I Don't Want To Solve Your Problems, I Have My Own

I woke up and stretched luxuriously before turning to look at Evgeni, but he was gone. Gone? Where did he go? I pulled on some clothes and walked out into the main room of my apartment. He was gone. I felt the all too easily recognizable flutter of panic blossom in my chest, and I ran back to my bedroom. I grabbed my cell phone and checked it. No calls, no text messages…I ran back into the apartment and glanced at my desk. His cell phone had been collected. In fact, there was no sign he had ever been in the apartment…he had even taken out the trash. I felt my knees go weak and I sat slowly on the ground.

“I…I was just a fuck!” I muttered as tears leaked from my eyes.

I paced back and forth in the apartment, running my hands through my hair anxiously. My breathing was heavy, and I felt like I was going to pass out. Sidney watched me for a few minutes before standing up.

“Geno, what did you do?” He asked. It wasn’t a sarcastic comment either; his voice was full of concern.

“I…I slept with her!” I admitted. Sidney stared at me with wide eyes for a moment.

“You did? But you never…you don’t…what about…” Sidney stammered. He had always joked around with me, pulling little stunts like tucking that condom into my wallet, but he had never thought I would actually go through with it.

“I know…now you know why I’m freaking out about it!” I sighed. Sidney looked at me confused. Right, he doesn’t speak Russian. “See why I am freaking out?” I asked, this time in English.

“Yeah…but relax dude. It was just sex,” Sidney shrugged.

“Just…no Sid. Not ‘just’ sex. It’s not…it could never be ‘just’ sex with me, you know it! You know I have trouble with trust…I don’t ever trust women! She will think she was just a lay, you know? How can I ever make running okay?” I asked. I was frustrated to the verge of tears, which pissed me off because I hated crying.

“Geno…I can talk to her. Just…try and calm down, okay?” Sidney asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. I nodded, and took a deep breath.

“Hello?” I asked, answering the phone.

“Is this Ashley?” I heard a man ask.

“Yeah…” I said, quickly wiping my eyes.

“I’m calling to talk to you about Evgeni,” he said. The way he said about…I could tell he was Canadian.

“Who is this?” I asked, even though the answer was blatantly clear.

“Sidney…Sidney Crosby. I’m Geno’s best friend,” he started. I felt something inside of me grow cold, and I narrowed my eyes angrily.

“What, is he having his best friend call to do his dirty work?” I growled.

“No…no he isn’t. I’m calling to explain…well to explain why he isn’t there though,” Sidney said. He sounded flustered.

“I’ll give you a few minutes, but if I feel like you’re just spoon feeding me a bunch of bull shit, I’m not listening,” I said. I could hear the Canadian superstar sigh on the other end.

“Alright…Evgeni has always had trust issues with women. When he was younger, he had this girlfriend back in Russia. She was everything a guy could ask for. She was smart, beautiful, and caring…but she was a fraud. She only wanted to be with Evgeni for his fame. Even back in Russia, he was still a dynamo. One night, Evgeni was going to propose to her. He was crazy about her. He went to walk into the dining room, where she was waiting, and he heard her on the phone. I don’t know what she said, but whatever it was…well it let him know that she was only in the relationship for his fame and fortune. She broke his heart, and he hasn’t allowed himself near a woman since. So when he started feeling so strongly towards you so quickly, he got worried. What happened between you…well it scared him. He’s afraid of getting hurt again Ashley…that’s why he left. I’m going to try and talk to him again, but if he doesn’t call in a few days…well, just show up. That is, if you really care about him. If you don’t care about him, I’m going to have to ask you to stay out of his life. I can’t let him get hurt, but I can’t let him screw up something good either,” Sidney said. I felt myself staring at the phone after Sidney fell silent.

“Are you telling me the truth?” I asked.

“Why would I lie to you?” Sidney asked.

“Fair enough,” I sighed.

I glanced at Sidney as he walked back into my apartment. I knew just by the look on his face that he had told Ashley all about Fania. I cringed as her name entered my mind.

“Well?” I asked.

“I explained it…now you either have to call her, or wait for her to show up,” Sidney said quietly.

“Which one should I do?” I asked.

“You should probably call her, if you really want her to believe me,” Sidney sighed. I groaned and ran my hands through my hair again. Suddenly my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out of my pocket, grateful for the distraction.

One New Message: Ashley Pritchard
Sidney called me and explained everything. If it’s all true, then I forgive you for leaving.
If it’s true, call me. I’ll give you a week, but after that, I’m done.

I handed the phone to Sidney, and he grinned broadly.

“See Geno? Everything will be okay,” he said, slapping me on the back.

I paced back and forth, waiting for her to answer the phone. She picked up on the ninth ring (I was so nervous I counted).

“Hey,” she said quietly.

“Hey,” I said.

“It’s been three days,” she said.

“I know,”

“Why didn’t you call sooner?”

“I was terrified,”

“I was terrified you wouldn’t call,”

“I’m so sorry,”

“It’s okay,”

“Come over,”

“Really?”

“Yes,”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,”

Twenty minutes felt like four hours as I waited for Ashley to knock on the door. I yanked it open so quickly that her hand was still in the air when I opened the door. She looked breathless, as if she had run to my apartment, and I immediately pulled her into my arms. I kissed her gently, and she smiled against my lips. I kicked the door shut and led her over to the couch, not once breaking away from her. I pulled her down so that she was sitting on my lap, and cuddled her to my chest. Eventually we stopped kissing, and I held her to me.

His heart beat quickly, and I rested my head against his warm, muscular chest. We sat in silence, and he ran his hands through my hair. His chest rose and fell slowly, and I lost track of how much time we spent just sitting there like that.

“Ashley?” He asked quietly.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Why do I trust you? I just met you,” he asked, half to himself. I stared at him for a minute, and then sighed.

“Because you know that I’ve had my own nightmares to deal with…birds of a feather, like they say,” I said.

“Birds of a feather?” He asked.

“Yeah, you know. ‘Birds of a feather flock together’. It’s an old saying,” I said. He shook his head.

“English makes no sense sometimes,” he shrugged.

“It means people who are similar will stick together,” I said. He nodded slowly, and kissed my forehead.

Ashley snuggled back into my chest, and we both dozed off after a while. It wasn’t until there was a knock at the front door that we woke up. I groaned, and slipped out from beneath Ashley, who was still in a sleepy haze. I opened the door, expecting Sidney, and when I saw who was standing there, I felt like I was going to throw up.

“Привет Евгений, могу ли я войти?” A tall, willowy blonde asked, standing at my door.

“Fania…” I gasped. Her deep brown eyes soaked in what they could see with a predator like glance, and her gaze stopped on Ashley, who had sat up straight and was stretching out her back.

“Evgeni…you have new friend?” Fania asked. Ashley’s head immediately snapped over, and she raised her eyebrows as Fania brushed past me and walked into the apartment like she owned the place.

“Who’s this?” Ashley asked, standing up. Fania was always strangely tall, and she stood at least 4 inches above Ashley.

“I am Fania. Evgeni not tell you about me?” Fania asked. Ashley shook her head slowly, and then glanced at my face.

“He doesn’t need to tell me about you for me to know who you are…and I think you should probably leave.” Ashley said. Her voice was flat, almost emotionless, and from the spark that immediately flickered between them, I knew that things might just spiral into a cat fight.