Sequel: Hidden in the Shadows ›
Status: Completed :) Onto the sequel!!
Playing the Game of Love
Chapter Four
October 3rd, 2010
Sunday
Brenton Boston Luxury Apartments, Beacon St., Boston, MA
8:30 A.M.
She had long brown, wavy hair that reached a little below her chest. Her eyes were a light blue color. She looked to be about the same height as Raina herself, and was a thin girl. Knowing that she was a soccer player and a female athlete she figured Brittany wouldn’t have any curves whatsoever such as boobs, hips, etc. but she was clearly very wrong. Before she had even spoken a word Raina didn’t like her. Raina stood up to greet Brittany who approached her and to Raina’s surprise came forward and hugged her.
“You must be Raina!! I have heard sooo much about you.” Raina wasn’t sure if she should hug back or not so she awkwardly set her hands on Brittany’s shoulders. When Brittany pulled away she said
“Milan was talking about you the whole ride here and I couldn’t wait to meet you!!” Putting on yet another one of her fake smiles Raina said
“I’ve heard a lot about you too,” she saw Milan standing behind Brittany with his arms crossed over his chest, smiling at them with a prideful look on his face, feeling happy that his best friend and girlfriend seemed to like each other so much when really he had no idea about either of their true feelings for each other.
The three of them sat down at the kitchen table. Raina sat on one end and on the other end Milan and Brittany sat down. Raina felt like walking over and slapping Brittany right across her face when she saw Milan place his hand on top of hers when she put it down on the table. She put on another cheery face and said
“So how did you two meet over the summer?”
Brittany was the first to speak up. “I already knew him from high school. When I got out of high school I went down to the Florida Institute of Technology for their Department of Physical Education and Health from Vancouver. I play on their soccer team; I’ve been playing since I was three years old. After I heard about his success in the NHL I decided to visit him when the season ended and he had come back home to Vancouver. It just took off from there.” Milan seemed to hold her hand tighter as she was talking about it. “So how’d you and Milan become friends?” Raina saw the opportunity to express exactly how close she and Milan were.
“My father coaches the Bruins, and I help him a lot out on the ice at practices. We met at one of the first few practices when he wanted to know who I was. We’ve been GREAT friends ever since,” she emphasized the word great. She saw something change in Brittany’s eyes but couldn’t tell what it was. Anger? Jealousy? Or was it just happiness? She sure wasn’t smiling. In fact her lips were now in a slight frown. Whatever it was had gone from her eyes as soon as it had come. Milan laughed and said
“I remember the first time I tried to talk to you and you were so shy your whole face turned bright red, but I got through to you eventually.” Raina smiled warmly at him, staring into his dark brown eyes again, forgetting that Brittany was sitting next to him. She snapped out of her trance when Milan stood up.
“I’m so hungry, I’m going to get some lunch.” Raina laughed and said
“It’s only 10:00,”
“I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast which was 6:00 this morning before practice.” Brittany spoke up and said
“I never went and got anything to put in the fridge; I’ve been cleaning and setting things up all day, so there’s nothing to eat here.”
“Let’s go out and eat somewhere then, It will give Brittany an opportunity to see more of Boston.”
“Sure,” said Raina fine with the fact that maybe a nice lunch out in the city would calm the tight atmosphere between her and Brittany. Maybe she was overreacting; maybe Brittany would turn out nice and friendly. Either way Raina still didn’t like Milan being with a different girl. “Where to?” Raina turned to Brittany and in a careless voice asked
“Do you like pizza?”
“Ya,” She turned back to Milan and said
“How about Regina’s Pizzeria on Boylston St.?”
“Sounds good, I haven’t had a true Italian pizza since last year.” Milan grabbed his keys and the three of them headed down to the lobby and into the parking garage. Riding the two elevators down felt painfully awkward. All three of them were silent and Milan stood between the two of them. Raina found that when she would peek over at Brittany behind Milan’s back she found her staring back and quickly looked away. After what felt like a half an hour they finally exited the elevator into the parking garage. When Raina saw Brittany climb into the front passenger seat of Milan’s truck she felt her anger sky rocket yet again just when it had been starting to come down. There she was sitting there watching Raina through the windshield with a sickly sweet smile on her face, and a challenging look in her eyes. Fucking bitch, thought Raina. That was her seat, she always sat there when driving somewhere with Milan. All she wanted to do right now was grab the Go Slow sign that stood next to the main road of the parking garage and smash the windshield, pull her out by the front of her shirt, and sit there herself. But of course, Raina didn’t do anything except keep her gaze glued to Brittany’s as she passed by her window, giving her a challenging look right back. She opened the back door of the truck and jumped in feeling so belittled as Milan climbed into the front seat next to Brittany.
They ride was mostly silent. Raina sat leaning against the window, looking out at all the shops of Newbury St. go by. She looked up at Milan when he began to talk.
“You know Raina you should show Brittany some of the shops around here. I’m sure you’d like some of them.” He said now turning to Brittany. Raina bit back the words ‘Hell no,’ and instead said
“I’d be happy to.”
They soon arrived at the restaurant. After Milan signed a couple of autographs out by the entrance they headed inside, sitting down at a cushioned booth. Milan sat in between Brittany and Raina. Italian music played in the background, but it wasn’t enough to distract Raina from noticing Milan place his arm over Brittany’s shoulder. Trying to ignore them she opened up the small booklet in front of her that held the menu despite the fact she already knew they were getting pizza. She was finding it hard not to look over at them from the corner of her eye as Brittany leaned against Milan’s shoulder until she felt her phone abruptly vibrate in her jean's pocket. It made her jump a little but neither Milan nor Brittany seemed to notice as Milan was reading the back of the menu which explained how Regina’s Pizza had started, and Brittany was now looking at some of the pictures of Italy behind her. Raina opened her phone to see a text message from Tuukka
Having fun? :) It read, she shut her phone without replying rolling her eyes. She slipped it back in her pocket. The waitress came over and took their order which they agreed upon a large cheese pizza. Raina and Brittany both ordered waters and Milan ordered a beer. After having a torturous conversation with Brittany about how she liked Boston, and was excited to come to Milan’s games they’re pizza arrived. She felt another vibration in her pocket but ignored it, figuring it was either Vlad or Tuukka harassing her again. She pulled a slice of the pizza off the tray and onto her plate. They were all silent as they ate and Raina could feel her phone vibrate another five times in her pocket before she got sick of it and shut it off. After her third piece she was full. As usual, Milan ate a large amount, four and a half pieces. Brittany had only eaten two. It was around 11:00 and after she had insisted she would pay half the bill for five minutes, Milan convinced her to let him pay for it. Irritated that she wasn’t at least letting her pay for her own meal alone she gave him an aggravated look, crossing her arms over her chest. He laughed and then said
“Oh don’t give me that look; you know you can never stay mad at me no matter how hard you try. You always give in to me.” It was true; Raina always was the first to stay sorry during their fights or disagreements even if it took her three days. Her lips went from a frown to a small smile as she looked up at him, yet again getting lost in those deep, soft, brown eyes of his. She felt Brittany watching them. She quickly broke away and looked down at her hands in her lap, trying to stop herself from blushing. Milan had also turned away, he also seemed to get the awkwardness of the situation because he was playing with the money in his hands that they were paying with. She still felt Brittany’s burning gaze on her as she looked down at her hands. Without even looking at her face she knew it was a gaze of hostility. She could see Brittany’s face in her mind looking at her with narrowed eyes, and her lips tightly pressed together. Raina was not scared of her; quite honestly she couldn’t care less about what Brittany thought. It was Milan. What if Brittany told Milan that Raina had threatened her, or said something to her? Who would he believe? His girlfriend or his best friend? She didn’t even want to think about it. It felt like hour even though it was only a minute before the waitress came back. They paid, and soon got up to leave. Raina was the first to slide out from the booth and stood up to straighten her shirt as Milan stood up next to her, moving around her to walk towards the entrance. As Raina went to follow him Brittany was just getting up out of her seat. Before Raina could take a few steps down the aisle of tables Brittany quickly stood up and cut her off by giving her a sharp nudge out of the way. Raina caught herself on the empty table next to her. Stunned by what had just happened she watched Brittany walk down the aisle away from her after Milan who hadn’t noticed a thing. She turned back around to Raina and put on the same sickly sweet face she had had on in the car. In an innocent voice Raina heard her say
“Are you coming?” Raina pushed herself away from the table, and confidently walked towards Brittany. As she passed by her they stared each other straight in the eyes, their faces both in challenging expressions.
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Thanks to all my readers and subscribers :) I just got out of school and Ill be able to post more chapters more frequently now.
Sunday
Brenton Boston Luxury Apartments, Beacon St., Boston, MA
8:30 A.M.
She had long brown, wavy hair that reached a little below her chest. Her eyes were a light blue color. She looked to be about the same height as Raina herself, and was a thin girl. Knowing that she was a soccer player and a female athlete she figured Brittany wouldn’t have any curves whatsoever such as boobs, hips, etc. but she was clearly very wrong. Before she had even spoken a word Raina didn’t like her. Raina stood up to greet Brittany who approached her and to Raina’s surprise came forward and hugged her.
“You must be Raina!! I have heard sooo much about you.” Raina wasn’t sure if she should hug back or not so she awkwardly set her hands on Brittany’s shoulders. When Brittany pulled away she said
“Milan was talking about you the whole ride here and I couldn’t wait to meet you!!” Putting on yet another one of her fake smiles Raina said
“I’ve heard a lot about you too,” she saw Milan standing behind Brittany with his arms crossed over his chest, smiling at them with a prideful look on his face, feeling happy that his best friend and girlfriend seemed to like each other so much when really he had no idea about either of their true feelings for each other.
The three of them sat down at the kitchen table. Raina sat on one end and on the other end Milan and Brittany sat down. Raina felt like walking over and slapping Brittany right across her face when she saw Milan place his hand on top of hers when she put it down on the table. She put on another cheery face and said
“So how did you two meet over the summer?”
Brittany was the first to speak up. “I already knew him from high school. When I got out of high school I went down to the Florida Institute of Technology for their Department of Physical Education and Health from Vancouver. I play on their soccer team; I’ve been playing since I was three years old. After I heard about his success in the NHL I decided to visit him when the season ended and he had come back home to Vancouver. It just took off from there.” Milan seemed to hold her hand tighter as she was talking about it. “So how’d you and Milan become friends?” Raina saw the opportunity to express exactly how close she and Milan were.
“My father coaches the Bruins, and I help him a lot out on the ice at practices. We met at one of the first few practices when he wanted to know who I was. We’ve been GREAT friends ever since,” she emphasized the word great. She saw something change in Brittany’s eyes but couldn’t tell what it was. Anger? Jealousy? Or was it just happiness? She sure wasn’t smiling. In fact her lips were now in a slight frown. Whatever it was had gone from her eyes as soon as it had come. Milan laughed and said
“I remember the first time I tried to talk to you and you were so shy your whole face turned bright red, but I got through to you eventually.” Raina smiled warmly at him, staring into his dark brown eyes again, forgetting that Brittany was sitting next to him. She snapped out of her trance when Milan stood up.
“I’m so hungry, I’m going to get some lunch.” Raina laughed and said
“It’s only 10:00,”
“I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast which was 6:00 this morning before practice.” Brittany spoke up and said
“I never went and got anything to put in the fridge; I’ve been cleaning and setting things up all day, so there’s nothing to eat here.”
“Let’s go out and eat somewhere then, It will give Brittany an opportunity to see more of Boston.”
“Sure,” said Raina fine with the fact that maybe a nice lunch out in the city would calm the tight atmosphere between her and Brittany. Maybe she was overreacting; maybe Brittany would turn out nice and friendly. Either way Raina still didn’t like Milan being with a different girl. “Where to?” Raina turned to Brittany and in a careless voice asked
“Do you like pizza?”
“Ya,” She turned back to Milan and said
“How about Regina’s Pizzeria on Boylston St.?”
“Sounds good, I haven’t had a true Italian pizza since last year.” Milan grabbed his keys and the three of them headed down to the lobby and into the parking garage. Riding the two elevators down felt painfully awkward. All three of them were silent and Milan stood between the two of them. Raina found that when she would peek over at Brittany behind Milan’s back she found her staring back and quickly looked away. After what felt like a half an hour they finally exited the elevator into the parking garage. When Raina saw Brittany climb into the front passenger seat of Milan’s truck she felt her anger sky rocket yet again just when it had been starting to come down. There she was sitting there watching Raina through the windshield with a sickly sweet smile on her face, and a challenging look in her eyes. Fucking bitch, thought Raina. That was her seat, she always sat there when driving somewhere with Milan. All she wanted to do right now was grab the Go Slow sign that stood next to the main road of the parking garage and smash the windshield, pull her out by the front of her shirt, and sit there herself. But of course, Raina didn’t do anything except keep her gaze glued to Brittany’s as she passed by her window, giving her a challenging look right back. She opened the back door of the truck and jumped in feeling so belittled as Milan climbed into the front seat next to Brittany.
They ride was mostly silent. Raina sat leaning against the window, looking out at all the shops of Newbury St. go by. She looked up at Milan when he began to talk.
“You know Raina you should show Brittany some of the shops around here. I’m sure you’d like some of them.” He said now turning to Brittany. Raina bit back the words ‘Hell no,’ and instead said
“I’d be happy to.”
They soon arrived at the restaurant. After Milan signed a couple of autographs out by the entrance they headed inside, sitting down at a cushioned booth. Milan sat in between Brittany and Raina. Italian music played in the background, but it wasn’t enough to distract Raina from noticing Milan place his arm over Brittany’s shoulder. Trying to ignore them she opened up the small booklet in front of her that held the menu despite the fact she already knew they were getting pizza. She was finding it hard not to look over at them from the corner of her eye as Brittany leaned against Milan’s shoulder until she felt her phone abruptly vibrate in her jean's pocket. It made her jump a little but neither Milan nor Brittany seemed to notice as Milan was reading the back of the menu which explained how Regina’s Pizza had started, and Brittany was now looking at some of the pictures of Italy behind her. Raina opened her phone to see a text message from Tuukka
Having fun? :) It read, she shut her phone without replying rolling her eyes. She slipped it back in her pocket. The waitress came over and took their order which they agreed upon a large cheese pizza. Raina and Brittany both ordered waters and Milan ordered a beer. After having a torturous conversation with Brittany about how she liked Boston, and was excited to come to Milan’s games they’re pizza arrived. She felt another vibration in her pocket but ignored it, figuring it was either Vlad or Tuukka harassing her again. She pulled a slice of the pizza off the tray and onto her plate. They were all silent as they ate and Raina could feel her phone vibrate another five times in her pocket before she got sick of it and shut it off. After her third piece she was full. As usual, Milan ate a large amount, four and a half pieces. Brittany had only eaten two. It was around 11:00 and after she had insisted she would pay half the bill for five minutes, Milan convinced her to let him pay for it. Irritated that she wasn’t at least letting her pay for her own meal alone she gave him an aggravated look, crossing her arms over her chest. He laughed and then said
“Oh don’t give me that look; you know you can never stay mad at me no matter how hard you try. You always give in to me.” It was true; Raina always was the first to stay sorry during their fights or disagreements even if it took her three days. Her lips went from a frown to a small smile as she looked up at him, yet again getting lost in those deep, soft, brown eyes of his. She felt Brittany watching them. She quickly broke away and looked down at her hands in her lap, trying to stop herself from blushing. Milan had also turned away, he also seemed to get the awkwardness of the situation because he was playing with the money in his hands that they were paying with. She still felt Brittany’s burning gaze on her as she looked down at her hands. Without even looking at her face she knew it was a gaze of hostility. She could see Brittany’s face in her mind looking at her with narrowed eyes, and her lips tightly pressed together. Raina was not scared of her; quite honestly she couldn’t care less about what Brittany thought. It was Milan. What if Brittany told Milan that Raina had threatened her, or said something to her? Who would he believe? His girlfriend or his best friend? She didn’t even want to think about it. It felt like hour even though it was only a minute before the waitress came back. They paid, and soon got up to leave. Raina was the first to slide out from the booth and stood up to straighten her shirt as Milan stood up next to her, moving around her to walk towards the entrance. As Raina went to follow him Brittany was just getting up out of her seat. Before Raina could take a few steps down the aisle of tables Brittany quickly stood up and cut her off by giving her a sharp nudge out of the way. Raina caught herself on the empty table next to her. Stunned by what had just happened she watched Brittany walk down the aisle away from her after Milan who hadn’t noticed a thing. She turned back around to Raina and put on the same sickly sweet face she had had on in the car. In an innocent voice Raina heard her say
“Are you coming?” Raina pushed herself away from the table, and confidently walked towards Brittany. As she passed by her they stared each other straight in the eyes, their faces both in challenging expressions.
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Thanks to all my readers and subscribers :) I just got out of school and Ill be able to post more chapters more frequently now.