Keep the Girl

Isabelle Fischer hated the airport. She especially hated the airport on the weekend just before Christmas when everyone seemed to be traveling somewhere. As she waded her way through the check in line with her suitcase, garment bag and carry on she couldn’t help but wonder how so many people whom she had to assumed had this trip planned at least as long as she had could seem so clueless about the whole process. It didn’t seem humanly possible for this much ignorance to converge in one spot without breaking some laws of physic.

She shook her head as she trudged ahead a whole six inches. She was spending too much time around college professors, having thoughts like that. She frowned at the thought of school. She had just finished her last semester as a TA and she had a glorious month before she had to go back as a student once again. The large purse/briefcase she was carrying on her shoulder slipped down some and she shifted back up. Only Maggie could force her to endure this torture.

As she continued to wait for the next available agent, Isabelle stare out at the dark, bitter night outside. When Maggie had told her of her plan for a grand winter wedding, all Isabelle could think about was the grayish –brown slush that soaked through her boats every morning as she walked from the TCC to the University and the frigid wind that stung her face despite her attempts to protect it with her scarf. Maggie was always the hopeless romantic and couldn’t think of anything more perfect than a Christmas wedding in Canada. Personally, Isabelle thought it was a little cliché but would never tell her baby sister such a thing. Her dream had always been to have a summer wedding in British Columbia at a boat house that her father had taken them to all the time as children.

Moving up a few more inches, she sighed. All these years later and it still depressed her to think about him. She was 17 when he had been so suddenly ripped away from her. ‘Has it really been 10 years?’ She thought to herself. It would in fact be 10 years this winter that a brain bleed had cause her father to rapidly decline and eventually pass away. She could still remember him playing out in the first snow of the winter with her and Maggie. He was gone by New Years. Poor Maggie was 11 years old and couldn’t understand why her daddy had to leave. Isabelle rubbed her forehead roughly. She could feel the throbbing in the sides of her head and growled under her breath. She was getting a headache and nothing was worse than flying with a headache. As soon as she got through this disaster, she was going to find a drink…..or maybe a few drinks.

Finally making it to the front of the line, she checked her large suitcase and garment bag, happy to be rid of them for awhile. Maggie had wanted her to carry the dress on but there was no way she was dragging that mess onto the plane with her. Her sister had decided it would be so perfect if her bridesmaids wore dresses that made them look like holly bushes with their white fur capes acting as the bed of snow atop them so that they could blend into the surrounding nature. Isabelle shook her head again. Maggie really thought too much about all of this. But no amount taffeta and satin was going to keep her warm during the ceremony. She made it through security with little hassle and then fought her way through the airport only to arrive at her gate and find her flight was delayed. Isabelle slumped down in a seat and frowned as her cell phone began to ring. She dug through her purse and answered on the 4th ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi honey.” Her mother’s voice rang through from the other line. “Just wanted to make sure you made it to the airport alright.”

“Oh I’m here alright, but I don’t think that I’m going to be making it there anytime soon. My flight’s delayed.”

“You’re kidding?!” The older woman gasped.

“Well, it is winter in Ontario.”Isabelle pointed out. Her mother ignored her.

“Do you know how long you’re going to be? Oh I hope they don’t cancel your flight.” She said, worry evident in her voice.

“I don’t know, mom. I’m probably going to be awhile. And if they do cancel my flight there’s still time for me to get there.”

“Oh I know, but you know that your sister will start to panic and she’s stressed out enough as it is right now. You not being here will just make things worse.” Her mother rambled. Isabelle rolled her eyes.

“I’ll be there mom, I just might be a little late.” The daughter reassured.

“I know…Did you cut your hair?” She asked randomly.

“No…was I supposed to?” Isabelle was confused by the sudden change in topics.

“Well Maggie wants to make sure your hair is long enough, because she’d like all of the girls to have their hair done relatively the same and she needs to make sure your hair is long enough to be styled correctly.” She explained. Isabelle looked over her shoulder at the loose ponytail she had pulled her blonde locks into.

“It should be fine. Is she doing our hair?’

“Oh no, some girls from her salon are doing it.”

“Great.” Isabelle muttered under her breath.

“Isabelle…” Her mother warned. “Please don’t start anything while you’re here. The last thing I need is the bride not speaking to the maid of honor.”

“I won’t say a word about it.” She said flippantly.

“Isabelle Ava, I mean it.”

“So did I!” She exclaimed. There was silence on both ends for a moment.

“Am I finally going to meet this boyfriend of yours? It’s only been almost 2 years.” Her mother questioned. Isabelle ran a hand through her hair
.
“No, Shane isn’t coming. He couldn’t shut down his office for that long.”

“He’d couldn’t shut down his office for the weekend at least?” The older women sounded skeptical.

“I didn’t push the subject with him.” She warned, not wanting to get into her love life with her mother.

“Humph,” She pouted. Isabelle frowned.

“Look mom, I’ll call you back when I have more details alright?” The two said their goodbyes and Isabelle looked at the board again.

The screen was still displaying its delay so she grabbed her bag and headed off to find someplace to get a stiff drink.
She found a little sports bar-esque place not far from her gate that was practically deserted so she trudged her bag up to the bar and took a seat.

“What’ll it be, miss?” The bartender asked as she sat down.

“Amaretto Stone Sour.” A voice from behind her ordered. She whipped around to see the blond man standing behind her. “It was always your drink of choice. Or have you developed more sophisticated tastes?”

Kris had never been the type to brood in dark corners of bars but the weather delay was putting a serious damper in his good mood. This was the first Christmas that he was actually getting to go home for the holidays in almost 5 years. Most years, there wasn’t enough time to make the trip because of the way the schedule was but fate was on his side and their next opponent happened to be the Calgary Flames which was a short drive from his home town, so he could just meet the rest of the team there and then fly back to Chicago with them.

He loved Chicago. He loved the team, the fans and the city itself. To him it was the only city in the world where you could be a big deal and not have to live your life on the cover of the tabloid magazines. It was nice to have some privacy. Coming from a small town, it was nice to be able to make choices without having everyone else judge them. Kris sighed and sipped his beer. The only downside to going home again was knowing that she wasn’t there anymore. So many memories of that town were tied to her and it hurt that he couldn’t share them with her now. He shook his head. He wasn’t going to let past mistakes ruin his trip.

He took the last sip of his beer and was about to get up to get another one when a blonde walked in. She passed right by him, totally ignorant of the fact the he was there. She dragged herself into a barstool and as she turned to set her bag down next to her, Kris became even more convinced that fate was involved in making this trip home happen.
Isabelle Fischer had been his high school sweetheart and if he allowed himself to be sappy, his one true love.

She had been the unsuspecting blonde at the front desk of the ice arena that the others dismissed as too nerdy. But to Kris, she had been the one piece that made everything else work. She was incredibly smart, much smarter than him which is why she was so determined to get her college degree. And when push came to shove, the degree proved to be more important than him. He had heard on his last trip home that she had moved away but didn’t know where to. Now here she was, walking into the same airport bar as him. It had to be fate.

Walking up behind her, still unnoticed, he heard the bartender ask for her drink order and decided to make his presence known.

“What’ll be, miss?” The bartender asked as she sat down.

“Amaretto Stone Sour.” He announced and watched her whip around at the sound of his voice. “It was always your drink of choice. Or have you developed more sophisticated tastes?” She looked at him wide eyed before turning back to the bartender and nodding her consent to the drink.

“Another beer, sir?” Kris nodded and took the seat next to her. Isabelle took a good long look at him as if to make sure that it was really him.

“Kris Versteeg,” She sighed, sounding both happy and sad.

“Isa.” He responded and she smiled. He was the only person other than her father who ever called her Isa.

“I wasn’t sure you’d still recognize me. The last time we saw each other was…”

“Eight years ago. And it’s not like you’re easy to forget.” He added. She ran her hand through her hair uncomfortably. “So where are you headed?” He asked.

“Back home. Maggie’s getting married.”

“Maggie? As in your little sister that we used to bribe with magazines and lip gloss?” Kris wondered. The two used to bribe the girl to keep her from ratting Isabelle out when they would sneak out at night. “Is she even old enough to get married?”

“She’s 21 and she dropped out of nursing school because she thought it was too hard and went to cosmetology school instead. She’s working at the local beauty salon. Her soon to be husband she met at school and he has his degree in physical education and is working as a personal trainer and a lifeguard at the University gym. They’re living with my mother which I guess is a good thing because it means that mom isn’t alone but well, you know…” She explained and Kris understood the bitterness. Maggie had done everything that her mother had sworn Isabelle would do.

“How ridiculous is this wedding?” He asked, knowing the younger woman’s flair for the dramatic.

“It’s an outdoor wedding in Calgary two days after Christmas. My dress is dark green to make me look like an evergreen bush with a snow white cape to act as the bed on snow
atop the branches. I’m gonna freeze my ass off.”

“Oh my. Do I even want to know what her dress looks like?” He asked, trying not to snicker.

“She tried on hundreds of dresses, it seemed like and some of them were so beautiful they made me reconsider a summer wedding and then she ends up choosing this one.” Isabelle showed him a picture she had on her phone. Kris tilted his head as he looked at it.

“Did your sister get her boobs done? Cause I don’t remember them being that big.” He commented. She smacked him in the chest.

“You checked out my younger sister?!” She exclaimed. He shrugged.

“I’m a guy, of course I did. She could never compare to you though.” He admitted. She raised her eyebrow. “I’m serious. You were always the prettiest girl in town.”

“Well thank you.” She smiled sheepishly.

“Does it bug you that she’s getting married before you?” He wondered.

“Not really.” She shrugged. But Kris could see the lie in her eyes.

“Are you seeing anyone?” He asked bluntly.

“Yes.” She said. Was that disappointment in her voice? “You?” And that? Was that hope?

“Nope, still single. What’s his name?” He pressed on.

“His name’s Shane. He’s an orthopedic surgeon.” She said, still sounding uncomfortable.

“Huh, I’ll have to keep that in mind. It’s always good for a guy like be to have connections like that.” He joked. The two laughed.

“So what about you? Where are you headed?” She asked as she sipped her drink.

“Home as well. It’s the first time in about four years that I’ve been able to get back for the holidays. The schedule doesn’t always give us a lot of time to get home for the holidays so when I found out we were playing Calgary next I was super excited.” He explained. She looked at him with a somewhat sad expression.

“So you made it. You’re in the NHL?” Kris looked confused.

“Yeah, I was drafted six years ago. I’ve been playing in Chicago for the last 4. You didn’t know?” Isabelle took a long sip of her drink and looked forward as she spoke.

“I gave up hockey the day I gave up you.” She said and the words seemed to hurt her as much as they hurt him. “But I’m happy for you, Kris. You did it. You never gave up on your dream and it paid off. I just wish…..” Her voice cut out, unable to speak anymore.

“You just wish what?” He demanded. She shook her head and held up a hand in surrender.

“Nothing. It’s not important.” Kris could hear the tears in her voice but she quickly swallowed them with the last of her drink. She signaled the bartender for another drink and the tension seemed to dissipate with the alcohol. By their 3rd drink, Isabelle was pretty far gone and beginning to open up.

“It does bother me--Maggie marrying before me. It was supposed to be me and you but I pretty effectively screwed up any chance of that ever happening now didn’t I?” She confessed, swirling the ice in her drink.

“Hey, we both made choices.” Kris said, putting a comforting hand on her back.

“Yeah right, like I gave you much of a choice.” She snorted. “I am so sorry for how I treated you at the end. I never expected to find the one at 17 and I didn’t know how to handle it all. I wish I hadn’t ended things. We could have made it work.” She said sincerely.

“Maybe, or maybe we would have just been delaying the inevitable. We can play the ‘what-if’ game all we want. Doesn’t change anything.” He declared.

He couldn’t sit there and listen to her talk about how much she wished things were different
when there was nothing he could do. She was with somebody else. The PA announced that their flight was finally beginning to board so he pulled out a couple bills to cover their tabs. As they were walking back to their gate, Isabelle took him by the hand.

“I wish you didn’t have to go.” She admitted before she knew what she was saying.

“It doesn’t have to be forever. Next time you’re in Chicago-“

“Or you’re in Toronto-“ She added.

“We can meet up for dinner or something.” He offered. She nodded.

“I’d like that.”

Kris boarded first (the perks of being able to fly first class) and as Isabelle walked passed, for a brief second he could see that girl he met ten years ago with the smart girl glasses and the fleece pullover that threatened to swallow her. As the plane was getting ready to take off, he sat back and closed his eyes, hoping to get a little sleep before they landed in Calgary.

**Kris Versteeg was not easily intimidated. As a five foot ten forward it was not a luxury he could afford. A six foot something defensemen was one thing but a five foot two blonde with her nose perpetually stuck in a book was a completely unfamiliar opponent. He’d been watching Isabelle for a few weeks now. She was there every day as he came in for practice, manning the front desk. Most of the guys didn’t look past the book in her hand to see how pretty she actually was. She was really an unsuspecting knockout.

Hiking his gear up on his shoulders, Kris made his way over to the desk. Isabelle’s head was down so he cleared his throat in an attempt to get her attention. She looked up quickly and blinked a few times as if to refocus her big green eyes. A lock of hair fell across her face.

“Did you need something?” She asked, sweeping the loose hair back into place.

“No, I ……I just was wondering if you wanted to go for milkshakes later?” He asked, sounding totally confident. In truth, she completely unnerved him.

“Why?” She asked, skeptical.

“Why?!” He repeated, confused. “What do you mean why?”

“Why are you asking me out? What do you want from me?” She accussed.

“Want? I don’t want anything from you except to buy you a milkshake.” He explained. She looked at him another minute before finally agreeing.

“Alright. I’m off at 6pm.” She shrugged.

“I don’t get out of practice till 7:30pm.” He frowned.

“It’s okay. I can wait.” She gestured to her book. Kris smiled and headed off to practice.

True to her word, Isabelle was sitting on a bench, completely engrossed in her book. He took a minute to look at her as he approached. Her long locks were pulled back in a high ponytail and a pair of thick rimmed glasses were perched on her nose. (Kris was pretty sure the glasses were for affect to give her that super smart girl look) She wore an oversized, well worn fleece pullover as a coat. She closed her book as she saw him approaching. Nothing was said as she followed him out to his car.

“Is this your car?” She asked as he opened her door. Kris shrugged.

“It’s a hand me down from my brother who had it handed down from my dad.” The old pick up was nothing special but it ran alright and had enough room for all his equipment. “What about you? What are you riding?”

“The city bus.” She responded. “My parents won’t buy or give me a car. If I want it, I have to pay for it-just like college.” Kris could tell she wasn’t real happy with the situation but decided not to say anything about it.

“So why were you so reluctant to agree to go out with me?” Isabelle just looked at him.

“I don’t trust hockey players. They always want something. Usually it’s to help them cheat to keep their grades up so they can stay on the team.”

“Is that what you thought about me?” He asked.

“Well, everybody knows how talented you are and they all keep talking about how your future
is so promising so…..yeah, I did.” She explained.

“And yet, you still said yes. Why?” Isabelle turned her head away and down.

“Because I’m a sucker for blue eyes……and I’ve had a crush on you since sophomore
year.” She admitted.

“Sophomore year?”

“Mrs. Talbot’s 10th grade algebra. You sat 2 rows to the back and right of me. You walked past me every day but you never noticed me.”Kris opened his mouth but she held up a hand to stop him. “It’s okay, I’m not that noticeable. Especially not with Amy Lawrence who is very noticeable in the same room.”

“Well, I noticed you now. Does that count for something?”She smiled and nodded. Kris liked the way she smiled. Her eyes sparkled slightly like an emerald that catches the light just right and her cheeks blushed slightly. He took a mental picture of it to keep with him all the time.**

The tires hit the runway roughly, causing the plane to bounce which woke Kris up from an old memory. He had been 17 when he had finally gotten up the courage to ask Isabelle on a date. But he had noticed her in Mrs. Talbot’s 10th grade algebra class. In fact he almost didn’t pass the class because he spent more time studying her than the class material. But at 15 he was scared of rejection. He was a short, kind of scrawny kid who looked like he hadn’t quite finished puberty yet.

By 17, he’d grown a few inches, filled out a little more and gained a little more confident in his ability to snag a girl. But he had never told her that. Over the years he had wondered if it would have made any kind of difference in their outcome and some nights he thought it would have and other nights he thought that nothing could have changed their outcome. They had their own paths to follow, their own dreams to chase and he believed that for whatever reason, they had to chase them alone.

But as he headed down to baggage claim for his stuff, he wondered about his original feelings about this trip. It was fate, right? Which could only mean that seeing Isabelle again was also fate’s doing. What the exact meaning of the meeting was, he wasn’t totally sure but he truly believed that fate had put her back into his life and the ball was now in his court (or rather the puck was in his zone) now and it was up to him to make the first move.

Isabelle was waiting for her luggage when her phone went off in her bag. Digging through it, she pulled it out to see that it was Shane calling.

“Hey babe, what’s up?”

“Where are you? I got home and you weren’t here.” He asked, sounding confused. She sighed and dropped her shoulders.

“I’m in Calgary, for Maggie’s wedding?” She reminded, trying not to sound annoyed at the fact that her boyfriend had once again hadn’t paid attention to her when she told him about her trip.

“Oooh right, that’s this weekend.” He replied.

“Ya I’ve been telling you about it all week.” She said, trying not to sound as irritated as she was.

“I’m sorry, you know how distracted I can get with work.” He reminded.

“I know.” She rolled her eyes.

“When do you get back?”

“I fly home Monday. Are you going to pick me up at the airport?”

“Ooooo, Monday’s a busy day. I’ll send a car over to get you, alright?” He said. She sighed.

“Alright. I’ll call you when I get to my mom’s.”

“That’s gonna be kind of late and I have an early appointment in the morning. How about I call you tomorrow?” He suggested.

“Fine. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” She agreed just so she could be done with their conversation before she said something nasty. “I love you.”

“Me too.” He responded. “I got to go. Bye.” The click on the other end beat out her response and she jabbed the end button violently.

“He forgot you were leaving for the weekend?” Isabelle jumped at the sound of Kris’s voice suddenly behind her. She gave him a look for listening in on her conversation.

“He’s got a lot on his mind right now. He’s working on a merger with another high profile orthopedic practice.” She explained. Kris snorted.

“I can understand having a lot on your mind, but forgetting your girlfriend of how long was leaving for the weekend? That’s more than distracted.” He gave her a pointed stare.

“It means nothing. Drop it.” Isabelle warned. Kris threw up his hands in surrender.

“Fine. Do you want to share a cab? No sense is having two cabs going to the same town.” He suggested. She nodded and went to grab her bag.

“So when did you leave Lethbridge?” He asked once they were on their way.

“About a year after I graduated.”

“Why?”

“Same reason you did-a better opportunity came up. Besides, you know how badly I wanted out of that town.” She said, shortly refusing to give him the whole reason. “I got accepted to Grad school at University of Toronto, so I went.”

“Grad school. So that must mean you have your Masters?” He asked. She nodded.

“I’m going back for my PhD soon.” He let out a long whistle.

“God you were always smart. Way smarter than me, I barely graduated high school.”

“You barely graduated high school because you spent too much time think about me and hockey.” She said knowingly. He shrugged.

“At least one of them paid off.” He muttered. She just looked at him.

“Alright, my turn to play twenty questions. Why Chicago?” She wondered.

“I got traded there when I was in the minors. They gave me my NHL debut and decided they saw something in me they liked. I just resigned my contract there for another 4 years. I like it there.” He said and she could see by the smile on his face that he really did.

“Why are you still single?” She asked and then realized she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

“Don’t you mean *how* am I still single?” He said with the cockiness that she had both loved and hated about him.

“No, I mean why. You could have a girl if you really wanted to. So why do you choose to fly solo?”

“I did the serious comment thing and got burned by it. Not exactly ready to try it again.” He admitted as he looked her right in the eye.

“That was 8 years ago.” She said, desperately trying to ignore the fluttered feeling in her chest.

“I’m a slow healer.” He said not breaking eye contact. They stared for a moment before she had to look away. The remainder of the ride was relatively silent. As they pulled up in front of her old house, she pulled something out her bag.

“My cell. Don’t be a stranger.” She said, attempting a smile. His came easily.

“I won’t. Tell Maggie congrats for me.” She nodded and they hugged. As she was walking away, a few tears escaped down her cheeks. Kris would always be the one, he just wouldn’t be the one she was with.