Heart of Man

Anna Trovato

“Psst. Pssssssssst. Sasha, answer the phone!” I slurringly sang into the phone while leaning on Dana. We had managed to squish ourselves in the booth with about nine other random people, several who were practically eating each other’s faces off. My companion leaned over, pressing a cup to my lips, as I drank in the vile liquid. Swallowing, I grinned at him, handing him another cup for himself. The phone began ringing as he gulped some in, before pressing his lips harshly against mine, the alcohol sliding from his mouth and into mine. He smiled into the kiss, as I swallowed it all, and kissing him back.

“Anna? What time is it?” Pulling away, I erupted into a fit of giggles as a different Russian voice than expected answered the phone

“Ovie! Wasup?!” Reaching for the blue bottle, I drank it straight for a few seconds, completely wanting to lose control. If I could still think, I hadn’t had enough to drink. “Go give your teammate the phone.”

There was grumbling and I could hear the ruffling of sheets, before he began to mumble sleepily. “Which one?”

“Saaaaaaaasha,” I cooed, the buzz pounding through my head as if it weighed as much as a watermelon. Dana burst into a roaring laughter next to me, as some guy accidentally knocked a girl off of her pole, and into him. I chuckled, as the girl made it back up safely, though the blurriness of my eyes becoming worse. We had spent an hour barhopping, looking for the strongest shit we could find.

Needless to say, we were shit-faced like no other, and had practice at 9, before leaving for DC. “Whatever. Wait, are you drunk?”

“Ovie, my body is my temple, and my temple wants vodka. It shouldn’t matter.”

“Excuse me, Miss, will you be wanting a second bottle?” I looked up to see one of the waitresses who Dana had been eyeing all night, standing there looking at the two of us expectantly.

“Do you have any Pepsi?”

She frowned, shaking her head. “Is Coke okay?”

“Is Monopoly money okay?” She huffed, before walking away, allowing me to return to the phone call at hand.

“Tell him I say hiiiiiiiii!” Dana screamed into my ear, more than likely deafening Ovechkin. I heard more mumbles, a slack smile placed on my face, before Alex Semin’s name was shouted out. Someone shouted ‘What do they want at this hour?’, but I don’t think Ovechkin told him that it wasn’t some punk playing phone pranks. Leaning back against the booth cushion, it was mere moments later when the man himself was placed on the phone, sounding angry as fuck.

“Who is this?”

“Is called caller ID, Alex.” My speech was going, and going fast.

Dana gripped my shoulders, shaking me hurridly. “Annaaaaaaaa! Tell him what we found!”

“Sashaaaaaa,” I burst into laughter. “We found the… the thing!”

He began to calm down, obviously not as angry as he was before. “What thing?”

Facepalming, I couldn’t believe him. “You know! You gave it to me!”

“Trovato, are you drunk?” Grinning, I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me.

“Uh huh! I don’t drink though, silly! Bad Sasha! The butterflies! We found them! I thought I lost them after the first few times, but they came back.” My eyes were so heavy, all of the colours starting to blend together, like a kaleidoscope that I never wanted to escape.

He chuckled into the phone, before I heard something being searched through, then fabric sliding across something. There was a loud zip, before he came back. “Anna, you need to get into a cab. Don’t drive home. It’s only 12:30, and you’re more than tipsy.”

My face fell. “Why?”

“You need sleep. We play you guys tomorrow night, and I want to be able to kick your ass when you aren’t hung over.” I giggled, obviously not taking in anything he said, as I snatched up one of the whiskey glasses, and downed that shit.

“You can’t beat me! My mommy told me I was invincible!”

“Alright, you’re invincible. Call a cab. Call me when you get home, so we know you got there safely.”

“I don’t wanna go home!”

There was a pause, as I swayed back and forth to the sex-inducing atmospheric music, lopsided grin on my face. Dana reached out to a passing waitress, before pulling her onto his lap and they began to make-out quite disgustingly. Not like I cared. Do what you want. “Trovato, where are you at?”

Nudging the guy next to me, he put the hookah tube back where it sat at, before looking at me hazily. “What is this place?”

He pointed to a napkin, before picking the tube back up. “Anna? Where are you?”

“We went to this place called Scarlett’s, but now where at a bar thing place called Mons Venus. Who the hell names a bar after a planet?”

Alex Semin

“She’s over there. Get her home safe, son.” Thanking the man, he handed me the car keys that they used to get to the bar. “Would you like me to call a cab for the other one?”

Frowning, I looked at the brunette acting like an idiot with one of her teammates, I recognized. Nodding to him, he quickly made the call, before turning back to me. “How long have they been here?”

Checking the time, he thought for a moment. “They were hardly drunk when they came here from their first bar, the blonde mentioned, but that was around 11:30. I’m not stupid, I know who they are, but I’m worried. They had to have high-tailed it out of the Forum, not found what they were looking for, so they’ve been here for an hour and a half.”

Sighing, I couldn’t believe my luck. Why would she do this? Surely I didn’t do that much damage to her in the locker room. She kind of set herself up for it, and it certainly didn’t do me any favours to know she was in the shower area when I was, and things could have gone in many directions.

I was attracted to her, despite how I didn’t want my teammates knowing. The constant harassing was pissing me off, but I know she had it no better. Of course, she didn’t like me like I did her, so it was probably just the embarrassment and assumptions that were bothering her.

Shaking my head from the rather morose thoughts, I thanked the man and headed for the table where Anna and Tyrell were sitting. If she wouldn’t return how I felt, I could at least take care of her as a friend.

Anna Trovato

“Really, Trovato? A strip joint?”

I looked up to see Alex Semin standing next to Dana at the end of the table, in nothing but a black t-shirt and jeans. It literally made my drunken self want to drool. Blinking, the buzz had started to die down to a small pounding, however.

Pushing past Dana, I leveled myself on the floor, swaying slightly. He moved to my side, wrapping an arm around my side, so if I fell, I wouldn’t fall flat on my ass. Leading me through the dance floor, we headed for the back door exit. “Dance with me, Alex!”

He paused, turning to look at me, a sly smile on his face. “Not tonight.”

Picking up the pace, we finally reached the cooler outside area, the music dying once the door shut behind us. “What about Dana?”

“I called him a cab, don’t worry. “ I smiled, not really sure why, and moved away from his grip. Grabbing his hand, I interlocked our fingers, before trying to talk towards Dana’s car. Swaying our hands back and forth, he only laughed softly. It made me happy.

“Let’s go! I told my mom I’d be home hours ago.” He unlocked the car with the key, holding my door open for me as I climbed into the passenger seat. Closing it once I was in, he made his way around to the other side, slipping in quickly.

“Will your dad be mad?”

He smirked, is if I was dating one of those boys my dad said to not talk to, because they would keep me out past curfew. Turning the key in the ignition, the car roared to life, as he checked his mirrors, and turning to look behind him, before backing up. “No, not really. He doesn’t care what I do, as long as I’m on time to practice.”

The car stopped, forcing me to look at him, in case something was wrong. “Anna.”

I looked at him, my eyes starting to close. I was tired. My alcohol handling has always been well, so what was the change now? I needed to close control. “You’re really handsome, you know that?”

~

“Anna, remind me why he had to come here again?”

I wrapped my arms around Alex’s neck limply, as he carried me into the only PetWorld that was open at this hour. His hands were tucked firmly under my legs so I wouldn’t fall, as he headed for the fish section. “Because Matt said we could get a fishy, but Vinny and Marty made me move out before we could get one!”

“Do you need a fishy tonight? I can always bring you back next time.”

“Yes! I don’t wanna go home alone!” I rubbed my cheek against him, tucking my head into his neck, before inhaling deeply. “You smell nice.”

He hummed in response, as he nodded to the attendant man, and turned down the fish section. “What kind of fishy do you want to live with, Trovato?”

“My name is Anna, Alex. Annnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.” I teased, not moving my head from its current position. His grip tightened for a moment, before relaxing again.

“Alright, Annnnaaaaaaa,” He mocked, as I felt a smile creep onto his face. “You’re pretty amusing when drunk.”

My jaw dropped, as I tried to sit up farther to see his face. “I’m not drunk!”

He turned to me, maybe an inch away from my own, forcing me to hold my tongue as his dark eyes met my own. “Which explains why I found you plastered in some strip bar, Tyrell about ready to rip that girl’s clothing off, and you just sitting there, completely unaware of anything.”

~

“Alex! It’s so cute!” I nearly strangled the man who was keeping me from collapsing onto the linoleum in a head of mess. “My mommy never lets me have a fishy!”

Humming in response, I felt his fingers tap against my legs. "Do you have a tank?"

He tightened his grip again, keeping me from bouncing around. I giggled, hugging him tightly. “Yesss, I’d had it for forever, waiting for the perfect time to use it.”

“Have you decided, sir?” Smiling, I kept my head down as Alex stepped closer to the fish tank.

“We should get Swedish Fish. Henrik says they are really good.”

He chuckled, as did the man, before he cleared this throat. “We’d like to take two of the Pygmys, please.”

Within seconds, it felt like, Alex helped me slide down and get into the car, before shutting the door. I held the little clear bag up, smiling at my fishies. The guy had given us fish food, and a few other things for my tank. The driver’s door shut, but the car didn’t start.

Looking over at Alex, he had a weird smile on his face. Cocking an eyebrow at him, he reached over and kidnapped the bag, setting it on the dash for a second. Leaning over, he grabbed the seatbelt behind me, and pulled it around, buckling me in. Handing me the bag back, he did the same for himself, before starting the car again. “Thank you.”

Backing up, his expression never changed. “I’d rather go with you to get fish, than have to carry you out of a bar, where anything could have happened.”

My mood diminished, as the guilt started to set in a little, calming me down. “Nothing happened.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, before pulling on the highway, after hitting the GPS button for my apartment. Good thing we saved it in Dana’s GPS. I couldn’t even find it at times. “Something could have happened, though, and if it did, I don’t know what I would do with myself. Regardless of what you think, Anna, I care about you. If someone had touched you the wrong way, and I hadn’t of been there..”

Sniffing, I looked down at the fishies. I may have still been loopy, but I could understand what he was implying. Had something happened..

He reached over with his free hand, intertwining his fingers with my left hand, and squeezing lightly. “You probably won’t remember any of this in the morning, but if you ever need me, I’m here for you. Just know that, at least, for this moment.”

“Alex!”

He looked over quickly, before taking the exit ramp onto the service road. “Hmm?”

“What are we going to name our children?”

“Well, if you ever had children, what would you name them?”

“I would name one after my mommy! Her name was Lidiya, and the other, I’d name Alexei!” The happiness burst back through me, as the previous dismal conversation was completely forgotten.

~

I opened the door, sleep looking very welcoming as I stumbled in, Alex carrying the fishies. He headed for the tank that had already been filtering, that had a small lamp turned on over it. He fed them quickly, as I tumbled to the ground, enjoying the cool feeling of the ground against my heated body. “Anna, what was your dad’s name?”

Kicking my shoes off, I watched him walk behind me to drop his own on the rug, before stepping into the kitchen where I partially was laying. Rubbing my migraine-attacked head, I could feel my high slipping out from between my fingers. “Lev, why?”

My refrigerator door opened, then closed, and then the same with the cabinet door. The glass was set back on to the counter, and whatever was pulled out of the fridge, was put back. “Here.”

Rolling over, I scooted up to where I was leaning against the side of the kitchen cabinet, Alex situating himself next to me. He handed me a glass of orange juice, before taking a sip of his own. Drinking mine down slowly, I felt the buzz dim dramatically, and my mind start beginning to focus. Thank god for orange juice, the elixir of my life.

“I never answered your question, did I? My parents’ names are Adelina and Armadeo. Get it? Armadeo, Adelina, and Anna. Such a mouthful.” He didn’t any anything for a few moments, before a thought hit me. “Where’s Dana? Why are you in my apartment? Not that I mind, but I’d like to know why.”

He finished his glass, avoiding looking at me for a good few minutes. “Um..”

My stomach churned, instantly making me sick, and reminding me of the past few weeks. “I think I’m gonna be sick..”

Within seconds, I was regurgitating everything I had taken in since the end of the game, it felt like, plus before. I heard the door open, and felt him pull my ponytail back out from getting in the way. I began dry heaving, as he reached for the towel off the counter. “You alright?”

“It’s hard to breathe.” Taking the towel from him, I wiped my face off, before falling back onto my rear, and off of my knees. Leaning against the wall, he wringed another smaller, damp towel. Kneeling back down to my level, he went to place it on my forehead.

It was just another time when he was there to see me as a fucking wreck. Taking the towel off, he frowned, as I tried standing up. “Where are you going?”

Stepping past him, I could barely stand to look at him. “I need to change.”

Not waiting around to hear what he was going to say, as he stood up, I made a beeline for my bedroom. Clicking the room light on, I wanted to literally cry. I find someone I kind of like, and they see me at my worst all the time. All I was good at, was embarrassing myself. Feeling my cheeks heat up again, I ripped one of my dresser drawers open, only for it to be pushed shut. “Anna. Stop it.”

Groaning in frustration, I flipped my closet light on, looking for something to wear. The light switched off, as I turned to see Alex standing there, shirts and shorts in hand. Taking them from him, he let me pass, before stepping into the bedroom bathroom. He stood outside, and within seconds, I was carrying my pants and shirt in my hands, before dumping them in the dirty clothes pile.

He chuckled, but I ignored him. Maybe if I did that, he’d go away.

Diving onto the couch, I covered up with the covers, leaving him standing there. I felt part of the armrest depress, making me throw the sheet back in frustration. “What do you want from me, Alex? Can’t you see I want nothing to do with you?”

“Anna.” My headache was turning into a migraine, from the amount of alcohol I drank, the throwing up, and the emotional nightmare of me only being able to imagine what I said and did in front of him, that was completely doing me in. Why couldn’t it have been anyone else? He’s not going to want to be with someone like me.

I snapped, completely on the verge of tears. “What?!”

“Shut up.” I peered up at him, his expression unreadable. “Just shut up, Anna, and let me take care of you.”

Alex Semin

Considering I finally got Anna to sleep around 3, the 3 hours of sleep did wonders. If the woman had taken her fucking bed, and had let me sleep on the couch, it could have been worse. Pulling my shirt over my head, I looked at the clock on her bedside table. 6:09. I had 51 minutes to meet the team in front of the hotel. I had 51 minutes to sneak back in, pack, and get ready.

Stepping out of the bedroom, I zipped up and buttoned my jeans, to see Anna wrapped up in about eight blankets. She looked as if she was wrapped up in a giant taco. Getting closer, I rested my hand against her forehead. It was still warm, but much cooler than when we first got to her apartment.

I couldn’t lie, I thoroughly enjoyed taking her to the fish place, and spending time with her off the ice. If only she would stop trying so hard to take care of herself. Wrapping my arms up under her, I picked her up carefully, before stepping around the table, and into the hallway.

Walking through the hallway, we reached her room that she refused to sleep in last night, before I laid her down carefully. Pulling the extra covers off of her, I tossed them into a pile, before pulling the sheets and comforter up over her. Setting her alarm for eight, I switched the light off, before grabbing my cell phone.

God, why can’t she just fucking be attracted to me? Is that too much to ask?

~

Sitting in the cab, we were maybe 5 minutes from the hotel, and I had 20 minutes to meet everyone. No doubt one or two might be up, but I could escape easily enough.

I thought about the other night, after game 5, and Anna was late getting up to where I was in the Verizon Center. She looked happy to see me, but towards the end..

Was she just trying to get into my head? She was doing a fantastic job of doing that so far. I wanted to kiss her, badly. The urge was extremely overwhelming, but she looked scared. Last night in the locker room, I couldn’t believe how I didn’t notice her coming in there. Finding her in my stall, I couldn’t resist making her uncomfortable. Especially with how she was making me uncomfortable, how could I resist?

Easy. I couldn’t.