Perfect Symmetry

The early weekend passed quickly, and on Saturday, Hailey, Christy and I went to a comedy show by Sarah Silverman, and we came home with tears in our eyes and aching stomachs from all the laughing we did. Christy invited both of us to come and spend the night at her place. Normally, I jumped at these chances, since Christy has the prettiest loft I have ever seen. This time, however, I was feeling particularly knackered, so I drove home and after a quick shower, I was in bed.

The phone woke me up the next morning. I regretted having a second handset put in my bedroom now as its incessant ringing pulled me out of my slumber.

“Hello,” I mumbled into the headset.

“Morning,” a sheepish voice sang out.

I rubbed my eyes and sat up. “Who is this? Why are you calling this early?”

“It’s Jon,” the voice laughed quietly.

I groaned audibly. “I repeat. Why are you calling this early?”

“We came home late last night, and I was on my run nearby so...” he trailed off, letting me figure out the rest.

“You’re outside now, aren’t you?” I sighed, stumbling out of bed and towards the bathroom.

“Yeah. Do you need a minute?” he sounded amused.

I yawned loudly. “Give me ten.”

“Fine. Do you want to grab some breakfast? Seeing as you clearly haven’t had any yet,” Jon asked cheekily.

“Oh hush. It’s Sunday. And it’s nine in the morning. Usually I sleep for at least another hour and a half,” I snapped. “I’ll meet you down there in a few.”

I hang up and threw the handset onto my bed and washing my face and pulling on a pair of black jeans and an old college hoodie. I threw on some eyeliner and patted some powder onto my cheeks before grabbing my bag and heading down the stairs. Jon was waiting in the lobby, sitting in an oversized chair, playing with his phone. I hurried over to him and waited for him to look up. It didn’t take long.

“Hey!” he leaped out of his seat. “Ready to go?”

I frowned at him. “I’m still angry at you. But yes, we can go. Lucky for you, I am starving.”

We walked to a local diner, where we were seated next to the window. I had never come here before, but Jon seemed to know the place.

“Do you come here a lot?” I asked curiously.

“On the weekend, a lot of the time with Kaner,” he admitted, opening the menu and barely glancing at it before closing it again.

I took my time, looking at every item before looking up at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but the waiter came at that precise moment to take our beverage orders. Jon ordered a black coffee, but I stuck with the orange juice. He then took down our orders. Jon went for a stack of pancakes, and I went for toast with a side of bacon.

“Should you be eating pancakes during the season?” I queried skeptically.

Jon looked left and right shadily. “Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

I laughed. We made small talk until the food came, and then it was quiet for a while as we gulped down our food.

“So are you heading home for Thanksgiving?” he asked me as he took a bite of pancake.

“No; prices were too high and I checked too late. I might go for Christmas, though. Or they might come here, I’m not sure,” I explained. I didn’t really mind not seeing my family over the break. It gave me a chance for some relaxation. “What about you?”

“Well I went back for Canadian Thanksgiving,” Jon shrugged, “but no one cares about this one.”

I chuckled. “I forgot you guys have your own thanksgiving. Oh well, you get some time off, right?”

“Yeah, but then we have this charity benefit thing on the Saturday, so we can’t really go anywhere anyway,” Jon made a face.

“Not a fan of charity events?” I teased, finishing off my breakfast.

Jon gave me a small smile. “Not true. They just get a bit boring – all the guys bring their wives and I’m stuck hanging out with Kaner the whole time.”

“Aww, cute; it’s like your dating,” I joked, flashing him a big grin.

He flicked some of the leftover whipped cream off of his plate and onto my wrist. “Gross,” I grimaced as I wiped it off.

“Serves you right!” Jon chortled.

I was laughing when the waiter came by to drop off the check.

“I’m guessing you won’t let me pay, as usual?” I surmised, folding my arms across my chest in what was meant to be a threatening way.

“You guessed right,” Jon deadpanned as he left a credit card in the pocket of the bill. “But I think there’s another way you can pay me back.”

“Oh great,” I replied sarcastically. “Hit me with it, Captain.”

“You can come with me to the charity benefit,” he ordered.

I jumped. “What?”

“Come with me – as a friend. I’ll need some company,” Jon explained, leaning back in his seat nonchalantly.

I gulped nervously. This wasn’t going to be easy.

“You see, the thing is, Viktor asked me to the same benefit last night, so I’m kind of already busy,” I winced, preparing for the worst.

Silence surrounded us, which was even worse than a total explosion, in my opinion. The rest of the restaurant buzzed, the waiter returned Jon’s credit card with a smile, and I looked at my hands. I could feel Jon’s strong gaze on me, and I began to sweat lightly.

“He called you last night,” Jon’s voice was flat.

I nodded. “I met him in the locker room-”

Jon cut me off. “I remember. What I don’t remember is you giving him his number or saying that you liked him.”

I was taken aback by Jon’s aggressive response. “Jon, calm down. Pat gave him my number after asking-”

“ Kaner gave Stalberg your number? Why the fuck would that ever happen?” he demanded.

“Jon!” I whisper-yelled. “We’re in a public place. Let’s go outside.”

Reluctantly, he followed my outside the diner, into the cold Chicago morning air. I was shivering, but my indignation was keeping me warm.

“I gave Pat my permission to pass along my phone number,” I explained quietly and coolly to a fuming Jon.

“Why?” he exclaimed.

I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Because he was nice! I thought he would be a good person to have as a friend!”

“But we’re friends,” Jon retorted sharply.

I rolled my eyes. “Contrary to what you may believe, Jon, the world does not revolve around you. I am allowed to have more than one friend who plays hockey.”

Jon was about to respond heatedly, but he stopped when a hand appeared on his shoulder. It was Pat, with a coat on and a smile on his face.

“Hey, do you guys want to get some breakfast with me?” he asked cheerfully.

“ You ,” Jon wheeled on Pat.

I groaned in anger. “I’ve had enough of this. You’re being an asshole, Jon. I’ll see you at the benefit.”
~
Jon’s point of view for a moment

Kaner thumped me on the back in a congratulatory way. “Damn, dude, you asked her to the benefit? Ballsy move!”

I shoved his arm off me. “No. Stalberg asked her last night. Did you give him her fucking number?”

Pat shrank back. “I didn’t see what the problem was. Stally’s a pretty good guy. Even if you have some sort of claim on Jazz, she can date whomever she wants to. She’s not your girlfriend.”

That hit me hard and I winced. Why did I care so much? I could get a hundred dates to this benefit if I wanted to. Maybe I should...

“I don’t like the idea of them together,” I said gruffly.

Kaner guffawed loudly. “Look, Tazer. Either ask her out, or don’t ask her out and stay the hell out of her love life!”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want to date her. I don’t want to date anyone. But I don’t want her to hang out with the wrong people.”

Kaner laughed again. What was wrong with him?

“You are one jealous man, Jonny. But you’ve lost this round. Now she’s dating someone else, and she hates you. Double whammy,” Kaner shook his head in disappointment.

I shoved Kaner roughly. “She’s not dating him. She ‘s just going to the benefit with him.”

He shrugged. “Whatever. You had better get a date for that soon, because I’ve already got one.”

I looked at him in surprise. “Christy?” I guessed.

“Nah, but this girl is even prettier,” Kaner bragged.

“But can she hold a conversation?” I asked sardonically.

He laughed heartily and threw an arm around my shoulders. “Who says we’ll be doing any talking?”