My Hockey Alpha Neighbor

“I’m not sure how this is going to help with our meeting,” the sponsor says dismissively. “Look, I’m a very busy man. Can we just wrap this up? I’ve said everything that I need to say.”

I had expected the sponsor to do something like this. It’s typical for men to make power moves like this during negotiations. Normally, it forces the opposing side to either give up or retaliate with more anger. Neither of those has ever been my typical approach. Instead, I’ll hit him where he’s most vulnerable.

“I’m sorry, sir,” I say, “but we would really prefer to continue discussing this deal. Blaze has been a staple of the Statford Freeze’s branding for quite some time. I hold a deep admiration for your company. I would love to give this topic more time for discussion if it wouldn’t be too much trouble.

As I expected, stroking the man’s ego is an immediate success. He puffs up his chest slightly in response to my words. “Well. 1 can

hardly blame you for that… He glances down at his watch, clearly not actually reading the time. Eventually, he clears his throat and settles into his chair. “Well, this is a bit inconvenight, but I’ll allow it. Do I need to start from the beginning?”

“For posterity’s sake, yes,” I nod. The sponsor sighs but obliges. I put on a perfectly innocent face. I need him to

I think. underestimate me so that he’ll slip up.

“Our profits are way down this quarter. Our company has unfortunately come under unexpected financial strain, and “To be clear, is this financial difficulty outside of the typical realm of seasonal changes?” I ask. I force a pleasant smile. “I just want to make sure, I don’t know much about the sports beverage industry.” The sponsor blinks. It’s clear that he didn’t expect me to ask such a specific question. Still, my clueless performance seems to make him drop his guard.

“Well – yes,” he says eventually. He quickly regains his footing and looks confident once more. “We have our best analysts on the job, I can assure you. Our performance and profits have been low. We have to decrease our sponsorship deals on all fronts.

“How many sponsorships have you reduced, if you don’t mind me asking?” I say pretending to be genuinely curious. Of course, I know that’s something he can’t share with me, but I want to start prodding him on more private matters. Once again, the man looks caught off guard. He falters for a moment, only confirming my suspicions further.

“Well – I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to share that information,” he says at last. I pretend to nod thoughtfully and think for a

moment

“That makes sense. Could you at least give us a percent margin estimate?” I ask. The man looks nervous. It looks like I’ve started to poke holes in his story, I think with satisfaction.

1… Well, not off the top of my head,” he says evasively. He wipes his palms against his slacks nervously. I note that he doesn’t seem to have brought any materials along with him to reference which is certainly out of the ordinary for a typical negotiation meeting

“Hm_That’s strange, 1 say, still pretending to be asking cluelessly. “Do you at least have some sort of proportional estimate per deal?” I ask. The sponsor crosses his arms, clearly fed up with my line of questioning,

“Enough. I’ve told you everything that you need to know. Our company is financially struggling, and

In a way that is atypical for this time of year?” I cut in, prompting him to elaborate. He hastily nods.

“Yes, yes, this is normally our best season,” he says with a wave of his hand. I smile internally, I got him, I think triumphantly. “Interesting. You would expect a sports drink brand to do much better in the warmer months when non-athletes are more likely to need a specialized drink. Could it be that winter sportske hockey bring in a majority of your numbers?”

“The man’s face stiffens I can feel Aiden, the coach, and the team owner all staring at me. I’ve caught him in a lie.

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The sponsor grinds his teeth together. “Typically, hockey teams would bring us more publicity. However, considering the team’s recent performance…”

“Is that the real reason why you’re pulling out?” The coach demands. “You were seriously lying about the company finances all along?”

A defeated look crosses the sponsor’s face. “Fine, fine, enough questioning,” he sighs. “Yes. Higher-ups are concerned about Mr. Cruz’s recent performance in the rink. Considering how things have been going, you should be thankful we’re not pulling our sponsorship entirely.”

The coach stands up, his chair screeching out from underneath him as he does. “That is absurd! We’ve only had one match, and it was a practice round!” He insists.

Surprisingly, Robert raises his hand to silence the both of them. I wish you had been honest with your concerns from the start,” he says. “Why don’t we come to a compromise? If your concern is with the team’s performance, then we can enter a conditional deal. All we have to do is adjust funding based on the team’s performance and winnings.

The sponsor, looking thoroughly embarrassed, mulls over Robert’s words. “Fine. But if your then our funding will only decrease from here.”

1 can feel Aiden become tense beside me. Luckily, the team owner speaks up.

team continues to struggle.

“With all due respect, I’ll worry about the team’s performance. There’s a reason why you’re not on my payroll.”

The sponsor stiffly nods, but he seems doubtful. The two swap a few more words before agreeing to rewrite the contract and meet agam later. The sponsor leaves with a snide expression on his face.

After the door closes behind him, there is a moment of stunned alence. The coach looks especially shocked as he stares at

mc.

“You – how?” He splutters. Robert pats me on the shoulder.

Well done, Ms. Miller. You’re quite tenacious, aren’t you?”

1 feel a bit embarrassed by the sudden praise, but when I look at Aiden, the smile on his face makes it all worth it.

We exchange a few more pleasantries and the coach and team owner head out. Aiden and I are both too exhausted to make dinner after all of the drama, so we decide to order some pizza and have a relaxing night in.

Aiden has just gotten off the phone with a pizza place when he turns to me with a curious expression.

“Wait a moment

-Coach Bower mentioned something about an interview earlier, didn’t he? Was that today I would love

to watch it together”

I feel a pat form in my stomach. The interview feels like so long ago that I had almost forgotten about it. I feel a sense of dread at the idea Aiden would see me using his fame like that

Sull, I don’t know how to refuse. I swallow hurd. Of course. Filtry to find it online?

I head over toward the living room TV and pray that what he sees durint change how he feels about me forever.