2nd Intermissions

I had avoided Adam for a whole day until he called me and asked if I wanted to go Christmas shopping with him.
I had agreed because I did not want to say no, and we had an away game the next day.
He picked me up at about noon from my apartment and as I hopped into his large pickup truck, I mumbled, "Such a man car."
"I heard that, woman!" he said, throwing the car into drive and navigating his way through the urban streets of Chicago to reach the Water Tower Shopping Center downtown.
I had wanted to go someplace less expensive, while I hinted at still needing to buy his gift. Little did he know, that I had already wrapped his gifts and they were sitting in my closet. But Adam always got what he wanted.
As we walked through the mall, I allowed myself to indulge in a little good natured hand holding. I forced myself to forget his outburst two days prior. We slowly made our way store to store, Adam already was used to his brace and walking without his cane.
"So who do you have left to shop for?" I asked.
"Seabs. The jerk told me that he got me something, so now I have to buy him a gift," Adam sighed.
"Well, let's go to Lids and maybe there's a manly hat he'll like."
He agreed, knowing that it was his last resort.
On our way to Lids, we passed Swarovski and Adam made an offhand comment, saying, "Heh. Swarovski. Sounds like hockey player."
"Well, we're shopping for one, so let's hurry up. " I laughed, swinging our joined hands a little.

"Don't you still have to get something for Ange- Oh god, is that a Cubs store?"
I followed his line of sight to a large store filled with Cubs merchandise.
"Got a problem, cheesehead?" I asked, putting my hand on my hip and cocking it.
"Oh, right, you're a Cubs fan." He laughed, taunting my north side loyalty.
"What do you expect?" I inquired.
"A little common sense," he replied, letting go of my hand and limping into the blue-tinged store. I slowly followed him, calling out to his advancing back, "Come on! I thought we were shopping for Seabrook!"
I finally found him in a sea of grey road jerseys. He said to me, "I remember my first Brewers game. We played the Cubs- and kicked their ass!"
I was significantly irritated at him when he practically shouted that in a store laden with Chicago Cubs fans who- judging by the looks he was now getting, not afraid to beat up a cripple. I grabbed his hand and yanked him out of the store, escorting him into our actual destination, Lids. Before leaving him standing in front of a large rack of hats, his eyes scanning through all of the colorful choices, I told him that I was going to go get Angelina's gift and that I would meet him back at Lids. I knew he wouldn't enjoy accompanying me into Victoria's Secret.

I made my way to the back of the store, where the perfumes lay dormant. Quickly finding the one Angelina had mentioned before, I grabbed two bottles of Love Spell and meandered my way into the bras. Convincing myself that I needed a new one, I searched through the more decorative selections before finding the perfect unmentionable. Taking my correct size for my rack off the rack, I pulled the matching underwear out of the drawer and purposefully walked to the register.
I saw Adam sitting on the bench in front of Lids. Next to him was a Lids bag that seemed slightly larger than a bag with a hat should.
"Are you buying hats for the entire team?" I laughing, pointing at the bag.
Adam coughed and said, "Uh, no. HEY, there's a movie theater here. Wanna see a movie?"
I laughed and suddenly remembered how bad I wanted to see Avatar. "As long as we can see Avatar!"
He chuckled and lead me by the hand to the center of the mall where the theater resided.
--
"That movie made we want to have sex with myself!" I said seriously, as I attempted to salvage the remains of my blue Icee.
"I think it's done, Sam," Adam told me.
I glared at him until I heard the satisfying slurping noise that alerted me to my Icee's demise.
He laughed and I chucked the cup into the garbage on our way out to his truck.
As Adam pulled out of the parking lot, my cellphone began to ring.
I waited until I recognized the song I had put for all of my contacts, to avoid picking up the New York Rangers irritating calls.
I struggled to pull it out of my pocket and answered, "Hello?"
"YOU ARE A HORRIBLE FRIEND, I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT." I was greeted with the sound of my best friend Angelina's voice.
Adam began to giggle in the driver's seat because he, too, had heard her yelling at me.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"What about that concert, hmm? WHY DO YOU ALWAYS FORGET ME? WHY DON'T YOU LOOK AT ME WHEN WE MAKE LOOOVE?"
At this point in the conversation, Adam was hunched over the steering wheel, unable to contain his laughter.
"Okay, okay. What show do you want to go to? Let's go to one tonight, but I have to be home a decent hour because I have to travel to Detroit in the morning," I attempted to placate her.
"Take me! Anyway, it's Songs From A Scene," she ended every word in the title with a dramatic pause, "HOW CAN YOU FORGET?"
I quickly remembered our tradition of going to the concert at the Metro. This year would be our fourth time going together to see Lucky Boys Confusion and whatever bands were opening for them.
"Doors open at five thirty, right? And taking you is easier said than done. 'Hey Coach Q, can I bring my friend on the road trip? Medical experience? Oh, don't worry about that. She's just here to visually molest the players.' That should go over well."
"WELL, I see how it is."
We quickly made our plans for her to pick me up and we disconnected.
"There is something wrong with that woman," Adam said.
"Yeah, being friends with me for sixteen years."

He pulled into a parking space near the front of my apartment. I checked the clock on the dash and confirmed that Adam and I would have some time to share a pot of coffee as I waited for Angelina.
He brewed the coffee as I changed out of my boots into an old pair of black and white Circas. When I entered the kitchen, I sat at the place where Adam had set a freshly brewed cup of coffee, right next to him.
"Wow, I would have never guessed in a million years that you would own a pair of shoes like that."
"I can't wear dress shoes all the time," I said as I was quickly drowned out by a clank-clank-BOOM coming from outside my apartment.
"Angelina's here," I said, walking towards the front door as I heard the loud engine being shut off. Sure enough, my door bell rang and I buzzed my best friend up. Angelina burst through the door and I followed her into the kitchen.
"Oh," I heard her say, while she stared at Adam, "I knew I saw a man truck outside."
He chuckled and Angelina took an Arizona can out of my refrigerator and hopped onto my counter.
"So what's up with that old clunker of yours?" Adam asked Angelina.
"Uh, it's old. Sorry, Mr. Hockey Player, but not all of us are rich and can afford new cars every couple of years. Anyway, my Ford Explorer is ol' faithful," she answered, giving Adam a light punch on the arm. "So, what about the Christmas party? Adam? Sam? Hm? You guys gonna- gonna take me to the Christmas party, yeah?"
I exchanged a look with Adam and he chuckled before replying, "If you insist."
Angelina hopped down from the counter and did a fist pump as if she scored a goal.
"You look like Kane having a seizure. What is that?" Adam questioned.
I sat down my coffee and replied, "I believe that's a happy dance."
"I'm just imitating you," Angelina laughed.
"Now, I want you to bring her home at a normal hour and no boys, drugs, or sex- unless it is with me," Adam laid down the ground rules.
"Woah, there wasn't any hanky panky going on before I arrived was there?"
Adam choked on his coffee and I turned as red as a goal lamp.
"Oh, well then...I believe it's time to leave." Angelina grabbed my hand and lead us out of the apartment building. We were at Angelina's car and Adam patted the hood as he saw us off. On the way to the Metro, I clarified to Angelina the actual extent of our relationship, which had not extended as far as she insinuated- yet.
--
The concert passed quickly, leaving only burgeoning bruises on our sore legs. The next morning, on the airplane, I found myself prodding my legs through my soft wool dress pants.
"What are you doing?" Ben Eager had twisted himself around in his seat, peering over the back of it at me.
"None of your business," I answered curtly, still tired from the night before.
"Oh, Doc's being snippy." Eager nudged the figure next to him, Dustin Byfuglien. Buff woke with a grumble. "Doc is being snippy," he told his teammate. Byfuglien grumbled again, and seemingly fell back asleep.
"Do you really want to know?" I asked, still gently prodding my calves.
"Of course I do! Wait, do I?" he lowered his voice into a whisper, "Is Bur doing work?"
"Oh come on! Do you want to know or not?"
"YES!"
"Well, I went to a concert last night and my friend dragged me-"
"You don't listen to music," Patrick Sharp laughed from an aisle away.
"Don't make come over there and hurt you Sharp," I threatened.
"So, what happened?" Eager continued.
"My friend dragged me into the mosh pit and now I have bruises everywhere."
"Oh, you mean Angelina?" Brouwer had propped himself on the back of my chair, his chin resting in his crossed arms.
"Oh my god, you just want her number already, don't you? You freak."
I heard the sleeping body next to me let out a giggle. Troy Parchman, the equipment manager, seemed to have awoken.
"Oh not you, too!" I exclaimed, throwing myself back into my chair and successfully throwing Brouwer off balance and forcing him to fall back.
"There needs to be more females on this airplane!"
A chorus of agreement rose up.