Pick and Choose

I sat in the bar with my friends Jasmine and Kelly after the Ottawa Senators game ended. We were celebrating our boys’ shootout victory over the Montreal Canadiens at a bar that most of the guys went to after games ended. Kelly was really excited, Jasmine could care less and I sat off in my own little world, wondering if Mike Comrie would show up with the guys. Kelly squealed loudly, jerking me out of my thoughts. I jumped a little and turned toward her.

“Oh my God, they’re here!” She exclaimed, shaking my arm frantically. “How does my hair look? Is my makeup all right? Do I have anything in my teeth? Caitlin, what do I do?” She was still shaking my arm.

“Kelly, calm down. Your hair is fine. Your makeup looks good. There’s nothing in your teeth. You should calm down a little and stop shaking me,” I responded. Jasmine snorted a little, not amused by Kelly’s obsession. I glared at her a little. “If you want to go, just go,” I snarled at her. She glared right back.

“I will,” She retorted. “Kelly, I’ll see you in class on Monday.” With that, she left. I shook my head.

“I don’t know what you like about her, Kelly. She’s a total bitch,” I said.

“Well that’s not very nice,” A guy’s voice behind me made me jump. I turned and stared up at Daniel Alfredsson. He smiled a little. “Mind if we join you ladies?” He asked. Kelly and I shook our heads and he sat down across from us. Soon, Jason Spezza, Dany Heatly, Pascal Leclair and Mike Comrie joined us at the table. Mike ended up squeezed between Pascal and Kelly, but I wasn’t complaining. Kelly wiggled her eyebrows at me and I elbowed her a little. The guys were all talking and Kelly and I just sat there and listened to about five different conversations happening at once. We looked at each other and back at the guys.

“Problem?” Mike Fisher, one of the latecomers, asked, grinning at us.

“Nah, we’re good,” I answered.

“I’m not! I have to use the bathroom!” Kelly squeaked from my other side. The guys laughed as Mike, Mike, Jason and I moved to let Kelly run to the bathroom - literally. It was kind of funny watching her go; the guys started laughing a bit.

“Since we’re up, I’m getting a drink,” I announced.

“I’ll go with you,” Mike Comrie offered. We went to the bar and I got vodka and he got a beer. We headed back to the table to discover that everyone else had migrated to the dance floor. We sat at the table and drank our drinks and talked about our lives. Around midnight, we were both a little tipsy and went to the dance floor. We danced and had a lot of fun and a couple more drinks. We looked around for everyone and saw Daniel sitting at the table. “Where have you been?” Mike asked, almost falling over. Daniel caught him and sat him down. I stumbled a little and sat next to Mike.

“I’ve been here for about half an hour watching you two dance,” Daniel said. “Come on, I’ll take you home.” Mike pulled me up and Daniel supported both of us. Mike Fisher and Jason came rushing over and helped Daniel; Mike Fisher on my other side and Jason on Mike’s other side. They helped us out to Daniel’s car and he drove us to his house.

“Hey, this isn’t my house,” Mike complained.

“You two are staying with me for the night. I don’t want to leave you alone,” Daniel responded. He helped Mike inside and I sat in the car. The next thing I knew, Daniel was holding my hair back and I was leaning over his toilet puking out the contents of my stomach. I groaned a little and rested my head on the toilet bowl. Daniel looked down at me and helped me to brush my teeth and change clothes. He carried me to his bedroom and I protested.

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” I said. I could tell my words were slurred badly. He shook his
head. “Don’t you have practice tomorrow?” He shook his head again.

“Don’t worry about it, just get some sleep,” He said, laying me in his bed and tucking me in. My eyes closed and I fell into a restful sleep.

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I opened my eyes a little and instantly shut them again with a groan. I rolled over and buried my head into the pillow and squeezed my eyes shut. I felt a light hand on my shoulder, shaking me a little.

“Come on, you have to get up now,” Daniel’s voice floated to me. I shook my head.

“Go ‘way,” I mumbled. He shook me a little harder and I winced. I tried to push his hand away, but he wouldn’t let go. “I want to sleep.”

“You have to get up now!” Daniel said to me, jerking me out of bed by my arm. I winced at the sunlight and covered my eyes with my hand.

“It’s so bright,” I complained as he helped me to his living room. He chuckled a little and sat me on his couch.

“That’s exactly what Mike said,” He responded, shaking his head lightly. I closed my eyes and lay on his couch, curled up in a ball. Daniel pulled me up a little and handed me a bottle of water and a couple of aspirin. I took them gratefully and thanked him. He smiled sweetly at me and I lay back down. I closed my eyes again and rested my head on the arm of his couch. I heard movement next to me and opened my eyes a little to see Mike above me. He pulled me against him and I cuddled into him. He laughed lightly and pulled me into his arms. I buried my head in his shoulder and shut out the world.

||Mike’s POV||

I smiled down at Caitlin as she fell asleep against me and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer. I kissed her forehead lightly and cradled her against me. Daniel walked into the living room and paused as he saw us. He smiled.

“What are you going to tell Hilary? You know she’s going to find out,” He said. I shrugged a little.

“I don’t know. We have been going out for a while. It’d be kind of weird to just spring this on her,” I confessed. He nodded a little and looked at both of us. A grin formed on his face. “What?” I demanded.

“I just got an idea. You don’t look that hung over, which fits into my plan,” He said. I gave him a what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about? look. He smiled wider. “She looks like you could pass her off as your sister,” He said, and continued from there. I smiled myself.

“You are a genius,” I said. There was a knock on the door.

“Coming!” Daniel called and went to go answer the door.

“Hey Daniel! Is Mike around here? He wasn’t at home,” I heard Hilary’s voice from the door. I slid out from under Caitlin and went to the door. I smiled widely at her.

“Hey baby,” I said. She turned and moved toward me.

“Where were you? I was worried when you didn’t come home,” She pouted.

“You see, my sister just came into town unexpectedly and I met up with her at a bar down by the arena. Well, she was drunk, and I didn’t want to bring her home because I thought it would upset you, so Daniel agreed that we could bring her here. I’m so sorry I didn’t call you,” I said as sincerely as I could. Her eyes filled with love and forgiveness as she hugged me.

“Of course I forgive you, Mike!” She exclaimed. She leaned up and I kissed her gently. “I have to go. Will you be home tonight?” She asked. I nodded.

“I’ll have dinner ready for you and everything,” I promised. She smiled widely and hugged me once more before she left. Daniel closed the door and I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God,” I muttered. I grinned at Daniel. “You’re a life saver, my friend,” I said. He smirked.

“You owe me big time,” He said.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“You can’t break up with Hilary over this girl for at least three months. You have to get to know this girl first and make a decision,” He responded. I nodded.

“You think I’d do that to Hil?” I asked. He shrugged.

“You never know,” He said simply.

“I’ve been with her since I was in Long Island! You think I’d leave her just like that? I gave her a freaking car for her 20th birthday for goodness’ sake!” I was angry now. Daniel could sense it.

“Hey, I never meant to insult you. I was just saying,” He said, trying to make amends. I shook my head and went back into his living room.

“I don’t even know why you’d say something like that, Dan. I know I just came here and all, but seriously! Do I really come off as being that kind of guy?” I asked, glancing up at him. Daniel shook his head, finding it best not to say anything, I assumed. I sighed heavily as I sank into his recliner, massaging my forehead lightly. “God, I really need to get this mood thing straightened out. I’m about as bad as Sean Avery,” I said. Daniel chuckled and walked back into the room.

“Nah, Avery’s about ten times worse,” He said. I laughed lightly.

“Don’t I know it?” I said, and we both laughed. Caitlin stirred lightly and I went to her side. “Did we wake you up?” I asked. She nodded slightly, still groggy. “I’m sorry,” I said. She waved it off and looked up at us.

“I’m starving,” She complained, holding her stomach. Daniel got up and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. I sat on the couch next to her and we talked a little bit about everything and nothing. Daniel brought us both breakfast and we smiled.

“Dan, you didn’t have to! You could’ve just called to us, we would’ve come!” I said. He smiled.

“I felt like it,” He said. We ate in silence until a random thought popped up in my head.

“Hey Dan, where’s your wife?” I asked suddenly.

“Brigitte took Hugo, Loui, and Fenix home to Sweden for a little while. They’ll be back soon,” He responded with a smile. I nodded and dropped it from there. The rest of the meal was spent in silence. When Caitlin and I finished eating, we went into the kitchen and washed our dishes.

“So…” I said, not quite sure how to say it.

“What’s up?” She asked.

“Well, I know it’s kind of awkward, but I kind of… needyoutopretendtobemysister,” I said quickly.

“I don’t follow,” She said, looking confused. I sighed.

“I need you to pretend to be my sister,” I repeated. She looked shocked.

“What? Why?” She asked. I explained to her the situation with Hilary and she nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it!” She said.

“Wait, really? You will?” I asked, surprised. She laughed and nodded. “You are the best new friend ever!” I exclaimed, hugging her. “Okay, so you should come to the game tonight and meet her. I’ll fill you in on most of what you need to know so if she questions you you’ll know what to say,” I said. She nodded and we headed into the living room to begin a long discussion.