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You've Been Hurt Before I Can See It In Your Eyes
“Mia! Do I look okay?” Whitney asked, walking out of my bedroom in one of my outfits; a cute red lace dress and my black pumps that were my favorite and would hate to lend to anyone, but I figured I could make an exception for Whitney on her very first date with Patrick. Her hair was curled slightly, and she had minimal makeup on with a pop of red on her lips. Pat was going to drop dead.
“You look amazing!” I gushed, pouring popcorn into a bowl. I decided that since I had no one to hang out with tonight, I was going to have some Mia time and eat junk food and watch every single movie that could make me cry. She leaned over and reached for a piece of popcorn and popped it in her mouth, “Hey! That’s mine, that’s a valuable piece of popcorn you just ate”
She rolled her eyes and reached for another one, doing the same thing. I stuck my tongue out at her and she laughed, “Come on Mia, why don’t you come hang out with me and Patrick tonight?”
I shot her a look and laughed sarcastically, “Oh yeah, let me be the third wheel while you guys make lovey eyes at each other. Just what I want to do. I’d rather sit here in front of a giant TV, eat my body weight in junk food, and watch movies so I can cry my eyes out. I think I’ll pass on third wheeling” My life was pretty pathetic tonight, but what was I going to do?
“Why don’t you call Jonathan up? I’m sure he would love to entertain you” She said suggestively with a wink. She was obviously clueless as to the fact that Jonathan doesn’t like me, considering the fact that he’s been M.I.A lately. Patrick told me he was spending all of his time with Marisa lately since she waltzed into his life. It was none of my business, but she definitely wasn’t good for him.
I rolled my eyes and pushed past her plopping on the couch with my bowl of popcorn and remote in hand. She followed suit and looked over at me as if expecting an answer, “You do realize that he’s been with Marisa lately, right? So, clearly I can’t call up Jonathan to entertain me” I chewed thoughtfully on a piece of popcorn, “whatever that means anyway”
“It means that you two can have some fun in your bedroom, wow Mia you’re a slow one aren’t you?” We both whipped our heads around to find Pat standing there with a shit eating grin on his face. Whitney smiled and stood up, causing his jaw to drop to floor and his eyes to pop out of his head. I smiled in satisfaction, watching Whitney blush under his gaze unable to keep her eyes off of him either. I wasn’t one for romance, but this was a pretty romantic moment. Maybe if they just stood there the whole night, I could watch them and save myself the crying part that comes with the romance movies. “Okay, you two lovebirds, get the hell out of here. I’m done watching you two have eye sex, next thing you know you’ll be doing it right in front of me and I don’t think my eyes could take that” This time they both blushed, and Patrick led Whitney out of the door with his hand on the small of her back. We said our goodbyes, me warning Pat that if he hurt her, I’d get him in his sleep. I should start putting matchmaking on my resume.
20 minutes later the doorbell rang, and I figured it was Patrick realizing he forgot his wallet or something and went to go answer the door. I was surprised when I saw Jonathan standing on the other side of the door with a smile on his face, “Hey Mia, is Pat here?”
“Um, no. He actually just left a little while ago. He went on a date with Whitney. Do you need something?”
“That’s great! I guess your plan worked” I smiled in return and pushed the door open all the way, “Do you want to come in?”
He poked his head in, taking sight of the movie on the screen, and the tons of food around me before stepping in. I closed the door, and when I turned back to face him, he was smirking, “Looks like you had a pretty hot date yourself”
I rolled my eyes and shoved him causing him to laugh. I paused the movie and made my way into the kitchen, Jonathan trailing behind me, “Do you want something to eat?”
He smiled, “I wouldn’t mind eating some of that food you had in there. I could go for eating my own weight in junk food, too”
“Won’t that screw up your healthy diet for the season, captain?” I challenged him.
“I bet you I could eat more than you. How much do you weigh? 80 pounds?” He teased. I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted. He laughed, and before I knew it, he was tossing me over his shoulder walking into the living room, “Jonathan! Put me down!” I screamed, hitting his back, but that did nothing since his back was pretty much a brick wall. He just laughed and I sighed in defeat before being thrown on the couch, “Was that so bad?” He asked, sitting down next to me and reaching for one of the bag of chips. When I didn’t answer he grabbed the remote, “What movie is this anyway?” He stuffed a few chips in his mouth and I stared at him in disbelief.
I knew absolutely nothing about Jonathan besides the fact that he was the captain for the Blackhawks, and he was a genuinely nice guy. We met in one of the most awkward ways possible, and then he drove me to work one day because Patrick wasn’t home to do it. But I didn’t know about where he grew up, about his parents, his favorite color, favorite food, what he liked doing besides hockey. Not to mention, he’s been with Marisa lately and now here he was, sitting on the couch, stuffing his face with junk food to try and beat me at who can eat more junk food. I couldn’t wrap my head around it exactly.
“Mia?” Jonathan asked, waving a hand in front of my face, “Are you okay? You were staring off into space for a bit”
“Oh, sorry” I blushed and looked down at my hands, “I was just thinking”
He nodded in understanding and stuffed his face with some more chips before grinning, “I think I’m winning this game”
___________________
A half an hour and several empty bags later, we were completely quiet not able to move or speak. Jonathan clearly won since he can eat double my body weight in anything else , and he threw his hands up in victory. After 20 minutes passed he spoke, “I’m still hungry”
I looked over at him and groaned, “Are you serious? You ate way more than I did and I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to eat for another week unless I throw up everything i just ate”
He stood up and stretched causing his shirt to ride up a bit exposing his abs. I bit my lip and looked away so I wouldn’t get caught staring at him. He checked the time on his phone and looked down at me, “Do you want to go get something to eat?”
I groaned, “How about you get something to eat and I’ll just be there to give you some company?”
He nodded, “Deal, come on. Go put some pants on, it’s a little cold outside to be wearing shorts, unless you prefer to be cold, then I don’t mind you in shorts one bit”
I rolled my eyes at the smirk on his face, and ran upstairs to go change in a pair of sweatpants and slip on my moccasins. I grabbed some cash and stuffed it in my pocket just in case I ended up getting something since I didn’t expect Jonathan to pay. When I walked back downstairs, the living room was clear of any trace of food being there and Jon was sitting on the couch flipping through all the sports channels. “You ready?” Jonathan stood up and turned to me nodding. He grabbed his keys out of his pocket and led me to his car. The ride was pretty much silent except for the music playing in the background. “So, where do you want to go?”
“I don’t care, it’s up to you, superstar. I wouldn’t want paparazzi following you around when you’re just trying to eat some food”
“What? Are you worried about them thinking you’re my girlfriend, and Marisa finding out?” He teased.
“Something like that,” I muttered, “Isn’t she your girlfriend?”
He laughed and shook his head, “No, she is most definitely not my girlfriend. She used to be, not anymore”
I nodded and it was quiet for a bit more, “What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?” I laughed just like he had done before, “No, I used to. Before I came to Chicago, I had one”
“Would it be wrong to ask what happened?” I could tell he was nervous about asking me, and immediately wanted to take the words back.
“No, but I usually don’t talk to people about it. But I think I can make an exception if you tell me about Marisa” Okay, so I admit I was curious, but that didn’t mean I was jealous or cared.
He looked over at me and smiled, “You have yourself a deal”
Jonathan pulled up in front of a small restaurant and we were seated in the back with dim lights. There was no one else in the restaurant and I figured he comes here often because the hostess and all the waiters and waitresses seemed to know him. “Hey Jon, how’s it going?” A young waitress approached our table and smiled over at Jon who returned it, “Hey Alissa. I’m great, how are you?”
She shrugged, “I’ve been better, the wedding’s driving me absolutely crazy. Michael’s not helping me with anything, he doesn’t really care too much about the difference between plain napkins and decorative napkins. It’s a little difficult. How about you? Getting ready for the upcoming season?”
He nodded, “Yeah, trying to get a lot of practice in. Would like a Stanley Cup, but it’s still pretty early. We’ll see what happens”
She nodded, “Well, me and Michael will be watching of course. Can I get you something to drink?”
“I’ll just have a water” She nodded and turned to me, “Anything for your lovely date?”
Both Jon and I blushed a deep shade of red, “She’s not my date, Al. Just a friend” Alissa’s eyes widened and blushed, “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I had no idea, I just assumed. I’m going to shut up now. What would you like, friend of captain serious?”
I smiled, “I’ll have a water too, please. And you can call me Mia” She smiled and nodded, “I’ll be right out with your drinks Jon and Mia” She winked and walked away to go get our drinks. She returned a couple of seconds and placed our drinks in front of us, “Are you guys ready to order?”
“I’ll have the cheeseburger well done with a side of fries” Jonathan handed her his menu and she turned to me. My eyes lit up when I looked down at the menu, “I’ll have the chocolate chip pancakes and a side of bacon” She took my menu and disappeared to go put our orders in.
“Pancakes and bacon at 9 at night?” Jon asked with a raised eyebrow, “Chocolate chip pancakes to be specific?”
I stuck my tongue out at him, “Chocolate chip pancakes are the best, especially at night. You’ve never had breakfast for dinner?” He shook his head and I smiled, “Well then, there’s a first time for everything and that time is now. You’re going to have some of mine, and then try and tell me that breakfast for dinner isn’t the best thing you’ve ever had”
He nodded in agreement, “So now’s as good of a time as any. Tell me about this boyfriend of yours”
I shook my head and his face dropped a little bit, “You go first, how do I know you’ll tell me?”
He sighed and rolled his eyes, “You’re pretty impossible, you know that?” I nodded and he started the story, “I met her at a club one time with the guys. This was my rookie year, so I was pretty stupid. I didn’t know what I was doing, I loved the fact that girls gave me attention because I was a professional hockey player. We began dating on and off for a little bit, and when I became captain, she decided to make it official. She always wanted to be in front of a camera so the paparazzi could see us. She was a model, so she loved the attention anyway” I knew it, “The guys pretty much saw right through her act, trying to tell me she was using me for my fame and money, hell, she ran up my credit card bill. Paying that off was not fun, let me tell you. They always told me they would catch her out with other guys at clubs when I wasn’t there because I was working on hockey plays or something. I never believed them, because I didn’t see it with my own eyes. On my birthday, the guys took me out and Marisa couldn’t come because she claimed she was sick, so I shook it off and went out to have a good time with my friends and told her I would go over her house after to hang out with her and make her some soup. Well, when we got to the place, turns out Marisa was there hooking up with some guy in the middle of the dance floor. I pulled her aside and she yelled at me saying that I was never there for her and was always busy with hockey, so she broke up with me on my birthday and I caught her cheating with some asshole. She made me out to be the bad guy when I should have been the one to get pissed at her and break up with her. But the party was the first time I’ve seen her since then, so I got a little carried away. Turns out, the guy broke up with her so she decided to run back into my arms. That’s kind of why I wanted to see Pat tonight, talk to him about it because he’s one of the only people who can drill it in my brain that she’s no good. I know she isn’t, but I guess you can consider her the one that got away”
I shook my head, “Can I give my advice and input since Pat isn’t here to do it for you?” He nodded and I sighed before speaking, “To be honest, I think you’re the one that got away from her. You’re too good for her, Jon. From first sight I didn’t like her. If she cheated once, she’ll do it again, she doesn’t seem like she supports your career, you’re doing good for your team and she’s in some club hooking up with everything that has a penis between their legs,” He laughed but I didn’t stop talking, “You can do a lot better, you don’t need her. You’ll wind up getting hurt again. You’re an amazing guy, you deserve a great girl” He smiled genuinely and took my hand that was sitting on the table, “Thanks Mia. That honestly means a lot, Kaner would probably be sitting here calling me a shithead for even thinking about going back to her. But you helped a lot, so thank you. Now it’s your turn”
When I was about to start, Alissa interrupted me by placing our food in front of us, “There you go guys, enjoy. Let me know if you need anything” We nodded and said thank you before digging into our food. Turns out, I was a lot hungrier than I thought because I dug right in.
Jon had an amused expression on his face and I turned to face him, “What?” He shook his head, “I thought you said you weren’t hungry” I rolled my eyes, “Shut up, fatass and eat your burger” He pretended to look hurt but then he laughed and began eating his own food. He finished his burger in record time, and I wasn’t even halfway done with my food. I pushed over my plate to him, “Here, you take the rest. You need enough to experience it for your first time”
“Are you sure?” He asked me, picking up the fork next to him. When I nodded, he began eating and smiled over at me, “This is the most amazing thing ever. I can’t believe I’ve never had this before” I smiled, “Aren’t you glad you have me to show you the amazing things in life?” Alissa came back with our check and to take our plates away, and both of us reached for it at the same time, me successfully beating Jonathan, “You’re not paying for me, Jon”
He picked up my hand and moved it aside before grabbing the check before I could reach for it again, “I’m not letting you pay for yourself. I’m a gentleman, plus I ate more of your dinner than you did” I sighed, “Thank you Jon. But next time, it’s my treat, or I’m paying for myself” He nodded and pulled two twenties out of his pocket, “Alright, but I have to pay you back for tonight for helping me out with Marisa. Consider this as a big thank you” When Alissa came back, she smiled and took the money off the table asking Jonathan if he needed any change, he shook his head, “It’s all yours, Lis. Good luck with the wedding”
“Thanks Jon, it was really nice meeting you Mia. You guys have a good night” I smiled, “You too. Oh and Alissa, if you ever need help with the wedding, I’m actually a wedding planner and would love to help” She smiled and leaned over to hug me, “Thank you so much, Mia! I was beginning to get stressed out with this whole situation with no one helping me. You’re amazing!” I gave her the details of where the office was, she just had to call Whitney and schedule an appointment and we could meet up and discuss the plans. Jonathan had a smile on his face the whole time and when we got back to his car the smile never left his face, “That was a really nice thing you did. Thanks, Mia. She’s been one of my friends forever and I know how stressed she is. You helped her out a lot”
I shrugged, “It’s no big deal, it’s my job basically and I figured I could help her out. Why not?” He nodded, “So, I think you owe me a story”
I took a deep breath, “His name was Jason. I met him through a mutual friend, he was the typical boy next door. We dated for a year, and it was pretty much perfect, I fell for him hard. After a year, he began to keep his distance, he wouldn’t call me as often, I wouldn’t see him for days” Tears started forming in my eyes and Jonathan kept looking between me and the road in front of him obviously wanting to do something about the tears in my eyes, “One day when we were hanging out, he went to go shower so I looked through his phone. I felt bad for doing it at the time because it showed I didn’t trust him, but I knew I couldn’t. I never had good luck with relationships, I always put a wall up because I felt like I had to. He was the only one who could break it down. It turns out he was texting his ex, calling her, talking about getting back together and how he couldn’t wait to see her. It was going on for 6 months, so 6 months of our relationship was a complete lie. Breaking up with him was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. After that, I didn’t let anyone in, I couldn’t. I was hurt way too much. So I just drowned myself in work, it was the only thing that I could do, and knew how to do well. I guess it paid off because I got a promotion. So I moved to Chicago, which was a blessing because I didn’t know how I was going to stay in New York and deal with possibly seeing him and her everywhere I go.” By the time I was done with the story, silent tears were streaming down my face and I’m pretty sure we were parked outside of the house, but neither of us moved or spoke for a few minutes.
It seemed like an eternity, but I felt a comforting hand on my thigh and I turned to face Jon who had an expression on his face that I couldn’t read, “I’m really sorry, Mia. You don’t deserve that, he’s an asshole who doesn’t deserve you. You deserve so much better. You deserve someone who’s actually going to love you and care for you” I tried to muster a smile, “Thank you Jon” It was barely audible, but I knew he heard me cause a smile made its way onto his face. “Come on, let’s go inside. I can’t leave you like this” I wiped my eyes with my sleeve and got out of the car leading Jon to the door. I pulled the keys out of my pocket and opened the door making my way over to the couch and laying down on it. Jon sat down at the far end where my feet were and put my feet on top of his legs. I rolled over so I was lying on my back, “Let’s play a game”
He laughed, “You’re upset, and you want to play a game?” He shook his head, “You’re unbelievable”
I sat up and pulled my feet of his lap to sit cross legged, “I need to keep my mind off of it. So, let’s play 20 questions. I feel like I know nothing about you. You start”
He thought for a moment, “How long have you been best friends with Pat?”
“Easy, we’ve been friends since we were about 4 or 5. Our moms became friends so we hung out with each other a lot, and naturally we became best friends. We grew up together. Do you have any siblings?”
He nodded, “Yeah, I have a younger brother named David. He plays hockey too, he’s almost as good as me. What made you want to be a wedding planner?”
I shrugged, “I’ve always loved planning things. Plus I never believed in love or anything, I suck at relationships, so I decided to be a wedding planner and give people the dream wedding they always wanted. I guess you can say I live vicariously through them, seeing them so happy and in love makes me happy and I’m content”
The questions kept going on, getting a little less personal as time passed. I learned his favorite color, favorite movie, where he grew up, and everything else you can possibly think of. We were halfway through the game when I felt my eyelids getting heavy, “You tired?” I nodded and rolled over closing my eyes. I felt Jon get up from the couch and a few seconds later, a blanket was placed over me. I felt the couch sink in again and when I rolled over to see what he was doing, he was already asleep in a sitting position. I couldn’t help but notice how adorable he looked; his hair was a little messed up, his mouth was slightly open snoring lightly, and his head rested on his shoulder which I knew was probably going to kill him in the morning. I smiled and drifted off into sleep.
“You look amazing!” I gushed, pouring popcorn into a bowl. I decided that since I had no one to hang out with tonight, I was going to have some Mia time and eat junk food and watch every single movie that could make me cry. She leaned over and reached for a piece of popcorn and popped it in her mouth, “Hey! That’s mine, that’s a valuable piece of popcorn you just ate”
She rolled her eyes and reached for another one, doing the same thing. I stuck my tongue out at her and she laughed, “Come on Mia, why don’t you come hang out with me and Patrick tonight?”
I shot her a look and laughed sarcastically, “Oh yeah, let me be the third wheel while you guys make lovey eyes at each other. Just what I want to do. I’d rather sit here in front of a giant TV, eat my body weight in junk food, and watch movies so I can cry my eyes out. I think I’ll pass on third wheeling” My life was pretty pathetic tonight, but what was I going to do?
“Why don’t you call Jonathan up? I’m sure he would love to entertain you” She said suggestively with a wink. She was obviously clueless as to the fact that Jonathan doesn’t like me, considering the fact that he’s been M.I.A lately. Patrick told me he was spending all of his time with Marisa lately since she waltzed into his life. It was none of my business, but she definitely wasn’t good for him.
I rolled my eyes and pushed past her plopping on the couch with my bowl of popcorn and remote in hand. She followed suit and looked over at me as if expecting an answer, “You do realize that he’s been with Marisa lately, right? So, clearly I can’t call up Jonathan to entertain me” I chewed thoughtfully on a piece of popcorn, “whatever that means anyway”
“It means that you two can have some fun in your bedroom, wow Mia you’re a slow one aren’t you?” We both whipped our heads around to find Pat standing there with a shit eating grin on his face. Whitney smiled and stood up, causing his jaw to drop to floor and his eyes to pop out of his head. I smiled in satisfaction, watching Whitney blush under his gaze unable to keep her eyes off of him either. I wasn’t one for romance, but this was a pretty romantic moment. Maybe if they just stood there the whole night, I could watch them and save myself the crying part that comes with the romance movies. “Okay, you two lovebirds, get the hell out of here. I’m done watching you two have eye sex, next thing you know you’ll be doing it right in front of me and I don’t think my eyes could take that” This time they both blushed, and Patrick led Whitney out of the door with his hand on the small of her back. We said our goodbyes, me warning Pat that if he hurt her, I’d get him in his sleep. I should start putting matchmaking on my resume.
20 minutes later the doorbell rang, and I figured it was Patrick realizing he forgot his wallet or something and went to go answer the door. I was surprised when I saw Jonathan standing on the other side of the door with a smile on his face, “Hey Mia, is Pat here?”
“Um, no. He actually just left a little while ago. He went on a date with Whitney. Do you need something?”
“That’s great! I guess your plan worked” I smiled in return and pushed the door open all the way, “Do you want to come in?”
He poked his head in, taking sight of the movie on the screen, and the tons of food around me before stepping in. I closed the door, and when I turned back to face him, he was smirking, “Looks like you had a pretty hot date yourself”
I rolled my eyes and shoved him causing him to laugh. I paused the movie and made my way into the kitchen, Jonathan trailing behind me, “Do you want something to eat?”
He smiled, “I wouldn’t mind eating some of that food you had in there. I could go for eating my own weight in junk food, too”
“Won’t that screw up your healthy diet for the season, captain?” I challenged him.
“I bet you I could eat more than you. How much do you weigh? 80 pounds?” He teased. I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted. He laughed, and before I knew it, he was tossing me over his shoulder walking into the living room, “Jonathan! Put me down!” I screamed, hitting his back, but that did nothing since his back was pretty much a brick wall. He just laughed and I sighed in defeat before being thrown on the couch, “Was that so bad?” He asked, sitting down next to me and reaching for one of the bag of chips. When I didn’t answer he grabbed the remote, “What movie is this anyway?” He stuffed a few chips in his mouth and I stared at him in disbelief.
I knew absolutely nothing about Jonathan besides the fact that he was the captain for the Blackhawks, and he was a genuinely nice guy. We met in one of the most awkward ways possible, and then he drove me to work one day because Patrick wasn’t home to do it. But I didn’t know about where he grew up, about his parents, his favorite color, favorite food, what he liked doing besides hockey. Not to mention, he’s been with Marisa lately and now here he was, sitting on the couch, stuffing his face with junk food to try and beat me at who can eat more junk food. I couldn’t wrap my head around it exactly.
“Mia?” Jonathan asked, waving a hand in front of my face, “Are you okay? You were staring off into space for a bit”
“Oh, sorry” I blushed and looked down at my hands, “I was just thinking”
He nodded in understanding and stuffed his face with some more chips before grinning, “I think I’m winning this game”
___________________
A half an hour and several empty bags later, we were completely quiet not able to move or speak. Jonathan clearly won since he can eat double my body weight in anything else , and he threw his hands up in victory. After 20 minutes passed he spoke, “I’m still hungry”
I looked over at him and groaned, “Are you serious? You ate way more than I did and I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to eat for another week unless I throw up everything i just ate”
He stood up and stretched causing his shirt to ride up a bit exposing his abs. I bit my lip and looked away so I wouldn’t get caught staring at him. He checked the time on his phone and looked down at me, “Do you want to go get something to eat?”
I groaned, “How about you get something to eat and I’ll just be there to give you some company?”
He nodded, “Deal, come on. Go put some pants on, it’s a little cold outside to be wearing shorts, unless you prefer to be cold, then I don’t mind you in shorts one bit”
I rolled my eyes at the smirk on his face, and ran upstairs to go change in a pair of sweatpants and slip on my moccasins. I grabbed some cash and stuffed it in my pocket just in case I ended up getting something since I didn’t expect Jonathan to pay. When I walked back downstairs, the living room was clear of any trace of food being there and Jon was sitting on the couch flipping through all the sports channels. “You ready?” Jonathan stood up and turned to me nodding. He grabbed his keys out of his pocket and led me to his car. The ride was pretty much silent except for the music playing in the background. “So, where do you want to go?”
“I don’t care, it’s up to you, superstar. I wouldn’t want paparazzi following you around when you’re just trying to eat some food”
“What? Are you worried about them thinking you’re my girlfriend, and Marisa finding out?” He teased.
“Something like that,” I muttered, “Isn’t she your girlfriend?”
He laughed and shook his head, “No, she is most definitely not my girlfriend. She used to be, not anymore”
I nodded and it was quiet for a bit more, “What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?” I laughed just like he had done before, “No, I used to. Before I came to Chicago, I had one”
“Would it be wrong to ask what happened?” I could tell he was nervous about asking me, and immediately wanted to take the words back.
“No, but I usually don’t talk to people about it. But I think I can make an exception if you tell me about Marisa” Okay, so I admit I was curious, but that didn’t mean I was jealous or cared.
He looked over at me and smiled, “You have yourself a deal”
Jonathan pulled up in front of a small restaurant and we were seated in the back with dim lights. There was no one else in the restaurant and I figured he comes here often because the hostess and all the waiters and waitresses seemed to know him. “Hey Jon, how’s it going?” A young waitress approached our table and smiled over at Jon who returned it, “Hey Alissa. I’m great, how are you?”
She shrugged, “I’ve been better, the wedding’s driving me absolutely crazy. Michael’s not helping me with anything, he doesn’t really care too much about the difference between plain napkins and decorative napkins. It’s a little difficult. How about you? Getting ready for the upcoming season?”
He nodded, “Yeah, trying to get a lot of practice in. Would like a Stanley Cup, but it’s still pretty early. We’ll see what happens”
She nodded, “Well, me and Michael will be watching of course. Can I get you something to drink?”
“I’ll just have a water” She nodded and turned to me, “Anything for your lovely date?”
Both Jon and I blushed a deep shade of red, “She’s not my date, Al. Just a friend” Alissa’s eyes widened and blushed, “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I had no idea, I just assumed. I’m going to shut up now. What would you like, friend of captain serious?”
I smiled, “I’ll have a water too, please. And you can call me Mia” She smiled and nodded, “I’ll be right out with your drinks Jon and Mia” She winked and walked away to go get our drinks. She returned a couple of seconds and placed our drinks in front of us, “Are you guys ready to order?”
“I’ll have the cheeseburger well done with a side of fries” Jonathan handed her his menu and she turned to me. My eyes lit up when I looked down at the menu, “I’ll have the chocolate chip pancakes and a side of bacon” She took my menu and disappeared to go put our orders in.
“Pancakes and bacon at 9 at night?” Jon asked with a raised eyebrow, “Chocolate chip pancakes to be specific?”
I stuck my tongue out at him, “Chocolate chip pancakes are the best, especially at night. You’ve never had breakfast for dinner?” He shook his head and I smiled, “Well then, there’s a first time for everything and that time is now. You’re going to have some of mine, and then try and tell me that breakfast for dinner isn’t the best thing you’ve ever had”
He nodded in agreement, “So now’s as good of a time as any. Tell me about this boyfriend of yours”
I shook my head and his face dropped a little bit, “You go first, how do I know you’ll tell me?”
He sighed and rolled his eyes, “You’re pretty impossible, you know that?” I nodded and he started the story, “I met her at a club one time with the guys. This was my rookie year, so I was pretty stupid. I didn’t know what I was doing, I loved the fact that girls gave me attention because I was a professional hockey player. We began dating on and off for a little bit, and when I became captain, she decided to make it official. She always wanted to be in front of a camera so the paparazzi could see us. She was a model, so she loved the attention anyway” I knew it, “The guys pretty much saw right through her act, trying to tell me she was using me for my fame and money, hell, she ran up my credit card bill. Paying that off was not fun, let me tell you. They always told me they would catch her out with other guys at clubs when I wasn’t there because I was working on hockey plays or something. I never believed them, because I didn’t see it with my own eyes. On my birthday, the guys took me out and Marisa couldn’t come because she claimed she was sick, so I shook it off and went out to have a good time with my friends and told her I would go over her house after to hang out with her and make her some soup. Well, when we got to the place, turns out Marisa was there hooking up with some guy in the middle of the dance floor. I pulled her aside and she yelled at me saying that I was never there for her and was always busy with hockey, so she broke up with me on my birthday and I caught her cheating with some asshole. She made me out to be the bad guy when I should have been the one to get pissed at her and break up with her. But the party was the first time I’ve seen her since then, so I got a little carried away. Turns out, the guy broke up with her so she decided to run back into my arms. That’s kind of why I wanted to see Pat tonight, talk to him about it because he’s one of the only people who can drill it in my brain that she’s no good. I know she isn’t, but I guess you can consider her the one that got away”
I shook my head, “Can I give my advice and input since Pat isn’t here to do it for you?” He nodded and I sighed before speaking, “To be honest, I think you’re the one that got away from her. You’re too good for her, Jon. From first sight I didn’t like her. If she cheated once, she’ll do it again, she doesn’t seem like she supports your career, you’re doing good for your team and she’s in some club hooking up with everything that has a penis between their legs,” He laughed but I didn’t stop talking, “You can do a lot better, you don’t need her. You’ll wind up getting hurt again. You’re an amazing guy, you deserve a great girl” He smiled genuinely and took my hand that was sitting on the table, “Thanks Mia. That honestly means a lot, Kaner would probably be sitting here calling me a shithead for even thinking about going back to her. But you helped a lot, so thank you. Now it’s your turn”
When I was about to start, Alissa interrupted me by placing our food in front of us, “There you go guys, enjoy. Let me know if you need anything” We nodded and said thank you before digging into our food. Turns out, I was a lot hungrier than I thought because I dug right in.
Jon had an amused expression on his face and I turned to face him, “What?” He shook his head, “I thought you said you weren’t hungry” I rolled my eyes, “Shut up, fatass and eat your burger” He pretended to look hurt but then he laughed and began eating his own food. He finished his burger in record time, and I wasn’t even halfway done with my food. I pushed over my plate to him, “Here, you take the rest. You need enough to experience it for your first time”
“Are you sure?” He asked me, picking up the fork next to him. When I nodded, he began eating and smiled over at me, “This is the most amazing thing ever. I can’t believe I’ve never had this before” I smiled, “Aren’t you glad you have me to show you the amazing things in life?” Alissa came back with our check and to take our plates away, and both of us reached for it at the same time, me successfully beating Jonathan, “You’re not paying for me, Jon”
He picked up my hand and moved it aside before grabbing the check before I could reach for it again, “I’m not letting you pay for yourself. I’m a gentleman, plus I ate more of your dinner than you did” I sighed, “Thank you Jon. But next time, it’s my treat, or I’m paying for myself” He nodded and pulled two twenties out of his pocket, “Alright, but I have to pay you back for tonight for helping me out with Marisa. Consider this as a big thank you” When Alissa came back, she smiled and took the money off the table asking Jonathan if he needed any change, he shook his head, “It’s all yours, Lis. Good luck with the wedding”
“Thanks Jon, it was really nice meeting you Mia. You guys have a good night” I smiled, “You too. Oh and Alissa, if you ever need help with the wedding, I’m actually a wedding planner and would love to help” She smiled and leaned over to hug me, “Thank you so much, Mia! I was beginning to get stressed out with this whole situation with no one helping me. You’re amazing!” I gave her the details of where the office was, she just had to call Whitney and schedule an appointment and we could meet up and discuss the plans. Jonathan had a smile on his face the whole time and when we got back to his car the smile never left his face, “That was a really nice thing you did. Thanks, Mia. She’s been one of my friends forever and I know how stressed she is. You helped her out a lot”
I shrugged, “It’s no big deal, it’s my job basically and I figured I could help her out. Why not?” He nodded, “So, I think you owe me a story”
I took a deep breath, “His name was Jason. I met him through a mutual friend, he was the typical boy next door. We dated for a year, and it was pretty much perfect, I fell for him hard. After a year, he began to keep his distance, he wouldn’t call me as often, I wouldn’t see him for days” Tears started forming in my eyes and Jonathan kept looking between me and the road in front of him obviously wanting to do something about the tears in my eyes, “One day when we were hanging out, he went to go shower so I looked through his phone. I felt bad for doing it at the time because it showed I didn’t trust him, but I knew I couldn’t. I never had good luck with relationships, I always put a wall up because I felt like I had to. He was the only one who could break it down. It turns out he was texting his ex, calling her, talking about getting back together and how he couldn’t wait to see her. It was going on for 6 months, so 6 months of our relationship was a complete lie. Breaking up with him was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. After that, I didn’t let anyone in, I couldn’t. I was hurt way too much. So I just drowned myself in work, it was the only thing that I could do, and knew how to do well. I guess it paid off because I got a promotion. So I moved to Chicago, which was a blessing because I didn’t know how I was going to stay in New York and deal with possibly seeing him and her everywhere I go.” By the time I was done with the story, silent tears were streaming down my face and I’m pretty sure we were parked outside of the house, but neither of us moved or spoke for a few minutes.
It seemed like an eternity, but I felt a comforting hand on my thigh and I turned to face Jon who had an expression on his face that I couldn’t read, “I’m really sorry, Mia. You don’t deserve that, he’s an asshole who doesn’t deserve you. You deserve so much better. You deserve someone who’s actually going to love you and care for you” I tried to muster a smile, “Thank you Jon” It was barely audible, but I knew he heard me cause a smile made its way onto his face. “Come on, let’s go inside. I can’t leave you like this” I wiped my eyes with my sleeve and got out of the car leading Jon to the door. I pulled the keys out of my pocket and opened the door making my way over to the couch and laying down on it. Jon sat down at the far end where my feet were and put my feet on top of his legs. I rolled over so I was lying on my back, “Let’s play a game”
He laughed, “You’re upset, and you want to play a game?” He shook his head, “You’re unbelievable”
I sat up and pulled my feet of his lap to sit cross legged, “I need to keep my mind off of it. So, let’s play 20 questions. I feel like I know nothing about you. You start”
He thought for a moment, “How long have you been best friends with Pat?”
“Easy, we’ve been friends since we were about 4 or 5. Our moms became friends so we hung out with each other a lot, and naturally we became best friends. We grew up together. Do you have any siblings?”
He nodded, “Yeah, I have a younger brother named David. He plays hockey too, he’s almost as good as me. What made you want to be a wedding planner?”
I shrugged, “I’ve always loved planning things. Plus I never believed in love or anything, I suck at relationships, so I decided to be a wedding planner and give people the dream wedding they always wanted. I guess you can say I live vicariously through them, seeing them so happy and in love makes me happy and I’m content”
The questions kept going on, getting a little less personal as time passed. I learned his favorite color, favorite movie, where he grew up, and everything else you can possibly think of. We were halfway through the game when I felt my eyelids getting heavy, “You tired?” I nodded and rolled over closing my eyes. I felt Jon get up from the couch and a few seconds later, a blanket was placed over me. I felt the couch sink in again and when I rolled over to see what he was doing, he was already asleep in a sitting position. I couldn’t help but notice how adorable he looked; his hair was a little messed up, his mouth was slightly open snoring lightly, and his head rested on his shoulder which I knew was probably going to kill him in the morning. I smiled and drifted off into sleep.