My contribution to Melissa lore is that the Montreal team is genuinely convinced Shane is in love with Melissa, he never picks up girls but is calling her at all hours, they clearly get on and have their own inside jokes and banter. Especially if they don't know his allergies. Of course Shane is dating a specialist sports dietician who works for the Metros, he'd probably marry hockey if he could. They're living in a universe where Shane's illicit forbidden hockey romance is hidden due to the Human resources department. Hayden casually brings up how he knows 'Lily' is a code name and Shane's life briefly flashes before his eyes. š„š„š„
complicating this is that shane IS a little bit in love with melissa. NOT romantically or anything, but he went in already SO apologetic because he knows firsthand that having to work around his needs is a pain, and her job is just supposed to be optimizing nutrition to make sure he can deliver a good performance, and and and-
and melissa's eyes instead lit up because this is her SHIT. she fucking LOVES THIS. like shane went in expecting annoyance or at least frustration and instead got enthusiastic "let's fucking GOOOOO" energy because melissa fucking LOVES her job, and shane is a fun challenge that pushes her skills in research and creativity and adaptation.
and in my head, melissa is one of the dieticians who goes into the field because they themselves had experience with disordered eating, and so in my heart, melissa was a varsity athlete who knows firsthand how fucked up the culture around food gets in sports, so optimizing nutrition AND promoting healthy, balanced ideas around nutrition are very important for her. so also seeing shane get more comfortable over time contacting her and asking questions and even making requests (!! requests!! yay!! he has preferences beyond requirements!!!) is extremely personally satisfying in how it is fucking EXACTLY what she got into this field for.
also: melissa has been in sports nutrition for 10 years by the time she first meets shane after she transfers in from another team's nutrition department. she has met plenty of shitty men in this job who either don't respect her expertise or even try to fucking mansplain HER OWN GODDAMN FIELD TO HER. like yeah some of them listen and ask questions and respect her degree, but some of them are also assholes because this is Macho Man Sport. shane, though?? fucking LOVES outsourcing decisions. he LOVES that shit. so shane with her?? respectful, always listens, defers to her as an authority on the thing she's spent years of her life studying, and is genuinely appreciative of her. so polite. so genuinely relieved to have her make choices for him.
so like. yeah. shane and melissa?? CONSTANTLY in touch. 100% looks like he might be in love with her even though she is about 15 years older than him (and unknown to anyone else in the workplace, a lesbian). and for her part? melissa is very fond of shane. he is a very rewarding client and she also has a soft spot for the fact that food specifically is very difficult for him. he's literally a fucking perfect case of why she got into this field.
this does lead to the EXTREMELY funny gossip in the montreal rumor mill that shane is "cheating" on melissa with boston lily, thus having a woman in two cities, and tbh? it gets him cred with the guys that he doesn't know he has. they respect the game. and then he starts dating ROSE LANDRY????
shane??? IN FRONT OF MELISSA YOU'RE DOING THIS???
there are at least a few players on montreal's team who think that dating rose landry must be a cover to hide his relationship with melissa because maybe hr started asking questions or something. like shane and melissa's love is clearly as strong as ever, so CLEARLY something else is going on here.
areudirty
titsay
prguitarman
