Sharks and Minnows

I walk through the massive crowd of the Manhattan night club to find some of the other guys. They had managed to convince me to go out with them, and I don’t like the fact that they disappeared. I eventually find them in the VIP section, and enter with a sigh of relief. The crowd is intense, and I had been stopped and asked for autographs and pictures a few times already. I hadn’t been hounded by puck bunnies yet, but then again, I never really was. I notice that Zach has a leggy blonde lounging on his lap, and even Jacob and Mattias have picked up girls. I scowl, and can’t help but wonder why I never got that kind of attention. I was and NHLer just like the rest of them, but the ladies seemed to have a soft spot for the “prettier” boys. I run a hand through my slightly messy, dark brown hair, and sigh. I order myself a shot of vodka, and throw myself down on the couch a few feet away from Zach and the blonde, who now looks like she is trying to rip Zach’s clothes off. Patrik walks over and sits down next to me.

“You look a little annoyed,” Patrik says over the loud music. I was surprised he was here, considering he had a wife and a child at home.

“Tough crowd,” I say, motioning to the gyrating bodies on the dance floor.

“Yeah, you’re not kidding. I don’t know why the boys chose this club. Marty isn’t too happy about it either,” Patrick says, motioning towards the burly goaltender, who was sulking on the couch across from us nursing a beer.

“Clubs are never as much fun for married guys, huh?” I chuckle. Patrik let out a laugh of his own and nodded.

“Yeah, well when you have a wife and kids they seem to take over everything,” Patrik says, but he was smiling instead of complaining. In a way, I was jealous. I wanted love…hell, I would even go for some attention from a puck slut, but I never was good enough for the ladies. The waitress hands me my shot, and I down it quickly before handing her the glass once more. She nods, taking the hint that I wanted another one, and vanishes once more.

“How do you do it Patty?” I ask, looking at the cheerful man.

“You just know that she’s the right girl Sharky,” he says before getting up and walking back over to Marty. I follow him, and the three of us commiserate together for a few hours. After my sixth or seventh shot, I’m feeling the liquor start to hit me, and Ilya walks over just as I’m about to throw back the next one.

“That’s enough,” he said sternly. I raise my eyebrows, and motion towards Zach, Henrik, Mattias, Jacob, and Matt, all of whom are pretty drunk by now.

“They’re having a good time,” I said. Ilya shakes his head and takes the shot out of my hand.
“Vladimir, you and I both know we can’t drink like that,” he says quietly.

“Eto potomu, chto ya russkiĭ ?”(Is it because I'm Russian?) I ask him. He sighs and nods slowly.

“Vy znaete, kak bolʹshoĭ izriska pitʹe dlya nas. YA ne dolzhen napominatʹ vam,”(You know how risky drinking is for us. I shouldn't have to remind you.) he says. I let out a sigh of my own and then shrug.

“Spasibo, chto glyadya na menya,”(Thanks for looking out for me) I say with a slight smile. Ilya nods and walks back over to the crowd of now obnoxiously drunk guys who are absolutely swarming with women.

“He’s a great captain,” Marty says quietly. Although I know he doesn’t speak Russian, I think he got the gist of what Ilya had told me. I didn’t like the fact that Russians were slammed with the stereotype of being alcoholics, but I had seen enough people become alcoholics that I knew it was true.

“Yes he is,” I agree, and then I stand up.

“I’m going to go dance,” I say before slipping out of the VIP section and into the crowd. Normally I don’t like dancing, but I’ve got a nice buzz going, and I’m feeling a little lonely after watching the sex fest in the lounge, so I head to the center of the dance floor and start to move.

*Nemo’s Point of View*

I’m bumping and grinding along when a guy catches my eye. He’s tall, I’d put my money on six foot, six-foot-one, and he’s got the most gorgeous, thick, glossy brown hair I’ve ever seen. He has these awesome eyes that are such a cool color I can’t tell if they’re green, blue, or brown. I glance at my friends, all of whom have found guys already, and then make my way over to the guy, who is now dancing. He moves pretty well, and as I get closer I can see he is in great shape. I start dancing in front of him, and smile at him. He raises his eyebrows, and then smiles back. Damn this man is gorgeous!

“Hi, I’m Noemi!” I say over the music.

“Vladimir!” he calls back. He has a Russian accent, and I suddenly have the urge to take this man home.

“Call me Nemo,” I say.

“Nemo?” he asks.

“It’s my nickname,” I explain.

“Oh…mine is Sharky,” he laughs, and suddenly we’re grinding like crazy. I can feel him getting hard, and it turns me on. I’m not drunk enough to blame everything on the alcohol, but I know that I’m going to have a fun night.