Here's to Second Chances

The cold Columbus, Ohio air hit Langley as soon as she left the bar. She scrunched further into her winter coat and scarf to avoid the frigid air. The crowd around her was laughing and giggling but she wasn’t in the mood to deal with all of the late night happiness, it was too cold and she was too pissed to even consider getting involved in any of the shenanigans.

She felt a hand on her arm and turned her face only to be greeted by a face she had been trying to avoid. The hand went down her arm and to her hand that was gloved and in her pocket, “Hey Lang,” the tall man on her right smiled.

Langley smiled up at him, “Hey Jack.”

“You okay?” he looked concerned.

“A-Okay,” she said sarcastically.

He turned his head and then looked back down at her, “I saw you in there tonight, you looked bored.”

“Fuck, I was going for miserable.”

He gave her a small smile, “Why don’t you come to our little after party at my place? He won’t be there.”

“Who will be?”

“Some of the guys, not many though. It’s small; we’re just restless after the loss.”

Langley looked around at her group of coupled friends and nodded, “It’ll be nice to get away from all this.”

“That’s what I figured,” he squeezed her hand, “Come on.”

Langley walked to Jack Johnson’s SUV with him and paused, “You’re sure?”

“I've got you," he assured her, "Tonight, you have nothing to worry about. You'll have fun, you always do with us," he teased as he hugged her tight.

She raised an eyebrow at him, “Really?”

“Shut up! That was once,” he chuckled, “And you actually had fun golfing with us.”

“Correction, I had fun getting hammered and tossing balls at you boys.”

“You had fun either way.”

The two got into the silver SUV and began the short drive to Jack’s condo nestled in downtown Columbus. She kept quiet, not wanting to ask about the elephant in the room, but also battling with the fact that she wanted to know how he was doing.

Jack sensed the vibe and broke the silence, “He’s an idiot.”

“Too many pucks to the head.”

“Too many drinks,” Jack corrected her, “That night was a haze for all of them I hear.”

“Glad to know it's been talked about," she sighed, "It was Jeff Carter's fault,” she looked at Jack, “Thank god you never met that bastard and let him corrupt you.”

“I’ve heard enough stories though,” Jack chuckled, “Steve's sorry though Lang, he misses the hell out of you.”

“As he should,” she folded her arms in front of her chest.

They pulled into the parking garage. Jack hopped out quickly but Langley was apprehensive. She finally took a deep breath and peeled herself from the warm leather in the brand new SUV. Jack draped his arm over her shoulders and smiled, “If he does show up, I’ve got your back, okay?”

“Oh, so he might show up?” Langley rolled her eyes, “Hidden fucking motives Johnson.”

“Come on, just get drunk and have some fun.”

“Isn’t that what got me in this situation in the first place?”

“Sometimes I wonder why we miss you around so much, you and your sarcasm.”

Jack led Langley up to his condo where a few of the guys were already waiting. They didn’t seem surprised to see her, but they all greeted her warmly. She knew all of the Columbus Blue Jackets and actually missed ninety percent of them. They were a pretty welcoming group of guys and a lot of fun to be around, but for some reason Langley wasn’t in the mood to be welcomed and hugged like that.

Jack unlocked his door and the guys piled into the kitchen to grab some drinks before heading out to the living room to play video games and other various drinking games.

Langley looked around the kitchen, sensing that it was going to be a weird night. She hadn't seen many of these guys in months and really had been trying to avoid them by only going out when they were out of town and changed up her bar scene to ones they didn't frequent too often. Columbus wasn't a huge place, but it was big enough for her to stay out of the Blue Jackets' way for the most part.

Jack Johnson was one friend she hadn't lost in the breakup of her and Steve Mason. She and Jack had become close when he was traded from the warm Los Angeles weather to the dreary, subdued 'city' of Columbus, Ohio. He had needed someone to bond with and keep him company when the inside jokes and teasing would begin and Langley stepped in immediately.

When Jack had met Langley she was still with Steve. The two were good together, everyone thought so. She and Steve were one of those couples that people strive to become, so needless to say, their breakup had been out of the blue to the surrounding people. No one knew of that night Steve spend in the bed of another woman while on the road, not even Langley until two months later.

As she stood in the kitchen, zoning out, she thought about how nice it was that the guys didn't seem to mind her being there, how nice they welcomed her back, and without any questions or comments thus far. She hopped up on the white counter top and watched the boys argue over who made the best bloody Mary for the next morning, who would have to sober up quick enough to get half of them home, and who the scantily clad girl at the bar was really looking at. She smiled at how childish the boys could be at times and how much fun she used to have at these little get togethers when she was with Steve.

Jared Boll handed Langley a beer, “Missed seeing you around.”

“I missed you guys too,” she said as James Wisniewski stumbled around and spilled his drink, “Some of you,” she laughed.

Jared laughed and gave her a side hug, “I know you don’t want to hear this…”

“You’re right, I don’t,” Langley said in a snotty tone.

“Mason misses you,” he said anyway, “He hasn’t let the situation go since it happened.”

“It’s been like ten months, he can let it go.”

“You two were together for a year and a half,” Jared reminded me, “Ten months is nothing.”

Jared walked away but Langley stayed in the kitchen. She surveyed the noise level of hte living room and decided to stay back for a moment to collect her thoughts. She could go out there, get plastered with the guys or she could sit back and watch everything unfold, laughing at how drunk and stupid they were and reliving the old times. Or, she could sit in the kitchen and wallow in self pity, which at the moment seemed like a better idea. As she walked around, cleaning up some of the spills Jack walked in and smiled, “Hey, you don't have to do that," he stopped her from wiping up some Bacardi.

"Habit," she laughed at herself.

"I really have missed seeing you around,” he told her.

“Right now, you’re the only one I’ve missed.”

He hugged her, “Steve’s an idiot, remind me to slap a puck at his face next practice.”

“Noted,” she nodded as she heard the front door open and close.

Over Jack’s shoulder she could see that she needed to either run or face the unwelcome situation head on. Jack turned around and made a face, “Wonder who told him.”

“I’m going to call a cab and…”

“Lala?” she turned to the voice coming from the other doorway into the kitchen.