Blue Paint & Red Lights

My widened eyes encouraged him to continue.
"You do remember her, right?" His face was pleading to make this easier for him.
"Yeah." I mumbled, keeping my eyes locked with his darkened ones.
"She lives in Detroit." He ripped his eyes away from mine and kept putting away his clothes. I backed up so I leaned against the wall. Maybe Antti was finally beginning to think what I've been thinking this whole time. I wasn't good enough for him. I usually thought the other way, but with Antti- it was opposite. He's too good for me.
"Well I saw her at that bar the guys and I went to." He continued, "And we started talking in Finnish and it was really kind of interesting- being able to speak fluently in it since we left Finland this summer."
I nodded, even though he wasn't looking my way and he took my silence as permission to continue.
"She asked me if I was married, because of my wedding band." Antti held it up momentarily to use the silver band on his ring finger to gesture.
"I jumped at the chance to describe you in Finnish. Some words don't translate right."
Like controlling bitch. I thought bitterly to myself and it must have shown on my face because Antti took that moment to come up to me and cradle my face.
"No, please don't think that. I don't know what happened, Sam." I could feel his breath on my face and his words dug deep.
"What did happen, Antti?" I was prepared for the worst.
"We kept talking and she was really nice, like a sister, asking about you and the family and our friends, and I kept drinking my beer and then I don't remember anything else after that."
I shut my eyes quickly and asked him, "What do you remember next?"
"Waking up in a hotel room. Not with the team."
After he stopped speaking, the room felt heavy with the silence until he started again.
"My clothes were in the bathroom. I can't find my wallet, Sam. I didn't have my boxers, I don't know where my I.D. or my drivers license is, or my money, I'm surprised I still have my wedding ring." His voice was desperate and crazed.

I know I shouldn't have, but I breathed a sigh of relief. He was robbed, he didn't cheat on me.
"I can't remember what I did last night, Samantha." Antti backed away and sat down on the bed, putting his head in his hands. "I don't know what happened."
My face dropped and I approached him, crouching so I could pull his hands away from his facial features.
"Antti..Baby, it'll be okay." I said quietly, lightly kissing his cheek and standing up to sit down next to him on the bed.
He crumbled. That's the only verb that accurately describes what happened to my goalie. Antti crumbled in on himself and leaned into me. I opened my arms and adjusted us on the bed so he sat inbetween my legs and I hugged him to me. I began to rock a little, like I was holding a delicate child, but that's what Antti felt like. A delicate, breakable child.

"It's going to be okay, Antti. I'm here. We'll figure this out. We'll replace your license and your I.D. We have money." Of course we could. We had the money, with him a professional athlete and myself a doctor, and we had the time to replace everything that was lost. Maybe even the memory.

"Samantha. I think I need some time and space." His voice was almost so quiet I couldn't hear him. Antti pulled away from me and stood up.
"I'll leave for the night so you can have the apartment." He said, grabbing his bag from off the floor.

"No, I'll leave. Call me when you're ready, Antti." I climbed off the bed and lightly touched his cheek before turning and walking out of the bedroom. I grabbed my eyes by the door and slipped on my shoes, making sure my phone was tucked safely in my jeans before I left the apartment and Antti.

It wasn't until I was aimlessly driving the dark Chicago streets that I wondered where I would go. Angelina would have Troy and their new puppy Ari, who Angelina was already jealous of, even though it was clear that Ari favored her more.
Maybe Karolina? Would Patrick be at her house? Most likely.
I made a left turn onto a side street that I didn't recognize and kept driving.
What about Natalia, Angelina's little sister? We didn't really talk, that would be weird.
I could sleep in my car. I glanced at the back seat. It was big enough. But it would be damn cold. Then it hit me- Christmas was in five days. I could just stay with my parents, because the high school reunion was in two days.
I realized I would need clothes so I quickly checked the dashboard clock.
6:56 PM. Stores would still be open.

I quickly made purchases to clothe me for the next five to six days and I bought Christmas gifts for my family. I was walking back to my car when I passed a small independent pet store. There were multiple animals in the windows- cats, birds, dogs, and gerbils. I shook my head and kept walking. Antti's gift would have to wait until he figured out what was going on.

The drive was long to the rural town that I spent five years of my life in. I called ahead to my parents and they said it was fine and they would probably be in bed and they quickly reminded me what the code to the garage was so I could come in late.
I pulled into the driveway and immediately shut off the engine so I wouldn't wake them.
I punched my dad's name into the keypad followed by the number one and the garage opened, shaking the house. I sighed and accepted the fact that they will probably wake up. I closed the garage door once I was inside and stepped into the kitchen.

My mother was sitting there with two cups of coffee and a bottle of Irish whiskey.