I Bet it Stung

Alice looked herself over in the mirror for what felt like the hundredth time. Her long, dark hair was curled loosely and hung by her shoulders and she wore a strapless short black taffeta dress that had ruching across the entire front. It was simple, yet elegant. She paired it with a pair of dangly silver earrings, a necklace with a single diamond hanging off a silver chain, and a pair of four inch stiletto heels.

Mia walked into the room still dressed in her typical plain shirt and jeans as Alice finished doing her makeup, giving herself the smoky-eyed look. She gave a low whistle at her sister. “Wow, Ally. You’re going to have all the boys chasing after you tonight.”

Alice blushed. “I’m going to kill myself with these shoes.”

“They do look hot though,” Mia noted. “Come, help me with my hair and makeup.”

Alice followed Mia to Sidney’s room where she was staying and saw the dress she’d bought just for the occasion. Alice was used to getting dolled up for special occasions, but Mia wasn’t. She wasn’t surprised at all that Mia was asking for help.

“I’m liking this dress,” Alice nodded, examining the short, pewter taffeta sleeveless dress with v-straps and front ruffle curls and a banded bodice. “How do you want your hair?”

“Up and curled please,” Mia smiled as Alice went and plugged in the hair curler. In the meantime as they waited for it to heat up, they went on to do Mia’s makeup. Alice decided to make it simple, giving her a light, shimmery silver eyeshadow and applying a thick line of liquid eyeliner, pointed at the edges, to her eyes on the upper lid. After she finished with the mascara, Alice went to work on her sister’s hair. Before long, everything was done and all Mia needed to do was step into the dress.

Alice headed downstairs to see if anyone needed any last-minute help with setting anything up. Mario and Nathalie had hired a lot of servers to help out with the party, providing catering from gourmet restaurants all over Pittsburgh and bringing in all sorts of fancy imported French wines and the like. The entire house was already bustling with people, but none of them were guests yet.

Sidney was straightening his tie in the hall mirror when he caught sight of Alice in the background of his reflection. He turned to her. “Woah,” he smiled. “You look really pretty.”

“Thanks, Dad,” she joked, dusting off his shoulder. “You do clean up pretty well, don’t you?”

“Told you so!” he teased. “So, where’s my girl? What’ve you done with her?”

Alice shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. “Nothing much. Just transformed her from Bohemian to ultra classy in less than half an hour. I’m skilled, I know.”

Sidney laughed and shook his head. “Not even going to bother arguing. We’re expecting the guests in about ten to fifteen minutes, just so you know.”

Alice nodded. “Everything looks so great,” she commented. Everything was spic and span, there were decorative lights placed in strategic areas all over the house, poinsettias were placed as centerpieces on tables and countertops, and the enormous Christmas tree in the den sparkled with expensive lights and ornaments. The fire was ablaze and gave everything a golden glow. It really was beautiful.

The doorbell rang and Alice went to the door and answered it herself before one of the servers could. She didn’t want them overworking, even though they had been hired and were getting paid to do so.

She opened the door and Zachary was standing there, wearing a black pinstriped suit with a deep red tie.

“Wow,” he breathed when he realized that it was Alice standing in front of him. “You look...wow.”

She let out a bit of an involuntary giggle. “Hey.”

Sidney perked his head over to see who was at the door and one of his eyebrows flew way up as he realized who it was. Mia had already come downstairs and joined him and they exchanged looks.

“Did you know that she invited him to this party?” he asked almost in a hiss.

Mia vigorously shook his head. “I had no idea. I’ve never even met the kid before.”

Sidney sighed a little. “This could be a problem when Jordan gets here.”

Alice invited Zachary in and when he saw Sidney standing next to Mia in the living room, he looked shell-shocked. Sidney put on his media face and smiled at Zachary, extending his hand out to shake his.

“Hi, I’m Sidney,” he introduced.

“I know who you are,” Zachary grinned, shaking his hand. “I’m Zachary. Wow, this is a total dream.” He let go of Sidney’s hand and turned to Mia. “And I’m a big fan of your music as well. I saw you the last time you played in Pittsburgh before the Olympics last winter.”

“I remember that show,” Mia nodded. “Alice took me to the Pens game the next day. It was my first hockey game ever. And it’s when I met this loser,” she added, poking Sidney in the stomach. He let out a fake growl and grabbed her sides and she laughed in protest. “Cut it out, I’m ticklish!”

“Take it back!” he declared.

“Never!”

“Let’s leave them alone,” Alice smiled, leading Zachary away from the two lovebirds having their fake quarrel. “They’re like that all the time. Completely lovesick for one another. It kind of makes me nauseous.”

“They look really happy,” Zachary noted.

“They are,” Alice agreed. Then she got quiet. “Jordan and I used to be like that.” She noticed the look that Zachary shot her and she sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be talking about it, I know. Dwelling on the past causes nothing but problems...but...I don’t know, just because it didn’t work out doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth the while.”

Zachary nodded. “Atta girl. Stay positive.”

The doorbell rang a few more times over the course of the next ten to fifteen minutes and members of the Pittsburgh Penguins, both the team and the organization, came pouring in. Ray Shero was there, Mark Mortland, the team’s physical therapist and Alice’s supervisor was there, and some of the guys even brought their kids.

Max Talbot, of course, made the grandest entrance.

“Alice, baby!” he declared, scuttling over to her as soon as he got into the house. He grabbed her by the waist and planted a big kiss on her cheek. Then he pulled out mistletoe from his pocket and dangled it over her head, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

She had to control her laughter before bluntly stating, “No, Max. Never ever.”

“Never say never, cherie,” he winked before letting her go.

Alice was actually having a great time, talking to guys like Max, Marc-André, Kris Letang, Geno and TK. Zachary was having a great time too, being introduced to pretty much everyone on the team. He brought his autograph book with him and was getting all the guys to sign it.

Alice looked around and spotted someone familiar. She walked over to Rachel, who had a very pretty long black sequin dress with spaghetti straps, her hair up in an elegant bun with strands falling along the side of her face.

“Hey,” she said with a smile.

“Alice, hi,” she replied enthusiastically. “It’s been a while, huh?”

“Yeah,” Alice agreed, feeling a little bit awkward. “I’m guessing you heard about me and Jordan?”

Rachel’s face suddenly became very grim. “Yeah. Sorry about everything...I didn’t mean for things to get blown out of proportion so badly.”

“It’s alright, I was stupid to not have trusted him in the first place,” Alice sighed. “But you’re not--”

Rachel looked confused for a second as she pieced things together. “Oh. OH! Oh, God, no, Alice. I couldn’t do that. Whatever feelings I had for Jordan in the past are gone now. We’re just friends. And besides, I wouldn’t want to be the rebound girl, anyway. Don’t worry. I’m not going after him or anything.”

Alice nodded, looking a bit more relieved. She wasn’t about to deny the fact that she still loved Jordan and that the thought of him with anyone else hurt like hell. Still, trying to move on was her key priority.

She returned from spacing out and noticed the direction in which Rachel was directing her gaze. She followed her eyes and saw Jordan standing alone by the big Christmas tree, a drink in his hands, looking defeated.

“Have you talked to him since?” Rachel asked quietly. Alice shook her head. “You should,” she told her. “And now’s your chance.”

Alice gulped. “Are you sure I should?”

“Positive,” Rachel reassured. “Go on. He won’t admit it, but he needs you. Now more than ever.”