Be With Someone...

Janine didn’t know how to react to the kiss. At first, she’d been shocked-scared even. And then, there were a few minutes of pure happiness. But lastly, and most disappointingly to them both, there was a lot of terror coursing through her veins.

She didn’t want to like Kris. She didn’t want to fall in love, despite the promise she had made to herself on New Year’s Eve. She was just too scared.

When Janine pushed Kris away, they had both stared at each other for a moment. Janine was the first to recover her senses and when she did, she took off running.

“Janine!” Kris pleaded. “Wait a second!”

But Janine didn’t stop. She grappled for her hoodie and purse, throwing them both onto her body before shoving her feet into her shoes. For a fleeting second, she looked over her shoulder.

Kris stood in the hallway, frozen, unsure of what to do. But the look on his face said it all. He was hurt. He was confused. And he didn’t know what the hell to do about it.

******

In the days that followed, Janine steered clear of all things dealing with the French-Canadian. She had feigned illness to get out of going clubbing and had even gone as far as to consider taking a few days off.

There were texts that were ignored and calls that went to voicemail. But she had another thing on her mind to keep her occupied. And unlike her unsure feelings for Kris, she could actually name it. Put a face to it, even.

Mike.

It seemed that everything wanted to make Janine’s life a living hell all at once. That night, the one when she had kissed Kris, Mike had called her. It had gone to voicemail and when Janine finally sat down to listen, she nearly fell out of her chair.

“Hey, Jeanie. It’s me, Mike. Listen, I know we haven’t talked in a while and I doubt you want anything to do with me. But on the off chance that you actually listen to this, I just want you to know that you’ve been on my mind lately. How we ended, it wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right. If you’re feeling generous, I’d-I’d like to see you. Give me a call back at this number, I should be in town for a few days, and maybe we can get together for coffee. If not, I hope that you’re doing well. Bye.”

It was a short message, but one that said a whole hell of a lot. It left Janine even more confused than she already was.

She wanted to go see him and talk to him and sort things out. But she also wanted to kick him in the crotch so hard, that one day when he finally manned up and had kids, they would feel it. In true Janine fashion as of late, she let her decision go to the wayside, deciding that she would make up her mind eventually.

It wasn’t like her to be so indecisive. Always she had been the one with her head screwed on straight and Rory was the one who often acted like a chicken with its head cut off. Ryan had once said that if Rory had to live one day without Janine available on speed dial, she would probably kick the bucket.

Ryan.

That was just another thing to add to the ever growing list of things to think about. Their birthdays were coming up too. Maybe that would be a day when she had to take off.

******

It killed Kris to watch Janine. It was obvious she was doing everything in her power to completely ignore him. On the short road trip that took them to Buffalo and Boston, they may have exchanged a dozen words. With so many players out, the coaching staff had made a few call-ups, still leaving a lot of empty spaces on buses and planes.

Kris could see that there was something bothering her. Any time a phone went off, whether it was hers or not, she would jump and slowly sink back down.

At first he had attributed that to her quickly approaching birthday. Ryan was surely on her mind, just as Luc was on his. But soon, he saw that that wasn’t the case.

Little things about pregnancies and babies would set her off into a sour mood. One of the media staff’s wives was having a baby and it was all the guy could talk about. And when Max would mention a one night stand in passing, Janine would stomp away. Something was under her skin in the worst way possible and she couldn’t seem to shake it.

******

“You want to grab lunch with us, Jeanie?” Jordan asked in the airport parking lot. “We were all going to head out.”

Janine glanced at the group he was referring to. Of course, Kris was among them. His eyes watched her, pleading for her to come. If not to talk with him, just to be around.

“Thanks,” she sighed. She hated doing this. “But I have some things I need to do. Maybe next time.”

“You can’t ignore us forever!” Max called over his shoulder.

“But I can damn sure try,” she muttered to herself as she packed up her car.

She was comfortable enough in her slacks and sweater, so Janine decided shopping was in order. A trip downtown to some of her favorite stores might lift her mood a little bit.

In the span of two hours, Janine managed to extend her wardrobe enough to accommodate her new routines. With the addition of skirts, blouses, a few pairs of shoes, and multiple dresses, her closet would be crowded, although her wallet a little less.

Fumbling with her bags, she did what she could to unlock her car.

“Here,” a voice offered. “Let me help you.”

“Thanks, but I got th-,” her voice dropped off altogether as she looked up. “Mike.”

“Hi, Janine,” he grinned. “You never called me back.”

She couldn’t help but smirk. “You never were one to beat around the bush.”

“And neither were you,” he cocked his head to the side. “Ignoring me, Jeanie?”

“No,” she pulled her bags away from him and pushed them into her opened trunk. “Just busy.”

“You look pretty free now,” Mike observed. “Can we talk now? Please?”

Janine’s eyes darted around. No believable excuse was to be found.

Well, shit.

“Yeah, okay,” she nodded slowly.

Mike’s grin grew. “Great!”

******

Mike wasn’t the only man in Pittsburgh who wanted to talk to Janine. It had gotten to the point where Kris was desperate.

After a lunch where he was painfully quiet, Kris got into his car a drove down a road he hadn’t been on in quite some time. On his way to Janine’s, he thought about all the things he could say. None of them seemed right, though. One did stick out.

I miss you.

He stood on her front step for nearly 20 minutes, shivering in the cold. Eventually, it became obvious that she wasn’t home, so he resorted to sitting in his car.

With the passing of another half hour, Kris rummaged through his glove box, pulling out a little pad of Sticky-Notes and a pen. Scribbling on it, he climbed out of his warm car and into the frigid air again, smoothing it across the glass of her front door. She would find it soon enough.

Driving again, Kris decided that he wanted good coffee. To him, there was only one place to get it in Pittsburgh. It was a little out of his way, but it would be well worth it.

He drove down town, pulling up to the curb outside his favorite coffeehouse. Looking through the glass front windows from his car, he saw it wasn’t very crowded. But by the two people sitting by the glass wall, it may as well have been packed to capacity.

There was no way Kris could go in there while Janine sat, evidently on a date with another guy.