Realize

It had been a week since the boys left. Even though they bugged me constantly, I missed the comfort. I missed having someone to talk to. Sure, I had Paul nearby, but it just wasn’t the same.

Lounging around my house, I found myself living up to the name that Geno gave me last season. I looked around me and saw plenty of empty energy drink bottles and two empty pizza boxes on my coffee table. Sighing and leaning my head back on the back of my couch, I leapt off of my couch. Picking up all of the garbage around my living room, a thought came across my mind.

Fuck, I’ve gotta get out of here.

After everything was cleaned up, I quickly hopped in the shower. Once I stepped out and changed into some “cleaner looking” clothes. Once again, I sighed, not believing that I had let my life get like this. I had about 2 weeks worth of laundry to do and my house was slowly falling into shambles. Sure part of it was from the guys and them being slobs, but a lot of it was from just being….blah.

I had decided that I would throw a load of laundry in. After I turned the washing machine on, I knew that in order to keep my sanity, I had to get out of my house. I slipped my shoes on, grabbed my keys and walked out my door. Getting in my car, I heard my phone go off in my pocket. For an instant, it startled me. I felt as though I almost didn’t have a phone. No one had called me since the boys texted me that they got home safe, save from a phone call or two from Paul. Sure enough, looking down at my call display, it was Martin phoning me. As much as I needed an outlet, Martin wasn’t someone I wanted to talk to right now. I ignored the call and tossed my phone on the passenger’s seat and just drove.

I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going, I just turned my car on and just drove. Looking out my window, I tried to find something that stuck out. After driving for about 30 minutes, I found nothing. Rather than turning around and going back home, I continued to drive.

I found myself a little outside of Pittsburgh, with yet another call from Paul blowing up my phone. I once again ignored it and my eyes averted back onto the road. I didn’t know what it was, but I found myself turning into a small parking lot. Stepping out of my car, I tucked my phone away in my back pocket, not forgetting to turn it off first.

Walking through the door, the first thing I heard made me realize that this is exactly where I want to be.

“Look, if you want to bitch about what’s playing on the tv, don’t bother coming in!”

I walked over to the bar and sat in a stool. A man with a gnarly-looking beard walked up and asked me for my order.

“Uh, Coke with no ice, please.”

The man nodded while giving me a slightly strange look. I wasn’t sure if it was because he knew who I was, or if he was a little taken aback that I didn’t buy an alcoholic drink. I was contemplating on getting a beer, but I knew that I was driving. The man walked away and I heard the same voice I did when I first walked in the store.

“No crazy friends today?” Her voice was a lot closer and I looked up at her. Her red hair was pulled up. I sent her a small smirk.

“Nope. They all went back home. Well, all except for one.”

She nodded. “Martin?”

I nodded. “Yeah, he lives close to me.”

“And he didn’t want to join you.”

I shook my head. “No. I just needed to get out of my house.”

She slowly nodded then looked around the bar.

“Well, you came on a slow night. I’m starting to think that this is your fault.” She smirked.

I scoffed lightly. “My fault? How the hell is it my fault?”

She grabbed a cloth and started to wipe down the bar. “Well, the last time you were here, we were dead and you come in tonight and we’re dead.”

I let out a small chuckle. “Well, the last time I was here, you said it was dead because the Pirates suck.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, you gotta point fingers at somebody and you sir, have a target on your back in my book.”

I slowly nodded my head. “Well, whatever floats your boat, I guess.”

“Yepp. So, what’s you poison tonight?”

“Oh, I already ordered a Coke.”

Her eyes widened. “A Coke? Really? You didn’t get it yet?”

“I’m right here, Rox.” The man who took my order huffed from behind her. He had my drink in his hand and placed it in front of me.

“Well, that was the longest time I’ve seen it take someone to pour Coke, but thank you, Roman.”

I tried to hide my chuckle, but a little of it slipped out. The man, whose name I’m assuming was indeed Roman, glared at me for a few seconds before stalking away.

Roxy turned and smirked at me. “Sorry about him, he’s a little cranky.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s alright. I’d rather have someone not talk to me than someone bug me about the lockout.”

I heard Roxy sigh. “I hear ya. I go home and being the only hockey fan in my house, I hear all about it.”

“Yeah, that’s never good.”

The conversation felt almost awkward after that. Neither one of us wanted to talk about the lockout anymore, but at the same time, we still wanted to talk to each other. Roxy walked away to serve another customer and I continued to sip my drink. I looked over at one of the tv’s and saw that the Pirates were playing once again, chuckling to myself.

Once my drink was done, I continued to munch on peanuts while I watched the Pirates sink once again.

“Refill?” I took my gaze off the tv and saw Roxy standing on the other side of the bar with a smile on her face. I nod towards her.

“Yeah, sure.”

She walks away and is back in front of me in about 30 seconds. I chuckled at how quickly she was to make my drink as opposed to Roman.

“Well thank you for the quick service.”

She smiled and nodded. “You’re welcome. Hey, I’m about to take my break, did you want to get out of this mess?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Sure, where to?”

She pointed over my shoulder. I turn my head and see a row of unoccupied booths. I turn my head back to face her and nod. She smiles, takes her small apron off, grabs a bottle of water and walks out from behind the bar. I get off the stool and follow her.

We grabbed a booth and began talking. We found out that we had a lot in common. We both came from smaller cities and we both loved hockey. She never played, but she went to a lot of games. I didn’t know what it was about her, but I felt such at ease talking to her about anything and everything.

“James? JAMES!” I snapped out of the trance that I must have fell into and looked at Roxy.

“Yeah?”

“You okay, buddy? You’ve been staring at the window for the last 5 minutes. Have you heard a word I said?”

I tried to remember. I knew that she was talking about her brother, but after that, I kinda black out.

“Um, you were talking about your brother, right?”

She nodded slightly with a smile. “Yeah, he’s coming home from overseas in three days. My whole family is excited.”

I felt my smile spread across my features as I saw the excitement in her eyes.

“That’s great news. I’m glad he’s coming home. How long was he over there?”

We fell into another conversation about her family. She told me about how her and the brother that was coming home didn’t get along very well while they were growing up, but once he was enlisted, Roxy decided to give their relationship a better shot. She was in the middle of telling me about a prank that she pulled on him when Mr. Grumpy MaGee himself, Roman, comes over and interrupts.

“Hey Rox, I hate to interrupt your little love fest you got going on here, but your break is over and I’m getting ready to leave.”

She rolled her eyes and gave me an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, but I gotta get back to the bar.”

I shook my head. “No worries. I think I’m gonna head out.”

Roxy nodded, and I couldn’t help but notice a hint of sadness throughout her features.

“Okay. Thanks for coming by.”

I smiled at her and nodded.

“No problem. I think I’ll come by again soon.”

I saw a hint of a smile. “That’d be cool.”

We both stood up from the table. “If I don’t see you before then, have fun at your family thing.”

I saw her smile grow even bigger, probably happy that I remembered that part of your conversation.

“Thanks, I will.”

I walked to the front of the bar, turned to wave before walking out the door.