Your Eyes Tell Me What I Need to Know

Looking down at his phone, Hank saw the picture he took of Katrina when she was sleeping. She looked peaceful as if nothing could harm her, but something did. He did and the thing is, he knew it. Why did he do it is the question he knew Katrina would want and it was the one he didn’t want to give her. Once he admitted it to her, he knew it would be over. She wasn’t anything like Caitlin. Sure there were a few similarities, but if he took the time he could probably find some similarities with the girls he had been sleeping with while figuring out what it was he wanted from Katrina. The only thing was, she got tired of waiting and being second best. It hurt him to know that he hurt her, but last week when they lost to the Penguins and he saw her leave the club with Marc’s brother Jordan, well he couldn’t help but feel angry about it. Jordan was known to enjoy the pleasures of women, even his brothers knew that. Katrina was different; she didn’t just go sleeping with anyone, so when she left with him it had upset him greatly.

Running a hand through his hair, he knew that he had to do something to show her that he still cared and that he knew what he did was wrong. Did he regret what he did? In some ways, but in others he didn’t. His phone ringing brought up Marc’s number. With a sigh, he hit the accept button before putting his phone up to his ear.

“Hello?”

“You still want to go?”

“Yeah,” Hank said. “I don’t think you want to go by yourself.”

“I’m just glad Sam isn’t here right now,” Marc said. “I’ll meet you by Starbucks.”

Before Hank could answer, Marc had hung up the phone. Looking at the screen, he smiled at Katrina’s picture. If his family knew how he had treated Katrina, they wouldn’t be too happy about it. They might love him to no end, but they certainly wouldn’t agree with the way he treated her. Getting off the couch, he made his way to his bedroom and grabbed his jacket before getting his wallet and keys off his dresser.

Meeting Marc at Starbucks would hopefully give him the time away from thinking so much about Katrina. But if he was honest with himself, that wasn’t going to happen. Marc’s girlfriend and Katrina had become great friends over the time they spent together. It was a good thing that she was making friends since she had a four year deal in New York. She was staying whether she liked it or not. Parking his SUV, Hank walked up the block and met Marc Staal right outside the coffee shop.

“Thanks for coming Hank.”

“So something for Sam?”

“Yeah,” Marc said. “Just a little something.”

“She makes you happy,” Hank noted as they walked to the store that just about every girl liked. “She’s good for you.”

“She is.”

Hank opened the door and walked inside. He wasn’t exactly sure why Marc had wanted him to go with him for this sort of thing. Marc of all people knew this kind of thing wasn’t his forte. His forte was not becoming attached to the same woman for too long. Hank watched as Marc walked over to the necklaces and he looked over at the bracelets that were in the glass casing in the center of the room. There were many to pick from there was no doubt about that. Looking at the bracelet that had different shaped hearts on a chain, there was white and yellow gold. Moving down the casing he stopped. And there was that one.

“Can I help you with something, sir?”

“I’d like to see that diamond bracelet.”

Hank not once took his eyes off the piece of jewelry.

The woman that had approached Hank made her way around the casing and used her key and opened the door and took out the bracelet. “This is the swing bracelet. A very nice piece.”

“Hank, what are you doing?” Marc’s voice sounded from behind him as he walked closer to him.

“I’ve got to make things right with her,” Hank said as he looked at the Bracelet on top of the casing. It would look amazing on her wrist. No doubt about that. “I need her to know how I feel.”

“I swear Hank if you are fucking with her….”

“I care for her,” Hank told him, butting off his threat. “Since when are you so protective of Kitty anyways?”

“Since Sam and her became really good friends,” Marc told him. “You introduced them. But I swear that if you are going to fuck with her-“

“I’m not,” he said. “I’m going to make things right with her.”

“You aren’t a one woman man, Hank.”

“She’s different,” Hank said nodding to the woman that he did in fact want the bracelet. “She’s not Caitlin. She’s not any of those girls around the rink. She’s my Kitty. And I think if I can make things right with her, then maybe we can work. Long term.”

“With Katrina?”

“You sound surprised.”

“You’ve hurt her once, how do I know you won’t do the same again?”

“Do you think I’d spend this kind of money at this store for someone I didn’t care about?” Hank asked

“You mean you didn’t spend money on the other girls?”

“Not like this.” Hank said as he watched the woman package it up into the signature blue box and white ribbon.

“I really hope you know what you’re doing Hank.”

“She wants me to grow up before talking to her and ever since she yelled at me two weeks ago, I can’t stop thinking about her,” Hank admitted. “I’ve been watching interviews from her games, both before and after to see if anything is going on with her.”

“You’ve fallen for her.”

It wasn’t a question and both of them knew it. Hank hadn’t planned on telling Marc, but he had hit it right on the dot. He nodded his head as he gave the woman his credit card and that ended the conversation between the two of them. Placing the card back into his wallet he took the bag before looking at Marc who had a similar bag in his own hand. Walking ahead of Marc, he placed his wallet in his back pocket.

“Just be careful with her.”

Hank nodded his head before bidding farewell to Marc. He was heading back to his SUV when he spotted the florist on the corner. When thinking about it he had to admit, the flowers could more than likely get him inside her apartment so that she would talk, no where she would listen to what he had to say. There were some things that really needed to be said and he needed to air them out before anymore time went by. As he left the florist with a glass vase filled with orange lilies, hot pink roses, and daisies, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was the kind of gesture that Katrina wanted from him.

Driving to her apartment seemed to take longer than it had when she was first figuring out how to get home when she had gotten lost when she was new to the city. Parking on the street, he left the flowers on the passenger’s seat before getting out and opening that door to get the things out. Taking the small blue box out of the bag, he put it inside his jacket pocket before turning around when he felt a shove against him.

“Sam.”

“Hank,” she said with a glare. “What are you doing here?”

“Making things right.”

“Oh no you don’t,” she said. “I know you Hank. I know how you are with women and I won’t let you do that to her.”

“Those women didn't matter to me Sam. I've finally found the right woman,” Hank told her. His eyes looking into hers, letting her know that he was not lying to her. “I'm not just going to let her slip out of my life.”

“I swear to you Hank, you fuck with her and I’ll fuck with you so much you’ll regret what you’ve done,” Sam said poking a finger into his chest. “That girl doesn’t need someone like you messing with her head.”

Hank didn’t say anything, he grabbed the flowers out of his car and shut the door and hit the alarm button before walking around Sam and inside the building where Katrina was. Getting on the elevator, Hank took a deep breath. He knew if this didn’t work, if she didn’t believe him, even in the slightest that he just might not have a chance to be with her again. Only this time he wanted to be with her and only her. Getting out of the elevator car, he walked down to her door. Knowing that she probably wouldn’t open the door if she saw it was him, a smile graced his face as an idea came to mind.

Knocking on the door, he raised the flowers in front of his face, hoping that when she saw the flowers she’d open the door. And it worked just that way.

“Can I help you?”

Lowering the flowers from his face, Hank looked into her surprised eyes. Clearly she had thought things with them were over. “Kitty, can we talk?”

“We don’t have anything to talk about Hank,” she said, looking down, not able to look at him in the eyes. “Not anymore.”

“Please hear me out.”

Bringing her eyes back up to his she nodded her head and opened the door wider so that he could come inside. Closing the door behind him, he gave her a small smile, but it wasn’t returned. “These are for you; I thought you might like them.”

Accepting the flowers, she gave him a half smile, but he noticed right away that it didn’t reach all the way to her eyes like it normally did. “Thank you.”

Walking into the kitchen she set the flowers down on the counter before walking back to the living area where Hank was standing. “How are you?”

“Hank….I don’t have time for stupid small talk. If that’s all you want then you can take your flowers and leave right now.”

“Kitty, please,” he started. “I wanted to tell you that I messed up. And I’m sorry.”

“What exactly are you sorry for Hank?” Katrina asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at him. “Sorry for sleeping with other women while letting me think I was something special or maybe breaking me? Making me feel so insecure about myself?”

“You are special,” Hank told her. “I never meant to hurt you. I’d never to that to you on purpose.”

“But you did. End of story.”

“But it doesn’t have to be,” Hank told her. “When you came and yelled at me in my apartment, you opened my eyes. And I think that I should have realized it beforehand.”

“Realized what?”

“What you really mean to me.”

“I don’t want you to say something because you think I want to hear that,” Katrina told him. “I don’t think I’m the girl for you Hank. Maybe she’s still out there.”

“I think you could be the one I want to be with,” Hank told her as he stepped closer to her. “Only you, long term.”

“Hank…”

“I was out with Marc today and I saw something that I think that would look beautiful on you,” Hank said as he took the box out of his pocket. “I just want to show you that.”

Handing her the blue box, her eyes went wide in surprise. She knew where the blue boxes were from. Most women did. “It isn’t a ring.”

Untying the white ribbon, she let it fall to the floor before taking the lid off the top of the blue box. Her eyes were glossed over with tears as she saw what was inside. “Hank, I can’t accept this,” Katrina said, her voice soft. “It’s beautiful, but it’s too much.”

“I saw it and I thought of you,” Hank told her. “There’s no way I’m taking it back.”

“You don‘t need to be spending this kind of money on me,” Katrina said looking from the diamond bracelet to Hank’s eyes. “It had to of cost two thousand at least.”

“I’ll spend my money on you if that’s what I want to spend it on,” Hank told her taking the bracelet out of the box. Grabbing her hand, he placed the bracelet on her wrist before doing the clasp on it. “I was right. It looks beautiful on you.”

He placed a kiss on the side of her wrist before letting it go.

“I don’t know what to say, Hank.”

“Say that I might still have a chance.”

“Buying me things doesn’t change anything.”

“That’s not all I came here for,” he said. “There’s something important I have to tell you.”

Katrina looked a bit surprised and a little worried. She took a deep breath and looked at him in the eyes. “Kitty, I think I love you.”

“You think you love me?” Katrina asked. “So you don’t know? I mean either you do or you don’t Hank. I won’t let you lead me down a path where you are gonna leave me again for a few puck sluts. I can’t go through that again.”

“I think if we give this a real shot then I will fall in love with you,” Hank told her. Katrina stayed silent for a few moments. After a bit she still hadn’t said anything. “Say something, please.”

“I think I’m pregnant.”