So this preseason pretty much sucks…I don't know about you guys but I'm ready to see our "normal" lines back on the ice again. Not too impressed with these annoying little wannabe Capitals. I want them to sign Perreault! Gah! Anyway, enough venting…enjoy the chapter! Its extra long : )

Everything else faded away instantly for Mathieu Perreault. He was in shock…utter and complete shock…as he stared at the woman he thought he would never see again. He felt a sudden rush of pain and anger overwhelm him as memories raced through his mind as he stared at her. What was she doing here? What the hell did she want? Hadn't she ruined his life enough?

"Mathieu," breathed Nicole, barely able to form words in front of the man she loved.

Perreault shook his head slowly, partly in disbelief and partly in denial of what was happening. She couldn't be here…there was no way. It just didn't make any sense.

Nicole saw the confusion and shock on Mathieu's face and took a step toward him. She reached out and touched his arm, causing him to flinch, almost as if he had been electrocuted by her touch. Nicole pulled away quickly, suddenly unsure of what she was doing. This was a mistake...but she had realized it too late. She had always been able to read Mathieu like an open book and right now…he was anything but happy to see her.

Before Nicole could even think about turning around and running away, Mathieu reached out and grabbed her arm. The fans looked on in confusion as Mathieu pulled Nicole back inside the building and closed the door behind them. He turned her around, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"What…the hell…are you…doing here?" he asked, his voice hard with anger but his eyes moist and pained with anguish as he stared at the woman he had once loved with everything he'd had.

Nicole swallowed nervously, suddenly finding it hard to form words, "I…I came to say I'm sorry," she said quickly, before she lost her nerve, "I wanted to apologize…for everything."

Mathieu sneered openly at that as he stepped away from Nicole, "Apologize? You came all the way to D.C. to apologize? After three years…three years later and you think coming here and saying sorry will erase everything?"

Nicole flinched under Mathieu's hard, accusing stare as he gave her a disgusted look. She hadn't known what to expect when he saw her again, but she definitely wasn't prepared for just how angry he really would be. Part of her had been hoping he would have healed by now…that he wouldn't be so upset about what had happened…that he had been able to move on with his life, but clearly that was not the case. He was still just as angry and hurt as he was that awful night in December when she told him she couldn't do it anymore…the night she walked away from the only man who had ever meant anything to her.

"I…I know you're upset," stammered Nicole nervously.

Mathieu let out a short, harsh laugh, "Upset! HA! That doesn't even begin to cover it! You left me! You left me when I needed you…more than anyone else in this damn world…and you left! And now you're here expecting me to forgive you and let you just run right back to me or something? What the hell, Nicole? What the hell?"

"No!" said Nicole quickly as Mathieu turned around to walk away, "No, I didn't expect you to forgive me that easily…I know it'll take time for us to both…"

"Take time? Who the hell says I want you to even be here right now?" snarled Mathieu as he began to pace back and forth, "Who the hell says I want you anywhere near me?"

"Mattie…" said Nicole, her voice quivering with emotion as she watched the rush of emotions flicker across Perreault's face.

"Don't call me that," snapped Mathieu as he gave her a harsh look, "Don't…"

Nicole bit her lower lip, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks, "I'm sorry," she whispered, not sure what else to say, "I'm so sorry for what I did to you…"

"Don't…just don't," said Mathieu, his eyes moist with emotion as he backed away from her, "Just…leave me alone…please," he said as he turned and left the building, skirted around the crowd of concerned-looking fans, and made a bee-line for his car, leaving Nicole standing inside the Kettler Iceplex, her heart breaking all over again…

…

Nicole ran into the women's restroom inside Kettler and closed the door behind her. She glanced around to make sure she was alone and then let the tears fall. She sobbed quietly by herself in the bathroom until she couldn't cry anymore. She looked up in the mirror and groaned when she saw how red and puffy her eyes were. She turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water onto her face, washing away the tears while she took a few deep, steadying breaths and tried to think clearly.

Mathieu clearly had not been happy to see her. How stupid could she have been? How stupid of her to think he would actually be willing to hear her out. She had waited three years to figure out what she really wanted in her life and now it was too late. What was she supposed to do now?

The very thought of that question chilled Nicole. What now? Where did this leave her? She didn't want to leave Mathieu like this…not again. She wanted to let him cool off maybe, then see if he wanted to talk. But what would she do until then? She hadn't really planned this out, at least not aside from purchasing the plane tickets. She would have to get a job, find somewhere to stay, then go from there. It was all so overwhelming she wasn't sure where to even start, but standing in the women's restroom of the Kettler Iceplex staring at her own reflection in the mirror wouldn't do her any good. With a sigh she squared her shoulders and walked back out of the restroom.

Right outside the bathrooms there was a large corkboard with advertisements posted all over it. She paused for a moment and glanced through the ads. Her eyes grew wide with surprise when she saw that the Kettler Iceplex was looking for someone to work in the Capitals gift shop. Immediately the wheels in Nicole's head began turning. If she worked here, she would still be close to Mathieu but not close enough to get on his nerves…maybe even make friends with his teammates, prove to him that she was serious about her apology and that she wanted to make things right…just maybe, maybe it would work.

Nicole took the flyer off of the corkboard and walked up to the front desk, "Hello," she said, forcing herself to look happy and confident as she slid the ad over to the woman, "I'd like to apply for this."

The woman offered Nicole a kind smile and pulled a form out from one of the drawers and slipped it over to her, "There you go…fill everything out except for those last two lines."

"Okay…when will I know if I get the job?" asked Nicole as she began filling out the paperwork.

"How does now work for you?" asked the woman as she gave Nicole a questioning look.

Nicole's eyes grew wide with surprise at that, "Oh…now? Really? But…don't you have to go through the other applicants and…"

"No," interrupted the woman, "I'm in charge of hiring for the store and the little eatery we have over there. No one's applied for this position and it's been advertised for over a week. We really need someone to work in the store full time…if you're interested. If you'd prefer a part time position…"

"No that's perfect!" exclaimed Nicole happily, "I can start right away!"

The woman smiled at Nicole's enthusiasm, "Wonderful! I'll file this paperwork away and you go ahead and get started. The dress code here is red…wear red all the time and you'll be fine."

"I think I can manage that," said Nicole as she gave the woman a parting smile before slipping into the Kettler Iceplex gift shop, her heart soaring with hope…

…

The next morning Nicole arrived at Kettler an hour early for work. She wanted to make a good impression on her first official day on the job. She began by rearranging the shelves with all the players t-shirts, organizing them by name and size. She paused when she got to Perreault's, her heart skipping a beat just looking at his name on the back of the stack of t-shirts.

Just then, the bell at the front door chimed, signaling that someone had walked into the store. Nicole turned around quickly to see who it was, mentally pushing thoughts of Mathieu to the back of her mind for the time being. She raised an eyebrow in surprise when she saw a cute, young, athletic-looking man stroll confidently into the room. He made eye-contact with her and his eyes lit up as he gave her a head to toe glance, causing Nicole to blush.

"Can I help you?" she asked as he approached her.

"I think you might be able to," said the young man suggestively, making Nicole blush even more, "I need to get some new gloves for personal use. My old ones are getting…well…old."

Nicole smiled as she turned and led the young man to the back of the store where they kept the hockey equipment. He thanked her as he began to browse through the shelves.

"So," he said after a moment, "You're new aren't you? I've never seen you around before…and I think I would remember if I did."

Nicole smirked at his shameless attempt at flirting with her, "Yeah I'm new…today's my first real day here. I started yesterday afternoon."

The man nodded slightly as he glanced at her again, "What brings you here? You live around here?"

Nicole shook her head, "No, I live near Hershey, Pennsylvania. I…needed a change."

The man nodded as if he understood exactly what she meant, "Ah, I gotcha. So you like it so far?"

"Yeah…it's nice," said Nicole, trying desperately to avoid this line of questioning. The last thing she wanted was to tell the whole world the real reason she was here, "So what about you?"

The man raised an eyebrow at that, clearly surprised that she didn't know who he was, "Me?"

Nicole nodded, trying to figure out why he was reacting this way. Should she know who he was?

"I'm John Carlson," said the man with a smirk of amusement, "I'm on the Capitals team…I'm a defenseman."

Nicole's eyes widened in surprise, "Oh, I'm so sorry…I'm not really that familiar with the Capitals yet."

"And yet here you are, working in our gift shop," said Carlson with a light, easy-going laugh, "Interesting."

Just then, Mike Green poked his head into the shop, "Yo! Johnnie! Dude what the hell are you doing? Get your ass out here now! Boudreau's gonna kills us if we're late…again."

Carlson winced as he glanced down at his watch, realizing what time it was, "Crap…I lost track of time Green, sorry," he said as he turned back to Nicole, "I'll be back for those gloves," he said with a wink.

Mike raised an eyebrow in surprise when he recognized the girl from practice yesterday. What in the world was she doing in the Kettler store? And why was John Carlson flirting with her?

"What's she doing in there?" asked Mike as he and Carlson began to walk quickly toward the locker room.

Carlson gave Mike a confused look, "She works there now…why?"

Mike's eyes grew round with surprise at that. Perreault's female was working in the Kettler store? Oh that was definitely interesting. What in the world was she doing there? Perreault had showed up at the gym yesterday afternoon in an awful mood. When Mike and Brooks asked what was wrong he had told them that the girl they texted him about was actually his ex-girlfriend. He wouldn't say much about it aside from the fact that it pissed him off. Perreault was going to flip when he learned she was working at Kettler now…and that Carlson was flirting with her.

Yes life was certainly about to get interesting at the Washington Capitals Kettler Iceplex…

…

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