Fly With You

Jonathan Toews was easily recognized, that he knew. It was one of the prices that came with being one of the most popular players not only in the city of Chicago, but the entire NHL, as well. He didn’t mind having to stop and sign autographs before he went out to brunch with his visiting parents, having to stay almost an hour longer than his teammates after games and practices to accommodate the waiting fans, or having to spend most of his free time in his downtown Chicago apartment. He was living his dream; he couldn’t complain.

Chicago’s busiest and most popular stretch of beach along Lake Michigan was not where he expected himself to be, but he was. Luckily for him (and his sanity), school was already back and session, and the beach was relatively empty even on such a hot day like that one. He had a few more weeks of time to himself, time to relax, before hockey picked back up and all he did was live and breathe the sport.

Mike, his close friend from back home and the one who had dragged him to the beach, picked out a spot for the two young men to put the stuff they had brought with them down. Mike immediately sat down in his chair, pulling the red cooler they had brought up to him. He pulled out a beer and offered one to Jonathan, who rolled his eyes but took it, sitting in his chair, too.

“I hope we see some hot chicks, especially ones who recognize you; it’ll be easier to get ‘em.”

Shaking his head and letting out a light laugh, Jonathan let his eyes fall onto the water as Mike scoped out the beach. Closing his eyes, he let his head fall back against the chair and let the sun warm his body. It wasn’t long before he heard female voices and felt Mike’s elbow jabbing into his side. His gaze immediately fell onto the two girls next to Mike, flirty smiles on their pretty faces and tiny bikinis on their athletic bodies.

Nodding and giving them a polite smile, he offered them his hand to shake, as Mike told him their names were Karen and Claire. “Do you girls know my boy Jonny?” They nodded, and Mike continued with fake shock in his voice, “oh you do? How about that?” Jonathan rolled his eyes again and excused himself from the two girls and his friend, heading toward the food stand.

He walked up to the window and ordered himself a bottle of water and a soft, salted pretzel. He was immediately handed the water and told his pretzel would be just a minute. Nodding silently, he moved to the side, allowing the next customer to step up to the window. He looked back at Mike only to see the two girls still with him. He groaned, not in the mood to play nice just so his friend could get laid off his name.

“You don’t look happy,” he heard, making his dark eyes turn back toward the food stand, a thin, tall, blond girl smiling a crooked grin at him. He shrugged, telling her he was just tired and a little frustrated. “Those two girls… one of them is supposed to be for you, I assume.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“And you’re not interested?”

Jonathan laughed, shaking his head, really looking at the girl in front of him. A pair of jean shorts, a loose white tee shirt and a pair of flip flops was all she wore over her thin, tall, and tan body. Her long, wavy blond hair was hanging low, almost reaching her lower back, and she wore a large messenger back, slung to her side. He finally answered with a quiet ‘no’ as she pulled her big, round sunglasses down from her hair and covered her blue eyes.

His pretzel was handed to him a few seconds later, and while he should have left – walked back to his friend and the two girls he was sweet-talking – he didn’t. Instead, he stayed at the food stand, took a bite of his pretzel and let his eyes fall onto the girl again as she grabbed her food from the counter.

“Are you from around here?” He asked, not being able to stop his curiosity when it came to the beautiful blond. When she shook her head his suspicion was confirmed. She simply did not look like a Chicago girl.

“I’m a beach bunny; Santa Monica, California – born and raised,” she told him as she sat down on the sand, putting her food and drink down in front of her. Jonathan hesitated, but she patted the sand next to her, inviting him to sit, and he immediately did so.

“What are you doing in Chicago?”

“Just seeing where life takes me, I guess.”

Jonathan frowned, making the girl laugh. What the hell did just seeing where life takes me mean? Did she not have a proper home, a proper place to call hers? He imagined the girl – whatever her name was – simply traveling around from place to place, not a care in the world. The thought both scared him and excited him; he’d give anything to be able to do that, if only for a little while, as long as he knew he had a home to come back to.

“What about you?” She asked, before taking a bite of her burger. “Where are you from?”

He stopped mid-bite, lowering the pretzel from his mouth, unsure of what to say. It wasn’t often he encountered someone who didn’t know who he was, but this girl; she had said she was a California beach bunny. What was she going to know about hockey?

“Winnipeg,” he started, not finishing when she nodded in recognition and let out a small ’Canada, eh?’. He laughed, “Yeah, something like that.”

“Then what are you doing in Chicago?”

“I, uh; I play hockey.”

“Really?” She asked, her eyebrows raised high. “That’s really cool; doing something you love. You do love it, right?”

Surprised by the question, he didn’t answer right away, but when he did, it was very sure and affirmative, “Yeah, I love hockey. I couldn’t be luckier.”

“Good,” she said. “Everyone needs to do what they love.”

“What do you love?”

“Traveling; seeing the world.”

“And you’re doing that?”

She nodded, smiling widely before continuing to eat her food. He finished his own pretzel, and the bottle of water, watching her eat her giant burger, huge helping of fries, and large soda. He wasn’t sure where she was putting it all exactly, but she finished it all.

“What’s your name?” He asked, thinking that maybe if somehow he knew her name, he could try to figure out this strange, young girl he had encountered.

“Delia,” she told him, taking a long drink of her coke. “It’s kind of weird, huh?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “It suits you, though.”

She grinned, “I’ll take that as a compliment instead of an insult.”

Jonathan’s eyes widened, “Oh, no! I’m sor—”

“Relax, dude; I was just kidding. You’re a pretty serious guy, aren’t you?”

He laughed awkwardly, “Yeah, I am. I’m Jonathan, by the way; Jon or Jonny, if you want.”

She nodded, smiling at him, “So tell me Jonny… Is hockey really big here?” He nodded. “Is that why those kids keep staring over here, almost daring the other to come over here first?”

Jonathan whipped his head to the left, seeing two boys who couldn’t have been older than twelve or thirteen, doing just what Delia had described. He grinned and waved them over, signing the draw-string backpacks they had in their hands, just next to the famous Blackhawks’ Indian-head logo on the fabric. The blond girl grinned as they practically ran away, not able to contain their excitement over having met the hockey player.

“That was cute,” she said, “that happen to you a lot?”

“Yeah,” he smiled. “The kids, I never and will never complain about signing for. They’re great. It’s their parents or just the adults that don’t leave me alone I get really sick of.”

“I get you,” she said, leaning back against the sand, her long hair fanning out around her. “What position?”

“What?”

“Hockey!” She laughed. “What position do you play?”

“Oh…” he laughed shyly. “I’m a center. I’m also the captain of the team.”

“Now you’re just bragging, Jonny.”

“No, I’m not,” he laughed, bumping her arm with his.

“You are,” she protested. “You’re trying to impress me!” He was sure his cheeks were red as Delia looked at him, a large grin on her pretty face. He knew she was joking, but he also knew that maybe, he had been trying to impress her. “I think I’m going to cool off a bit, get my feet wet. You want to join me?”

Jonathan found himself immediately nodding, following Delia to the garbage can to dispose of their food containers. He led her over to where Mike was still sitting with the two girls, telling her she could leave her bag there, if she wanted. She nodded and put her bag on the side next to Jonathan’s wallet in between the two chairs.

“We’re heading to the water.” Mike raised an eyebrow. “Oh, this is Delia. Delia, this is Mike.”

“Hi, Mike,” she smiled, lifting her tee shirt over her head and unbuttoning her shorts before kicking them near her bag, leaving her in a bikini. She grinned as Jonathan looked at her body before she put her small hand around his bicep, dragging him behind her as she ran toward Lake Michigan.

She splashed into the water, immediately going into waters that went up to her chest. She scrunched her face at the feel of the sandy, muddy bottom of the lake. “The ocean is better.”

“I’m sure it is,” he laughed, wading in after her until he was only six inches from her body. He watched her take the sunglasses off her face, holding them in her hands as she closed her eyes and dipped her head back, soaking her long locks of blond hair.

“Tell me Jonny, how old are you?”

“Twenty five,” he told her, it hard to believe for himself.

“You’re just a baby,” she told him. “You’ve got a lot of life ahead of you.”

“And you? You’re not a baby?” He asked, not believing she could be any older than he was.

“No,” she shook her head. “I’m a baby, too. I’m only twenty one. I’ve got a lot of life ahead of me too, I guess.”

“You’re kind of odd, you know that?”

“Am I?” She laughed, kicking Jonathan’s leg with hers under the water.

“Yeah, you have that whole free spirit thing going on. I guess a serious guy like me isn’t used to being around people like you.”

“Maybe you should be around people like me more often,” she told him, winking a blue eye at him.

“Maybe I should just be around you more often.”

“You’re getting bold, Jonny. I like it.”

He shrugged, watching her kick her legs up and swim further into the water. He followed after her, calling for her to wait for him, but she was so fucking fast. There was no doubt she was a beach bunny; the girl looked more comfortable in the water than she did on land. When he finally caught up to her, he wrapped a muscular arm around her waist and pulled her into him. She laughed and turned in his arms, her feet not able to touch the bottom of the lake without dunking her head under. Latching herself onto him, she let him hold her as they moved with the gentle lake waves.

“Your friend and his conquests are staring at us.”

Jonathan shrugged, “Let them.”

“Those girls want you to take them home and show them a good time.” Jonathan snorted, shaking his head as he laughed. Delia let out a small laugh, but she told him she was serious. “They were glaring at me when we were over there.”

“I don’t doubt it,” he said as they approached the shore.

“Does that happen a lot?”

“What, girls wanting to spend a night with me?” Delia nodded. “Yeah,” Jonathan said. “It does.”

“And do they?”

He shrugged, grinning at her, “Sometimes; I do have needs.”

Delia laughed and twisted her hair, wringing out the water. When they got back to where Mike and the two girls were, Jonathan threw a towel at her to quickly dry off with. She did and when she was done, she slipped her clothes back on and put her bag over her shoulder. She smiled at Jonathan, “Thanks for talking with me, Jonny.”

“Where are you going?”

She shrugged, “Back to my hotel, I guess.”

“Can I call you?” He asked, surprising himself at how shy he sounded.

“You know what, you give me your number. I don’t have a cell phone, or anything. And I’m never at my hotel for more than twenty minutes during the day, so I’ll call you?”

Jonathan nodded, not able to feel like he was being rejected, but he took the pen Delia was holding and wrote his cell number on the arm she had stretched out for him. With a final smile and a light kiss on his cheek, she turned and left the beach, leaving him with Mike, the two girls, and a the feeling of rejection getting more and more prominent with every step Delia took.