Open Your Eyes

The young woman glanced at her watch as she tapped the toe of her wedged sandal against the hardwood floor of her living room. She ran her manicured nails through her short, brunette bob as she let out a sigh. “We’re definitely going to be late!” she called to her best friend and roommate who was still in her bedroom with the door shut. She heard nothing in return, but the low hum of music she couldn’t quite make out. “Aimee!” she called out, throwing her Coach bag down onto the chair next to where she stood.

“For fuck’s sake, Alyssa,” Aimee groaned as the impatient woman swung her bedroom door open, “it’s a BBQ, not a work meeting. There’s no such thing as being late.” Alyssa rolled her eyes, watching the other woman put on a coat of lip gloss before shoving the tube in the pocket of her jeans, along with her cell phone. “Okay,” she said, smoothing down her white tank top, “I’m ready.”

“All that time and you’re in jeans and a tank top?” Alyssa asked, an incredulous look on her face. “Not that you don’t look cute, but I was expecting a ball gown with how long it took you.”

Aimee laughed, walking into the living room, Alyssa hot on her heels. The raven haired woman picked up her friend’s purse, putting it back into her hands before slipping on her flip flops and pulling their door open as Alyssa checked over her appearance in the mirror. “You look great, ‘Lyss,” she said, looking over her friend’s mid-thigh length, black pencil skirt and the flow-y white top tucked into it. “The guys are going to be all over you.” Rolling her brown eyes, Alyssa stepped past Aimee and into the hallway, locking the door behind them.

The two women, both twenty six years old, had been friends for a little over five years, having met through mutual friends. While they grew apart from the people who had introduced them, they became nearly inseparable despite how different they were at times. After a rough breakup from her boyfriend the year before that left her with a half empty, downtown Chicago apartment she couldn’t quite afford on her own, Alyssa invited the slightly older Aimee to move in with her. More than happy to help her best friend heal her broken heart (and upgrade to a better place to live), Aimee had moved in just a couple of days later.

“So who’s all going to be at this BBQ?” Aimee yelled over the loud music as she sped down the expressway in her vintage drop-top, cherry red Chevy Camaro.

Alyssa shrugged, adjusting her oversized Gucci sunglasses. “Just about everyone from what I heard at work this week; coaching staff, management, players…” she said, watching Aimee’s lips spread into a smile at the mention of the players.

“I missed them this summer,” Aimee admitted, pulling onto the exit ramp, turning the music down slightly so she could hear the directions from the GPS Alyssa had provided. Alyssa nodded, agreeing with her best friend as they turned onto a quiet residential street, Alyssa automatically reaching out to turn the music down even further.

“That’s the one,” Alyssa smiled, as the GPS told them they had arrived at their destination—the suburban house of Joel Quenneville, coach of the Chicago Blackhawks.

As a member of the Blackhawks public relations team that sometimes moonlighted as the coaching staff’s assistant when they were in a bind, Alyssa had come to know the coaching staff and the players well, even spending time with some of the guys outside of work, along with Aimee. The boys of the Blackhawks were impossible to not like.

Aimee parked along the curb in front of the house, locking the doors behind her as she watched Alyssa bounce up the path to the coach’s house in her four inch wedges, an amused smile on her face at her friend’s antics. Alyssa was always one who wanted to please everyone, and while Aimee admired that trait, she also knew it could be one of the woman’s biggest flaws.

Elizabeth Quenneville greeted the two women with a friendly smile, ushering them through the house and toward the backyard where everyone was. “Miss Black,” Stan Bowman smiled toward Alyssa. “Glad you made it!” Alyssa smiled, sending a small wave to the group of men and women from management that had turned to greet her.

“I’ve missed everyone!” she grinned, pushing her sunglasses up onto her head. “I had to come and see all the boys before the season starts and they get too busy for me,” she explained, grabbing Aimee’s wrist and pulling the woman next to her. “This is Aimee; my best friend and roommate.”

“Hey,” Aimee said, smiling politely as she tried to discreetly glance around for where the beer was being kept.

“Alyssa!” they heard before the woman had a large, bicep fall onto her shoulders, pulling her away from management. She smiled up at Ben Eager, sure she was blushing as his blue eyes shined and he grinned down at her. “Hey, Aimee,” he added. “Glad you ladies made it. Can I get you something to drink?” he asked, not noticing the girls taking in his outfit of swimming trunks, a thin tee shirt, and sandals.

“Beer, please,” Aimee responded, motioning to the one the enforcer held in his hand.

“A glass of white wine,” Alyssa told him, watching as the man shook his head before pressing a kiss to her cheek and walking off toward the house.

“You really need to get with that already,” Aimee laughed, nodding her head toward Ben’s retreating figure, making Alyssa blush even deeper. She just shook her head, dismissing her friend’s words, sick of repeating that they were just friends. Ben came back a minute later, placing a glass of chilled white wine in her hands before tossing a beer to Aimee.

“Thanks, Ben,” the brunette smiled, taking a sip and blushing again as he winked down at her before grabbing her hand and pulling toward the picnic tables set up in the grass, next to the in-ground pool where a bunch of the players sat. They were all dressed similarly to Ben in swimming trunks and tee shirts, if they were even wearing shirts at all.

“Muscles,” Aimee whispered as they approached the tables, Ben catching everyone’s attention and announcing the girls’ arrival. Alyssa swatted her hand against Aimee’s arm, silently telling her to behave as Adam Burish stood up and wrapped his arms around Aimee, hugging her tight.

“I missed you,” he told her, keeping her held against his bare torso as he placed his hands on her shoulders, shooting her one of his wide grins.

“I missed you too, gorgeous,” she winked, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

“Don’t encourage him, Aimee,” Patrick Sharp called from his spot at the table where he sat next to his fiancé.

Coach Quenneville approached and sent Alyssa and Aimee smiles. “You girls met the new guys yet?” he asked, motioning to where Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews stood talking the two summer acquisitions from Detroit. When Alyssa shook her head, Joel motioned for her to follow him. “Marian, Tomas, I’ve got two more for you to meet,” he laughed, pointing to the girls. “This is Alyssa, she’s part of the PR team. I know you guys coming to the Hawks has given her a lot of work to do,” he laughed, watching as Alyssa agreed and offered her hand to Marian Hossa, giving him a small smile.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said, gripping her hand lightly, his eyes locked on hers as he smiled. Alyssa nodded and pulled her hand from his grip, offering it to Tomas Kopecky, who shared the same sentiments.

“This is Aimee,” the brunette said, motioning to the shorter girl.

Marian shook her hand before asking, “you work for the team too?”

Aimee shook her head, laughing a bit as she shook hands with Tomas. “No, that’s just Lyss. I’m actually a waitress,” she explained, watching with curious eyes as Tomas leaned toward Marian and whispered something in their native language before he laughed and the blonde only shook his head.

“Uh,” Aimee started. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” Marian answered right away, causing both of the girls to narrow their eyes as Tazer and Kaner watched silently, their eyes wide as if they knew something was about to go down.

“What the fuck did he say, Marian?” Aimee asked, but not taking her eyes off of the brunette and his stupid, smug face.

As Marian stared wide eyed between the girls and his friend, Tomas interjected, smirking at the raven haired woman. “I said, ‘while she’s attractive, she’s clearly not smart because she’s just a waitress.’”

Aimee stared at the man, shocked, as Alyssa and Marian exchanged a look before each putting a hand on their friend’s shoulder. As Aimee opened her mouth to no doubt issue a feisty retort, Jonathan Toews grabbed her around the shoulders, telling her Adam was looking for her, quickly ushering her away. Alyssa cleared her throat, shooting a small smile at Marian. “It was nice meeting you,” she told him, glancing at Tomas quickly before grabbing Kaner’s arm and following Aimee and Jonathan.

---

The food had been a delicious spread of hot dogs, burgers, polish sausage, and sides like potato salad, pasta salad, and jello. With full stomachs, the players rested at the picnic tables, light conversions, stories, and jokes flowing like water. Aimee sat in between Adam Burish and Ben Eager, her brown eyes narrowed into slits as she glared at the other table. “Your face is going to get stuck like that,” Adam laughed, nudging her shoulder with his. “Ignore the guy, Aimee.”

Aimee breathed out a small laugh, shaking her head as she watched Tomas and Marian talking and laughing, Alyssa awkwardly sitting between them where Marian had saved her a seat and insisted they get to know each other. “Tell that to Eags,” Aimee grinned, motioning her head to the blonde next to her who glared at the other table much like Aimee had been.

“Why is he so close to Alyssa?” he asked, shoving his empty plate away from him. “The girl probably can’t breathe.” As Alyssa let out a laugh, Ben scoffed making Adam and Aimee snort with their own laughs before standing up from the table and taking their garbage with them.

“The pool is open for business,” Coach Q announced, catching everyone’s attention. Aimee smirked and caught Alyssa’s eyes, who wore a similar look.

In the kitchen, Alyssa and Aimee helped Elizabeth clean up some of the mess as they watched the boys kick off their shoes, strip their tee shirts off, and jump into the pool, making everyone laugh as they started shoving each other and wrestling.

“Me and Karen can handle this,” Elizabeth said, pointing to the woman to her right, one of her friends from the neighborhood. “You girls go hang out with the boys. You did bring your bathing suits, right?”

The girls nodded, and Elizabeth ushered them toward the stairs. “You can leave your clothes in my bedroom. Alyssa, that’s where I put your bag. Towels are already outside.”

Laughing, Aimee and Alyssa climbed to the second floor of the Quenneville house, saying hello to Joel’s teenage children who seemed to be hiding in their rooms. Grabbing her purse off of the bed, Alyssa pulled out her hot pink bikini, skipping into the adjoining master bathroom as Aimee simply shed her jeans and tank, her white bikini already on.

“Time to show that douche Tomas Kopecky just how attractive I can be,” Aimee stated as Alyssa came back into the bedroom.

“Shouldn’t you be showing him how smart you are?”

“Nah,” Aimee laughed, “I’ll just flaunt the girls,” she said, placing her hands on her large chest.

Alyssa snorted with giggles before looking down at her own large chest. “Yeah, me too.”

---

Outside, Aimee and Alyssa walked past the tables where management sat, laughing and talking with each other while keeping one eye on their players. Elizabeth grinned at the girls from her seat next to her husband, sending them a wink as they approached the pool where the boys were acting loud and raucous. Alyssa walked to the patio table where Ben sat with a few guys, his back to her.

Adam raised his eyebrows as the girls approached, making Ben turn in his seat as Alyssa placed her hands on his shoulders, her acrylic nails softly pushing into his pale skin. “I hope you used some sun screen,” she warned, sending him a smile as he reached over him to grab her wine.

“You girls going in the water?” Adam asked, standing from his chair.

“I think I am,” Aimee decided, “a quick dip to cool off.” Adam grinned, offering her his hand and leading her toward the stairs leading into the pool so she could wade in slowly. Ben stared silently at Alyssa as she ran a hand through her hair, glancing around the yard at the other players. She caught Marian’s eyes on her, and she smiled, waving her fingers in his direction.

“I want to cool off, too,” she told Ben, heading in the direction Adam and Aimee went. “Are you coming?” she asked, briefly turning back to the burly enforcer.

The girls stayed in the pool for a while, having latched themselves onto Ben and Adam, letting the boys carry them around the water as they watched the rest of the Blackhawks goof off and have fun, occasionally splashing water in their direction. The day moved by slowly, but eventually the sun set and the air grew cooler and people were starting to bid the Quenneville family a good night.

It was midnight when Alyssa and Aimee put their clothes back on, ready to drive back to their downtown Chicago apartment. They bid Joel and Elizabeth Quenneville a good night before they began their rounds with the boys. Alyssa smiled at Ben, handing him his tee shirt she had borrowed when the cool breeze chilled her body. “I’ll see you at work,” she told him as he wrapped his arms around her, giving her a tight squeeze.

“Goodnight, Marian,” Alyssa said, turning toward the Slovakian who had moved toward her. “Nice meeting you and Tomas,” she continued, smiling at the brunette, making Aimee scoff.

“Yeah, really nice meeting you,” she said sarcastically to Tomas before giving Marian a sincere smile, letting herself be dragged away by Alyssa.

The drive home was quiet, save for the sound of the wind whipping past the open cabin of Aimee’s Camaro and the soft hum of the radio. As they reached Chicago city limits, Alyssa turned to glance at her friend from the passenger seat. “Is it obvious that I have a thing for Ben?”

“To me, yes, but I know you better than you know yourself.”

Alyssa sighed, arching her back as Aimee made a left turn onto their street. “He’s just… we flirt all the time. I just wonder if he’s ever going to make an actual move.”

“If he doesn’t, someone else will.”

“What?” the brunette asked, brows furrowed together.

“Marian Hossa! The guy never took his eyes off of you, not to mention he followed you around all day!”

“He’s a nice guy.”

“Yeah,” the raven haired girl agreed. “Too bad his friend is a fucking douche.”

Alyssa laughed with Aimee as they grew closer to their home. The only words that ran through her head as she thought of the day behind them and the days ahead; This should be interesting.