WAG for Hire

Jordan wasn’t enjoying the sounds of Kesha pumping through his Escalade. But it beat uncomfortable silence – something he damn well wasn’t enjoying. When he pulled up to a red light, he took a moment to glance over at Toby, who was bundled against the opposite side of the vehicle. Her elbow was propped against the window, and her head rested neatly on the palm. She was staring straight ahead, although her red locks were covering a great deal of her face. He could only imagine she had a look that matched the chilly atmosphere that had descended on the pair.

Finally, when Kesha turned to Gaga, he groaned and switched off the radio. He was going to chance it. “Just how pissed at me are you really?”

It took a good long moment before she even stirred. He could hear a harsh sigh and winced inwardly. Was it possible to be in the dog house when their fake relationship hadn’t even started? “I am not pissed at you.”

Well, that certainly was unexpected. He was used to girls telling him what an asshole he was. “You could have fooled me there.”

Toby turned so that her hair fell away. In the dim light cast by street lamps he could see that she had sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. She chewed on it almost absent mindedly before setting it free. “This is hard for me, you know,” she began. “I don’t like feeling helpless. And I certainly don’t like to be treated as if I am.”

“Is that what you think I am doing?” Jordan questioned. He understood her sentiment all too well. However, that was not even close to his intentions.

“Even if you not, it’s what I feel like.” She rubbed her hand over her forehead. “You don’t know a lot about me, Jordan. I could fill in the details but that could take all night. I guess the most important thing to remember is that I have pretty much been taking care of myself since I was in my teens – admittedly I had my parents helping me out until I left. But since then I have never asked for a dime from anyone. I thought I was doing a decent job of things until a few weeks ago.”

Jordan was silent for a moment, letting what she said sink in. “Toby, for the love of God, don’t take this the wrong way. And if you feel the need to, just remember I am the one driving and I would like to at least get to the destination in one piece…” His tone was light, hoping to relax the situation. “It’s okay to ask for help, you know. It doesn’t make you less of a person.” He waited for a moment just to be sure he wasn’t about to be on the receiving end of a verbal attack. She was eyeing him carefully, her guard still up. But at least she no longer looked as if she wanted to throw things at him. “You’re right, I don’t know a lot about you. But from what I can tell you seem like you have a good head on your shoulders. That must mean that you have done a good job thus far.”

“Thank you,” Toby said quietly.

“Okay, so, are we going to have to do this every time I want to give you a hand?” Jordan asked. He supposed he meant to be teasing but there was an element of seriousness implied in his question.

She appeared to consider his question. “I’ll work on it.”

“I guess it’s a start,” Jordan said. He knew he couldn’t ask a person to change overnight. He had plenty of faults of his own that he still clung to no matter what anyone said. He didn’t blame her for her position – he only hoped to make it easier from here on. “So, I want pizza – with extra cheese. That sound okay?”

“Sure.”



God, she felt like such an idiot.

Toby shut the door behind her and followed Jordan into the tiny pizza parlor. It had been the first one they stumbled across and Toby was happy to discover it at least appeared clean. She hung back behind him as he eyed the various pizzas turning methodically in the warming tray.

He was only trying to help. He wasn’t trying to come in and run her life. He wasn’t trying to buy her. He just wanted to help.

And she had nearly taken his head off for it.

She counted herself fairly lucky that he hadn’t kicked her out on a corner and found someone else to help him with his little ruse. When he turned to her, he had an easy going smile on his face. The sight was infectious - she smiled back.

“I decided I needed large with the works,” Jordan explained. “I will tell you that I have staked a claim on half that pie already but I am willing to share. Do you think we need anything else?”

“Uh, garlic fingers?” Toby flushed bright red when her stomach rumbled.

He just raised an eyebrow. “I think the lady requires garlic fingers.”

Toby ordered a large soda to wash it all down. With it in hand, she slid in a bright yellow plastic chair and watched as Jordan did the same. She was silent for a moment and then decided to plunge forward. “I am sorry for being a bitch about this.”

“And I am sorry for snooping in your fridge,” Jordan retorted immediately as he toyed with the napkin dispenser. “There, look at that…all better.”

Toby couldn’t help but laugh just a little. It sounded like a brush off to her apology but she knew better – Jordan was doing what he could to show that there were no hard feelings. It amazed her how quickly she had come to understand how he thought. Within the space of a few days he had gone from a regular customer to the closest thing she had to a confidant in a long time.

But she wouldn’t read too much into it – she couldn’t afford to.

“Earth to Toby.”

She snapped her head up to find him staring intently at her. She hadn’t realized she had been that caught up in her thoughts. “Sorry.”

“You had a look on your face…kind of like the one Sid makes me he is about to say something profound,” Jordan told her.

“I can assure you that there are no such deep thoughts running through my head,” she said, and realized it was almost a lie. She didn’t want to dwell on it, deciding to turn the tables without drawing his suspicions. “Sid? As in Sidney Crosby?”

“You know him?”

Toby laughed. “Not personally but I think you would have to live under a rock not to know of him. I don’t even watch a lot of hockey and I have heard lots about him.”

Jordan grinned. “Yeah, they sure love him over at operations. I don’t know why – he’s the world’s biggest dumbass. I have to lace his skates and everything.”

The serious tone of his voice coupled with the amusement playing over his face had her laughing loudly this time. In the midst of it, she reached over and gave him a playful swat. When she finally calmed, he was looking at her again. It was a look of pure concentration – like he was taking apart to see how she was put together. “What?” She asked immediately.

“Tell me,” Jordan began. “About you. About what makes you tick. I don’t care if it takes all night,” he added in reference to her earlier comment.

Toby found herself stirring soda with her straw as she thought through the request. There were a great many things she could tell him but she realized how raw around the edges her earlier display had left her. “Not tonight. I will.” She could see the disappointment on his face and she felt compelled to add, “I promise.”

It seemed to placate him.

The easy conversation returned and they ate pizza instead.



Jordan slowed for the red light.

Toby was fiddling with the buttons on his radio, making faces every so often to show her displeasure at the songs. Finally, as the light turned green, she settled on a rock station that currently was blasting an old CCR tune. He couldn’t help but grin. “My parents listened to this stuff.”

“Everyone’s parents listened to this stuff,” Toby corrected as she bopped her head in time with the beat.

True enough, Jordan thought. She began to sing – she probably didn’t even realize she was doing it. It wasn’t exactly the most pleasant sounding noise. Then again, he was no better and at least she was happy.

A full belly had a tendency to do that to a person. He had never quite seen a female pack it away like her. She was willowy – he was sure there was not one ounce of extra fat on her and yet she had practically met him slice for slice. What was left of their massacre was in a box on the back seat. He was going to ensure that that box made its way to her fridge – along with a few other items.

He made another turn, moving into familiar territory for him. She hadn’t noticed that they weren’t heading back to her apartment yet. She continued to sing, stopping only to finish off the rest of her soda. He was able to pull into the parking lot of Giant Eagle before she realized. She gave him a look and he braced himself for a return of her sullen mood. “I need milk.”

“So do I,” she said, although with not the same enthusiasm she had reserved for singing sixties’ rock.

Jordan decided he would take the little victories. He pulled into a parking space, noting that the place was nearly deserted at this time of night. Perfect – get in and out without a fuss. She followed him, tossing her empty cup into a nearby trash can. He blinked at the harsh lights of the grocery store and grabbed a cart. “I have a system,” he explained as if he were talking to a fellow soldier in battle. “Fruits and veggies, dry goods and then things from the cooler. That sound good to you?”

“Technically you should go dry goods, fruits and veggies, and then things from the cooler but I know how you hockey players are about routine,” Toby said with a hint of a teasing smile. He chuckled at her jab and then headed off toward produce with her trailing behind him.

In truth, he had full fridge at home – but he also had a game plan. A few things here and there, pointing out how good things look, what a great sale was going on – anything but out right telling her to buy things. His mother didn’t raise no fool.

By the time, they had gotten through produce he had used his subtle nudging to convince her to by a few apples and one very nice looking red pepper (although he had no idea what she was going to do with one red pepper). He had grabbed a few bananas for himself. He added a loaf of bread and through no persuading of his own, so did she.

By the time they had made it half way through the store the bottom of the cart was covered. Nearly half of it belonged to Toby. He was admiring the cookies, his hand wrapped around the package. As he prattled on about what a good buy it was, she burst into laughter.

He stopped and raised an eyebrow.

“I know what you’re doing, Jordan Staal,” she finally said when she stopped. And here he thought he was being so clever. “And I want you know that I appreciate it…even if you sound like a complete dork.”

Jordan just smiled as he chucked the cookies into the cart. She followed the path and watched as they settled right next to her rice. “How can you eat those?” She asked, retrieving the package. “The preservatives alone…”

He snatched them back from her and dropped them rather ceremoniously back into the cart. “I didn’t ask any questions when you tainted the cart with Chex Mix.”

“You’d eat the whole bag in one sitting,” Toby shot back.

Jordan conceded that she was probably right. He gave the cart a shove and watched it travel down the aisle by itself. It embedded itself in a display of crackers, knocking a few boxes over. The sound caught the attention of an employee restocking chips at the end of the aisle. She stopped long enough to give Jordan the eye.

Behind him, Toby let loose with a fresh string of giggles. He glanced back at her. “Knowing my luck, I’ll end up on the news for attacking crackers in the Giant Eagle.”

“The public outrage will be epic,” Toby said as she walked past him to extract the cart. She replaced the boxes before continuing down the aisle.

Jordan refrained from assaulting any more inanimate objects as they finished off with the cooler section. She didn’t choose much, a few frozen dinners that turned his stomach and the aforementioned milk. He was impressed with her modest collection of things. It wouldn’t last long – but she had accepted his help without too much fuss.

She helped him load the items at the register, separating them into their respective piles. A young boy, obviously a high student working his first job, began to ring them through eyeing him all the while. Jordan recognized the look – the kid knew who he was.

“You’re awesome,” the boy finally blurted out as he neared the end of the groceries.

“Thanks, dude,” Jordan said as he reached for his wallet.

“Wished you could have played tonight. Bet you would have won if you did,” the kid said as he shoved another bag into Toby’s waiting hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her watching him. He hadn’t forgotten about the game – he had just put it on the back burner for a bit, intending to find out the damage when he got home.

“Can’t win them all I guess,” Jordan said diplomatically as he handed some cash. He took his change and turned to find that Toby had loaded the bags into the cart. She took the lead, heading for the exit.

She watched him as they walked through the parking lot, as if she were trying to gage his mood. Jordan unlocked the Escalade and began hoisting bags into the back.

“I’m sorry, Jordan,” she said quietly as she helped.

“I’m fine,” he assured her. He couldn’t obsess over it. If he did that he would wind up in the same mood that had him running to Toby’s in the first place. He put the cart with the others and returned to find her buckled in.

She didn’t sing on the drive home. Instead, she alternated between watching the city whiz by and watching him. “October.”

“What?” Jordan asked.

“The given name on my birth certificate is October,” she spoke with a bit of a sigh. “I’ll give you one guess what month I was born in.”

“October.”

“Thank God I wasn’t born in March,” she said. “But just so you know – if you ever call me October, I will not be held responsible for my actions.”

“Duly noted,” Jordan said as he turned down the street of her apartment building. The pair slipped into comfortable silence.

Her name was October – it wasn’t much.

But it was a start.