I Could Rest Beneath Your Smile

Max ran his hands through his hair, trying to finish packing his bag before he had to be at the airport in an hour and a half. Brooklyn hadn’t come home the night before, and he was getting worried. He knew that she was beyond angry at him, but she hadn’t even called about the kids, who were still in their crib. They had been crying throughout the night, and Max could have sworn it was because their mother wasn’t there.

As he heard Noah begin crying again, he let out a frustrated scream, throwing the shirt he had in his hands onto his bed as he made his way towards the children’s room. The doorbell suddenly rang, and he quickly ran to answer it before going to see what was wrong with Noah.

He swung the door open, seeing Jocelyn on the other side. “Hey, come on in,” he said, turning around and walking back towards the kids’ room with Jocelyn following him. “Is Brooklyn at your place?” Max asked hopefully, picking Noah up and rocking him. “She didn’t come home last night and she hasn’t called. And, she kind of needs to pick the kids up. I mean, I love them, but I have to go to the airport in like an hour,” he explained.

“That’s why I’m here,” Jocelyn told him, and Max looked at her curiously. “To pick up the kids. Brooklyn sent me.”

“She’s still pissed off at me?” Max asked, and Jocelyn nodded her head.

“I tried to convince her to come talk to you, but she refuses. I’m sorry, Max,” she told him sincerely.

“She told me last night that if I left that she’d be out of my life. Jocelyn, do you think she was telling the truth?” Max asked her, his voice cracking as he realized that Brooklyn might have been sincere last night.

“Max, I’m not going to lie to you,” she told him. “She was talking about a divorce last night,” Jocelyn admitted. “But, that doesn’t mean she’s going to go out and file for one today,” she added quickly. “She’s extremely angry right now. Just go on your road trip, and hope and pray that when you come back that she’s thinking straight again.”

“Damn it,” he muttered. “Doesn’t she get that I have no say in the matter?” he questioned. “If I could stay here, I would. Management’s making me go.”

“I know,” Jocelyn told him. “And, between us, I’m on your side. But, you know Brook. She’s stubborn as hell.”

“She said last night that the only reason I married her was because I got her pregnant,” Max told her, looking down at Noah who was now smiling in his arms. “She has to know that that’s not true. I love her.”

“Everyone knows how much you love her. She just needs some time to calm down.”

“But, she’s talking about a divorce,” Max mumbled as Elise started crying, as if she knew that there was trouble between her parents.

Jocelyn picked Elise up, holding her in her arms. “Just forget about that right now. Go on this road trip, play your ass off, and then come back and work on your marriage.”

“Thanks for coming and getting the kids,” Max told her with a smile. “I’m sure you’d much rather be spending time with Sid right now. By the way, does he know? About what happened with me and Brooklyn?” he asked her.

Jocelyn shook her head. “No, he doesn’t. Either does Tanger. I figured if you wanted them to know, you’d tell them.”

“I don’t want them to know,” Max told her.

“Well, that’s up to you. And, you know I love these kids, and I’d do anything for them,” she said, resituating Elise in her arms. “Do you want to take Noah outside to my car, please?” she asked him, as she started walking towards the door.

“Sure,” Max told her, following her. After they had gotten the twins situated in the car, Max turned to look at Jocelyn. “Thanks again,” he told her.

“No problem,” she said with a small smile. “And, Max, I’m rooting for you and Brooklyn.”

“Yeah, if only Brooklyn was,” he muttered as Jocelyn got into her car.

***

Max sat in his hotel room after the game, which the Penguins had won four to one against the Anaheim Ducks. All of his teammates were out celebrating the win, and everyone was shocked when Max had declined the offer to go out with them. He was usually the first one out, but he really didn’t feel like celebrating when he and Brooklyn were fighting.

He threw his cell phone on the bed beside him after getting Brooklyn’s voice mail for the fifth time in the last hour. He knew she was screening her calls and intentionally not picking it up when she saw it was him calling. He let out a frustrated groan, lying back on the bed.

Not wanting to feel sorry for himself any longer, he decided to get out of the hotel room and go out to a bar and have a drink. He grabbed his cell phone and the card key off the table and made his way down to the lobby, hailing a taxi and asking the driver to go to whatever bar was close by.

Walking inside, he was immediately met by the eyes of everyone, instantly recognizing the hockey star. He began to make his way towards the bartender before being stopped by a brunette girl who instantly attached herself to his side. “Are you Max Talbot by any chance?” the girl smiled up at him.

“Yeah, I am,” Max stated.

“Oh my God!” the girl squealed. “I am like your biggest fan! I was at the game tonight. You were amazing!” she told him.

“Thanks,” Max said, trying to make his way towards the bar.

“You know, if you’re not doing anything, my roommate’s gone for the night. We could go back to my place,” the girl suggested.

Max looked down at the girl to set her straight when he saw her lips pouting at him. “What the hell?” he said, nodding at the girl as she pulled him towards the door. Max’s mind briefly went to Brooklyn before remembering that Jocelyn had told him that she wanted to get a divorce. He figured he might as well give her a good reason for the divorce.

The girl waved a taxi down, and Max climbed in after her. As soon as she had given the driver her address, her hand was instantly in between Max’s legs, and he was trying to talk the girl into waiting until they were at least in her apartment before things went any further.

Ten agonizing minutes later, Max was paying the driver, and he was following the girl up to her apartment. Before they had even closed the door behind them, their lips were on each other. The girl pulled Max towards her bedroom, kicking the front door shut behind her.

***

Max woke up the next morning in an unfamiliar bed, and he couldn’t figure out where he was until he saw the naked girl lying next to him. An immediate rush of guilt and regret washed over him as he remembered the stupid mistake he had made the night before.

He quickly jumped out of the bed, pulling his clothes on and making his way outside, not even bothering to say anything to the girl or leave her a note. As he hailed a cab, he shook his head at the fact that he didn’t even know the name of the girl he had slept with. But that wasn’t the worst part. He had cheated on Brooklyn, the one person he loved more than anything in the world, the person he had two beautiful children with. And, he was trying to figure out how she was ever going to find it in her heart to forgive him.

As he walked into the hotel, he was trying to figure out how he was even going to tell Brooklyn what he had done. He knew he had no choice but to confess to her what had happened the night before. If he didn’t tell her, he had no doubt in his mind that the truth would come out anyways, and she would be even more furious than she was already going to be.

As he opened his hotel room, he saw Kris pulling his shirt on, having just gotten out of the shower. He turned around to Max, a worried look on his face. “Where were you last night?” he asked him.

Max contemplated lying to him, but then he realized that that wouldn’t do him any good. “I fucked up last night,” he admitted.

“What happened?” Kris asked him.

“I cheated on Brooklyn,” Max stated. “I slept with some girl, and I don’t even know her name.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Kris yelled at him. “You’ve got the perfect life at home, the perfect wife, the perfect kids. And, you decide to go out and fuck that all up? What the fuck is wrong with you?” he repeated.

“Brooklyn and I had a fight before I left,” Max told him.

“And, that gives you the right to cheat on her? You know she’s never going to forgive you, right?” Kris asked him, and Max knew he was right. There was no way she was going to forgive him, even if she had told him that their marriage would be over if he went on this trip. “You just lost everything that means anything to you.”

“I know!” Max cried. “It’s just, she told me that our marriage was over!” Kris looked at him confusedly, and Max proceeded to tell him about his and Brooklyn’s argument.

“And, you think that it gives you the right to cheat on her? Max, you two are still married! And, we both know that if you hadn’t have gone and just fucked that up, that she would have forgiven you when you got home. She was pissed off. God, Max, what were you thinking? Did you forget about your kids?”

“Stop!” Max screamed. “I know I fucked up, and I’m trying to figure out how to make it okay again.”

“That’s not going to happen. I suggest you call Brooklyn right now and tell her what happened. Because we both know she’s going to find out eventually.”

“I can’t tell her over the phone,” Max told him. “I’m going to tell her when I get back home.”

“And run the risk of her finding out from someone else? Max, you’re taking a big risk,” Kris told him.

“I know. But, I have to tell her in person. She needs to see how remorseful I am right now. I wish I could take it back, but I can’t.”

“Good luck,” Kris told him. “Because you’re going to need it.”