Sequel: Hidden in the Shadows ›
Status: Completed :) Onto the sequel!!
Playing the Game of Love
Chapter Fourteen
October 10th, 2010
Sunday
Prague’s Grand Inn
2:10 A.M.
Raina spent the night dancing, drinking, and having a blast. It was around 2 A.M. when she was walking with Blake back up to her room. She heard a familiar laugh coming from around the corner of the hallway. It was Brittany and Milan returning.
“Dammit they’re coming!” she said.
“Oh relax,” she listened to the voices growing closer and then said
“I’m gonna try to make him jealous.”
“How?” She didn’t answer instead; she grabbed the front of Blake’s shirt, pushed him aggressively into the wall, and pressed her lips into his. She wrapped her arms around his neck. If Blake didn’t like it, he was sure doing a great job in concealing it. He groaned into her mouth and kissed back, pulling Raina into him. She sensed Milan and Brittany walk around the corner and stop in shock. She pulled away to look up at them.
“Oh, hey,” she said trying to keep a smile off her lips and sound more embarrassed. Still in Blake’s arms she felt him begin to shake with laughter.
“Hey Looch,” he said, giggling. “How was your night?” Raina couldn’t detect jealousy on his face, just shock.
“It was good,” he said coldly.
“That’s nice,”
“Um, we’ll just go now,” he grabbed onto Brittany’s and pulled her down the hallway towards their room. Once she heard their door shut Blake turned to her and said
“That was pretty hot,” Raina rolled her eyes and backed away. The two continued down the hallway to her room.
“Did he look jealous?”
“Don’t know, wasn’t paying attention.”
“The whole team will know by tomorrow.” She said.
“We should get in a pretend break up fight.” laughed Blake. They reached her room, and said goodbye. Her father was already asleep and had left the bathroom light on for her. She slipped into the bathroom, and quietly shut the door. She changed and went to bed. She lay there thinking about the look on Milan’s face when he saw her and Blake kissing. He was obviously shocked, but what was he truly feeling? Hurt? Sad? Angry? Jealous? Happy for her? She felt her eyes refusing to stay open and let herself fall into a deep sleep.
Raina had been right, the whole team did know by morning. She woke up at 9:00 to find texts from Tuukka and Vlad repeatedly asking her what had happened. She felt slightly disappointed to see nothing from Milan. Did it mean he was mad? She texted Blake,
You awake?
She waited two minutes before concluding that he was probably still asleep. Her dad was not in the room and had gone done to breakfast already. She got up and quickly dressed. She had to go see how much damage she had done. She texted Tuukka,
Where are you?
A minute later she got a text back saying,
In the hotel’s general shop.
She took the elevator down and went into the small store trying to find Tuukka over the tall shelves.
“Tuuk?” she called out.
“Ya?” she heard him call out from the back of the store. She walked down the aisles until she saw Vlad and Tuukka with their head together, bent over counting out cash. Vlad was wearing a ridiculous rainbow hat while nosily chewing a Chocolate bar, and holding several more in his other hand. Tuukka held a plastic bag full of all different kinds of candies.
“We have 20 bucks in total, we have enough.” They looked like little kids pulling their money together.
“Guys how many people know?” For a split second, Vlad had a look of confusion but then a cocky grin spread across his face.
“About you and Blakey?” she rolled her eyes,
“Yes,”
“Everyone,” laughed Vlad. “Nobody knows hat to think because they all know you and Looch had a thing.”
“Who told everyone?”
“I don’t know, we heard it from Marc who heard it from David who heard it from Shawn who heard it from Chara who heard it from-”
“Stop, I get it!” she said figuring if she didn’t stop him he’d go naming the whole team.
“What’s Milan been like this morning?”
“Really quiet, he was with Brittany eating this morning. He looked lost in his own thoughts.”
“I’m gonna go wake up Blake.”
“We’re coming!” said Tuukka. They paid for all their candy and were soon on their way back upstairs.
“Blake, wake up!” yelled Raina banging loudly on his door. She heard his bed shift and then a yell as he fell off the bed, still only half asleep. She heard his foot falls grow closer and then the door opened to reveal a disheveled and tired looking Blake only in boxers.
“What’s going on?” he said looking at her with squinted eyes. She pushed her way into his room, followed by Tuukka and Vlad.
“Everyone knows!” she said sitting down on Blake’s messy bed.
“About what?”
“About us kissing,” he blinked at her with a perplexed look and then went
“Ohhhhh,” realizing what she was talking about.
“Who spread it around?”
“I don’t know, I thought Milan and Brittany were the only ones to have seen us.”
“It was probably Brittany; she seems hell bent on making you as miserable as possible.”
“It was probably her!” said Raina feeling the anger skyrocket within her chest. “That little bitch.”
“Calm down, don’t go downstairs and throw a fit and make a scene.” said Vlad laughing. She glared at him and said
“I am starving; I need to go have breakfast. Maybe I’ll accidentally spill some syrup on her.”
“Play nice,” said Tuukka smirking at her.
“I’m gonna get dressed and come down with you,” said Blake going over to his suitcase and pulling out clothes.
“We’ll come,” said Vlad still wearing his rainbow hat. “We have a game at 12:00 against the Coyotes; we could use the extra food for energy.” The three of them left the room with Blake trailing along behind. They went back downstairs and Raina peeked into the dining area. To her disappointment, Milan and Brittany were not there anymore. She walked in with the three boys and they sat down at a table. Most of the team had finished eating but a few of the players that hadn’t were staring at her, wondering if the rumors were true. She sat across from Blake and next to Tuukka. They stared at each other from cross the table trying not to catch the eyes of the people staring at them. The waitress quickly took their order and they sat in silence again until Blake broke the ice.
“So what do you think about the game this afternoon?”
“We are so gonna win!” said Vlad excitedly. “The Coyotes are going down!” the food came out quickly and they had finished eating and paid the bill within a half hour. The group separated to go back to their rooms to get ready to leave. Raina quickly put on some makeup and was out the door. She met Tuukka at the elevator.
“Are you coming with me?”
“Sure, I think my dad already left.” When they got to the entrance Tuukka requested his car to be driven around for him.
Arriving at the rink, Raina saw it was as big as the Garden but not quite as grand and inviting. Raina usually had a reserved seat next to the bench in the front row or in a suite, but sometimes her father let her onto the bench as a treat. He had promised her he’d let her stand with him on the bench all of the preseason games so when she left Tuukka to go get on his gear she headed straight for the bench. She saw her father already there and said
“Hey,”
“Hey, help me get all these pucks onto the ice.” Her father pulled out a big bucketful of pucks she began to help him throw them onto the ice. Some of the players began to appear from the locker room. She noticed one of the first to come out was Milan. He saw her standing on the bench, and quickly looked away. Raina looked around the rink to see Brittany on the opposite side of the rink sitting a few rows up. The few players out on the ice began to hit some of the pucks around, aiming at the empty net. She kept her eyes on Milan. She noticed the way he was skating was slower, and sloppier. He seemed distant, distracted, and unfocused. He shot at the net and still missed despite the fact it was empty. She knew what was wrong. It happened to him when he was intensely worried, or he couldn’t get something he deeply cared about off of his mind. He wouldn’t be able to focus on anything. Last year, when Raina had been in a serious car accident, he had acted the same.
Milan sat in the Bruin’s locker room, all dressed and ready to get out onto the ice. Several of his teammates sat around him waiting with him. There was a tight nervous silence in the room. Claude Julien, their coach, had not arrived yet and the game was going to start in ten minutes. Doug Houda, their assistant coach, had gone to call around and find out where he was. Claude had never been late to a game or practice. Ever. Something must have gone wrong. What worried him the most was wherever he was Raina was with him. A minute later, Doug and a few other staff members walked in with grim looks on their faces. It made Milan’s stomach drop. Something was wrong. Doug sighed and said
“Claude can’t make it to the game tonight, on the way here he got into a car accident.” The room still stayed disturbingly silent as Doug took another deep breath. “It was a pretty severe crash; both Claude and Raina were in the car.” Milan buried his face into his big black hockey gloves, not wanting to believe the news. The image of Claude’s wrecked BMW entered his head. Raina’s beaten and bleeding body lying on the ground nearby, dead, a bruised and battered Claude being held back by police men as he tried to get to his daughter’s body. He heard Recchi speak up.
“How badly are they hurt?”
“They’re both alive thank god; Claude is badly bruised but not in critical condition. I’m not sure how bad Raina is. I was only told of Claude’s condition.” Milan stood up and said
“I need to know if she’s ok.” Doug gave him a sympathetic look, knowing full well about how close he felt to her.
“Once the game’s over,” Milan knew there was no point in fighting about it. They were going to make him play this game or he’d lose his job. He heard the starting music outside in the rink and knew it was time to go.
It was the worst game he had ever played in his entire hockey career. He focused more on the time and what period it was rather then the puck. He missed at least 20 scoring opportunities, and an uncountable amount of chances he had to take the puck from an opposing player. There was even a point where a player body checked him, pushing him down. He was so shocked it took him a minute to realize what had happened and to get back onto his feet. He was constantly getting yelled at by Doug, who in the beginning of the third period when Milan got back to the bench, violently grabbed the front of his helmet and yelled
“GET YOUR FUCKING HEAD IN THE GAME KID!!!” Milan did a little better after that, but still not up to his usual standard. In the locker room, he ignored everyone’s ignored stares. He undressed and showers as fast as he could. He rushed out to his car and instantly headed for Mass General. He arrived 15 minutes later, rushing up to the desk.
“I need to see Raina Julien, what room is she in?!” The woman looked at a long list of patients on her computer and said
“Room 201, Floor 2,”
“Thanks,” he took the elevator up and found the room. He nearly crushed the doorknob and pushed his way through the door. The room looked like a normal hospital room. Lying on the bed was Raina. Her eyes were closed, asleep, he hoped. He felt a horrified feeling creep into his body at the thought of her being dead. She had several wires and tube attached to her. Her skin had gone from its olive color to a pale color as white as paper. The white brought out the deep, severe, blue, and black bruises all over her body. She didn’t look like she was cut up to badly except for a large bloodstained bandage wrapped around her upper thigh. He walked over to the bed and ran his hand lightly across her soft unblemished cheek. He heard her make a soft groaning sound and her eyes slowly opened.
“Milan?” she said looking up at him.
“I’m here,” he said in a soft whisper. He took her small pale hand in his large bear-like one. He gave it a gentle squeeze. She let out a cry of pain and said
“My whole body hurts,” he leaned down and said
“It will be ok,” he wiped the fallen tears off of her face with his thumb. He stayed with her until she was asleep again and then grabbed a chair and sat down beside her bed instead of leaning over it. A nurse walked in and let out a gasp of surprise to see him there.
“Oh, um, who are you? Nobody but family should be allowed to visit.”
“I’m her cousin,”
“Sure, you can stay then.” The nurse proceeded on with what she was doing. He watched her refill a medication bag that was attached to Raina. Then she moved onto the bloodstained bandage. He felt sick when he saw the deep wound underneath. It wasn’t a wide cut but a very long deep slit that looked as if it had been caused by a large piece of glass. It was so deep when the nurse opened it to clean it out he could clearly see the pink tendons. After cleaning it, the nurse rewrapped her leg and said
“The doctors are going to be in to stitch up her leg in an hour, when they come in you’re going to have to leave.” He nodded and the nurse left the room. Milan looked back at Raina’s angelic face covered in bruises and small cuts from shattered glass. He sat there for another twenty minutes alone when he heard her say still with closed eyes
“Who won?” her voice did not go above a whisper.
“We did,”
“Did you score?” He laughed lightly and said
“No, I sucked,”
“Why?”
“Couldn’t stop thinking about you and if you were alright.” He saw her smile, her eyes still closed not having of opened throughout their conversation.
“I love you Looch,” he grinned and said
“I love you too Ray.”
Raina saw him give another quick glance over at her. She felt a pang of guilt. What if they lost the game because of Milan’s mood? It would technically be all her fault. She wanted to call Milan over and tell him the truth of what had gone on between her and Blake but held back. Soon the Coyote’s came out onto the opposite side of the ice to practice and the rink began to fill up with fans. Then, the starting line remained on the ice while all the other players came to the bench. Milan sat on the other side of the bench away from where she was standing. Raina had to stand in the far corner of the bench area as to not get in the way of things when the players rotated and her father coached. The national anthems started and were soon over and the game begun. Raina felt the rush of watching a hockey game come back as Patrice Bergeron won the face off and took the puck up ice towards the Coyote’s net.
__________________________________________________
Ya I know it's been a realllllly long time but I'm gonna try and bring this story back. Anybody who's interested in reading it still and sticking with it thanks :)
Sunday
Prague’s Grand Inn
2:10 A.M.
Raina spent the night dancing, drinking, and having a blast. It was around 2 A.M. when she was walking with Blake back up to her room. She heard a familiar laugh coming from around the corner of the hallway. It was Brittany and Milan returning.
“Dammit they’re coming!” she said.
“Oh relax,” she listened to the voices growing closer and then said
“I’m gonna try to make him jealous.”
“How?” She didn’t answer instead; she grabbed the front of Blake’s shirt, pushed him aggressively into the wall, and pressed her lips into his. She wrapped her arms around his neck. If Blake didn’t like it, he was sure doing a great job in concealing it. He groaned into her mouth and kissed back, pulling Raina into him. She sensed Milan and Brittany walk around the corner and stop in shock. She pulled away to look up at them.
“Oh, hey,” she said trying to keep a smile off her lips and sound more embarrassed. Still in Blake’s arms she felt him begin to shake with laughter.
“Hey Looch,” he said, giggling. “How was your night?” Raina couldn’t detect jealousy on his face, just shock.
“It was good,” he said coldly.
“That’s nice,”
“Um, we’ll just go now,” he grabbed onto Brittany’s and pulled her down the hallway towards their room. Once she heard their door shut Blake turned to her and said
“That was pretty hot,” Raina rolled her eyes and backed away. The two continued down the hallway to her room.
“Did he look jealous?”
“Don’t know, wasn’t paying attention.”
“The whole team will know by tomorrow.” She said.
“We should get in a pretend break up fight.” laughed Blake. They reached her room, and said goodbye. Her father was already asleep and had left the bathroom light on for her. She slipped into the bathroom, and quietly shut the door. She changed and went to bed. She lay there thinking about the look on Milan’s face when he saw her and Blake kissing. He was obviously shocked, but what was he truly feeling? Hurt? Sad? Angry? Jealous? Happy for her? She felt her eyes refusing to stay open and let herself fall into a deep sleep.
Raina had been right, the whole team did know by morning. She woke up at 9:00 to find texts from Tuukka and Vlad repeatedly asking her what had happened. She felt slightly disappointed to see nothing from Milan. Did it mean he was mad? She texted Blake,
You awake?
She waited two minutes before concluding that he was probably still asleep. Her dad was not in the room and had gone done to breakfast already. She got up and quickly dressed. She had to go see how much damage she had done. She texted Tuukka,
Where are you?
A minute later she got a text back saying,
In the hotel’s general shop.
She took the elevator down and went into the small store trying to find Tuukka over the tall shelves.
“Tuuk?” she called out.
“Ya?” she heard him call out from the back of the store. She walked down the aisles until she saw Vlad and Tuukka with their head together, bent over counting out cash. Vlad was wearing a ridiculous rainbow hat while nosily chewing a Chocolate bar, and holding several more in his other hand. Tuukka held a plastic bag full of all different kinds of candies.
“We have 20 bucks in total, we have enough.” They looked like little kids pulling their money together.
“Guys how many people know?” For a split second, Vlad had a look of confusion but then a cocky grin spread across his face.
“About you and Blakey?” she rolled her eyes,
“Yes,”
“Everyone,” laughed Vlad. “Nobody knows hat to think because they all know you and Looch had a thing.”
“Who told everyone?”
“I don’t know, we heard it from Marc who heard it from David who heard it from Shawn who heard it from Chara who heard it from-”
“Stop, I get it!” she said figuring if she didn’t stop him he’d go naming the whole team.
“What’s Milan been like this morning?”
“Really quiet, he was with Brittany eating this morning. He looked lost in his own thoughts.”
“I’m gonna go wake up Blake.”
“We’re coming!” said Tuukka. They paid for all their candy and were soon on their way back upstairs.
“Blake, wake up!” yelled Raina banging loudly on his door. She heard his bed shift and then a yell as he fell off the bed, still only half asleep. She heard his foot falls grow closer and then the door opened to reveal a disheveled and tired looking Blake only in boxers.
“What’s going on?” he said looking at her with squinted eyes. She pushed her way into his room, followed by Tuukka and Vlad.
“Everyone knows!” she said sitting down on Blake’s messy bed.
“About what?”
“About us kissing,” he blinked at her with a perplexed look and then went
“Ohhhhh,” realizing what she was talking about.
“Who spread it around?”
“I don’t know, I thought Milan and Brittany were the only ones to have seen us.”
“It was probably Brittany; she seems hell bent on making you as miserable as possible.”
“It was probably her!” said Raina feeling the anger skyrocket within her chest. “That little bitch.”
“Calm down, don’t go downstairs and throw a fit and make a scene.” said Vlad laughing. She glared at him and said
“I am starving; I need to go have breakfast. Maybe I’ll accidentally spill some syrup on her.”
“Play nice,” said Tuukka smirking at her.
“I’m gonna get dressed and come down with you,” said Blake going over to his suitcase and pulling out clothes.
“We’ll come,” said Vlad still wearing his rainbow hat. “We have a game at 12:00 against the Coyotes; we could use the extra food for energy.” The three of them left the room with Blake trailing along behind. They went back downstairs and Raina peeked into the dining area. To her disappointment, Milan and Brittany were not there anymore. She walked in with the three boys and they sat down at a table. Most of the team had finished eating but a few of the players that hadn’t were staring at her, wondering if the rumors were true. She sat across from Blake and next to Tuukka. They stared at each other from cross the table trying not to catch the eyes of the people staring at them. The waitress quickly took their order and they sat in silence again until Blake broke the ice.
“So what do you think about the game this afternoon?”
“We are so gonna win!” said Vlad excitedly. “The Coyotes are going down!” the food came out quickly and they had finished eating and paid the bill within a half hour. The group separated to go back to their rooms to get ready to leave. Raina quickly put on some makeup and was out the door. She met Tuukka at the elevator.
“Are you coming with me?”
“Sure, I think my dad already left.” When they got to the entrance Tuukka requested his car to be driven around for him.
Arriving at the rink, Raina saw it was as big as the Garden but not quite as grand and inviting. Raina usually had a reserved seat next to the bench in the front row or in a suite, but sometimes her father let her onto the bench as a treat. He had promised her he’d let her stand with him on the bench all of the preseason games so when she left Tuukka to go get on his gear she headed straight for the bench. She saw her father already there and said
“Hey,”
“Hey, help me get all these pucks onto the ice.” Her father pulled out a big bucketful of pucks she began to help him throw them onto the ice. Some of the players began to appear from the locker room. She noticed one of the first to come out was Milan. He saw her standing on the bench, and quickly looked away. Raina looked around the rink to see Brittany on the opposite side of the rink sitting a few rows up. The few players out on the ice began to hit some of the pucks around, aiming at the empty net. She kept her eyes on Milan. She noticed the way he was skating was slower, and sloppier. He seemed distant, distracted, and unfocused. He shot at the net and still missed despite the fact it was empty. She knew what was wrong. It happened to him when he was intensely worried, or he couldn’t get something he deeply cared about off of his mind. He wouldn’t be able to focus on anything. Last year, when Raina had been in a serious car accident, he had acted the same.
Milan sat in the Bruin’s locker room, all dressed and ready to get out onto the ice. Several of his teammates sat around him waiting with him. There was a tight nervous silence in the room. Claude Julien, their coach, had not arrived yet and the game was going to start in ten minutes. Doug Houda, their assistant coach, had gone to call around and find out where he was. Claude had never been late to a game or practice. Ever. Something must have gone wrong. What worried him the most was wherever he was Raina was with him. A minute later, Doug and a few other staff members walked in with grim looks on their faces. It made Milan’s stomach drop. Something was wrong. Doug sighed and said
“Claude can’t make it to the game tonight, on the way here he got into a car accident.” The room still stayed disturbingly silent as Doug took another deep breath. “It was a pretty severe crash; both Claude and Raina were in the car.” Milan buried his face into his big black hockey gloves, not wanting to believe the news. The image of Claude’s wrecked BMW entered his head. Raina’s beaten and bleeding body lying on the ground nearby, dead, a bruised and battered Claude being held back by police men as he tried to get to his daughter’s body. He heard Recchi speak up.
“How badly are they hurt?”
“They’re both alive thank god; Claude is badly bruised but not in critical condition. I’m not sure how bad Raina is. I was only told of Claude’s condition.” Milan stood up and said
“I need to know if she’s ok.” Doug gave him a sympathetic look, knowing full well about how close he felt to her.
“Once the game’s over,” Milan knew there was no point in fighting about it. They were going to make him play this game or he’d lose his job. He heard the starting music outside in the rink and knew it was time to go.
It was the worst game he had ever played in his entire hockey career. He focused more on the time and what period it was rather then the puck. He missed at least 20 scoring opportunities, and an uncountable amount of chances he had to take the puck from an opposing player. There was even a point where a player body checked him, pushing him down. He was so shocked it took him a minute to realize what had happened and to get back onto his feet. He was constantly getting yelled at by Doug, who in the beginning of the third period when Milan got back to the bench, violently grabbed the front of his helmet and yelled
“GET YOUR FUCKING HEAD IN THE GAME KID!!!” Milan did a little better after that, but still not up to his usual standard. In the locker room, he ignored everyone’s ignored stares. He undressed and showers as fast as he could. He rushed out to his car and instantly headed for Mass General. He arrived 15 minutes later, rushing up to the desk.
“I need to see Raina Julien, what room is she in?!” The woman looked at a long list of patients on her computer and said
“Room 201, Floor 2,”
“Thanks,” he took the elevator up and found the room. He nearly crushed the doorknob and pushed his way through the door. The room looked like a normal hospital room. Lying on the bed was Raina. Her eyes were closed, asleep, he hoped. He felt a horrified feeling creep into his body at the thought of her being dead. She had several wires and tube attached to her. Her skin had gone from its olive color to a pale color as white as paper. The white brought out the deep, severe, blue, and black bruises all over her body. She didn’t look like she was cut up to badly except for a large bloodstained bandage wrapped around her upper thigh. He walked over to the bed and ran his hand lightly across her soft unblemished cheek. He heard her make a soft groaning sound and her eyes slowly opened.
“Milan?” she said looking up at him.
“I’m here,” he said in a soft whisper. He took her small pale hand in his large bear-like one. He gave it a gentle squeeze. She let out a cry of pain and said
“My whole body hurts,” he leaned down and said
“It will be ok,” he wiped the fallen tears off of her face with his thumb. He stayed with her until she was asleep again and then grabbed a chair and sat down beside her bed instead of leaning over it. A nurse walked in and let out a gasp of surprise to see him there.
“Oh, um, who are you? Nobody but family should be allowed to visit.”
“I’m her cousin,”
“Sure, you can stay then.” The nurse proceeded on with what she was doing. He watched her refill a medication bag that was attached to Raina. Then she moved onto the bloodstained bandage. He felt sick when he saw the deep wound underneath. It wasn’t a wide cut but a very long deep slit that looked as if it had been caused by a large piece of glass. It was so deep when the nurse opened it to clean it out he could clearly see the pink tendons. After cleaning it, the nurse rewrapped her leg and said
“The doctors are going to be in to stitch up her leg in an hour, when they come in you’re going to have to leave.” He nodded and the nurse left the room. Milan looked back at Raina’s angelic face covered in bruises and small cuts from shattered glass. He sat there for another twenty minutes alone when he heard her say still with closed eyes
“Who won?” her voice did not go above a whisper.
“We did,”
“Did you score?” He laughed lightly and said
“No, I sucked,”
“Why?”
“Couldn’t stop thinking about you and if you were alright.” He saw her smile, her eyes still closed not having of opened throughout their conversation.
“I love you Looch,” he grinned and said
“I love you too Ray.”
Raina saw him give another quick glance over at her. She felt a pang of guilt. What if they lost the game because of Milan’s mood? It would technically be all her fault. She wanted to call Milan over and tell him the truth of what had gone on between her and Blake but held back. Soon the Coyote’s came out onto the opposite side of the ice to practice and the rink began to fill up with fans. Then, the starting line remained on the ice while all the other players came to the bench. Milan sat on the other side of the bench away from where she was standing. Raina had to stand in the far corner of the bench area as to not get in the way of things when the players rotated and her father coached. The national anthems started and were soon over and the game begun. Raina felt the rush of watching a hockey game come back as Patrice Bergeron won the face off and took the puck up ice towards the Coyote’s net.
__________________________________________________
Ya I know it's been a realllllly long time but I'm gonna try and bring this story back. Anybody who's interested in reading it still and sticking with it thanks :)