The Next Year

We were in Tampa, our first roadie of the season. I was stretching out post practice when I got a chance to talk to Tanger about something I’d heard earlier. “Hey man who were you talking to earlier?”

Tanger looked up from his stick at me. “When?” He looked a little spooked about it honestly.

“On the bus over here. You spoke to someone on your phone. You didn’t exactly sound happy either.” I watched as he sighed and hung his head.

“Oh, I thought I saw you notice. That was my favorite cousin Jacque. He’s kind of put me in an awkward spot.” He double checked who was around and sat down next to me. “I know who my attendants are going to be but I don’t know_how_ to ask them. I was trying to ask for his advice when he completely misunderstood and said yes.”

I winced, that _was_ a tough spot. “Of course there’s no talking to him about it cause he really is your favorite cousin.” Tanger nodded. I shook my head and asked the next, to me, obvious question. “Does Kallie know yet?” He shook his head no. I resisted the urge to smack in the back of the head. I couldn’t keep the exasperation out of my voice though. “Kris…”

He sighed heavily. “I know, I know but what if she hates me for throwing everything off? How would you have handled it?” Turning this around on me wouldn’t work.

Shrugging I rolled with it. “Called Tay and been even again within minutes. Not to mention looked like the most awesome sister ever.” It’s what I would have done too. I knew that long before he ever asked. “You have to at least give her the _chance_ to find someone before you assume she’ll be mad.”

He got up and sighed. “Fine I’ll call her but if she’s mad I’m blaming you.” He wandered into the locker room to find his phone.

I few minutes later I heard him shout. “Hey Mal! Kallie has something to ask you!” A few of the guys making whip jokes before a happy voice sang out.

“Shut it creeps!” I said ash I brought his phone out into the hall. “Hey lady, everything ok?” I moved out until I found a spot on the bench where I could hear her better. “What is this thing that the guys are now teasing Tanger about?”

“Everything’s ok and I hope you won’t be too upset about it.” I knew that he had told her about his cousin, so I listened closely to her. “I was hoping that you would be free and willing to be one of my attendants.” I closed my eyes and hoped.

“This is cause of his idiot cousin isn’t it?” I said wryly, already knowing the answer.

Kallie’s voice got muffled a bit as she answered. “Yeah, none of us can think of anyone else who might fit in well with who I already have. The problem will be finding a dress around your schedule.” I did my best sitting down happy dance.

“Maybe… maybe not. When’s your appointment?” I started kicking the boards to use up some of the happy energy I now had.

“Um, 2 o’clock this afternoon.” I did some mental math as she said that. “I don’t want to get in the way of anything though.”

I then scoffed at her. “I have this afternoon free actually. Where are you going to look?” Kallie told me and I couldn’t help but giggle. “I found mine at David’s Bridal, but I love it still. I’ll keep my laptop open when you’re there, we can FaceTime it while I look the dresses up here. I’ll do anything I can to help too. I didn’t get to plan my wedding, Mari and Sid did it. Most everything was a surprise.”

I heard Kallie exhale. Did she think I wouldn’t jump at this chance? I heard her voice waver as if she was crying as well as she spoke next. “Aleks, thank you.”

I smiled into Tanger’s phone. “Please… you’re letting me be a girl _and_ on the team. Just FaceTime me and we’ll work it all out.” I got off the phone with her, letting her get back to her visitors as I skipped back into the locker room and handed Kris his phone.

The guys tried making fun of me but I laughed it all off. “Hey Mal, who did what to you to make you so happy?” It was at this point that Sid came back in from talking to someone, making the guys roar with laughter at the coincidence.

I rolled my eyes and flipped them all off. “Please, as if we’d talk about that with _any_ of you…” I decided that I had to share my happiness so at least I wouldn’t get the third degree later this afternoon. “Besides, how often does a girl get to be a bridesmaid for a teammate?” A look of utter relief crossed Kris’ face.

After lunch Sid was sitting with me just hanging out and doing nothing when his phone rang. Apparently Sid had forgotten an appointment and Frank was looking for him. “Sorry babe. Dinner in tonight?” He said as we got up and he kissed me.

“Sounds good. I’ve got a FaceTime appointment at 2 with Kallie and the girls. I’ll leave the connecting door open.” We had gotten connecting rooms, I was sure Sid had talked to someone but I liked it too much to call him on it. He left, sighing and putting his public face on. He always did when we left the safety of just us or the guys.

Several hours, a scuffle between Tanger and I, and finding dresses for everyone later, my FaceTime day was over. True to my word I had left the connecting door open and heard when Sid came into his room again at about 5:30. I heard him put something down and he came into my room. He flopped onto the bed with a heavy sigh.

“Bad afternoon?” I asked as I toyed with the website I was looking at. I looked over at him and saw him covering his face with his arm. I closed my computer and moved to snuggle. “What’s wrong Scooby?”

He snuggled close and sighed. “A lot of people. There are times I wish I wasn’t who I am. I wish I could go out to dinner and be normal sometimes.” Ut oh, this wasn’t good. The event must not have gone well if he’s wishing he was normal.

I seized on the idea he just had. “Then why don’t we? Tell whomever that we’re going out to dinner just us and find someplace that sounds interesting.” I sat up and pulled my laptop over. “Let’s find someplace that sounds fun, make a reservation and go.” I googled restaurants in Tampa and then narrowed it down from there.

It took us a little bit but we found Roy’s just past the airport. It was Hawaiian Fusion and sounded wonderful. We dressed up and headed out, stopping by Frank’s to tell him where we were going. If Frank knew then everything would be cool.

We got there in time for our reservation at 7. We looked like most of the other couples in there with one huge exception, we both were known in most places we visited. It seemed we were able to go without much notice right now though. We were seated in the back, as per our request, and soon had a glass each of Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Everything was going really well until a clumsy waiter spilled an entire tray of food for the next table in my lap. It was amazing how fast our meals were competed. Although we found out why soon too, Roy Yamaguchi and Kiel Lombardo were in the place for an inspection. We got a personal apology and were asked if we had enjoyed ourselves until that point. “It was wonderful. It was nice to be able to relax and not be hidden in a back room.” I said assuring both of the gentlemen that I was fine.

They offered to pay to clean my outfit but I politely refused. “It happens. I’m not too worried about it.” So Sid and I ended up going across the street to the International Plaza Mall and Talbot’s clothing store.

I wasn’t thrilled with having to get something new to wear, mostly because I had no idea what would look good on my figure. I should talk to someone about that probably. They have help for the guys why not me too?

We looked through the dresses for something that would at least be good for tonight when one of the customer service agents came over. “Had a disaster at dinner I see. Let’s get you fixed up.” She was very experienced at finding what would look good. With her help I quickly found a Polynesian Floral Dress which flattered my hips and legs and would remind me with a happy memory of what happened. “There. Is there anything else I can help with?”

I was about to say no thank you when Sid coughed. “Actually she needs some good pieces that can…” He looked at me for the words, which was when I remembered our conversation while packing.

I had packed really light, too light really as now my only skirt was trashed. Here was my chance to remedy that. “The word your looking for is separates. I need suit separates. Especially ones that travel well and could be used from a truly _frigid climate to here in Florida. We have business meetings all over the continent and the fewer things I have to pack to look great, the better.” The clerk smiled.

She brought us over to a rack and looked at me more closely. “You’ve got great legs, would you mind a skirt and a blazer to start? Knowing that you travel a lot I’m going to recommend that you find another Talbot’s near you and take someone you trust with you if you want to get more of this collection. This is from the Seasonless Wool collection." She picked up a skirt and held it up towards me. “Nope, not the pencil. Have you ever worn a trumpet skirt before?”

I laughed. “Yeah, I love them.” I had to be careful and not give away _why_ I loved them. “Don’t tell me…” She pulled one of the rack. First thing I did was check the size. I then grabbed the size on either side of this one and then I noticed some sleeveless shirts close by and wandered over. They were silk but that didn’t matter much to me. I found my size and grabbed 2 colors for each. “Ok, where’s can I check these out?”

Trying on the smallest skirt it was too small. I expected that but I had to try and I knew that. The mid-sized one fit but a bit too tightly for my liking. The third, and largest, was too big but that could be fixed in the short term by a belt and long term by a good seamstress or tailor. Once I knew which skirt would be right, I checked out all the tops I had found. I found I liked the button up front better than the henley and chose 1 more color for it.

I changed back into my dirty clothes and sighed as I came out. “Ok, I’m going with the larger skirt so I can have it tailored when we get home and I’m taking these silk shirts as well.”

Sid didn’t blink. He didn’t care what I wore as long as I was happy. The clerk looked dubious. So I put a stop to it. “Unlike the guys I travel with, I come prepared. I’ve got sink packets of laundry detergents in my bags, including Woolite. Never know when you might need it.” Obvious relief flooded her face. “I also read tags, if I couldn’t wash these I wouldn’t get them.”

We quickly found a jacket for me as well. I was liking this collection, unlike the guys I _could_ buy off the rack as long as I was willing to buy a size or two bigger and have things tailored. After everything was paid for I changed into the new dress and wrapped my dirty clothes in a bag to maybe salvage back at the hotel.

We got a few odd looks from the guys as we came back in, not to mention a few chirps. We got to my room and I began to salvage what I could. Sid unpacked the rest of my new items and laid them out for me while I was in the bathroom. A knock on my door made me pause. “Hey Frank.”

“I heard the door close, I had to check and make sure.” I loved that about Frank. Good thing I was dressed still too as he came into the bathroom to make sure I was there. “That doesn’t look good.”

I snorted. “I’m just glad I bring stuff to take care of accidents. Had a whole tray tipped onto me just after we had finished dinner. We went to the mall across the street to grab some stuff as this was my only skirt for this trip.” I prayed that the stain would come out. This was a machine wash skirt which meant I could wash it by hand if I was careful.

It took me a while to get everything clean but I did. It would need a better washing when we got home but at least now I could pack it after it dried and not have it stink up my suitcase. I set them up to dry overnight and prayed they would. I also emailed Pat to see if he knew of anyone who could help me with my travel wardrobe. I crawled into bed soon after, ignoring everyone who wanted me to come watch movies. It had been a long day, I needed to rest.