Sweet Things to Come

Cling! The puck bounced off the pipe to the left of me. I sprawled toward that side and snatched it up, to the disappointment of the crowd. I tossed the puck to the referee and there was a face-off to my right. Joe won it and threw it out to Paul, who skated into the other zone and almost scored on Evgeni Nabokov. I stood and got a quick drink. As I did, I glanced at the crowd behind me. My eyes found a pretty girl sitting a few rows up, watching me. She blushed as she saw me looking and looked toward the other end of the ice. I quickly turned and prepared myself as Joe Thornton rushed down the ice toward me. Whoosh! The puck sailed past me as I flailed, trying to grab it out of the air and failed. The horn sounded, the fans cheered. I slumped and banged my stick against the ice. I glanced at Paul; he was shaking his head at me. Coach Tony Granato was screaming; the guys on the bench looked extremely disappointed with me. I lowered my head. I should’ve had that one, I thought. By the end of the first period, they had scored two more times. I went into the locker room, extremely disappointed and angry at myself. I slammed my stick against the ground as Tony screamed at us. Paul walked over to me and rested a hand lightly on my shoulder. I shook it off roughly.

“You’re having a bad night,” He said. I glared at him.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” I snarled. The room quieted as everyone turned to look at us. I stood up and glared at everyone in the room, shaking with rage. I softened at Tony’s look and sat back down next to Paul. “Sorry, it must be getting to me,” I said, placing my face in my hands.

“Maybe you should sit out,” Tony suggested. I nodded weakly.

“Yeah, maybe I should,” I agreed. We went out for the second period and I sat on the bench. The pretty girl from earlier searched for me and got confused. I watched her briefly as she sat down, disappointed. I felt bad because I wasn’t out there to see her. Someone sitting next to her tapped her on the shoulder and pointed toward the bench. She stood up and glanced over. Her eyes found mine and hers brightened considerably. I smiled at her lightly and she waved. Paul saw our exchanges and grinned slightly. He motioned toward Tony and pointed at me, then at her. Tony peered at us curiously and shook his head, smiling. My cheeks heated up and I glanced away from my coach and teammates, embarrassed. The girl smiled at me and I winked at her. She held up her hand and made a signing motion. I nodded excitedly and I could tell she was laughing. I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment. We got up at the end of the second and we were down by only one goal. I sat at my locker and Paul came over to us.

“So, who’s the girl?” He asked. I grinned and my cheeks turned pink.

“To be honest, I don’t know who she is,” I admitted. “I saw her when I was getting a drink. I must’ve gotten distracted.” I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment. He laughed.

“I see. Well, we’ll just have to see what happens next, eh?” He said. I nodded.

“I guess so. I’m going to see her after the game tonight. She wants me to sign something for her,” I said. He patted my arm.

“Good luck,” He said, grinning. I smiled back.

“I just hope I don’t make an idiot of myself,” I said. He laughed and we headed out for the third period. I looked for her from my place on the bench, but I didn’t see her. I got confused for a minute, but a tapping on the glass behind me distracted me. I turned and saw her sitting there. I smiled at her and she smiled back.

“Hi there,” She said. She had a beautiful voice and her green eyes sparkled.

“Hi, I’m Peter,” I said. She laughed lightly. She had a beautiful laugh.

“I know who you are,” She reminded me. My cheeks heated up. “My name’s Brianna, but you can call me Rina. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Rina,” I said. We talked for a while, well, the rest of the period, actually. Time flew by quickly; I hadn’t even realized the game was over until Paul tapped my shoulder. I glanced up and he threw me a smile.

“C’mon, lover boy, game’s over,” He joked. I glanced up at the scoreboard and found that we had won the game!

“Wow, already?!” I exclaimed. “Um, Rina, will you wait outside for me while I change?” I asked. She smiled and nodded. “I’ll be out as soon as I can finish changing, I promise! Don’t go anywhere!” I raced into the locker room, showered, changed, threw my things into my bag and ran outside to meet Rina, who was waiting for me just outside the door. I smiled at her as I saw her reach for a marker.

“Will you sign my jersey for me?” She asked. I nodded, and she turned around. I picked a spot on the 9 of Joe Thornton’s 19 to write my message:

Dear Rina,
Thanks for supporting me, even if you are a Sharks fan, ha ha. Here’s my cell phone number, call me if you need to talk (Or something).
From,
Peter Budaj

“There you are, all set!” I said with a smile. She turned around and took the marker, returning my smile.

“Thank you,” She said.

“You’re welcome. I hope to see you again,” I said. I truly did; she was a nice girl. She nodded to me.

“Well, I have to get going then,” She said, waving.

“I guess I’ll see you,” I said, waving back. We went our separate ways.

|| Four Months Later… ||

“Peter, I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Rina said, sniffing a little.

“I’m always here for you, Rina, whenever you need me,” I responded. She sniffed again. “Do you need me to come to San Jose?” I asked.

“No, no! Aren’t you still playing?” She asked.

“No, we didn’t make the playoffs, and the Islanders won the draft lottery. We cleaned out our lockers, too,” I said. “I can be on the next flight to San Jose, you know that.”

“I know. I don’t want to take away from your time with your teammates before everyone leaves-“

“It’s fine, really! They’d understand, trust me. I’ll see you in a couple of hours, okay?”

“… All right. I’ll see you soon. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” She doesn’t know how true those words are. After we hung up, I started packing clothes and things. Paul came over and looked around.

“Where are you going?” He asked.

“San Jose. Rina needs me,” I responded. He nodded slowly.

“So… How long are you going for?”

“I don’t know. I’ll call you and let you know.

“You need help packing?”

“Nah, I’m good. You can stay if you want to.”

“I’ll go eat all your food!”

“Save some ice cream for me!” He laughed as he headed downstairs. He ended up on my couch watching reruns of CSI. I booked my flight in about ten minutes. “Lock the door when you leave. You know where the spare key is if you need anything from here. I’ll call you when I land.”

“I will, I do. I’ll be waiting to here from you, now go!” He laughed and I left.

|| Several Hours Later…||

I stepped off the plane and headed toward baggage claim to get my suitcase. I looked around and spotted Rina waiting for me. I smiled and walked toward her.

“Rina?” I said. She smiled and hugged me.

“Peter! I missed you!” She said. I hugged her back and, as we pulled apart, a shadow fell over us.

“Peter Budaj?” A voice said. I turned toward it and my mouth fell open.

“Joe Thornton?” I said when I had found my voice again.

“Joe, this is Peter, the friend I told you about? Peter, this is Joe, the best big brother in the world,” Rina said. Joe held out a hand and I shook it.

“Nice to meet you off the ice, Peter,” Joe said with a grin.

“Same,” I said, grinning myself.

“So, now that you’ve been properly introduced, you’ll be staying in one of our guest rooms, Peter. Joe already said there’s no way you’re staying in a hotel somewhere,” Rina said, to which Joe nodded. I nodded myself and we headed out to Joe’s car. When we got to their house, Rina led me to my room which was, as luck would have it, right next to hers. Perfect, I thought as I unpacked my things. I headed downstairs when I was done and went into the kitchen where Rina was making pasta for me, her, Joe, Patrick Marleau, Marcel Goc, Milan Michalek and Evgeni Nabokov. “Hey Peter, come meet some of the guys!” Rina said, pulling me into the kitchen. “Peter, this is Patrick, Marcel, Milan and Evgeni. Guys, this is my friend Peter Budaj,” She said. They eyed me warily and I gave them a small wave. Awkward, I thought. “Have a seat, dinner’s ready!” Rina said. I shook my head.

“I’m not hungry right now. I have to make a quick phone call,” I said, heading back to my room. I pulled out my phone and scrolled to the list until Paul’s number was highlighted. I pressed talk and put the phone to my ear. He answered on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Paul?”

“Peter, you’re alive!”

“Very funny. I’m at Rina’s place.” I proceeded to tell him everything.

“I’m sure they just feel uncomfortable because they don’t know you.”

“Yeah, but it’s still awkward, you know?”

“So what, you’re going to sulk in your room and not eat?”

“Not right now, I don’t feel well.”

“You should still eat something.”

“What are you, my mother?”

“… I have to go. Call me tomorrow, okay? And eat something, son!”

“Ha ha. I’ll call you tomorrow, mom!” He laughed and we hung up. I sighed, tossed my phone onto the bedside table and flopped onto the bed. I closed my eyes and rested my arm over them. There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” I called. The door opened and someone pulled a chair from the desk next to my bed.

“Hey,” A voice said. I moved my arm and opened my eyes to see Milan sitting there.

“Hey,” I responded.

“So… you feel uncomfortable?”

“Well yeah! You were all staring at me like I have three heads or something!” He chuckled.

“Sorry about that. We didn’t mean to make you feel awkward or anything.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry I stormed off like a little kid like I did.”

“I probably would’ve done the same thing if I were you.” He laughed. “Come on, they’re waiting for us.” I stood and followed him out of the room. “Oh, and one more thing: Rina’s like a little sister to us. If you hurt her, you’ll answer to us,” He said. I nodded.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I wouldn’t hurt her even if I was capable of intentionally hurting someone,” I said. He chuckled, shook his head and we walked down the hallway. “So, I’m guessing Rina sent you to come get me?” I asked as we headed down the stairs. He nodded.

“I was threatened with temporary exile if I didn’t,” He admitted. I laughed.

“Just you?”

“Yeah. She sent me because I’m the ‘peacemaker’.” He grinned and shook his head. I laughed as we headed into the kitchen. Everyone turned toward us and I sat at the empty seat between Rina and Milan. I waved to the others and Patrick smiled at me from Milan’s other side. He held out a hand and I shook it. Rina smiled, a pleased expression on her face as she served dinner. The silence was tense and awkward as we ate.

“Okay, can someone please say something? It’s getting kind of creepy just sitting here staring at each other,” I said. Rina, Milan and Joe laughed, Patrick and Marcel smiled and Evgeni glared at me. I returned his stare calmly. “If you’ve got a problem with me, you can always leave,” I said to him pleasantly. He excused himself from the table, muttering something about “the stink from Colorado”. I shrugged and started a conversation with Marcel and Patrick. Rina cleared the table as the other guys headed out when dinner was finished. I stood to help her, but she pushed me away.

“You don’t have to help, you’re a guest!” She said, but I insisted.

“Let me help, please! I’ll feel bad if I don’t! I already feel like I’m imposing!” I said pleadingly. She faked being angry.

“Fine! Wash the dishes! See if I care!” She shouted.

“I will! Take that!” I shouted back. We cracked up and I had to grab the counter to keep from falling over. When we finally stopped laughing, I washed the dishes and joined the others in the living room.

“Peter, you’re just in time! We’re having an NHL 09 battle, and we need one more person to play since Rina already refused. You in?” Joe asked.

“Sure thing! Who’s playing as what team?” I asked.

“I’m playing as the Red Wings, Milan’s the Blackhawks, and Patrick’s the Canadiens,” He responded. I nodded.

“I’ll play as the Bruins,” I said. He nodded and the battle started. After the first round, Milan and Patrick were out. Three hours, five bags of chips and thirty bottles of Pepsi later, I was the champion. Joe and I high fived, and Milan patted me on the back before he and Patrick left. Joe and I headed up to our rooms and I fell onto my bed. Just as I started to drift off, I heard Rina scream.

“Peter! Peter!” She cried. I jumped up and raced to her room. “Peter!” She screamed again. I took her into my arms and held her close as she sobbed.

“Shh, it’s okay,” I said to her over and over again. “I’m here now.” I rubbed her back gently. Joe walked in. I nodded to him and he nodded back as he turned and went back to his room. “You okay, sweetie?” I asked. She shook her head. “You can tell me about it.”

“I… I had a dream that we had met and I fell in love with you and… and you left and I kept calling your name and… and…” She started crying again.

“I’m here now, and I won’t leave you,” I said.

“Promise?” She said.

“I promise,” I replied and I pulled her into a sweet kiss. I can definitely get used to this.