Cowgirl Don't Cry

“Wooh! I’m so excited for this game!” I yelled over the hundreds of other voices to my roommate Maria Aspera as we entered Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida. “Thank your dad again for me for getting us these amazing seats!” We linked hands and wove expertly through the throngs of people milling about the Buccaneers stadium, as the home team got ready to face the New Orleans Saints.

“Well you’ll get a chance to thank him yourself later this week…” Maria’s voice trailed off as we dodged an obese Bucs fan who shot me a nasty glare, “as long as you don’t get killed wearing that jersey today!” Both of us laughed at the fact that I was sporting a generic snug fitting Saints jersey in hostile Tampa territory. I had recently moved to Tampa Bay after choosing to attend the University of South Florida Medical School upon graduating from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Maria had attended the University of Central Florida for her undergraduate degree, and had moved the hour or so south to attend medical school. “Our seats are right down there.” Maria pointed to a row about 5 up from the 50-yard line.

- - -

As I made her way into our row, I noticed two attractive men in the seats behind and to the left of ours, and flashed them a welcoming smile. It was only 3:30 and the game didn’t start until 4:15, and with large stadium sized beers in our hands, it was a great time for us to meet people outside of our small sized Medical school class. As soon as I thought this, one of the boys behind us leaned down and spoke in a soft, adorable accent.

“A Saints fan? I don’t think you can sit here.” As I turned to make a snide comment back, I noticed the sparkling smile, heard the deep chuckle and was caught completely off guard. Scratch attractive! This man was down right beautiful! Instead of making a sarcastic, biting remark in return, I merely giggled, which was so unlike me that Maria looked at me like I had grown a second head.

“Sorry, I guess you’ll have to deal with it… and the rambunctious cheering when my Saints beat your Bucs!” This time both the gorgeous man and his friend and Maria laughed at my expense. It was well known that the Saints were a team better known as the “Aints” for their lack of winning. But I had been born and raised a Saints fan, and would never disown them.

“Fat chance!” Maria muttered under her breath, adding to the threes laughter and causing me to huff unappreciatively.

“Sure sure! Y’all will just have to watch and see!” I smiled and winked at the gorgeous boy who was leaning back in his chair returning her smile. “I’m Sydney Maestro. I just moved here from Minneapolis. And this is my roommate Maria Aspera.” We both stuck our hands out politely to the boys who warmly shook the offered hands in return.

“I’m Vincent…” The gorgeous man paused for a second before continuing, “Smith, and this is my co-worker Brad Thomas.” Vincent’s handshake was firm and his hands cool to the touch. “What made you move down here from Minneapolis?” I rotated in my seat to face him, noticing as Maria did the same to continue her conversation with the man Vincent introduced as Brad Thomas.

“Well, I went to the University of Minnesota, and graduated in May, and now I’m going to Medical school here in Tampa. What about you, you don’t sound like a Tampa native.” Vincent grinned at that and folded his hands together on his knees and leaning forward. This action caused a gold chain boasting a small gold number four to move and catch the light, in turn drawing my attention to it. I tilted my head slightly to the side and was about to ask about it, but he quickly tucked the chain and number inside of his t-shirt. My thoughts were taken away from the chain when the boy started to speak with his very attractive accent.

“Well I’m actually from Quebec, I’m here for work. I do some sports advertising stuff. Really um,” Vincent paused again, “boring. Definitely not doctor stuff! So that makes you what, 22?”

“Oh I’m sure it’s just fascinating.” I winked to let him know that my sarcasm was in jest. “And yes, I just turned 22 in July. And yourself?”

“I’m also 22. So if you’re from Minnesota, why are you a Saints fan? Seems a little out of the ‘Aints’ territory.”

“Oh, I’m not from Minnesota, I’m actually from Pensacola, in northwest Florida, I just went to Minnesota for college.” I shrugged and giggled at his raised eyebrows, I knew most people thought my choice to travel half way across the country to go to college was a bit far fetched, but what can you do? It was about time for the kickoff, so my conversation with Vincent trailed off, although all four of us kept up idle banter throughout the entire game.

- - -

As the Buccaneer Saints game came to a close, the Saints were winning 26 to 20, and I sat with a smug, self-satisfied grin on my face as the fans around me pouted about their team’s loss.

“So, about the Bucs beating the Saints….” I winked at Vincent as he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, your Saints won. How about we all go out for drinks later tonight. You can celebrate while we mope?” Vincent pretended to scowl as he said this, but a sparkle in his eye made his friendliness show. I glanced at Maria, gauging her reaction before turning to Vincent and nodding with a smile.

“Sounds good.” I quickly jotted down my number on a scrap piece of paper that I found in my purse and handed it to him. “Just shoot me a text with the when’s and where’s.” I smiled and both Maria and I waved as we all went our separate ways. The stands were milling, so we had to lock hands just so that we wouldn’t get lost in the crowds, so we really didn’t get a chance to gossip about the boys that we had met until we got into Maria’s car.

As soon as Maria settled behind the wheel she turned and beamed at me, “He was GORGEOUS Sydney!” I sighed and fell back against the seat. “If I wasn’t otherwise engaged, I would be all over his friend too!” Maria had been dating David, a boy from Tampa Bay, who had also attended the University of Central Florida, for almost a year, and they were disgustingly cute.

“He was quite the charmer, that’s for sure. “ My smile faltered, “we’ll see if he actually calls though… in my experience, guys that are that smooth are players.” My words trailed off as my phone beeped, indicating a new text message.

It was great meeting you! I’ll call you as soon as we clean up to figure out details for tonight!

“What about him not calling? And you never know, give him a fair shake. Not every charming, good looking guy is Jake you know.” Maria spoke without looking at me, keeping her eyes on the road. I chose to ignore her comment about Jake and smiled down at my phone. I sent back a simple ‘you too, and sounds good ☺’ .

“I probably shouldn’t have texted him back so soon, but ya know what? Oh well.” I shrugged and turned back to Maria. “You are coming with me to drinks with them tonight, right?”

“Yeah for a little while at least, I’m meeting up with David at some point, though.”

“That’s fine.” I smiled at Maria as she pulled into the parking lot of our small apartment complex.

- - -

Once inside, Maria and I busied ourselves with getting ready. Thankfully our apartment came equipped with two bathrooms, so we didn’t have to share space. Following a quick shower, I slipped into an orange strapless sundress and black heels. My makeup was light and subtle. I wasn’t one to wear a lot of makeup. I had nearly flawless skin, which was adorned with a deep tan, and I had thick dark eyelashes. I only wore a splash of blush with light eyeliner and mascara to accentuate my high cheekbones and cocoa brown eyes. After applying my light makeup, I blew my mid back length dirty blonde hair dry, and then curled it, braiding the front across my part and pinning it with a bobby pin behind my ear.

“Maria!” I yelled as I exited my bathroom and headed across the living room to Maria’s side of the apartment. “Do you like the braid, or should I leave it out?”

Maria peered out the door and smiled, “I love it. It’s very cute.” Maria had done her makeup to accentuate her Latino features. Her legs were shown off in a short yellow sundress and brown heels. Maria was quite short, so the four-inch heels only made her about five and a half feet, still shorter than what I was barefoot. My smaller three-inch heels brought me in at five foot ten. “Love the outfit. You look great girl!”

“You too!” I smiled and walked back into the living room to settle in and wait for Maria. It always took Maria forever to do her hair, so I knew I had plenty of time to waste. I checked my phone and found a text from Vincent.

We just finished getting ready. We’ll be at the bar over by the St. Pete Times Forum in about 30. See you when you get there!

I grinned and sent back another ‘Sounds good’, and picked up a copy of my schedule for upcoming horse shows that I was attending with two of my three 3-day-event horses. I had been eventing since I was in middle school, but didn’t acquire my three current horses until college, two of which I competed, and one I was readying for competition. I only owned one of the horses, a 7-year-old Irish Thoroughbred gelding (neutered male) named Black Tie Affair, who I referred to as Tie. The other horse was owned by a farm, but I was paid to train, ride, and show the horse to increase the mare’s future foals’ values. The mare was a 4-year-old Irish Sport Horse named Femme Fatale, who I called Em. I adored both of my horses, and thought that I could take them to quite high levels. I was currently competing Tie at the Intermediate level, and was about to take him to his first CCI** (read CCI two star) event at the end of the month, and was competing Em at the Training level. I also would occasionally ride other horses for the farm that owned Em, and was beginning to start a 2-year-old Irish Sport Horse colt (non-neutered baby male) named Capus Draconis, which meant Dragon Head, so I fittingly called him Dragon or Dray, depending on his attitude of the day. Horses were a huge part of my life, and often it was very difficult to balance medical school and traveling all over the country to compete.

On my schedule for the fall I saw that my trainer, Angela, had scheduled me for a show the weekend after next in Ocala, Florida, only about 2 hours north. I was excited; I loved the excitement of 3-Day-Events, and was doubly excited to take on the more challenging CCI** level with Tie.

- - -

Maria stepped out of the bathroom and did a little twirl to catch my attention. “Ow ow!” I whistled at my fiery roommate and laughed. Maria had flat ironed her normally wavy hair so that her shoulder length locks were straight as a pin. “Ready to go?” I grabbed my small black clutch and slipped my cell phone into it.

Maria grabbed her purse and nodded. “Lets get outta here!” I smiled and we headed out to the front of the apartment complex to catch a cab to the bar Vincent had described.

- - -

When we were a few minutes away from the bar I sent a short ‘we’re almost there, meet us at the front?’ to Vincent. By the time we had arrived and paid the cab driver, both Vincent and Brad were waiting out front of the bar. I smiled at Vincent and turned my attention to Brad and Maria. Brad was smiling dopily at Maria, who seemed to not catch his obvious look at all. I sighed and spoke up – no need for the poor boy to get his hopes up.

“So Maria, what time are you meeting David?” I looked at her and then glanced at Brad. Maria nodded subtly that she understood what I was getting at.

“Um, probably around 10 or 11.” That gave the group an hour or two to chat and enjoy themselves.

“Sounds good, let me show you all where the table is.” Vincent reached his arm out so that I could loop mine through it. I took the offered arm and smiled up at him.

Vincent and Brad led the girls to a booth that was somewhat secluded at the back of the building, behind the bar. The area was quite deserted, but the fact that it was only 9 o’clock probably had more to do with it than the fact that the bar was small. Vincent approached the bar and turned to Maria and me and asked what we would like to drink.

“I’ll take a bud light.” Vincent raised his eyebrows at this and smiled.

“Beer? My kinda girl!” I laughed at that and shrugged.

“I’m my dad’s girl I guess.”

“I’ll take a cranberry and vodka.” Maria chimed in from behind me and smiled at Vincent’s words. “Yeah, I can rarely get her to drink anything but beer.”

The bartender handed us our drinks and the boys both a bud light as well. We thanked both the bartender and the boys and slid into the booth. It was hard to miss that a few of the very small number of people in the bar were staring open mouthed at both Vincent and Brad. I found it quite odd, but didn’t think much of it, as we all started up a bantering chat.

Brad and Maria started chatting about a mutual love of music. Maria had been playing the piano at a concert level for years, and Brad played the guitar. Vincent soon took my attention away from the other conversation going on in the booth.

“So what do you do other than school? Do you play any sports for fun, or have any wild hobbies?” His combination of a killer smile and that French Canadian accent was driving me wild.

“I actually compete 3-day-eventing, a type of horse show.” I smiled and tilted my head. “What about yourself?”

He glanced at Brad and then back to me. “I really don’t have too much free time with, uh, work, but I really enjoy taking the boat out and fishing, and then playing some golf when I can.” He finished the last sip of his beer. “And what do you do in this 3-day-eventing. I’m sure it’s fascinating. Is it like the type of riding that they do in the Olympics? I’ve always been interested in horses.”

“Well, I wish I had a boat! Boating is so much fun – but I’m afraid I would probably be pretty dangerous on a golf course!” Vincent chuckled at this. “And yes, I do what is in the Olympics, all three phases: cross-country, dressage and stadium jumping. My favorite is cross-country though. It’s so exhilarating; I live for it.” I smiled and sighed. I had done a dressage work on Em, Tie and Dray this morning, and was going to jump Em and Tie in the morning and give Dray the day off. Being a two year old, he got quite a few days off as to not over work him.

“That’s so exciting. I always watch it on TV but I’ve never met anyone who actually did it. How many horses do you have?” His grin was infectious, and he seemed to be generally interested in my love of eventing, a rarity in most men that I had encountered - most seemed to find her interest dull and pointless.

“I have three that I ride and train, but I only own one, the other two are owned by a sports horse farm back home.” I pulled my phone out of my clutch and brought up a picture of a large black horse clearing a 4-foot fence, “this is Tie, the one I own – he’s the one I compete at the highest level.” I scrolled to a picture of a dark dapple-grey horse galloping, “this is Em.” I scrolled to a picture of a very dark brown horse with a large white stripe down his face, with its head draped over my shoulder, “and this is the baby, Dray. He doesn’t compete yet, but hopefully he’ll be ready for his first event in a couple months.”

“They’re beautiful! Especially that last one.” I giggled at that one, if only he knew the unruly colts personality.

“Yeah he’s a looker.” I took the last sip of my beer and set it down. Vincent looked around the table at everyone’s empty drinks.

“Same thing for everyone?” We all nodded and Vincent stood up and headed towards the bar. I noticed that during the course of their conversation an extremely large amount of people had filed into the building. As soon as Vincent reached the bar a ton of people surrounded him talking animatedly. Before the bartender could hand him the drinks he shrugged the people off, turning and saying something to them all before rotating and hurrying back to the booth. “I was actually thinking that we should head to a smaller bar a little ways from here.” He seemed hurried and I noticed a look exchanged between him and Brad.

“My boyfriend is actually just getting here, so I’m going to take off, but thanks for the drink, it was great hanging with you guys. I’m sure I’ll see y’all soon.” Maria gave Brad a quick side hug and Sydney a kiss on the cheek before she scurried out.

“Well on that note, Vinny, I think I’m just going to head back, I’ll see you later though.” Brad gave me a side hug and patted Vincent on the back on his way out. “Have fun you guys!” Vincent and I turned and looked at each other and shrugged.

“Well, I guess it’s just me and you. There’s a nice place just a block or two from here we can head to.” He smiled and headed towards the entrance.

“Sounds good to me.” I again noticed the looks that people were giving the two of us, or more accurately, him, but shrugged it off as we resumed some more playful banter on the walk to the other bar.

- - -

The new bar was a bit smaller, but there were still quite a few people there. The upside was that there were servers approaching each of the booths and bringing people their drinks.

“Well this is convenient.” I smirked at Vincent as we approached a booth that was towards the back of the bar. People were again giving them astonished looks, and it made me wonder if I had something on my face. I subtly wiped the corners of my mouth as we slid into the booth.

“What would y’all like to drink tonight?” A young waitress sidled up to the bar and gave Vincent a flirty look, completely ignoring me. Vincent didn’t even look up and instead looked across the table at me with a smile etched onto his handsome face.

“Well I would like a bud light,” I nodded in a way that meant that I would like the same, “and my date would like the same.” I looked up, meeting the waitress’s distained expression as she glanced down at me.

“Coming right up.” As she walked away, she sashayed her hips in a way that invited male attention. Vincent scoffed.

“I’m sorry, women like that really, really irk me.” I nodded in agreement and was about to speak when a man who looked to be in his thirties approached the table, interrupting me.

“Sorry to interrupt your date, but my son’s a HUGE fan of yours, and I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind giving me an autograph, it would win me dad of the year award…” The man trailed off as Vincent sighed softly and put his head in his hands. I tilted my head and put on an extremely questioning face. Something was up; this man was definitely not in “sports advertising” as he claimed.

“Sure man, no problem. Just do me a favor and don’t tell anyone that I’m here or that you got this from me.” The man nodded emphatically and beamed when Vincent handed him a napkin with his signature scrawled on it. He thanked Vincent and scurried away with a perma-smile etched on his face.

Vincent turned his face towards me with a guilty look on his face.

“So, ‘Vincent Smith’ would you like to tell me who you really are or what you really do?” I scowled at him. I didn’t appreciate being lied to at all.

“I’m so sorry about that.” He paused for a moment. “My name is actually Vincent Lecavalier, and I’m the assistant captain for the Tampa Bay Lightning…” His voice trailed off and my heart sank to my stomach. Oh dear God, what had I gotten myself into.