Pas de Deux?
Chapter 6
Dear Lord. She was on the floor… again. Thankfully there was no blood this time but the incessant pounding on the apartment door was doing nothing to help the pounding in her head. Evidently, the noise had startled her out of bed. As she tried to pull herself off the floor, a million things ran through her mind. Where were Kitty and Rhea? Who was at the door? What if they tried to steal her? Wait, why would anyone try to steal her? And through it all, the banging still continued.
“VI-O-LET! I know you’re in there ma belle. Open up s’il vous plait!” came a French accent from the other side of the door. Violet opened the door to see Max casually and coolly leaning against the door frame, as if the maniac banging on the door seconds before had been someone else.
“Max?” she questioned, suddenly realizing that she was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top with penguins on them.
“Cute jammies… I was wearing something quite similar myself just a few hours ago.”
“Um, thanks. Did Kitty tell you where we live?”
“No but that receptionist sure did. At first she was being difficult but I totally turned on the superstar charm, showed her some of my new moves… so can I come in?”
“Of course,” Violet replied, unsure of what Talbot really wanted.
“So it seems that 2 weeks ago, after I clocked you in the face, you and I entered a verbal agreement,” Max stated as he sat down at the kitchen table.
“I’m listening,” Violet giggled.
“Tonight. Pens vs. Flyers. Three tickets behind the penalty box and locker room passes. Are you ready?” he said dramatically, using his game face to make it seem more important.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Violet replied, “Can I bring Kitty and Rhea?” she asked.
“Of course sweet pea, that’s why I got 3 tickets. Oh. And PS: We’re going out to a club after. Promise Maxie you’ll come,” he said making puppy dog faces at her.
“Um, well I guess we could come for a bit.” Dear Lord, who was this talking.
“Sweet. Oh and this is for you too,” he said, handing her a white box with a large yellow bow on it. She opened it up to find a brand new, powder blue Penguins sweater.
“I love it Max! Thank you so much. I’ve never had my very own sweater before!”
“It's the least i can do. It’s blank so you can put whatever number you’d like on it too,” he said, watching for her reaction.
“What do you mean?” she asked innocently.
“Nothing” he tried to cover up but failed miserably. If there was one thing Max Talbot lived for, it was too see his friends be happy. And even though Tanger wouldn’t admit it out loud, he had fallen for Violet and Max was more than willing to play the matchmaker.
“Tell me, please?” Violet asked.
“I’m just saying that if you liked French hockey players and you didn’t want to put me, Flower, or Pascal on the back of your sweater, that there might, maybe, be another guy on our team who happened to be French...i dunno, whatever floats your boat sweetheart!” he rambled on.
“You mean Kris?”
“Maybe…” he smirked trying to act cool, as if it were no big deal. Violet just stared at him.
“What’s with the shifty-eyes Talbot?”
“Whatever, nothing, it’s cool. Can we make pancakes?”
Silence
“Except that Kris really likes you,” he blurted out like a little school girl. “You should give him a chance. His last girlfriend was a total bitch, only used him for his money, but he was so in love with her that he couldn’t see it. Well, not until he saw her with someone else. Poor guy.”
“But I just met him. How can he know how much he likes me?”
“He’s a good guy Violet. He just falls fast and hard is all. Don’t let it unnerve you. No one says that you have to rush into anything. He even said it himself, he doesn’t want to scare you off. Besides, I know what he’s like with girls. He’ll treat you like you’re the centre of the universe. He’s very good to his girlfriends. He would never hurt you. Honestly ma belle. You’re lovely and you deserve to be treated like that. Don’t you want that?... Oh, that was exhausting I need a Gatorade,” he said, pretending to wipe his brow. Leave it to Max to say something utterly profound and then to follow it up with a joke.
By the end of Max’s soliloquy, Violet had managed to produce a batch of pancakes, which she sat down in front of him. It was like he hadn’t eaten in weeks.
"Hey Dr. Phil! When was the last time you ate?"
"About half and hour ago. So what do you think about Tanger? Let me help you please?"
“Well, we do have a lot of fun together in rehearsal. And he doesn’t make me nervous like most boys do. And I always wonder what he’s up too when we’re not rehearsing. Or if he’s thinking of me. Does he think about me?” she asked softly, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.
“All the time sweet pea, you can see it in his face.”
“Max? Can I tell you a secret?”
“Sure thing little darling. We're friends of the bestest kind now.”
“I think I like Kristopher Letang.”
There. She had said it out loud to another human being.
“VI-O-LET! I know you’re in there ma belle. Open up s’il vous plait!” came a French accent from the other side of the door. Violet opened the door to see Max casually and coolly leaning against the door frame, as if the maniac banging on the door seconds before had been someone else.
“Max?” she questioned, suddenly realizing that she was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top with penguins on them.
“Cute jammies… I was wearing something quite similar myself just a few hours ago.”
“Um, thanks. Did Kitty tell you where we live?”
“No but that receptionist sure did. At first she was being difficult but I totally turned on the superstar charm, showed her some of my new moves… so can I come in?”
“Of course,” Violet replied, unsure of what Talbot really wanted.
“So it seems that 2 weeks ago, after I clocked you in the face, you and I entered a verbal agreement,” Max stated as he sat down at the kitchen table.
“I’m listening,” Violet giggled.
“Tonight. Pens vs. Flyers. Three tickets behind the penalty box and locker room passes. Are you ready?” he said dramatically, using his game face to make it seem more important.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Violet replied, “Can I bring Kitty and Rhea?” she asked.
“Of course sweet pea, that’s why I got 3 tickets. Oh. And PS: We’re going out to a club after. Promise Maxie you’ll come,” he said making puppy dog faces at her.
“Um, well I guess we could come for a bit.” Dear Lord, who was this talking.
“Sweet. Oh and this is for you too,” he said, handing her a white box with a large yellow bow on it. She opened it up to find a brand new, powder blue Penguins sweater.
“I love it Max! Thank you so much. I’ve never had my very own sweater before!”
“It's the least i can do. It’s blank so you can put whatever number you’d like on it too,” he said, watching for her reaction.
“What do you mean?” she asked innocently.
“Nothing” he tried to cover up but failed miserably. If there was one thing Max Talbot lived for, it was too see his friends be happy. And even though Tanger wouldn’t admit it out loud, he had fallen for Violet and Max was more than willing to play the matchmaker.
“Tell me, please?” Violet asked.
“I’m just saying that if you liked French hockey players and you didn’t want to put me, Flower, or Pascal on the back of your sweater, that there might, maybe, be another guy on our team who happened to be French...i dunno, whatever floats your boat sweetheart!” he rambled on.
“You mean Kris?”
“Maybe…” he smirked trying to act cool, as if it were no big deal. Violet just stared at him.
“What’s with the shifty-eyes Talbot?”
“Whatever, nothing, it’s cool. Can we make pancakes?”
Silence
“Except that Kris really likes you,” he blurted out like a little school girl. “You should give him a chance. His last girlfriend was a total bitch, only used him for his money, but he was so in love with her that he couldn’t see it. Well, not until he saw her with someone else. Poor guy.”
“But I just met him. How can he know how much he likes me?”
“He’s a good guy Violet. He just falls fast and hard is all. Don’t let it unnerve you. No one says that you have to rush into anything. He even said it himself, he doesn’t want to scare you off. Besides, I know what he’s like with girls. He’ll treat you like you’re the centre of the universe. He’s very good to his girlfriends. He would never hurt you. Honestly ma belle. You’re lovely and you deserve to be treated like that. Don’t you want that?... Oh, that was exhausting I need a Gatorade,” he said, pretending to wipe his brow. Leave it to Max to say something utterly profound and then to follow it up with a joke.
By the end of Max’s soliloquy, Violet had managed to produce a batch of pancakes, which she sat down in front of him. It was like he hadn’t eaten in weeks.
"Hey Dr. Phil! When was the last time you ate?"
"About half and hour ago. So what do you think about Tanger? Let me help you please?"
“Well, we do have a lot of fun together in rehearsal. And he doesn’t make me nervous like most boys do. And I always wonder what he’s up too when we’re not rehearsing. Or if he’s thinking of me. Does he think about me?” she asked softly, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.
“All the time sweet pea, you can see it in his face.”
“Max? Can I tell you a secret?”
“Sure thing little darling. We're friends of the bestest kind now.”
“I think I like Kristopher Letang.”
There. She had said it out loud to another human being.