Head Games

Mia hit her head on the counter after she hung up her phone.

How on earth could she ever have agreed to something like this?

She knew that he had said he still wanted them to be friends, but she honestly thought that it was just politeness speaking. Couples say it all the time. ‘Oh, we can still be friends, right?’

He had asked her that, and she agreed thinking that they would probably never actually speak again.

And yet, here she was, not only still talking to him, but she was still living with him. They had only broken up a little over a week ago, and his phone call just now was to tell her his new apartment deal had fallen through, meaning he’d have to stick around a bit more.

He had asked if it was okay with her, and of course being the pushover that she was, she said yes.

He told her that he could always stay with a teammate for a while, but she told him that would be stupid. No sense in moving his things twice.

Oh, how she wished she weren’t still trying to make things easier for him. She couldn’t help it though, she was just that kind of person.

Any other normal woman would kick their boyfriends out if they had acted the way her boyfriend...er, ex-boyfriend, Dave Bolland, had. But not Mia. No, she not only didn’t kick him out, she let him stay extra long.

She scolded herself for it, but at the same time she thought that maybe it was a chance for her and Dave to work things out.

Mia had met Dave when they were sixteen and Dave was playing hockey for the London Knights in Ontario. They had dated for a little bit, but mostly it was just flirting and a few kisses here and there. When they were eighteen, Mia left to go to Chicago for college, and even though Dave had gotten drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks he stayed in Ontario for a while.

Mia hadn’t chosen college in Chicago because of Dave, it was coincidental. Honestly, neither of them were too broken up when they had to part ways. They were teenagers, and they knew they were too young to have taken their relationship seriously.

A few years later, when they were twenty and had almost practically forgotten about each other, Dave had literally ran into her on the sidewalk in Chicago.

“Oh, excuse me,” he had said, steadying the young girl he had bumped into.

“It’s alright, I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going,” she replied.

“Mia?”

Mia studied the man’s face, and suddenly her features brightened. His hair was shorter, and his body had become more lean, but his deep brown eyes would give him away any day.

“Dave?”

He nodded, and she immediately threw her arms around his neck. He was caught off guard, but after a moment he hugged her back. He hadn’t realized he missed her so much, but as soon as he breathed in her scent he was reminded of warm, familiar, times. Mia was feeling the same way. Once his arms had wrapped around her, she remembered how much she loved to be in his comfortable embrace.

They had spent the rest of that day catching up, and they rekindled their friendship. Staying ‘just friends’ didn’t last long however, and they began dating. They became serious, and Dave moved into her apartment since he had previously been sharing with a teammate.

Now here they were, both about to turn twenty three, split up apparently but still ‘friends.’

Mia told herself she shouldn’t have been shocked by the breakup. They had been fighting a lot lately and Dave was increasingly distant. And when he was around her, he seemed almost…bored.

At first she had chalked it up to the stress of the playoffs, but she knew that was not the real source of their problems.

She was.

She wasn’t good enough for him; or at least that’s what she had convinced herself. The novelty of their rekindled romance had worn off, and he realized he didn’t like her like that anymore.

To a degree, it was true. Dave loved Mia, sure. But suddenly, all sorts of beautiful women were taking an interest in him, and as it happened more and more he became almost resentful that he had to stay faithful and say no to all these girls. He knew that was a total asshole thing to say, but he wasn’t thinking of Mia when he had those thoughts. He was thinking about the idea of Mia.

He didn’t realize that Mia was already perfect for him, he took her for granted. He kept thinking, ‘What if this girl is the one? What if I’m missing out on something great?’ He had no idea that he already had it. He knew he loved Mia, but maybe he wasn’t in love with her.

He almost wanted to snort at that cliché.

Dave had wanted to tell her in a mature, calm conversation, but that idea flew out the window when they had an argument about his dirty clothes and he had blurted it out at her.

“Dave, seriously. If it’s dirty can you please just put it in the hamper?”

Dave rolled his eyes, and instead of doing as he was asked, he kicked the shirt he had just taken off across the room. Then, he took off his pants, and left them where they were too as he put on a pair of sweatpants. Mia looked at him with her mouth slightly hung open before getting up and collecting his garments. She didn’t want to start a fight with him, so she kept her mouth shut.

“That’s why I don’t do it. I know you will,” he stated cheekily. She looked up at him sadly, not knowing why he was being such a jerk lately.

“I don’t have to do your laundry you know. I could just leave it and when you have nothing clean to wear it’ll be your problem,” she remarked. He rolled his eyes again, walking out of their bedroom.

“You and I both know you would never do that,” he said, plopping down on the couch and flipping on the television.

“Dave, I’m just asking you to put it in the hamper. It’s not like you have to go very far to do it,” Mia argued.

“And it’s not like you have to go very far to pick it up,” Dave countered.

“I shouldn’t have to pick it up,” Mia rebutted. “They’re your clothes. So from now on, if you want your clothes washed, put them in the hamper.”

Dave didn’t say anything, he just continued to flip through the channels.

“Are you listening? Or can’t you be bothered to respond to your girlfriend either?” Mia put out.

“Yeah, about that. I’m thinking you shouldn’t be my girlfriend anymore,” he said emotionlessly, still looking at the television. If he would have looked at Mia, he would have seen the hurt expression on her face.

“What?”

“It’s just, I think we were better as friends, you know?” Dave shrugged, changing the channel. “I love you and everything, but I feel like us together isn’t a good fit. I’d rather just be your friend.”

And that was that.

She hadn’t told Dave that she was basically head over heels for him, because she didn’t want to make a fool out of herself. He wasn’t in love with her, and there was nothing she could do about that.

What killed her the most though, was that he hadn’t even looked at her when he had said it. He watched the television. Did he care for her so little that he couldn’t even do her the courtesy of making eye contact? He had literally said it as a second hand thing, almost as nonchalant as the ‘Babe, can you grab me a beer?’ she heard every day from him while watching TV.

And then of course, the infamous, ‘We can still be friends, right?’ rolled off his tongue.

She looked at him, in his sweatpants, comfortable on the couch, and realized that he didn’t look like he was ready to go anywhere. If she had said no, where was he going to go?

She couldn’t say no.

Then, he had asked her if it was okay that he stayed until he found another place. Thinking it was only going to be a few days, she agreed. If she had said no, where was he going to go?

She couldn’t say no.

Finally, a week later, he had seemingly secured an apartment across town. However, as his recent phone call just informed her, the deal had fallen through and Dave had asked if it was okay that he stayed a litte longer. Of course she said yes. If she had said no, where was he going to go?

She couldn’t say no.

She could never say no to Dave Bolland.