Diamond In The Rough

Twelve o’clock couldn’t come soon enough. I paced back and forth outside the Panera Bread, waiting for Cassidy to show up. At 12:17 I thought she stood me up, but I saw a girl hop off of a little black, red, and white motorcycle and I knew it was her. I couldn’t help but think about how hot it was that she rode a motorcycle, and I smiled as she walked over, brushing her hair back into place with her hands. Her hair was a warm blonde, not fake straight-out-of-the-bottle blonde, but not a muddled, dirty blonde either. Her gray eyes sparkled with laughter, and I felt my heart skip a few beats. Yeah, she was definitely not doing wonders for my reputation as a tough guy. We ordered our food, and sat down. She sat across from me, so I had an excuse to stare at her. We talked about life, how she got into nursing, how I got into hockey…her parents, my parents, the whole shebang. I felt bad for her when she talked about her parents. She didn’t talk long, but from what she did say I knew a little bit. Her mom and dad got divorced when she was eight. Her mom married this rich businessman that she’d been in an affair with for years, and her dad lost custody. Her mom then tried to whip her and her three brothers into the cookie cutter types that yuppie businessmen have, and it worked on the brothers but not on Cassidy. She was the black sheep of the family, and all of her sympathizing suddenly made sense.

“Dan is it weird not having teeth?” she asked. I raised my eyebrows.

“Uh…I kind of got used to it, so not really,” I shrugged.

“Huh…I guess I always wonder what other things are like,” she muttered.

“Do I look stupid without them?” I asked. She looked at me, and then shook her head.

“No. I mean, everyone knows you’re a hockey player. I can’t picture you with teeth, so it’s not a huge deal to me either,” she explained. I frowned. I had been torn for years about getting them fixed.

“Should I get ‘em fixed?” I asked.

“Well…wouldn’t that be a waste of money? You’ll just get them knocked out again knowing you,” she laughed. I smiled, feeling much better about it. That was something I was insecure about when it came to girls. It was nice to know she didn’t really care. I thought about it for a second, and then decided that I would still think she was pretty if she was missing teeth. Suddenly, her phone rang.

“Allo?” she asked. I heard someone start babbling away and my stomach turned cold.

“No, I’m out right now…yeah. I’m at lunch. Don’t worry about it,” she said. I raised my eyebrows. Claude she mouthed.

“Yes Claude…why does that matter? Fine, if you really need to know, yes, I’m with a guy…none of your business. Maybe…alright. Well I’m gonna go, ‘cause I have to pay attention to the person I’m with,” she said before hanging up quickly.

“What was that all about?” I asked. She chuckled and shook her head.

“Claude’s being a nosy bastard as usual. He was interrogating me about where I was, who I was with…the usual,” she shrugged. I bit back a wave of irritation and we spent the remainder of our lunch laughing.

*Cassidy’s Point of View*

Dan was a dangerous man. He was really starting to get under my skin, and I knew it. Something in the back of my head screamed at me to back out while I still could, but something in my gut told me it was okay to stay. He made me laugh more than any other guy had. I hopped on my bike and waved goodbye to him before leaving the Panera Bread parking lot. When I got home I pulled out my phone and called Claude back.

“Hey there pretty lady,” he said.

“Hey Claude,” I smiled.

“So how was your date?” he asked.

“It wasn’t a date,” I said, almost too quickly.

“No? Well then…how about I take you out on a ‘not date’ Tuesday evening? We don’t have a game, so I could go for a nice dinner,” Claude suggested. I bit my lip, and felt a little conflicted. If I declined, it would mean that my lunch with Dan had been a date…if I accepted, well…I could jeopardize things with Dan…if there was anything between us. I shook my head stubbornly.

“Sounds good to me,” I smiled.

TUESDAY

I smoothed out my light blue blouse, and checked my hair in the mirror once more before running downstairs to open the door.

“Hey Claude, ready to go?” I asked, pushing him away from my house before my mother saw anyone there.

“You look great,” he smiled.

“Thanks, now let’s get as far away from here as quickly as possible,” I said, nudging him towards his car. He shook his head with a laugh and got into his car. It was a small sports car…a lot more intimate than Dan’s truck. I rested my right arm against the door, and laid my left arm on my leg.

“So, who did you go to lunch with Sunday?” he asked quietly.

“Why does it matter?” I asked almost bitterly. I looked out the window, watching the town roll by.

“Because I need to know who…who I’m competing with,” Claude sighed.

“Competing with?” I asked, snapping my attention back to him.

“Yeah. Cass, I’m not going to lie. I like you. A lot. You’re gorgeous, smart, independent…I just have the feeling that you’re also indecisive…torn between me and another guy,” Claude explained. I almost cringed.

“I was with Dan,” I admitted.

“Carcillo?!” he asked, his eyebrows shooting skyward in shock.

“Yes,” I said.

“Wow…that’s a little unlike Dan…” he muttered to himself.

“It is?” I asked.

“He almost never goes for girls. He’s been used too many times for that. Luckily we both kind of started talking to you equally, or he’d think you were using him again,” Claude said. I sighed.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” I said.

“Well…you probably will,” Claude grumbled. I turned away from him and started watching things move past the window again.

The dinner was great. The food was delicious, Claude was entertaining, and I was happy. My phone rang, and I opened it.

Hey, what’s up?-Dan Carcillo

I bit my lip, glanced at Claude, who was signing the credit card receipt, and sighed.

Nothing much.

I never felt so confused in my life.