I Can't Do It Alone

Jocelyn, Brooklyn, and Tia sat in their seats, waiting for the Penguins game to begin against the New Jersey Devils. Tia stared out at the ice as the boys came out for their pregame skate. Jocelyn, who was sitting two seats away, on the other side of Brooklyn, looked over at Tia and noticed her staring. “So, is your boyfriend ready for tonight?” Jocelyn joked. When Tia didn’t even look over at her, Jocelyn continued. “Hey, Tia, are you ignoring me or something?” she asked.

“Huh?” Tia asked, tearing her eyes from the ice to look over at Jocelyn. “What did you say?”

“I asked if your boyfriend’s ready for tonight,” Jocelyn repeated. When Tia looked at her with a confused expression on her face, Jocelyn clarified. “I mean Tanger.”

“He’s not my boyfriend, sorry,” Tia told her, looking back out at the ice, seeing Max and Marc-Andre Fleury having their little pregame pushing match.

“No, but you do like him, don’t you?” Jocelyn asked, remembering that Brooklyn had told her that Tia had finally admitted it. “Tia Letang, it has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” she joked.

“Shut up!” Tia exclaimed, and Jocelyn let it go.

“So,” Jocelyn said as the boys went into the tunnel after the skate. “I got a job offer,” she said suddenly.

“Huh, where?” Brooklyn asked, this being the first time she had heard about it.

“California,” Jocelyn said quietly. “But, it’s like my dream job. It’s for this major advertising company there. They’re offering this prime position that I could only dream of. I’ve actually got an interview with them next week. They’re coming to Pittsburgh, and they said I could meet up with them and do an interview here,” Jocelyn explained.

“Wow, you seem excited,” Tia observed.

“I am,” Jocelyn said with a smile. “This company is known world-wide. I can’t even tell you what this job would mean for my future.”

“Have you told Sid?” Brooklyn asked.

Jocelyn was quiet for a moment before turning around to look at her sister. “No,” she said quietly. “But, I’m going to. I just don’t want to say something and then not get offered the job or anything,” she explained.

“You think you’re going to jinx it?” Tia said with a laugh.

“I don’t know. I just think it’s stupid to tell Sid, get him all worked up, and then not even get the job,” Jocelyn said.

“Get him all worked up?” Brooklyn asked. “What do you mean by that?”

“I just don’t think he’s going to be too happy when I tell him that I’m thinking of taking a job in California. I mean, it’s clear across the country. We already have to schedule time to be with each other with his crazy hockey schedule and my work schedule. Imagine what would happen if I get this job,” she told them.

“Sid would be stupid to get angry at you for getting your dream job. Come on, Sid’s not like that. He’ll be happy for you,” Tia said as the guys came back out for the National Anthem to be sung.

“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Jocelyn muttered, but neither Brooklyn nor Tia heard her over the roaring crowd.

As the second period came to a close, the Penguins were winning two to zero, and everyone at Mellon Arena was cheering. Brooklyn looked over at Tia. “So, it appears someone’s trying to impress a certain girl sitting in the stands,” she sang.

“Yeah, Max always tries to impress you,” Tia smirked.

“So not what I was talking about!” Brooklyn exclaimed.

“Well, then who were you talking about? Sid? Because Sid tries to play his best game regardless of whether Jocelyn’s here or not,” Tia continued.

Brooklyn glared at her. “I’m talking about Tanger,” she told her.

“Oh?” Tia asked, turning her head left and right, looking all around. “Where is this girl he’s trying to impress?” she asked, and Jocelyn laughed at her, knowing that Brooklyn was getting upset.

“You know what?” Brooklyn asked. “When you and Kris get together, I am so going to tell you ‘I told you so’,” she said, shaking her head.

“Whatever,” Tia laughed.

“So,” Jocelyn began. “Tia, have you gotten any other mystery letters or gifts?”

“I’ve gotten a few letters,” she admitted.

“A few?” Brooklyn asked. “What do you mean by a few? How many?”

“Well, I seem to be getting one every day.”

“What do they say?” Jocelyn asked.

“Nothing that can help me figure out who the hell is sending them to me. I mean, they all just say something about how pretty I am and how he hopes to one day come forward and tell me who he is. God, I just wish he’d tell me now. This started out as nice and everything, but now it’s just getting annoying,” Tia admitted.

“Yeah, I can imagine,” Brooklyn said. “I mean, if I kept getting mystery notes, I’d get annoyed, too. I wonder why they won’t just come forward.”

“I don’t know. But, now the notes are saying things like ‘if you think hard enough about it, I’m sure that you would be able to figure out who I am’,” Tia told them. “So, it must be someone I know.”

“Well, we know it’s not Tanger,” Brooklyn said sadly.

“No, it’s not him,” Tia laughed as she thought about how much Brooklyn and Jocelyn wanted it to be Kris. “I have no idea who it is, though, and it’s driving me crazy!”

“Maybe someone at work?” Jocelyn suggested.

“I thought about that, too, but really there’s no one that comes to mind that would do this,” Tia told her.

“I have no idea,” Brooklyn said. “But, I just say you forget about this secret admirer and focus all your attention on Kris,” she said hopefully.

Tia laughed. “Seriously, Brook, how many times do I have to tell you? Kris and I are never going to go out. He doesn’t like me that way. We are just friends,” she reiterated.

“You keep saying that,” Jocelyn said.

“Because it’s true,” Tia told her, as the guys came back out onto the ice. She looked down and saw Kris looking up into the stands. When his eyes met hers, he smiled at her before turning back around and looking out onto the ice.

“Does Tanger know that? Because, it doesn’t seem like he does,” Brooklyn pointed out.