Simple Kind of Life

The school loomed over Jeff as he stood at the entrance, unsure how to proceed. Can an unauthorized grown man just stroll into an elementary school? He wanted to give Avery shirts for the game that night, so he decided to pay her a surprise visit at work. Earlier in the day, he had texted her about seeing his team play. Admittedly, it was pretty last minute and he kind of sprung it on her out of nowhere. He was able to get great tickets for that night and he really wanted her and Lili’s first game to be memorable. But of course she said no. James was supposed to be taking Lili out for dinner and Avery was obligated to go along with them. Though he’d never admit it aloud, the time she spent with her almost-ex made Jeff uncomfortable. Jealousy wasn’t an emotion Jeff felt often, but James’ involvement with Avery got under his skin.

Imagine his delight when he received a text from Avery saying James didn’t return her calls, so they were free that night. He rushed around gathering Flyers apparel and now he was standing outside of the school she taught at.

Despite how creepy he felt, Jeff headed into the building and stopped into the main office. An elderly woman with an asexual haircut sat at the desk typing away at her computer. Her eyes shifted from the screen to the male and a smile spread across her face.

“Can I help you?” She asked.

“Yeah, I’m looking for Avery Nanahara. She’s the art teacher here.” The woman nodded.

“She’s in room 128. Make a left out of here and follow the hallway down to the end. Her room will be on the right.” He nodded and thanked her before exiting the office.

“Jeff?” The man turned to see a very perplexed blonde staring at him with wide eyes and a thick book clutched to her chest. He could only imagine what his face looked like. It probably mirrored her expression of pure shock. Her name was Carly and they had a brief fling before summer had begun, before Avery. Jeff just wanted something casual, Carly wanted more. More than he was willing to give to her. She was a fun girl, but he had gotten a glimpse of how manipulative and devious she could be, so he ended it quite abruptly. She didn’t take it well then, so he only hoped she was over it now.

“Hey Carly.”

“What are you doing here?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“What are you doing here?”

She frowned deeply. “I work here.” She said as if it were obvious. He knew she was an English teacher, but he never bothered to ask where she taught.

“Oh. Right. I’m just visiting a friend.”

Carly nodded. “Oh yeah? What’s their name? Maybe I know them.”

“Avery Nanahara.”

Carly’s face instantly darkened as she blinked a few times. “Avery? How do you know her?”

The distain this woman had for Avery was tangible and made Jeff uncomfortable. “We’re friends. Like I said.”

“Interesting,” The word rolled off her tongue as she narrowed her eyes at him. “Well, I have a class to get to. Have fun with Avery.”

Carly strode passed him, her heels clicking against the tiled floor and disappeared into a classroom. He wanted to believe that the situation with Carly was over, but he had an unsettling suspicion that it wasn’t.

He continued down the hall, following it until the end. He peered into the classroom and saw that she was alone. Avery’s back was to him and she was bent over one of the many tablets, wiping paint off of it. He smiled at the strip of skin peeking out between her t-shirt and jeans as he watched her.

“I can see your coin slot.” He called to her, grinning widely when she gasped and turned around to face him.

“Shit Jeff, you scared me.” She sighed, placing her hand over her apron covered chest. He came into the large class room and handed her the plastic bag he had been toting around.

“What’s this?” She asked, peering up at him with her dark eyes.

“Take a look.” She pulled out a small, child sized orange shirtsy.

She laughed when she saw it was a Rinaldo shirt. “Lili will love it.”

She pulled out two more jerseys, one with Briere’s name on the back and the other with Giroux’s. “That’s for Aaron and Angie.”

She nodded and pulled out the last jersey and smiled at the name on the back. “I’m guessing I’m stuck with the Carter jersey.”

He chuckled. “Yep. It’s a game worn jersey.”

“Game worn?” She asked, folding the jersey up and placing it on a clean table.

“Yeah. I actually wore it during a game. G and Danny wore those too.”

Avery tilted her head to the side. “Oh. Wow. Thank you. I hope you didn’t go through a lot of trouble to get these.”

Jeff just shrugged. “It was no big deal. I know a guy.”

Avery shook her head and laughed. “I bet. Well thank you anyway. This was really sweet of you.” She leaned forward on her tip toes and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. She placed the shirts back into the bag and put it behind her desk.

“So I kind of ran into someone I know in the hallway.”

She looked over at him with amusement on her face. “You know someone in elementary school?”

He shook his head. “No. She’s a teacher here. Carly Landon.”

Avery’s face contorted in disgust. “How do you,” She paused and covered her mouth with her hand. “Please tell me you didn’t.”

“It was last March for like a month or so. She was pretty upset when I stopped returning her calls. And she seemed really pissy when I mentioned you.”

Avery sighed. “Because she hates me. And now she finally has a reason to.”

Jeff leaned forward, pulled the petite woman into a hug and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know she worked here.”

A throat clearing interrupted their moment and Angie stood in the doorway, arms folded over her chest. Avery’s face turned a rosy shade of pink.

“I hate to break up this love fest, but my monsters have art class.” Jeff could hear the buzz of impatient children in the hallway.

“I guess that’s my cue. I’ll see you guys tonight. Your tickets are at will call, alright?”

He kissed her goodbye and waved at Angie as he left.

The older woman smiled widely at her friend. “Smooching in the classroom? You are so scandalous, Miss Nanahara.”

Avery rolled her eyes. “Bring your students in, Mrs. Pattonson.”

The day wound down slowly, leaving Avery to clean up after the fifth graders. They were working with clay for the week, which was her favorite medium of art for the students. The only down side was how messy it could be. It was nearing 5pm when Avery finally had the room looking presentable.

“Hello Avery.” The woman turned to see Carly, much to her dismay. After her conversation with Jeff, Avery knew this was not a social visit.

“Hi Carly.” She said simply as she washed her hands in the large sink.

“It’s a small world, isn’t it?” Carly commented as she leaned against a counter, her eyes fixated on Avery like a lion watches its prey.

Avery shrugged and shook the excess water from her hands before grabbing a paper towel. “It’s getting smaller by the minute. What’s your point?”

“My point is I saw Jeff Carter today. And strangely enough, he was looking for you. He said you were a friend.”

“Yep. Friends.”

Carly laughed, but it wasn’t pleasant. It was almost condescending. “I know what friends means to Jeff. He’s had a lot of friends.”

“I know that.” She tried to keep her voice from shaking, but Carly’s presence unnerved her.

“Do you know it won’t go anywhere? That he’ll dump you when he gets bored?” Avery sighed and placed her hands on her hips. Though Carly intimidated her, she was not about to let this woman alter her good mood.

“Like he dumped you?” The smirk on Carly’s face melted. “Listen, I have to get going. I was invited to a hockey game tonight and I don’t want to be late.” She grabbed her purse and began to head toward the exit.

“Oh, I almost forgot my hand delivered jerseys,” She said the words slowly and deliberately, loving how Carly’s face contorted in distain. Avery picked up the bag that Jeff had brought for her. “Have a good night, Miss Landon.”

She let out a gust of air, her heart pounding in her chest as she walked up the hallway toward the teachers’ lounge. She was never good with confrontation, especially with coworkers, but Carly had pushed her hand.

Angie was waiting in the lounge, staring down at her phone when Avery burst through the door.

“Hey, what’s up? You looked flustered.”

“Jeff and Carly had,” Avery paused, unsure of what to call it. “A thing.”

Angie raised an eyebrow at her friend. “A thing? What does that mean?”

“Ya know, like, a thing.”

Angie laughed as the two teachers clocked out for the day. “What, like they fucked?”

Avery nodded. “Yeah, before summer.”

The blonde shrugged her slender shoulders. “Small world.”

“Yeah, well she saw Jeff today and actually came to my classroom to ask me about it.”

Angie’s lip curled into a sneer. “That skank. She’s got some nerve.”

“I just want to forget about her,” She turned her attention to the bag of jerseys. “Jeff brought us some shirts. They’re game worn or whatever.”

Angie shrugged. “Meaning?”

“The guys played in them.”

The blonde grimaced. “I hope they were dry cleaned before he gave them to us.”

The women carpooled together and picked up Lili from day care before driving back to Avery’s house. The child could not stop gushing about the impending game and how she couldn’t wait to see Jeff play. Avery hoped the enthusiasm lasted throughout the night. Angie was betting Lili wouldn’t make it through the first period, maybe the second if bribed with cotton candy and popcorn.

The journey down to Wells Fargo Center was full of Aaron trying to explain the game of hockey to three oblivious females while Avery fidgeted with her hockey jersey as she drove. All three of them were practically swimming in the excessive amounts of fabric. Avery made a mental note to invest in a shirtsy like Lili’s so she wouldn’t feel like she was wearing a tent.

After paying an outrageous parking fee, Avery maneuvered her car into a space and her crew quickly exited the vehicle. Walking through the parking lot was a nightmare of enthusiastic fans and bad drivers. Avery gave up on letting Lili walk and picked her up. She didn’t want to risk losing the child in the crowd or allowing her to be mowed down by careless motorist. The group made their way to the box office to pick up their tickets from an older man behind the counter. Avery opened the envelope given to her and pulled out four tickets before handing them out.

“Jesus, Avery. These are right up against the glass.” A beaming smile decorated Aaron’s face as his eyes scanned the ticket. He had been to plenty of hockey games with Angie’s husband Hank, but never that close to the ice. After buying snacks and drinks, they headed to their seats. It wasn’t long before the arena began to fill and the players came out for warm ups.

“OK, so this is kind of cool.” Angie admitted. Not being a sports fan, the older woman wasn’t thrilled about going to a hockey game so Avery was happy to hear she wasn’t miserable just yet. Lili was perched in Avery’s lap, hands pressed against the glass. She was quietly watching, her dark eyes soaking everything in.

Rinaldo skated up and checked the glass with his shoulder, shaking the boards and startling Lili. Once she got over the shock, the child dissolved into giggles and smacked the glass with her palms. Zac gave them a small smile before skating off to stretch. Some of the guys started randomly firing pucks at the glass, namely Giroux.

“Why are they doing that?” Avery asked, annoyed each time the rubber clanged against the glass.

“They’re trying to get your attention.” Aaron commented, making Avery grin at her friend.

“So that gingery one is trying to get your attention.” Avery nudged her with her elbow. “I wonder why.”

Angie just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. She always got bent out of shape when mentioning the redheaded winger. It made Avery suspect it wasn’t just a onetime thing between the two, but when Angie wanted to come clean about the situation, she would.

“I see Jeff, mommy.” Lili was pointing to the tall blond as he approached, a smile on his face. He tapped the glass with his hockey stick as he skated by. Avery laughed as he started to bend over and stretch suggestively with Carcillo.

The vibration of her phone pulled her attention from the sideshow act the boys were putting on. A frown overwhelmed Avery’s face when she saw a text from James.

Are we getting together for dinner??

She sighed to herself, trying to work the keyboard of her phone while Lili was in her lap. James had wanted to take Lili out to dinner, but he never returned her phone calls or texts. Although things between the two of them had been improving, recently he had been standoffish and distant. Avery felt like she was making such an effort to call him and make plans for him to see his daughter, but he kept cancelling or not even bothering to show up. She wondered if this was his drug habit reemerging or something else.

Sorry. We made other plans. Maybe another time.

A brief moment went by before her phone started to ring. She didn’t even have to look at the screen to know who was calling. Avery passed Lili to Angie and excused herself to answer her phone.

“Hello?” She answered, pressing her phone to one ear and covering the other with her hand in an attempt to block out the buzz of the crowd.

“You made other plans? You know I wanted to take Lili out tonight.” Avery was met with James’ gruff voice.

“I called you three times and texted you, you never answered. What was I supposed to think?”

“I was busy. And I’m answering you now.” She rolled her eyes as she trudged up the arena stairs and into the main lobby. Finding a quiet spot was impossible in the packed Wells Fargo Center.

“It’s past 7 at night and you’re just getting around to calling me back? I’m not gonna wait around all day for you to decide that you want to make plans to see your daughter.”

“Well, where are you guys? Maybe I can meet you.”

Avery rubbed the back of her neck, frustrated with her husband. “You can’t. We’re at a hockey game.”

He scoffed. “A hockey game? You don’t even like sports, what are you doing at a hockey game?”

“A friend got tickets for Aaron and us.”

“So you blew me off for a hockey game. That’s really shitty.”

“You’re right, it is shitty, Jamie. It’s shitty that I have to keep reminding you to see your daughter. It’s shitty that I’m the one making the effort and you just flake out.”

His sigh reverberated through the phone. “Can you give me a chance to explain? In person?”

“I’ll call you when I get home, OK?” He agreed and they hung up. Avery couldn’t imagine what excuse he could possibly have for skipping his visitations with his daughter, especially after he begged for a second chance to be in Lili’s life.

She returned to her seat and was immediately met with questioning glances from her brother and friend.

“James drama?” Angie asked, handing Lili back to her mother.

“As usual,” She brushed the question off and settled her eyes on the ice. “They’re starting?”

The two teams, Philadelphia in orange and New Jersey in white, were meeting at the center of the rink.

“Yeah, they’re facing off for the puck.” Aaron pointed out, grinning at his clueless sister. He attempted to explain the rules as the game went on, but icing was still a mystery to Avery and Angie.

“Now why are they fighting again?” Ang asked, taking a piece of Lili’s cotton candy as she watched the opponents drop their gloves.

“Well, A. they don’t like each other. Jersey and Philly are huge rivals. And B. Whoever wins the fight could energize their team.”

The women peered over at Aaron, amusement on their faces.

“So, if I’m dragging ass at work,” Angie mused. “I can just punch Carly in the face and I’ll feel energized? That’s brilliant.”

Avery laughed obnoxiously as Aaron rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the game. It was fast paced and exciting to watch these men fly around on the ice so effortlessly, Avery was in awe of it. And the crowd was amazing. The energy that oozed from them was almost tangible. She could see why Jeff loved it so much. And he was very good at it. He wasn’t aggressive like Richards or Hartnell, but he had speed and finesse which earned him two goals that night. A third goal by Meszaros sealed their win against the Devils and the arena started to empty.

“So how did you like it, Lil?” Avery asked, picking her up and balancing her on her hip.

“Can we come back tomorrow?” That answered her question. Avery might have a new hockey fan on her hands.

The group had finally made it through the crowd back to their car when Avery’s cell phone beeped.

Did you guys have fun?

Avery grinned at Jeff’s text and told him they had a blast. He replied a few minutes later, telling her he had to talk to the press and he’d be over her house when he was finished.

“I could get used to this,” Aaron said from the back of the car. “Promise you’ll never break up with him.”

Avery chuckled as she fought against post-game traffic. “I’ll try my best.”

After sitting in traffic by the Wells Fargo center, they finally hit the open highway and made their way back to the suburbs. Avery dropped Angie off at her house before heading home. It was a quiet ride since it was way past Lili’s bedtime and she had long since fallen asleep. A truck was parked in front of the house and Avery instantly recognized it, making a nervous sensation settle into her stomach. She peered into the rearview mirror at Aaron, who shared her confused expression. This was not good.

Calmly, Avery unbuckled her sleeping daughter from the car seat and carried her up the driveway with Aaron in tow. James was sitting on the steps leading up to the house, illuminated by the outside light jutting out from the brick siding. He stood as they approached.

“Take Lili into the house for me.” Aaron nodded and took his niece from the woman, holding the child’s limp body against him as he fished out his house key from his jeans pocket. The teen acknowledged James silently with a flick of his chin before heading inside. Avery’s relationship with James wasn’t the only one that was strained. Aaron and her husband had never been that close, but the drug use had further deteriorated an already shaky connection.

“You changed the locks.” He didn’t sound surprised or upset. He tone was casual as if he were talking about something mundane, like the weather or a TV show.

“I made it perfectly clear that you were not allowed to come here,” She placed her hands on her hips. “And I also said I would call you when I got home.”

“I know. I’m sorry to just show up like this. I just needed to see you.”

Avery was in no mood for this. Jeff could be on his way over and she didn’t want her past and present to encounter each other so unexpectedly. Any hope of easing James into the idea of her dating again would be ruined if she couldn’t get her husband to leave before Jeff showed up.

“You’re here, so explain yourself.”

“I know I’ve been bailing on you and Lili lately. And I want to apologize.”

Avery nodded. “You haven’t…” She trailed off, not wanting to say the words.

“No, I’m still clean and sober. I just-” He paused and ruffled his closely cropped hair. “It’s hard being around you and Lili without feeling like I want to come home.”

She had known James long enough to know when he was bullshitting her. He wasn’t.

“Jamie,” She sighed, feeling guilty. “You know you can’t come home.”

He stepped closer to her and reached out for her hand. “Look, it’s different this time. I’ve never wanted to get clean until now. Until I realized what I’d be losing. Let’s forget about the divorce, we can start fresh-”

“You need to leave.” She pulled her hand away from his and headed toward the house.

“Wait.”

Avery turned to face him. “You are not taking this breakup seriously.”

“Because I don’t want it. I don’t want this.”

“I didn’t want this either. But this is the reality of the situation.”

His expression was pathetic and it killed her to know she was the cause of it. Despite the anger and the resentment, she still cared about James. She wanted good things for him and his yearning for the impossibility of being a family again would only keep him from moving on.

They were silent for a moment before he suddenly spoke again. “Is there someone else?”

Avery was taken off guard by his question and it was obvious to both of them. “What?” She asked automatically despite knowing exactly what he had said. She was just trying to buy some time.

“It didn’t occur to me until just now. You always have plans, you’re always on your phone texting someone with a big smile on your face. That smile used to be for me.”

Avery’s eyes fell to the ground. “I’m sorry, Jamie.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be. Have a nice night, Av.”

She watched quietly as he trudged down the driveway to his truck before driving away.