-/4/-
To say Waverly was disappointed not to see Nicole the in the days after their interaction would be an understatement. At the very least, she'd wanted to return the borrowed item of clothing and thank her again. Unfortunately, Nicole must've skipped out right after practice had ended, before Waverly had even come into work.
Now, three days after their encounter, Waverly had left the hoodie at the homestead, figuring her luck couldn't change on the third day in a row of 7 am Devils' practices.
She had finished her run to the laundry room, bringing the practice towels and jerseys to wash before she decided to pay Wynonna a visit in the office.
There were stacks of boxes that came into view as she entered the lobby. The trucks delivering concessions and merchandise must've come today. Waverly also noted the grunting and struggling of someone trying to move the heavy objects.
Poor Wynonna, Waverly thought with a small laugh. Actually has some work to do around here.
"Push with your legs!" She heard. She found it odd that the voice didn't belong to Wynonna.
"Shut up with your mouth!"
That was Wynonna.
Curious as to who the owner of the first voice was, Waverly made her way around the boxes to where the pair was.
"Why are these so heavy? It's impossible."
"Dude, aren't you like a professional athlete or something?"
"I'm a hockey player not a bodybuilder."
Taking in the sight in front of her, she watched her sister and Nicole pushing a stack of boxes that absolutely refused to move. Across the lobby, leaning against the wall near the entrance door was a hand truck probably left there for the exact task Wynonna and Nicole were struggling with. She would've found it funny if not for, wait—Nicole?
What had Nicole been doing here? The team had to have been gone for well over what had to be four hours by now.
"Uh, hey guys?" Waverly interrupted their very strange attempt at manual labor. The two of them looked up, Nicole blowing away a lock of red hair that had fallen into her face. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Oh you know," Wynonna gestured around her, "boxes."
"Yeah, I can see that." She retorted, smiling at the mention of the obvious. "You look like you're struggling."
Wynonna sent her a duh look, and Nicole had now slumped against one side of the box in defeat.
"These boxes weigh like a million pounds."
"Did you ever think to try the hand truck to move them? The thing with wheels?"
The other two looked over to where Waverly had pointed and saw the tool. Nicole's brow furrowed in anger as she directed her glare at Wynonna.
"The hand truck?" She all but growled. "Wynonna! Are you kidding?"
"Oh, it's not like you jumped to get it!"
"You didn't give me a chance to even see it!" Nicole fought back, and Waverly found the bickering downright hilarious. "I just walked into the lobby and you hollered 'Oi Haught shit, get over here and help me!' Ring any bells?"
"Ugh whatever." Wynonna conceded and walked over to get the truck.
Waverly watched the two move the stacks of boxes much more easily now until they were all cleared out of the way. Once they had finished, Wynonna went and plopped herself down at the desk in the office, and Waverly made her way to talk to Nicole.
"Hey." She said with a smile.
"Hey."
"I've uh, been meaning to get your hoodie back to you, but I guess we keep missing each other. And figures the one day I do see you, I leave it at home."
Nicole smiled brightly at her, yet again exposing her dimples.
"Don't worry about it, I'm in no rush for it back."
"So, I see you've met Wynonna."
"You could say that."
"I'm sorry she roped you into helping her, that's so not your job."
"Actually, I told Wynonna I'd love to help any time I've got some free time. So, I guess it kinda is my job."
Waverly didn't quite understand why Nicole would want to work at the place she practiced and played in when she could be using her free time elsewhere, doing other, funner things.
"Wait, so you're working here now?" Nicole nodded her response. "Why?"
Waverly had cringed at the way she had asked the moment she had said it, especially seeing the smile on Nicole's face shrink slightly.
"No, no, I didn't mean it like that. Just, you're busy with the team and I'm sure you'd rather hang out with friends or—"
"—Waverly, relax." Nicole interrupted. "I…just got here a few days ago, and don't really have much in the friend department. And, I've got way more time on my hands than I ever imagined, and my apartment is so boring, and I see you all work so hard, and I figured I would make myself useful and help out. Wynonna brought me on yesterday to help."
Upon clarification, Waverly found herself happy Nicole would be joining them at the rink. God knows they could use someone who was actually going to do their job.
"Did you help Wynonna TP the training room yesterday?"
"Well, technically, she dragged me down there and made me be the lookout, but I never physically TP'd anything."
"Figures." Waverly rolled her eyes playfully, "She loves to cause trouble, but it's mostly harmless now, just pranks and jokes."
"Wha? What do you mean now?" Nicole asked, confused, and looking a bit concerned. "Did she...was she not harmless before?"
"No…not anything like that, just regular teenage rebel stuff, B&E, graffiti, you know." Waverly tried her best to soothe the girl who momentarily appeared on edge.
"Oh, okay." She released a heavy breath.
As Waverly and Nicole conversed, the rest of the rink staff rolled in—Robin first, and Champ a good fifteen minutes late (that pretty much being on time for him). Waverly greeted Robin with a smile and wave as he headed off to his station. When Champ entered, he made his way pointedly over to Waverly, interrupting Nicole mid-sentence.
"Hey, babe." He said, grabbing Waverly for a hug and pressing a kiss to the side of her forehead. She'd never necessarily been against PDA, but she also never did quite like when Champ forced it on her, and especially not when it was rude or interrupted something.
"Hi baby," Not wanting to fight right now, she sighed and leaned into it, closing her eyes slightly. She didn't miss how the smile on Nicole's face faltered yet again.
Champ lingered for a moment, probably expecting something more, before he headed off toward the small mechanic room to work on the Zamboni.
"Sorry about him." Waverly apologized. "He doesn't always understand when not to interrupt conversations."
"Boyfriend?" Nicole asked and Waverly nodded.
"Champ's a lovely boy—man," she corrected, though the words felt weird in her mouth. A lovely boy, when did she become a grandmother talking about her grandson?
Nicole just smirked.
"A boy-man?" She said, repeating Waverly's words. "Yup, I've been there. It's the worst."
Not even wanting to get into what Nicole meant by that, Waverly smiled and then tried to find something to work on.
She decided that unpacking the boxes might be a fun project to keep them occupied. Waverly and Nicole walked over to the rooms where Nicole and Wynonna had placed the boxes. There were two of them, one for jerseys and t-shirts and other team merchandise and another larger one connected to the fridge and freezer that would be for concessions. Waverly decided that the frozen foods should be put away first and the two of them got to work.
"So there's what, four of you that work here full time at the rink?" Nicole asked.
"Yeah, you know me and Wynonna, and you've sort of met Champ," Waverly explained. "And there's Robin, the one who walked in before Champ did."
"How will it work on game days then? Like I can't imagine running concessions and tickets and merchandise will all fall on you guys, because that's a lot. And never mind security and all that." Nicole asked, taking a box of frozen onion rings off the stack and into the walk-in freezer.
"As far as I remember, Dolls brought in some private security to work home games." Waverly noted, handing a box of something (mozzarella sticks?) to Nicole. "And then I think Beth and Mercedes Gardner are in charge of concessions—you should probably stay away from their brother, Tucker, though. He's a total creep—and merchandise is Chrissy's department, so it'll probably be some kids from the high school who need volunteer hours."
Nicole nodded in understanding.
"And what about you guys? Wynonna and the rest of y'all?"
"We don't have official assignments, but I'm pretty sure I know how it'll shake out." Waverly explained as Nicole placed the last box in the freezer and closed it behind her. "I'm a hundred percent certain that Champ is in charge of Zamboni driving since that's pretty much his only job here, Robin will probably run the music for warmups and goals and intermissions—he majored in jazz history so he's the most qualified I guess—and Wynonna will probably work tickets and admission, and I really, really, really hope it works out that way because that'd mean I'd be in charge of scorekeeping and working the scoreboard, so I'd get to sit in between the benches—best seat in the house!"
Waverly was giddy with anticipation of the job, even if it wasn't officially hers just yet. Nicole beamed as brightly as her, sharing in her excitement.
They moved over to the team merchandise in the room just across from where they had just been, inspecting the room and deciding where everything should go. The room itself was much bigger than Waverly was expecting, mainly because they had used it for storage prior to the team coming to Purgatory. There were shelves and racks to neatly organize everything. Nicole allowed Waverly to come up with a plan of attack for displaying everything which Waverly gladly appreciated. (She was a planner, what could she say?)
All in all it took about forty-five minutes to get all of the display items out—jerseys on the racks, with a few hanging for people to decide which they wanted, t-shirts, hats, hoodies, scarves, banners and tiny knick-knacks like commemorative pucks and bobble heads were arranged meticulously and the boxes of extras of everything were placed in the back closet. Waverly clapped with excitement at just how good everything looked.
"Well, I'll say," Nicole smiled as she wiped her brow of the sweat that built from stacking and unstacking boxes, "that you are much easier to work with than Wynonna."
"Anyone in this town could've told you that one." Waverly rolled her eyes playfully. "She's great, just doesn't play well with others."
"Yeah, I got that off the bat…but I do find it weird she was willing to have me help out here if she's so against working with others."
"Hmmm…why would Wynonna want another person to work here, for free by the way, why on earth would she want that? I swear I know; I just can't place it." Waverly added sarcastically, and Nicole nodded, face filling with understanding.
A silence fell over them, not awkward, just a silence, as they locked up the merchandise room, and walked back to the main lobby, that was filling more and more with people who were coming to skate. (She hadn't even realized that it was approaching the 6 pm public skate). Waverly was about to strike up another topic of conversation with the redhead whose company she was enjoying when there was a shout from the office.
"Hey, Ginger spice!" Wynonna called.
Nicole looked at Waverly, with a raised eyebrow, almost looking as if she were saying "Oh god, what now?".
"That's you." Waverly giggled, nodding her head to Nicole.
Wynonna had approached them, carrying a bright orange vest, similar to the one she was sporting. She tossed the item at Nicole, who didn't have time to react before it had collided with her face.
"Okay dude, I am seriously doubting you as an athlete now." Wynonna cackled, looking at the redhead with the vest on her head.
Nicole removed the article of clothing from her face and sent a glare at Wynonna. Waverly couldn't help but chuckle at the interaction.
"Don't be mean Wynonna." Waverly defended. "She could probably kick your ass."
Nicole's face brightened at Waverly's words.
"Pfft." Her sister scoffed. "She wishes. She clearly doesn't have the reflexes."
"What do you want, Wynonna?" Nicole asked, still slightly miffed, probably from having clothes thrown at her.
"Put that bad boy on, we've got public skate duty." Wynonna instructed Nicole. "Waves, babygirl, you've got the office, right?"
"I actually think that's Robin tonight. I've got a trash run to go, and then I'm supposed to meet Chrissy at Shorty's."
Wynonna nodded.
"Maybe me and Nicole will join you once we finish up for the night. You down Haught shot?"
"Uh, what's Shorty's?" Nicole asked curiously.
Wynonna's jaw dropped and she almost looked offended.
"How are you a grown adult in Purgatory and not know what Shorty's is?"
"Maybe because I've been here for a week, Wynonna." Nicole said pointedly.
Waverly had to say, she liked the way that Nicole gave as good as she got when it came to Wynonna. She knew too many people were afraid to come back at her sister, or they just brushed it off and walked away angry. A girl who pushed back, Waverly liked that…it'd be good for Wynonna, obviously.
"Shorty's is the best bar in town. Only place to go really." Waverly explained.
"Well then, I uh, I'd love to," Nicole said, "but, Nedley actually has a rule that we can't drink during preseason, so I probably shouldn't do Shorty's until after the first game. Wouldn't wanna be a buzzkill."
"Bullshit. Nedley's at happy hour at Shorty's almost every day, like clockwork." Wynonna chirped.
"Even more reason why Nicole shouldn't do Shorty's when she's on a drinking ban." Waverly said, a reprimanding tone directed toward her terrible influence of a sister.
"Whatever." Wynonna raised her hands in concession. "Still, let's go Red, throw that vest on and get your skates. It's show time."
Wynonna directed Nicole before departing to do the same. Nicole stood, pulling the vest on and pouting. Waverly tried to ignore the little pull in her stomach at the look on her face.
"Oh my god, the vest matches your hair!" Waverly chimed gleefully, teasing Nicole. The bright orange of the vest rivaled the girl's hair, only highlighted more by the contrasting blue beanie she wore on her head.
Sighing heavily, Nicole took a look at herself in the reflection of the glass doors.
"Duty calls, I guess. I'll see you tomorrow Waves?"
"Yeah. Have fun, don't let Wynonna get to you, she's harmless."
Nicole smiled before walking toward the locker room doors to retrieve her skates.
Just as quickly as she found herself alone, Waverly was joined by someone else entering the lobby. She saw Champ make his way over to her and she sent him a smile. Champ took a seat on the bench next to her.
"Hey babe," He said. "How was work today?"
"Good, just kinda long." She smiled, happy he was interested in how her day went for once. "But you should see the merch room, it looks so good!"
Champ nodded, but Waverly had a suspicion that he wasn't really listening.
"Who was that chick? The redhead?" He asked, a little too suspicious for Waverly's liking.
"Nicole, why?"
"Oh no reason," Champ said, putting his hands up. "She's just been hanging around a lot the last couple days. I didn't know we were hiring."
"We weren't." She explained. "Nicole just volunteered to help out, and Wynonna saw it as a way to dump some of her responsibilities on someone else."
"Why the fuck would she just volunteer like that? Doesn't she have a life or anything?"
She wasn't sure why he was acting this way, but something about the way he was blatantly insulting Nicole behind her back really didn't sit right with her.
"Champ, don't be rude." She chastised the boy. "Nicole's on the Devils, and she's volunteering to help out in her free time."
"So what does she not have any friends or literally anything better to do?" He scoffed.
Waverly rolled her eyes, not wanting this conversation to continue. Why was it any of his business what Nicole did on her free time?
"It doesn't matter Champ, she's doing a nice thing, just let it go." The two sat in silence for a beat, a little tense for her liking.
After a moment, Champ blew the air out of his cheeks and broke the silence.
"So, anyway," his tone had changed. It was evident to Waverly that he wanted something. "I've got an hour before I gotta clean the ice again, why don't we go upstairs and you know, have some fun?"
Of course. That was all she seemed to be good for these days in Champ's eyes.
"No Champ." She refused. It was her right after all.
"Why not?" He grumbled.
Waverly was at a crossroads. On the one hand, she could tell him she just wasn't in the mood and had work to do—which wasn't a lie. On the other, she could finally stick up for herself and tell him how she had really felt.
She opted for the second. She had really been tired of Champ treating her like an object, a possession.
"Because that's all you want to see to do with me anymore, Champ." She sighed.
"Well, what can I say," he smirked, "you're hot."
"I," she started but stopped to compose her thoughts. "I'm more than a body or a face, Champ. For once I wish we'd talk about something, anything."
"We talk." Champ defended, surprised at her words.
"You talking about the rodeo while watching the Canucks game doesn't count as talking." Waverly said, exasperatedly. When he quirked an eyebrow in confusion, she continued. "I want to talk about things that are real. I wanna have deep conversations, there's so much about the world we can talk about Champ, so much we can do. It doesn't have to be all about sex or video games or the rodeo."
"You know I love that big beautiful brain of yours. It blows my mind sometimes that someone so beautiful can be so smart too." Champ said, trying to charm his way out of this one. (He clearly missed it when she muttered "They're not mutually exclusive" under her breath). "There's always so much going on up there, so what's so wrong about me wanting to help you turn it off from time to time?"
"Because I don't wanna turn it off Champ." She blurt out, unable to hold it back any longer. If Champ was taken aback by the outburst, Waverly couldn't bring herself to care. In a move of boldness, and something probably a long time coming, she couldn't stop herself from saying what came next. "We're done Champ. Yeah, we're done."
She swears his jaw dropped all the way onto the floor. He spluttered for a minute, trying to gather himself enough to formulate a response.
"Baby, please." He pleaded.
"Give me one reason we should stay in this relationship, besides how attractive you think I am."
When he struggled, Waverly had had her answer.
"Goodbye, Champ." She said, standing to attend to her duties and then to leave for the night, suddenly feeling lighter from removing herself from a relationship she hadn't even realized had been suffocating her.