Chapter 1

As I suspected, Coach Benson was waiting for me when I finished my workout early Monday morning before the start of my first classes of the summer semester.

"Hey Coach, I thought I might run into you soon," I said, shaking his hand.

"Hi Mike, I thought I would just drop by in case you wanted to talk," Fred responded. "Rolf told me that you come in every day when you're in town. Congratulations on being drafted by the Islanders. First pick in the second round isn't too shabby though I thought you should have been in the top five of the first round. I don't know what those general managers were thinking. I was very impressed on your combine testing and I thought they would be as well."

"Thanks Coach," I replied. "I suspected I would drop when I didn't commit to visiting them to do some on-ice workouts. I can't say that I'm real happy about where I went in the draft, but since every team passed on me I can't really get mad at just a few select teams."

"So, how did the initial meeting go with the Islanders?" Coach asked.

"Ok, but they put a full court press on for me to forego the rest of my college career and join them right away," I admitted. "They have some good points but also slanted the arguments in their favour as would any good debater. I'm going to head to New York this weekend and visit their facilities and check out the area. I'm sure they will pull out all the stops to entice me to join them."

"So how do you feel about going pro?" he asked as we walked out into the arena.

"Like everything in life, there are pros and cons to it," I answered. "I'm confident that I could play at that level physically, but I'm not sure if I have enough experience to make the right decisions even half the time. Everyone says that the speed is the biggest change from college versus the NHL and I know I have to work on that aspect of my game."

"You're fast enough on your skates, but I agree the biggest change is the need for quick decisions while keeping up with everyone who are at least as fast as you," he commented. "Every rookie has to develop that as quickly as he can or he'll get sent down to the minors to develop it. Where you might have a second to make a decision on where to pass the puck in college hockey, at the minor pro level it shrinks to half a second and the NHL level it has to be instantaneous in some cases."

"The only way to develop that skill is with experience, something that I lack at this point in my career," I told him. "I honestly don't want to spend a year with their farm team in Connecticut at the expense of my degree. I either play in the NHL or stay here. The problem is I can't come back here to play if I go there and get cut. It won't be an easy decision to make."

"It never is," Coach agreed. "I think we both know that you will eventually end up in the NHL unless you get hurt. It really comes down to what else you want to do with your life besides playing hockey. You're smart and have ambitions above and beyond playing a sport for a living. Sure the money and attention is great, but you have both of those with your modelling career. You're not an athlete that is a student; you're a student that is also an athlete."

"I've been doing nothing but thinking about that," I told him. "They made an interesting argument that I could pick up specific classes there that I will need to further my education without taking some of the filler courses that really aren't needed for my specific needs in computer and AI programming. I'm already compressing my degree from four to three years, and I think I'll take a look at what really is important to me in terms of my future requirements and streamline my studies even further. I've already taken one graduate course and I'm starting a new one this semester."

"It sounds like you might want to only spend one more year here if you do stay," Coach stated.

"A degree is nice but the knowledge is more important to me," I told him. "I'm not going to go out and get a fifty to eighty thousand dollar job programming for someone else. I'm going to play hockey and develop my own software ideas. So the decision is where spend the next year to get the knowledge and skills I need to further that plan. Money isn't an issue so I have to decide where the best place to be is. I'm going to talk to a couple professors to get their take on it as well as find out what schools are close by in New York."

He was quiet for a few moments.

"It sounds like you're doing a good job of thinking things through rationally," he eventually stated. "What I'm not sensing is the human side of the equation, the emotional side of it, if you will. Mike, you're one of the smartest and driven freshmen I've ever met, but you lack things in your life, like fun and friendship. I know you've had girlfriends and have dated supermodels and other beautiful women, but other than John, I don't think you have a good friend on the team or at school. I want you to think about that aspect when you make your decision. You need to set aside some time in your week to just live, whether it's college life or a NHL rookie's life."

Now it was I who had to think about what he said.

"You raise an interesting point," I admitted. "My schedule is pretty tight around here with work-outs, practice, classes and homework during the week and then travel and hockey on the weekend. I'm sure that playing in the NHL will be even more hectic. Add modelling to the mix and it's a wonder I'll ever get a free moment at either place. I guess I need to set aside some time for life wherever I end up."

"Good to hear it," Coach said. "Now, I have one more piece of information to pass along to further screw up your decision making process. I spoke to Ken Howard, the Detroit Red Wings general manager, last week and you came up. As you might know, Steve Yzerman is the Executive Director for the 2010 Canadian Olympic Hockey team and Ken will be helping him with that task. They, along with the coach Mike Babcock, want to invite you to the tryout camp in Calgary from August 24^th to August 27^th. I think you know you're a long shot to make the team, but you might be able to be a substitute if someone gets injured."

"Wow, I never suspected that they would even consider anyone not in the NHL," I said, very amazed. "I assume that you won't mind if I miss a week of practice at the start of the season."

"Of course not, I'm not worried about you; we have a ton on new guys to assimilate into our roster this year," Coach responded. "So, here is Steve's number as well as Ken's. Give either of them a call back and let them know if you're going to attend."

"How do you think this should affect my decision?" I asked.

"I don't know," Coach replied honestly. "I think you know you could play in the NHL this year and I guess others think so as well. It's really up to you to know if that's what you want to do or is it more important to get another year of specialized education under your belt first. Add in the question of free time and a bit of balance in your life and you're left with a decision that I'd not want to have to make."

"So you're not advocating one or the other?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm definitely advocating you staying here," Coach replied with a chuckle. "It's for purely selfish reasons of course. We'd be a much better team with you here. But I'm here today and any other time you need to talk, just to be a sounding board for your ideas and to answer any questions you might have. It's your life and your decision. You have to make it for the right reasons like who are you leaving behind if you go and what will you be missing out on if you stay? In the end neither choice is going to be a bad one but you'll have regrets either way."

"Thanks for your time coach, I appreciate everything you've said," I told him as we stood up. "I'll keep you in the loop as the summer continues."

"Thanks for listening, Mike," Coach replied. "Call me anytime if you want to talk. You should get pick up a schedule of free ice times for the summer and get back on the ice. Let me know what times you pick and I'll try and come around. We can get some guys together if you like as well."

"Sounds like a good plan," I told him. "I'll stop by and book some time and let you know. Thanks Coach."

You're welcome, Mike," he responded. "I'll talk to you later."

I stopped by the booking office and got a schedule. After quickly looking at it, I booked time every early morning and then another hour in the afternoon after my last class and before the summer league took to the ice after dinner.

I drove to the main campus and parked in a lot with my new parking sticker clearly shown. That was going to save me some time in the fall if I still was around.

I had the second half of both graphics and db programming in the morning and then the graduate game design course at one pm. The morning flew by with reviews of the first half's material in both courses plus the first new chapter. I worked on the assignments while eating a sandwich and then attended the graduate class.

There were eight other students, all older than me in attendance when the professor came in.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Henry Mitchell, I'll be the professor for this graduate class in game design level one," a tall, skinny man with glasses said. "For those new to one of my classes, I'll make it simple. There will be three projects making up thirty, thirty and forty percent of the marks. I don't care if you attend my lectures or not, but I would think that you will find the content useful in your projects. This is game design so the first two projects will be to design various portions of a game while the final project will be to design and program an entirely new game, using modern graphical techniques that I'm sure you've all played with in the various first person and third person games on the market today. What we won't be doing is reinventing the wheel. If there are already software functions to render a person on screen, you will be allowed to use them in your program. You will of course need to design your own characters and interfaces. This class will teach you how to develop your game layout, interfaces and all of the other behind the scenes architecture. The visual aspect of the game is just a small portion of what you have to consider. Ok, any questions before we begin?"

There were none and he started into the lecture. I was fascinated by everything he said as I was going to be using all of it to design my game and for various portions of my AI project down the road. He went through several chapters of the book, picking out topics here and there. I made a note to continue my own research in my spare time.

I drove back the arena and used my key to the locker rooms to get at my equipment and get dressed for the ice. I had to wait for the public skating to end but used the time to stretch and warm up. Rolf drove the Zamboni around the ice and then I helped him get the nets on the ice and attach a new metal overlay with a picture of Chris Osgood painted on it.

"I like the new one, Rolf," I said when we got it on.

"Thought we might go with Oz this year," he said. "Patrick got enough abuse last year."

"You're probably right," I replied with a chuckle. "I booked this time every Monday thru Thursday as well as early morning every day."

"Sounds good to me, I'll have it ready for you each day," he said before he shut the doors behind him.

I took it easy this time out so as not to pull anything. I did my regular skating and shooting routine but just not at full speed or full power. I was pretty rusty but didn't let it get to me. After a quick shower, I drove home and made a couple of phone calls.

"Hey Stacey, how are you?" I asked.

"Not bad, how are you Mike?" she inquired.

"Pretty good, had a full day of workouts and classes my first day back," I told her.

"So you're taking summer classes," she said, sounding disappointed.

"Might as well make use of the time," I said. "I got on the ice as well so that felt good."

"That's good to hear," she replied. "So, are you still coming here on the weekend?"

"Yep, that's why I'm calling," I told her. "I'm going to fly in Thursday evening and I was going to book a room at the Marriot near the Coliseum if that's ok."

"That's just what I was going to suggest," Stacey said, sounding cheerier. "Shall I pick you up at the airport?"

"No need for that, Stacey, I'll take a taxi," I replied. "Shall we meet for breakfast Friday morning at the hotel?"

"Sounds good and then we can tour the facilities," she said. "I'll start getting everything lined up and email you an agenda."

"Sounds good, Stacey," I replied. "I'll talk to you later in the week and we can hash out any details."

"Ok, I'll talk to you soon," she said before hanging up.

I called Ken Holland next.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Mr. Holland, it's Mike Stewart from the University of Michigan," I said.

"Mike, it's good to hear from you," he said. "I assume Fred Benson gave you our invite?"

"Yes Sir, it came as quite a shock," I told him. "I thought you and Mr. Yzerman and the others would be going strictly with NHL players like the last couple of Olympic teams."

"Oh, that was the prevailing opinion, but we thought we might check out a couple younger players as well, for various reasons," he answered. "It will provide good experience for the future teams and will also serve notice to the players who think they can rest on their laurels. I know you will give everything you have and push the more experienced players to work harder while showing that you belong."

"Well, I'm honoured to be selected and I would love to attend," I said. "I'm back on the ice and never gave up my daily workouts so I'll be in great shape in late August. I know I don't have a shot at making the team but I'm not going to make it an easy decision to make."

"I expect nothing less from you, Mike," he said. "And don't count yourself out so early in the process. You bring some intangibles to the ice that we all think could be of some benefit, or we wouldn't have bothered inviting you. Someone will be in touch soon with all the details."

"Thank you, Mr. Holland, I appreciate this more than you can imagine," I replied.

"You earned this, Mike," he replied. "Steve or I will talk to you soon."

We both hung up and I couldn't stop grinning. After a few minutes picturing myself in the Canada hockey jersey skating in on net for the winning goal against the Russians, I shook my head and went online and booked the flight to New York and then the hotel room for three nights.

Finally, after thinking it through, I called Elizabeth.

"Hey Mike, I was wondering when you were going to call," she said when she answered. "How was your trip?"

"Hi Elizabeth," I responded. "My trip was good; busy but I got a lot accomplished. How was your week off?"

"I got to go out to the proving grounds to drive the new Mustang Cobra Jet and had a blast," she said. "I even got to tinker a bit with the engine and it was so cool to work with experts."

"Good for you," I said. "Are you in Lansing?"

"Yes, and I had three classes today," she replied. "You?"

"Yep, in Ann Arbor and had three classes as well," I told her. "It was a bit tough to get back into the grind."

"Tell me about it," she agreed. "I'm taking a class in alternative fuels and I almost fell asleep when the professor went on and on about the chemistry of the fuels."

"We all need to take courses that aren't that useful," I conceded. "I had to take a creative writing class and a philosophy class last year."

"Yuck!" she said. "Not much use for either in computer science."

"It's supposed to make us well-rounded, I guess," I told her.

She laughed and replied, "Just your butt from sitting in the chairs too long in useless classes."

I chuckled for a bit.

"So listen, I think it's time we dialled in this thing we have going on," she said. "Talking on the phone is great and all, but it would be nice to see you again and find out a bit more about you. I don't even know your last name and you don't know mine."

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," I said in a deep voice.

"Oh, I love the Barry White impression," she said with a laugh. "So what do you say? Care to kick it up a notch?"

I thought about it for a bit and said, "Elizabeth, we should probably meet at least one time so I can explain a few things. I'm not sure if you'll want to continue afterwards but I owe you at least that. Before you get worried, it's nothing to do with you; I just happen to get some news today that changes my schedule and I've had a couple people come into my life in the last week."

"So I have competition for your time and attention?" she asked.

"That's a good way to put it," I replied with a chuckle. "Listen, I have to go to New York Thursday night and I won't be back to Sunday night. Either we meet tomorrow or Wednesday evening or the following week."

"I'd die if I had to wait a week or more to hear what you had to say," she replied. "I don't even want to wait until tomorrow night. How about I drive over there now and we can have a quick bite to eat somewhere and spill all our secrets?"

"I guess that's ok," I agreed. "I could drive to Lansing if you like."

"A U of M man in Lansing is not taken lightly while a MSU woman is welcome anywhere," she said with a laugh. "What's your address?"

I gave it to her and she said she would be there in an hour before hanging up.

I went around the condo picking up after myself and started a load of laundry to tackle the pile I had from my trip. I quickly did the dishes and had time for a shave before switching the load to the dryer and putting in another one the washer. I vowed to call Daphne and get her back on the job as soon as possible.

I tuned in a sports show and just vegged for a bit before the buzzer rang.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Is this Barry's pad?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes it is," I replied in a low voice. "I'll be right down to get ya."

"Oh, I'm all a flutter," she said.

I laughed and let her into the lobby before putting on some shoes and grabbing my keys before heading out the door.

She was looking at a couple of Japanese paintings on the wall so I could only see her back. She had on some black dress slacks and blouse that looped around her neck and left her arms, shoulders and some of her back bare. It was also in black as was her hair, long and straight this time. When she turned, I saw that some of it hung over one eye and it made her look a bit exotic. The blouse plunged low between her breasts to show some cleavage and the entire effect was of sexiness and class.

"Wow, you look fantastic!" I told her as I approached. "I better upgrade our dining plans from McDonalds."

She grinned and replied, "I wasn't sure what the plans were, so I thought I would dress to impress."

"Very impressive, I'd say," I told her. "Let's go up to my condo for a second and I'll quickly put on some better clothes and we'll head out."

"Sorry," she said as she followed me to the elevator.

"Don't apologize for looking gorgeous," I told her. "I don't mind being seen with a beautiful woman dressed like that. It will just take me a second to change."

We got into the elevator and she watched as I pressed the button for the top floor.

"The name on the condo was Mike Stewart," she stated.

"I put that on there so I don't get so many ladies buzzing for Barry White," I told her.

She grinned for a bit and then said, "I honestly didn't recognize you back at the prom."

"I try not to use the deep voice all the time," I remarked with a shrug.

"I meant you being Mike Stewart, silly," she said with a roll of her eyes. "It was dark and you look different in real life."

"So you know of my heinous crimes, do you?" I asked. "I'm surprised you didn't already run away screaming."

"I thought about it after remembering how horrible you were to my Spartans on the ice," she said with a glare, "but I also remembered what you did for that actress and thought that it would be nice to have someone like that around."

"I'm glad you stayed," I said. "Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I was enjoying our conversations without all that other stuff in the way."

"So was I," she said. "Not that there is anything wrong with that part of your life. It was good to talk to the guy behind all the public stuff."

"I'm glad you think that way," I said as the elevator door opened.

I led the way into the condo.

"Nice digs," she said, looking around.

"Thanks," I replied. "Why don't you look around for a couple minutes while I put on some good clothes? The view of the campus is great from up here."

"Ok, see you in a bit," she said, moving to the balcony doors.

I quickly got into some dress pants and a collared shirt and dug out my dress shoes. She was still out on the balcony when I went looking for her.

"It is a very nice view and a very scenic campus," she said, turning to me.

"Yes it is," I agreed. "Shall we go?"

"In a minute," she replied. "Let me ask you something."

"Sure, what is it?" I asked.

"Why me?" she simply inquired.

"You're beautiful, smart and different," I said. "You not only race cars, you want to build them. I also like your attitude. You're who you are and don't care if someone doesn't like it. You didn't go after the football player like I'm sure you could have. I enjoyed how you just appeared beside me that night when I was leaving. I just want to get to know you better."

"Damn, I'd want to date that person too," she said with another grin. "I just liked how you looked in your tux."

"There's not accounting for taste, now is there?" I asked.

"So, other than being a hockey player and a famous supermodel, what issues are stopping you from continuing to see me?" she asked.

"Right to the point, before we even go to eat," I noted. "There are three or four reasons. One: I was drafted by the New York Islanders last week and there is a chance I could go play for them in a couple of months. Two: I found out today that I'm invited to the Canadian Olympic men's hockey team orientation camp in late August so I'm going to be on the ice twice a day to get ready for that. Three, I ran into an old friend from high school and I'm helping her group record an album. All three of them are moving in today downstairs. She was my only friend back when I was a chess playing geek, and I was one of her only guy friends. So she's back in my life. She's only here a couple of months and then probably go on tour so I'm not sure where we stand, short term or long-term."

Finally, I explained the whole Mitsy – Asuka storyline and what Asuka dropped on me last night.

"Ok, I can see how those points could cause issues," she said. "Congratulations on being drafted and being invited to the Olympic camp."

"Thanks, it's been an amazing week for hockey news," I replied. "I don't think I'm ready for all of that, so I'm going to have to spend a lot of time getting prepared while trying to keep up with assignments in my two undergrad classes as well as the projects in my graduate game design class."

"You're taking a graduate course?" she asked.

"Yes, I took one last semester in artificial intelligence and did well," I informed her. "This one will be just as challenging. So you can see I'm going to be very busy."

"You're living a very full life right now, Mike Stewart," she stated with a shake of her head.

"Yes I am," I agreed. "So I don't know if getting serious with you is wise or fair to you right now, especially when the other two also want to spend time with me. I'm not sure how to handle any of you without pissing everyone off."

"Crudely put, but to the point," Elizabeth replied. "So to sum up, you're very busy, you have other women in your life and while you might want to continue to see me, you can't commit to a serious relationship for at least a couple months and you might not even be here after that. Is that basically it?"

"I'd say you hit the nail on the head," I agreed as I heard a knock on the condo door. "Great timing, I have the feeling you're going to meet one or more of the ladies in question."

"This should be fun," she said with a grin.

"You are much too cheerful after hearing all that," I remarked as we walked to the door.

"I haven't heard anything that tells me that you don't want to continue to see me," she explained. "I'll take dating on the weekends for a couple of months over not seeing you at all."

"Really?" I asked, stopping in mid-stride to look down at her.

"Really, really," she replied with a grin. "You do still want to see me right?"

"Yes I do," I agreed with a smile.

"Then it's settled," she said with an answering smile. "Now we deal with your other women."

I rolled my eyes and opened the door.

"Hey Mikey!" Willow said with a grin.

"Hey Willow," I replied with a smile. "Where are the hooligans who let you up here?"

Asuka stepped into view from the side with a grin.

"I should have known it would be you," I said. "Come on in. This is Elizabeth, another good friend of mine."

"Hello, I'm Willow Rose," Willow introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Elizabeth Ford," she replied. "Mike was just telling me about you two. You must be Asuka; it's nice to meet you both."

"Hello Elizabeth," Asuka said. "Michael mentioned you last night but didn't say how beautiful you were."

"He did mention that you two were beautiful and both very talented in different ways," Elizabeth responded. "We were just discussing where we were taking our relationship and he informed me about you two stepping back into his life. So it's probably perfect timing for the two of you to show up so we can get it out in the open and see what's best for Mike and for us."

"You're taking this much better than I would have thought you would," Willow observed.

"I guess I pre-empted the two of you by getting him to agree that he still wants to see me and I want to see him," Elizabeth stated. "We agreed not to get too serious as Mike has some good news to tell you that will affect the amount of time he can spend with us.

They looked at me and I told them about the invite.

"Congratulations Michael, that is very impressive," Asuka stated.

"That is amazing," Willow added. "They don't invite non-NHLers to camp anymore."

"I was very surprised when coach told me they called," I agreed.

"So you're going to be on the ice every chance you can, knowing you," Willow continued. "So I see why Elizabeth is willing to settle for dates rather than getting serious. So where does that leave us?"

"I for one don't have a problem if you two want to spend some time with him as well," Elizabeth said.

All three of us looked at her in surprise.

"Really?" Willow asked. "You wouldn't be jealous?"

"I think the three of us would have to come to some sort of agreement on some issues and on a schedule, but I don't see why we can't keep this amiable," she replied. "Mike needs our support and maybe we can be stress relievers rather than additional points of stress in his life."

"That's very mature and thoughtful," Asuka remarked. "I would agree to an arrangement like that."

The two of them looked at Willow.

"I would be interested in hearing more about it," she said cautiously.

"Why don't the three of us sit down and hammer out the details while Mike orders us some food," Elizabeth suggested.

"He hasn't eaten yet?" Willow asked, looking worried. "We better take care of that before he starts eating the furniture."

"I agree," Asuka said quickly.

"Ha, ha," I said. "What do you want? Pizza, Chinese?"

"Pizza," Asuka said. "We need to get Daphne back on the job here and downstairs."

"Ok, who's this Daphne?" Elizabeth asked. "I'm not sharing him another woman."

"She's a high school student that I hired to clean and do my laundry and get groceries," I informed her. "She needs the money for college. She did the condo downstairs when the quartet lived there."

"Oh, ok," Elizabeth relented. "We should probably meet her then. Pizza is ok with me."

"Me too," Willow agreed.

"Ok, I'll order it while you three schedule my life for the next seven weeks," I said dryly.

"Thank you dear," Elizabeth said with a grin.

"Yes, thanks honey," Willow added.

"Thank you, Michael," Asuka finished.

"You're welcome, um, girlfriends?" I asked.

They giggled before walking to the living room and sitting close together on the couch. I ordered two pizzas, asking for Daphne to deliver them. I folded some laundry and tidied up a bit better in the kitchen and laundry room before heading back out. They were still huddled together, so I grabbed my textbook and went out to the balcony to read until the buzzer rang.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey Mike, its Daphne with your pizzas," she said cheerfully.