Tea for Two

I woke up the next morning, my sheets cold and Jordan nowhere to be found. The only reminder that last night occurred was the soreness between my thighs and his lingering scent on the pillow. I felt my eyes welled up when I realized he must think I am some slut, who else would cheat so easily on their fiancé if she wasn’t one and I instantly felt dirty. He didn’t love me, he just saw me as a conquest and he had won. I felt the bile rise in my stomach and I raced to the bathroom emptying the contents of my stomach into the ceramic bowl, it was official I had hit an all time low. I moved to the shower where I spent a good thirty minutes scrubbing my skin raw, before I went back into my room and threw on a pair of jeans and t-shirt and stuffing the rest of my clothes into my suitcase.

I had to get out of Pittsburgh frantically making my way down to the lobby checking out and getting into the taxi ordering him to get me to the airport as soon as possible. As we pulled up to the airport I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, pulling it out I saw it was Vero and having no intention of her talking me into staying I ignored the call turning my cell off. The next flight wasn’t for another hour, but I bought the ticket and made my way through security and sat at the gate. My thoughts where plagued with guilt, how was I supposed to tell John? He was going to leave me for sure and once again I would end up alone.

With five minutes before my flight I pulled out my cell phone as I made my way to where the airhostess would be checking tickets. Turning it on I saw I had eleven missed calls from Vero, twenty from Lauren, even Geno and the French boys had tried to call me. I decided I would call Vero, because more then likely she would able to tell everyone.

“Where the fuck are you Lizzy? Everyone is looking for you!” she said whilst I pulled the phone away from my ear. “I went to pick you up for breakfast but you didn’t answer you phone, or door then. Oh get this apparently checked out, so please tell me you are still in Pittsburgh,” she said ranting at me in French.

“I am in Pittsburgh,” I said, technically it wasn’t a lie I was. “Well where are you? Geno is worried sick, Lauren is freaking us out, and don’t even get me started on Jordan. Your on speaker okay so please explain away,” she said. “Tell them I said goodbye okay, I love them all and this is goodbye. For good this time, I’m leaving and never coming back,” I said as the PA system announced that my flight was now boarding.

“Mon Cherie, tell me you joking. Please?” said the all to familiar voice of Max, it broke my heart this was the last time I would talk to them but it was for the best. “I just, please Vee tell them what I told you,” I said before hanging up, I hadn’t even noticed I was crying until the airhostess asked if I was okay to which I simply nodded. I sat in my window seat gazing at the shrinking city of Pittsburgh as the flight ascended to the sky, I closed my eyes wishing that I wasn’t such a screw up.



When I awoke that morning holding Lizzy in my arms I couldn’t believe my luck, I had finally had the girl of my dreams in my arms and nothing was going to take that away from me. Well maybe that prick who put that expensive rock on her finger but she admitted she loved me too; we could get past that obstacle and finally be together. I looked at the time and realized I needed to get to practice; I reluctantly kissed her forehead knowing that I would see her in a few short hours; Vero had mentioned last night that we would be getting brunch with everyone. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face the entire two-hour practice, Max noticed and skated over next to me.

“What makes you all smiley face today? You finally get laid?” he said causing me to punch him on the shoulder. What we had done last night was not getting laid, it was far more magically then that and for the first time in my life I had made love to a girl.

“She loves me,” I said simply a smile breaking out on both our faces; the small Frenchman hugged me before yelling it out to the whole team. I suppose looking back now if I hadn’t been so blinded by love I would have noticed Vero’s late entrance to practice and worried glances she gave Flower as they talked quietly by the bench.

I was the first off the ice once practice was over, and I rushed into the locker room having my shower and changing into my street clothes. I told the boys I would be meeting them at Flowers house and drove there, not before making a stop by the jewellers and picking up a necklace that I had on hold there since last October. I pulled up to Flowers house, and there where already quiet a few people there. Tyler came out to greet me and stopped me at the car.

“Hey Gronk, how about you and I ditch brunch today and we go do something manly,” he said causing me to turn my head slowly at him. “I’m good man, I need to see Lizzy,” I said continuing past him and up the steps. I made my way to the door but was stopped by Flower who had a weird look on his face. “Come on Staalsy, ‘ow ‘bout us guys all go out and get some chow and go play games. Leave brunch to ze ladies,” he said, and then I knew something was up.

“What’s wrong with Lizzy?” I said worriedly, had she regretted last night? Flower looked to TK then to me like he was unsure of what to say next, he gulped before taking a step backwards. “We err. We can’t find her.”

I don’t know what happened next because the next thing I new I was in the lounge room, Lauren was pacing frantically around the room getting more and more frustrated when Lizzy wouldn’t answer her phone. My trance was interrupted by Vee’s cell phone ringing along with her telling everyone to shut the fuck up.

“Where the fuck are you Lizzy? Everyone is looking for you!” Vero yelled into the phone, a little extreme but I guess she was as worried as I was. “Je suis allé vous chercher pour le petit déjeuner, mais vous n'avez pas répondu votre téléphone, ou de la porte alors. Oh obtenir ce apparemment vérifié, donc s'il vous plaît dites-moi vous êtes toujours à Pittsburgh,” she said in French I looked at Max who was sitting listening, she had put the phone on speaker so we could all here.

“I am in Pittsburgh,” she said, and I breathed a sigh of relief. At least she hasn’t done something ridiculous like leave. “Eh bien, où êtes-vous? Geno est malade d'inquiétude, Lauren nous paniquer, et neme lancez sur la Jordanie. Votre le haut-parleur ok donc s'il vous plaît expliquer,” she said. “Dites-leur que j'ai dit au revoir d'accord, je les aime tous et c'est au revoir. Pour de bon cette fois, je pars et ne jamais revenir,” she said, and I heard something in the background like a flight was boarding, she was leaving, causing me to stand up.

“Mon Chéri, dis-moi que vous plaisantez. S'il vous plaît?” Max said, obviously pained as he looked between the phone and me. “I just, please Vee tell them what I told you,” she said quickly before we were met with a dial tone. Vero was let out a sob she was obviously trying to hold in, “She, she’s gone. She’s never coming back,” she said whilst Flower went to comfort his girlfriend.

“She can’t just never come back, she has a business here. Her family,” I said trying to convince myself. “She’ll be back, she has to… I… She told me she loved me,” I said collapsing back onto the couch.

“We find her. We go New York soon. We look and find,” Geno said trying to reassure me and I nodded looking forward to next week.