She wanted to be there for him.
However, she wasn’t going to argue with Katella Hanson and nodded, heading to the locker room so she could remove her skates and put on her Chucks. The shoes didn’t exactly go with the outfit but she hadn’t been planning to wear the combination in public.
She headed over to the elevator and, once inside, pressed the top button. The elevator ride felt slower than normal. Or maybe it was because her heart was pounding at a faster speed than it usually did. She rubbed her hands together and was surprised with how clammy and sticky they felt.
Why was she nervous? It wasn’t as though she had done anything wrong.
Except, technically, she had. She and Alec were in a relationship. If she wanted to be a Gulls Girl, she could not engage with any sort of socialization with a player at any time. Unless a player specifically said hi, Girls were not even allowed to say hello.
How Seraphina would even know about that, Madison didn’t know. Besides Amanda, the only two people who knew about Alec and Madison’s relationship were Alec and Madison. She trusted Amanda implicitly, which meant there was no way for anyone to have found out about their relationship.
When she reached the end of the hall, she reached Seraphina’s office. The door was always open in order to encourage anyone – whether it was a top player or the janitor – to come in for a chat. Madison always appreciated that. She had never seen the door closed before, unless it was just her and her sister and had an important meeting about the team.
However, Seraphina wasn’t alone. Standing in her office were three distinctly familiar people: her mom, her dad, and her sister.
Madison nearly tripped over nothing. She blinked, almost as if she didn’t quite believe what she was seeing. What the hell were they doing here? How did they find out about her job? Why would they be talking to the owner of the team? She nearly lost her footing and fell right there.
They all seemed to notice her at the same time. Rhine looked worried. She tugged her bottom lip between her teeth, teasing it gently. Her mother looked… well, to be honest, Madison never knew how to decipher the looks on her mother’s face. She always looked pinched, like she wasn’t quite sure how her husband was going to react to certain things, which caused her face to wrinkle with worry. Madison clenched her jaw to keep from glaring at her mother. She knew it wasn’t the woman’s fault, and yet, there were times Madison was more enraged with her than she was with her father. She didn’t know if she felt as though she needed to take her anger out on someone, and that someone couldn’t be the one causing Madison’s inner frustration. But there were times it infuriated Madison to know that her mother saw how her husband treated their daughters and how she stood by to do nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Why couldn’t she fight for Madison and Rhine? Why couldn’t she do something?
When her eyes shifted over to her father, she wasn’t surprised to see him glaring. Pure, unadulterated rage was brimming from his body. To be honest, Madison was surprised he didn’t have steam shooting from his nostrils and his ears.
“What’s this about?” Madison asked, raising her brow. She directed the question to Seraphina Hanson, who had a perplexed look on her pretty face. She seemed annoyed at the interruption and sympathetic to Madison.
“Your father here tells me he doesn’t approve of his daughter being a Gulls Girl,” she said, “and demanded I terminate you from the squad, as well as rescind the scholarship you earned due to your participation in our program.” Madison opened her mouth to speak, ready to argue, ready to defend herself, when Seraphina held up a hand and Madison bit her bottom lip to keep from saying anything. “He demanded to see you before I could respond, regardless of the fact that you have a very important job and are in the middle of it.” Her eyes cut over to Madison’s father, her chin curt. “Now, Mr. Montgomery, I can sympathize with the fact that you might not agree with your daughter’s choice for a job. However, your daughter is a grown adult. Her choices are her own.”
“I pay for her dorm room,” he growled at her.
Seraphina did not flinch. “Well, if you choose to remove funding for her dorm room, that is your choice,” she said. “That’s something for you and your daughter to work out between the two of you. May I ask you, Mr. Montgomery, why are you here, in my office, during a very important hockey game? Because if it’s to fire your daughter, the answer is no and I’ll kindly ask that you leave before I call security.”
Madison had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the bewildered look on her father’s face at Seraphina’s abruptness with him. He wasn’t used to a woman talking to him – telling him what was going to happen and how there was nothing he could do about it.
She beamed with pride that Seraphina Hanson was her boss. Her father’s mouth dropped open and even her mother looked surprised. Seraphina did not flinch under their scrutiny. She continued to look at them without saying a word.
“Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?” she finally asked, arching a cool brow. “I really do have to get back to the game.”
“She’s dating a hockey player,” her mother said.
Madison whipped her head to her mother, her eyes wide.
Seraphina furrowed her brow. “I’m sorry?” she asked.
“No, she’s not,” Rhine put in. “My mom doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
“Your friend from school,” Lisa said, placing her cool eyes on her daughter. “He mentioned you were dating Alec Schumacher.”
Madison’s clenched her jaw so tightly it popped.
“What?” her father roared.
“Sir,” Seraphina said sharply. “If you don’t keep your voice down, I’m going to have you removed.” He gave her a threatening stare, one she shot back. “Don’t tempt me.” She turned to Lisa and arched a cool brow. “Mrs. Montgomery, why do you think it’s any of my business who Madison dates with her own time?”
Lisa opened her mouth to respond before closing it. “Isn’t it against the rules?” she asked, all power that had occupied her voice for the moment completely vanishing.
“Absolutely,” Seraphina said with a nod. “But unless I get substantial proof that your claim is valid, you can’t expect me to fire your daughter. And there’s absolutely no way I’m going to do that in front of you. You say you heard this from a student at Madison’s dorm?” She cocked her head to the side. “How do you know he wasn’t lying to you to get her in trouble with you? Perhaps he’s a jealous ex? Maybe he’s a friend who doesn’t really know what the hell he’s talking about? Why would you immediately believe what some stranger said before asking your daughter her side of the story? You are her parents, aren’t you?”
“You don’t have any right to judge our parenting,” her father said through gritted teeth.
“You’re absolutely right,” Seraphina allowed with a nod. “But that doesn’t mean you can come to my office and make accusations about one of my employees without showing some kind of proof.”
Madison heard her heart echo in her ear but she couldn’t help but feel relief flood through her. She was grateful to Seraphina for being diplomatic enough to defend her, even though she had a right to go off on Madison, at the very least question her about her relationship with Alec.
But Seraphina was a professional. She refrained from discussing personal business with Madison in front of her family, at least for now.
“How do you allow your ice girls to wear such revealing outfits?” her mother asked before she could stop herself. She took in Madison, not bothering to hide a look of disgust from her features.
“Were you a cheerleader in high school, Mrs. Montgomery?” Seraphina asked.
Lisa shifted her weight. Madison was curious to see how this line of questioning would play out, considering Madison knew her mother was, in fact, a cheerleader.
“What does that have to do with what I’m asking you?” she asked.
“She was,” Madison said with a nod. �
�She tried to get me and Rhine to go out for it in school but we didn’t want to.”
“Considering their outfits are much more revealing even in high school,” Seraphina said, “I think it would be rather hypocritical to point the finger at me regarding attire. Are these outfits revealing? Absolutely. Cheerleaders have a job. They motivate the audience to cheer for the team. They, themselves, cheer for their team. Our girls literally sweep up the ice to ensure both teams are playing on the best ice possible after eight, fifteen, eighteen minutes of intensive play. They are essential to assisting the team. Some of them are in the crowds, interacting with fans. Some are on the ice during intermission activities. But the reason we have this team is to help the players play under the best conditions they can.
“I’m not telling you not to judge the outfits. That’s completely your choice and I would have to respect your opinion, whether or not I agreed with it. But you don’t get to judge me for dressing my Girls in these clothes, clothes they picked out themselves. Clothes they voted on.
“I’m not just trying to win Stanley Cups, Mrs. Montgomery. I’m running a business as well. Sex sells. And since hockey is an incredibly cold sport, we compromise. The outfits are revealing, but they’re empowering, and they help create an atmosphere, just like you did when you cheered for your high school football team.”
“Do you condone these girls fraternizing with your players?” Madison’s father asked. “Is your pool of employees one big pot of incestuous relationships? I know your sister is dating a player and you –“
“Mr. Montgomery,” Seraphina snapped, not bothering to apologize for interrupting him. “Before you finish that sentence, I’d like to remind you that you are in my building and you’re about to say something degrading about my sister. If you feel you’d like to issue a complaint about her behavior that has directly offended you, please do so with my secretary. If not, I strongly encourage you to shut your mouth. I have a very expensive lawyer on retention and I’m sure she’d love to get a judgmental person like you in court.”
Seraphina looked over at Madison. “Madison,” she said. “Would you please do me a favor and walk your family out of the building? I would very much appreciate not having to call security. However, considering the obviously strained relationship you have with them, feel free to say no.”
“Just my parents,” Madison said. “I just have issues with my parents. My sister is a rock star.”
Seraphina smiled. “They usually are,” she agreed.
Madison nodded and gave Seraphina an appreciative smile in return before flickering her eyes over to her family. “You heard Ms. Hanson,” she said. “It’s time for us to go.”
She opened the door to the office and waited as her family walked out.
“Thanks,” Madison said quickly before shutting the door and turning to her infuriated father, her bewildered mother, and her amused sister.
Chapter 15
After Seraphina dismissed her from the office, Madison could not look at her family. How dare they? How fucking dare they? As she walked next to her father, she could feel the steam shooting out of her ears.
She was pissed.
How did they even get in contact with Seraphina Hanson? Wasn’t she watching the game? Wasn’t that more important?
Except, she knew her father. Her father was persistent and dramatic. He tended to push and be confrontational until he got his way. Seraphina probably just heard him out to appease him and get him out of everyone’s hair. And the fact that he had proof thanks to some student’s big fucking mouth…
She took a breath. She rarely cursed, even in her head.
Her father was just acting on emotion. Certainly if he had been calm and had actually stopped to think about what he was doing, he would realize how embarrassing he was behaving.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” her father snarled the minute they all squeezed into the elevator. “Strutting around, looking like… like a piece of trash that floats by to every person.”
“Excuse me?” Madison snapped.
“Dad,” Rhine said, surprised.
Her mother, as usual, remained quiet.
“You heard me,” he mimicked, as Madison had on the phone so recently. Had it only been a few days? It felt like a lifetime ago. “Look at you. Your breasts are spilling out, your stomach is bare, your clothes are tight… Do you really think we raised you this way?”
“You raised me to be a docile woman who did everything her man told her without question,” Madison snapped, turning to look at her father with fierce eyes. Any turmoil she had been able to hold back came spilling out of her like a flamethrower, and her father was the target. “You raised me to be weak. You raised me to not have a voice or a brain or an opinion. And I’m lucky enough to have gone completely against that because I have a brain. I’m smarter than you give me credit for. And the life I’m living now is not a life you want me to live because I wear skimpy outfits, but I don’t care. It’s my choice. And that means more than anything. Finally having a goddamn choice.”
Madison’s mother gasped. The doors to the elevator opened but no one moved.
Madison turned her attention to her mom. “You could have done so much more for us,” she said. “You could have protected us from him.”
“I never laid a hand on you,” her father snapped. “You’re making me out to be some kind of monster –“
“Do you have any idea what your controlling, vindictive behavior does to a girl’s self-esteem issues?” Madison asked, turning to him with fire in her eyes. “You don’t think I’ve had trust issues my entire life? When I first came to California, I couldn’t make a goddamn decision at first because you always made them for me. What to wear, what to eat, what to say, what to believe. But I learned. And I broke free from this power you had over me. And I’m not going to tolerate your shit anymore.”
“Excuse me?” her father asked.
“Stop saying that,” Madison snapped, narrowing her eyes. “Stop acting as though me having an opinion that’s different from yours is difficult for you to believe. Do you really think I agree with anything you say? Do you really think you have power over me anymore? I don’t respect you at all. You use fear to get us to obey your command, to do what you say, even if it means dating someone you don’t approve of or moving across the country. You’re so blinded by your own ego that you can’t even see Dave staring a little too long at me or Rhine, lingering on areas of our bodies that belong to only us. Yet you continue to invite him over without even asking us if we want.
“Dave is not allowed at my graduation, Dad,” Madison continued. She didn’t care how long they were in this elevator just as long as she got everything out. “He’s no longer allowed at the house when I’m home. If you don’t want to agree to that, fine, but then I’m not coming home at all.”
“Honey,” her mother said but Madison cut her off.
“I know you know what I’m talking about, Mom,” she said, “but as usual, you keep your mouth shut. Dad gets to do whatever the hell he wants and you stay quiet and let him ruin our lives. Well, that’s not going to happen. From this point on, I don’t need you. I don’t need any of you. Once Rhine graduates high school next month, I will pay for her to fly out and she can live with me until she figures out where she’s going to college.”
“Oh, yeah?” her father snarled. “And who do you think is going to pay for that? ‘Cause you damn well know that won’t be me.”
“I’m not worried about that now,” Madison said. “We’ll figure it out. What’s important is that you know we don’t need you anymore.” Her eyes flickered over to her mother. “Either of you.” She looked back at her father. “I will talk to Rhine twenty minutes a day at five o’clock your time.”
Her father furrowed his brow. “What is this?” he asked. “Are you… are you listing your demands? Like you’re some kind of hostage negotiator?”
“You threw me under the bus to my job,” Madison said, shooting her eyes t
o her mom, “which means I’m going to be out of a job if Seraphina Hanson decides to fire me. And to be honest, she probably will because dating a player is against the rules. If you think I’m acting like some kind of hostage negotiator, that’s on you. You keep Rhine from having any social life or a boyfriend if she wants. She has one more month with you, then you’re going to put her on a plane and fly her out to me.”
“You are not my daughter,” her father said. Madison did not feel the pain she thought would come with her father actually disowning her. She imagined it plenty of times but instead of feeling guilty, she felt… free.
As such, she let a brilliant smile slip onto her face. “That’s fine,” she said. “You were never really a father to me anyway.” She turned to her mother. “How did you find out about me and Alec?”
Lisa looked at her daughter, and instead of being indifferent, there was something cold in the brown irises, something that completely dismissed Madison in her own way, just as her husband had.
“Mom wasn’t lying,” Rhine explained when she realized her mother wasn’t going to say anything. “We went to your dorm first. Some guy named Brady was just leaving and I think he recognized me from the pictures you have on Facebook because he stopped us and knew we were looking for you. He said you were probably getting ready for the game, that you were an ice girl.”
Madison furrowed her brow. “But when did he bring up Alec?” she asked.
“When Mom asked why you weren’t getting ready in your dorm room,” Rhine said. “That’s when Brady mentioned you were probably at your boyfriend’s house, considering you were a Gulls Girl and he was a player.”
Madison bit the inside of her bottom lip to keep in a scream. What the fuck was Brady thinking? How dare he open his mouth and put himself in business that didn’t involve him? She wanted to send him an angry text but decided against doing that right away.
Rumors & Roughing: A Slapshot Novel (Slapshot Series Book 5) Page 9
