Whatever It Takes

Arianna watched as Patrick put his key in the lock and turned it open. He pushed the door and reached back to grab her hand in his as he led them through the front door.

She was instantly hit with the familiar scent of his surroundings, her heart feeling at ease even though her insides were knotted with nerves. Lisa and Jon followed behind them, chatting candidly about all things Canadian that they loved. Arianna turned to ask Patrick where his cousin was when she heard a male voice call out from down the hallway.

“Kaner!” James cried as he came walking down the hallway. In one swift motion he was beside his cousin and giving him a brotherly hug. Patrick laughed and returned the gesture. Both boys’ faces were lit with happiness, as they broke apart from their hug and hit each other on the arm playfully.

“James, this is Arianna,” Patrick said finally as he turned and put his hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. Arianna smiled brightly at the tall guy before her whose features were so similar to Patrick’s. She felt nerves twist in her stomach as she reached her hand out to shake his.

“Hey, nice to meet you,” he said sweetly, although he had a devilish smile on his face. They have more in common than just their looks, Arianna thought as James and Patrick exchanged a knowing glance. “It’s nice to meet you too. I’ve heard such great things about you,” she told him.

“Pat, I’m just going to use the washroom while you go get dressed ok?” she told Patrick, as she turned to look at him. “Yeah sure, sounds good. I’ll be ready soon,” he told her. She grabbed her purse and headed down the hallway to the washroom across from Patrick’s room.

She walked in and closed the door behind her, placing her bag on the counter and turning on the faucet. She let the cool water glide over her hands, the icy liquid falling between her fingers. She looked up at her reflection in the mirror and took her damp hands and ran it through her wavy hair, taming any frizz she found.

Her nerves were tamer than before, although still there. See, it wasn’t so bad, she thought to herself as she closed the faucet. He’s a nice guy and he seemed to like me, she continued to tell herself. But what if he thought she wasn’t good enough for his cousin? Wasn’t pretty enough?

She suddenly felt the nerves grow in her stomach more. All she wanted was for him to like her. She hated to admit it but Patrick had grown to mean so much to her. She just craved for his family’s approval.

She opened her purse and took out her eyeliner, glancing in the mirror to reapply the smudged lines on her lids. She added some bronzer and blush as a quick touch up, taking one last look at her reflection. She picked up her bag and walked to the door, hand on the doorknob when she overhead male voices.

She froze in spot, wondering if she should she eavesdrop on the conversation. Patrick’s voice laughed at a story that James told about some of their friends from home. She loved hearing him so happy, it made her melt on the inside.

No stop it, this is a total invasion of privacy, she scolded herself. She would never want or expect Patrick to do this to her.

“So, Arianna…” James’ voice said from the other room. At the sound of her name her head instantly flew against the door, all her previous worries a distant memory. Her heart pounded so loud in her chest; she needed to take deep breaths to calm it so she could hear their voices better.

“Yeah, what do you think of her?” Patrick asked him, curiosity filled in his voice. “Honestly? She’s so hot dude, but not your usual type of girl. I’m surprised,” James told him.

“Yeah, I know” Patrick’s voice responded, “but that’s what I like so much about her. I haven’t felt like this about anyone else. It’s weird,” Patrick confessed to his cousin. “Don’t over think it man, just enjoy yourself” James’ voice said in response.

Arianna could feel her heart race faster and faster the more she heard. She pushed her body away from the door, shaking her head. She shouldn’t have done that; she shouldn’t have over heard all those things. She knew it wasn’t right and felt sick to her stomach about it.

She took one last look in the mirror at herself and opened the door as quickly as she could, making sure her feet made sound so the boys could hear her approach. As she walked towards Patrick’s room she could hear their whispers stop.

“Hey,” she said as brightly as she could, “ready to go?”. Patrick nodded to James who got up and shrugged on his jacket and walked out of the room, throwing Arianna a quick smile.

Patrick made his way over to her and snacked his hand around her waist. “Ready,” Patrick said as he leaned down and have her a kiss on the lips, his body pulling hers into his.

***

Arianna laughed and leaned into Brent’s shoulder as he reminisced about a fight he had been a part of a few mere hours ago. The bar was crowded, hundreds of people all over the floor dancing and drinking. The gang stood in their usual corner section, enough space for them to mingle and sit around and drink.

She took another sip of her drink, glancing down to realize it was done. She sighed and placed it on the table behind her where Duncan and Corey sat in midst of a discussion with Hossa.

“Finished that drink quite fast there Ari” Sharpie teased as he brought his beer bottle to his lips. “Shut up,” she laughed as she reached over and hit his arm lightly with hers.

She was having a great time with the boys; Sharpie and Brent were overly excited to see her again. They made her feel so at ease and more welcomed than she had ever felt before. She glanced around the room where all the guys stood disbursed. If someone had told her a few months ago she’d be here now and consider these guys friends, she would have laughed in their faces.

“Want me to get you a refill? Or maybe some water?” Sharpie asked her nicely, although she could see his eyes light up with evil thoughts lingering behind them. “Thanks for the offer but no. A) I don’t trust you with my drink when I can see tricks lurking in your minds and B) Patrick went a to get me some water a while ago” she responded, giving him a smirk in return.

She suddenly realized it had been a while since she’d seen Patrick. He had come up to her before, wrapping his hands around her waist and nuzzling her neck a little carelessly, indicating to Arianna he was borderline tipsy. Nevertheless, he took note of how fast she was downing her 2 drinks and went off to get her some water.

But that was a good half-hour ago, and now he was nowhere to be seen. She suddenly got worried, too many thoughts flooding her mind at once.

“Have any of you guys seen Pat?” she asked curiously, her nerves written all over her face. The guys shook their heads in response, some shrugging their shoulders. She contemplated going to find him when the corner of her eye caught Brent shooting Sharpie a serious look.

“What’s going on?” she asked Brent as she turned to look at him. She could feel Sharpie moving behind her, probably signaling Brent not to say a word. She saw Brent’s eyes starring above her head where Sharpie stood behind her.

“Sharpie, stop jumping around. Brent, eyes down here. What is going on? And don’t lie to me” she told him, as they finally made eye contact. She put on her innocent face, which she knew worked every time in getting what she wanted.

Brent sighed and shrugged his shoulders in defense, giving Sharpie one last look before speaking up. “Your boyfriend seems to have encountered some fans near the bar,” he said simply.

Arianna shook her head, confused at the statement. What was the big deal about him being with fans? She was just relieved he wasn’t hurt or sick someone where alone. She opened her mouth to ask the boys when her eyes landed on him.

Patrick stood in the middle of a circle surrounded by 5 girls who were eagerly edging to be closer to him. She wanted to look away but she couldn’t, as her eyes were fixed on watching his actions.

He was drunk, that was for certain. She could tell by the way he stood and the smirk that he had on his face. He laughed cockily at something one of the girls in skintight shorts said. She pushed her body closer to his as she reached up and grabbed his baseball cap off his head and placed it down on hers.

Without a second though she was up against his body, grinding to the music. Patrick stood motionless with his hands in his pocket, yet his smirk was still present. The girl giggled and backed off when she realized he wasn’t reciprocating her actions. Her friend’s must of taken this as their chance because they all suddenly jumped 5 inches closer to him.

Arianna could feel her anger boil up enough to cover her hurt. She knew he was drunk and he wasn’t doing anything bad. He wasn’t touching them or really saying much. But still. Who did he think he was? She was in the room with him and this is how he was behaving?

“Ignore it. He’s drunk,” Brent said to her as he placed his hand comfortingly on her lower back. She nodded in response, “it doesn’t bother me,” she said.

“Just don’t let him get away with too much,” Sharpie said from the other side of her, “that’s a common mistake most of his other girls made”. Arianna turned and glanced him, confusion on her face.

“I said it didn’t bother me. But I never said I’d let him get away with it,” she told him as she turned and made her way to the second bar which stood in perfect view of Patrick and the rest of the boys. As she walked away she could hear Brent mumbled to Sharpie that this couldn’t end well.

Arianna ignored the comment as she walked to the bar and sat on an available stool. Two can play this game, she thought as she smiled at the bartender and ordered a drink. If Patrick thought he could prance around and flirt with girls she would do the same thing.