Whatever It Takes

Arianna walked through the dimly lit room, passing the crowded bar where people stood getting their drinks. She spotted the gang at their usual table in the back and instantly smiled seeing their familiar faces.

After not seeing them for so long this reunion made her feel like she was home. She felt her body cringe as she laid eyes on the handsome guy sitting at the head of the table: Jordan. Arianna ignored her body’s warning and continued toward the table.

“Hi guys!” she greeted loudly enough to be overhead through the music playing in the background. “Bunny!” Ryan jumped up and grabbed her in a tight squeeze. She laughed at her friend’s reaction and his familiar nickname for her.

Although every girl was insanely attracted to Ryan, Arianna never saw the appeal. He credited his good body to his quarterback days in high school and his smarts to his current studies of medicine. In theory he was every girl’s perfect man; but to Arianna he would always be her friend who set her up with David.

Just as she thought his name, her eyes caught sight of handsome tall guy in a red-checkered shirt in the background. She would recognize him anywhere, even in a room with no lights on. David; he looked better than she remembered.

But then again that was a year ago, the last time they really saw each other. They had agreed to take enough time apart to help ease their separation. She occasionally would bump into him when everyone would go out and they would make small talk.

So now here he was, standing before her, looking more perfect than ever.

“Anna,” his husky voice said in a sweet tone, as his mouth broke out into a small smile. Her heart fluttered at the sound of his nickname for her; he was the only one who was ever allowed to call her that. “Dave,” she replied, as she got released from Ryan’s hug and leaned over to reach David. “How’ve you been?” he asked enthusiastically as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her gently.

“Pretty good, busy with school. You know how it is,” she laughed as they broke their hug. The smell of his cologne still gave her butterflies, but not in the way she remembered. She would always love him and he would always love her. You never forgot your first love, the person who showed you what love even was. But sometimes things changed and you needed to move on.

Just as they continued with their talk, Arianna saw Marissa from the distance race over to where she stood. “I waited outside for you but then it got cold so I came in,” she said the minute she got to Arianna’s side. Her eyes suddenly shot a questioning glance between Arianna and David, causing them both to laugh. “How much have you drunk?” Arianna asked her as she noticed the half empty beer in Marissa’s hands.

“Not nearly enough. Come on. Let’s get you some refreshments,” Marissa informed her as she dragged her towards the table. Arianna moved through their crowd of friends, waving to the ones she hadn’t had a chance to speak to. Marissa stopped in front of her as they reached the table, leaning over to grab a drink for Arianna.

As she let Marissa pour her a drink, Arianna felt a cold stare on her back. She turned to see Jordan sitting at the table still, drinking beer from his bottle. Unsure of what else to do, she gave him a smile and waved. He rolled his eyes at her and took another swing of his drink.

“What are you doing?” Marissa whispered to her loudly, as she caught on to their brief one-sided exchange. “Trying to be nice,” Arianna responded as she moved her body down the length of the table and closer to Jordan.

“Hey! How are you?” she asked him bravely, her palms filled with sweat. Jordan turned to look at her, his face completely blank. She saw a flicker of something cross his eyes; was that hurt? But just as quickly as it was there, it was gone. He stood up and gave her a cold look, before turning and walking away.

“I don’t think he cares if you’re trying to be nice,” she heard Marissa say from behind her. She glanced back at her friend who shrugged her shoulders and handed her a drink. Arianna sighed as she accepted the liquor; taking a sip the minute she grabbed the glass. This was going to be a long night.

***

The guys sat around their usual table in the back of the bar, unwinding after a long hard day of practice. The bar was at its usual filled capacity, word having spread quickly that they were there. They could see people shoving and pulling, trying to get closer to their table without crossing that invisible line that seemed to surround them.

“I think I over ate,” Brent said as he leaned back in his chair, his hand falling to his stomach. “Didn’t seem to think so at supper when you ate everything off your plate and started to attack mine,” Duncan said beside him, agitation in his voice.

“I already apologized for that! When will you get over it?” Brent whined. The two continued to bicker, causing the rest of the guys to roll their eyes and laugh.

“So now that Kaner has a girl, what are you going to do Toews,” Sharpie teased, his bottle of beer twisting in his hands. “Shut up,” Jon laughed as he gave his friend a hard shove in the arm. Patrick shook his head and laughed at their antics, his mind drifting back to Arianna for the twelfth time.

“That great eh?” Sharpie said suddenly, causing Patrick to come back down to earth. “What?” he asked Sharpie, confusion written all over his face. “She must be pretty great if you can’t even keep your focus on boys night,” Sharpie explained.

“Yeah she is…she’s different,” Patrick explained to his two friends. “She’s smart, funny, sexy as hell but so innocent at the same time. She see things so clearly, like it’s not all that complicated. She’s honest and has no tolerance for bullshit. She’s not needy,” Patrick said, his chest tightening the more he thought of her. “She keeps me on my toes, I just never know with her”.

He sighed and thought about his next words carefully, unsure if he should confide so much in his friends this more vulnerable side to him. “To be honest, it scares me out of my mind to be in a relationship, especially a long-distance one”.

“So then why do it?” Sharpie asked him innocently, giving Patrick his full attention. Patrick shook his head, unsure of how to answer. “She makes me want to do things I’ve never done. She’s so unlike any of those other girls I ever dated,” he began to explain.

“Jamie,” Jon interrupted, giving Patrick a hard look. “Yeah, exactly like Jamie,” Patrick said, as he smiled at his friend across from him, glad he understood. “No, Jamie is here,” Jon said more urgently, his eyes darting past Patrick’s shoulders.

Patrick turned in his seat quickly, his eyes scanning the room to find her. He swallowed the lump in his throat as his eyes caught her fiery ones, her body now gliding through the crowd towards their table. Even though he could tell she was angry like a scorned woman, she still looked incredibly stunning.

“Goodluck,” Jon whispered from across the table, sending him and Sharpie into a tizzy of poorly concealed laughter. Patrick glanced back at them quickly, sending them a look to try and silence them. Just as he opened his mouth to yell at them, an icy voice cut him off.

“I need to say this now, because if I don’t ill regret it,” Jamie’s voice rang in his ears like icicles. “Of course, sure,” he mumbled, unsure of how to tame her rage.

“You are an asshole Patrick Kane,” she said simply. “You let me believe that we had something more that what you had with other girls. I know we agreed it was casual and had no strings attached. But you promised me you’d always be there; you told me I was different. I never asked you for any of that, but you volunteered it,” she said, her eyes catching his.

“So don’t give me this bullshit that you don’t want a relationship and that’s why we can’t see each other anymore. Because we both know we were never in a relationship anyways. I never pressured you for that. So the least you can do is be honest with me and tell me the truth; tell me you’re sleeping with another girl”.

Patrick broke their stare and looked down at his feet. He shook his head unsure of what to say, as he glanced back up at her. She stood in front of him, looming down over him as he sat in his chair. He didn’t mean to hurt her, he never meant to hurt any of them, but he always did in the end.

“Fine. I’m seeing someone else,” he said quietly, their eyes glued to one another. Her shoulders slumped slightly, “I don’t understand. You use to always see and sometimes sleep with other girls when we were together…why did you break it off with me? I never cared Pat,” she told him, confusion written on her face.

“It’s more than that Jamie,” he said, “I’m actually in a relationship. An official, real-life, grown-up relationship”.

The anger and confusion suddenly vanished from her eyes, as hurt poured in. He reached out and grabbed her hand, trying to comfort her. She pulled her arm quickly out of his grasp, her body now shaking slightly.

“I should have fucking listened when they told me to stay away from you,” she spat out at him, her eyes slightly water-filled. “I did everything you wanted and more. And you pass me up for some random girl who knew how to sweet-talk you? She must be something if she knew how to whip the infamous Patrick Kane,” she said, as she gave him one last look-over. “You’ll regret this Patrick. You really will. And when that time comes and you’re all alone, don’t come find me”.

She turned and walked away, leaving a stunned Patrick to sit and contemplate what she just said. He turned to face his friends; the whole table now silent as they had all heard what had just happened. “Don’t worry about it,” Stalberg said from beside him, as he placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Yeah, you’ve gotten told off worse before,” Brent laughed, trying to ease the mood.

The rest of the guys began laughing, and comparing stories of when girls told them off, trying to help Patrick forget. But all he could do was listen to Jamie’s words on repeat in his head; her anger and hurt still stuck in his memory. Was he really such a bad guy? Did Arianna really “whip” him? He suddenly felt nauseous, as he took a bigger sip of his beer.