Just For Now

A full bottle of Vodka was not enough to drown Addison’s sorrows. If she could crawl under a box and hide away from civilization for a few days, she would happily do it. She took yet another swig from the now practically empty bottle and hiccupped after she swallowed the rest of its contents. As soon as she had gotten home from the arena, she unpacked a few boxes and then turned to her favorite bottle of alcohol. What started out as a few shots to numb the pain quickly turned into sips straight from the bottle. Even with alcohol coursing through her system, she couldn’t shake the thoughts of Claude from her mind.

She felt embarrassed and absolutely stupid for even thinking for a fraction of second that Claude would embrace her with open arms and greet her like he always did years ago. Drunken tears began to cloud her eyes as she thought about the blank look that was on his face when he said hello to her.

“He didn’t even recognize me,” she softly whimpered.

Addison stared at Claude’s hand like it was something that’s been forbidden to be touched. She hesitantly placed her hand in his and shook, but avoided making eye contact all together. For a second she thought that he might have been playing a trick on her. She waited for him to smile and say ‘I’ve missed you!’, but it never came. She felt like she would completely fall a part and lose composure if they locked eyes for even a few seconds. Addison pulled her hand out of his as quickly as she could and then turned back to Jim.

“Is there anything else that you need me to do?” Her voice was on the verge of cracking. “I have tons of boxes that still need to be unpacked.”

Jim shook his head and smiled. “I don’t think so. You’re good for today.”

Addison let out a sigh of relief. She wanted to get away from the arena and Claude as quickly as possible. She turned to the group of hockey players that surrounded her and politely told them, “It was nice to meet all of you,” before hiking her purse over her shoulder and walking out of the room.

Addison pushed herself up off of her kitchen floor and stumbled through her apartment to her bedroom. She pulled her work clothes off of her body and crawled into bed in just her panties and bra. Tears that still fell from her eyes started to soak her pillow, but she was too upset and drunk to care. Slowly, Addision started to lose consciousness. It wouldn’t be the first time that she had cried herself to sleep over the ginger she used to hold in such high regards.

Somewhere on the other side of town, Claude was lying on his couch thinking about the pretty face he hadn’t seen in years. Addison had changed quite a bit, but in every way for the better. Claude couldn’t believe how stunning she had grown up to be. The last time he had seen her her hair was in a messy ponytail, she hardly had on any makeup, and her curves were nearly nonexistent. Addison’s smile should have been the first thing that gave away who she was. He could never, and would never, forget that big beautiful smile of hers.

Thinking back on the day’s events, Claude let out a heavy sigh. He couldn’t believe that he had failed to recognize the girl he had grown up with.

Claude stared at the door long after Addison made her exit. Danny snapped him out of his trance by slapping him on the back. “Quite the charmer, eh?”

Claude blinked a few times and looked over at Danny. “Huh?”

“Addison. It was plainly obvious that you were giving the girl a lookover.”

Addison. Addison. Addison. The name sounded so familiar that he couldn’t help but ask, “What’s her last name?”

Danny shrugged his shoulders and eyed Claude very curiously. He opened his mouth to question Claude about his sudden interest in the girl, but Max spoke over him.

“James. Addison James.“ the smirk on his face was quite noticeable just by his tone of voice. Max looked around to make sure that Jim was no longer in the room. When he was no where to be seen, Max continued. “I’d be down to show her what Philly has to offer, if ya know what I mean.”

Some of the guys that still remained in the locker room let out hearty laughs, mostly agreeing with his crude joke, but Claude didn’t find any humor in his teammate’s comment. It had only taken him a few seconds to process the name before the image of a younger Addison popped into his mind. No one but Danny seemed to notice the mixed emotions of both sadness and anger that washed over Claude’s face and the way he clenched his fists.

“Do you know her?” Danny quietly asked, as he nudged his friend’s arm. Claude dropped his head in shame and that spoke volumes to Danny. He watched as Claude slumped his way back towards his stall, ignoring the rest of his teammates completely. Danny didn’t want to pry, but his curiosity got the best of him. He walked right over to Claude and took a seat next to him. Teammates began to leave the room and once it was nearly empty, Danny didn’t even have to ask a single question before Claude started spilling the details of his and Addison’s past friendship.

“I feel like shit. How could I not even recognize her?” Claude ran his hands through his curly orange hair and groaned after he had finished his story. He was more disappointed in himself than anything.

“Six years is a long time G. People change and grow up,” Danny tried to reassure him.

“That’s no excuse though! She was my best friend. I should have known.”

Claude grabbed his belongings and then walked right out of the locker room, not even bothering to bid his friend and teammate a farewell.

Claude tired to tell himself that Danny was right, six years was an extremely long time. Who could really blame him for not noticing who she was after they hadn’t been in contact with each other for so long? Maybe Addison would give him the benefit of the doubt.

Another thought also crossed his mind. Did she even recognize me? In an instant, he convinced himself that Addison had probably forgotten all about him and that she had moved on to bigger and better thing. She had probably pushed aside the memories of her childhood friend.

Then again, this was Addison he was talking about. She never forgot anything or anyone. Either way, he knew that he had some serious explaining and groveling to do when he saw her again.

I hope she’s as forgiving as she used to be, he thought before he turned over and pulled the blankets over his head.