Tomorrow I'll Miss You

She pushed her sunglasses up even further onto the bridge of her nose as she gripped the leather cover of the steering wheel in the Audi S5 Cabriolet she was currently driving through Southern California in, staring at the amount, what seemed to be endless, in her opinion, of cars in front of her.

It was her boyfriend’s car; she was only using it because, while her car could make the two hour trip to the Los Angeles Airport from Anaheim, it had more room for his luggage in the trunk and backseat than her little Honda Civic did.

“This is the fucking worst freeway in the world,” she muttered under her breath, trying to squeeze her way between an SUV and a big-rig, into the furthest right lane, preparing to turn onto the stretch of man-made road that would lead her to the Arrival area outside of the airport.

The mid-sized car fit perfectly in the Pick-Up lane of the small street, right between two taxis, both parked crookedly against the bright, recently painted, white curb. Not daring to open her door- she knew how carelessly many Californians drove; she was one herself, obviously –she looked through the lightly tinted windows of the car, trying her best to spot the familiar mop of brunette hair she had grown to love.

In the corner of the mirror, she could see a figure, dressed in a nice pair of slacks, a button-up shirt, and a tie approaching the car, and couldn’t help but let a grin spread across her lips as she reached down to her left and pulled the trunk release button, watching as it sprung up and blocked her view of what was behind her.

The figure came up to the passenger’s side door, and even though she could only see from their upper thighs to their chest, she knew exactly who it was, and unlocked the door. The second the doors were unlocked, the cool air that was only experienced in Southern California from the middle of December to the end of March filled the car, making her shiver, despite the long sleeve shirt, sweatpants, and Ugg boots she was wearing.

“Hi,” he smiled as he shut the passenger door behind him, leaning in close to his girlfriend, pressing his lips to hers as soon as she was close enough for him to do so.

She grinned back at him, ridiculously happy that she was able to be the one to pick him up from the airport; if he’d have come home with his team, she would’ve only driven a fiftieth of the trip, but she also would’ve had to wait nearly four hours longer to kiss his rosy pink lips. It was a miracle the team had allowed him to leave the airport in a car, rather than on their bus; they just didn’t need to know that it was his girlfriend, instead of his ‘visiting mother’, that picked him up.

“How was the trip?” she questioned him quietly once they were rolling solidly, back on the 105 Freeway, in what seemed to be no traffic, unlike her trip to the airport.

“The plane ride?” he laughed, taking her small hand in his larger one. “It was okay, but too long. The games? They were intense.”

She nodded, knowing exactly what he was talking about. She only watched the two games the Ducks had just played against the Flames and the Oilers. The boys had worked their asses off to get the scrawnyone win that they came home with.

A giggled escaped her throat as his lips came into contact with her fingers, making her wrench her hand back towards her body. His hand relocated onto her thigh, and, grinning deviously in her direction, he began to lightly rub the cotton-covered limb. She gasped loudly, making his grin turn into a cocky smirk, “Bobby!”

“Dani!” he mocked her, squeezing her thigh one last time, before removing his touch, not wanting to distract her on one of the busiest routes in Southern California, especially in the traffic he knew they would become stuck in.

The rest of the two and a half hour ride home was nearly silent, except for the quiet radio playing, along with the occasional comment or question from one of them. As they began to become closer to the home Bobby had purchased, and asked Daniela to live in, he couldn’t help but relax into his seat fully, loving the home-y feeling he got when he pulled into his neighborhood, despite originally being from a small town in New Jersey, the total opposite of his new home.

“Hey, do we have any protein powder left?” he asked quietly, upon seeing the shopping center at the bottom of the hill he knew they’d be climbing in no time.

“Didn’t you take the rest with you?” Daniela answered him just as quiet, trying to picture their pantry in her mind, to remember if the usual plastic white container was there this morning, when she’d gotten her morning bowl of cereal.

“I didn’t, but I think I’m getting low, anyways.”

Despite being the most tired he had been for a long time, Bobby smiled when she executed a perfect right turn into the parking lot of the shopping center, pulling into a parking spot near the entrance of their local Albertson’s grocery store. He pushed himself out of the car, waiting for Daniela to come around the backside and join him. He offered her his hand, smiling when she took it and began to swing their joined extremities between the two of them.

Knowing they would probably need a few more things than just his protein powder, he grabbed one of the small hand baskets as they stepped into the warm store, leading his girlfriend down the aisles, one by one, quickly scanning them for anything she thought they were getting low on, since she was the one at home.

“Hey, don’t I know you? You look familiar,” the teenage boy at the checkout stand spoke, looking directly at Bobby as he scanned their purchases: protein powder, a box of tampons, a bunch of bananas, and a bottle of sports gel.

Being recognized in the city of Anaheim had become a usual thing to Bobby, so he was used to being asked to sign autographs wherever he went; Daniela, however, was not.

“Bobby Ryan, that’s it,” the kid smiled as he looked at Bobby’s credit card. “Hey, man, I know this is weird, but can you sign this?”

The boy pulled a nice-sized piece of receipt tape from the cash register, after handing Bobby his receipt, grinning when Bobby smiled lightly at him and took the pen the kid offered him. He quickly scribbled his name on the paper and handed it back to the cashier, before grabbing the two plastic bags from the sales counter and leading Daniela from the store.

“Sorry about that, baby,” he stated as they walked, hand in hand, back to the car. She pulled the keys from her pocket and offered them to him; she was too tired of driving to do it anymore.

“I think it’s cute,” she smiled up at him, winking as she opened her door and slid into the car, relishing the protection from the slight breeze that had picked up while they had been inside the store.

He only smiled back, before starting the engine of his most prized possession- besides, Daniela, of course, though she wasn’t really a possession –and began the less than five minute drive home.

She nearly ran onto the small porch, clutching the plastic grocery bags to her chest as she did so, making Bobby chuckle as he followed, closely behind her, carting his luggage with him. He pushed her into the house, smirking down at her, “What, California girl can’t handle a little cold weather?”

“Not a bit,” she replied, smiling back up at him, that smile being erased by his lips when he leaned down and connected his lips to hers. The groceries were quietly put away, and luggage was dumped off in the bedroom, before they met on her way to the bathroom. “Do you want something to eat?”

He shook his head, “I think I just want to watch a little Sports Center before I get to bed.”

She nodded silently and stepped around him and into the bedroom, he went straight to the living room and turned the television on.

“I don’t want you to leave,” she spoke quietly as she sat down in his lap, and they huddled on the couch, under one of the blankets Bobby’s mother insisted they take when she found out they were moving in together, claiming it would make the small house feel ‘more like home’; whatever that meant.

He looked down at her, staring her right in the eyes, before he lowered his head to place a short, but sweet kiss on her lips. “I want you to come with me.”

“Bobby,” she sighed. “We’ve discussed this already. It’s two weeks; I just can’t get that much time off of work.”

“I know,” he reached forward and grabbed the remote off of the coffee table in front of him, clicking the television off before he stretched his leg out underneath his girlfriend, allowing himself to pull her even closer to him.

She snuggled up against his chest, burying her face into the crook of his neck, placing a few kisses there, as he ran his hands up and down her sides. Neither one of them wanted him to up and leave again the next morning, but they both knew his job, and had to respect the things it required him to do.

As if almost on instinct, they both looked at each other and both began to lean towards the other. Their lips met, and almost instantly, the kiss turned from a peck into something so much more. She removed herself from his lap and grabbed his hand, pulling him into the most comfortable place in the space, in her opinion, the bedroom.

The two of them went right back to their previous activity, but, this time, clothes were shed, bodies were tangled, and moans filled the room.

“I don’t want to leave,” he spoke quietly, wrapping his arms around her, and pulling his naked girlfriend as close to him as he possibly could. She placed a few light kisses on his chest before setting her head on his bicep, looking right into his eyes.

“You have to. If you don’t, I have nobody to root for.”

He grinned at her, before he placed a kiss on her forehead, placing his head on top of hers, trying to get as comfortable as he could without having to separate from his girlfriend; it would be nearly two weeks before he would see her again.

-----

As soon as the sun came through the light colored curtains of the bedroom the next morning, Bobby was up and moving, unpacking dirty clothes from his duffel bag, and packing fresh ones for his trip up to Vancouver.

Not wanting him to have to fly on an empty stomach, Daniela had gotten up with him, slipped on a pair of panties and one of his Ducks practice shirts, and went straight to the kitchen to make him a breakfast to keep him full- at least until lunch time.

“Thank you,” he smiled up at her from his seat at the dining room table as she set a plate, full of fried egg whites, turkey bacon, and wheat toast on the glass surface. She could only smile tiredly back down at him and take the seat next to his, scooping some fruit onto her plate; the room became silent as the two of them ate.

“What time do you leave?” she asked, looking up at the clock on the microwave that read seven thirty-eight.

“Eight,” he answered, remembering the time his friend and teammate, Jonas, who was also flying up to Vancouver, had told him he would be at ‘in the driveway of his house’.

The last fifteen minutes of his homecoming was spent by Bobby trying to make sure he had everything he’d need, and by Daniela washing the dishes she’d used to make his breakfast, along with putting on some actual clothing.

A car horn from outside made her stomach turn inside out, and Bobby stepped out slowly from the bedroom, obviously not wanting to leave already. He took his girlfriend’s hand and opened the door to show his teammate he was up and ready to go.

“I’ll miss you,” she spoke.

“Tomorrow I’ll miss you,” he grinned, quoting one of her favorite songs, All My Lovin’ by the Beatles.

“You goof,” she giggled, pushing lightly on his chest as she bunched the sleeves of her sweatshirt in her hands. “What made you think of that?”

“I don’t know,” he laughed, his grin growing even larger when he saw the smile on her face.

“You better do your country proud,” she ordered quietly. “You better do me proud.”

“I’ll try my best,” he answered as he wrapped his arms around her. The breeze from outside bothered neither of them, even after it picked up, blowing harder than either one of them had felt in awhile.

They both smiled as she stood on the balls of her feet so she could wrap her arms around his neck, to which he followed suit and wrapped his around her waist. They held each other for a few seconds, before she kissed his cheek and lowered herself onto her flat feet, allowing him to lean down at press his lips to hers.

“Bobby, we’re going to be late!”

Sighing as his teammate called him from the car, Bobby pressed one more quick kiss onto his girlfriend’s lips and picked his duffel bag up from its position at his feet. He touched Daniela’s cheek one last time, before he walked down the steps and down the driveway.

“Score one for me!” she called after him, trying not to let her eyes tear up too much as she watched him get into the car. That was the reason she didn’t want to take him to the airport; there she would feel ashamed of crying, and at home, she didn’t have a care in the world.

He blew a kiss to her, and she smiled back at him, before she began to wave as he shut the door, and the car slowly drove off down the street. Her cheeks were dampened by her tears, but she couldn’t help but smile, knowing he was off to start a new, quick chapter in his life by representing the United States in the Olympics. She couldn’t be more proud of the man she called her boyfriend, even though, every day he was gone, she would definitely miss him; she already did.