A Strange Arrangement

“I love this place,” Sara said as our waitress left with our orders. “The staff comes here so often, they've started to give us discounts. You just have to show them your Inquirer ID.”

“That's great. Seems like an awesome place,” I responded as I looked around at all the Philadelphia sports teams' memorabilia on the walls.

“So what's your story?” Sara asked me with a tilt of her head.

“My story?” I asked her back.

“Yeah, you know. Where are you from? What's your deal? What are you into? That kind of stuff.” she answered sounding like a true journalist.

“Well, I'm from a city a couple hours outside of Calgary. I decided to become a journalist because writing was the only thing I'm remotely good at. I'm into music, horror movies, and of course, being Canadian, hockey.”

“Hockey, hmm? Wait 'til Eric gets here. You guys will get along great. He's one of our sports writers. Very close with the Flyers organization. He can get you into any game you want.” she offered with a wink.

“Oh, that's...awesome.” I said unsure of whether to tell her about my own connection to the Flyers organization.

“Look here, they are now.” Sara said giving a wave towards someone behind me.

“They?” I thought not expecting other guests to join our lunch.

“Hey,” Sara greeted as she stood and hugged our new arrivals. “Niki Ringer and Eric Beckner, meet the newest addition to the entertainment section, Alexandria King.”

We cordially nodded and greeted each other as they slid into the booth, Niki next to Sara and Eric next to me.

“Alexandria, Niki and Eric write for the sports section. Niki used to write for features but we had to downsize so she moved to sports.” Sara explained.

“Yeah, I basically just fake my way through baseball stories each week. I'd like to do hockey, but Eric's got that pretty well covered.” Niki said with a mock annoyed look on her face.

“Speaking of which, I was just telling Alexandria that you're close to the Flyers so you can get her into games. She's a big hockey fan,” Sara told Eric.

“Oh, yeah? Who's your favorite team?” Eric asked me.

“Well, I'm from Alberta so I guess I'm partial to the Oilers and a little bit to the Flames. I love the Penguins above all though.” I admitted hoping being completely honest for the second day in a row wouldn't backfire on me yet again.

“The Penguins, hmm? So I guess my Flyers connections don't mean much to you after all,” he said with a laugh.

“No, I mean the Flyers are okay, I guess, but I love Pittsburgh far more than any other team,” I explained.

“So what brings you to Philadelphia, then? Why not Pittsburgh or some other city?” Niki asked me curiously.

I hesitated, unsure for the second time since our arrival about whether or not to be honest about Kris. I decided against it yet again.

“Well you know, especially nowadays with journalism, you go wherever there's an opening and there happened to be one I heard about here in Philadelphia. So here I am,” I finished hoping no one would pry more.

“Nice. Hey, you still need to give me the address to that event tonight,” Niki said averting her attention to Sara.

“Right, right. Yeah, hold on,” Sara replied beginning to dig in her bag. “I forgot my notebook. Really? What kind of journalist am I? Do you have any paper?” Sara asked Niki.

“No, I left my bag at the office,” Niki replied.

“I have paper,” I offered getting my notebook out. I opened it up and Kris' note fell between Eric and I. He picked it up and began reading it.

“Hey Lex. I wanted to be able to wish you luck on your first day in person, but I have to go to practice. I know you'll do well. Don't be nervous. I'm taking you out to celebrate when you get home so be prepared! K. Who's “K”? Your boyfriend?” Eric asked raising an eyebrow at me.

“No. My roommate,” I answered honestly. “Kris...tina. Kristina. Yeah, we were roommates in college and then she moved out here and now we're roommates again.” I lied hoping I had a decent enough poker face.

“And she had to go to practice?” he pushed clearly unconvinced.

“Yeah, she's a...figure skater. A competitive figure skater. She's got a competition coming up soon, so she has to practice a lot.”

“Really? Your roommate Kristina, the competitive figure skater? Come on, Lexi!” I screamed at myself.

“Oh, well you should bring her out sometime. If she's anything like you, I'd love to meet her,” Eric said, his blue eyes staring through me.

“Is he flirting with me?” I wondered.

“Okay, here's the address,” Sara said taking the notebook from my hand and beginning to write. “We have to be there by 4 and we're going to be there until at least 2 am probably seeing movies, doing interviews, getting quotes, and taking pictures so be prepared for a late night.” Sara told Niki handing her the piece of paper. “You coming too?” Sara asked Eric.

“Yeah, I think I will,” Eric said looking at me and then back to Sara smiling.

“Awesome,” Sara replied indifferently.

Sara's words suddenly hit me. “Be prepared for a late night.”

“Shit. I have to call Kris.”

“Excuse me, I need to go to the restroom for a sec,” I said as Eric stood up to let me out.

I hurried to the bathroom dialing Kris' number on my iPhone on the way.

“Hey! How's everything going?” he said and I could practically see his grin through the phone.
“So far, so good! That's actually why I'm calling. I got my first assignment already!”
“Really? That's amazing. What is it?”
“I'm covering a film festival with another reporter named Sara. She's really awesome. I think it's going to be a good night. But unfortunately, I won't be able to do any celebrating.”
“That's okay. I understand. Take care of your stuff at work and we'll celebrate whenever you're free.”
“Alright. Sorry.”
“It's fine, really. Don't worry about it. I'll find something else to do. Good luck. Love you, kid.”

“If only you knew how much it meant to hear you say that.”

“Love you, too. Bye.” I said as I hung up. I instantly wished the conversation had lasted longer. I loved the sound of his comforting voice and felt a deep need to hear it again.

I walked out of the bathroom and headed towards the table where Sara and I's food was waiting.

“Finally. I was getting ready to dig into your burger,” Eric joked as he stood up to let me slide back into my place. I laughed unable to think of a witty retort.

“So, let's hurry up and eat because between the traffic and all of the other publications we're going to have to fight for spots and interview times, getting this event rolling is going to be a nightmare.” Sara said taking a sip of her Coke.

I nodded my head in agreement.

“I can't wait,” Eric said, flashing me a smile that I'm sure had made plenty of girls swoon in the past.

“Oh gosh,” I thought my discomfort growing.