I Can't Do It Alone

“You spin my head right round, right round when you go down…” the phone blared, and all three girls looked around, trying to figure out whose phone it was.

“Sorry,” Jocelyn said as she grabbed the phone. “I forgot I changed the ringtone,” she said sheepishly as she answered the phone.

“Hey, babe, what are you up to?” Sid asked her.

Jocelyn looked around. “Nothing much. Brooklyn, Tia, and I are at Tia’s place right now. Did you get finished with your meeting?” she asked him.

“Yeah, finally,” he sighed.

“Why don’t you boys come on over here?” Jocelyn asked, looking at Tia to make sure it was alright, to which Tia nodded her head.

“Sure, we’ll be there in a little bit,” Sid replied, hanging up the phone.

“Are they coming over?” Tia asked.

“Yeah, he said they’d be over in a little bit. In the meantime, we need to figure out who this letter could be from,” Jocelyn said, picking up the piece of paper and examining it closely.

Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and Tia answered it to reveal Max and Sid standing on the other side. “Hey, guys,” she smiled, giving each of them a hug before they went to their respective girlfriends, giving them a quick kiss.

“What do you have there?” Sid asked Jocelyn, who was still holding Tia’s secret admirer letter.

“Oh, just a love letter for Tia,” Jocelyn sang, handing it to Sid, who proceeded to read it, with Max looking over his shoulder.

“So, any idea who it’s from?” Max asked, looking over at Tia.

“No idea,” Tia admitted, shaking her head. “That’s the problem. And, then these two over here,” she said, jerking her thumb towards Jocelyn and Brooklyn. “They seem to think it’s from Kris, but I keep telling them that there’s nothing going on between us!”

Max looked at Brooklyn. “Sorry to break it to you, but there’s no way it could have been Tanger. He was with us at that meeting, remember. And, unless he gave it to someone else to deliver, he couldn’t have left the meeting to bring it here,” he explained. “Besides, this isn’t Tanger’s type of thing,” he added.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Brooklyn said sadly, wishing that Kris and Tia would just get together already. “So, who could it be?” she asked.

***

The following day, Sid, Max, and Kris sat in the locker room after practice, getting dressed. “So,” Sid began, looking over at Kris. “You might want to ask Tia out sometime soon before you miss your chance.”

Kris looked at him questioningly. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

“It seems Tia’s got a secret admirer,” Sid replied. “She got a letter from someone telling her how beautiful she is and all this stuff. You better watch out before some random guy takes her from you,” he told him.

“No guy’s going to take her from me,” Kris said. “She’s not mine,” he reminded him. “We’re not together, and she can date whoever she wants to.”

“ "Pourquoi tu ne lui demande de sortir avec toi déjà? Nous savons tous que vous vous aimez!" Max asked, switching into his and Kris’s native language. Sid looked over at him, a confused expression on his face, not understanding what he had just said. “I asked him why he didn’t just ask her out already since we all know that they like each other,” Max clarified for Sid, who nodded his head in understanding.

“Listen, guys, Tia and I are just friends. So, can we just drop it already?” he asked, not waiting for an answer before he grabbed his bag and walked out of the locker room.

Not feeling like going home, Kris decided to drive around, trying to keep his mind off of Tia. Yes, he liked her, there was no denying it. But, it was obvious that he had already missed his chance with her. Why hadn’t he just asked her out already?

He pulled up to a small café, knowing that there weren’t going to be too many people there, so he could get in and out without being recognized. He walked in, giving the waitress his order, and then stepped aside so the other customers could order.

“Tanger?” he heard his name being called, and he spun around, seeing Tia standing in line. “Hey, what are you doing here?” she asked him.

Kris grabbed his coffee from the waitress and held it up to her. “I wanted some coffee,” he replied with a smile, and Tia laughed in embarrassment.

“Are you in a hurry, or do you feel like keeping me company?” Tia asked, moving aside, waiting on her drink.

Kris thought about it for a minute before saying, “I’ve got all the time in the world.”

“Good,” Tia smiled, grabbing her drink and walking to one of the booths in the corner. She sat down, and Kris sat down across from her. “So, how was your day?” Tia asked, trying to make conversation.

“Okay,” he replied. “Practice was the same as always. We’re getting ready for the Devils on Thursday, and they’re going to be a challenge,” he told her.

“They always are,” Tia agreed with a nod of her head. “But, I have faith in you guys. You’ll get the puck past Brodeur,” she smiled.

Kris laughed a little at her. “Thanks,” he said. “So, I hear you’ve got a secret admirer.”

Tia nodded her head. “Who told you?” she asked.

“Sid and Max,” he told her. “Why?”

“Just curious. But, to answer your question, yes, I apparently have a secret admirer. I got back to my place yesterday, and there was an envelope with my name on it. I opened it up, and there was a card saying how beautiful I am, and how I’ll always have a person who likes me from afar,” she told him.

“Oh,” Kris said.

“Can I let you in on a little secret, though?” Tia asked, lowering her voice, while placing her arms on the table and leaning in towards Kris.

“Sure,” he said with a small laugh.

“It kind of creeps me out,” she admitted.

“Why?” Kris asked. “Apparently, someone has a crush on you.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know who it is. I wish they’d just tell me who they were. I mean, for all I know, it’s some stalker guy who wants to kill me,” she joked.

“Um, I don’t think he’d send you love letters if he wanted to kill you,” Kris laughed. “But, I do know what you mean.”

“You want to know something funny?” she asked.

“What?”

“Jocelyn and Brooklyn swore that it was you sending it to me. How hilarious is that?” she asked, laughing. “I mean, we’re friends! Why can’t they figure that out already?”

“Yeah, I’ve been telling everyone the same thing,” he said with a twinge of sadness. He had been telling everyone that he and Tia were just friends, but to actually hear Tia say it, depressed him.