"We meet again"

4

     We spent about 20 minutes together catching up. Paul left us and went to the AT room so he wouldn't be standing there listening awkwardly.
For the rest of the day we just talk about the job and I meet some of the other workers like the nutritionist, assistant coach, the team doctor who I will be talking with a lot, and the equipment manager.

     When we were finished, Paul drove me to my apartment which is about 10 minutes away.
"Thank you so much for the ride. I'll see you tomorrow at what time?" I ask because he told me he would swing by and pick me up.
"10 on the dot."

I go in and get my key.
The apartment comes with furniture and appliances but I have nothing of mine.  I literally have 10 outfits and 3 pairs of shoes because I couldn't fit much.
When I got to my apartment, it was about 3:30. I was so tired and starving.
First I took a nap.

*ding ding ding* my phone woke me up. I looked at the time "wow." It read : 7:25.  4 hours I took a 'nap'.  

It was a text from my mom.
From momma❣️🐻- Ellie are you there and okay?  I tried calling earlier but you didn't answer. Sorry if your busy already.
To momma ❣️🐻 - I'm so sorry. I forgot to call when I got to the apartment. I got asked to go to the arena to talk to the trainer. I came back to the apartment and took a nap. I just woke up. I'm starving now so I'm going to go find somewhere to eat. Love you and talk to you tomorrow!
From momma❣️🐻 - no problem. I thought you'd be tired. I'm glad everything went well. I'm going to call your brother and I'll let him know that your all good. Love you.

     I get on my iPhone and search *places to eat near me*
I do not have a car yet and I need places to walk to.
- chipotle, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Wendy's, McDonald's, chick fil a are some places that came up.

Starbucks is the closest so that it is.

I go to lock my apartment door and a man comes up besides me and drops his phone and wallet trying to get out his keys to unlock the door because his hands were full.
"Here you go" I pick up his things and hand it to him.
"You didn't have to but thanks a lot. Uh- do you live there?" He asks.
"Yeah. I just got here today actually. Is this your apartment?"
He shakes his head. He sets down his things and puts his hand out. "Nice to meet you then, neighbor. I'm Jamie. You?"
"Ellie." I smile. 

I make my way down the hall to the elevator and head to Starbucks.

"Hi welcome to Starbucks what can I get you tonight"
"Um-" I say looking up at the menu. I get the same thing every-time so I don't know why I even look. "Can I have a grande Carmel macchiato, a vanilla cake pop, and a ham turkey and cheese croissant"
"$9.57"
I go to hand them my card and someone grabs my hand.
"Don't worry I got it." Jamie, my new neighbor says.
"No I got it. You don't have have to at all"
"I got it." He hands the cashier his card. "Welcome to Dallas Ellie"
I go to the other side to wait for my order and he comes over.
"What are you doing? Following me?" I joke.
"I come here every day. Got to have my coffee in my system... soo.. where are you from?" He tries to start a conversation.
I think to myself this whole time... 'man does he look familiar but I can't make it out to be who it is. How could I know someone from Dallas?'
"Calgary."
"Came a far way eh? What made you come to Dallas?"
I shake my head. "For a job. What part of Canada are you from? You came a long way too eh?"
"Vancouver. And for the same reason you did. For a job."
"Ellie. Macchiato, croissant" I go up and grab my order.
"Ellie. Wait. We can walk back to the apartment together... If you want"

     I wait for him outside and we head back.
"Look. I know this is weird but you look really familiar." He gets kind of fidgety.
"Yeah around here I do."
"What do you mean by that?"
"First where do you think you know me from?" He asks.
"I don't know! That's why I asked you. Give me a last name"
"Fine. I usually don't say if the person doesn't know who I am exactly. I usually like to keep it that way. I play hockey here for the Dallas Stars. Jamie Benn."
"Oh my gosh.. I knew it!  Look im going to be seeing a lot of you. Im your new AT.  This is so crazy.  Also my last name is Smith. Brother- Mike Smith.  I myself used to play for Boston college. I was the AT for the bruins my freshman and sophomore year for an internship." I tell him some stuff about me.
I totally understand why he was glad that I didn't recognize him.
"Wow. This is crazy" he says as we stop in-front of our doors. "You probably know how it is. People wanted to be your friend because of who you are and everything so sorry if I cane off a way."
"Yeah. I get it. It drives me nuts because I see it all the time. Like these freakin 'puck sluts' and jersey chasers. You guys need to be smarter than that."
I start to unlock my door. "Hey Ellie-  do you think you'd want to carpool to practice with me tomorrow? No point of paying someone or anything when I'm right here going to the same place.  I'll knock around 10:15."
"Thank you. Paul was going to give me a ride but this would probably be better for him anyway. Thank you. I'll text and let him know you're taking me. Thank you and thanks for buying  Starbucks. I'll get next."

We say goodbye and I go in to lay on the couch. Before I fall asleep, I set my alarm for 8:30 a.m.