Stop Believing in the Lie

The following day, on the way to work, the only thing on my mind was what Alex said to me yesterday.

I walked over to Ovi and poked his shoulder.

"I need to talk to you." I asked, looking straight into his eyes.

"About what?"

"Why do you keep looking at me? I do notice you know. I'm not blind or oblivious to it."

"You are very interesting."

And with that, he walked away, leaving me dumbfounded.

That was the oddest thing anyone had ever said to me and I absolutely could not get it out of my head.

Why would he say that? How am I interesting, anyway? Was I really that interesting to him? Ovechkin?

I planned on asking him once I got the chance. When I arrived at work, which was the day before the season started against the Boston Bruins and just happened to be an away game. The players had the day off for rest, although some of the guys were in the training room or even on the ice. I wondered if Alex was one of those people training his ass off or he was sleeping in. After I checked in with my bosses, I found my way into the exercise room and peeked in; he wasn't in there. I went out towards the ice but didn't step out, yet secretly, I wanted to badly. He was out there all right, skating and shooting pucks into the net. I secretly had to admit, I was fascinated by him and I could not stop watching, which was awfully terrible on my behalf; it wasn't for him.

What a lucky bastard.

I rolled my eyes as that thought quickly ran through my mind.

"Don't you have work to do?" he asked.

"Yeah. Very little, but that can wait."

He smirked.

"You enjoying watching me?"

I snorted.

Did he really think that? How self-centered.

"Not particularly. I just love hockey in general."

"Do you wanna come out and play?"

"Maybe, but not with you. Besides, I left my skates at my apartment and I have work to do, anyway."

I turned around and began to walk away, thinking I was done talking to him, but boy, was I wrong.

"Amelia?" he called.

"Yeah?" I asked, annoyed.

"Why don't you like me?"

"Excuse me?"

Did he really ask me that? *heavy sigh* Yeah, he did.

"You don't like me and I want to know why."

"I don't like you because I root for the Bruins, and therefore, I was taught to hate the Caps. It's as simple as black and white."

"No. Even if I played for Bruins, you still would not like me. Why?!"

"You want to know why?"

He nodded.

"You're such an asshole, you're not a team player and you're a fucking womanizer. That is why!” I said, writhing with anger.

He laughed.

"Laughing, why are you laughing?"

"You think you know me, but you don't. People just assume those things, but you won't know for sure if you don't get to know who I really am. That is why I'm laughing."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't want to get to know you, knowing all that."

"That's very little stuff. There is more to me that, just like there is more to you that you won't tell me like that you enjoyed watching me play. Just admit it."

He knew how to get under my skin. I couldn't lie to him. It would have made this conversation a little bit easier.

"Yes, I'll admit it, but until I see a different side for myself, I will only appreciate your passion and your talent that you have for hockey."

"Fine with me. You're even more interesting to me now."

"How am I interesting to you in the first place? I've been meaning to ask."

"I'll let you know when you get to know me."

"You're a sneaky bastard."

"You can say that again."

I had to let out a laugh.

"Ok. See you later, Ovechkin."

"Bye for now, Amelia."

I walked away and went up to my small office to go work for a few hours, since I didn't have much to do today. If they gave me more work to do, I would be able to just do it at my apartment. I don't think I'll be able to call my apartment, my home for the longest time, but that's fine with me.

Lunchtime

I found a new restaurant called the Baja Fresh Mexican Grill on New Hampshire Avenue that sounded and looked very promising. I tried out the Nacho Burrito while thinking about what tomorrow would bring. I had to admit, I was psyched about it, although I've never rooted for either team that were going to play tomorrow. Maybe, I was excited to see Alex play, but I don't know for sure and I don't like to think that is the main reason why I can't wait till tomorrow night's game. As I looked for my phone in my purse, I heard somebody sit down beside me. She was wearing a Green jersey and I smiled to myself. This would happen to me, wouldn't it? I'm not a Washington Capitals fan and a Caps fan sits next to me, who is wearing the jersey of the best defenseman on their team.

"Hi! I figured that since you're sitting by yourself, you'd want some company. I'm May O'Hare."

"Hi, I'm Amelia Cantioni. Nice to meet you."

"You seem to be new to D.C. Where are you from?"

"Well, I was born in a small town in Italy, lived there till I was ten, then moved to America, to be more specific Boston. I moved here two days ago. I'm the new game blogger for the Capitals."

She was speechless.

"Oh my God! That's awesome! Do you like the Caps?"

"Nope. 100% Bruins Fan." I said proudly, not being able to believe that she asked if I liked the Caps.

"Oh, sorry."

"That's okay. I love the job. Can't wait for the game tomorrow!"

"Me either! Hey, I have a question."

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Do you have a Capitals jersey yet?"

"No, why?"

"Well, you can't work for the Caps and not ever wear a Capitals jersey. What? Are you going to wear, oh I don't know, a Lucic jersey or whatever? I don't think so."

"Ok, but when am I going to get one?" I said with a slight laugh as I threw away my trash.

"Today! Are you done for today?"

"Yeah..."

"Let's go. You're coming with me to the mall."

I knew that this trip was going to be something I was never going to forget and that I was going to be friends with this girl for a very long time.

At The Mall

We were inside Shenk and Title, searching for the perfect jersey...well, she was anyway. I didn't really think there was such a thing as the 'perfect jersey'. Whatever. I'll go along with it. Guess which one she picked.

"Oh! This is the perfect one for you!" she squealed, taking it off the rack.

"Ovechkin. Great." I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster, which wasn't much.

"What's with the non-enthusiasm?"

I gave her the look.

"I root for the Bruins and I feel weird about it and..."

"And what?"

"It's Ovechkin. Yuck. No offense."

"Oh, come on. He's an outstanding player!"

"I know he is, but I don't like him as a person. You should've heard the convo we had today."

"I'd love to hear it."

I rolled my eyes.

"Okay. Fine."

I told her how the conversation went and she had a smirk on her face.

"You like him. I can just tell even if you don't admit it."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Anyways, since you mentioned you played hockey, I must tell you that I did as well."

"No way! That is awesome."

"I was hoping you'd say that."

The Next Day-7:00 PM

I was ready for my first Capitals game after the short flight to start up in one of the boxes with my laptop in front of me on a table. I got May's cell number last night, so I have a feeling that she's going to text me a lot tonight. I saw the countdown till the game go to zero and the Star Spangled Banner started shortly after, right before players got into their positions for opening faceoff, that is when I began blogging and soon, enjoyed the game. When Ovechkin scored his first goal of the season in the second period, increasing the Capitals' score to 2-0. I watched him celebrate and had to laugh.

When the game ended and they won 4-1, I blogged one last time before shutting off my computer and putting it away. I was a bit disappointed, but I did my best not to let that side of me show. I texted May, who never texted me in the first place, because she must've been too into the game to text me back, about how well the game went. Once everyone seemed to have showered and were getting dressed, I headed into the locker room. Something suddenly came to my mind when I opened that door.

I had on an Ovechkin jersey on and he was going to make a smart-ass remark about it. Damnit.

"Hi, guys! Great game!"

"Did you enjoy it?" Brooks Laich asked.

"Yes. I did, actually. You guys are growing on me."

Everyone seemed to laugh at least a little bit.

"That's great." Jose Theodore said with a smile.

Alex gave me a look and it looked like he wanted to talk to me.

"I thought you didn't like me." he said with a smirk.

"Listen. I met a woman who was wearing a Caps jersey during lunch. She talked to me and I told her about me and my job; Story short, she took me to get 'the perfect jersey' and obviously, this was it." I said the last part while rolling my eyes.

"I like this girl."

"Yeah and I'm friends with her now. She plays hockey too."

"I really like this girl."

"More than me?"

I didn't care, but I was curious.

"I don't think I can like any girl more than you. That's impossible."

I nearly blushed, but I didn't. That sounded like a compliment.

"Oh. Okay. Hey, I'll see you tomorrow or next game."

"See you later."

I left, feeling a little happier than I did when I first came into this building, two days ago. Now, I didn't just root for the Boston Bruins, but also, the Washington Capitals.