Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Neutral Zone

Moss feels an overwhelming sense of relief sitting in his cubicle back at the firm. Here, he can drown out his thoughts in numbers and spreadsheets while isolating himself from the world.

Scratch that- he was able to drown out his nagging thoughts for about the first half of the workday. Now, however, his mind keeps replaying the last twenty-four hours on repeat like a broken record.

His flight from Denver to Detroit wasn't until 2:15 PM on Sunday, but he made sure to get to the airport earlier than necessary at 10:30 AM. He was hoping that time would somehow pass by faster while drinking alone in a booth at Chili's before boarding the plane. Moss had gotten tipsy off of neon blue cocktails that had a combination of- God knows -what kinds of syrups and alcohol in them.

Work only requires employees to be in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, but he couldn't stand the thought of working remotely in his dark, shoebox-sized apartment today. He felt the need to go into the office to avoid reflecting on the recent interactions that he's had with his family. After seeing Eli's Instagram post, Moss can't help but overthink his current relationship with his parents and brothers.

Realization had struck him that his parents haven't been talking to him about anything other than his brothers and hockey for the past couple of weeks.... maybe even months.

It also feels as if his brothers have been shrugging him off when he tries to text or call to catch up on what's happening in their lives. The three of them haven't had a genuine conversation since the two weeks that they spent at the family lake house back in July.

Moss had come to the office to avoid these thoughts, but they keep popping up no matter how many emails he opens or spreadsheets he looks at.

As he stands to head to the coffee station on the other side of the room, he feels his phone buzz in his pocket. Taking it out, he sees a text from a random number.

303-***-****

Hey Moss! This is Tye Martel:D

I asked Eli for your number.... hope that's okay

Why is Martel texting him? Did he leave something in the locker room?

To: Tye Martel

Hi Tye! Totally okay, what's up?

Moss figures he should just ask outright what it is he's being contacted about.

Tye Martel

Just wanted to let you know I enjoyed talking with you after the game and wanted to stay in touch

Wanted to stay in touch? Like, friends?

Moss has never been one to make many friends, that was more Shane's area of expertise. People have always loved to be around Shane. He was consistently part of the popular crowd at every school he had hopped around to for hockey. Even Eli used to struggle a bit with making friends, but he still has always done infinitely better than Moss in any social situation.

After a couple minutes of debating on how to respond (a few drafts were written out in his notes app), he settles on something and hits send.

To: Tye Martel

I enjoyed talking with you too:)

It's a simple response, but it stresses him out enough that he puts his phone on silence and flips it facedown on his desk.

Should he have expanded on the conversation more? Maybe asked him how his day is going?

Who knows- this is not exactly something that happens to Moss everyday. Or ever.

This odd turn of events is apparently the distraction that Moss needs to get moving on his work. He finally contributes to a spreadsheet that his boss has been nudging him to do for awhile, calls a client to get confirmation on a security question and even volunteers to make a couple copies of a report for his cubicle neighbor.

Suppose you could call this the Rip-Tye-d Effect....

He manages to somehow avoid checking his phone until he's back at his apartment later that evening. With a plate of spaghetti in front of him, he opens the latest notification from Martel.

Tye Martel

Did you have fun with your family over the weekend?

Eli and Shane seemed excited to have everyone come in so they could show off their fancy new bachelor pad haha

Sighing to himself, Moss quickly types out a reply.

To: Tye Martel

I had fun at the game but I didn't get to hang out with the whole fam as much as I would've liked:(

We didn't have time for an apartment tour during this trip

It takes Tye less than 10 minutes to respond to his delayed messages.

Tye Martel

Didn't you stay at their place?

Moss doesn't blame him for assuming that he would be staying with his brothers while in town. It certainly would've been more ideal than having to pay for a hotel room and multiple Ubers to get around.

To: Tye Martel

I wish I could've stayed with them but they said they only have 1 guest room and it was for our parents. I got a room at the Holiday Inn Express nearby and took an Uber to the game on Saturday.

Moss is intrigued as he watches the "....", indicating that Tye is typing. The ellipses pop up and go away at least four times in the span of a couple of minutes.

Tye Martel

Next time just stay at my place

I have plenty of room and you can ride with me to the arena to watch games

Huh. Moss has lost track of the amount of times that he has been left speechless by this ongoing text conversation.

To: Tye Martel

I can't ask you to do that

I'm honestly okay with staying at the hotel and Uber-ing around

Tye Martel

You didn't ask me I offered and I'd rather you stay with me than at a sketchy hotel

It was a Holiday Inn- which honestly wasn't that sketchy....

To: Tye Martel

I probably won't be coming to a game for awhile anyways I kind of exceeded my monthly spending limit with this trip by a lot so it'll take a minute to recover lol

Adding the "lol" hopefully makes the admission look a little less depressing.

"...."

"...."

"...."

Again with the typing and deleting! What part of his last text could possibly warrant so much thought?

Tye Martel

Give me a heads up before the next game you come to

I get deals on airlines and you can stay in one of my guest rooms

To: Tye Martel

If you say so.... still not sure about the next game that I'll be flying in for but I'll make sure to let you know first sir **salute emoji**

Tye Martel

**laughed at message**