Chapter 80

Carol’s POV

“What are they even doing here?” I ask, turning to face Aiden.

“I don’t know,” Aiden says, his eyes never leaving Daniel. Neither of them notices us yet, which I’m grateful for. If all goes well, neither will notice us the entire time. “I thought she got fired?”

“Technically she was forced to resign,” I say, folding my arms across my chest. I feel aggravated and annoyed that they are at my event. “At this point, I’m surprised Zach didn’t show up too.”

“What could they even want at a hockey banquet?” Aiden asks.

“Who knows,” I murmur.

“Carol, it’s good to see you again,” I hear from behind me and my entire body freezes at the sound. I didn’t even realize they were walking towards us and from the scowl on Aiden’s face, he didn’t either.

I turn to see Daniel with Sophia on his arm, clinging to him like he is her life support. It takes everything I have not to lose my cool in front of everybody. But I take a deep breath and force a police smile in their direction; not wanting them to see me break or weaken in any way.

“Daniel,” I say in a greeting before my eyes flicker to Sophia. “Sophia.” I can’t help that my tone had gone a bit flatter when greeting her.

She gives me a fake smile.

“Interesting to see you here,” Sophia says. “I never thought of you as the type of girl who’d go to an event like this.”

“This is a hockey banquet for the Statford Freeze Hockey team. The team that Aiden is a part of and the ones I work for,” I said, wrapping an arm around Aiden’s arm, and giving her a pointed look. “Last I checked this wasn’t for realtors. What exactly are you doing here?”

“We heard some of the riches who are attending this event are in the market of a new home, so we decided to stop by and do a little fieldwork ourselves,” Daniel explains. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” I lie, still keeping that plastered smile on my lips. “But what exactly is Sophia doing here? I thought she resigned?”

“She did but after you quit, I thought there was no reason for Sophia to lose her job and I asked her to return,” Daniel explains.

“What about Zach?”

I don’t miss the eye roll that Sophia does at the mention of the sound of his name.

“That drunk idiot deserves to be jobless,” she mutters. “I’m way better at this job than him anyway. It’s no loss.” She pauses and then looks around the room. “If you’ll excuse me, I see some potential clients I’m going to speak to.”

I don’t say anything as I watch her pass by. Daniel clears his throat, drawing my attention to him.

“I hope there’s no hard feelings between us, Carol. I don’t like how we last left things off and I apologize for using your relationship with Aiden for the company's gain,” he says, giving me a small smile.

I can’t tell if he’s genuine or not, but I nod anyway.

“Thank you, Daniel. That means a lot,” I tell him.

He then looks at Aiden.

“Are you ready for the championship next month? I already bought my ticket for the game and I’m looking forward to it,” he says, which oddly enough, surprises me.

“We are getting there,” Aiden admits. “We still have a lot of work to do before we are fully prepared. But thanks to Carol, we should be there in no time, and I have faith in us.”

Aiden wraps a protective arm around my shoulders and pulls me into him. I beam at the compliment, and I find myself standing a little taller by his side. I’ve always been confident in my working abilities, but with Aiden, I feel as if I’m on cloud nine.

Daniel nods.

“She’s always been good at what she does,” he agrees. “I’m sure she contributes nicely to the team.”

“She does,” Aiden says without hesitation. “Speaking of the team, we should see how they are doing with ticket sales.”

I nod in agreement.

“It’s good to see you again, Daniel. I hope you enjoy the rest of the event.”

We say our goodbyes before finding some of the team members. They share their sales, and we grab a drink to toast the outcome. Aiden grabs me a red wine and we lift our drinks in the air to clink them as a unit, as a team.

“Well done, Carol,” Mr. Whitlock says an hour after the toast. “This event is incredible. I knew you were the right woman for the job.”

“Thank you for your faith in me, Mr. Whitlock. This is honestly amazing, and I couldn’t have done it without the entire team.”

He looks around and then his eyes return to me.

“I think now is a good time to make a space for everyone,” he says.

I nod and without him asking, I go to the entertainer who is in the middle of his set. I motion with my hands for him to stop the music and he nods. Mr. Whitlock is on stage before the center was able to get fully quiet, but once he stands before us all, the entire room quiets down and looks up at him.

He always had that way about him that made people want to shut up and listen. I admired that about my boss.

“Thank you everyone for coming. I know this isn’t something a hockey team usually does but I wanted to really give my thanks to those who support us, and I wanted to give you all an even bigger chance to support us. Thank you to the other teams and coaches that made it to the banquet as well, your support means everything to us, and we wouldn’t be able to be here with you.”

“Yeah! Thanks for losing for us!” One of the team members teases, making everybody chuckle.

“For the sponsors who are here, you always have a chance at sponsoring the Statford Freeze team, just come and see me afterward and we can discuss the details. If anyone else wants to support us, you can donate any amount of money, or you can buy our merchandise at the merch stand in the front of the room. If you haven’t already, purchase your tickets because they sell out quickly. Championships are only a month away and we need all the support we can get!”

The room erupts into applause. Aiden and I clap as well.

“Lastly, I wanted to give a quick shoutout to the one person who made this event what it is. I don’t know what the team would do without her. She’s not only the team's administrator, but she’s also the assistant coach. Carol Miller!”

Everybody starts to clap, and their eyes turn to me.

I blush but I smile as the paparazzi capture my moment.

“Now, please continue to enjoy the catered food and the music,” Mr. Whitlock concludes as everyone claps and cheers for him.

He steps off the stage and is instantly surrounded by paparazzi. I looked around at all the faces, glad that nobody was paying attention to me anymore. Maybe this tabloid story wasn’t going to escalate any further after all. I can’t help but feel relieved by that.

“Have you seen Coach?” One of the team members asks as he walks by.

I look at Aiden with a frown and Aiden looks around the room.

“I honestly haven’t seen him in a while,” Aiden confesses.

“Maybe he’s in the bathroom?” I suggest.

“That could be,” Aiden agrees.

“I just checked there,” the team member murmured. “Maybe he stepped outside. I’ll go out and check.”

“Maybe we should look around too?” I suggest to Aiden.

He nods.

The two of us walk around the event for a while, but neither of us spots Coach. Aiden sniffs the air with a frown and then he turns in the direction of the backdoor.

“His scent is faint, but it looks like it’s going in that direction,” he says, pointing to the door.

What would the coach be doing out back? I don’t argue as I follow Aiden across the center and toward the backdoor. He pushes the door open and I’m instantly met with the cool winter breeze as we step outside. I hear some giggling which draws my attention and then I see them.

Coach had someone pressed against the prick wall of the building. I raise my brows as I look up at Aiden and then I look back at Coach. They were clearly making out and whoever he’s with is giggling and loving his attention.

“Aren’t they going to notice you missing?” She chuckles. I knew that voice.

“I’m a grown adult,” he says in return.

My heart falls deep into my stomach as I walk closer to them. Once I get a better look, I can’t help but gasp, causing them both to freeze and whip around to face me.

Coach is with Sophia.

“What’s going on?” Aiden asks when it’s clear I’m too frozen to speak.

Sophia puts her hand on his chest and Coach looks surprised to see us for a moment before squaring his shoulders and looking Aiden directly in the eyes.

“Sophia is my fated mate.”