Tough Love

Chapter 1 - Meeting the Team

It was a usual Saturday evening when Brooke Lemieux stepped into the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh with her father, the legendary hockey player and co-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mario Lemieux. For her though, it wasn't just normal day, because today she would be introduced to the players of the team, where she'd be the new Physical Therapist.

Doing this had been her father's idea, but she had been searching for a job after ending her studies in London, and when her father had told her about the open position back at her hometown, she'd sent in her application and gotten the job very soon after, though she guessed her father had helped a little bit. Now, as her father led her through the halls inside the Center, she looked around a bit and smoothed down her shirt, nervously biting her bottom lip. Eventually, he stopped in front of what seemed to be the teams wardrobe, and looked back at her. "I'm just going to check if they're not naked, and then I'll get you," he stated and Brooke nodded, but rolled her eyes behind his back. Her father had always been a bit overprotective, and he'd never really seemed to realize that she wasn't a young innocent girl anymore, but a grown woman. Most probably because she'd been away from home ever since she had been a young girl. Nonetheless, she let him go inside first and heard loud shouts of "Mario!" before it went quiet again and the Coach spoke up. Her father opened the door and motioned her inside right when Coach Johnston introduced her: "This is our new Physical Therapist, Brooke," he stated and Brooke stepped in and smiled at the guys that were standing or sitting around. She noticed a few mouths drop open and when someone nudged Sidney Crosby in the side, he got up and looked at the Coach. "Uhm, Coach? Are you sure it's a good idea if she comes with us? You know what they say about women with the team," he spoke up and before the Coach could answer, Mario stepped forward a bit. "I can assure you, Brooke won't be bad luck. She's always been my good luck charm, and as my daughter, she knows more about hockey than any other girl," Mario stated and Brooke could easily see the astonishment and wonder in everyone's face when they realized that she was in fact Mario's daughter, and she shook her head and stepped up to Sidney, the captain of the team. "I know about all the stuff that's said with women on teams, but as my father already said, I've known hockey my whole life. I have the qualifications to be here, and the only thing I want is a chance. If it doesn't work, I will leave," she said, crossing her arms and looking up a bit, and she heard a few guys chuckle. Eventually, Kris Letang stepped up and smiled at her before looking at the Coach. "I think we should at least give her a chance. If she's Mario's daughter, she must be a good luck charm, and she seems to be confident about it," he said and after a bit, the other guys agreed. Sid just shook his head with an amused smile and then shook Brooke's hand. "Welcome on the team then, Brooke," he said and Brooke grinned at him before shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you all. Now I don't want to interrupt your pre-game talk with Coach Johnston, so I guess we'll be heading up. Good luck and have fun," Brooke said, smiling at Kris shortly before turning to her father and leaving the room with him. "If they give you any trouble at all, I want you to call me immediately, Brooke," Mario said when they arrived in the owners lounge and Brooke just laughed quietly and tilted her head. "Dad, you know I love you and you are the best dad I could've wished for, but I'm 25. I can fight my own wars, and stand my ground. You don't have to worry about me all the time," she told her father, who just sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. The game started soon after and Brooke watched it curiously, letting her father give her information about all the guys. They were an extremely good team, and they obviously were good friends. The game was hard and the other team played well, but in the end, it was a win for the Penguins, and Brooke followed her father down to the wardrobe again after both teams had left the ice. She stepped inside, never looking down because some of the guys were changing, and Coach Johnston came towards her. "Brooke. Malkin pulled something in his leg. Can you take a look at him?" he asked her and Brooke pushed back a strand of hair before nodding. "Yeah sure," she agreed, and the Coach pointed at the tall guy, who seemed to be waiting for her. He was thankfully already wearing loose shorts, and Brooke looked at him with a friendly smile. "Nice to meet you, Malkin," she said and he nodded at her. "Call me Geno" "Alright Geno, I'm Brooke. Okay, I'm going to look at your leg now, where exactly does it hurt?" she asked him and he told her exactly what had happened. Brooke started massaging his leg with strong and confident hands and after a few minutes, she let him stretch out and Malkin stared at her in wonder. "It seems to be good. What...what did you do?" he asked her and Brooke just shook her head with a soft laugh. "Just tried to get the pulled muscle to relax. If it hurts again during training tomorrow come to me and we'll take a look again," she stated and Malkin thanked her before turning around again and continuing to change back into his regular clothes. Brooke went back to her father and the Coach, where she got information about their next game, which was an away game in St. Louis. They would travel there by plane so Coach Johnston told Brooke where to be when and she nodded and took all the papers he had for her. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye guys!" she shouted a bit later before leaving the room after her father and she got back a few shouted 'Bye Brooke!' from a few of them.

Back at home in her apartment, Brooke laid out the clothes for the next day and then went to bed, thinking about the Penguins a bit. She knew the guys were still a bit skeptical about having her work with them, because of superstition, but she was sure everything would go well. And it seemed like some of the guys had already accepted her, like Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin, and Brooke was sure the others would as well, after having a bit of time to get used to the idea. She fell asleep a bit later, thinking about the captain, who'd seemed really skeptical about everything - Sidney Crosby.

Author's Note:

Hii everyone. So, I decided I'll post this here. I'm not a big writer and I mostly just write for myself, but I thought there maybe would be someone that likes to read a story like this one.

There won't be regular updates, as I work every day and don't find the time or inspiration to write all the time, and I can't say when I'm going to post the next chapter or if I'll take this down again...