PWHL side. Kelley smiles and follows Genevieve as she's introduced to members of the team and organization. She smiles seeing Clarky and it doesn't take long for the Ottawa player sporting a black practice jersey and the number 26 on her back to come over and hug Kelley.
Kelley wraps her arms around Emily and smiles, "We still on for dinner?"
Emily chuckles, "Did you finally pick a spot?"
"Bear told me that you've a spot where you like the food, I figured we could just go there for our date."
"Did you just say date? As in you and Clarky going out together?"
Kelley looks at Emily and Genevieve and thinks quick on her feet, chuckling, "It's not so much a date as Emily showing me around town in exchange for a meal out with a new friend. Dakota and Gen had already made plans for this evening so I'd planned on heading out solo, however Clarky was nice enough to offer her services as tour guide."
Brianne Jenner gives them all a look over before nodding, "Yeah, we all made plans to have dinner together before you were confirmed as coming to town for the game; I'd actually just came over to ask if you'd like to join us, but it sounds like you're all taken care of."
Kelley smiles and nods, "Indeed I am; I do appreciate the thought though. We should get some pics together for social media, where's Bear at?"
"Who's Bear?"
"She means Dakota, Gabby."
"I thought Dakota's nickname was Mase?"
"Her OG nickname was Bear. You obviously haven't noticed the bear print on her mask."
"I figured it was something to do with her family or where she's from."
Dakota approaches the group, "Why is everyone looking at me?"
Kelley smiles, "I may have accidentally called you Bear and now they're all curious where the name came from."
Dakota nods, "You guys all know how much I value my sleep and how grumpy I get when I don't get enough, it comes from that. I was called a bear when younger because I liked to hibernate and growled at anyone who tried to wake me up. Actually, Genevieve can attest to the fact that I still do."
They all chuckle as their star goaltender's wife smiles and nods, "Very true."
Once all the players are ready, they pose for a couple pictures as a group and Kelley makes the rounds taking some with individual players, stopping at chatting with the American players on the roster about her plans to take in some games once she's back in New York as well.
"I'll message you in a little while about our plans, okay?" Emily smiles as Kelley nods in response before she heads off in the direction of Dakota and Genevieve's car.
"Seems like you've a good group of teammates."
Dakota smiles and nods, "Looked like Akane knew who you were."
Kelley chuckles, "The interpreter guy mentioned that she was a big fan several times. I'm sorry about bringing up your nickname in front of your teammates."
"It's fine. Most will stick to just calling me Mase anyway. Gen told me that you also were quick to cover up mention of your date with Clarky tonight."
Kelley rolls her eyes, "I knew the two of you were going out for your own date night, didn't realize that it was a couples thing with a teammate and her wife though, was the first thing that came to mind and I didn't want to embarrass Clarky, so it was a good cover."
"I'm sure we'll be getting quizzed about you and the extent of the relationship tonight. Don't worry, you're nothing more than just new friends who are hanging out tonight. Besides that, Em hasn't told anyone about what happened to her and it's not our place to say or tell anyone about it."
Pulling inside the garage and parking, they make their way inside to eat, and chill for a little while before they all need to get ready to go out.
New Message
The Kelley O'Hara: Can you come to my room for a minute, I need help choosing an outfit to wear.
Dakota chuckles as she reads the message and shows her wife before climbing off the bed and making her way down the hall to knock on the door.
"Come in."
Seeing Kelley standing there in nothing more than a bra and underwear does something to her, but she's a married woman and she's not allowed to think those thoughts anymore.
"I see the tattoo has held up well."
"I debated getting it removed but I chose to keep it after hearing how much it hurts to have it removed."
"Should probably make sure now that the secret is out, people don't see the ink and question the origin of it."
"I usually just say I lost a drunken bet and ended up inked."
Dakota chuckles, "I guess that is kind of true."
"Now, if only we'd actually been married for real it would have been a fair bet."
Dakota chuckles, "Maybe next time. In terms of your wardrobe choices, the restaurant is pretty chill and there's no dress code, so just wear what you feel comfortable in."
"I feel most comfortable naked, does that count?"
Dakota bursts out laughing, "Not a chance! Don't forget my wife is in the next room and wouldn't appreciate me checking out a naked body without her."
"Then go and get her and I'll get out of these!" Kelley bursts out laughing, "I'm only kidding, Bear. Seriously though, black or black?"
"Go with the V-neck. At least give her something to look at."
"Is that your way of saying you're onboard with the idea of us?"
Dakota shakes her head, "No. It's my way of saying that she's my friend and has been through it recently, she deserves an evening out and perhaps a little scenery to look at other than just your hazel eyes. If we're done here, I need to finish getting changed and ready. It's a bit of a drive to Jenner's place."
"Have a good evening, Mase."
Dakota smiles, "Clarky has her own key and the code for the front door."
Kelley nods, "See you in the morning, have fun and don't stay out too late."
"Same goes for you guys."
Dakota starts towards the door and turns back. "Kel?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm not bailing you out."
Kelley bursts out laughing as her former not wife makes her way out of the room.
A short time later, she hears her name being called out.
"Hey, I'm just about ready; be down in a minute."
Giving herself a once over Kelley grabs her jacket and toque before heading downstairs to see Emily. They share a hug and after Kelley gets on boots, her jacket and toque make their way out for the evening.
"You look really nice this evening, Emily."
Emily chuckles and blushes with the compliment. "Thank you. I like your shirt."
"Had this one for awhile. Are we really just going to spend our time talking about our clothes? I mean, there's plenty other things we could be doing."
"That comment just went from zero to sixty pretty quick."
"It was meant too. Consider it an icebreaker because we were both needing to loosen up. Why are we so stiff? We're not exactly strangers anymore, so this shouldn't be awkward, right?"
"You're right, I mean what could possibly go wrong now that you've put thoughts of your naked body in my head?"
Kelley smiles, "There we go! Now, we can enjoy our meal and evening together."
Long after dessert has been consumed the two talk until realizing that it's gotten late and Emily should be on her way home and in bed soon.
Driving back across the bridge Kelley looks out over the water, "It really is a beautiful place, isn't it?"
Emily smiles and nods, "Yeah. I like that it's a small city."
Pulling into the driveway, Emily puts the car in park. "Thank you for tonight, it was exactly what I needed."
"I'm glad. I'll see after the game."
"We can still talk and message you know."
"Then I'll be speaking with you tomorrow, beautiful." Kelley leans over and kisses Emily's cheek. "Good night, Clarky."
"Night, Kelley."
As Kelley climbs out, she notices the curtain move in the window as chuckles at Dakota's not so stealth movements. Walking up to the door, it's opened by Genevieve and she chuckles as Kelley steps inside and removes her boots.
"Your wife does know that I saw her in the window, right?"
Genevieve chuckles and nods, "She let out a squeal and tried to duck only to slip and land on her backside. I'd say she got what she deserved for spying."
"I'm going to head up for bed now, see you in the morning."
"Night, Kelley."